Below, you can see a variety of photos I took while in Japan.
You can also view the flickr project that I participated in and see even more photos from the link below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/csumbchuo/
You can also view the flickr project that I participated in and see even more photos from the link below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/csumbchuo/
My time in Japan was the least to say an experience that has provided me with memories that I will value for years to come. The people I met, the places went, and the classes that I took all encompassed my time at Chuo Daigaku. I took a variety of classes, ranging from Upper-Intermediate Japanese, to culture courses, to law. You can download and see the following classes and grades by downloading the PDF below.
matt_bell_chuo_transcripts.pdf | |
File Size: | 212 kb |
File Type: |
While in Japan I lived in the Western-most part of the greater Tokyo region, next to Hachioji. The town I lived in was called Tamadaira 多摩平. In this dormitory complex, I lived with about 60 from Japan, China, Korea, England, France, and the US. I was able to not only practice my Japanese, but I also was able to meet a wide variety of interesting and cultured people. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
It was the first time that I lived in a place where it snowed. Since I've lived most of my life in California, it was a 'cool' experience being able to live in snow for the few days that it was around.
If you headed about 15 minutes West from where I lived in Tamadaira, you could reach the next town and climb Mt. Takao. This view was taken during winter, but if you come during spring or summer, you can see Mt. Fuji in the distance. Mt. Fuji is actually a two hour train ride away from this location.
This photo was taken during "Setubun", which is in February. It's a traditional Japanese holiday where someone wears a mask, such as in the photo, and the rest of your family throws beans at you while saying in Japanese "demon out, good luck in." No harm came to the short one while wearing my jacket. It was a highly fun part of the day, except for the clean up, we threw a lot of beans.
This tree is located at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Meiji Shrine, one of the more popular temples to go to, was frequented by me on several occasions during my stay. At the base of the tree is where you write your wish on a piece of wood, and put it on one of the hooks.
This photo was taken during the "Hanami" or, flower viewing season. During March, early April, the trees start to blossom and out come the Sakura. When this happens, everyone chooses to gather together as a group and go to a local park to relax and enjoy the good weather and some good food. It's also a good time for couples to go out and get on one of those cool swan boats and go for a ride on the lake. The group and I went on a ride, regardless of having dates or not, just to have fun riding in one of them.
Also during Hanami, our neighbors put on their own event, where one of the neighbors performed by playing with the "shamisen", a traditional Japanese-style guitar. Since I play a guitar, I was thinking about getting one or not. I'll have to get one next time I'm in Japan, definitely.
In May of 2013, I headed down to Kyushu and visited Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Nagasaki. When I arrived in Fukuoka, I HAD to taste some of Kyushu's famous Ton-Kotsu Ramen. I was kindly welcomed into a friend's house, whom I was traveling with and two others for the duration of the trip. This photo is of when I was traveling in the train in Nagasaki. It's a country-side-based area that's lush with greenery and farmers.
This is the night view in Nagasaki, where you can see the whole town light up at night. Besides this view, the rest of Kyushu was fantastic and filled with a lot of great things to do and food to eat. It's definitely one of the places I would consider living in if I were to go back to Japan.
In the same month of May, I took a trip with friends to Kamakura. Of the places I visited in Kamakura, I went to the temple and saw the Big Buddha. It was a very popular spot to go to as tourists of all kinds were visiting the are.
There was a festival also in mid-May in the part of Tokyo near Ochanomizu. It was a very interesting festival where I didn't except to see samurai walking around. Traditional Culture is still alive and well, even in an ever-growing modernized Japan.
Look ma, I made my own Udon! Udon from scratch is a rather hard and long process. After mixing all the ingredients together, you have to apply great force and pressure to the dough. What me and my friends did wast stomp on the dough (it was in a plastic bag), and did it several times for an hour at least. Once the dough was pounded enough times, it was cut up and boiled. This Udon was great: it was chewy and semi-thick. Long with the Udon, I put in soy sauce, an egg, and tororo. Most Americans I think wouldn't be so keen on this type of Japanese cuisine: it's very slimy and most Americans would hesitate to each a raw egg in such a condition.
This was one of the best parts of my time abroad: Mt. Fuji! The trip was taken in July, so it was plenty warm. I didn't climb the mountain this time, but I was able to explore the area near by at Kawaguchi-Ko. Mt. Fuji and its surrounding area is very beautiful, I came understood why so many Japanese artists have created several paintings of this single mountain. Very impressive.
This was the one and only photo I got of when I went to see the band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. It was because of their music I started studying Japanese Language and Culture. I listened to their music for eight years before I came to Japan. It was one of my goals to go to their concert: initial efforts were futile because of the lottery system for getting tickets: they're a very popular band. I was luck to be able to see them play during their yearly event in July. The even is known as Nano-Mugen Fes., where other bands from around the US, England, and Japan come to play.
That year Asian Kung-Fu Generation put out their sixth album "Landmark", named after their 10th year of being together as a band. I felt that like their CD, my time at this concert and Japan was my own "landmark". I got to Japan through my own abilities, I lived in Japan and experience so many great things. I also was able to enhance my Japanese skills. Not only that, but since it was 8 years since I started listening to them, it was a long time coming to be able to see where I had started and where I had ended up. ALSO, there's a rule of thumb when going to Japanese concerts: its highly rude to use your cell phone to record or take pictures. I had my hand swatted down twice my someone behind me to prevent me from taking additional pictures.
That year Asian Kung-Fu Generation put out their sixth album "Landmark", named after their 10th year of being together as a band. I felt that like their CD, my time at this concert and Japan was my own "landmark". I got to Japan through my own abilities, I lived in Japan and experience so many great things. I also was able to enhance my Japanese skills. Not only that, but since it was 8 years since I started listening to them, it was a long time coming to be able to see where I had started and where I had ended up. ALSO, there's a rule of thumb when going to Japanese concerts: its highly rude to use your cell phone to record or take pictures. I had my hand swatted down twice my someone behind me to prevent me from taking additional pictures.
I accidentally ended up in Nakano in July. I applied to take the JLPT, and instead of choosing the Kanto Region, where Tokyo is, I chose the region that's Northeast of Tokyo, Nagano. So, turning lemons into lemonade, I took the opportunity to explore the surrounding area in both Ueda and Matumoto. I was too late to be able to go inside and see the castle, but it was worth seeing due it being one of the most famous historical landmarks in Japan. Nagano itself is actually what I would consider to be the countryside.
Once of the last events I participated in was going to the Tama Matsuri, which was held at the Yasukuni Shrine. This event was a summer time festival where you would go to the even wearing a Yukata. However, even when I went to a Yukata shop in Nagano, I actually bought a Jinbei, a type of summer clothing designed to be worn in Japan when the weather during the summer becomes hot and humid.