The Search for General Nogi’s Grave (Rylee)

My task for this scavenger hunt is to find the grave of the general who committed ritual suicide following Emperor Meiji’s death. This at first did not seem too difficult since I have learned about this event in a Japanese history class. It was General Nogi Maresuke and it was quite surprising to have someone highly regarded commit ritual suicide – an act that was a rare occurrence even a century ago when medieval traditions were long gone.

So, I searched some sources on the internet to refresh my memory and luckily the Rikkyo library had the same books in their collection that I used in my history class. When it came down to finding the exact location of the headstone most of my research was sourced from Google maps, a postcard collectors’ website, and findagrave.com which helped immensely me in identifying the gravestones of Nogi and his wife who also committed ritual suicide.

I set off to what I learned to be the location of Nogi’s headstone – Aoyama cemetery. It was actually very close to the Nogi shrine and his residence, so finding the approximate location was not difficult. However, finding the gravestone in the massive cemetery was the most difficult aspect of the scavenger hunt. All I had to base my search on is what the two headstones of him and his wife looked like, and it wasn’t terribly difficult in retrospect since they are big boulders in a sea of polished and cut headstones.

Aoyama Cemetery

After a half hour of walking around the cemetery I managed to come across a little gated in area in the northeast corner of the cemetery where the two headstones reside. Even though I was the only person in sight and there was no lock on the gate itself, I decided not to create a fuss and try to figure out how the gate worked, so I just stuck my camera in-between the metal bars to take some photos.

The gated area of the two headstones.

The stones did match up with the pictures I have seen previously, and I did recognize the kanji for Nogi Maresuke’s name, so I am certain this is the spot I am looking for. There was a lot of other headstones in the gated area, much of which I have no idea about other than them being family members. In general, my understanding of Japanese cemeteries and the post-death process is extremely limited. I assume everyone is cremated and their ashes are placed in these stones which makes me doubt using the term ‘headstone’, but I could be wrong. It is something I want to look into further and would enjoy learning about Japanese religion in general.

The two headstones

In the end I did not end up making it to the Nogi shrine and residence to further my understanding due to my exhaustion at the end of my search of the grave. I hear I just missed the day when they open Nogi’s house to the public on the day of his death – September 13 when I just went to the cemetery on the 19th. Much of what I learned through the process about Nogi himself and the end of the Meiji period was my research conducted through rereading some parts of Donald Keene’s Emperor of Japan: Meiji and his world and Japan a Documentary History by David J. Lu. The death of Nogi Maresuke was a controversial one and casted many doubts on Japan’s future direction. It affected many citizen’s lives and jogged my memory on Natsume Soseki’s mentioning of the impact of Nogi’s and Meiji’s death. With his death being reacted to by many people it raises the impact I witnessed in my research and definitely is an event not to overlook. In general, it created a bleak outlook for Japan after the death of the popular emperor Meiji and the following event of Nogi’s ritual suicide.

Settling in to Shiinamachi (Rylee)

It has nearly been a week since I have arrived in Tokyo and settled down in Rikkyo’s housing in Shiinamachi. It is quite surprising how quiet and homey this neighborhood feels even though it is only a 15-minute walk away from one of the busiest places in Tokyo. It contains all of your small-town amenities such as a barber, drug store, a few restaurants, a produce grocer and of course all of the convenience stores and chain establishments. My apartment resides on one of the main streets going directly north from Shiinamachi station. This allows me to walk through the neighborhood’s center and see what’s happening on my way to and from the dorm. The more time I spend witnessing the town do its daily routine and visit the stores the more I feel like I am a citizen of Shiinamachi.

My first map

My initial map is very lacking in detail on streets and locally owned stores. Streets on one hand seem to spiral off into random directions as they very rarely follow the four cardinal directions which makes my walk to Rikkyo a bit complicated if I want to take the shortest route since I cannot just walk East. Stores are something that I discover each day. I see their signs but many of them I do not know their function. Just recently I found out a place named Red ended up being a barber even though I thought it was a bar with its neon lights and tinted windows.

Street to the station

A festival was held last Saturday evening, and all of the shops and vendors were open for regular business and were also selling food and toys in stalls, allowing me to see much of the insides of stores and what they were selling. I am glad to see that many family-owned places are still open. In the United States similar stores would be out of business due to fierce competition from major chains. It surprises me that they can coexist to a better degree than the U.S. even though Japan also has major shopping chains and convenience stores.

Saturday night festival

For each day I walk around Shiinamachi my mental map of the town grows, however there are physical limits I set in place that determine the boundaries of Shiinamachi. The busy avenue to the east and north sets the barrier between busy Ikebukuro and calm Shiinamachi. However, I have not traveled too far South or West as it is more residential areas. As a matter of fact, I don’t know what to make of that area as I have no bike and friends tell me there is not too much in those directions within walking distance. The boundary between Kanamecho and Shiinamachi also seems to be nonexistent. I assume stations are named after their neighborhoods in most cases, but Kanamecho to the North is right on my boundary of the two avenues as it is a subway station underneath the busy road. There seems to be no town center for a subway station unlike a train station. It makes you wonder what a community or town in Tokyo needs to be put on the map.

Adjusting to a New Home (Keaton)

When I got to Japan, I knew nothing about my surroundings and knew I had to start from scratch. Because of my unfamiliarity, a daily victory only took my ability to walk from point A to point B. Even when I moved again from my dorm to my host family, I found myself worried about getting lost in the new maze-like surroundings I was living in. After a while, I was able to switch off that survival mode, really take a look at my surroundings, and discover new locations that were off the path or just hidden from my peripheral view.

When I first started to leave my temporary home in the dorm, I found that the local convenience stores were most important to know. Since we were not given any meals, it was up to the students to supply meals for the first week. This led to me finding cheap meals at convenience stores. After multiple trips, the path to each store was paved more and more in my head. While I felt confident about these destinations, I felt I was not truly exploring. I knew where I came from and where I was going, but I completely ignored everything in between.

Once I started the first week of school orientation, I started to stray off the necessary path. My mental map did not necessarily gain new paths, but instead, gained branches off the main path I was using often. I would go a few blocks to the south to find an arcade that was hidden by a few rows of tall apartments. I would go a few blocks west to find a small restaurant that was only visible by looking at google maps. Even buildings on my main path have revealed secrets, like a karaoke bar tucked away with a not-so flashy exterior.

One of many karaoke bars I have walked past.

After moving to my host family, I felt like I had to start the process again. However, I found that I did not have to. Once I discovered my bike route for traveling to school, all I did was add to the long main path I already had engraved in my memory. I still feel like there is work to be done to be completely confident in my surroundings. While I know the way to my school, I know almost nothing about the maze-like surroundings of my host neighborhood. My host family lives in a small house that is connected to a long and winding row of similar houses that makes it hard to find my way back home.

The street right outside my door.

After looking at the mental map I constructed over these two weeks, I notice how much the city changes once you go farther in any direction. Some places get heavily populated quickly, while others quickly turn into a shopping district. However, the more I move away from the center of my map, the more the city stops looking like a cluster of different neighborhoods and starts looking like a singular community that flows together seamlessly. With each passing day, I am feeling more and more familiar with this new neighborhood of mine.

Navigating Unfamiliar Territory (Zowie)

ワン (one) - The friendly, Akita dog, mascot for Akita International University stands outside the entrance of the cafeteria.

Over the course of the past few weeks, I have made numerous new discoveries about the area that surrounds and encompasses Akita International University. Even though AIU is a small campus and the area surrounding the university is rural, there are many things to notice and experience. Sometimes you just need to miss the bus back to campus or go a little out of your way to find them. 

To better understand AIU and the area around it, I drew three maps based on my personal observations. The maps were created during the first few days, 5 to 7 days, and 12 to 14 days after arrival. When drawing the map for the first time, I realized how little I actually knew even though I had been to AIU before. I had a general understanding of where the main buildings were and where I lived, but I did not know the names or what a lot of the facilities were used for. As I progressed into the start of classes and clubs my understanding of AIU became greater and I was able to identify the location of each building and more of their uses. As I drew the second map, I was able to add a few more buildings that I did not notice before and label old areas, from the first map, with the correct names. By the end of the first week, I felt more comfortable on campus and finding my way around. I even found myself helping other international students finding their way around campus.

This is a square section of trees that stand tall in front of the library; it is a hard sight to miss when entering the AIU campus.

When I drew the final map I added to areas beyond AIU since I had been to the mall and had to go to the Immigration Bureau both of which require public transportation. When I returned to the train station from the immigration bureau, I walked back to campus with a few people since the bus only runs every few hours I would have to wait for the bus. This was a good opportunity to get to know the area better. On the way back, I found different landmarks I could use as a reference if I ever decided to walk around the area or from the train station again.

Looking back on the maps now, I realize that some of the streets and locations of buildings began to shift as I became more aware of my surroundings. However, there are still buildings I see every day, but still, do not know their purpose. There are also areas I have not explored yet. As I begin my third week on campus, there are times when I feel comfortable with where I am, but there are also times when I find myself feeling like a stranger even in the apartment I now call home. In the coming weeks, I hope to explore beyond the campus boundaries more often to gain a better understanding of the area around me, as well as, learn more about how I influence my surroundings and how my surroundings influence me in my everyday life.

Where Am I and How Did I Get Here? (Shelby)

Honestly speaking, I am a person with no sense of direction. I can’t read maps very well, probably because I can’t tell how far away something is even if you tell me, “It’s about 200 feet to your right.” I can’t visualize how far away 200 feet is unless you tell me that something, like a building or other landmark, is at the 200 feet mark. The only way that I can navigate even my home town and the areas around it is by visual cues. I know that I have to turn at the road with that specific pothole to get to my house. I have to take the exit with the terrible landscaping to get to Walmart. So when I’m dropped somewhere where I’ve never been before and have to find my way around, it takes a lot of time and a lot of mistakes to figure out the best route.

Creating my own maps made me really think and focus on the things that were around me. Over time, I would have remembered those places, like the super markets and the conbinis, but it would have taken a lot longer for me to remember where they were in association to everything else. At first, everything was overwhelming. I didn’t seem to ever know exactly where I was or where exactly I was supposed to go. There wasn’t anyone who really spoke English that could help me, and my Japanese isn’t good enough to fully understand if someone tells me how to go somewhere. I felt out of place, like I would never be able to find my way around, use the bus, or get anywhere new. After a week or so, I’d managed to figure out the bus, though. And I recognized the streets and stores that led to and were around my campuses.

First map attempt.

This all changed when I moved out of the university housing and into my host mother’s house. Right after learning the route to get to campus, I was suddenly thrust into a completely different side of the city in a very twisty neighborhood. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone in this move. Even though my host mother gave us maps and highlighted and explained the easiest routes for us to take to get to campus, I wouldn’t have been able to get there by myself. At least, not without using Google Maps the whole way. My housemate can read the maps and was able to recognize parts of the route much faster than I was, allowing us to find a quick route to campus. Without her help, I would have had a very tough time finding my way to campus, or I would have already spent a small fortune on bus fare.

The first place I learned how to get to.

I don’t really feel like a “part” of the city yet, but I think I’ll start to soon enough.

Finding the Way (Gray)

In the first couple days of my exploration of AIU and the surrounding area, I realized how close together most of my initial “points of interest” were. In the beginning I was looking for the essentials: where did I have class, where could I buy food and what the fastest paths across campus were. As I continued to look beyond AIU itself, through word of mouth I found things a little bit further out, like shrine about a 20 minute walk from campus, or the far edge of the prefectural public park. Just a short bus ride away was the Goshono area, with its variety of shops, gargantuan mall and a convenient shuttle into the main station of Akita City.

First map I made of the area.

Despite the diverse locations I’ve become more familiar with, a constant about Akita more generally is that there is an immense amount of greenery. When I walked the perimeter of the large mall in the area, I found that the other side of the road, if not small shopping centers, was largely overgrown green space. At the edges of AIU campus itself are forests of the cedar famous in this prefecture. I think that coming from American Suburbia, the amount and inescapability of the greenery here is very different from home.

AIU campus is home to lots of these crows.

In the beginning I felt more and more like an outsider the further I went from campus, with my height and very visibly foreign face setting me apart. Though as time progressed, although the situation did not change, I found myself caring less that I stuck out, as if my growing familiarity with the area, as well as my residence status, gave me as much as a right to those public spaces as any other person. I don’t think I will ever truly feel inconspicuous outside of AIU campus, but I’ve come to terms with that. AIU campus feels like a bubble, with everything I need for the semester contained inside it, so I can see how it would be easy for an international student to stay on campus most of the time.

Overall, throughout my journey in exploring and mapping my neighborhood thus far, I found that, unlike my small time in Tokyo earlier this summer, there are liminal spaces between “neighborhoods” here in Akita. Here, between larger more developed areas are stretches of farmland and residences that feel disconnected from what I consider to be in my “neighborhood”, so that the areas I do feel like are my “neighborhood” are small pockets inside of a larger structure that is less accessible to people without cars, as public transit only goes to certain places. I was surprised, all in all, that I did as much exploring as I have, and look forward to exploring even more throughout the semester.

Onwards into the unknown!

Expectations and Challenges while Abroad (Zowie)

The Beloit bell

As I set off on this journey I hope to learn about numerous things and develop new skills. A large goal of mine while I am abroad is to become self-sufficient while traveling especially since I will be traveling in Japan 3 weeks early, alone. Coming from Beloit College and living in Beloit my entire life I have had few chances to explore far from my home. I have only traveled far from my small town of Beloit once and it was not alone. The first time I left the United States was when I went to Japan earlier this summer, I was apart of Landscapes in Transitions project. This research project introduced me to rural Japan as it was located in Semboku City located in Akita Prefecture. During this time I didn’t get to directly experience much of the farmer's life so I look forward to going back to the same area I studied for study abroad. When in Japan I hope to learn how to use the transit system, practice my Japanese, learn more about Japanese culture, learn more about the landscape, rural Japan, and art. I hope during this time I am able to learn more about myself and what I am capable of on my own.

The rural countryside has mountain terrain which is significantly different from the glad Midwest where I live.

Furthermore, I do expect to be challenged culturally, socially, academically, personally, and in ways I have not even thought of yet. I feel my greatest challenge will be practicing my Japanese in my daily life. Since my classes are taught in English and the school is international I may end up speaking English more than I planned. I will constantly have to push myself to practice my Japanese at every opportunity I get. Even though I was able to experience Japan for a short period of time I feel very clumsy when I was trying to adjust to cultural differences and when speaking Japanese. I also am very hesitant to try new things because I am not sure what is the “correct” way to do them. I understand it is okay to make mistakes while I am here, but I do not want to do things that come off as rude and not notice. There are many differences between the way I grew up and the way that society is in Japan.

Additionally, I know I will get lost more than find the right way the first time, I can barely get around Chicago’s transit system successfully. Becoming better acquainted with public transportation can open up many more opportunities for me in Japan because of how extensive the transit system is. During the three weeks I will be conducting my own project, I will have a great opportunity to get great use out of the rail system. I hope by the end I will become more confident in traveling alone.

Tokachi Station

I think my biggest personal challenge will be meeting new people and creating lasting relationships after I leave. I find interacting with people mentally and physically exhausting. I need to be with myself the majority of the time otherwise I find it difficult to focus and keep going every day. In Japan, I do not have the same support system as in Beloit so i will have to be very intentional with what I do and how I spend my time as a means to maintain my well being. I plan to join some extracurricular activities but I do not plan to spend much time going to side events or social gatherings just for the sake of meeting people.

Overall, I plan to make the most out of my abroad experience. I know I will be challenged in many ways while I am here whether it be culturally, socially, academically, or personally. As this is the first time I have truly been on my own, and it is in a different country, I hope to learn more about Japan and about myself during this abroad experience.

Journeys, Goals and Packing Up (Gray)

As I set out on this journey, I feel as though no preparation I could possibly do would adequately prepare me for what I’m about to do. I am a nervous traveller, easily flustered by the smallest trevails, and though I’ve been studying the language for a long time and can get around alive, am awkward and stilted in conversation with native speakers. Where I am now as a student of the language is a strange position where I still need to work on my memorization of kanji and translating what I want to say into coherent statements. I am only shakily sure of my ability to navigate the interpersonal relationships I will have to create when I arrive, as existing in a culture I’m not native to may be a challenge. I’m hoping to learn more of the academic phrases in Japanese and the cultural terrain of AIU as it compares to the rest of Japan and to Beloit, with the hope that I can bring things I’ve learned outside the classroom back to Beloit in the spring.

My other home away from home.

I think that the key to getting over the homesickness I’m already feeling is to throw myself at studies and clubs, and try to fill up my time as much as possible. I want to be productive and make the most of my time there, so I’m hoping that I will have opportunities that I can seize, including field trips and the ability to get out into the community.

I think it helps that I have been to Akita before, earlier this summer, so the lay of the campus isn’t a complete mystery to me. The area around, going towards Akita City proper, feels like a world away based on the short time I was there before. I hope to learn as much as I can about how the city and surrounding area are different from the places my classmates are studying in, as well as how the other students at AIU navigate the community differently than I do.

I will be happy to be back in Japan!

Here's the the start of a new journey!

Perspective as you Grow (Shelby)

When I originally thought about studying abroad, I thought about it in terms of learning about an entire culture during my time there. I thought that I would be able to increase my language ability through simple exposure. But after studying, not only Japanese and Japanese history, but everything that I’ve studied so far, I’ve realized that my view of studying abroad, and really studying anywhere, was very superficial.

Akita Prefecture Kiritampo

While I will be able to learn more about Japanese culture, I will be mainly in one corner of Japan, where they have their own nuances of Japanese life and language. They have their own history, important places, landmarks, and ways of living. I’ve come to realize in my two years of college that I want to learn these things. I want to learn what aspects of history the Kansai region focuses on, what places and daily habits are unique to them. I want to learn the differences between the “standard” Japanese and the infamous Kansai-ben.

Grasshopper

None of these things will give up their secrets without a little work on my part. Not only will it be necessary to seek the histories and landmarks out on my own, but I have to overcome the language barrier I face in order to understand the importance of these things. Even with what I have learned before coming here language wise, it is a very different than what is used in everyday life.