Historical Artifacts Museum (Ari)

I ended up at the Satake Historical Museum mostly via a happy accident. Last Sunday, my flower arranging class was on a field trip to downtown Akita for a flower arranging exhibition. We all took a bus at eleven in the morning, and when we were finished at one in the afternoon, I was allowed to remain in downtown Akita and explore the city. I asked my professor for directions to the museum, but that was a challenge, since I had forgotten the name (Akita has many museums), I was feeling fairly uncertain with her directions. She assured me to simply keep walking past the lotus garden, up the hill, to Senshu Park, and it would be somewhere near the castle. I picked the second museum I found in that area and hope that I was right. 

Well, luckily, it turns out I was right. Trust your intuition, kids.

The museum was a stark contrast to the surrounding castles and shrines, with its boxed shape and concrete exterior. It had a small garden at the front, and a few memorial stone tablets and statues outside.

The memorial stone tablet. Cool, right?

The statue and museum were in dedication to Satake Yoshinobu, the man who lost to Tokugawa Ieyasu in the battle of Sekigahara and, as the loser of this battle, was forced to move to what is presently known as Akita. The museum’s artifacts were all related to Satake. (See below)

Senshu Park in itself is quite beautiful, and after I had explored the museum, I ventured through the various nature paths and shrines. It was a beautiful day to do it, and I will probably remember that day for the rest of my life. (Bonus picture: Shrine of my favorite Kami, Inari. Inari is the goddess (although she is worshipped as a man in the regions south of Tohoku) of rice, foxes, and fertility in general. Of all the Kami in Japan, she has the most shrines dedicated to her.)

Bonus picture: Shirne of my favorite kami, Inari. Inari is the goddess (although worshiped as a man in the regions south of Tohoku) of  rice, foxes, and fertility in general. Of all the kami in Japan, she has the most shrines dedicated to her.

The Sugamo Prison "Memorial" (Reid Knight)

Given the option between 3 clues for locations within Tokyo, I chose to hunt for the memorial stone for Sugamo Prison. I did so because I’ve always had an interest in how crime and justice are defined in different societies; I even took a class titled “Letters from Prison” as my First-Year Initiative course. Upon a preliminary Google search, I found out that I already knew the general location of the memorial. In fact, the former location of the prison was a building I had already been to multiple times: Sunshine 60 in Ikebukuro, a skyscraper which houses a mall complex on the first few floors (including the Mega Tokyo Pokémon Center, the primary reason why I can’t stop going back).

A view of Sunshine 60 from where the Sugamo Prison memorial is located. Where is that exactly? Read on to find out... 

However, even though I had been to this area more than any other besides where my dorm is, I had not recalled seeing anything resembling a memorial before. Finding the exact location of the memorial required a bit more research, and along the way I gained some more knowledge about Sugamo Prison. The prison gained notoriety in World War II, and the inmates included Japanese people who broke the “Peace Preservation Laws”, set during this period to suppress political dissent. The prison was also used to incarcerate people believed to be spies for the Allied Forces. After Japan became occupied by the United States, the prison was taken over by the Allies and used to house Japanese war criminals, some of whom were executed on the prison grounds. Shortly after the end of World War II, the prison ceased its functions and was torn down.

At the end of the summary I read on Sugamo Prison’s history was one sentence about the memorial stone: that it says “Pray for Eternal Peace” on it in Japanese. Looking up that phrase as a keyword, I found a blog post that said the stone was located in a park. I took the easy 20-minute train from Shiki Station to Ikebukuro, walked about 10 more minutes to the Sunshine 60 building, and then tried looking for parks around the building. Sure enough, a couple of minutes’ walk past Sunshine 60 was a park.

What seemed to be the centerpiece of the park: an elaborate rock waterfall contraption. Notably absent is the Sugamo Prison Memorial Stone.

Because of the small size of the park, it was relatively easy for me to find the stone I was looking for. However, it was noticeably “separate” from the rest of the park, in a corner surrounded by trees. I had to wonder how often anybody stopped by this place, and if they did, if they had any idea what the stone was memorializing, or if it was even a memorial at all. There was no sign indicating it was a memorial (outside of flowers and incense which may be an indirect indicator), and nothing that said Sugamo Prison on it anywhere it sight.

The Sugamo Prison Memorial. For those that want to look up the Japanese characters, it says　永久平和を願って.

Through my time studying Japanese, I have gotten to take courses on Japan and World War II, and the memorial for Sugamo Prison aligns with what I have learned: that Japanese discourse regarding the war has a tendency to gloss over certain factors regarding their culpability for war atrocities, and instead focus on themes such as preserving peace now rather than addressing past destruction. In this way, I wasn’t surprised by the fact that the Sugamo Prison Memorial didn’t seem to “memorialize” anything about the prison. However, I was interested in finding out more about the prison through this memorial, so it was a bit disappointing to find that the structure itself offered very little knowledge. In addition, it was a little saddening to think that those that ought to be remembered through this memorial are likely not getting this recognition. What once was a prison is now just a mall and a stone, and it almost feels disrespectful to call this stone a “memorial” when it does nothing to offer insight into the lives of these prisoners.

To end this post on a somewhat happier note, here is a picture of a cat I met at the park. It seems that there are many cats that gather there, so I'll probably come back to pet them sometime.

My Limited Knowledge of the Area (Eliza)

Day 2

Even after being here for almost three weeks I still hardly know the area at all.  My map from the end of the second week is pretty much the same as if I were to draw another one today.  While I can find my way in any city as long as I have an actual map, it always takes me a long time to remember a new area.  My first map has hardly anything on it but I’m surprised I could even do that much.  (second day picture) The difference between my first two maps and my third one is the addition of my new accommodations.  Even though I have walked around quite a few times since moving into my homestay, my mental map of the area hardly has any details at all.  (second week picture)  I haven’t mastered any area of the city yet and it will be a while before I do.  The longer I am here the clearer and more detailed my map will get, but it will be a slow process.  Even when I leave Japan it is unlikely that I will know the whole city, still this will be a great chance to improve my mental mapping skills.

Week Two

Expanding Maps (Sarah)

My first map.

Looking back at my first map, it looks so simple. My current mental map expands far beyond it’s edges and many of the white spaces, I could now fill in with finer details that I have discovered over time. During those first few days I remember clinging to the one path I knew that took me from the seminar house to the university and back again. At the time, mastering the twists and turns of only that on path was more than enough of a challenge with all the small side streets that looked practically identical and seemed to wind on forever in all directions.

Unknown areas marked as  masses of houses.

As the days went on I began mastering my little area, but as I became more comfortable with my navigation I noticed a separate subtly increasing discomfort. I could reach out my hand and touch a passing car, I could touch my neighbor’s house from my window, walls made clear boundaries between tightly nestled houses, what looked like one-way roads somehow fit cars going both ways, and the list goes on. I had heard the term ‘densely packed population’ before but I had never really understood what that meant for daily life, and subtly as time went on I began to feel frustrated without knowing why. But one day as I was walking around Hiriakata City and stumbled upon a park, I realized what I was missing, open space! Even the park itself was nestled inside the buildings of Hirakata City. It was just a concept of space I wasn’t used to.

Over time I got used to it, and felt more comfortable being contained and fitted into the limited space of my environment. The narrow streets made space for me and the crowded buses somehow managed accommodated my presence, and as I continued to explore the dense maze that made up my new home I learned to look at it all differently. The side streets that continued forever didn’t just wind of into oblivion, they went somewhere and if every once in a while, when I had a little time to get lost, I took a peek down one of them, more often than not I would stumble upon something interesting that would expand my map just a little bit more.

Mind Map of My lovely Neighbourhood (Ruobing)

Opening ceremony at Kansai Gaidai.

To be honest, I become lazy and want to quit school when the day is sunny in Hirakata. Please do not judge me before I explain it. Actually, my laziness is reasonable. Firstly, it takes me around 30 minutes to walk to campus, and secondly, I will sweat too much after this kind of morning exercise to have a good day. Thus, I learned two things from these two weeks that I should never trust the weather broadcast but only look out of my window to visually predict the temperature, moreover, the sunshine is actually reminding me of thinking carefully about which path should I choose for going to campus.

My map.

At the first two days (the pink line in my map), I followed the big road which is passing the central library. Then, I found out that I can rarely find any shadow in the morning along this road because it has lots of flat space. After two days, I almost killed by the big sun so that I explore the other road (the orange line). 

My lovely neighbourhood.

It is a small path across the neighbourhood, and the bushes and short trees along this small road which are using as the fence between each house provide me lots of shadow. This shortcut is end at a corner with a shrine. Also, there are so many old people live in this area and we always greeting with each other in the morning. 

Rainy scene from the bus window.

Moreover, I explore the area around the campus and I found several conbini store and fast Japanese food restaurant. At the first weekend of September, I went to Nagoya to visit my friends, this led me to explore the way to travel further in Japan. I ate a lot (see below) and had a lot of fun.

It is easy for me to consider myself as a part of this environment. For example, every time when I obey the traffic rule, the moment I pay in the conbini store, or the struggle that I have when I try to throw my trash. This neighbourhood is so lovely that I have to behave as well as I can to treat it back.

Kansai Gaidai at sunset.

Branching Out (Sasha)

My first map is probably a bit too detailed for a mind map, but at the time, I wanted to get an idea of the whole campus, and how everything fit together. Plus, we were given a lot of free time during orientation week, so I had many chances to take to a walk.

My first map 8/25

When we first got on campus, we had an event called Campus Orienteering, which was a stamp rally that made us go around to all the different buildings. One of the destinations was the ATM in between B and C building, which served as a landmark for me at the beginning. It doesn’t take international cards though, so I can’t actually use it. There are multiple ways of reaching a destination though, and doing the orienteering only revealed one possible route. After my own orienteering session ended, I wandered around campus (and snuck in with other orienteering groups) and explored some more.

I was so happy to find out that the buildings are all basically connected, although it does require a bit more weaving around than just going outside. Theoretically, since I live in Komachi Hall, I can walk to any building without having to go outside once. I am enjoying the coolness for now though.

Looking at my first map, my world was limited to the campus. AIU campus seems pretty small, and I get the feeling that there is a lot beyond it. I am interested in taking a walk on some the unknown paths, some of which go into the woods. There is something that concerns me though:

"Caution: Bears"

Yeah… I haven’t heard any bear stories, but I am wary.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been branching out slowly and steadily. The bus stop is mentioned in my first map, but I was more focused on my immediate surroundings at the time. At the two week mark, despite the fairly small area I’ve covered, I have been trying new things right and left. I have joined two sports clubs: tennis and badmitton; I have braved Aeon Mall multiple times (a very big feat for me); and at Café de Coco, I tried coffee for the first time in my life (and have resolved not to drink it again).

Caption: Café de Coco: We thought it was a walk-in café, but it was more of a sit-down restaurant. The coffee was good, but not to my taste.

Café de Coco: We thought it was a walk-in café, but it was more of a sit-down restaurant. The coffee was good, but not to my taste.

I still feel small compared to the world around me, but I also feel like I have grown substantially. I have yet to go to downtown Akita, but that’s next on the list.

Mental Maps and Familiarity (Jonah)

It’s coming up on almost two weeks since I’ve moved to Tokyo, and I seem to be settling in alright.  While admittedly I don’t have the best sense of direction, my mental map has definitely improved since I’ve arrived.  My dorm (RIR Shiinamachi) is located on a street in Nagasaki, Toshima, Tokyo.  The road that I’m on serves as more of a “main street” for my area, which is about a 20 minute walk from the main center of Ikebukuro.

My street

At first, this main road was my life.  There’s a convenience store 2 minutes down the street, and at the end of the street is Shiinamachi station which essentially is my portal to any other area in Tokyo.  I knew where to buy toiletries and gyudon, and not much else.  But now that I’ve been here for a while, my mental map has definitely grown larger.  I know have a comprehensive understanding of the street that I’m on, the many types of shops available there, some idea of how to get to Ikebukuro, and general knowledge of my campus.  

My first map.

I think that one of the more interesting aspects of this mapping exercise is that instead of starting with a focal point and expanding outwards, I have multiple focal points that aren’t exactly connected.  For example, I have a separate map for downtown Ikebukuro, but it is less detailed and in no way connected to the area I live in as represented in my earlier maps.  But now I have a general sense of what direction I need to head to get to Ikebukuro, as well as a vague understanding of one main road I can follow straight to Rikkyo’s campus and then Ikebukuro proper.  Soon the connections between all these hubs of sorts will be made clearer (although I admittedly think having mobile data access and google maps has student my geographical awareness a bit).

A little more clarity.

Concerning how I feel in these areas, I still definitely have an overwhelming feeling of being a foreigner.  However, in Nagasaki I am more confidently walking down the street to the convenience store and other shops as opposed to slowly walking and staring at everything in awe.  But just as soon as I “mastered” my area and became comfortable with the usually tranquil Nagasaki shrine, I was surprised yesterday by a sea of people and a festival occupying the space, making my new home also unrecognizable.  The experience of having the character of a neighborhood changed entirely through one event really hammered in the idea of how a city is a living, breathing, and changing organism.

I’m sure as time goes on I’ll feel more and more at home here, but even though it has only been a short while I have been very happy to live in a place that truly feels like a neighborhood.