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!