Scavenger Hunt (Jonah)

For my assignment this week, I was tasked with finding the former home and gardens of the founder of Mitsubishi.  I researched the history of the company and looked into which of the properties of previous owners had the most historical recognition.  Eventually I found my destination: the Kyu-Iwasaki-Tei Garden.

The estate was just off of one end of Ueno park, as as I walked to the entrance I noticed a walled barrier multiple blocks long around the property.  After walking up the long entrance pathway, the house came into view.

I was very surprised to see this type of architecture in Japan.

The house belonged to the Iwasaki family, and the construction of the house was commissioned by Hisaya Iwasaki, son of the original founder of the company.  The western style of the property was representative of the new interest in importing western styles during the Meiji Era.  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside.

As I walked through the house, I looked at all the furniture and though “wow, some of the richest people in Japan lived here”.  But as I quickly found out, the western house was actually used primarily as a guest house!  The section where the Iwasaki family spent most of their time in was the Japanese style home.  While much smaller today, the Japanese section of the house was once massive and had many rooms, all with traditional tatami and sliding doors.  There was also a small tea house within this section.

A view of a small garden from the interior of the Japanese-style section.

After walking quickly through the Japanese house, you emerge onto the backyard and see just how large the property really is.  There is a sprawling lawn and view of both the house and gardens.  I took a quick walk through these gardens, which just for a second made me feel like I was outside Tokyo.

A very sharp contrast to the western-style residence.

The scale of the house and property was truly enormous for a private residence in Tokyo.  At this time the property has been declared a historical landmark.  However, I couldn’t help but feel that the majority of the property seemed to be a shell of its former self.  The garden for the most part was a wide and empty lawn, which many apartment buildings in view.  I would have loved to see the full gardens and Japanese property in its full glory, but was still grateful to see what was left.

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.  

Anxiety and Unknown (Jonah)

While I’ve already been in Japan for over three days now, I still feel like I’m not totally here.  I’ve been struggling to wrap my head around around the idea of being somewhere so far away without any of my loved ones nearby.  To be honest, I’ve spent most of the past day or so in my room trying to figure out how I want to approach my time here.  As I set out on this journey, I think about where I’m at in my life right now and what I want to improve on, as well as what I think will cause me to struggle.  At Beloit, I had a small group of friends who I saw every day and was very comfortable with.  We spent a lot of time just hanging out, and not really engaging with the community/venturing off campus in any capacity.  This summer, I spent the majority of my time living at home and seeing childhood friends in an area I’ve had my entire life to discover.  What excites and terrifies me about Tokyo is how it stands in stark contrast to everything I’ve grown comfortable with.

Tokyo is the largest city in the world, both by land area and population density.  While I’ve had a good amount of time to explore Chicago during my time I studied there, I usually stuck to the neighborhood my old college campus was in.  I also had my family 40 minutes away by train.  Here in Tokyo, the city is an endless expanse of unknown that looms outside.  There are seas of people who look nothing like me, and every time I hear someone speak fluent Japanese to me I have a mini panic attack, my brain clamoring for the ease of communication that was possible back home.  I spent a lot of time in Maine this summer, so I became accustomed to lots of space and nature to look at.  However, now my claustrophobic nature is acting up more than ever.

So right now, I’m terrified and excited.  Terrified because I have never felt more unfamiliar with my surroundings, but excited because I get to go out and change that.  With time I will learn to master at least the neighborhood around my dorm, and maybe even be able to navigate around Ikebukuro station.  Tokyo has so much to offer, and I am eager to learn as much as I can about the amazing city that I’m living in.  I hope to become more self-sufficient than I was at home, and come back more confident in my ability to take charge of my own life.

My initial journey to Japan tested me from the get-go: my first flight was cancelled and I spent two hours rushing around help desks trying to get a re-routed flight.  Initially I was excited when I was upgraded to a direct flight from Chicago, but that excitement quickly vanished when I arrived at Narita and found out my luggage had not made it on to my plane.  I showed up to my dorm with no toiletries and the clothes on my back.  The next day was an exercise in patience, but many people in my building and beyond have been more than helpful.  I’ve made friends with the dorm’s cook/building attendant, and he intercepted the delivery truck for me and held on to my luggage.  I am now fully equipped and ready to start exploring.

So why haven’t I?  It’s easy to let my anxiety about this huge city get to me, and as such I haven’t done nearly enough exploring.  But I’m ready to go out and get lost.  I know that by the time I’m done here I will have improved my language skills, made lots of new friends, learned more about what I’m capable of, and come back home with new confidence.  For now, I’m going to dive into this anxiety and walk around until I have no idea where I am.  I’m sure I’ll find someone who I can (admittedly in broken Japanese) ask for directions and have them point me the way home.