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This week in the InsideJapan UK office we have had Anna Rogers from Katharine Lady Berkeley School visiting for her year 11 work experience, learning the ins and outs of working in the travel industry. Anna is 15 and studying for her Japanese GCSE, and she recently visited Japan for 10 days to brush up on her language skills, staying with a host family in Yamanashi Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo.
As well as helping us out with a number of tasks, Anna has written a blog about her favourite experiences from her trip to Japan. Read on to hear her first-timer’s take on Japan…
1. Itchiku Kubota’s Kimono Museum
This museum is dedicated to the life and work of the kimono-maker Itchiku Kubota. It was amazing to see the different styles and colours – I hadn’t realised they were so big! There was also a video showing the process of creating the kimonos, which was really interesting.
2. Lake Kawaguchi Tour
This was a short boat tour around the lake. You could stand outside on deck or sit down inside, and on a good day there are great views of Mount Fuji. When I visited I could partially see the mountain but it was half hidden by clouds.
3. Yakiniku Restaurant
Visiting a yakiniku restaurant was exciting as I had never been to anywhere like it before. The menu was a list of raw meat which you order and then cook on a grill in the centre of the table. My host family ordered and cooked everything for me and enjoyed watching my response as I tried each of the different meats. But I’m a meat-lover, so everything they gave me was delicious!
4. Sushi Bar
This was an amazing experience as it was my first time in a sushi bar, let alone in Japan. We used a pointer to order our food from a large TV screen at our table, and the order total would be added up on the screen. The conveyor belt at the end of the table would keep moving and when your order came along it would be pushed from the belt into the middle of the table.
5. Fuji-Q Highland
Fuji-Q Highland is a large theme park close to Lake Kawaguchi and Mount Fuji. There is a great range of rides from some of the world’s largest and fastest rollercoasters to merry-go-rounds, and the French-style model town with its cafés and mini story ride is particularly pretty to walk through at night.
6. Kachi Kachi Ropeway
In the Fuji Five Lakes region I took this cable car to the top of a mountain at the edge of Lake Kawaguchi. At the top you are able to see the whole lake, Mount Fuji, Fuji-Q and the surrounding area. I was amazed at how far I could see, and as I visited Fuji-Q the next day it was really exciting to visit the theme park I had seen from the top of a mountain the day before.
7. Yamanashi Kenritsu Hakubutsukan
This museum was located in the area where I was staying and was mainly about the local history. As well as a lot of models and old pieces of pottery, there was a section about old Japanese housing and toys, and a video game where you had to explore an old-style Japanese town. You could dress up into old Japanese clothing too. It was an interesting interactive museum, and I particularly enjoyed the model houses.
8. Edo Tokyo Museum
This was my favourite museum I visited in japan – it was massive and covered three floors in total. The first floor contained gift shops where you could buy a number of traditional Japanese items, while the second and third floor were the museum itself. There were a variety of model houses, totem poles, boats, model cars and much more – as well as a koto demonstration (traditional Japanese string instrument) every hour.
9. Karaoke
On my last day in Japan we had a go at karaoke. It was really interesting to see people come out of their shells and give it a go… especially my teacher. He sang two songs; one in Japanese and one in English. By the end he was jumping around and head banging between lyrics. It was definitely… surprising…
By the end, everyone enjoyed it so much that we actually ran out of time to sing all the songs we had planned.
10. Purikura
This was a massive part of what I did in japan. Purikura is the name for a photo booth which basically adds effects, filters, make-up and writing to your photos then prints them out in strips or sends them to your email. First you select the number of people, then you can change the settings to give yourself massive eyes or heavy make-up or none of these, then you take the photos in the booth before choosing the frame, filter, stickers and writing.
11. Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba
This small show village is a museum of old-style Japanese housing. I spent a few hours here and our school booked a paper making session. To make traditional Japanese paper you scoop the fibres into a mould and squeeze the water out. We all had a go and by the end I had my own paper to take back home. There were also a few shops where I bought a couple of souvenirs (chopsticks and a crystal Mount Fuji), and I bought a dango (Japanese sweet dumpling) too which was delicious!