The Japan (Summer) Diaries - Day 6
Just when I thought that all the judo was complete for the trip, with the remaining week being spent solely exploring Japan, turns out I was wrong!
On the sixth day of my summer 2015 Japan trip, me and my fellow judokas started out early for our Sensei's childhood high school, to practice judo with the current high school students. On the walk to the high school itself, he took us on a detour to a nearby park, looking more like a forest plopped into the middle of a city to me; as did all of the others parks I have visited in Tokyo. But this was my first park to visit in Japan, so I was in awe of the peacefulness and the seclusion it offered. We saw koi in the ponds, trees and plants indigenous to Japan, even a small waterfall. All the while, our ears being filled with the noise of the humming cicadas.
After the walk through the park, we all stopped at a nearby convenience store, to stock up on plenty of water before practice - and coffee, for me. It had quickly become my mission to try new everything every opportunity I got, so I choose this Mt. Rainier espresso and milk to-go coffee, complete with the adorable bendy straw you stab through the lid.
I’ve since lost count of the amount of culture shocks I had already had on this trip by this point, but arriving at the high school, I couldn't help but feel a bit odd just walking onto the campus without notifying an office.
Their Judo facility was by far the best I had ever currently been in. While the Kodokan was certainly historic and quite large, despite the lack of AC, this high school was very modernized. Our group was only a tad bit jealous because where we practiced back home was simply an empty gym equipment supply room, where we had to roll out our heavy mat every practice. The tatami (mat) here was so nice, a room built specifically for judo! The whole place was amazing. Practicing with the high school team was certainly challenging, they fought with such skilled intensity, as the majority were already black belts. Fun fact: I was the only girl at practice.
After two hours of practice, we had lunch with the team and our coach's, with some of us journeying back to the nearby convenience store to snag some extra food for lunch. At the end of lunch, we exchanged gifts with the team, also known as "omiyage". This is very customary in the Japanese culture, where you exchange a gift from where you are from and vice-versa. They gave each of us sweat towels and a frozen sports drink (a must for this insane heat!), green tea KitKats, and Mt. Fuji-shaped cookies.
Next stop: adventure time! Minus our sensei and the judo team from his former high school, we all hopped on a bus toward Tokyo Tower. We had been taking subways mostly, so it was a nice change being able to sight-see out the windows, people watching and soaking up every bit of Tokyo that I could.
Did you know that the Tokyo Tower is actually 3 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower? It’s also quite the orange color. We took the trip to the top for amazing views of the city, but unfortunately too smoggy for a view of Mt. Fuji. Some notable sites from the top: Skytree and the Imperial Palace grounds.
I grabbed a matcha ice cream from the food court inside Tokyo Tower on our way down, then we made our way to Roppongi Hills, a gorgeous shopping area, stopping at Mori Tower. We were under the impression that it was a shopping area, but it’s in fact an office building and art museum as well. I grabbed a quick dinner at a cafe, along with a delicious cappuccino before heading to the famous Shibuya Crossing! I still wasn’t tired yet after our exhausting judo practice, so wanted to squeeze in a bit more exploring before retiring for the night. Seeing the amount of people crossing was overwhelming yet phenomenal all at once. I watched the process completely before crossing it myself and then doing a little souvenir shopping to cap off the night.
I even saw a Hooters! I am still shocked to this day.
So, where to next?
