Spring Break
Study abroad program focuses on Japanese writer
Maiko Michishita
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: News
Brandon Pickhardt, a senior history major, said he enjoyed going to an old-fashion soy sauce work site and watching the fermentation process of making homemade soy sauce, which takes about a year or two to be bottled.
It tastes much more different from what people buy in the U.S., he said.
After Shimane, students had about a week to visit Tokyo for shopping or sightseeing. Then they headed to Yokohama, where a modern aspect of Japan can be seen.
Part of the Unfamiliar Japan program was to visit the temples Lafcadio mentioned in his book and to compare sites more than 100 years ago to current sites.
"Several attractions, shrines or places we went, were kind of retracing the steps of Lafcadio," Pickhardt said.
Students spent one day in Yokohama by actually retracing Lafcadio's first day in Japan and visited four shrines were Lafcadio visited in 1890.
The places of the temples Lafcadio visited were discovered by amateur scholar Daichi Fukushima, a brother of Tatsuya Fukushima. Students met him in Yokohama, where he showed students around.
"That was kind of neat," Pickhardt said. "We compare Lafcadio's descriptions of where the temples were, how they looked and how they look now."
Other than comparing traditional and modern aspects of Japan, students also enjoyed having various kinds of experiences in Japan.
Students had an opportunity to do some activities with Japanese students from Shimane University and Kanto Gakuin University.
With those Japanese students, they visited famous places, bowling, shopping and singing karaoke.
"I always wanted to be exposed to [Japanese] native speakers," Snow said. He enjoyed hanging out with Shimane students and participated in activities including karaoke, which he had never done in the U.S.
Fujimoto said he wanted students to experience Japanese-style college parties as much as he enjoyed a home party in the U.S. when he came to the UA for a three-week study abroad program two years ago. He invited students to his apartment and made traditional Japanese food like Takoyaki, which is octopus dumplings.
It tastes much more different from what people buy in the U.S., he said.
After Shimane, students had about a week to visit Tokyo for shopping or sightseeing. Then they headed to Yokohama, where a modern aspect of Japan can be seen.
Part of the Unfamiliar Japan program was to visit the temples Lafcadio mentioned in his book and to compare sites more than 100 years ago to current sites.
"Several attractions, shrines or places we went, were kind of retracing the steps of Lafcadio," Pickhardt said.
Students spent one day in Yokohama by actually retracing Lafcadio's first day in Japan and visited four shrines were Lafcadio visited in 1890.
The places of the temples Lafcadio visited were discovered by amateur scholar Daichi Fukushima, a brother of Tatsuya Fukushima. Students met him in Yokohama, where he showed students around.
"That was kind of neat," Pickhardt said. "We compare Lafcadio's descriptions of where the temples were, how they looked and how they look now."
Other than comparing traditional and modern aspects of Japan, students also enjoyed having various kinds of experiences in Japan.
Students had an opportunity to do some activities with Japanese students from Shimane University and Kanto Gakuin University.
With those Japanese students, they visited famous places, bowling, shopping and singing karaoke.
"I always wanted to be exposed to [Japanese] native speakers," Snow said. He enjoyed hanging out with Shimane students and participated in activities including karaoke, which he had never done in the U.S.
Fujimoto said he wanted students to experience Japanese-style college parties as much as he enjoyed a home party in the U.S. when he came to the UA for a three-week study abroad program two years ago. He invited students to his apartment and made traditional Japanese food like Takoyaki, which is octopus dumplings.
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