School of Planning, Design and Construction

There were fifteen of us, fresh off thirteen hour flights and in a hemisphere opposite where we had spent the last three years taking classes together, and we had just arrived in Tokyo, Japan for the beginning of our study abroad. 

Led by Professor Patricia Machemer and Roger Hamlin, as well as Riko, a Japanese student who had come to Michigan State University on her own study abroad two years prior, we set about exploring this incredible new world. The first day was mostly concerned with getting to our hotel and catching some sleep so we would be functional, but the next morning saw us getting up and running off to Shinjuku for our JR train passes, giving us unfettered access to nearly all of Japan. From there, it became a world of differences—finding our sea legs on public subways, exploring districts as varied as they were numerous, devouring ramen and gyoza and omurice and okonomiyaki and sushi. To all of us, it was impossible not to see how much there was to absorb and learn, every turned street an opportunity to know more. 

Together, we walked through Tokyo's history, starting with the famed Sensō-ji, the oldest temple in Tokyo, where we bought omikuji—fortune slips—and sketched its gorgeous architecture. We took a day trip to walk through Nikko Toshōgu Temple, wherein the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa Shōgunate is enshrined, seeing the famous hear no evil, see no evil, and say no evil monkey statues and Yomeimon Gate. We wandered through Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in the height of cherry blossom season, the protected forest of Meiji Jingu, the varied streets of Shibuya. Everywhere you looked was another relic of a city we were only dipping our toes in, seeing how Tokyo was both similar and unknown. The density of its population, how its greenery and parks are placed on top of roofs to maximize space, how every building has a different material and architectural style to make each street seem as though a collage of new ideas. 

Our second week began with an eight-hour train ride to Okayama, away from the towering metropolis and past rolling countryside, snaking rivers and looming mountains. From there, we split as a group, one half going to the Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima and the other to Kōraku-en, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Ritsurin Garden, a Special Place of Beauty, welcomed us as we sketched away the hours of traditional Japanese landscaping and natural formations. Then we wandered through open markets and street vendors, eating more than our fill and stuffing our pockets with gifts found nowhere else in the world. We spent the shortest amount of time here, but I think I can still see the overlook of Ujo Park from Marunouchi every time I close my eyes. 

Then we were off to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan—and we saw this right away, as we visited Kiyomizudera Temple and saw the Seiryū-e Festival, or Blue Dragon Festival, that only takes place three times a year. A sixty-foot dragon is carried throughout the temple to symbolize the incarnation of Kan'non visiting to drink the pure waters, the air bright with drums and song. Then we explored the difference of sketching from a picture versus in person with our visit to Kinkaku-ji Temple, the Golden Pavilion, and later explored a traditional Japanese dry garden at Daitoku-ji. Kyoto is the previous capital of Japan and we were able to visit the old Imperial Palace, walking through its sprawling lands and royal gardens. Just in case we weren't getting our steps in, we also climbed Mount Inari, the shrine with ten thousand torii gates along the route to its sacred peak. All around Kyoto are pockets of a history so intricate it threatens credulity; from theatre dance festivals to ancient shrines to markets that have been open since before America's conception. Kyoto is the centerpiece of this feeling, and truly opened our eyes to the world beyond. 

Then, for our third week, we headed back north to Kanazawa, a relic of an older time. Walking through Nagamachi, a preserved samurai district from the Edo era or seeing a canal that has run unchanged for over three hundred years is a humbling feeling, particularly against the backdrop of a cherry blossom-lined river and distant mountains. As a group, we took a bus up to Shirakawa, a traditional mountain village that is one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites, where we kicked through snow piles and snowmelt from the mountains we were surrounded in. The architecture here is called gassho-zukuri, using no nails or metal and instead wood and thatched grass from their surroundings, entirely unique for us to see. Then we traveled to Kenroku-en, another of the Three Great Gardens, known for its beauty in all seasons. With the cherry blossoms in full swing and a not-so-gentle rain driving away competition for beautiful vistas, it's easy to see how it earned the accolades it wears. Kanazawa Castle came next, exploring a reconstructed wing made using only traditional construction methods and materials. We got to test our mettle at Nichiren Myoryu-ji Temple, also called Ninja Temple, which has many things to help outfox assailants such as pitfalls, secret staircases, hidden floors, and a passage concealed within a well shaft. 

To catch our flight, we returned to Tokyo to spend our last two days, exploring everything we'd missed and searching for a last few souvenirs to pad our pockets. Gathering together for that final meal in a karaoke bar, ultimately knowing so much more of our world than when we started—there is no feeling quite like it. I know that every one of us has been changed for the better by this trip, seeing and learning from a perspective quite literally on the opposite side of the world, and we will all bring this back to our studies. 

I cannot believe I was able to go on this trip, nor all the wonders I found there. This is something I will treasure for the rest of my life and always look fondly upon, and to that I must thank the professors and faculty who helped organize and lead us on this journey, the Chipman family for their overwhelming support to take us across distant seas, and for the Michigan State University Landscape Architecture program as a whole for giving me this miraculous opportunity. From my heart, and from that of all my classmates—thank you!