As part of the International Public Relations class, a group of students and faculty are traveling to Tokyo and other nearby areas of Japan over spring break. Several students will blog about their experiences here. Click here for travel updates.
Day 1
Amy Goetz and Jill Siegel | March 9, 2008
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| Photo by Hiroo Tanabe |
| The group at Odaiba – across Tokyo Bay from the city of Tokyo. A replica of the the Statue of Liberty is in the background. |
Classmates Erica Ballard and Lucia Jimenez enjoyed sashimi and sushi for lunch, and noted its freshness. Erica even tasted natto (fermented soybean), which we were warned not to try. After tasting it, she knew why.
Leaving Asakusa, the group hit the water for an alternative view of the city. Traveling on the Tokyo Bay Cruise Line, we docked at Odaiba, a man-made island just outside of Tokyo where we toured the Fuji Television Station. In Odaiba, we witnessed the colorful, creative workings of Japanese television. Odaiba is also home to its very own Statue of Liberty, and the Rainbow Bridge (a look-a-like of the Golden Gate bridge).
To contrast the previous night’s traditional Japanese dinner, tonight we had the Japanese version of Italian food. The menu offered numerous alternatives to a traditional Italian menu, such as octopus ink instead of marinara, and shrimp instead of pepperoni. The one thing that does not change from culture to culture- great chocolate cake for dessert.
Tomorrow the group is heading to the Tsukiji fish market. Afterwards, we are touring the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest newspapers.
More to come.
Sayonara!
Amy-san and Jill-san
Sunday in Asakusa and Odaiba
Beth Moellers | March 9, 2008
Today’s schedule was developed to allow the students an opportunity to recover from the travel and to see special sites in Tokyo. The group met at 11 to travel by subway to the Asakusa area, one of the main tourist attractions in the city.The Asakusa area includes Tokyo’s oldest temple, built originally in 645, and a Shinto shrine built in the 1600s. The temple has a 10-foot red lantern at its main gate and is seen in a famous woodblock print by Hiroshige from his series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Edo was the original name for Tokyo).
http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/jpon/ho_JP2519.htm
Nearby is an old shopping area, with about 100 outdoor stalls, which is a prime spot for Japanese souvenirs.
The students had nice weather, sunny and about 60 degrees, for an afternoon boat ride on the Sumida River. The boat from Asakusa travels under 13 bridges before stopping near the Rainbow Bridge. From there the group took a monorail across the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba, a modern development at Tokyo Bay.
In Odaiba, the students saw exhibits at Fuji TV headquarters. After dinner in Odaiba, they returned to the hotel around 9:30 p.m. With the change in the United States to daylight saving time, Tokyo is now 13 hours ahead of Bloomington.
Monday: In the morning, students will tour Tsukiji fish market, the largest market of its kind in the world. In the afternoon, they will begin their media studies component of the course with a visit to Asahi Shimbun, the second largest newspaper in the world with a morning circulation throughout Japan of about 8 million and an afternoon circulation of about 3.7 million. In the evening, they will be joined at dinner in the Shinjuku area by Shuri Fukunaga of Burson-Marsteller.
Arriving in Japan
Beth Moellers | March 8, 2008
The ANA flight arrived in Tokyo about 20 to 30 minutes early, and the students cleared immigration and customs. They took the Narita Express, the train to and from the airport, for about one hour into the city, arriving at Tokyo Station.The group is staying at the Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi, a new hotel next to Tokyo Station.
Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi:
http://www.jrhotelgroup.com/eng/hotel/eng155.htm
Students were able to rest before their dinner reservation at 7:30. Prior to dinner, they looked around the train station at nearby restaurants and shops. The hotel and train station are near Ginza, the famous shopping district, and the Imperial Palace.
Train station and area:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3037.html
The students walked to dinner, which was held at a restaurant near the station. The Yabukyu Restaurant is more than 100 years old and has a specialty in soba, which often refers to a style of thin buckwheat noodles. Soba also means buckwheat in Japanese, so the restaurant offered special dishes including soba as a main ingredient.
They dined in a private room with four tables and were served a multi-course traditional Japanese meal.
Students and faculty returned to the hotel around 10 p.m. (8 a.m. Bloomington time), or about 24 hours after they left the Indianapolis airport.
Sunday: Students are free in the morning to rest from the travel. The group will meet at 11 a.m. in the hotel lobby to visit Asakusa, one of the most popular tourist sites in Tokyo, known for its large red lantern that has appeared in many paintings. They will take a river cruise and visit the Rainbow Bridge. Dinner will be in the Odaiba area at Tokyo Bay.
Update: Here are the highlights of the week in Japan:
- Visit the Tsukiji fish market — the largest fish market in the world (Mon 3/10)
- Visit the Ashahi Shimbun — one of the world’s largest newspapers (Mon 3/10)
- Visit Nissan’s world headquarters — and meet with Vice President-Communications Simon Sproule and his team (Tue a.m. 3/11)
- Visit Nissan’s plant in Oppama, Japan (Tue p.m. 3/11)
- Take train three hours to Nikko — historical and cultural area (Wed 3/12)
- Dinner with Shuri Fukunaga of Burson-Marsteller — one of Japan’s top women in PR (Wed 3/12)
- Visit Bloomberg’s Tokyo offices; meet with Managing Director Peter Langan and his team (Thu a.m. 3/13)
- Visit U.S. Embassy-Tokyo. Meet with U.S. Ambassador Tom Schieffer and Press Attache David Marks (an IU grad) (Th p.m. 3/13)
- Meet with NEWSWEEK Asian Bureau Chief Christian Caryl (Th p.m. 3/13)
- Visit Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan for tour, panel discussion (Th p.m. 3/13)
- Visit Gavin Anderson’s (PR firm) Tokyo offices — and meet with Managing Director William Sposato (Fri 3/14)
- Meet with Mazda Corporate Communications team (Fri p.m. 3/14)
- Karaoke (Fri p.m. 3/14)
- Fly back to U.S. (Sat 3/15)
Flying to Japan
Beth Moellers | March 7, 2008
The 16 International Public Relations students and faculty members Jim Bright and Radhika Parameswaran left Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport at 10:45 this morning (Central time) on an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight to Tokyo.The flight to Japan will take about 13 hours. The plane will land at Narita International Airport, one of the world’s key airports, around 2:50 p.m. Saturday.
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/
Tokyo is 14 hours ahead, so the plane will land around 1 a.m. Saturday, Bloomington time.
The airport is east of Tokyo and students will take the Narita Express train into the city.
The group spent Thursday night at the Radisson hotel near the Indianapolis International Airport in preparation for the early morning flight to Chicago.
En route
Tim Street | March 7, 2008
The Japan group departed from the Indianapolis airport this morning and will stop in Chicago before continuing on their way to Japan.Student blogging
Tim Street | March 7, 2008
Student blogging will begin on Saturday, March 9. Until then, you can check the travel updates section for basic information about what the group is doing.