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| Photo by Lauryn Gray |
| Graduate student Emily Bomersback is headed to Japan as part of a fellowship. |
Bomersback left Nov. 20 for the two-week trip. She reports below on her experiences.
- Read more about Bomersback’s selection for the fellowship.
Trip Diary
“Be a Traveler, not a Tourist” — Anthony Bourdain |
| Courtesy photo |
| Graduate student Emily Bomersback encountered a few challenges, such as a broken luggage handle. But none spoiled her tour of Japan, she said. |
It was the beginning of what I believed would be an incredible day — that is, until the handle broke off my suitcase, thereby forcing me to appear as a hunchback as I had to tug my bag along by its small carrying handle for the rest of the trip. Oh, the joys of traveling!
Kobe
After only a few hours in Kobe, the city became my favorite of our journey. We started the day with a visit to the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, an experience both saddening and memorable. This museum serves as a memorial for all the victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe, which took the lives of over 6,000 people. At this installation, we looked at artifacts from the quake and learned more about those who were lost in this disaster, as well as saw the structural changes designed to counteract the effects future earthquakes.
After visiting this site, we headed to the Takatori Community Center where we met with those who survived the earthquake and listened closely as they shared their personal stories with us. They were emotional about loved ones they lost and spoke about how difficult it is, even now, to cope.
After an emotional day, evening festivities included a spectacular meal of seafood stew, complete with fresh noodles, vegetables and crawfish; playing games and getting to know each other better; and ending the evening at a magical placed called “Happy Feat,” which I won’t soon forget. I love Kobe!
Kyoto
Taking the early morning local train from Kobe to Kyoto was the perfect way to begin one of the final days of our trip. As I sat snuggled tightly against my window seat, sun shining warmly on my face as I slowly drifted off to sleep, I couldn’t help but daydream about the coming day and how incredible it was going to be to see traditional Japan. The type of Japan that I’d been hoping to experience, the type of Japan that I’d seen in movies and old magazines, the type of Japan that I had hoped still existed.
Kyoto provided just this type of experience. Our first stop was visiting the golden temple, Kinkaku-ji, a Zen-Buddhist temple that is one of the most peaceful, awe-inspiring and beautiful places that I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. With the autumn leaves brightly colored and filling the grounds with the most beautiful of backgrounds, I couldn’t help but be excited to be walking around this scared place, experiencing it with these people, taking in the sights of a more traditional Japan that’s hard to experience within everyday life. Truly moving.
Other highlights of the day included partaking a traditional Japanese tea ceremony at Koudoukan, visiting a Zen garden and taking in all its beauty and peacefulness, taking a stroll along the Kamo River at night, watching as the illuminated buildings and trees seemed to brighten up the night sky and even the weariest of traveler, staying in a traditional Machi-ya and sharing memories together, meeting with the mayor of Kyoto and sharing inspirational words of future journalists and their endeavors, having a final Japanese meal together and partaking in food that’s so unbelievably good that my taste buds will forever be spoiled, and enjoying our last days together in Japan as a fellowship group, by the one activity that transcends all borders: karaoke!
This experience has been one that I am so incredibly grateful for and certainly one that I will never forget. Japan has truly opened my eyes to the important balance of nature and culture and the positive and tranquil effects it can have. It has taught me the importance of people and taking the time to slow down and learn others’ stories to gain a greater understanding for where they’re going, where they want to end up and how we can help each other get there. Most important, it has invigorated my sense of travel and adventure, this internal feeling that continually leads me to travel, to explore more, to continually try to understand this large world we live and how I, as one individual, can have a positive and lasting impact upon it.
I want to do as Bourdain suggests and not merely be a tourist, but a traveler, someone who explores the world with an open mind, looking to take as much from these experiences as I can in an effort to encourage others to do the same. If the world truly is our oyster, then Japan has certainly been one of the most beautiful pearls that I could ever hope to find. I can only hope that someday others will be led to go in search of its beauty as well.
After an emotional day, evening festivities included a spectacular meal of seafood stew, complete with fresh noodles, vegetables and crawfish; playing games and getting to know each other better; and ending the evening at a magical placed called “Happy Feat,” which I won’t soon forget. I love Kobe!
Kyoto
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| Courtesy photo |
| Bomersback visited the golden temple, Kinkaku-ji, a Zen-Buddhist temple she called "one of the most peaceful, awe-inspiring and beautiful places." |
Kyoto provided just this type of experience. Our first stop was visiting the golden temple, Kinkaku-ji, a Zen-Buddhist temple that is one of the most peaceful, awe-inspiring and beautiful places that I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. With the autumn leaves brightly colored and filling the grounds with the most beautiful of backgrounds, I couldn’t help but be excited to be walking around this scared place, experiencing it with these people, taking in the sights of a more traditional Japan that’s hard to experience within everyday life. Truly moving.
Other highlights of the day included partaking a traditional Japanese tea ceremony at Koudoukan, visiting a Zen garden and taking in all its beauty and peacefulness, taking a stroll along the Kamo River at night, watching as the illuminated buildings and trees seemed to brighten up the night sky and even the weariest of traveler, staying in a traditional Machi-ya and sharing memories together, meeting with the mayor of Kyoto and sharing inspirational words of future journalists and their endeavors, having a final Japanese meal together and partaking in food that’s so unbelievably good that my taste buds will forever be spoiled, and enjoying our last days together in Japan as a fellowship group, by the one activity that transcends all borders: karaoke!
This experience has been one that I am so incredibly grateful for and certainly one that I will never forget. Japan has truly opened my eyes to the important balance of nature and culture and the positive and tranquil effects it can have. It has taught me the importance of people and taking the time to slow down and learn others’ stories to gain a greater understanding for where they’re going, where they want to end up and how we can help each other get there. Most important, it has invigorated my sense of travel and adventure, this internal feeling that continually leads me to travel, to explore more, to continually try to understand this large world we live and how I, as one individual, can have a positive and lasting impact upon it.
I want to do as Bourdain suggests and not merely be a tourist, but a traveler, someone who explores the world with an open mind, looking to take as much from these experiences as I can in an effort to encourage others to do the same. If the world truly is our oyster, then Japan has certainly been one of the most beautiful pearls that I could ever hope to find. I can only hope that someday others will be led to go in search of its beauty as well.
Okinawa
Nov. 29, 2010
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| Courtesy photo |
| Emily Bomersback with Tsuchida Takenobu, former professor of Okinawa University who guided the group in Okinawa. |
On the other side of the spectrum, we visited the controversial Futenma military base and met with representatives from the U.S. Marines to talk about their stance on the United States military presence in Okinawa and its integral role of safety for both Japanese and American citizens. This perspective, a counterpart what we’d heard just a few days before, helped to mold this great contrast over our four days spent on the island.
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| Photo by Emily Bomersback |
| An activist at Okinawa beach hands out information every day. |
Bag of wasabi-coated peanuts in hand, Obento box dinner wrapped up neatly in my carry-on bag, can of Boss Coffee drink somehow piping hot yet dispersed from a vending machine, boarding pass tucked into my suit jacket pocket, scarf tied neatly around my neck, I’m on my way. Off to Kobe!
Waseda Univeristy
Nov. 27, 2010
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| Courtesy photo |
| Emily Bomersback toured the Tsukiji fish market while in Japan. She also visited with Japanese journalism students. |
Things here in Japan certainly do move at a much different pace and with an average of four hours of sleep per night. I've been really pushing myself to keep up. I suppose one might say that this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for shoes that can keep my feet comfortable for 12 hours of walking per day, note pads with enough paper to capture all my thoughts and reflections on a daily basis, and a camera that's durable enough to survive hours of endless shooting to document the last few days.
We visited Waseda University, the best journalism school in Japan, to meet with professor Shiro Segawa and talk with his journalism students. Funny that even halfway across the globe, you can put a group of journalism students together and after about 15 minutes of talking, conversations automatically turn to griping about not enough time to finish video projects, script editing, discrepancies in media theory, inadequate printing quotes and the like.
Other special visits included a meeting with the ministry of foreign affairs to talk about the state of Japan and what it is that we, as journalists, don’t seem to get quite right in our reporting of it; a visit to NHK, the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation; and a visit to Asahi Newspaper Journalism School at one of the biggest papers in the country.
Journalism aside, however, anyone would have been impressed by one of our last visits before leaving Tokyo: the Tsukiji fish market. With the smell of the sea filling the air, fish flying left and right before our eyes, jigsaws used to cut apart massive tunas. It was interesting to see this very integral part of Japan’s economy being displayed right in front of us. I shall have fish blood and sea salt forever stained on my blue and white striped flats to serve as a lasting reminder of the experience.
We are leaving Tokyo this morning for Okinawa. I've always been interested in the delicate relationship between the United States and Japan on this issue, so it will be so interesting to see how we're received there and what residents think about the base. I hope to gain more understanding and maybe even a tan. After all, it is going to be 70 degrees and it is an island on the Pacific Ocean.
Journalism aside, however, anyone would have been impressed by one of our last visits before leaving Tokyo: the Tsukiji fish market. With the smell of the sea filling the air, fish flying left and right before our eyes, jigsaws used to cut apart massive tunas. It was interesting to see this very integral part of Japan’s economy being displayed right in front of us. I shall have fish blood and sea salt forever stained on my blue and white striped flats to serve as a lasting reminder of the experience.
We are leaving Tokyo this morning for Okinawa. I've always been interested in the delicate relationship between the United States and Japan on this issue, so it will be so interesting to see how we're received there and what residents think about the base. I hope to gain more understanding and maybe even a tan. After all, it is going to be 70 degrees and it is an island on the Pacific Ocean.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nov. 22, 2010
After waking up this morning and having a chance to wipe the sleep out of my jet-lagged eyes to begin the day with our first meeting, it has finally started to set in: Wow, I'm in Japan! This was easily evident by our breakfast choices: steamed rice, salmon ovaries, some form of strawberry yogurt, egg drop soup, sauteed vegetables, vegetable salad and, last but not least, tea. Nothing like perfecting your chopstick skills at 9 a.m. to get the day off to a great start.
After getting fueled, it was off to the Japan Foundation to get a briefing about the program and some powerful words about a journalist's role in Japan. The responsibility that we have as journalists is to prepare citizens for the world around them by providing them with unbiased and truthful story lines. These stories should both inform citizens about the world around them and encourage them to form their own identities and ideals towards these spaces. For us, this is a process that can best be achieved by traveling, discovering and educating ourselves about the world around us. Learning more about this process is the reason for the program and this trip to Japan: A cultural exchange. A possible change of thought, heart and mind. An adventure.
To start off the process, we visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to learn more about Japan's diplomatic policy and its interest in reducing global emissions. We discussed how journalists can work together with these ideals in mind to achieve global understanding of other countries and to work together to make our surroundings, no matter what our geographical locations, cleaner and less polluted.
Looking back at the events of the day, I have to pinch myself as I'm still so elated and humbled to be a part of this 13-day look into the people, places and culture of Japan. I can't help but get excited for the adventures yet to come, starting tonight: Karaoke!