DAY SIX: Wow. Its already been six days in Japan. Time flies by so fast when youre having the time of your life. Today we all woke up a little later than usual, at about 8:45 am and headed out seperately to Waseda University. We all gathered in the ICC buildings to meet Mr. Robert, the coordinator of programme who then led us to the space where we would be performing our much anticipated show on India day. After practicing and showing Mr. Robert a brief rehearsal of our final show we headed out for lunch at the fully equiped Waseda canteen. There's so much variety and choices in the food items that i was amazed even though it was my second time in the canteen.

Rehearsal in the room for India Day

Lunch at waseda

                                 


After lunch we visited Waseda university's writing centre. Mr. Diego, a tutor at the writing centre explained its working and facilities which are quite similar to our own college. After a tour of the writing centre the kind people there served us some delicious japanese snacks and tea. But the activities werent done yet...


                                               

Writing center

Japanese tea and snacks at writing center

Mrs. Yumi, who has been with us for the past few days took us to witness and be part of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. It was truely a unique and beautiful experience and after we were done Sir Vasant gave the students who volunteered to show us the tea ceremony some gifts. The end of the tea ceremony marked the end of our scheduled activtes for the day and it was now time for me to do some exploring.

Tea Ceremony

I headed down to the metro with no partcular distination in mind. All i knew is that it was barely 4pm and there was so much of Tokyo left for me to explore. I went to a magazine stand at the station and pulled out the Tokyo Metro Guide, from there my eyes zoomed in on The Imperial Palace, just 5 stations away from Waseda. I took a direct train to Otemachi station and as soon as i stepped out of the exit i saw it. The Imperial Palace is truely beautiful, surrounded by soft flowing waters and autumn trees tinged with orange, the architectural style of this landmark is captivating. A little walk down the lane led me to the famous tourist spot, Nijubashi bridge, which means double bridge in English.

Imperial Palace North Gate

Imperial Palace side view

Nijubashi Bridge

After taking about a dozen beautiful pictures i decided to relax in the abundant green open space beside the palace. After a short rest i decided to just walk and explore the area. The first place i discovered was Japan National Theatre, followed shortly by Tokyo court. Both beautiful buildings. I ended up walking so much and got so caught up in exploring i didnt realise it was already 8pm and i had reached Sakuradamon, which is 2 stations away from Otemachi station! I quickly grabbed a snack from the nearest supermarket, a corndog and took a direct train to Iidabashi via the Yurakucho line. Within barely 15 minutes i was back to our Hostel in Iidabashi and admiring the scenic pictures i took today on the comfortable couch. All in all, an amazing day in an amazing city. Looking forward to an even better one tomorrow.

Tokyo Court

Zoya.

Day 5 Edo-Tokyo museumand Asakusa temple

Its day five and as planned we visited the museum of Edo-Tokyo. Being the type that loves adventure and new places, this excitement was overwhelming. We got an exposure about the civilization of the past of Japan.

We got into our train and were all set to travel towards Edo-Tokyo. The structure of it is based on a traditional Edo storehouse built in the Kurazukuri style.

Inside the museum is just as impressive with a vast display of items spread over two floors. There are more than 2,500 artifacts on display; from old maps and samurai swords to detailed large-scale interactive models of houses which you can walk through, showing what daily life was like during the Edo period.

The museum takes you from the beginnings of Tokyo through the centuries up till the last decade. There’s decent English labeling in each zone and a voice modulated device having four different languages.

Next was the visit to the temple Asakusa (浅草). We were all wondering as how a temple in Japan would actually look like and what would exactly be the rituals followed here in. Asakusa is one of the places in Tokyo where one can feel the vibe of old Japan and is popular because of the Sensoji temple, as well as the Nakamise Shopping Street which has numerous shops of different objects of Japanese art.

After having done our shopping we boarded a train to the hostel. We now to had to rehearse for our India day performance. This performance is going to be aired on Japan’s national network and we are really excited about it.