First Day in Japan

The sun rises in Japan at about 6AM, so it is not easy to sleep-in here. I spent my first morning in Japan having breakfast with the Masuko family before leaving for Mukogawa Women's University. First, here is a look at the home where I am staying. I have not seen any actual "grass lawns" in Japan. Instead, many homes have gardens such as these

The homes in Japan are extremely close together. Since the country is located on islands, the people have been forced to utilize every inch (or centimeter) of land. A cemetery I saw yesterday had tombstones located less than a foot apart, with no room for grass of any kind. Here's a view down the street of the neighborhood where I am staying

 As you can see, many of the homes feature traditional Japanese roofs, and the streets are barely wide enough for one car.

This is the dining/living room where we ate breakfast.

This is a traditional Japanese room, which acts like a shrine to deceased family members. In the middle left part of this photo, you can see where the ashes of family members are located. The Japanese people are not religious, but, rather, they show strong devotion to their family. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, as a result of people feeling guilt for dishonoring their family name. Japan also has one of the highest cremation rates in the world, since many families wish to keep the ashes in their homes and there is no room for additional cemeteries.

Next, I was on my way to the university, which is located about an hour from the Masuko home. As I mentioned before, there is a severe lack of "personal space" in Japan, so, as a result, the cities have no clear boundaries. Each city leads to the next with every possible inch covered by buildings.

This picture shows a chemical plant, which stretched for miles along the coastline. The next picture shows a large tower, where garbage is burned and converted into energy.

As we were driving, I saw what I thought was a roller coaster in the midst of all the factories. Sure enough, I was right; it was Universal Studios Japan. I am not kidding when I say that the Japanese have used every square inch of their land. In fact, many buildings extend out over the water in order to maximize space.

After arriving at the university, I was allowed to practice in the performance hall for 2 hours. The hall itself is actually located underground. I will post photos of the school and the hall on the day of my recital. Up next, I went to lunch with 3 piano professors. We ate at a small restaurant located a short walk from the university (located on the street shown in the next photo). For lunch I had sashimi, which is basically raw fish sliced into thin pieces (tuna, squid, and salmon). I also had a coke, which managed to keep me awake for my piano lesson.

After arriving back at the university, I had a piano lesson with Dr. Nakamura, the head of the piano department. Since he did not speak English, and I certainly did not speak Japanese, we settled on having our lesson in Italian: "crescendo, legato, ritardando, bruschetta, Mussolini" you get the idea.

After my lesson, I practiced for 2 more hours, before heading to dinner with two Japanese students and a professor from the university. The restaurant was located in a large shopping mall named Nishinomiya Gardens.

Japanese restaurants show actual models of all of their meals in the window, much like a retail shop in the USA. Here is a restaurant that serves several types of Japanese omelettes (eggs stuffed with rice.)

Here is a photo of my meal:

Going clockwise from the bottom left, we have: eels on noodles and rice, tempura shrimp and vegetables, soy pudding dessert, tofu ball stuffed with rice, some sort of Japanese potato, tofu soaked in green tea, and soup. The three small plates in the center are like condiments.

After the meal, I headed back to the Masuko home for some Baskin Robbins ice cream and then went to bed. Finally, here's a picture of me with my two dining companions, Mio and Yuka:

The picture shows us sitting, because I am about three feet taller than they are!

-Carson