It feels almost poetic returning to the same district we began our journey in. It puts into perspective just how much and how little we’ve done. We traveled to so many places: from Tokyo to Ichikawa to Utsonomiya to Osaka to Hiroshima to Kumamoto to Kyoto until we arrived back here to Tokyo. In a way it felt like this was us coming home, we knew the layout of the train station, the good spots to eat, where every arcade was and which one was the best. This relaxation came as a bittersweet feeling that even though this all felt familiar, we may never again come back here.

(Right outside the favorite arcade)

And so, with our final day, we spent it individually doing the things we each wanted to. For me, that meant another trip to the Pokemon Center in town. Funny enough, it was while there that I took a moment to look around and notice something that this whole trip was about. I grew up in Iowa, playing video games like Pokemon and finding familiarity and joy in those games’ worlds. Now many years later, I look around and see people of all ages from around the globe with a look of wonder and joy. In that moment I recognized that while I don’t speak enough of any of their languages to communicate with them, I already connected with them through this implied shared experience. For children experiencing the joy for the first time, to adults introducing their children to their childhood, to college students who’s just taking in just how incredible all this can be.

(Pictured: 22 year-old child)

And that’s really the summation of this entire trip: it was never just about a trip to Japan. It wasn’t about the food. It wasn’t about the arcades. It wasn’t even about the music we played. It was about the people along the way. We met people who opened their homes to us, people that showed a kindness many of us had not yet experienced in that way. We met students who were excited to learn more about schools in other parts of the world. We met the people that make not just this trip, but our lives meaningful. At the end of the day (and trip), it’s not about the places or things we did, it’s about the people we met there and the lasting impact that they may not even realize they had. An impact that will, in just a few short hours, come home with us across the ocean.

(Pictured: Some of the people that have made a large impact)

After finishing our last concert on this tour, the Wartburg College Wind Ensemble is finally starting its journey back to the United States. While on the tour, it never like we had to leave at some point. We lived in the moment with all of the new friends we met in each place, but now there’s no more friends to make. It finally feels like we’re leaving. But before we leave, we get to finish any unfinished shopping in Tokyo.

The hotel we will stay at before flying back is the same hotel we stayed at when arriving in Tokyo. Hotel Metropolitan at Ikebukuro station. The moment we all arrived, everyone in the band made their joke about “home is where your phone automatically connects to the Wi-Fi.” But they weren’t joking about this place feeling a little bit like home. We’ve spend staying in a new city with a new host every other day for two weeks, but this is our first time returning to something. We had already used the escalator to get out of the subway station seven times, we had already used the cross-walk outside the hotel seven times, we had already walked through the entrance and seen the hotel lobby at least seven times. We’re not home yet, but everything is familiar.

Everyone is anxious to get home and rest for a while, but this last day in Tokyo allows us to fulfill any last wish we have before probably never coming back to Japan. We can eat our last bowl of ramen, buy our last souvenir, or just rest for a while with friends before starting a long trip. Everyone has a plan of some sort to make sure they don’t have regrets when our plane takes off.

For our afternoon activities, we were all in small groups that had four Wind Ensemble members, and two to three Ryukoku band members. While many of the groups did similar activities and ate similar foods, each group had their own unique experiences.

My particular group first visited a shrine called Fushimi Inari. It was a very pretty shrine, and was filled with many Torii gates. We first cleansed our hands and mouths as we walked through the beginning stages of the shrine. We then made a monetary offering before praying.

We then headed towards the famous gates. The one thing I was excited to see were the Torii gates. Before the Wind Ensemble had left for Japan, I did a presentation on this specific shrine, and specifically talked about the gates. Each gate was actually donated to the shrine, and each and every single one is inscribed with the donor’s names. What also makes Fushimi Inari special is that the collective paths lead to Mount Inari, if you have 2-3 hours to walk up and then back down. My group did not go to Mount Inari, however.

We ate supper at a restarting that specialized in Kushiyaki, which is skewered food. It’s like a Shish Kebab, for reference. It was absolutely amazing! I still don’t quite know what I ordered, because they didn’t have English menus, but I’m glad I ordered what I ordered. It was rice and cabbage in a bowl, with teriyaki covered pork skewers on top, and a miso soup, which I had never had before.

All in all, even though we only went to a shrine and dinner, it was tons of fun. It was a great bonding opportunity with the Ryukoku students, and enabled us to learn more about their culture. They loved us asking them questions about themselves and they returned the favor. If I could do it all again, I would!

Last night was our first night in Kyoto, the first capital of Japan before it was moved to Tokyo (then called Edo) in the 1800s. It’s hard to imagine that this modern-as-can-be city was here for centuries before any of us, or anyone who lives here, even existed, and it will continue to be here after every single one of us is dead.

I was able to do some casual exploring with some friends last night after we met with some students from Ryukoku University and hauled all of our equipment up nine flights of stairs. Afterward, eight of us went to get ramen and go to an arcade. I’m going to miss this kind of fellowship. This trip seems to exist on another plane of existence, and it’s going to be so easy to fall back into comfortable and boring routines once we’re back home.

One of the most interesting and comforting things I learned in world literature class is the Japanese aestethics, particularly of haikus. They are meant to capture both the very present moment and the eternity that surrounds it on both sides of time. I think we’re like that, too. I think this tour is like that. It’s so fun, and so melancholic. I believe the Japanese term for this type of impermanence is wabi-sabi. Everything comes to an end, which can be comforting during bad times, but it also applies to good things.

I’m going to miss this month of being brave. Dr. Hancock has been saying from the very beginning that we are going to come home different. I already know that I am, and wanted to give a few examples of how this experience has changed me.

Most people know that I’m a very picky eater, but almost none of you know that it is because of an eating disorder called Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. It has nothing to do with body image, I do not starve myself. The best way I can describe it is a psychological thing where I get HUGE anxiety over eating food that I’ve never had before, that I haven’t deemed Okay for me. This has led to me not eating many things at all because I’ve never been able to cross that psychological barrier.

But this is the month of being brave. I was so afraid to explain this condition to someone with a language barrier, so I put hardly any diet restrictions on the list. But it turns out that I’ve never thrived with eating situations as much as I have this month. I’m eating things I’ve never considered I’d ever be able to eat (octopus, chicken skin, even tofu, of all the things to be afraid of trying). I’ve been more adventurous than many of my bandmates. I cannot iterate enough how big of a deal this is for me, after a lifetime of anxiety surrounding food as a social situation, through no one’s fault except neurology.

This is how I’ve been changed.

I’ve met people here that I’ve bonded with despite a language barrier. They invited me into their home. Satomi, Kanon, Shuichi, Shigeko, Mayumi, Yusuke, and Aoi, I will never ever forget your kindness. You have changed my life and I cannot believe how hard it was to say goodbye.

We only met the students at KLC for a short two hours at dinner, and yet they cried when it was time to go. We had so much fun together. The biggest surprise of this trip is how hard it has been to say goodbye to the people I’ve met.

This is how I’ve been changed, and soon it will be time to say goodbye to this trip, and this country, and this specific wind ensemble. We will never be the same again as we are now. We will probably go back to our routines, but I hope that the friendships I’ve formed will stay close even after we are out of this separate plane of existence.

We are here to suffer and also have fun, and it hurts to suffer, and it hurts to say goodbye, but we are humans and we do it anyway.

I’m so thankful for this opportunity. I will remember this and all of my bandmates and new friends for the rest of my life. Let’s keep going to a new adventure, let’s keep choosing to make life fun.

Our first stop in Kyoto was seeing the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The temple and grounds are also called Kinkaku-ji and, the official name, Rokuon-ji. Before arriving our tour guide gave us some background information about the Zen Buddhist temple. In 1950, the temple was burned an overzealous monk. The original building had been restored by 1955, but was found to be in decay in 1984. Rokuon-ji was then fully restored, including a statue lost in the fire of 1950 and a heavier layer of gold leaf.

With the restoration of the roof in 2003, a phoenix was added to the top, signifying the life out of the fire. It felt surreal actually seeing the temple itself. The upper floors, coated in gold leaf, truly capture the cultural significance of Rokuon-ji. The landscape of the grounds complimented the Golden Pavilion as well. This included a 600 year old bonzai tree.

When the grounds first became a Zen Buddhist temple in 1397, the founder loved bonzai trees so much that he added one. I find it incredible that the tree has endured the test of time and that it was still present for our visit.

We had the opportunity to go to the Tenryu-ji Temple and the bamboo forest that surrounds it. They are located in the Arashiyama district in Kyoto and are considered some of the biggest attractions in this area.

Tenryu-hi was built in 1339 by the reining shogun Ashikaga Takauji. Throughout his time as shogun, Takauji had many disagreements with Emperor Go-Daigo. After Go-Daigo’s death, Takauji dedicated Tenryu-ji to Go-Daigo, hoping to make amends and appease his spirit. Unfortunately, many of its buildings have been destroyed through wars and fires; however, the beautiful garden remains (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3913.html).

The gardens were designed by a well-known garden designer Muso Soseki. Soseki has also created the garden designs for other important temples throughout Japan, including those of Kokedera (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3913.html). Tenryu-Jo’s gardens display one of the best examples of “shakkei,” or borrowed scenery, as they are inspired by the surrounding mountains (https://www.insidekyoto.com/tenryu-ji-temple-arashiyama).

Additionally, Tenryu-ji was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it part of the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto” in 1994 (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tenryu-ji-shrine). Looking at the pictures below, it’s no wonder why it was included. The surrounding gardens and temple itself are beautiful, and the history can be felt in the ambiance.

My favorite part of this specific excursion, however, was walking through the bamboo forests. It was so quiet, yet you could hear the breeze and watch the bamboo trees sway in the wind. The pictures below do not fully display how it felt to walk through the forest with the trees rising for feet above our heads, but they can provide some sort of snapshot into our experience. There were also some carvings in the trunks of the bamboo trees!

Overall, I have loved traveling through Japan. The mountains are breathtaking, and the people we have met are so kind and generous. While I love Iowa and am ready to go home, I wish there was some way we could infuse American culture with the kindness and generosity of Japanese culture. Furthermore, we have talked a lot as an ensemble about how we will be changed as a result of this trip, and while I cannot speak for everyone, I believe the connections we have built and people we have met have already changed us for the better.

Today, the Wind Ensemble visited the campus of Kyushu Lutheran College and participated in a performance, presentations, and fellowship with select students. Following the wind ensembles performance, KLC students from an advanced English class presented over posters they created. These posters held various topics ranging from shrine etiquette to popular music in Japan! I personally enjoyed learning more about this culture from the students themselves, and aiding in their English comprehension through conversation was an added bonus!

After the presentations these select students guided us as we delved into downtown Kumamoto. We split up into smaller groups and explored a variety of restaurants in a large shopping district. My group ate at a Japanese curry restaurant and I was excited to experience a flavor I am not accustomed to. After ordering a beef curry with tomato and asparagus, I sat in anticipation for my dish to arrive. What was placed before me was a steaming plate of many new smells emanating from rice and curry sauce. I was apprehensive at first, but after a few bites I was in love. The curry wasn’t spicy in the sense of a burning heat, but more felt like a broth that continuously warmed my whole body. This was a new experience for me and I’m glad I took the leap of faith.

Following this meal we visited a Kumamon store, and picked out many souvenirs of the popular mascot of Kumamoto. I picked up a pair of socks with the cute bear on the sides, and many other members of the wind ensemble also picked up souvenirs to remember Kumamon. After this shop, we went to finish the night off with some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. I was in desperate need of this treat to cool off my tongue from the curry a few minutes before. I munched on a chocolate crepe filled with cream, brownie, and ice cream.

Our night began to wind down after this, and are student guides begin taking us back to load up on the buses. I appreciated my time in Kumamoto with my favorite experience being the student interaction. Allowing them to practice their English with a native speaker was an interesting and positive interaction.

This morning after leaving from the retreat center we took smaller sized busses to Kyushu Lutheran Gakuin School. We started our time there by unloading equipment and eating a breakfast of sausages, eggs, soup, bread, and salad provided by Kyushu.

This college originally was established as a girl’s high school in 1926. It later transitioned into a women’s junior college which opened in 1975 and the current four-year college opened its doors to women and men in 1997. The Rev. Dr. Yoshiro Ishida was the college’s first president. The Rev. Naohiro Kiyoshige has been serving as college president since 2002. Studies at Kyushu include focuses on humanities and clinical psychology. Currently there is a middle school, high school, and college component to the academic institution.

After we finished breakfast we attended a college chapel hour which started with the lighting of two candles on either side of the Bible on the stage. The congregation then moved to standing to sing “I want to walk as a child of the light” with the first verse in Japanese and the second verse in English. Then a pastor gave a 15 minute message which was purely in Japanese so we did not really understand what was being said, unfortunately! Lastly the service ended with another clergy member giving a blessing and then the candles were extinguished.

Once the service was over we quickly got into Wind Ensemble mode and got set up for a rehearsal in the chapel. Bri Schares gave our rehearsal devotional with a message about making sure not to over exert ourselves when helping out others in order to retain sanity. From rehearsal we quickly moved to lunch where there were fruits, rice balls, candies, and shrimp kebabs.

We then got all suited up for our concert. For pre concert gathering Mary Kate Hines gave devotion today with a message of thankfulness for how much the group has helped her grow and been there for her during her time at Wartburg. We then performed a wonderful concert of Melodies Thunk, Semper Fidelis, Riffs for Lenny, Clarinet Candy, For Natalie, Stars and Stripes, Fantasie and Variations, and lastly Slava! This was the tightest concert so far, because the stage was so small! I felt we had our best performance when playing “For Natalie”. During this piece we always are able to express emotion the most of all the music in our folders currently.

After “Slava!” Was the gift exchange between Dr. Hancock and the president of Kyushu college. Wartburg offered a picture book of Iowa and a Wartburg College Concert Bands backpack. Their president offered a large bouquet of flowers to Dr. Hancock! The concert was finished per our traditional ending of “Nearer My God to Thee” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” conducted by Mary Kate Hines and Elizabeth Lyke together for both songs.

Kyushu treated us very well today between offering two meals, hosting us, and allowing us to share music with the school! It was a cool experience going to a Japanese take on a Lutheran tradition that I have become familiar with during my tenure at Wartburg. There were many tears shed today as we near the end of our Japan journey, but one thing is for certain: these memories are ones we will hold close for a lifetime.

Source:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyūshū_Lutheran_College

After a smooth morning of travel we arrived at Aso Elementary school around 1 pm. We had quite the adventure while setting up for our concert because we did not have any stands to begin with and then had only 10 until they found so many more right before the concert. We had a devotion before our rehearsal and before our concert that were both quite heart touching and made for a very sentimental concert in a small space that we were not accustomed to. We played a very entertaining concert consisting of: Melodious Thunk, Semper Fi, Clarinet Candy, The Stars and Stripes Forever, and Slava! The children were all very intrigued and interested in listening and talking to us. After we played “Nearer our God” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” we lined up around the front half of the gym to have a mini meet and greet with the elementary students. We all loved talking with the students and listening to their English as well as how much they enjoyed the concert. We were then given a surprise when all of the elementary students had a very lovely and heartwarming song to sing for us. While it was in Japanese, we were given a rough translation which spoke of a good future and life.

After the concert, we drove back to the retreat center and had twenty minutes to repack our overnight bags and pack up the truck for the next day. We were then given the option of driving to the Aso Volcano or attending an Onsen in the area. I personally chose to drive and explore the Aso Volcano area.

Mount Aso is the largest active crater in the world. As we continued driving around the area we stopped at a view point where we could see the original crater area and size. The current active volcano is found in this area and is called Naka-Dake. This area is also home to multiple hot springs, pastures for cattle and roads and railways. As someone who had never seen a volcano and not a lot of mountains. The drive was very fun and full of scenery and switchback driving. As we got closer to the volcano we could see the smoke emerging from the open crater. The path to continue further up the mountain was closed because of how active it seemed today.

Before our dinner we were able to watch a performance of Iaido which is performed with a nihonto (Japanese sword). Their were two newer students and three older adults all in different parts of their journeys. I did not have a chance to read a lot of background before and was very intrigued in the order and combination of movements. The object of Iaido is to learn how to draw the sword in an instant to overcome an aggressor. This form of art performance is drawn from the Muromachi period. This is closely connected to the art form of kendo. In the 1960’s Iaido championships and competitions started being held in matches with referees making final decisions. In a match, competitions use either a live blade or practice sword and perform a set of five kata meaning forms. The referees make final decisions based on level of training, etiquette, precision of technique and attitude. After the performance, a couple of us got to go experience drawing the sword, attempting a couple of forms and putting the sword away all in traditional style.

Our dinner tonight was as a large group with members from our host team here in Kumamoto. It was our first dinner as a group since our first night in Tokyo. The dinner that was provided in buffet style was very good for everyone and had a large variety. After everyone had their food we were welcomed by students who were studying English and wanted to converse with us. It was a very fun evening and day overall. It was full of music and less tourism as we have been doing the past couple of days.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Aso

https://www.kendo.or.jp/en/knowledge/iaido-concept/

While every day has been amazing so far on this trip, today has probably been my favorite yet. Specifically, Miyajima Island was truly a sight to see. It was one of those places that you could spend days at and always be entertained; from the sights at the top of the mountain, the view of the Torii gate from the Itsukushima Shrine, and to the deer roaming the area and getting up close and personal, there’s no end to how amazing this island is.

Our tour guide, Naomi, gave the group a little bit of background information about the island during the bus ride to the pier. She informed us that there are about 1,700 inhabitants on the island and a lot of deer. The deer on the island are wild, but they are very comfortable around humans. Naomi told us that somebody in a previous tour lost their ferry ticket because a deer snatched it from their pocket and ate it. This seemed bizarre to me until we arrived at the island and I witnessed multiple occasions of deer snatching papers, food, or other items from people!

Some more background on the deer: deer are considered to be messengers from the gods in Shinto. The deer on Miyajima island are considered sacred for their connection to the Shinto religion and the way they behave the same both in nature and on the street. According to a legend from Naomi, it is considered bad luck to find a deer in front of your door. In the legend, people would wake up early to see if they had a deer at their front door and would move the dead deer to their neighbors front door to pass the bad luck onto them. She said this is where the term “passing the buck” comes from.

This curved bridge holds special meaning. According to Naomi, walking through the Itsukushima Shrine before the bridge represents the past. Walking on the bridge represents the present and the other side of the bridge represents heaven. After a short walk up the mountain past this bridge is the ropeway that took us on two gondola rides to the highest peak on the entire island. It was an incredible sight at the top!

The Itsukushima shrine was built upon the idea by a samurai who, according to Naomi, felt bad about all of the battles he had and the bloodshed he caused. One of the main features of the shrine is the Torii gate that appears to be floating at high tide. When we arrived on the island, the tide was so low that people were able to walk up to the gate. The gate is 7 tons and the stones are standing on their own; they are not buried. The entire complex is a UNESCO heritage site and there are 6 buildings/items that have been named national treasures by the Japanese government. I am so glad we had the opportunity to see this amazing site!