The Land of the Rising Sun

Yan Ying Huang
Rikkyo University, Japan

Japan really is a beautiful country where you can experience and enjoy the different seasons. During the spring, the cherry blossoms are really beautiful and being able to enjoy them as I walk to school is like being in a Japanese movie. For me, one of my most memorable moment in Japan is to be able to go to the hanami or Japanese flower viewing with my new friends from Rikkyo University and other international students. For our hanami, we went to Yoyogi park where the cherry blossoms are in full bloom and we set up a picnic under the cherry blossom trees. It was a lot of fun talking and spending time with everyone well enjoying the cherry blossoms. I feel so lucky to be able to make so many friends with the Rikkyo and other international students.

Another one of my most memorable moments was during my first weekend after arriving in Japan. That weekend I when to one of Japan’s biggest international anime fair called “Anime Japan” at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. I went there with five of my friends, one of them is a Rikkyo student and the other four are international students just like me. I think the most memorable part was at the beginning when we are trying to get into the convention center. At first, we were all surprise at how many people were there, even my Japanese friend who has lived in Japan his whole life was surprise by how long the line was and how many people were there just waiting to get in. The line to enter the convention center took up most of the parking lot and we waited in a moving line for about two hours just to get in the entrance. It was during this event that I realize I have come to such a place that was so different from Hawaiʻi and it help me see the world in a different view. After experiencing going to Anime Japan, I feel like I have learned a lot about the Japanese society and culture just by standing in line with them for almost two hours. I have to say in the end that studying abroad in Japan is really fun especially when you get to meet and make friends with some of the most amazing people in the world.