Grade IX Trip to Japan
St. Bernard’s ninth grade class traveled to Japan February 26 - March 9, 2017. The boys shared some impressions from their trip.
Throughout my time in Japan, I noticed that Japanese people showed respect and politeness in public places. Although they usually seemed busy and focused on their own activities, they were never rude or aggressive. People showed respect for the people they came across over the course of the day. It seemed that strong morals and widely-accepted rules made everyone’s life very organized. In Kyoto and Tokyo people generally seemed to be courteous and respectful of others.
The first sign of respect that I noticed was at Narita airport. It was so clean and easy to get around. There were large crowds of people moving quickly in different directions focused on where they needed to be next, but no one ever ran into anyone else. Instead, people would make way for each other. The movement was smooth and orderly. The same thing was observed at train stations. The subway system was also extremely impressive. The floor was impeccably clean. There were hardly any garbage cans because there was no need for them. Before getting on the train, we had to stand on line waiting for it to arrive. It was amazing to see that people religiously stood on line and never tried to get ahead of the line. Conductors and bus drivers wore white gloves, and being quiet on a train was the norm. It was such a pleasure to be in this type of environment.
Luke G.
What I liked best about Japan was the fact that we were surrounded by beauty. The countryside was stunning. The cherry blossoms, the flowers, the trees, the gardens, the mountains, the views of the magnificent snow-capped Mt. Fuji were all things that made an impact on me. The physical beauty of nature together with the beauty of Japanese ways and practices made my experience in Japan especially thrilling. I loved listening to calm and silence in Tokyo, this huge metropolis of almost fourteen million people, and I equally loved looking closely at petals of a burgeoning cherry blossom in Hamarikyu Gardens.
Artemis K.
Studio Ghibli contributed to my obsession with anime and Japanese culture. As a child, I watched plenty of their movies, my favorites being Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro. These movies showed a fanciful and whimsical interpretation of life and folklore in Japan, already beautifully animated at the early stages. The emotions and actions of the characters were blissfully colorful and fluid, with everything ̶ from the movement of the characters to the contrasting and chaotic scenes ̶ flowing together in harmony.
Visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum was an exhilarating experience, filled with magical wonder. It was amazing to see the process with which these movies were made, and all the details that were put into each of the worlds in which these movies take place. The characters, each with their unique design and personalities, had their own influence on the experience. I vividly remember a centerpiece in one of the exhibits that had a spinning platform with models of every Studio Ghibli character. As it spun, lights flashed at them from all corners of the encased attraction, making it look as if it were animated, everything moving so smoothly and beautifully. This experience is not something that can be explained in words or pictures. It’s only something that must be seen with one’s own eyes. I recommend that you go and check out Studio Ghibli movies because they hold so much childhood wonder and Japanese culture. I feel very fortunate to have visited Studio Ghibli. It was truly a magical experience for me.
Elisha A.
It was 12 o’clock. The sun was shining as we sped on our Shinkansen from Tokyo towards Kyoto. The scenery flashed by as the train went at 200 miles per hour. The conductor bowed in front of the passengers as he entered our car. The lady who was selling sandwiches also bowed to us all before pulling her cart down the aisle. This was the first time that I had witnessed train employees bowing to passengers. Out of the window, I could clearly see Mt. Fuji. The sun glared off the icy top of the majestic volcano. There were glassy appearances of scattered houses as the train accelerated even more, but Fuji stood proud, dignified, and untouchable. It is an image I will never forget.
Jack C.
The giant statue sat peacefully inside the monumental wooden Todaiji temple. The Buddha was higher than a townhouse and wider than two. His hand supported fingers each larger than a grown man. His feet were lined with toes the size of bowling balls. His nostrils were so huge that a human could slither through them. Upon learning that the colossal statue was the world’s oldest gilded bronze Buddha in the world’s oldest wooden structure, I marveled at the beauty of what was before me. No wonder UNESCO made it a world heritage site. I sat quietly thinking of how these huge structures could have been built. I also wondered about the cost of it all. The Japanese must have taken quite a bit of donations to create the Buddha. And then the thought hit me: if I thought this statue was big, imagine if it had been a fat Buddha statue!
Michael P.
The buildings appeared in many different colors. The clouds had parted, and through the buildings in the distance, the majestic Mt. Fuji was visible in its cone-shaped form. The white top stood out above the grey city. The sky was a vibrant blue, and the sun was casting warmth onto the city. The tops of buildings were illuminated by the sun, and the streets were dark, living in the shadow of the looming skyscrapers. The streets were full of mechanical life. Buses, trains, and cars flew past each other, threading the needle between the sidewalks of silent people. Even in action, the city seemed robotic. Everything was reversed. People silently did what they were told, and the machines made noise as they flew down the street. Tokyo feels like an assimilation of the east into the west. Nothing is truly either western or eastern, but the culture is somewhere in between.
Matthew M.
