Another Year, Another Japan Trip

Well, it’s been almost two weeks since I’ve returned from Japan, so I figured it was time to reflect again. Let’s get started!

A Look at the Itinerary
Initial Thoughts on the Itinerary
Trip Highlights
Any Downsides?
Changes for 2027?
Reflecting on the Reflection
Photo Gallery
To Another Year

A Look at the Itinerary

As promised in Practicing My Toddler-like Japanese in Japan, I’m finally getting around to writing my reflection on my second trip to Japan. If you’re curious about my first time, check out Reflecting on My First Trip to Japan.

Also yes, I’m categorizing this one under “teach” because I’m not just going to Japan for fun each year. This is part of a course I help run called the Japanese American Design Experience (JADE).

Anyway, I think the most helpful way to contextualize the trip is just to start with the itinerary. Then, we can talk about how things went, what I enjoyed, and what I might change for next year:

3 nights in Tokyo
6 nights in Tsukuba
2 nights in Kyoto
2 nights in Suzuka
1 night in Tokyo

A quick summary of what was new this year was the stretch of time in Suzuka. Last year, we spent a bit of time in Osaka for the World Expo, and I think we might have had one extra day in Kyoto. I recall having a few more days in Tsukuba and few less days in Tokyo.

Initial Thoughts on the Itinerary

This time around, we were able to ease into the trip with some Tokyo sightseeing before getting to work in Tsukuba. In fact, I really fell in love with Tokyo this year. It’s just a wonderful city, one in which I was able to see Akihabara, Shibuya, and Kabukicho. I’m already eyeing up some other neighborhoods next year!

I was also a big fan of how compressed the Tsukuba stretch was this year. It’s now less than half the trip, which left room for diversity in our schedule. We were able to see Suzuka as a result, and I think that was a huge addition to our trip. While I love our Tsukuba colleagues, it can be a bit draining to spend over half the trip there. Also, it can feel a bit repetitive for me (already). We went up Mount Tsukuba again, saw the giant Buddha again, went to JAXA again, and went to NIED again. I love these places, but I am certain they will bore me over time.

Kyoto was also a highlight for me. While Kyoto is a bit touristy for me (i.e., a lot of scammy activities), I was able to spend a full day with one of my best friends who just moved to Japan. I also got to check out the bamboo forest at night, and I finally was able to see Nishiki market.

The new addition this year was Suzuka, and I think it was a welcome one. We spent one of the days sightseeing, which mainly included Suzuka Circuit. But, we also got to tour a Honda factory. Then, the second day, we were given a thorough tour of Suzuka Kosen, an alternative high school option in Japan for teens interested in engineering. We are certainly going to try to keep this part of the trip in the future.

Overall, I liked this itinerary much better. From easing into the trip to exploring more areas, there was a lot to offer this time. Of course, I’ll be interested to hear what our students have to say, but I really enjoyed this trip. And, that’s saying a lot given how burnt out I was feeling at the end of the semester.

Trip Highlights

While the itinerary was great, there were definitely some high points for me along the way. For instance, while I enjoyed most of my time, I really enjoyed the private dinners we (as in the other resident director and me) had with our colleagues.

The first of those dinners was in an izakaya (i.e., a bar) near our hotel in Tsukuba. Unlike maybe an American bar, Izakaya’s are all about ordering a large number of small dishes. For example, among other things, we ordered some takoyaki (i.e., octopus balls) and sashimi (i.e., slices of raw fish). We also had a few drinks, some beer and some sake, and a nice dessert. I had a hojicha tiramisu, and hojicha (i.e., roasted green tea) is literally my favorite tea.

The other dinner was in Suzuka at a nice Italian place. I sort of clowned on this my first time in Japan because I found it funny how many Italian places there were in Japan. But, it was amazing. I honestly don’t remember everything that I ate, but it all paired nicely with wine. Maybe I had too much Japanese food by that point in the trip, but the Italian food was divine.

While the food was certainly nice in both cases, I really enjoyed spending time with my colleagues. Spending time with the students is great, but I get such a rich cultural exchange with my colleagues. There is just something magical about eating a nice dinner with folks from across the globe. I look forward to these meals every year.

Any Downsides?

To be honest, I really can’t complain about the trip this year. Were there low spots? Maybe. For instance, students kept losing things. One student left their bag at a restaurant which had their passport, and we had to race back to that same restaurant to retrieve it. Meanwhile, another student lost the key to their shoe locker (and subsequently also forgot which locker they were in) at one of those “shoeless” hotels, which was a bit of a mess.

Likewise, students kept dropping their things. Honestly, I could not tell you how many times I watched cellphones hit the ground. At a certain point, I always wanted to start tying them to students. Like, please hold onto your passport, and please stop dropping your phone.

Beyond that? Students were really respectful. They generally all showed up to things early, and they usually stayed quiet on transit. So, students really give me any headaches this time.

If I found anything subpar, it might have been our third-party providers. They gave us bad times for a couple of the meals, so restaurants were sometimes mad at us for showing up “late.”

Likewise, some of the meals were “meh.” For example, we did one of those fancy multi-course meals in Kyoto, and I never really care for those. The food is more art than food, so the pictures are great but the taste is “meh.” Even at the end, we went on one of those boat rides that served meals. It was kind of cool in spirit, but it was more chaotic than anything.

Finally, I felt a lot of pressure on me to “perform” Japanese this time around. And while my Japanese is a lot better, it’s still nowhere near ready for conversation. Like, I was able to use one of those phones at a yakiniku restaurant to request more sauce, but that was about it.

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the one massive downside of these trips: being away from my wife and especially my kid. I say this because my wife can handle me being away for a couple weeks. We dated through college while we lived in separate states. On the other hand, leaving behind a two-year-old is hard. She’s a lot more aware this time around, so it took a few days for her to even look at me over the phone. I could tell she was really upset with the whole situation.

Being gone for 15 days doesn’t seem long, but it’s really hard to be away from your kids. I’ve been mentally doing the math on this because I plan to run JADE for as long as the university will let me. If I go 15 days a year, by the time my kid is an adult, I’ll have spent something like three-quarters of a year away from her. Obviously, when she’s an adult, we’ll spend plenty of time away from each other, but it’s hard to be away from her as she’s growing up. I guess I can rationalize it a bit when you consider all the hours I spend at work and all the hours she’ll spend at school, but there’s definitely a lot of guilt associated with going on these trips. And, I can only imagine the guilt I’ll have next year when I have two of them.

I think the best way I can describe it is through this Tyler1 clip. That sounds crazy out of context but just watch it.

Changes for 2027?

Next year, I don’t think we’re going to change much. We were really happy with the trip this time, so we’re really only looking to keep things fresh. For example, I think we might target a different Tokyo neighborhood next year, since we did Asakusa last year and Akihabara this year.

Personally, I know I want to change things up a bit on the academic side. For example, I would love to maybe have an assignment where students brainstorm questions for their Japanese peers. I saw something like this when the Tsukuba students visited the US, and I would like to replicate that with JADE.

Also, I want to push the concept of omiyage on our students a bit more. Our Japanese colleagues give us so much, and I would like to replicate that on our end. It would be great if we could show half the level of hospitality and generosity to our peers.

One thing the other resident director would like us to try to do next year is align the assignments a bit more with the schedule. I somewhat just spread out the assignments to give proper spacing, but I think we could consider the itinerary a bit more next time.

Other than that, I was happy with how things turned out. Our student group was excellent, and I would take them again if we could. I felt like they grew a lot over the course of the trip, and they really were a pleasure to be around.

Reflecting on the Reflection

One last thing I wanted to do was look at my reflection from last year and see if my thoughts had changed or matured. I can react to them quickly:

Transit Is Phenomenal But Complicated: transit is, in fact, still phenomenal. It’s also still complex, like I still don’t fully understand the train routes and how they work. But, I will take that all day over car domination in the states.
Malls Are Nice But Also Complicated: malls are a mixed bag for me. There are some that are easy to navigate and others that are labyrinths. I am still confused by this whole “no idea where one store starts or ends” shtick, but shopping is quite fun in Japan.
Knowing Japanese Is a Must: Japanese is still a must. I was much better equipped this time around, but I still don’t feel like I’m getting the authentic experience without being able to have an honest conversation with a local.
Academic Research Seems More Hands-on: I am still a bit of a hater of Japanese research. I’m sure there are folks doing good work, but it’s just not approached the same as in the US. Engineering work is much higher quality in Japan, but engineering academic research (at least the bit I’ve seen) is questionable. It seems a lot of work intends to be commercialized, and I don’t see how that is a good approach to expanding our knowledge. It’s like every person who starts a YouTube channel to make money. I’m not sure that’s sustainable.
Flying Sucks: flying still sucks. Big time. I lucked out on my flight back this time and got a window seat. I think I sat there for literally 12 hours straight without getting up. Any other kind of sit is a mistake.
Japan Seems Isolating: I still agree that there’s this element of isolation that outsiders seem to miss. People see the amazing train systems and the wonderful city planning and assume the Japanese are a united front. Meanwhile, I see everyone on the train staring at their phones. I see the private single booths at restaurants with tablet ordering. I see a lot of folks trying to stay out of each others way. It feels really isolating to me, despite the surface appearance of social cohesion.

All-in-all, I think I largely still agree with my previous takes. There was nothing groundbreaking this time around to shift my thinking. In some cases, I would say I agree with these points even harder (e.g., points #3 and #4). Though, I would say that if there was any shift this time around it was toward my love for Tokyo. It’s just my ideal version of a city, though maybe my thoughts on that will shift over time.

Also, let me take a moment to reflect on some of the changes I intended to make last year and how that went:

Study Japanese: yes, I did this. In fact, I made a whole series around my progress. I’m taking courses, using things like Obsidian to track my progress, and I’m practicing in my free time with tools like WaniKani. I look forward to taking this advice from myself for another year.
Provide More Language Resources for Students: I did this! I did a short study session right before we left, and I gave the students little Japanese cheat sheets. I will probably do this again.
Explain That Tap Water Is Safe: I didn’t remember to do this, but my colleague repeated this several times. I don’t remember having any issues with water with students this time around.
Buy a Shoulder Bag: I did this, and it was amazing. I recommend anyone who travels to just get a purse, shoulder bag, or something light to help you carry things throughout the day. I was able to haul a water bottle, two goshuin books, a passport, and all of my coins in one bag. And, it was totally manageable.
Adjust Deadlines & Add Work Time: we kind of did this. We built in an entire day for work time in Tsukuba. I think it went well. The assignment deadlines are still something we’d like to tweak, but I honestly think they were fine.
Adapt Assignment Rubrics: I adapted the reflection rubrics to be more reasonable. I would like to change the report and presentation rubrics to be more clear. They’re kind of vague.
Figure Out Attire: students dressed fine this time around. I dressed a little more nice. No real comments here otherwise.

With that said, I’ll save myself some space and list the changes I’d make for next year (so I can easily find them for my reflection next year): adjust assignment due dates to fit itinerary, get students to brainstorm questions for our colleagues, and get students thinking about omiyage for their peers.

Photo Gallery

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ll wrap up this reflection with a brief photo gallery!

A photo of the Suzuka Circuit finish line.

To Another Year

At this point, I’ve lived in Japan in some capacity for about a month. That seems crazy to me. Yet, I lived in the UK for about 6 months, and I felt like I barely scratched the surface. I suppose it’ll be another ten years before I match that number in Japan. I wonder who I’ll be then. I’ll be 42. I’ll have a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old. I’ll have been married for 18 years. A lot can happen between now and then.

Can you tell I miss doing these reflections? There’s something fun about being introspective in public. Often, I’m in my own head, so it’s nice to dump this sort of stuff on “paper.” And who knows, maybe my kids will look back on this kind of stuff when I’m old—assuming AI hasn’t ruined the “old internet” Cyberpunk 2077 style.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Here are some other relevant pieces you might enjoy:

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