Chase’s Trips

We left again this morning at around 6:30 a.m. It was a much slower start to the day than yesterday, and we had a harder time finding anything besides antelope, hogs, and a few baboons. What made today especially cool, though, was that we got to quickly hop across the Kenyan border and take pictures on the edge of the Masai Mara—the Kenyan continuation of the Serengeti.

I absolutely loved this area along the border. There were far fewer trees, and it was much drier than the places we had been earlier.

The main reason for visiting this spot, aside from crossing the border, was that it’s an ideal habitat for cheetahs. We didn’t end up finding any, but it still became my favorite place in the entire park. Even though it had fewer animals and plants, the desolation created a simple yet profound beauty that I never grew tired of.

In the afternoon we returned for a short nap and lunch, then headed back out for an evening drive.

Aside from enjoying the sunset, my favorite part of the evening was seeing another hyena. This guy was just enjoying the cooler weather, rolling around in the mud and acting exactly like a normal dog—it was hilarious.

After we got back, my father and I swapped more stories with the staff, enjoyed dinner, and finished the night with more of those amazing espresso martinis.

November 19,2025

We started off our Safari early this morning at around 6:30 am. It was an absolutely beautiful start as we watched the sun rise over the striped horsies.

The morning ended up being very successful as we got to see some giraffes, a leopard (which ran away before I could take a picture), and, my favorite, some big kitties.

The evening was nice, but we mostly only saw more antelope (which were everywhere on almost every day of the trip). Here are some nice pictures of trees I took.

We ended off the day with some dinner and banger espresso martinis with a South African creamy liqueur called Amarula added. These were, no exaggeration, the best of espresso martinis I have ever tasted in my life. We also had a chance to talk with one of the managers on the property and were able to share some interesting stories. There are more stories than I want to share here, but this guy has had to escape life-threatening animals on multiple occasions while being on the job here in the Serengeti and in other parts of Tanzania. Some of these encounters include being 5 feet away from Leopards, being cornered by a hippo, and almost being attacked by a cobra.

Anyway… it is amazing to see just how beautiful God has created this wilderness to be. Very excited to see what tomorrow holds.

November 18, 2025:

As I mentioned earlier, the mission-trip portion of our time here wrapped up a bit quicker than I expected, and now my father and I are on our way to Tanzania from Kampala’s airport in Entebbe. The whole airport experience was honestly one of the most inefficient things I’ve ever witnessed—at one point we followed about five different people all over the place… only to end up at a regular gate to wait to be picked up.

The airport itself was very nice, though. I missed my chance to take pictures, but they’ve managed to create a genuinely beautiful space with some truly grand architecture. It wasn’t quite as magnificent as the brand-new airport in Cambodia’s capital, which I visited this past September, but I was pleasantly surprised by how impressive it looked in the daytime.

For lunch we decided to get some pizza while waiting for our flight. Twas quite “skibbidy” as the kids have been saying as of late. That is to say, it was pretty “dog water” as the kids were saying whilst I was a kid.

I got a pizza that had peppers, olives, onions, and chicken on it and my father got one with everything but the chicken on it. It wasn’t all the toppings that made the pizza bad, though, but rather, it was the fact that the crust tasted like it was two weeks old.

Moving on, we finally got picked up for our flight by one of the random people who guided us… only to find out a swarm of killer bees had made its new home around our plane. After a few minutes of waiting, they decided to switch which plane we were taking and they let us board our new aircraft.

After the crew loaded our bags and delivered a safety briefing, we took off in yet another Cessna toward northern Tanzania.

The flight was very impressive. For what seemed like forever, we flew over lake Victoria. The lake was so big that even from the sky no land could be seen in any direction for almost half of the flight.

After landing in Tanzania and receiving our visas, we then were shipped off to the Serengeti via the same plane.

It was immediately apparent that the place was desolate with almost nothing but nature in sight as far as the eye could see.

Although we had no official safari today, we still got to see many animals including elephants and a hyena on the way home.

Once we got there, we were absolutely shocked at how amazing the amenities were (pictures to come). We had a fire pit, a fancy bar, a fancy restaurant, a fancy room with a small pool— amazing quality, even if we weren’t in the bush IN AFRICA!!!

After enjoying a posh pork dinner, a dip in the pool, and a few drinks at the bar we turned in for the night— surrounded by nature.

Today was our last day in Moyo and apparently our last day in the mission field altogether. The plan, as I’ve been told, is that we’re going to take a quick hop over the equator and Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest lake and the third-largest in the world—about one-third the size of the state of Florida), then spend a few days in Tanzania where we’ll go on a quick safari in the famous Serengeti Game Reserve in northern Tanzania.

It’s gonna be sick, and I’m thrilled for the opportunity. That being said, I’m sad that we’re going to miss the free clinic the rest of the group will be doing for the rest of the week. At least we were able to help with the preparation and moving of the medicine!

Anyway… I got to have a nice hour-long chat with my boy Alex before we headed back to the Moyo airstrip. Beside the airstrip, there’s a neighboring elementary school where all the kids come out to watch the planes take off and land. We had around a 45-minute wait, and my dad decided it would be fun to get a race and a game of Red Light, Green Light going with the kids while we waited. The kids only spoke Madi, but thanks to Alex being with us, we were able to get the general instructions across. The kids had a blast—even if it wasn’t exactly Red Light, Green Light lol.

After we played the game, I let all the kids touch the skin and hair on my arms and the hair on my head. This was absolutely fascinating to them. Many had hardly ever seen this kind of straight hair and bright white skin up close—much less touched it. It was a crazy experience that really puts things into perspective.

On the plane, we got to talk to a couple of local missionaries who had apparently gotten almost every disease imaginable but were still toughing it out. A great local connection for Living Water.

The conversation with the missionaries was great and all, but OH MY GOODNESS did I get motion sick. Those Cessnas rock SO much when there’s turbulence, and it almost made me lose my breakfast. We did finally make it, though, and I managed to avoid any unfortunate situations.

Once we were back in Entebbe, we headed to the hotel and checked in. We’d planned to have them do our laundry, but after learning they were going to charge us a smooth $140, we opted to use our own detergent and wash our clothes in the bathtub, then dry them the old-fashioned way.

I finished off the day by FINALLY uploading some of my pictures, but it still ended up taking 3 hours lol. So once again, I’m posting a day late—but that’s alright. Hakuna matata, baby.

Reflection

Efficiency can make a huge difference on the mission field. I’ve seen people spend hundreds of thousands and, in turn, touch thousands of lives. I’ve also seen people spend similar amounts and drift idly by, lacking any real goal or direction.

When you’re giving money and you can’t inspect how it’s being used, it’s easy to worry that it might be spent inefficiently. I think this caution is warranted, but it shouldn’t keep someone from giving.

⸻

A Note on Mission Trips

In my experience so far, the reason many short-term “mission trips” are important isn’t always the work you do or even the spiritual transformation you may have. Both of these have their place, and in some cases should be the main focus. However, I’d argue that the most important reasons to go on many of these trips are fourfold:

1. To gain perspective on how you can support powerful ministries that can do far more work than you ever could in a week or two.

2. To inspect whether money is being used well by a team on the ground.

3. To meet locals whom you can encourage and empower to continue working with their own people.

4. To free yourself from the limitations of your own culture, which is often narrow-minded and sometimes even counter to the will of God.

To the first point: How can someone truly know where to give without directly or indirectly seeing the needs of others? Of course, you don’t have to see to understand—but I GUARANTEE you that many people in the U.S. today need to see these things to put them into perspective and understand how urgent some of these needs really are.

To the second point: It may sound stingy or untrusting, but I assure you—$1 given to one missionary is not the same as $1 given to another. Be generous, but I encourage you to give to those who are truly on fire for the Lord and are good stewards of what they’re given.

To the third point: It is incredibly important to develop touchpoints with a culture. First, it encourages the people you visit—just knowing someone across the world loves you and is praying for you is powerful. Second, it strengthens your own convictions, because the stories you hear are no longer just statistics. Now they have a name, a face, and a story that pushes you further.

To the fourth and final point: We all live in a box we aren’t even aware of. From birth we are taught certain ways of doing things, and while some of these ideas come from Scripture, many do not. For example, in the U.S. we value individualism. Not all of it is bad, but in many cases it’s taken too far. If those ideals become excessive, they can easily lead to idolatry—something we must guard against as Christians.

November 16, 2025

Today was another great day in ol’ Uganda. Since it is the LORD’s Day, we had the opportunity to visit two local churches here in the refugee camps, and both my father and one of our group members were able to teach. The people I met were absolutely wonderful, and I’m grateful I had the chance to worship with them today.

After the services ended, we watched more than twenty people get baptized in the hole we saw them digging yesterday. It was incredible to witness the joy in this community as our brothers and sisters were baptized.

For much of the rest of the day, we prepped medicine to be distributed by the rest of the team tomorrow. Thanks to the assembly-line system we came up with, we finished what was planned to take a day and a half in less than five hours.

To wrap up the day, a few team members went out to buy toys for the orphans next door, and my father and I passed them out. The sheer joy on those children’s faces… One of the girls grabbed on to my hand, looked me straight in the eyes, and did a little curtsy before grabbing hers…Precious beyond what words can describe.

Reflection:

Wolves in sheep’s clothes. Something I have seen my fair share of, I suppose, but I am thankful I haven’t seen too too many.

Unfortunately, not everyone who says they’re acting in the name of God is truly working for him. I have to remind myself constantly not to judge because there is only one who should fill that role. It’s so very hard though.

How could you watch your own people suffer and delay a gift to those around you because you want a cut of the profits on the purchase of the gift? How could someone who fancies themselves a leader of many churches think it’s OK to behave this way? What things do I do that make other people think this way about me? Why am I so quick to wish for justice on someone else when they trample on God’s mercy and so quick to forgive myself for doing the same?

Heard this great verse today: “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭

Lord forgive your prideful servant.

November 15, 2025

There has been almost no connection, so, for the time being, I will not be able to post any pictures. I will add them in a few days when I have better connection.

Anyways… today we visited the refugee camp in Palorinya. We left the compound around 8:30am, and after about an hour of obstacle-course-like driving, we entered the refugee area.

Once I’m somewhere with a stable connection, I’ll upload some videos, but for now I’ll just say: this is not a place anyone would want to be stuck in. The poverty and starvation you see with even a quick glance is enough to hit you deep in the gut.

I was especially moved watching a small girl who couldn’t have been older than five—and her little brother, maybe three—carrying water for what must have been multiple miles.

What’s even crazier to imagine is that this level of destitution is the better option. South Sudan and Sudan, where many of these refugees are from, are war-torn and nearly uninhabitable. My father once told me that during his first visit to South Sudan, before the civil war, almost three-quarters of the people were armed with semi-automatic rifles, and nearly all who didn’t have guns carried spears or clubs. People lived in constant fear. Things have only worsened since then.

Heavy stuff… but on a happier note, when we arrived at Living Water’s local school, we got to watch the kids perform their weekly concert, and it was absolutely epic. If there’s one thing I can say, it’s that Africans—above any other people I’ve met—can sing and dance like nobody’s business. It’s wild. In the middle of the concert, the leader of that facility, Brother Ishmael, gave a powerful teaching to everyone present.

After the concert, we looked around the facilities—the baking school, the motorbike mechanic school, and the primary and pre-primary schools. I regret not taking pictures here, but I was so shaken from earlier and honestly forgot. Even better than pictures, though, were the stories I got to hear from Brother Simon and Brother Ishmael.

Simon is a South Sudanese man of the Acholi tribe who, at just 20 years old, is a pastor of a 130-person church, a farmer, and a schoolteacher. On top of that, he walks two hours to the school and two hours back every day he teaches. Absolutely insane.

Ishmael, on the other hand, is a North Sudanese man who was abandoned by his parents at age seven and moved to Kenya. When he returned to Sudan as an adult—having found Jesus—his Muslim family proudly threatened to kill him for it and forced him to leave the village without even taking his belongings. Despite everything, he carries himself with so much joy and purpose, leading the school and helping teach at the pastor training center we visited yesterday.

During these conversations, Anne (our fearless leader), Bala, and the rest of the team finally arrived. Aside from my father and me, everyone faced so many delays that they arrived 2.5 days later than planned—all of which was spent traveling. As unfortunate as that is, it’s still a blessing that they all made it safely to Moyo.

For some background: Anne is the founder and leader of Living Water and has been working in non-profits since before I was born. She and her husband Bala have been good friends with my dad since they first met in Sudan just after the turn of the century. All three of them do incredible work—Anne practically runs everything herself on the ground, and my dad is basically a one-man army. It’s a privilege to work beside them.

After catching up, my father and I left to rejoin Simon at another kids’ club in a different refugee camp. These children were young, and there were a lot of them. Around 800 kids were packed into a “room” that couldn’t have been more than 1,000 square feet—about one square foot per kid, especially since the leaders (including us and Simon) took up about 100 of those square feet. “Room” is in quotes because it was really a pavilion with a sheet-metal roof and tarps for walls.

(Simon doing singing with the kids)

I shed a few (hopefully) manly tears as I remembered my Cambodian friend Theara’s story of growing up in a refugee camp. Her family struggled so much that she didn’t even know chicken wasn’t just the bones the soldiers threw at her until she was almost a teenager. These kids were so hungry. Besides the joy of singing today and the little bag of cookies they received, they probably only have hard work ahead of them for the rest of the week.

(The bag of cookies each child received. This was probably all many of them got to eat for the entire day. In addition, none of them ate their cookies there at the place— this tells me they went home and shared them.)

However simple it may seem, I cannot express enough how important this silly time is for these children, how important the refugee schools and the pastor training school are. I thank God for Anne and her work here. I thank God for Simon, Ishmael, Alex, and everyone supporting her dream. I thank God for every person in the United States and around the world who give what they have to help people whose faces they’ll never even see.

Besides the long drive home, not much else happened today… well, my father was surprised for his birthday by Anne and Bala. That was really sweet.

Anyway. It’s midnight. I’ve been writing this post and the last one for about four hours. I’m going to BED.

Good night! More tomorrow.

Just kidding—time for a reflection:

November 14, 2025

Woke up bright and early at 5:45am to head over to the local bush plane airport for our morning flight. Our destination for the day was Moyo, a small town in the far north of the country that practically touches the border with South Sudan. This town is where we’ll be staying until Monday and will serve as the base from which we’ll travel to all the local ministries our organization, Living Water, operates.

The trip to Moyo for my father and me was, thankfully, uneventful. We arrived at the tiny airport around 7am and, after a few short flights totaling about two hours and some change, we finally landed at the Moyo airstrip.

(Top left: the entire MAF airport at Entebbe; Top right: children lining up to watch our plane take off; Bottom: Our trusty plane— a cheeky little Cessna)

After landing, we took a short drive to the Catholic compound where we’ll be spending our nights and eating our meals. We quickly dropped off our bags and had lunch with one of our guides, a South Sudanese man named Alex, before heading out for the afternoon.

(Below: Our lunch — small pork ribs served with fries and cabbage.)

Our first destination after leaving the compound was the local market where the truck we purchased will be used by refugees being served by Living Water. Here we got to see all nine yards — corn, sorghum, millet, dried fish, a sliced-off goat head… you name it. It was there.

After visiting the market, we went to the orphanage next to the compound, run by local nuns. We had the privilege of talking with the sisters and hanging out with the kids for a while. My favorite memory was when our guide Alex stepped into a room where ten or so of the kids were eating, and all of them just started bawling their eyes out. The poor guy just wanted to say hi…

On a more serious note, I really can’t help but see my nieces and nephews in these little ones. It’s absolutely unthinkable to me that someone could abandon children like these. My own sister had been cast out by her biological family. Even though I knew this kind of thing happens, it hurts to see the same stories I’ve seen in the U.S., Thailand, and Cambodia repeated here as well — and, aside from maybe Cambodia, on an even larger scale.

I pray God blesses those who care for the lost children here and around the world. As James, the brother of the Lord, says in James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

After leaving the orphanage, we stopped by a compound where new pastors from the surrounding regions were being trained. We got to listen in on one of their lectures and see the progress that’s been made through the hard work of our local brothers. Then, as a surprise, my dad and I were asked to share short messages and give part of our testimonies.

This was pretty nerve-racking ngl. Public speaking is hard enough already, but doing it with zero preparation is a whole other beast. Thank the LORD for the Holy Spirit, because I definitely couldn’t have pulled that off without His help.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to the compound, then walked over to the orphanage again to talk through a few matters with the sister in charge. With the day almost over, we waited for the rest of our team members, who were supposed to have arrived by then… turns out they got lost in the Ugandan back roads and missed the last ferry to cross the Nile. Whoops. The good news is they did manage to find my dad’s bag, so he could finally change clothes after four days!!!

With that mixed news, we had a quick dinner — during which, weirdly enough, we got to practice our Spanish with one of the locals.

Reflection:

One thing I keep having to tell myself when I’m here or at another mission field is that there’s only so much one man or even a team of people can do. As it is written in Matthew 9:37 , “…the harvest is plentiful but the workers are a few.” It is easy to get discouraged in places like this. This is especially true when you are surrounded by so many heartbreaking things, so many needs. It’s easy to get discouraged when you see these needs and are reminded just how limited your resources are, just how weak you and your team are. Thank goodness we are not alone. By the power of God, we can continue working, continue standing.

November 13th, 2025

Waking up this morning was tough… The jet lag hit us all like a train as 9am here is only 1am back at home. The morning went like this: we woke up, got breakfast, and then… went right back to back to sleep for a nice two hour nap. Not very eventful, but at least breakfast was tasty!

We had the privilege of trying foods not commonly found in U.S. breakfasts. My favorites were boiled arrowroots with matooke and goat stew served alongside japati. Both the arrowroots and the matooke (plantains) were very similar to potatoes in texture and flavor profile, with the arrowroots leaning ever so slightly on the sweeter side. The stew itself was reminiscent of certain curry dishes from the East, and the japati was to naan as whole-grain bread is to white bread. Beautiful stock pictures below (top: steamed arrowroot, bottom left: matooke and goat stew, bottom right: japati) vv

Armed with the power of nap time and a delicious breakfast, my father and I took around a 45 minute drive to Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Our task for the afternoon was but one: negotiate the price for a new truck to be used in the refugee camp.

This short car trip finally gave me a chance to see a bit of the country. I really enjoy these drives because they can give a good quick perspective on whatever place you may be visiting. I have some pictures from the trip right here vvv

My first impression was that the country had progressed far more than I expected. For example, the major roads in the city were all well-paved, and countless new developments dotted the area wherever we went—a welcome surprise that encouraged both my father and me. After weaving through traffic, nearly getting into an accident or two, and even witnessing a moto crash, we finally made it to the dealership where our truck was located.

Our “new” truck in question was a 1993 Mitsubishi Canter shipped straight from the island of Honshu, Japan. We had previously sent in a mechanic, so we knew the vehicle was, at the very least, in working order, but it was still missing both of its rearview mirrors, and it also had a bad tire. “Nothing a little bit of negotiating can’t fix,” I thought to myself. The problem was, the asking price was 90,000,000 Ugandan shillings plus registration fees and taxes (about 25,000 USD)—a bit of a budget breaker in a city where the median household income is only around 2,300 USD a year.

After checking the condition of the car, we moved on to the negotiation itself, which took place in a small, roughly 80-square-foot room with me, my father, our driver, two women handling the paperwork, and two men directly involved in the negotiations—a packed house.

These two guys were tough nuts to crack. The first dealership offered 90 million again, but this time with taxes and fees—about 1.75 million—covered. No way, José.

Our first counteroffer was 76.5 million, but the smaller man didn’t even budge; he just repeated the 90 million offer. After about twenty minutes of back-and-forth, the best we could get was 87.5 million, without taxes and fees included. Man, we were getting smoked out there.

Even after pulling the old “start to walk away” trick, we only managed to get it down to 86.75 million, still without taxes and fees included—which is only about 900 USD below the asking price. I’m telling you: if my stubborn old man can’t negotiate something lower, it just isn’t in the cards.

I’ve had some experience dealing with merchants myself, so I was a bit disappointed, but in this situation it really felt like we were holding none of the cards.

Defeated, we shook hands with the dealership representatives and headed on our merry way back to the hotel. After arriving, my father and I spent some time reading and finished the day with dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. All in all, a terrific first full day of the trip!

Reflection:

Appearances can be deceiving. As we drove through the city, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much better the lives of those living in the area were going to get with all the new improvements. There might be some truth to this—people’s lives will certainly become easier and more comfortable—but where do the deeper feelings of fulfillment, belonging, and love come from?

I think back to my time in Japan and in the West, where I’ve seen people no more satisfied with their great wealth and prosperity than the people here. The people here yearn for a standard of living that would be considered below average in a place like the United States. The people in the United States, however, yearn for an even higher level of wealth—working and living in pursuit of a true happiness they never seem to find.

“But why these people? Wouldn’t that just be a terrible way to live?” you may ask.

The answer is simple: only those who realize that they have been defeated by the world while standing on their own can come to understand that the fight is impossible to win alone. It is only by the strength of God that I, and many others, still draw breath. It is only through the humility that comes from giving up and admitting weakness that one can be made strong in God.

Meditate on this, as I am.

November 12, 2025

After about a day of travel. My father and I landed in Entebbe, Uganda last night (around midnight as our choices in flights were a bit limited). The trip started off with an absolute bang when my father lost his bag at the airport last night. Poor guy is going to need to buy some new clothes now lol.

Anyway…. as soon as we got through the visa and customs checkpoint we stopped by the money exchange offices to pick up some Ugandan Shillings. Wish I took a picture of it because they stacked 5 competing, identical money exchange offices right next to each other. Even thought it was 1 in the morning, they were all fighting tooth and nail for our business.

After cashing in a couple Benjamins we headed out with our driver and some of our travel companions to our hotel for the night…

Reflection:

I’d say that other than the unfortunate loss of personal property, we made it all the way from the U.S. to Uganda safely, and that is something to thank God for as we prepare to serve his people here on the African continent. I pray that God uses us as he sees fit while we are here and gives us any wisdom we may require in the coming days.

“I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

P.S. I wrote this post the day after because we got in so late. There are definitely going to be some missing pictures

As I mentioned in my June 8 post, on my second free day I went around Tokyo and visited locations that were recreated in Persona 5, one of my favorite video games. The game’s artists were able to capture many famous spots around the city, and frankly it was a very exciting experience getting to see the places that I know and love from the game as they are in the real world. As described in my former post, the places I visited in Tokyo for this excursion were Akihabara, Kanda, Aiyana-Itchome and Shibuya (although I did visit more these are the ones which I have comparisons from the game).

Reflection:

Throughout Persona 5, the general atmosphere that is created in this fictional Tokyo is one full of life with colorful signs, streets filled with people, and lively music to illustrate how much energy there is throughout the city, and to boot, the city is also portrayed as incredibly clean. As a general rule this is exactly how Tokyo felt as I walked through the streets, and I cannot even tell you how many times I gave props to the creators of Persona who did such a good job recreating the atmosphere. I will now go through all of the locations I went to and describe how each one of them was recreated with pictures to help describe what I mean.

Akihabara:

In real life Akihabara was classically known as the tech center of Tokyo, but recently, it has mostly become the center of Otaku culture rather than tech although tech stores do still have their place there. Here, maid cafes and anime girls are everywhere the eye can see. Compared to the other locations on that are coming up on this post, I actually think this was one of the least similar. Although yes there are nods to the fact this is a place for otaku things, it definitely is mostly shown as a tech place (at least at first which is all I have seen in game). While this isn’t necessarily inaccurate, it definitely is a slight difference from the real world. However, the atmosphere created in the game is very accurate with all of the people constantly pushing through the street and the colorful signs shown everywhere. Also, I’m pretty sure there is in fact a maid cafe in game in Akihabara so I suppose that is accurate as well.

Kanda:

Although in game it’s just a church, I would like to point out how well they recreated the vibe of this place of worship. Although much of the game has a very excited atmosphere, this place is one of the most relaxed places in game. This is exactly how I felt as I entered the church from the street and instantly experienced a shift from very high to very low energy (almost like walking into a library after walking through Disney world on a crowed day).

Aoyama-Itchome:

This place was one that I was particularly impressed with. Although the pictures look a bit different, they actually recreated the high school Shujin Academy from this part of the city and made it the one of the most important locations in game. I didn’t take a picture of the school itself out of respect for the students, but the idea that the same street can be found in-game despite it being a very random location otherwise is mind-boggling. Here they recreated the bustle of highschoolers and salarymen walking around quite well. I feel like this place in-game gives a good snapshot of what the commute of a lot of students and salarymen looks like in Tokyo.

Shibuya:

Alright, I know I keep talking about energy, but let me tell you, the energy the game portrays in Shibuya is by far the greatest. Shibuya in-game does a great job showing how it feels to be a shopper in Tokyo. The streets are absolutely packed with people, there are workers everywhere trying to sell you things, and there are so many things to do there that it’s easy to lose track of your plans. To say that Shibuya is full of life in the real world is an understatement, and the creators of Persona 5 captured this perfectly.

Final thoughts:

It’s hard to describe, but the subtle differences that can be found in the different places throughout Tokyo are what make the city so special. Each section of the city has its own quirks and is worth a visit on its own merits. It is this accurate portrayal of these subtle differences in Persona 5 that it made me so excited as I walked through Tokyo my first couple days. I feel like the whole game was so good at portraying the city that is almost like a commercial of sorts. Honestly, if I ever start missing Tokyo in the future, I’m probably going to find myself walking through the game trying to see if I can spot any places I’ve been in the real world.

For our final planned day in Japan, we went to the city of Osaka.

The first thing we did once we got to Osaka was get some local food, which for me was okonomiyaki, a sort of fried patty of cabbage, meat, and egg with teriyaki and mayo on top. It was actually really good, and I’m glad I got to try something new this late in the trip. Also it was cooked in front of us which, I gotta be honest, was pretty cool.

After eating, we were able to walk around outside Osaka castle, the fortress in which Hideyoshi and his Toyotomi clan had their last stand against Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Heading away from the castle, we headed off to a strip of the city that is supposed to be America-themed. I think most of us found it pretty amusing because it was very unlike the U.S. in pretty much every way.

After this we walked around the town as a class for a bit and were able to see some of the cultural differences between Osaka and Tokyo with the former city being more outgoing and less straight-laced.

After this, we split up for the last time for the whole trip :(. My friends and I stayed back for a bit and visited Den Den town which is the Osaka equivalent of Akihabara, and after that we headed back for the day.

This will be my last regular post of the trip, I hope you guys enjoyed.

Academic Reflection:

Today we read about the quirky urban planning that is found throughout Japan in a study that focused on Kobe and Osaka. One thing I found pretty interesting in the article that popped up pretty quickly was the idea that zoning in the big cities of Japan seems to be a bit more scattered than in cities of other countries. In each of the big cities you can find small microcities each focused in small areas complete with pretty much every element of a city including places to gamble, eat, and even farm. This is different from many western cities as these have tried to have harder parts between areas for distinct land use.

When we got to the city, the first thing we got to do was see all of the deer which are protected due to their status as messengers of the local gods. These guys were pretty chill imo, and they have even learned to return a bow after watching humans.

After hanging with our new bros, we went to Toudai-Ji, a temple rebuilt in the 12 century that is dedicated to what is essentially considered the primordial Buddha.

The building and statues were pretty impressive. I think it’s funny that even after all this time here looking at new temples, each one of the big ones still manages to surprise me with Toudai-Ji being no exception to this.

After visiting the temple, we briefly visited a museum before heading to Kasuga Shrine.

The shrine was very beautiful with all of its many lanterns which it has become known for, and it was surrounded by a gorgeous forest which made the atmosphere even more incredible.

After staying here for a bit, we split up for the day and went back to Kyoto.

Academic Reflection:

For our reading today, we got to learn a bit more about Buddhism. The teaching that one of our readings specifically focused on was Shingon Buddhism founded by Kukai. Kukai asserted that the version of Buddhism he taught was the greatest form because it transcended all other forms of Buddhism. In this form of Buddhism, it is claimed that all of the Buddha which have appeared throughout history (such as Siddhartha Gautama the original teacher and founder of Buddhism and Kannon the popular deity of mercy) were merely extensions of the true spirit of this great celestial Buddha.

Understanding a bit of the history of this form of Buddhism made the symbolism of the temple make a lot more sense. Take a look at these pictures for instance.

In these figures the great Buddha is surrounded by other smaller Buddha, and to the great Buddha’s side is Kannon. The Buddhas surrounding the bigger Buddha are extensions of the spirit of the bigger Buddha, and Kannon is considered one of these at the end of the day. This is essentially one of the unique teachings of this of Buddhism type summed up in a statue which I found to be very interesting.

For our group excursion today, we went to the Kyoto National Manga Museum. To clarify for those of you boomers who don’t know what manga is, it is essentially the Japanese version of comics that we have in the U.S. The differences between the two are ambiguous and ever changing as each art form has influenced the other over the years.

At the museum, I was honestly impressed pretty much as soon as we walked in. Taking a look around I could see people of all ages sitting in chairs around the building, reading all kinds of stories. The walls of the museum were lined with what felt like almost every published manga in history, and what is neat is that this library is accessible to anyone who visits the museum.

In the middle of the second floor, there was an exhibit that explained some of the history and some of the inner workings of the manga industry. We each spent some time looking at the exhibit, and then we picked out some books and flipped through them for a bit.

(This is not one of the walls I was talking about this is actually part of the exhibit)

After this, we got to see a kamishibai performance which was a real treat. This unique show which involves the use of pictures while telling a story used to be a popular form of entertainment performed on the streets before media like television took over.

After the show was over, we split up for the day, and I went to buy some souvenirs, manga, and curry udon.

Academic Reflection:

Today we got to read about some of the history manga. Although a form of manga has technically existed since the 1700’s, it wasn’t until the 1920’s that modern manga began to take hold in Japanese pop culture. This started to happen as the Japanese began to emulate U.S. comic strips found in newspapers. These four panel manga were used to help sell papers by making it more entertaining for readers. After this, manga changed with the work of Osamu Tenzuka in the postwar period during the 1940’s-1960’s, he is now known as a sort of god of manga. Much of the manga that started coming out after this was also heavily influenced by Disney which was brought in during the Allied occupation of Japan (this is probably one of the sources of some of the cutsiness found in manga today). Eventually two of the most dominant forms of manga became shounen and shoujo manga. These are comics targeted at boys under 18 and girls under 18 respectively, however they have more recently been spreading in popularity worldwide, and the demographics have slowly become wider as well with each category having a broader range of reach in age and gender. Manga today stands with these two pretty much at the top in terms of popularity.

Getting to see some of the classics in person and learn a bit more about manga today was terrific. My experience at the museum was definitely boosted by the fact that I was familiar with some of the authors and the waves they made from the reading today and my own reading. Particularly, knowing about the cultural impacts of Astro Boy, Dragonball, and Sailor Moon were interesting because it is easy to see elements of all of these when looking through the manga that came after them.

Today for my free day, I did a bit of exploring. The first place I went was Heian shrine in Eastern Kyoto which was built for the 1,100 year anniversary of Kyoto (Heian).

This place actually might have been my favorite shrine. Even the gate was more impressive than most of the other shrines. I didn’t get any pictures of it because it was far away, but the main gate of the shrine was the largest one I have seen so far at 24 meters high. The shrine’s courtyard was relatively bare with a large space filled only with gravel, and the buildings were all located closer to the edges of the compound.

The reason for Heian shrine being one of my favorites was not the structures themselves but the garden surrounding them. This was certainly at least one of my three or four top favorite gardens that I’ve been to (and I’ve seen many a garden in my day). I was able to take some pictures of the area for your enjoyment.

After going to Heian shrine, I did a lot of aimless walking and unfortunately got pretty sunburned in the process. It was really nice getting to see more of Kyoto. I took note of a few places that I would like to visit if I ever visit the city again, and I got to look at a few stands that some vendors had set up. After this I went home for the day.

More tomorrow!

For our trip today, we went to Arashiyama forest to see some bamboo and some monkeys.

On our way to the bamboo forest, we quickly stopped at a shrine which is known for helping people find a romantic partner. I didn’t really do much there myself, so I guess I’m doomed to be alone for the rest of my life or something like that.

We spent the rest of the first part of the day walking through the bamboo forest. It was a very pretty site to see, and I was amazed at just how large all of the thousands of stalks of bamboo around me were. The only gripe I had throughout was that there were thousands of people that definitely detracted from the beauty of the forest itself.

After this brief journey into the forest, we went into the town nearby and picked up some lunch. I got to try chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken), and I sort of regret not trying it here sooner because it was, as the kids say, bussin ong.

It was after this adventure that we got to partake in some, if you will, monkey business. To see the monkeys, we hiked up a small mountain in the forest to a park that was full of them. It was exciting getting to see a big group of wild monkeys for the first time, so I’ll probably remember today for quite a while.

After this we split up for the day, and I walked around the city for a few hours.

Academic Reflection:

Today we got to read some more about forest management and how it has led to the preservation of the Arashiyama forest over time. One thing that stood out to me in the reading was that, once people realized that having a beautiful forest attracted tourists, efforts to maintain the forest increased. Although there was much more to the reading such as the history of Arashiyama since its founding by a Japanese emperor of the 13th century, I think this one point is worth more discussion. In my conversations with those whose work is in conservation, something that almost always comes up is the marketability of a green project. No matter the environmental benefit of a project, if the right people do not care, then it will never take off.

Today we started off by visiting Kyoto National Museum.

Here we got to see statues, paintings, scrolls, and other artifacts, some of which date back over a thousand years. (Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures inside)

One item at the museum that interested me was the blade of a beautiful long sword. This sword was made by a member of the prominent Mishima branch of Yamashiro, Kyoto swordsmiths. The inscription on the hilt says “Izumi No Kami Rai Kanemichi/Yōho ; Forged in duplicate by a Kyoto smith in 1730 by order of the shogun. One blade gifted this is the other”, and there is also the imperial chrysanthemum crest. This means that this blade is an exact copy of a sword made for the shogun made 300 years ago, but despite its age it still shines as though it is a new sword.

After leaving the museum, we headed to Kyoto station to eat some food while waiting for our tour’s time slot at the imperial palace. I got some ramen with a soy sauce base from a place called Menya Kiyo and it was divine.

During the tour of the imperial palace, we got to see all of the grounds including where the emperor used to live, and we were given an explanation of the function of each of the buildings.

(Top: The Emperor’s office and Bedchamber; Middle two: Pictures from the garden; Bottom: The resting place of one of the regalia of the Emperor’s family)

After we were done looking around the palace, we split up for the day, and I personally decided to do a bit more exploring around the city before turning in for the day.

Academic Reflection:

For our reading today, we got to learn about the Kyoto imperial palace as well as the original design of the capital of olde when the city was still known as Heian. The actual palace itself was designed to be only one story for the most part with no true walls. During the summer, this feature along with roofing made from cyprus bark instead of tile allowed the structure to remain relatively cool. However, this style of building would get very cold during the winter, so curtains were added to protect from some of the cold. These curtains were of course not enough, and the residents of the palace would have to wear many layers even indoors. This was compounded by the fact that, in the palace, there weren’t many traditional rooms but instead movable partitions such as screens were used to create privacy.

For my independent academic activity, I went to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Although it was a bit of a journey to get there, it was a real treat because I was able to learn so much I never would have even thought about a dish I love to eat.

At the museum, I started off by reading about the ethnic origins of Ramen. Apparently, ramen is a mixture of the Chinese noodle dish and Japanese food culture. This means that although Chinese noodles are used in the dish, it is largely Japanese ingredients that are used to make the broth and toppings.

After this I got to learn about one of the five basic flavors: umami. This unique flavor that is largely associated with savoriness was proven to exist and named by a Japanese professor in the late 20th century. Having just the right amount of umami is imperative to creating the perfect ramen dish, and thus, the museum decided to have a whole stand dedicated largely to the flavor. (No picture)

After reading about umami I read a reasonably comprehensive history of the origin and proliferation of ramen. This part to me was fascinating because I never could have guessed that such a simple dish could have such a storied history which I honestly don’t even have enough space to discuss fully.

I also got to see some primary sources for the history of ramen.

After looking at some of the ramen from history and briefly perusing the gift shop I decided I was satisfied and headed back to Bunkyo city.

Academic reflection:

For my academic reflection I found a book called Slurp! a Social and Culinary History of Ramen - Japan's Favorite Noodle Soup by Barak Kushner and the following summary is from the 5th chapter. This chapter doesn’t mention ramen specifically too much, but it does discuss some of the cultural changes that occurred in Japan that were necessary for the dish

A New Era of Cultural Importation:

With the arrival of commodore Perry of the U.S. navy in 1853, Japan was shortly forced to open up its borders after having shut itself out from much of the rest of the world for centuries. The sudden influx of foreigners allowed for cultural importation to begin once again in the island nation.

Chinese Immigrants in Japan:

Although the treaties formed after the opening of the borders allowed people from many western nations to enter at specified trading ports such as Yokohama, Chinese people were still banned because no such treaty with China was signed. However, westerners thought of the Chinese as valuable partners in Japan because they were able to communicate with the locals by writing using kanji (which were originally Chinese characters imported in the early centuries of the first millennium). Because of this, many Chinese still managed to enter the country by traveling with their bosses from western companies. With this influx of Chinese immigrants, the trade port, Yokohama, ended up having a Chinese population of over 50%. This is significant in the discussion of ramen because, as mentioned briefly earlier, the dish is heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine. If it were not for the Chinese population in Yokohama it is possible that ramen as we know it would have never come to be.

Resistance to Change:

The end of the Edo period was full of complete resistance to the cultural practices of foreigners. All most people could think of was how they were to remove all of the “barbarians” from their land. This changed, however, with the Meiji restoration when the government under the Emperor started strongly encouraging the wholesale adoption of western culture.

The Shift Towards Eating Meat:

Animal products and meat itself are essential ingredients when creating truly authentic ramen. Without these products, all aspects of ramen would have been slightly different including the broth which is integral to the dish as a whole. However, until the Meiji period, it was very uncommon to see anyone in Japan eating meat. It was thought of as disgusting, and when meat was sold, it was named using euphemisms like “land whale” or something to that nature. This started to change when the Japanese military decided it wanted larger and stronger soldiers in its ranks and with the discovery that beriberi disease could be prevented by eating meat. The former realization led to the army having more meat incorporated into soldier’s diets while the latter realization led to the navy adding more meat into sailor’s diets. This practice was, of course, despised by many of these soldiers who hated the thought of eating meat, but it did accelerate the change toward meat being accepted in Japan.

The Effect:

Gradually, as people started to accept the cuisine of immigrants and the eating of meat, hybrid dishes began appearing across Japan. One such dish was Nanking Soba, a precursor to ramen. As the creation of these dishes became more and more popular, it was only a matter of time before ramen would be invented as the culmination of umami.

Discussion:

I found that learning about the history leading up to the creation of ramen made the experience I had at the museum even more enriching. The museum’s history started at the creation of ramen itself with the brief mention of the precursors to the dish (such as the aforementioned Nanking Soba), but it did not mention all of the cultural change which had to occur for the dish to exist in the first place. I feel like now I truly have been given a crash course about the full history of ramen.

I highly recommend visiting the ramen museum and trying an authentic bowl if you haven’t gotten the chance.

Citation for Summarized Reading: