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長野物語 Leslie Ann Hynes - Tokyo-Society & Culture, Fall 2009
Posted on October 26th, 2009 Japan, Nagano, Tokyo |
| On Wednesday, the IES Abroad Tokyo group left Chiba for Nagano. Nagano is a very "traditional" part of Japan. We stayed in a 旅館 (ryokan, traditional Japanese-style in) and in the evenings, we had the opportunity to drop by as many of the ten nearby 温泉 (onsen, hot springs/baths) as we wanted to. The hotel staff lent us 浴衣 (yukata, informal cotton kimono) and 下駄 (geta, Japanese-style wooden sandals) to wear around as we liked. During the day, we went to a lot of different places so that we could "learn with all five senses." We were taught how to make tofu, soba noodles and traditional-style pottery. In addition, we visited cultural and historic sites, like Matsumoto Castle, the Jigokudani Monkey Park, and what I think was everyone's favorite: the ninja museum and theme park, where they had a model house full of mazes, trap doors, tilted rooms and hidden routes. It was a very fun time and I think everyone who came along really enjoyed it! We got to see a whole different part of Japan. Nagano is a very different place from the Tokyo area (including Chiba, were we live and go to school). We learned a lot, even if we weren't going to classes! [gallery link="file"] |
I love all of the pictures! The one of the castle with the reflection in the water is very beautiful. The monkey is scary! You all look like you’re having fun! Glad you enjoyed your trip!