HPU Workshop presentation

Tomorrow we will go back to Tokyo to do the Workshop Report Presentation, together with 3 other US universities. The presentation will be a collection of our daily findings during the trip. As I said during my interview with JICE's coordinators that the workshop section is a great design of the project. It gives us the chance not only to express our findings  but also to build our teamwork spirit! It was exciting to see our HPU undergrad students hold such incredible analysis, collaboration and presentation skills, and strong team spirit! We have an awesome bonded team and I am so proud of every single one! It is a bless that I'm part of this group! Thank you HPU Study Abroad! #kakehashiproject#, #HPUxJPN15#

Japanese Delicacy

There is so much to share about our homestay experience! Japanese homemade delicacy is the most authentic way to explain Japanese people's pursuit of perfection and detail. I was so glad our homestay mom made to tonight's farewell party, so I could hold her tight little bit longer. I just hope they can visit me in Hawaii, so I can pamper them as they did to us! It was an emotional night to all of us, but it sure was a beautiful night! I can't appreciate more #JICE# #kakehashi# #HPUxJPN15#

Homestay

This home stay experience was one of the best experiences I have had and it is something I will never forget. My group of 6 stayed with the Shimokawa family in there lodge in Hakuba Village. It was a very old and traditional place and our room had two beds and a separate area with tatami mats and a kotatsu.

Two people slept in another room with 2 beds only and the last two of us slept on futons on the tatami mat. I was one of them and it was so comfortable. The dinner they made for us was hot pot and this was the first time I had every had this. It was pretty amazing, and I happily ate as much as I could. That night we were told to take a bath downstairs, it was one of those communal baths, or traditional Japanese baths. Five of us got in, it was slightly awkward at first but we got over it quickly and really enjoyed the bath. I have never felt so relaxed after a bath than after that. We helped them with the dishes to show our gratitude. In the morning we gave them our gifts and they seemed to be very happy to receive them. Breakfast was also Japanese style and very delicious and ate everything on my plate. Waking up it was very cold so we drank a lot of tea.

We later went to a ski resort and went sledding. My group was the first to arrive so we were able to destroy the smooth snow before anyone else. It was exciting and exhausting constantly moving and jumping through the snow and up the mountain. We sled down the hill, made snowmen, and had a snowball fight which included Shimokawa-san. He seemed to enjoy the trip as well.

When we got back we made soba from scratch, it included mixing powder then adding water to make dough, flattening out the dough, and then cutting it into thin strips to make the noodles. The noodles were cooked immediately and we ate lunch. We were complemented for our chopstick use, they were impressed by how well we use them.

After lunch we went to the store which we all may have gone a little crazy with buying gifts for people. When we got back we sat around the kotatsu for a bit them went downstairs for tea and snacks. They gave us paper to leave a message for them so we worked on that during that time. For dinner we made our own sushi at the dinner table and it was absolutely amazing. I have never had sushi that good and I really enjoyed the constant home cooked meal they provided us. After dinner Mrs. Shimokawa-san dressed us all in her kimono. She spent about 15 minutes putting it on us along with the obi. It was so beautiful and I was so grateful that she let us wear her kimono. She told us that she got it as a present from her mother when she was 20, but she also sewed it herself so her mother probably helped her with it. I was so amazed by the kimono and I really enjoyed it.

The next day was the last morning of our home stay with them. It was sad to know that we would be leaving since we really got to know them and it was really great to get a feel for traditional Japanese living. I was a little torn to leave them but we took some pictures and left for the day. We had our farewell party that night and it really hit me that we would be leaving. This couple was so kind and hospitable to us and I am really grateful for everything they did for us. The whole HPU group performed a song for the home stay families and I was actually extremely surprised to find out that the homestay families had a performance ready for us too. It was really amazing and I will miss my home stay family a lot. I hope I will come back to Japan and see them again or just have some others go to Hakuba Village.

Home stay

I have been in Japan for a couple of days now, been having really enjoying myself. The home stay that we had was really awesome. Shawn and I stayed with Mr.Matsumoto, we also has several students from the University of Cincinnati staying with us. I was honestly not knowing what to expect. After we got settled in, we had dinner and then all went to a onsen. It was honestly one of the most amazing thing i have done in Japan. The next day we went to the ski resort, and i got to go really play with snow for the first time, it was really amazing. I got to sledding and i had a snowball fight with matt. It was really awesome. We then went back home and then went to a battlefield and the Nagano museum. That was really awesome i took a lot of pictures. Super amazing, sadly we had to leave and i really missed my host family now.

HPU Meets Japan 2015 Snapchat Story - Departure/Arrival

If you have snapchat, you would know that there are live snapchat stories that show events and places from different perspectives of people. I decided to compile the snaps I took to make my own Japan Story. Enjoy the tidbits of Japan through my eyes! I hope you can feel the excitement and awe as the first moments of Japan unraveled before us.

This is departure and arrival day, Nov. 24/25:

Hawaii Pacific meets Japan

Hawaii Pacific University has been awarded a grant to send 23 HPU students (and 2 chaperones) to Japan to experience the culture, food, and various sights they have to offer. After a difficult task of reviewing 93 applications, the selection committee ultimately decided on these amazing students to represent our university. We only wish we could have brought everyone along!

All of the students selected have never been to Japan, and many have never been outside the US. Please follow along as they share surprises, difficulties, and their excitement.

Kakehashi Project Group B: Meiji University

Meiji University was founded in January 1881 as the Meiji Law School by a group of young lawyers barely in their 30's: Tatsuo Kishimoto, Kozo Miyagi, and Misao Yashiro. 

Meiji University ranks solidly among the best universities in Japan, currently consisting of 10 schools:

1. School of Law

2. School of Commerce

3. School of Political Science and Economics

4. School of Business Administration,

5. School of Arts and Letters

6. School of Information and Communication

7. School of Global Japanese Studies

8. School of Science and Technology

9. School of Agriculture

10. School of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences. 

They also have graduate schools on those mentioned above. 

For more information about and opportunities offered at Meiji University , visit here.

If I were a Japanese senior high school student, I would apply to this university and study in its School of Law. (I dream and wish to become a successful lawyer someday.)

11/26/2015 Meiji University, Japan: Group Photo except that I captured this smile emoticon.
Today, we learned about Japan's Foreign Policy and the Important Groups of Japan.
The lectures of the day were very informative.
Thank you,‪#‎JapanInternationalCorporationCenter‬
for the sponsorship. We are lucky to be embarking on this journey. ‪#‎HPUxJPN15‬ ‪#‎hawaiipacificuniversity‬‪#‎JapanStudyTour‬

Nagano, Japan: Homestay

Yesterday, (Friday, November 27, 2015) Kakehashi Group B [Hawaii Pacific University students] departed Tokyo to travel to Nagano, Japan for the "homestay experience." Japan's high speed bullet trains, also known as "Shinkansen" offer visitors an experience like no other with speeds reaching up to 320 kilometers per hour. 

Inside the train, there are comfy seats, outlet to charge your phones/laptops, and a foldable table like those in airplanes. Indeed, it's an experience like no other. 

11/27/2015 Tokyo Station, Japan: “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury

‪#‎JapanStudyTour‬ ‪#‎MarjuryEmbarksonANewjourney‬ ‪#‎MarjuryEmbarks‬‪#‎HPUxJPN15‬

11/27/2015 Nagano, Japan: . "The very fact of snow is such an amazement." — Roger Ebert ‪#‎MarjuryEmbarksonANewjourney‬ ‪#‎MarjuryEmbarks‬‪#‎JapanStudyTour‬ ‪
#‎hawaiipacificuniversity‬ ‪#‎HPUxJPN15‬

11/27/2015 Nagano Ski Lodge: Homestay Night 1: the family is already feeding us a lot, I couldn't finish all the food they serve. But they cooked and prepared dinner of tonight. I am very lucky. "oishii" is the Japanese term for Delicious smile emoticon "Oishii des" Arigato! ‪#‎MarjuryEmbarks‬ ‪#‎HPUxJPN15‬‪#‎JapanStudyTour‬ ‪#‎homestay‬ ‪#‎Nagano‬

11/28/2015 Nagano, Japan: "A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things."

(photo taken when I woke up at around 7 in the morning)

(view from the host family's lodge)

#JapanStudyTour #HPUxJPN15 #MarjuryEmbarks #MarjuryEmbarksonANewjourney #multiimage

Kakehashi Project Group B: Sophia University

Who would have thought that I would fall in love with Japan? With all it's "oishii" (delicious) food, amazing culture, hospitable citizens and many more impressive aspects of the Japanese culture and touches of Asian sophistication. But not only that, the country has the wonderful Sophia University that provides a truly global education at their campus in the heart of Tokyo City. Here are the major reasons why a high school senior should consider choosing and applying for Sophia University.

1. Sophia University is one of the top private universities in Japan

What enables Sophia University to maintain its ranking as one of Japan's top private universities are its reputation for excellence in undergraduate education, outstanding graduate programs, and a competitive research environment. 

2. Sophia University is Japan's Pioneer in Global Education

Sophia has English-taught classes particularly in their Liberal Arts program. The university has been offering English-medium programs for more than 60 years. In fact, Sophia was chosen for a series of subsidy programs being implemented by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to internationalize universities in Japan, including the Global 30 Project. These programs are helping to further strengthen Sophia's efforts to boost the global competency for its students. 

3. The university is culturally and richly diverse. 

Imagine encountering different ethnicity or nationalities in a campus of the city of Tokyo. What's even more interesting is that the university is like a hub that brings and connects all faculties, graduate and undergraduate students in all departments. Aside from that, Sophia University is described as to be functioning as a microcosm, a community regarded as encapsulating in smaller scale the characteristics of something much larger.

Whichever field of study a scholar chooses, I am sure it will all be worth it. I am sure that the time spent in Sophia University will be both rewarding and enlightening. 

11/27/2015 Sophia University, Japan: A group photo taken inside the Japanese University'
with a global mission. This is one of the top private, Catholic, universities in Japan. ‪#‎MarjuryEmbarksonANewjourney‬‪#‎MarjuryEmbarks‬ 
‪#‎JapanStudyTour‬ ‪#‎hawaiipacificuniversity‬ ‪#‎HPUxJPN15‬