There were plenty of culture shocks that I experienced in Japan. The first thing that I noticed when exploring Tokyo for the first time was that everything was exceptionally clean; there was not a speck of litter to be seen anywhere unlike other big cities I have visited such as New York, Chicago, and Paris.

What is even crazier about this is that there are no trash cans to be seen in most places except for the occasional one in the subway stations. People are expected to carry their trash with them the entire day, which is vastly different than any other place I have been. Another culture shock is that there are no paper towels provided in public restrooms. This is probably also a result of there being no trashcans or an effort to reduce waste. Also, in regard to reducing waste, Japan has a complicated waste control system with many distinct categories of recycling, unlike the two-category system in the United States, simply trash and recycling. This is because Japan incinerates most of their waste which requires people to separate their recyclables into combustibles, non-combustibles, and plastic.

Another culture shock I experienced was that there are vending machines EVERYWHERE. On every corner there is a new vending machine with loads of good options inside. A personal favorite that me and my friends liked was a vitamin C drink. This is also interesting to me because this produces more waste that people have to carry around.

The other culture shock I experienced was that that there are no water fountains anywhere. This was not the most shocking to me because I have experienced this in other places like France. I am not sure what the reason is for this, but if I had to guess, it is so more people use the vending machines. My last culture shock and the biggest one is that you often see kids as young as 7 walking alone. At first when I saw this, I thought that these little kids were lost, especially when I saw them alone on the subways. Then, I looked into it and realized that it is quite common for young children to travel alone, and sometimes their parents even ask them to stop by the market to pick up something. This does make sense though because Japan is known for how safe it is, so there is less of a risk when sending children off on their own. I love exploring new places and seeing how different they are from where I’m from; the more different the better!

One of my favorite things about visiting Japan was all of the new food I got to experience. Of course, there were things that I was already familiar with and expecting like ramen, sushi, fried rice, and matcha, which were still amazing, but there is a lot more to Japanese cuisine than that.

One of the more semi known things that I tried is called Takoyaki. Takoyaki literally translates to “grilled octopus,” and it is a dish made of wheat batter which is filled with grilled octopus and fried. Even though this is more of a fair type of food, our group had it for dinner and it was very filling, but still delicious!

Another semi-known dish I had is called Yakisoba. This is a stir-fried noodle dish which is so delicious. The difference between Yakisoba and other noodle dishes is that the noodles are a bit chewier and harder. Now moving onto the dishes that I had no idea about before coming to Japan which also happened to be my favorite dishes. My absolute favorite dish that I had in Japan is called Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is famous in two places in Japan which battle between which has the better Okonomiyaki: Hiroshima and Osaka. I’ve only had it in Hiroshima, but based on how amazing that was, Osaka’s Okonomiyaki would have to be on another level to beat Hiroshima’s. Okonomiyaki is a type of savory pancake dish which has wheat flour batter, cabbage, meat, seafood, and soba noodles. The toppings consist of okonomiyaki sauce, anori, Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger. They have different variations of this basic recipe, and I got one with kimchi added to it which added an extra little kick of flavor.

I also tried a specialty cold noodle dish which was unlike anything I’ve ever tried before. I didn’t even know that cold noodles were a thing before I saw them on the menu at a restaurant. It was a perfect dinner after a long day of walking in the heat. It was refreshing but interestingly spicy while still being cold.

The last dish I want to feature is called Sukiyaki. It is served in a clay pot over a mini stover at the table, and the raw meet cooks before your eyes. Within the stew there are also vegetables and other ingredients, and a raw egg was given alongside the dish and rice.  It was interesting to see it cooked in front of me, and I think this is a good idea so you can cook the meat to your liking. Lastly, there were two foods that my friends tried, but I was too intimidated to try. One of my friends tried natto which is a very quintessential Japanese food which consists of fermented soybeans. Even though I didn’t try it myself, the reviews I got were very mixed, so I think it’s more of an acquired taste. The other food my friends tried is beef tongue, and after their ecstatic reviews I wish that I had. I know that someday I am going to have to make another trip to Japan and try even more food!

One of my favorite days during the program was when we went to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Powerplant because I learned a lot about nuclear power. While we were there, first, we took a tour of their museum on the nuclear meltdown that happened because of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. Then we actually got to visit the site of the four nuclear reactors that had meltdowns. To make sure that we did not get exposed to too much radiation while we were there, the staff equipped us with vests and a radiation meter. While we were on the bus on the way to the site, I was struck by how much of the area was underdeveloped, and how only now construction is beginning to occur. Since the meltdown occurred there was a large restricted zone making a lot of residents move away. Many of the residents have not returned out of fear that the radiation will cause adverse health effects, but the staff at the Fukushima Daiichi Powerplant showed us in many ways that this is not true. After the visit they explained that even though we got so close to the nuclear reactors we have been exposed to less than the amount of radiation one is exposed to during a routine x-ray. After the meltdown, there were also concerns that radiation was seeping into the nearby oceans, but the staff at the powerplant explained their immensely detailed dilution process which ensures that the major waterway is not being polluted. They also showed us some water that they took from the actual reactor and told us that they are using the most efficient water purifying process to get rid of the tritium in the water.

They are still working on fully cleaning up and decommissioning the site, but from the images that they showed us of the initial damage, the reactors look a lot better. The fuel rod assemblies have already been removed from units 3 and 4, but it will take many years to remove the fuel from units 1 and 2. Currently, a large cover is being constructed over unit 1, so that the rubble can safely be removed from underneath, and methods of removing the fuel debris from unit 2 are being developed. They also made a wall next to the coast, so that if another tsunami were to happen the damage to the reactors would not be made worse. Overall, this was my favorite day because I learned a lot, and I have always been interested in nuclear incidents like this one and the incident that occurred at Chernobyl.