Throughout my visit to Japan, my professor took us on a visit to Miyajima island and a couple of Shinto shrines in Tokyo downtown. This has been one my most favorite and unique visits in Japan and was thankful that it is incorporated in to our public health curriculum. I felt very connected towards Japanese culture as it connects to my religion as a Hindu. Shintoism believes in Kami which are spirits that are connected everywhere around our environment. Kami is the god and is known to be around everywhere which includes people and materials. It is what connects all of us together in order to spread peace and harmony. This religion is very ancient and has been in Japan for generations. I could tell how ancient the temples are based on the architecture. Shinto also works with Buddhism and have similar ideas and values. It is known in Japan that a majority of religions practiced, Buddhism and Shintoism compose 90% of the religions practiced in the country. As a student, I have never seen such focus and faith in a god when observing priests in temples. Below are pictures of the famous shrines I visited. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures when going inside but it was understandable.

This Buddhist temple I’ve seen is next to University of Tokyo campus and is an attraction. It had a beautiful park and zoo constructed right next to the area. I also saw a big lake with koi fish swimming.

The picture above is Miyajima island washing area. Before entering the shrine, it is important for people to cleanse our soul before seeing the god. According to the rules, I had to wash left hand first, right hand second, and rinse my mouth and palm of my hand and then proceed. There were also incense sticks I had to smell to cleanse myself. I then proceeded to the shrine and bowed twice, clapped my hand twice , send a prayer again, and then bow before I leave. I also was expected to pay yen to the donation box before leave. This is interesting as I had similar procedures when I see my god at the Hindu temple. I felt very connected as I too believe I spirits as well.

The picture above is called a Torii. People call it the gate that separates the human world and spiritual world. It is the entrance to the shrine and exit too. It was interesting how I was told by my professor to walk at the side of the gate when entering in and not in the middle as it is the road of the god. I made a couple mistakes at times but for the concept later on.

This last picture is the Asakusa shrine festival. You can see many people scattered around there and on the right side was the festival foods. They were very delicious and cheap as this month was to honor the gods. I saw a chariot of people playing their flutes and a swarm of people carrying their god and dancing around the temple. This was very eye opening for someone like me being exposed to another culture. It was one of the most memorable trips I had as a student.

From my study abroad experience had in Japan, I will miss this the most as it was peaceful and fun to meet people from different cultures and backgrounds. I never had an opportunity to do one but this made my trip. The Shinto religion is very unique and although I don’t see it around the world, it is a must see for students, tourists, and internationals working in Japan. I am glad to have lived these moments in this study abroad.

Japan is one of my first study abroad experiences that I ever had in my college career. One of my most moving experiences that I had was my visit to Hiroshima. I like to share this topic on this post to those who are reading this as as it is important to spread awareness. I had the pleasure of staying in Hiroshima during my first two days on this trip where I was able to learn about the Hiroshima bombing in-depth. When I was in high school, I was taught about Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and its idea to create this massive weapon. I only learned that it was used to end World War Two and was dropped to make Japan surrender in the war. This experience taught me about the toxic effects of the bomb and the massive destruction it carried out throughout the war.

The museum that we went to was a memorial museum to remember the 140,000 lives that were taken away in the bombing. There was a beautiful park that was constructed to show the hypocenter of the bombing and the remains of an atomic bomb done that was melted from the bomb. The museum had 80 year old artifacts that belonged to victims that had stains and residues of the bomb. I noticed the differences where the clothing had black and yellow stains which indicate the radiation effects. In the entrance of the museum, I saw an animation of the bomb and the time it was triggered to create its massive effect. Hiroshima was a big city filled not only with apartments and housed but was a military training center for soldiers and for ammunition. It was dropped primarily to destroy the military bases so that it would be hard for Japan to fight in the war. This destruction not only killed innocent civilians but also American POWs and Japanese soldiers. I listened to survivors who spoke about the horrors they experienced on the day of the bombing and the incidence of leukemia’s and burned parts of the body from the intense radiation emitted.

I was given the opportunity by my professor to listen to a lady who spoke about her mother who survived the atomic bomb. Her mother’s sister unfortunately didn’t. I was moved from her presentation about the damage it caused. I learned of how there was radiation in the Sea of Japan and severe burn marks on the victims of this war. She taught about the low birth rates and how her mother’s sister was nowhere to be found after the bomb. They recognized that she was melted after seeing her school uniform in the middle of the field. She also gave us an origami bird as a gift and rememberance of the war.

I am very thankful to have met this woman and to learn about the museum. There is a mass production of nuclear weapons in our world currently that needs to be stopped. The nuclear weapons are more powerful than the atomic bomb and has lasting destruction if released. Recently, President Obama went to Hiroshima to give a speech about the war and how as leaders to not use the nuclear weapons at all costs. We should all remember that mistakes made in the past should not be repeated and this incident is an example of the consequences we can create.