2024 EXCHANGE - Berkeley Students visit Sakai!!
6 students and 3 chaperones traveled to Sakai, Japan for 13 days during the summer of 2024 (late July to early August).
Wow! Japan was such an incredible experience. We split our trip into 3 main parts: Sakai, Kyoto, and Hiroshima.
First, we flew to Sakai. From the moment we touched down, we were in awe of how different life in Japan was. We marveled at the neatness of the airport and the kindness of the security (as well as how cool the airport toilets were!). We approached the meeting of our families with excitement and just a bit of jet lag. The students left with their host families to explore the wonders of Japan from a native perspective.
The following day we met the mayor, the city council chair, and the vice chair. We exchanged gifts and stories, us asking questions about life in Sakai and them asking about life in Berkeley. We even got to sit in the Chair’s chair! We then traveled to Senboku High School, ate lunch with Japanese students, showed off our presentation, and saw an epic concert from their rock band. We also visited the keyhole-shaped tombs and a knife and textile museum! We gathered together for dinner, hosted by the Sakai-Berkeley Association.
While the students were with their host families, they visited the Shimano Bicycle Museum, explored life as a Japanese teenager, and saw the similarities and differences of Japanese homes, travel, food, and more.
After teary goodbyes to the host families, we traveled to Kyoto! We stayed in the beautiful Ryokan. While seemingly in a more residential neighborhood, it was walking distance to Nishiki Covered Market and so many other shops and experiences. We learned all about the teas of Japan at a tea tasting experience in the Ryokan. Our sensei, Jason, explained the history, the growing process, the names, the colors, the smells, the tastes, and the occasions in which to drink each of four different teas that are popular in Japan.
Kyoto was also one of our big tour spots. Our guide, Katsue, led us around 5 spots over two days. The Heian Shrine and Gardens had a giant Torii gate and vast grounds. The Kiyomizu-dera Temple had amazing views. The Fushimi Inari Shrine had so many torii gates!!! The Kinkakuji Temple, or Golden Pavilion, was gorgeous. The Arashiyama Bamboo Forest was so vast.
While in Kyoto, we also visited the Samurai and Ninja Museum (we got to throw shuriken!), the Nishiki Covered Street Market (so many things to buy and to eat), the Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama (we even got to feed the monkeys!), and a really cool light show at Kodai-ji Temple.
After so much walking and sightseeing, we took a break on the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. What a difference! Hiroshima was much more of a built-up city than Kyoto, despite having a smaller population.
We had another eventful day with our guide, Taeko Watanabe, who led us around where the atomic bomb dropped in 1945. We saw the A-Bomb Dome Peace Memorial Park, the hypocenter of the A-Bomb, and the A-Bomb Dome. Our students left cranes at Sadako's Memorial. We saw the Memorial Tomb, and walked through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. We heard a heart-wrenching testimony from Teruko Yahata, a survivor who was 8 years old when the atomic bomb went off only 2.5 km away from her home. Everything we saw and heard and experienced was life-changing. We also visited Hiroshima Castle and were able to see 360-degree views of the city that has grown so much.
The next day, we took a ferry to Miyajima Island and spent the entire day exploring the shops and amazing views of the island with the floating shrine and friendly deer.
The day before we left, we took the bullet train to Himeji Castle. In the blazing heat, we climbed a mountain to get to the castle and countless steps once inside. Luckily for us, Japan had plenty of vending machines to quench our thirst. The castle was gorgeous, and had almost 700 years of history to explore.
This trip was such a special opportunity for everyone. We ate so much good food - homemade dinners with host families, Yakatori, Shabu Shabu, all-you-can-eat Habachi-style Yakiniku, fresh sashimi, beef and chicken karaage, noodles, oysters and conger eels on Miyajima Island, Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima - the list could go on. The little hole-in-the-wall restaurants were especially loved. The memories and friends we made along the way will last a lifetime, and the gifts will be cherished forever.
