Banzai!
And our flight takes off for Tokyo. All of us, sparkly and blissfully looked forward to the journey ahead. And 9 hours later, there we were, in Tokyo on the 19th of October.
Even long hours of travelling didn’t bother us as we were thrilled to reveal ourselves to the destinations ahead.
Tokyo, our first visit was a prepossessing city with colossal buildings that shone brightly.
Amongst which, there stood the world’s tallest tower- ‘Tokyo Sky Tree’.
The view of the city from the tower mesmerized our attention.
The fun part was the glass floor from where we could view the tall buildings beneath us.
The next day our first visit was to Meiji Jingu Shrine. This shrine is known to be dedicated to the deified spirits of the emperor Meiji and his wife. Such a peaceful place it was!
Then we went to the sensoji temple and then to the most exciting place of the day,
National museum of emerging science and innovation or miraikan.
We also attended the ASIMO demonstration.
Seeing it dance, sing and play, we were startled!
We then headed to the Odaiba district where we saw the perplexing Statue of liberty that stood tall on its pedestal.
Our next visit was to the rainbow bridge which is a suspension bridge.
The lamps placed on the wires supporting the bridge are illuminated into 3 colours- red, white and green, every night using the solar energy obtained during the day.
The lights that gleamed and glistered in the dark night made the bridge look captivating holding our attention till we lost the sight of it.
We then went to the Tokyo Mega Web.
This place is an automotive-focused theme park where one can explore Toyota’s history and learn about its newest technological developments.
The next day, 21st October, we visited Mount Fuji, also known as ‘fuji San’, in a cable car.
This is the country’s tallest peak.
From there we went to Lake Kawaguchi, which looked breathtakingly beautiful with the reflection of the mighty mountain!
It is the second largest of the Fuji five lakes.
From there we boarded the Hakone- cruise on Lake Ashi. The sea seemed eternal and even though it was biting cold, we captured the prepossessing view.
Sometime later, the sun lingered on the horizon as if waiting for the closing clouds.
The next day, we boarded the flight to Osaka and proceeded to Kyoto where we went to the Nijo castle.
The palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of feudal era.
Our next destination was the golden pavilion, which is major tourist attraction, being one of the most welcomed edifices of Japan.
On 23rd October, we proceeded to the school for our performance, class interaction and school tour.
It was a well maintained school with discipline instilled in every student. After our much loved dance performance, we were asked to assemble in s class for an interaction session with the students.
We even got the opportunity to attend a practical of making rice cakes, a popular snack of Japan aside from their pancakes.
We made rice cakes and they were simply delectable.
They were extremely humble and courteous, and the session was the most interesting part of the day. We loved talking to them and revealing about Indian culture.
It was even more compelling to know more about their culture and traditions.
As the session ended, we went to the Aquarium.
With all the blue water around us, we were quite fascinated by the stingrays, jellyfish and starfish.
Everything there was worth a picture!
Then, finally, came the most awaiting day of our tour, 24th October, the visit to universal studios.
All of us were super delighted and enthusiastic to experience the rapid journey of ever roller coaster ride.
From minion parade, hollwood dream ride, caramel popcorn to halloween celebrations everywhere and then the Harry Potter and minion world, we enjoyed every moment, cause everything had an element of fun.
We definitely didn’t want the time to end, it felt like there was so much more to explore but, we had to drive to Hiroshima with the happiest memories of universal in our hearts.
The next day was our visit to the peace memorial park and memorial museum where we came across the accounts of history of Hiroshima.
Our hearts melted as we saw and read the articles revealing about the terrific incident. However the amount of development and expidicious growth, we were amazed!
That was commendable. This reflected the unity of the people and how concerned they are about their nation! Felt really proud and happy!
The next day, we departed from Osaka, went to Tokyo, came back to Mumbai and then to Indore with the evergreen memories new will Cherish forever.
From the core of our heart, we really respect and love Japan and the people for their unity, love and concern.
The way they helped us and humbly respond us made our stay even more special.
Out of all the places we have been to, Japanese people were to most respectful and polite.
Although we didn’t wish to come back, bur we to realised that our trip has just formally come to an end but virtually, we’ll still be in Japan until our next trip!
Nandini Pursnani 