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Plum blossoms in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace

#Japan #tokyo #imperial palace #plum blossoms #spring

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I went to Chofu the other day, went to Jindaji temple and the nearby Botanical Gardens as well. If you’re ever around the area, I would def recommend! There’s even a flower here that smells of chocolate!!!!

#flowers #japan #chofu #botanical gardens #study abroad

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Snow in Tokyo!

So apparently Tokyo hasn’t seen such heavy snowfall in a few years. Of course there were many people at my university who haven’t seen snow at all until now, so yesterday was really fun :) I’m not used to such heavy snow, but throwing snowballs,  and making snowmen with my friends was amazing :D

#tokyo #fuchu #snow #fun #TUFS #study abroad #japan

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Studio Ghibli Visit :D :D :D

So, one major trip has been ticked off my bucket list. Having booked my ticket like a month or two ago at Lawson, I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a while. I got to Mitaka early enough, around 11. My ticket time was 12:00pm,so I walked from the station to the Museum. It was easy enough. I walked down the main street of Mitaka and it wasn’t too long a walk to get to the area. 

Since I got to the musuem early, I took a few pics and lined up around 11:30. Im glad I did, since soon enough the line became quite long. The staff allowed people to go in early, so it is possible to get in before your allotted time.

The first floor exibit was a bit about animation history, I think. Everything is in Japanese but there are pamphlets available for you when you get your ticket in the entrance. But, even with the language barrier, it’s fun to take a look at the dioramas, the paintings and the projected film on the wall. That exhibit had this one diorama thing where they had the My neighbour totoro characters in this stop motion/ clockwork thing where it was animated in real time. I cant explain it very well but it was very cool!

The short film we were shown was ‘ Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess ‘, which was a little weird but lovely short film with no dialogue so it’s ideal for those without any japanese. It was well animated and held my attention for all 12 minutes. The ticket you get to view the short actually has three animation cell, so I have some from Up On Poppy Hill as seen above. Nice feature I think. 

Also, the second floor room with all the concept art, doodles and character sheets on the walls was very engrossing. It was amazing to see different designs of characters like Naussica, Mei, Satsuki and others. They also had this part where they showed the process of how they animate each cell sheet. I got the ghist of it. The room also had loads of reference books and stuff, which gave it a great atmosphere. 

The special exhibit on food in ghibli movies was very nice too, though very crowded. They even had plastic replicas of the food, as well as a  real life replica of the family kitchen in My Neighbour Totoro, and the ship kitchen in Laputa. As for the rooftop, you can see the lovely real life Laputa r obot. Not pictured is the two little ponds on the other side of the roof. As for the gift shop, I was a little disapointed. It was seriously crowded, but then again it was Saturday afternoon so what was I to expect? Some stuff, like the clothes, i felt were a little overpriced.  Then again, I got a couple of things for 1,200 yen/ 11 euroish, so it’s not all over priced stuff. I sort of wish I got more background postcards, because they really are lovely! One thing I saw there were Shaun the Sheep dvds....yeah, I know. Go figure!

Conclusion? If you can go, I’d fully recommend you do. There are plenty of sites showing you how to do it if you live in Japan. If you know someone in japan, you could ask them. Anyway, like I said, it’s easy to get from Mitaka station to the museum. Go on a weekday, and you’ll be happier for it :) 

#Tokyo #studio ghibli museum #recommedation #studio ghibli #mitaka #studying abroad #bucket list

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Guess who’s going to the Ghibli Museum today???

Urone is ;) 

#I'll put up pictures later and talk all about it #cant wait #ghibli

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Kyoto Imperial Palace

#kyoto imperial palace #kyoto #japan #travel

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Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine

#fushimi inari taisha #shrine #kyoto #travel

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Kiyomizu Dera

#Kyoto #travel #study abroad

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Things to do/ to keep in mind before coming to Japan

Having been in Japan for two months now, I have had time to adjust to life and study in Tokyo. I thought I might offer some advice to any people who want to study in Japan. Hopefully you might find life a little easier here when you arrive in Japan.

1. Learn some everyday vocabulary!

Even if you come to Japan with no Japanese, try to learn a little before going. Ideally, try learn vocab for basic necessities - i.e food, drink, cleaning supplies, etc. You’ll make life easier for yourself if you can remember what conditioner in Japanese is (リンス) or if you know that asking for sake at a izakaya  won’t get you the kind of ‘sake’ you want [osake means alcohol generally. If you want rice wine, ask for nihonshu). 

2. Sometimes tax is included, sometimes it isn’t....

This is one annoying thing that is common in Japan. You’ll find that items in your conbini might not include the price with tax, or if they do, the price without tax is larger in size than the other. It’s something to be careful of, especially if you have a limited budget.

3. Vegetarian food isn’t so common.

Contrary to what I had assumed about Japan, it’s a little difficult to find vegetarian food, or vegan food in Japan. I’m not vegetarian but one of my friends is vegan, so he finds it difficult to find food in restaurant that suits his diet. It’s something to keep in mind. 

4. Japanese bureaucracy is pretty bad.

Say what you want about the bureaucracy in your country, but in Japan, they are strict on filling in forms - making it a nightmare to deal with the bureaucracy. I had to fill out a few forms for my part time job, to get paid, a couple of times. Mistakes are not allowed, and yet they don’t leave enough space on the form for the address....Then it turned out that the admin office gave my boss the wrong form to fill out....so, watch out for that!

5. Shinjuku Station really is confusing.

You will get lost in Tokyo’s train stations at some point. And I can bet that Shinjuku will be one place you’ll get lost. Last week, I couldn’t find the way to the Keio line platform, even though I had just came out of there hours beforehand. While I could get another train for the place I wanted to go, if you get lost, you can always ask the staff. 

#Tokyo #study abroad #japan #I might add some more later. #feel free to add more advice if you have lived in tokyo or japan

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Yokohama was really cool. If you’re up by the Zou no Hana pier by the sea, have a go naruto running into the wind :) It’s so fucking strong

#study abroad

[itsurone]

Yokohama was really cool. If you’re up by the Zou no Hana pier by the sea, have a go naruto running into the wind :) It’s so fucking strong

#yokohama #yokohama sky garden #Tokyo #study abroad #pictures #november

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#a couple of pics #japan #tokyo #fuchu #study abroad #pictures

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An update

It’s been over two weeks since we arrived in Tokyo, and I’ve done a lot of stuff. I’ve already visited three Shinto shrines and a Buddhist temple, I went to Ikebukuro and Sunshine City, where it took ages for me and my friends to find the Pokemon Centre shop :/ So, there is still lots of things to do on my list - go to Kyoto, Asakusa, the Ghibli Museum in Miitaka and more. As for the University, the Japanese classes are quite fast paced and we go over a good bit of material. The ‘nakereba narimasen’ form is difficult to master pronunciation wise ^^; I’m making many friends, however, which is great.

At some point, I may put up a small video of my apartment, for those interested in TUFS to see what it is like. For now, I’d like to recommend a couple of places for grocery shopping - Gyoumu supermarket for cheap food (they have nice fresh gyouza!), 7/11 100 yen shop for herbs, and biscuits, Don Quixote for items like toilet paper (I got 18 rolls for around 300 yen! That will last me the year :D), washing powders, electrical items for cheap (kettle and toasters, like) and pans for cooking. Also Daiso for cheap household items, like vegetable peelers, stationary, utensils and etc - all of which are 100 yen (108 yen after tax).

Also, I would heavily recommend anybody coming to Japan get themselves a Pasmo or a Suica card for travelling on buses/trains. You get a small discount and its much easier than buying tickets every time. Plus, if you put your name on it when setting it up at the machine, it offers you better security!

#Japan #study abroad #tokyo #fuchu #tufs #advice #recommendations

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So I’m actually in Japan now....

Man what would my fifteen year old self think if she knew that five years later she’d be in Tokyo? I think she’d freak out.

 So, I didn’t sleep much on the train and trying to get to our accommodation was a nightmare, thanks to use going into Tokyo via train....with really heavy bags. If you ever go to study in Japan, just use a bus to get to your accommodation if you can get it. Last night was a nightmare - between getting tickets, rushing in and out of trains and etc, etc.....And we arrived at our dorms at 11 so I didn’t get much sleep - like 5 hours, when I was woken up by the sun... I could go on and on but I think Im going to relax and visit the library in a while. I will update soon!

[itsurone]

Leaving Tomorrow

Im feeling a lot of anxiety, nervousness and excitement about the flight tomorrow. I’ve never been on such a long flight - 19hs approx- before, so this is going to be interesting. Hopefully I can sleep on the plane and not get jet lag when I arrive in Narita....  It’s going to be heartbreaking to leave my dog and four cats behind in Ireland, but it’s only 10 months so its not forever. In any case, send me good thoughts! がんばります！

#Travel #japan #日本語

[itsurone]

Hello

and excuse the appearance of the blog! I’m still at home in Ireland and I won’t be going to Japan for over a month. However, I thought I might set up this blog while I have the time. After all, I still need to get some Japanese yen before I head over, new luggage and some other stuff. Expect more stuff when I actually go over there at the end of September :)