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Dispatches from the Field:
A Sacred Mountain, a Port City and Saying Goodbye
By Young Chun
Sept. 10, 2007
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Chun poses in front of a temple on Mount Koya. |
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UCSD’s Pacific Rim Undergraduate Experiences research program has now come to an end. We each gave a final 30-minute research presentation in front of Japanese professors and graduate students. Then my fellow PRIME students and I said our last goodbyes to the mentors and students at Osaka’s Cyber Media Center. During the last days of our stay in Japan, we did some more traveling and visited the neighboring port city of Kobe and beautiful Mount Koya. We then headed to Tokyo for a six-day visit before finally coming back home.
Giving a 30-minute presentation about our final research was a challenging task for most of us because we had never given such a long talk before. But the whole experience definitely gave us more confidence to reach our professional goals in the future. After the final presentation, Cyber Media Center lab members threw us a farewell party and gave us Osaka University souvenirs as parting gifts. All of us were moved by their warm hospitality and thankful that we made such friends in Japan.
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Kobe's Chinatown. |
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A bridge and trees on Mount Koya. |
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After saying our goodbyes, we headed to Kobe. A famous port city in Japan, Kobe was one of the first ports to open up to Western countries. It has many Western-style buildings as well as beautiful views of the mountains and ocean. Our first stop was an aquarium by the bay called ‘Suma Aqualife Park,’ where we saw sharks, stingrays and other sea creatures. Then we headed to the Kitano area, where many of the city’s Western-style buildings stand.
The highlight of the day was the Nunobiki Herb Garden and greenhouses located near a mountaintop. We had to ride a ropeway cable car to get to the garden and the views from the car were simply breathtaking. As the cable car rose higher and higher, we could see lush green mountains, tall buildings, the port and the ocean – all at the same time! The view was truly incredible, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures furiously with my camera. The herb garden and the greenhouses – with over 75,000 plants - were also a pleasant place to stroll, and all of us had so much fun smelling the plants and guessing which herbs were which. Then we ended the day with a visit to Kobe’s colorful Chinatown, where many families come to enjoy gourmet Chinese eateries and attractions.
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| Visitors look at a giant tank at a Kobe aquarium. |
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Stingrays gliding in the tank. |
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Another day, we took a one-day train trip to Koya San (Mount Koya). Officially designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, Koya San is well known for its rich and beautiful nature, old temples and graveyards. It also is home to the headquarters of one of Japan’s Buddhist sects. The whole journey, from the train ride to the ride on a mountain cable car, was so beautiful and refreshing! Koya San is surrounded with tall trees, mountain springs and huge rocks. At the top, visitors can stroll among many old historical temples and shrines, as well as cemeteries where many famous Japanese are buried. The cool breeze and fresh air gave us a lovely break from Osaka and its crowds. We hiked and walked, admiring the old buildings, and finally came home exhausted after a day well spent.
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Buddhist temples on Mount Koya. |
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Meanwhile, with just few days left in Japan, our group was busily planning our last journey to Tokyo. We would be staying in a traditional Japanese inn, called a ryokan, and visiting many of Tokyo’s famous sights including the Imperial Palace, lively and hip Harajuku and the busy district of Roppongi. We would also go to the Studio Ghibli Museum on the outskirts of Tokyo, which is dedicated to the works of famous Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known in the United States for his 2002 hit “Spirited Away.”
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| Konpon Daito temple on Mount Koya. |
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| Chun poses in front of the temple. |
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Looking back, the past two and a half months of living, studying and doing research in Japan have been – without a doubt -- one of the best experiences in my entire life. I have learned so much, made wonderful friends and experienced Japanese culture while doing research at Osaka University’s Cyber Media Center. It has been both an eye-opening and growing experience for me.
My future challenges certainly seem much smaller than before, now that I collaborated in international research, deciphered Japan’s colorful web-like train maps, gave a 30-minute final research presentation in front of Japanese scientists -- and survived in Japan without knowing much Japanese. I am grateful for all I have gained here.
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Young Chun studied in Osaka, Japan.. |
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