Getting Used to the Japanese Lifestyle and Landscape
Jade Kwan | August 17, 2009
Jade Kwan got to ride on a float during a Japanese festival called Gion Matsuri.
After being in Tokyo for more than a month, the question I have been asked most frequently has been, “How is Japan?” I could simply answer with “great!” But one word really would not do Japan justice. Tokyo, one of the world’s most populous cities, is said to fit the population of California in a space about the size of the big island of Hawaii. It is one of those got to see it to believe it facts. And after witnessing many crowded events like the Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai, a large festival with 20,000-plus fireworks across the Sumida River, which attracts close to a million visitors, and the Green Tokyo Gundam Project, a special 18-meter (59 foot) tall life-size statue of a Gundam (a robot featured in Japanese cartoons) to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary, which attracts thousands daily—I do believe it.
Accustomed to the laid-back nature of Hawaii and California, I admit that there was a shift of pace when I got to Japan. I sometimes felt that I was holding up the lines, but now there is no longer much for me to adjust to. I have begun to instinctively look right before left when crossing the street; switch the water from the shower to the sink; and even bow to people I walk past at work. I have even caught myself thinking in Japanese and saying things like “Eto” and “Nandake” (they are the English equivalents of “Um” and “What is that again?”). Now that I’ve collected simple habits like saying “itadakimasu” before eating a meal (roughly the equivalent of the French “bon appétit”), to be honest, I think I might need some time to adjust back to the American lifestyle! It is crazy to think that my time here in Tokyo is almost up, but I do feel that I was able to take full advantage of it.
Kwan and a fellow PRIME student in Akihabara, a district of Tokyo know for its trendy electronic stores.
Working 40-hour work weeks, I have collaborated with numerous groups including the Space Environment Group, the Environment Sensing and Network Group, XOOMS Co. and the JGN2plus Network Group. I have worked with numerous software platforms, including Advanced Visual Systems (AVS), Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya and COVISE/OpenCover to successfully display datasets onto high-definition tile display walls. There were a lot of software interoperability obstacles to face but now, almost toward the end of my stay here, I am glad that we were able to at least work out the major problems of import and export. At the moment, I am finishing a 3D model of the JGN2plus network structure—I am hoping for the best.
Here at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), I also have learned a lot about collaboration. Whether it is collaboration between different software platforms or with distinguished scholars from different parts of the world, I realized the professional importance of collaboration and how it can really create a unique final project bringing distinct fields of study together.
PRIME student taken in the sights.
Although it is amazing to meet with guest researchers from Korea, Italy, and other parts of Japan, collaboration can also be tough especially when people are not in the same place at the same time. To conquer this issue, Isabelle, the other PRIME student at this institution, and I were sent on our first business trip to Keihanna and Kobe to meet with collaborators in person! After all, an e-mail can only say so much.
Kwan and a fellow student take a break and admire the Rainbow Bridge in Odaiba, another Tokyo district.
Our trip was strictly for business and meetings, but at night we were able to meet with the PRIME students posted in Kyoto to experience the famous Gion Matsuri, a festival packed with performers, traditional floats and many culinary delights. Our trip was short, but it was an eye-opening experience especially when visiting XOOMS Co. in Kobe, a graphic studio that works to bring art and science together through their various visualization projects. I always had an idea of my ideal working environment and surely XOOMS Co. was a close match. I was very fortunate to get to meet with the chief executive officer and the graphic director during our visit.
Once back in Tokyo, we continued with our projects with a new outlook and direction. We also continued to travel around Kokubunji, the Tokyo suburb where NICT is located, finding shortcuts and taking advantage of the NICT facilities for music, badminton, tennis and even weekly Japanese classes!
The staff of the Otemachi branch of NICT pose for a group picture.
During the weekends, Isabelle and I would follow through with our set schedules just to make sure we would see as much of Tokyo as we could. When we tell natives of the shopping districts (Shibuya, Harajuku, Kichijoji and Daikayama), museums (the Trick Art Museum, the Ghibli Museum and the Tokyo National Museum) and historical sites (Daibutsu of Todaiji and Kamakura Daibutsu—the two largest Buddha statues in Japan) we have visited, most are amazed and admit that they have not ventured through as much as we have. Time is running out, but I am sure the best will be saved for last!
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