Thank you for watching. -S.Y.

A fellow Elliott School student, Alicia Rose, and I went to pay our respects at the Yasukuni Shrine. Alicia and I became interested in the Yasukuni Shrine after taking International Relations - East Asia with Professor Mochizuki last spring semester. 

Yasukuni Shrine: Alicia and I

August 15th has been a controversial date to visit Yasukuni Shrine since the enshrinement of the World War II Class A war criminals in 1978. More accurately, official visits started gaining attention after Prime Minister Nakasone visited Yasukuni Shrine in 1985 after publicly expressing his desire to move past postwar politics and raise the cap on defense expenditures above 1% of the GNP. Since then, both China and South Korea have expressed their dissatisfaction with Japan's unclear sense of remorse for their aggressive past. 

Main Hall of the Yasukuni Shrine

Chinreisha: The Spirit Pacifying Shrine established by head priest Tsukuba Fujimaro in 1965

Although many Prime Ministers of Japan avoided visits to Yasukuni Shrine in order to maintain peaceful relations with China and South Korea, Prime Minister Koizumi's 6 consecutive visits during his time in office reignited strong negative feelings.

On August 15, 2013, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo paid his respect for the war dead at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery. 

I encourage those who are interested to read Professor Mochizuki's article titled The Yasukuni Shrine Conundrum: Japan's Contested Identity and Memory. It provides a holistic picture of the issue as well as many details I was unable to add.

Soohyun Yang

B.A. International Economics and Japanese Language and Literature 2014

Sigur Center 2013 Japanese Language Fellow

Sendagaya Japanese Institute, Japan

Thank you for watching. -S.Y.

One crazy event I experienced:

A fellow Elliott School student, Alicia Rose, and I went to this year's Sumida River Fireworks Festival (隅田川花火大会). Japan has a long history of fireworks because it was said to ward off evil spirits. Thus, every summer there are several fireworks festivals all over Japan. It's an exciting scene because hundreds if not thousands attend these festivals. You can seem men and women dressed in their traditional yukata (浴衣) buying street food, laughing, and taking pictures.  

I was told that around 20,000 people show up annually to watch Tokyo's most famous fireworks festival at Sumida River. Later I found out that close to a million people gather in Sumida-ku to watch nearly 20,000 rounds of fireworks. 

When we first arrived, it was crowded, but not completely out of hands. That changed quickly. Alicia and I basically rode the wave of people in one direction to another. There were cops everywhere trying to control the crowd and set up barriers that created paths for people to follow. Then it started to rain. We ended up running into a Burger King for shelter and hoped the rain would stop in a few minutes. Contrary to our expectations, we got cozy in the tiny BK lounge for an hour with at least a hundred other people.

We saw exactly one firework, then called it a night at a cheap soba noodle shop. I'm not sure if being swept by waves of people and drenched from head to toe contributed to the taste of our meal, but it was the most delicious bowl of noodles I have ever had. 

It was a shame that the Sumida River Fireworks Festival was cancelled for the first time in history due to heavy rain. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that I missed out on an amazing sight. Despite the weather forecast (that we failed to check) that many people knew about, still hundreds of thousands of people showed up in their yukata and geta (traditional footwear) to celebrate. I truly felt the power of a unity. It made me think about the values of a nation. I set aside power and money for a brief moment and wondered about what people really want. When I look at the balance between work and leisure in Japan, it appears that there is an overwhelming emphasis on work. However, it was amazing to see Japan celebrate just as hard to maintain their beautiful culture and traditions.

Soohyun Yang

B.A. International Economics and Japanese Language and Literature 2014

Sigur Center 2013 Japanese Language Fellow

Sendagaya Japanese Institute, Japan

東

京

Tōkyō

Tokyo. I have been studying Japanese for three years now, but I realized that I know absolutely nothing about this location. So, a mere four days before I come face to face with the poster child of Asia, I have decided to share some of the basics of Japan and Tokyo. 

HOW BIG IS JAPAN? WHERE IS TOKYO?

Tokyo is located at the mid-point of Japan (✪). 

Image created by Soohyun Yang using image sources from www.freeusandworldmaps.com and www.abcteach.com

WHAT IS TOKYO?

Tokyo is one of the 47 prefectures in Japan. However, it is best known for its "23 special wards" (23区 nijūsan-ku) in Southern Tokyo. Nearly 7% of the nation's entire population (8.97 million people) lives here in the metropolis.
Information source: http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/

Image source: www.tokyomap.com

✪ For more detailed information, check out this link.  

SOO IN JAPAN

I will be living in Koto-ku. However, my school is in Shinjuku-ku, which is roughly a 30-40 minute commute via metro. 

I'm really old school, so I prefer following maps over the GPS. Either way, I'll probably accompany my blog posts on different excursions with maps to keep everyone locationally aware. 

じゃ、またね〜（＾0＾）／

jya, matane (see you)

Soohyun Yang

B.A. International Economics and Japanese Language and Literature 2014

Sigur Center 2013 Japanese Language Fellow

Sendagaya Japanese Institute, Japan

20 place - Dubai, UAE (52 - position in the ranking of 2008)


19 place - Helsinki, Finland (21)





18 place - Rome, Italy (16)


17 place - Tel-Aviv, Israel (14)


16 Place - London, United Kingdom (3)


15 place - Caracas, Venezuela (89)


14 place - Oslo, Norway (4)


13 place - Paris, France (12)


12 place - Shanghai, China (24)


11 place - Milan, Italy (10)


10 place - Singapore (13)


9 place - Beijing, China (20)


8 place - New York, United States (22)


7 place - Copenhagen, Denmark (7)


6 place - Zurich, Switzerland (9)


5 place - Hong Kong (6)


4 place - Geneva, Switzerland (8)


3 place - Moscow, Russia (1)


2 place - Osaka, Japan (11)


1 place - Tokyo, Japan (2)

With 35 million people in the metropolitan area, Tokyo can rightfully be called one of the world's great megacities. It is an endless expanse of buldings and overground highways and railroads, lit by the ever-present neon signs. History and the old has definitly had to take the backseat, with future pushing ahead at full speed. The size and density of Tokyo can be intimidating at first, but with patience and curiosity the many small treasures of the city reveal themselves.