Periods of stress lead to moments of clarity...

To say I have been under a bit of stress is putting it mildly...however, I am finally reaching an end to that long stretch and clarity set in tonight, finally! Even though my alarm clock will be going off in about 4 hours I needed to put some of my thoughts into writing.

Tonight I went to Epcot after work to meet up with two good friends, even though I had to wait for them to get off of a ride I took the time to catch up on Facebook from the day and send a few texts I found myself just sitting and people watching and enjoying my coffee. Prior to my trip to Tokyo, the just sitting and enjoying the moment part would not have existed. I would have been wrapped up in my phone wanting to rush to the next moment. The entire evening went on like this for me...I feel like I'm in the moment and noticing little details and just enjoying everything.

Happy in line after running through the rain yesterday!

We were lucky enough to have an amazing table overlooking the lake to see Illuminations from and a server who was more than kind to let us take our time to eat dinner and have a few drinks...like an hour and a half. I have never watched this fireworks show this close and this intently but I've noticed myself doing this more often lately. On the 4th of July I was working and was only able to see a small section of fireworks but boy was I captivated, last night on the 5th I took in a different perspective of the fireworks. I will always love fireworks and shamelessly admit I am like a small child when watching fireworks.

On my walk out my friends went one way to go back to their hotel and I walked to my car while wishing I had my little green book (anyone who was on the trip to Tokyo will know what book I'm talking about) and for the first time in a very long time, a camera. I noticed the light and shapes of things I have seen for years a little differently. And took my time walking out of the park enjoying the mild July night we are having.

Growing up I had a love for photography, I even developed a minor in college, proposed it to an advisor and got it approved through the school surrounding photography...I got all A's and loved every minute of it but eventually I stopped taking pictures and taking in the little moments. I think we all have those times when we stop enjoying the small things in life and are sucked into activities that take us away from the environment we are in.

While on the walk to my car I watched groups singing and laughing in a different language, the kinds of laughs that come from inside and are full of pure joy. It made me think of being in Tokyo on the subways and trains laughing and enjoying the experiences that were so new to so many of us. I wonder if how I viewed these people is how we were viewed by the locals in Japan.

There is nothing quite like riding home with all the windows down and the sunroof open at night in the perfect weather. There is a sense of freedom and the desire to play music very, very loudly and the need to sing the words at the top of your lungs. Yup, I did that...and I learned that my car does in fact have a 6 CD changer (I have owned this car for nearly a year and JUST learned that, and yes I do still have CD's). On this drive I saw a shooting star (made a wish....not telling you though) and thought about how free I feel for the first time in a long time. I am comfortable with myself for the first time in years and am truly happy. The friendships I have are the right ones for me and I know that the people who care for me and are meant to be there will be there, it's ok to cut loose friends who disappear when life gets tough. I need to be OK with cutting ties to people that I feel I have had to work too hard to try to be a good friend to...those are people I don't need in my life at this point in time.

Loving my moments of clarity...I hope things stay clear for a long, long time...

Case Report: Observation of weekly anti-nuclear demonstrations

I had written about this presentation when I presented my oral presentation for the class in Tokyo. We weren't able to give our e-presentation but have been able to look at them online since our return. I wanted to share my presentation with you all :) Unfortunately I can't add all the power point slides I created for this presentation but here is the Google docs link for it.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10plHP7LtgUelaFOkONVuLooLEZoB8O3SdXAMMwdjm90/edit?usp=sharing

To view click the "present" box in the upper right-hand corner.

Bullying (ijime) among Japan's youth

Written as a part of our textbook created by the students of Issues in International Business: Global Issues-Japan

Bullying (ijime) among Japan’s youth Initiating Author: Laura Wirtz

Introduction

Bullying (known as ijime in the Japanese culture) and school refusal (tokokyohi) are two issues taking place in school aged students in Japan. Ijime, according to Morita and Ohsako (1997), is defined as “a type of aggressive behavior by which someone who holds a dominant position in a group-interaction process, by intentional or collective arts, causes mental and/or physical suffering to others inside a group” (as cited in Rios-Ellis, Bellamy, & Shoji, 2000, p.228). Under the umbrella of ijime there are multiple characteristics include acts of violence from groups against one victim that are dark and cruel in nature, these acts of violence are generally physical and/or verbal isolation (Omori, 1999; Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000).

The group context of bullying is a phenomenon found in Japan consisting of four roles that students fall into during ijime conflicts according to Morita and Ohsako (1997), “bullies, bullied students, an audience, and bystanders;” “audience refers to students who are amused by the bullying incidents and “bystanders” are those students who act as if they do not know the victims” (Naito & Gielen, n.d.). Ijime often occurs among students of the same age and in the same homeroom class (Naito & Gielen, n.d.) However, it should be noted that ijime takes on different forms when the conflict occurs between boys and girls. According to Morita and Nagan (1997), girls will participate in group ijime tactics like hiding possessions of the victim and socially isolating the victim, while boys will employ tactics like “physical violence, social isolation and bribery or blackmail” (Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000, p.235).

Many times, the occurrence of ijime can trigger futouko, a “common syndrome occurring when students experiencing Ijime suffer psychological and physiological disorders as a result, which makes attending school under those circumstances very difficult” which can lead to tokokyohi, school refusal by ijime victims (Akiba, 2005). In addition to tokokyohi, suicide among school aged children has skyrocketed and become a true effect of ijime, first coming to light in the 1980’s and then cycling to peaks every decade since.

Information Sources

A variety of authors have researched and analyzed ijime; causes and effects on the Japanese culture with a focus on school aged children and the high rate this occurs in schools. Sources include: School Psychology International; Nippon.com; Childresearch.net; Japanfocus.org; International Journal of Educational Research; Additional academic research papers were utilized in this chapter.

Historical / Cultural / Theoretical Background

       According to Shinkichi, the years following World War II were particularly lean for Japan, crime and violence were common and bullying during this time reflected a “survival of the fittest” approach (2012). As the economic effects impact families to become haves and have-nots, children raised within families that have been able to provide and flourish may have the tendency to “engage in a systematic persecution of the weak” children of families that are in the have-nots category (Shinkichi, 2012). According to Woods Prewitt (1988), during this period an emphasis in the educational system was put on the collective efforts of groups to move towards a betterment of the Japanese society overall, individualism had to be set aside (as cited in Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000, p.228).

The most common reason given by students initiating ijime on specific victims is because “they had characteristics different from what was considered normal among the students,” these differences include deviations in personalities from the bully’s or small behavior traits that include being perceived as selfish, noisy, or shy; even having a slightly different hairstyle or having a different appearance because one parent is not Japanese can deem a student a target for ijime (Akiba, 2005, p.228; Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000). What are encouraged forms of individuality in many Western cultures is not the case in the Japanese culture. There are many rules and regulations, extremely detailed in nature for students to follow regarding “school uniforms, hairstyles, grooming, acceptable places in town for the students to visit, and even the precise route that students must take on their way home” (Naito & Gielen, n.d.). Students are not encouraged to examine their individual preferences and traits; rather they are in school to learn how to function in group situations in a society that is extremely demanding. Often time’s Japanese students will describe themselves as ordinary rather than individual with personal quirks and traits (Naito & Gielen, n.d.)

This group effort approach is a large part of how issues and situations are handled in the Japanese school systems. Highly controlled and centralized from the top, the educational system in Japan is controlled by a national curricula and textbook recommendations from the Monbukagakushyo (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology). The society as a whole understands that the failure of students in this educational system will “destroy a student’s chances to lead an economically successful life” (Naito & Gielen, n.d.). With the emphasis on group efforts and sharing activities of cleaning the classrooms and the school hallways many activities take place in the homeroom. Group collaboration to solve problems involving a student in the classroom occurs regularly. When a student is involved in activities like vandalism or violence (home or at school) the homeroom teacher is notified and then the topic is brought to the homeroom class setting for all to discuss with a focus on the class solving the problem. It is presumed that the behavior “emerges as a result of detachment from the homeroom” a cultural assumption (Akiba, 2004, p.219). The homeroom group setting is also the location of another growing group activity, ijime (Naito &Gielen, n.d.).

The focus on group effort and collaboration has led the Japanese society away from a focus on families and relationships. Due to the high stress and expectations of the father in households to provide for the family and to be a successful member of society for the betterment of the Japanese society, many families have a weak, “psychologically absent” father figure who is stressed with being successful at work can look to be lazy during their short periods of time at work, forcing mothers to engage in “exclusive mother-child bonds” where they focus solely on the happiness of their children, indulging them in all wants in the pursuit of happiness; which in turn, can lead their children to have a lack of empathy for those that don’t have all they want or are different from them (Naito & Gielen, n.d., Omori, 1999.). As time goes on, there is a diminished focus on extended family structures with the mother spending decreasing amounts of time at home as they pursue careers but this is not supplemented by an increase of time spent at home by the fathers. There are fewer children being born with more children growing up as only children and experiencing less exposure to other children that leads to “weakening in their human relations skills” (Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000). The stress of success in all members of a family can lead to diminishment of communication and interaction, leaving each family member to carry on “a lifestyle dependent of the other members where there is little communication or sharing of a common activity among family members” leading toward alienation of all members of the family; subsequently discouraging children to approach their parents with concerns and problems (Omori, 1999).

  

       When ijime is experienced by students and they have the courage to bring this concern to their teachers, many receive feedback to endure and not pursue resolving or preventing conflict. Some teachers in the Japanese school system “remain ignorant of Ijime incidents or are inclined to hush them up in order to protect themselves and their school’s reputation in the eyes of the public and their administrative superiors” (Naito & Gielen, n.d.). Overtime students do not approach their teachers with the issues because telling them could lead to further bullying or becoming a new target for bullies if a student in the audience or bystander role are found out for informing an authoritative figure on the problems (Naito & Gielen, n.d.). Because cases of ijime are rarely reported many administrators and officials state these cases are best handled internally in the classrooms without the use of counselors, often time’s families and students are told it would be best for them to transfer to another school, placing blame and responsibility on the victim rather than the bully or group. With the approach of “handling conflicts internally,” this allows administrators and educators to be rewarded for their ability to have a lack of ijime related issues because nothing is reported outside of the institution (Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000). In some cases, students are bullied first by their homeroom teacher before becoming victims of ijime from the rest of the class. In 2008, a 13 year old student committed suicide after a long period of ijime that was started by his teacher who ranked students through a strawberry classification process. This student was labeled as “a strawberry ‘unfit to dispatch’” (Yoneyama, 2008).

Current Issues & Developments

   

Since 1985, the Japanese government has kept track of ijime related cases; from 1985-2006 an estimated 200 ijime-related suicides occurred. However, the number reported by the Ministry of Education and Science is quite drastically different from suspected cases reported in major newspapers. As reported, “the students died in ‘ordinary’ circumstances, being bullied by ‘ordinary’ (‘good’) students”, this leads the reader to believe that ijime is just a regular part of life in schools in Japan and suicide related to these cases is just as normal (Yoneyama, 2008).

(Yoneyama, 2008)

    In 1986, incidents of students committing suicide were presented on national television shows and in newspapers; nine in total for the year and many were accounted for with suicide notes describing their experiences with ijime in school. Their calls for help had gone unnoticed. Once instance that was widely publicized was a 13-year-old student who hung himself after writing a suicide note that called out several peers who had “created a living hell for him” (Naito and Gielen, n.d.). In one specific event, he came to school and found the group leaders had set up a mock funeral for him, placing his desk in front of the class with his photo, flowers and a sympathy card that had been signed by most of the class, other peers and four teachers, including his homeroom teacher. This mock funeral made him believe that many felt he was a failure. His father had contacted the teacher in prior instances for assistance regarding the ijime cases and received a reply that he should transfer schools (Naito and Gielen, n.d.).

In the 90’s the Japanese Ministry of Education initiated efforts to determine characteristics and prevalence of ijime in schools and attempted to limit the occurrence of ijime. This came after ten ijime-related suicides occurred from November 1994 to November 1995. Part of the efforts included conducting a survey to determine how prevalent bullying was in schools during that time period. This survey found that “57,000 cases of ijime were reported in the Japanese schools surveyed and 12.4 percent of students states that they had been the victims of bullying”, 17.4 percent of students reported participating in ijime-related activity (Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000, p.230). Further data collected found that ijime cases increases from first grade through the first year of junior high school, during this time students are particularly prone to this behavior. Ijime begins to decline from the second year of junior high school through the final year of high school by 50 percent each year (Rios-Ellis, et al., 2000).

October 2006 brought another trigger point in the acknowledgement of school knowledge of ijime related cases in the Hokkaido school system, even though several suicide notes had been found. The board of education and school denied bullying was the cause of the suicide of a 12-year-old girl. In mid-October of the same year another student, a 13-year-old boy took his own life mentioning bullying in his suicide note. The school finally admitted a student was a target of bullying after pressure from the parents of a 14-year-old girl who committed suicide citing bullying in her suicide note in late-October 2006. After six suicides of students over the course of six weeks in October and November 2006, and the suicide of the principal of the school who had so adamantly denied bullying was occurring in the school. Once the media was saturated with this information and images principals and board of education members bowed low in front of media “apologizing for their ‘inadequate response to bullying’” (Yoneyama, 2008).

Tales of bullying were captured by Motoko Akiba who spent a year in a Japanese classroom of a friend who taught English to students. Akiba distributed diaries to the students and informed them of the research being conducted, specifically about ijime. All participation was voluntary with the majority of students turning in diaries daily and many reporting about ijime activities experienced. A 14-year-old girl reported she had been a victim of ijime since elementary school. Her possessions were often stolen, notebooks were damaged and filled with mean words like “‘Die!’, ‘Ugly!’, ‘Feel sick to be with you!’, and ‘Always be alone!’” (Akiba, 2005, p.224). Another girl had her towel stolen to use as a dust cloth for the ground and would find pins inside her shoes as they were left outside the classroom with the other students’ shoes. Finally, a 15-year-old boy was regularly drug, kicked, and punched by his peers during recess time in homeroom. His possessions were often stolen and damaged; he too would find his shoes missing or present with pins in them. Rumors were started that he was planning violent attacks on the bullies and on family members, which intensified ijime acts from his peers (Akiba, 2005).

Again in 2011, a suicide of a 13-year-old boy occurred in October, pushing bullying back into the media. However, this time, the government released the findings of a survey that indicated that cases of ijime reported had been on an ongoing rising trend (Shinkichi, 2012).

Analysis & Discussion

       Globally, there are common forms of bullying like teasing and name-calling. This type of bullying is seen as “a relatively easy, low-risk, mild form of harassment” occurring in many cultures in the earliest stages of bullying (Shinkichi, 2012). However, physical bullying is more prevalent in cultures that people must compete for survival and where violence is common. In these cultures and societies bullying is seen as a necessary part of life for children to grow up with and learn to cope with. “Children are taught that it is better to bully than to be bullied, and the victims tend to receive blame rather than sympathy” (Shinkichi, 2012). Compared to the United States and European countries, Japan has extremely low rates of delinquency and crime by juveniles. However, ijime has been a serious social and educational problem that has been covered up and half-hearted attempts have been made at stopping these cases from occurring. (Akiba, 2005).

      Unfortunately the attempts for solving ijime cases and problems have not taken into consideration some successful programs and action plans that have been implemented around the world. Because Japanese schools have chosen to deal with student problems including bullying with classroom collaboration teachers have not expressed the need or desire for prevention programs. Prevention programs in Europe and the US are common but are not available for use in Japanese schools because of this lack of demand (Akiba, 2005).

      Even as ijime cases are reported to drop as students get older and advance through the education system there is a concern that ijime may appear in the workplace later on because the culture remains supportive and reliant upon group efforts and collaboration. Individualization and acceptance are not learned traits of students as they progress through their education track. It has been reported by The Japan Industrial Counselor Association that “80% of industrial counselors had observed workplace bullying or had been asked advice relating to it” (Abe & Henly, 2010, p.111); according to the Japanese Nursing Association (2004), “the prevalence of bullying is about 8%-10% among Japanese nurses” (Abe & Henly, 2010, p.111). When bullying occurs in the professional environment in professions where teamwork and collaboration is imperative for the success of the stated outcome, like nursing, the actual results can be significantly devastating if the goal is to cause the victim to fail which may hinder the progress of a patient.

  

Recommendations & Conclusions

    Even with this underlying dark side to the Japanese school system the schools overall run more efficiently, are more organized and have less violence compared to those in the United States and Europe (Naito & Gielen, n.d.). The difference is that the United States and European societies acknowledge the issues in their schools and have worked to implement programs to prevent and put an end to bullying and violence in the classroom.

    The Japanese school system needs to implement school counselors as a base point for students to go to talk about issues and concerns to find answers and solutions to problems rather than presenting personal problems to a group of students who lack maturity and resources to accurately and professionally offer advice and empathy. Teachers and administration need to focus on how to punish students who seek victims for bullying efforts rather than telling the victim to endure and deal with it, there are psychological reasons for why students bully others, there should be a way to mediate issues and provide support for all members of ijime cases. Teachers and administration should be held accountable as well for positively identifying and handling ijime cases, and if they choose to not address issues or direct them to the proper authorities should be punished as well.

    As the elders of the Japanese culture pass away and the population deteriorates, there will need to be an introduction of non-Japanese residents to the country. As this occurs there will be an increase in bullying in the youth because of obvious visual differences and personality traits among the youth unless the Japanese culture can begin to embrace and encourage individuality and teach their youth (and embrace it as adults) that being different is OK and that everyone can be their own person yet work together towards a common goal while reinforcing that bullying is unacceptable and will face consequences if used. Communication opportunities must be created and embraced among mixed-age groups to build relationships that are supportive with adults.

    A great deal of change must come from the government though, through their prescribed curricula and planning of the academic process a plan of action to handle ijime cases and preventative measures including teacher training  and the funding of school counselors are necessary items to start a fight against the acceptance of bullying. There must also be the ability to punish students who initiate or participate in bullying. While school is mandatory there must be ways to instill a sense of integrity in students that by making the wrong choices on how relationships are handled there is a good chance that they may tarnish or hurt their possibilities for success in the future outside of school even if they succeed academically. Programs embracing individualism and opinions should be introduced in schools to encourage acceptance of others, while highlighting that differences and individuality can help groups and collaboration be highly successful.

Bibliography / Reference List

Abe, K., & Henly, S. J.  (2010).  Bullying (ijime) among Japanese hospital nurses.  Nursing Research,

59(2), 110-118.

Akiba, M.  (2004).  Nature and correlates of ijime – bullying in Japanese middle school.  International

Journal of Educational Research, 41(3), 216-236.

Naito, T. & Gielen, U. P. (n.d.). Bullying and ijime in Japanese schools: a sociocultural perspective.

Retrieved from http://www.uwegielen.com/Bullying%20and%20Ijime%20in%20Japanese

%20Schools%20A%20Sociocultural%20Perspective.pdf

Omori, M.  (1999, January 1).  Ijime (bullying). Retrieved from: http://www.childresearch.net/

papers/school/1999_03.html

Rios-Ellis, B., Bellamy, L., & Shoji, J.  (2000).  An examination of specific types of ijime within

Japanese schools.  School of Psychology International, 21(3), 227-241.

Shinkichi, Sugimori.  (2012, October 4).  Anatomy of Japanese bullying.  Nippon.com.  Retrieved from

http://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00054/.

Yoneyama, S.  (2008, December 31).  The era of bullying: Japan under neoliberalism. Japan

Focus. Retrieved from http://www.japanfocus.org/-Shoko-YONEYAMA/3001

Google docs link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vj__BaCVLr3JeJVCC3vWeiBrV4Zi5i36acylxND1RlI/edit?usp=sharing

Overall Reflection of the Trip to Tokyo

Just one of what will be several follow up reflections to the trip, thought I would share with you all :)

Overall Reflection:

I had initially wanted to take this class last year when it went off to Thailand but due to a lack of vacation time and some family things going on I was unable to take part in it so when I saw this class was going to Tokyo I knew I was in. The work leading up to the trip was stressful at best, mainly in part because of the amount of time my spring 2 class was taking. Then throw in reading, presentation, travel preparation and packing with a final just a few days prior to departure with a full-time busy work schedule. I was about ready to melt-down but that wouldn’t get me anywhere with either class!

 Needless to say the experience was amazing. I was lucky to have the opportunity to take my mom on this trip, our first ever international trip! Then upon arrival I had the chance to meet and befriend so many other students from around the world, the new friendships from this experience are even more solidified because of the experiences we had the chance to partake in. The adventurous spirit of the group was contagious leading us to nightly excursions to different parts of Tokyo and down dark alleys and side streets in search of fun and different food locations, each immersing us in more of the culture and providing just a few more stories that no one else in our lives can truly understand. My subway map has the crease marks and worn spots of all the locations and memories of this trip.

 Experiencing the subway in the middle of rush-hour, joking about the overstimulation of a culture surrounded by music, lights, colors, characters on packed trains while the locals were completely immersed in their cellphones allowed me to really immerse myself in what was happening around me at all times (even finally finding that bird stuck in all the subway stations!), going to the Tokyo Dome for a jump into Japanese culture surrounded by lots of singing and music and chanting, heading to the gardens for an unplanned tour and seeing wedding pictures taking place (and not being the only people to take pictures of the happy couple, there was a Japanese tour group that mobbed the couple), and going around the city whether for school, touring days or for relaxation. These are just a few moments that have impacted me greatly.

 Professionally I deal with Guests traveling from all around the world, many that speak no English. I have been hesitant to even attempt to use my limited Spanish skills with those that speak Spanish. After being in a country where I don’t speak the language I now have an appreciation for those who made the attempt to communicate with me whether in broken English or just with motions on a map. It makes me want to do the same for others that I encounter, it’s time to stop being so shy with my language attempts and to put them to use!

 This was a life changing experience for me, I want to travel more outside of the country and experience even more cultures and even more food opportunities that I would never take while here in the US! I want to learn more about the Japanese culture as well, this may take me down a road professionally that focuses on the Japanese Guests or it could take me on another road…time will tell!

5/30 or 5/31...traveling back in time sure is bumpy!

At 6:30pm (Japan Time) on 5/30 our trip home began. Nothing like getting to the airport around 5 hours ahead of the flight time just to spend a lot of time sitting and waiting, and sitting and waiting some more. On my initial walk I found an observation deck over the tarmack, very interesting how busy it gets in the late night for international travel. The terminal came to life...lots of flights to Honolulu. Also a lot of duty free shopping going on...watch out kids, we were big spenders...900 yen on candy..."the candy" according to our travel group. Apparently we were doing something wrong since we didn't have gigantic bags to take onto the plane with us :) Other locations for international travel this evening included Kuala Lumpur (located in Malaysia) and Denpasar (in Indonesia).

And so the journey began...with bus rides to the airplane. Hanaeda doesn't have enough terminal space and there are several gates that have to board shuttle buses to be dropped off at the staircase to get onto the plane. There's a way to start the travel process! I noticed many, many passports for travelers from Thailand and a few from Japan and even fewer from the US. We settled in and got our snack and started to watch what I thought would be several movies over the 10 hour flight...it turned into one movie for me that I started, dozed off during, traded spots to have the window, slept some more and woke up to restart the same movie and watch the remainder of it. For a 10 hour flight, I was super unproductive but got far from great sleep!

Apparently traveling back in time, departed at 12:30am on 5/31 and arrived at 18:30 on 5/30, is a bumpy ride across the international dateline :) Quite a bit of turbulance along the way and then add in a bit of a lack of sleep, and experience a second sunset on Thursday. I'm beyond confused right now (I know...not different from any other time).

Getting back into the US was more intense than getting into Japan from our experience but all was very smooth regardless. In the midst of a 5 hour layover in Los Angeles it was about time I got some sleep...and I did so in the middle of the waiting area with my head under a seat because it was the darkest location in the place. Pretty bad when the cement floor is more comfortable than an airplane seat! Unfortunately the relaxing nap I got came to an ubrupt end when I thought I couldn't find my wallet and couldn't remember where I had put it (found it in my backpack). I would insert a picture of me sleeping on the floor of the airport but my mom didn't get one of me...she's nicer than me! Finally we boarded and it was the same style plane that we had taken from Tokyo to the US. Taking off on the red eye makes me wanna go around the cabin waking people up...if I can't sleep other people shouldn't either!!

Then the trip took us to the northern part of the US...Minneapolis for a one hour layover. Luckily it was only 2 gates away to get to Orlando! After being on large planes for the entire day of traveling it was strange to walk onto what is now considered a normal size plane. I was waiting for the turbulance to flip the plane over! Upon touchdown I got a voicemail saying that one of my bags had arrived on an earlier flight...I have a feeling my bag managed to get on to the red eye from LAX.

And finally....30 hours after we got the shuttle at Tokyo Disneyland, we were in Orlando and waiting on our ride. Next step...beating this round of jetlag.

5/30:Pre-travel fun

The trip is finally coming to an end with mixed emotions...while I'm looking forward to returning back to Florida where I can have fresh fruit (severely lacking in Japan), go to the bathroom in silence (the automated flushing sounds because everyone is too shy to just pee) and the toilet seat won't be warmed or hot all the time...I am going to miss the efficiency of the subways, the kindness of the Japanese people and the love and availability of iced coffee....and how clean it is in Japan.

Our final adventure took us back to the Imperial Palace to see the East Gardens. This is the only garden that is open to the public and is free. We took the JR for the final time all the way to Tokyo Station and then got lost as we were trying to get out of the station, luckily we exited the station right next to the Tokyo Information Center and were only a couple blocks away from the palace.

Entering the garden were three guard houses, each larger than the last. The samurai would be posted here to ensure that visitors to the palace were legit and approved. Each guardhouse had a higher level of samurai experience in it so if they made it through the third and final one they were good to go.

Throughout the gardens are a variety of mini-gardens, each requested by the Emperor. Ones in particular included a rose garden, a bamboo garden and a grove of trees, each perfecture in the country had a different variety of tree. Okinawa was the last perfecture to have a tree planted, in 1972 because it did not become an official part of Japan until then.

We also saw a number of homeless people in the area of the gardens, when the weather is nice there is a homeless person under every tree in the parks. This is still amazing to me because of the emphasis that is put on taking care of the elderly and family.

 

 

After the dreary, misty and blustery day (much like the first time we went to the Imperial Palace), it was time to head back to the hotel for some last minute shopping and late lunch at the place we had our first lunch at Disney to kick off the travel-palooza that was about to ensue. Also, while on the train the one on the left took my picture without asking (it was very obvious when his phone was pointed directly at me) so I went ahead and took a picture of the three of them :)

I was on the recieving end of a few deep bows today. In this culture there are varying degrees of bows depending on the situation, the level of person and respect and interactions. While checking out we realized that there were some issues with the credit cards being used that hadn't been cleared up on behalf of the hotel (an initial hold that turned into a transaction and then reversed). After a few phone calls to the credit card companies by the front desk it was all cleared up, and then I got the deep bow to apologize for the inconvenience and issues. Needless to say, I felt bad that they bowed to me that much. It was by no fault of theirs that the issue had come up, part of it is a language barrier issue (lesson learned, go with first instinct and don't change things around at the last minute when traveling internationally when interacting with others that do not speak English).

It's now time to let travel-palooza begin...

5/29: Blustery day off of Tokyo Bay!

You know it was windy out...yes, windy, not breezy when you go into Disney Sea and see all the trash cans tethered to another...gusts as high as 32mph in Tokyo which is on the otherside of Tokyo Bay. DisneySea is located basically on the bay.

Today was our park hopper day, and we did true to the park hopping. Started the morning out at Disneyland to knock out some of our favorites from a couple days ago and to experience a few more of the ones we loved!

One thing that consistently throws me off is the use of music from WDW. Walking through areas I feel like I should be getting to the countries or main entrance of Epcot. This is a daily occurrence where I need to wrap my brain around the fact that it's music from home but it's not home!

As my facebook statused stated, I have been trying a lot of new foods and strange combinations. But when consumed via chop sticks it all tastes better....I just wish there was some fresh fruit around. That is definitely something that has been lacking. I could handle a banana!! My variety at lunch today took the cake...seafood pizza. When I opened the box I recognized shrimp and octopus...the grey stuff not too sure on but it tasted like crab! This has been an adventure in trying new foods!

 

After lunch we wandered off to Pooh's Honey Hunt, expecting it to be a lot like the Pooh ride at MK; holy smokes was I wrong!! Started off in a row to load and then we took off with no track leading the way...pretty awesome!! This ride is fairly new and has a constant line going (minimum 40 minute wait and majority of the time over an hour). YouTube this one!

Did our last minute shopping this afternoon and made it into the other show here that is a lottery system to see....no lottery today because it was a slower day :) One Man's Dream II...the shows remind me of being on the cruise ships because the quality is so high and the performances are pretty long as well!

While walking out of the park to head to DisneySeas I saw a set of white rabbit ears and these sumo...If that doesn't make your Disney day I don't know what will!





After a cold and blustery walk around DisneySea and rode the one thing we hadn't done, we saw a bit of Fantasmic (slightly different from ours in Florida)...it takes place on this lake with barges and blow up globes and a mountain that turns into a sorcerer's hat. Then what a surprise...the fireworks were cancelled due to high winds...I am starting to wonder if they even load the fireworks.

 

Then it was back to Disneyland to have a waffle (big Mickey head waffle) with mango and ice cream! I have had quite the variety of waffles here! They have mini waffles in a cup for a snack, breakfast waffles are super sweet and they have boxes waffles for sale as well....we jumped onto the waffle bandwagon.

 

The final ride of the night was Splash Mountain, I offered our front row seat to the girls behind us and they laughed and politely declined. They didn't realize that we would just duck at the bottom of the drop to avoid the splash....hehe. Well, mom will duck before we even get to the picture spot.

And with this, the Tokyo Disneyland experience has come to an end. It has been an amazing experience as a Cast Member to see and experience an international Disney location. The Cast Members have been absolutely amazing and everyone we meet has been so excited to try their English skills out (even if it is a small amount) and their faces light up when I say thank you or good morning in Japanese...and when they ask where we are visiting from the excitement they get when talking about WDW and me mentioning where I work has been so fun! The park has been just like the rest of Tokyo, immaculate! I definately cannot wait to visit again and am really curious to see how the other international parks operate and what the Cast are like in other locations.



5/28: Welcome to the breeze off Tokyo Bay!

Two nights in a row the fireworks have been cancelled due to "inclement weather" aka high winds off of Tokyo Bay nightly...big white caps and downright cold temps when the wind really gets going out there!

Took a chance and played American tourist today...rocked a skirt and flip flops without a pair of socks or pantyhose. After a week and a half of shoe wearing I needed a break!! Successful until it started to get breezey off the bay and then cold...then it was home for jeans, long sleeved shirt, a jacket and sneakers.

This morning's trip to Disney Sea included some of the longest but most organized lines I have ever seen! Amazing how polite people are when the parks haven't even opened yet!

As predicted, the vast majority of Guests ran for Toy Story fastpasses, made that easy for me to get Tower of Terror fastpasses for and then we were off for the fun of efficient fastpass collection and usage. Fortunately it was a MUCH slower day than yesterday so lines weren't nearly a bad!

Unless you have riden Tower of Terror with 18 Japanese school girls then it no longer counts...because we did! The entire storyline is based off of a shrine/idol that was giving to this amazing explorer and his disappearance. The moment the doors shut the shrieking began and didn't stop one bit...this ride is much milder than the two in the states but that didn't matter to this group!

 

 

Managed to take a ride on the boats today from one side of the park to the front :) I definitely noticed the horn signals are the same as WDW! Besides that one little thing I got to play tourist today and use the map and times guide! This also means we weren't as nearly efficient as I would have liked to have been.

 

This park completely immerses you into the lands and areas, absolutely larger than life but beautiful!! We got to utilize subtitle experiences to read a few performanaces in English....makes a world of difference when you know what is going on and not just watching because that's fun too. The devices are handheld, electronic and awesome. For the Little Mermaid it was in the shape of a clam and in Alladin it was a fancy "gold" square. I also love how the Cast will remind you when you need to take your extended mouse ears off. Again, such politeness for those around you! 

 

This evening we had our first running experience, there was no lottery this morning for the purchasing of the two bears. Mom and I got there just as they were finishing seating! This show had big band era music, dancers and a few characters, including the popular Marie (the cat). No translation needed! Especially when Mickey was playing the drums and then tap dancing!

Sandwich combinations for restaurants targetting  Guests with "american" sandwiches sure do have a strange combination habit. Tonight I had a bagel with shrimp, smoked salmon, avacado sauce with cheese. The cheese threw me off quite a bit though!

Another exciting and draining day has been completed! Just one more day in the parks...vacation is coming to an end sadly.

5/27: The Guests here need Sherpas!

Well just as expected, this is the MOST magical place on Earth! Full day, open to close with a break for less than an hour to walk back to the hotel for a shoe change and sweatshirt addition. I am fairly certain I am going to sleep for several days upon my return home, but it will be all worth it!

My morning started out with me trying to figure out the hot pot, water dispenser in the room for some coffee! Plugged it in, nothing, then I tried to pour water into the top of it (there is water in it already and it doesn't go in thru where I was trying to pour it), finally the genius thought to check the plug and see if it was attached...bingo! Hot coffee coming my way finally...had a blonde moment/I'm so pretty sometimes.

We walked out of the hotel to partake in our 15 minutes early entry privilege...you don't realize how precious this opportunity is until you walk up and see thousands of people waiting to be let into the park...at 8am. I can only imagine when they got there!! Then it was off to the races...lucky for us Star Tours just opened this month so that's where everyone went to. Walking into the park was so fun though, there were Cast Members all over the entrance area and down the main street just there to smile, wave and say hello...seriously magical people!!

But truly...these Guests took off running and sprinting towards Tomorrowland, we hit up the first Fastpass machine we could get...and then we were off for the game of Fastpasses for the day. When you use the opportunity you will never wait in a line more than 30 minutes! The majority of Guests spend their time in lonnggg lines. Splash Mountain got to a 190 minute wait this afternoon, this seems common with the large attractions, waits well over one hour and most over two hours....that's dedication and a lack of understanding the greatness of Fastpass! My favorite was walking up to Haunted Mansion to find a 70 minute wait but Fastpasses available for use within 40 minutes...the math just doesn't add up to me but ah well! Serves me better!

Wanna experience something super crazy right away in the morning? How about Buzz Lightyear speaking in Japanese!

This is definitely a culture of fantasy as I have said before and this culture also has some interesting habits that I'm picking up on being immersed in Disney as the minority. Here are some fun ones:
1. Popcorn buckets: this country LOVES popcorn, and different flavors at that. Most everyone has a popcorn container that is reusable/refillable for a good rate. I have never seen such a variety of one item...my mom is now the proud owner of a 30th anniversary balloon popcorn bucket. We had honey and caramel popcorn today...other kinds that exist in Disneyland include salted and curry. More to try tomorrow!
2. On the topic of balloons.......there are NO real balloons. Not a single one! Just the decor of Mickey balloons on the castle and in select locations throughout the park.

3. Stuffed animals, particularly Duffy the Bear. This bear gets carried around EVERYWHERE, so does his girlfriend ShellieMay. Adults are carrying this bear around all dressed up...in addition to their bag, fun Disney hat and other bags, the bears also get to sit and have tea and have their pictures taken. I saw three plush sharing a plastic sheet that Guests use for sitting on the ground.

4. Plastic sheets: when sitting on the ground for parades people use plastic sheets to save seats and sit on (since the ground is oh, so dirty...not really....I've seen people scrub them before)! When people get a spot for the parade they don't move...it's a sitting area to watch the parade. All strollers have to be folded down. One of the best places to be today!

5. No flash photography actually means no photography....I learned this one in the Country Bear Jamboree after I got asked to stop taking pictures. Classic American country songs, mostly in Japanese...like Achey Breakey Heart, On the Road Again and Workin' on the Railroad...but then throw in some songs in English!

6. Masks: for as many people as we saw with face masks throughout Tokyo (hundreds), I saw 3 today. I am having a hard time understanding where the logic is and what makes people decide to not wear theirs to come to Disneyland.

I love when Cast Members try out their English (which they do frequently!) and ask where we are from. I always say Florida and then they reference WDW in FL and I tell them I work there...people get SOOO excited about that here. Pretty fun to have convos with the Cast, they are all soo sweet!

This park feels like Disneyland in CA and WDW in FL got together and had modules pulled from them to create a new park with some original attractions as well. And between English and Japanese, it seems to fluctuate between the two. It's a strange feeling when on your first day you think, oh I know where the nearest bathroom would be and getting there with no map and then you confirm your prediction! The animatronics here are amazing...need to tell my brother to youtube some and see them!

Sadly the fireworks were cancelled tonight but we did get to see two parades (both amazing) and do nearly every singe ride in the park. Also, if you think there are lots of merchandise and food locations at WDW...come over here...every attraction has a store and lots of cool original merchandise! I am having to hold back on buying stuff just yet. Off to DisneySea in the morning!