A Weekend Escape to Yamanashi

After a few days in Tokyo, we took students to Yamanashi, Japan, to experience more traditional aspects of Japanese culture that are harder to find in Tokyo's bustling metropolis. The first stop on our journey to Yamanashi had us experiencing the magic (ahem, science) behind Japan's famed maglev. Students not only learned about how the train uses magnets to levitate off the tracks, but also got to see it in action. While we visited the Maglev center, the Maglev passed about five times, zipping by so fast that students could barely capture it with their phones. "It looks like it's moving as fast as a bullet. It's amazing how people don't get car sick riding that thing," Naya sarcastically commented . 

We then arrived at our hotel, and students were READY to put on their Yukatas and try out the hotel's majestic Onsen (Japanese-style baths). Some were hesitant to try it out at first, but by the second night in the hotel, most students were so curious that they had to take a dip and soak for a minute or two...hours! "Time just really flies in there," Percy and Kaleigh commented, "I thought I was there for like 10 minutes, but it was way over an hour, and I feel so soft!"

But that wasn't all Yamanashi had in store for us! It also had beautiful nature sites to inspire our sense of wonder and creativity. Waterfalls, fountains, gorges, shrines, and even Mt. Fuji greeted us and encouraged us to take a necessary pause from the busyness of all that was happening.

But beyond nature, what really got the students excited was the food...and we had TONS of new food that had our taste buds dancing. We spent both nights sitting in the hotel’s large guest suite for group dinners with a tray of 10-15 different small dishes. "There's so much here to try that I don't know where to start but I will definitely try everything," Edmund said with a very eager smile. In the photos, you can see us wearing our Yukatas, about to enjoy our second dinner feast. For lunch one of the days, we made Hoto noodles to feast on along with other local Yamanashi foods. Students loved having the opportunity to make the noodles from scratch. Some even had a little competition as to whose noodles would taste best. Though admittedly, they forgot about the competition once the noodles were thrown into their pots of boiling soup, and their empty bellies beckoned them to eat. For many of the students, the food highlight of our trip was our visit to a sweets factory. Some students loved watching how traditional Yamanashi treats were made…...while others just wanted to rush to the end of the factory, where a mini sweets market awaited our arrival. There, students were able to taste and buy a wide variety of traditional Japanese treats for themselves or to share with loved one’s back home. 

Overall the trip to Yamanashi took us back to a more traditional style of sleeping, eating, and dressing which was a nice pause before returning to the modern city of Tokyo.