Japan

After disembarking and clearing customs with my lovable roommate, Jordan, I decided to venture into the first 9 blocks of Yokohama. I took out 20000 yen then headed to the silk shopping center to see how warm the Totos were in Yokohama. Final verdict, not very. I found a neat Little America vintage and antique shop where I came across prized treasures from America's "golden" age, the 50s. Chevron mechanic shirts, circa 59 varsity jackets and beloved Fonzi magnets. I even peeped some Michael Jordan valentine’s day cards and a host of big boy statues. I was about to buy a government license plate from Guam until I was quickly reminded about Japan's sheer love for over pricing, so I shied away from the 8000 yen price tag. After mulling through more junk I returned to the Yokohama international passenger terminal and decided to call my friend Nobihiro.

Nobby, as he was affectionately known as, was an exchange student at Morehouse during my freshman year, staying only
4 rooms away. Nobby had an affinity for DJing and cultural understanding. I waited 45 minutes for a Spanish speaking women to get off of the phone, I imagined she was speaking to family in Chile. When I determined that my waiting would be fruitless, I impatiently ventured back into Yokohama and eventually found myself nestled in a cozy pub called "CJs." The lone person in the bar, who I assumed to be CJ, was kind enough to let me call Nobby, who was 20 minutes away via JR Rail. I decided to reward CJ with my patronage. Unfortunately, my request for hot sake found me with a scoop of pretzels and a pour of lager, not a bad alternative but I sought soemthing more culturally Japanese.

Thirty minutes later I met up with Nobby and his two really cool friends Shiho and Keenan. Keenan, a pharmacy student at Xavier and Shiho a current student in Japan, instantly became my pals and we went to Chinatown for an all you can eat. We ate a lot of shrimp, visited the beautiful Yashaita Park and took the subway to Shibuya and Harajuku. In Shibuya we had amazing sweet crepes and walked around like we were local (only Keenan and I were not) while fellow SASers stumbled through the streets like true tourists. Later on we ate at a Jamaican restaurant in Harajuku. Then decided against going to the Ice Bar, we went to Roppongi and hung out at a bar with some SASers. The night was great and I went back to the ship. I'd substituted a day that began seeking Japanese culture for an excellent way to connect and meet with people -- hanging around and doing fun stuff with new and old friends.

Thanks to my US-Sino Relations class, the highlight of Japan was meeting Virginia Anami, the wife of the Japanese ambassador to China. She is a writer, photographer, and historian. She has recently written her 3rd book about the ancient trees and elements of Japanese society. Interestingly enough her focus was in China but became entrenched in Japanese culture, especially after marrying her Japanese-nationalist husband. After she found out I attended Morehouse, she was ecstatic because she started the Japanese Studies program at Spelman. She even exclaimed that I was her student –indirectly. She showed us around her quaint Tokyo suburb and made rice balls, inari and other Japanese delicacies and other students and I sat in her home and discussion Sino-japanese relations. Interestingly enough, her growing up in New Orleans added a lot to her hospitable and likeable nature. She is American but became a Japanese citizen before marrying her husband.

The next day we sailed to Kobe. Kobe was insane. Friends and I decided we would have a Kobe steak dinner, we put on our nice clothes and took the train to a nearby restaurant and had an amazing experience. It was definitely worth the 8300 Yen.

As the night progressed we found a bar full of other SASers, the spot  “2nd Chance” brought us all together around Japanese pop music and American hip-hop.
Jordan, Amira and I got Okonamiyaki (a type of pancake pizza originated in Osaka) the next day in Kobe and walked around the shops in Chinatown.

All in all the visit to japan was phenomenal