| Schedule | |||
| Date | Time | Activity | Reading / Assignment |
| T 5/4 | Orientation | Handout | |
| W 5/20 | Arrive in Tokyo in the afternoon Narita Airport (Dr Bonk) | Haneda Airport (Dr. Ng) Meet in hostel lobby to walk to Summit Supermarket サミットストア湯島天神南店 https://maps.app.goo.gl/r6oEpA4TsjSsJ98k7 | ||
| History of Modern Japan | |||
| Th 5/21 | 08:00 | Meiji Shrine (meet Moriyasu-san at 09:50 am at the torii gate near Harajuku station) | Read: Can religion be based on ritual practice without belief? | Aeon Essays Read shrine etiquette guide before arriving at the shrine https://www.meijijingu.or.jp/en/feelshinto/2.php |
| 12:00 | Lunch | ||
| 14:00 | Takeshita street in Harajuku | ||
| 15:30 | Return to hostel | ||
| 17:00 | Work on journals in the evening. Blog #1 – Farida and Olivia | ||
| F 5/22 | 09:30 | Edo-Tokyo Museum https://maps.app.goo.gl/FgDvYAddekH2GoQz9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ki6dC7nXFJHm2E4A | |
| 12:00-14:30 | Lunch | Work on journals after lunch. Blog #2 – Akua and Gabriele | |
| 19:00 -21:00 | Class and reflection in Ueno hostel classroom PowerPoint | Read before meeting: How to redraw a city – Works in Progress Magazine | |
| S 5/23 | 1:00 PM | Meet at hostel to take the train to Yokohama We’ll be going to the Yokohama Archive Museum, Chinatown, and the port (Japan’s first treaty port), | Read: John Dower, “Yokohama Boomtown” – Commerce, Interactions, and Internationalism. Browse the “visual narratives of Yokohama Boomtown.” Work on journals during the day or evening. Blog #3 – Nilay and Jessica |
| The Cultural Life of Commodities | |||
| Su 5/24 | 08:00 | Morning and afternoon – explore the city and find a creative use of sugar for your journals. | Work on journals during the day. Blog #4 – Olivia and Caitlyn Read:Holtzman, Jon. “To love sugar one does not have to eat it.” Gastronomica 16, no. 3 (2016): 44-55. |
| 16:30 | Meet with Wooster alumni Nachi Goto and John Gill at Tokyo Ueno Youth Hostel, followed by dinner | ||
| M 5/25 | 10:00 | Meet at hostel to walk to Maruwa Textile. Along the way, we will visit UNIQLO Okachimachi and other stores related to textiles (such as stores at 2k540, and NISHIGUCHI KUTSUSHITA STORE TOKYO – a store with made in Japan socks) | Read before departure: Assmann, Stephanie. “Consumption of Fast Fashion in Japan: Local Brands and Global Environment.” In Consuming Life in Post-Bubble Japan. Amsterdam University Press, 2018. |
| 14:00 | Maruwa Textile 1-8-6 Kamezawa, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0014, Japan https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZQm1uSMEHpaV5MNf9 | ||
| Evening | Free | Work on journals. Blog #5 – Gabriele and Zach | |
| T 5/26 | 10:00 | Akihabara Electric Town 秋葉原電気街 | The life-changing magic of Japanese clutter | Aeon Essays |
| 11:30 | Meet for lunch | ||
| 14:00 | Ad Museum (14:30 tour) https://maps.app.goo.gl/dw975nGZWbT6YzeJA 予約番号 59011 確認コード g2g3215wjhcw | ||
| Evening | Free | Work on journals. Blog #6 – Jessica and Cristiana | |
| W 5/27 | 9:00 | Classroom from 9-11 am at Hostel | Presentations #1: 3 students |
| Afternoon | Meet with College of Wooster alumni, Dr. Meg Itoh and Goto Nachi, to discuss work in Japan. | ||
| Evening | Free evening | Work on journals. Blog #7 – Caitlyn and Farida | |
| Th 5/28 | 9:00 | Meet at the hostel to walk to the station. Travel from Tokyo to Kyoto on the Shinkansen. | On the train, read: Why Japan has such good railways – Works in Progress Magazine |
| 15:00 | Check-in and orientation to the house and neighborhood with Sarira; visit a grocery store | Work on journals. Blog #8 – Zach and Akua | |
| F 5/29 | 9:00 | Meeting at the student residence. Simple Japanese (with Sarira) some background on Kyoto | |
| 11:30 | Group lunch | ||
| Afternoon | Walking tour of Kyoto (area where we are staying). Try to visit Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. | Work on journals. Office hours at Dr. Ng and Dr. Bonk’s house 1:00 Akua 1:20 Caitlyn 1:40 Cristiana 2:00 Farida 2:20 Gabby 3:00 Jessica 3:20 Nilay 3:40 Olivia 4:00 Zach Blog #9 – Cristiana and Nilay | |
| S 5/ 30 | 9:00 | Meeting at the student residence. Simple Japanese (with Sarira) and discussion of walking tour of Kyoto and textiles. | Presentations #2: 3 students Caitlyn, Gabby and Jessica |
| 11:30 | Buy lunch at the grocery store and bring back to the hostel – buy something that you haven’t tried before | ||
| Afternoon | Textile weaving activity at Nishijin Textile Center. https://maps.app.goo.gl/TmGdazj9hNhRCzm78 | ||
| Evening | Free | Work on journals. Blog #10 – Farida and Gabriele | |
| Su 5/ 31 | 9:00 | Meet at student residence for a discussion of Japanese medicine and tea. Japanese lesson. | Watch: Surak video on tea ceremony. |
| 11:00 | Day off to explore the city (Sarira will be available all day and will stay overnight) | Work on journals. Blog #11 – Akua and Jessica | |
| M 6/ 1 | 08:00 10:00 | Meet at student residence to travel to Takeda Pharmaceutical Garden (Sarira will assist with translation) Visit starts at 10:00 | |
| 12:30 | Lunch at Kansai Seminar House Tea ceremony after lunch | ||
| Afternoon | Manshuin Temple Bentendo Shrine, Manshuin Temple https://manshuinmonzeki.jp/temple-map.html#map-22 | ||
| Evening | Free Sarira will not stay overnight | Work on journals. Blog #12 – Nilay and Farida | |
| T 6/ 2 | 08:00 | Meet at student residence at 8:00 to go to Kyoto Station. From there, shuttle to Obubu tea plantation [shuttle bus leaves at 8:40 AM from Kyoto Station] | * |
| 2:00 | Leave Obubu tea plantation – travel back to Kyoto | ||
| Evening | Free time Optional activity: Noh Theater at Heian Shrine Sarira will not stay overnight | Work on journals. Blog #13 – Caitlyn and Zach | |
| W 6/3 | 11:00 | Meet at student residence at 11:00 for a class. | Read: A War Against Garbage in Postwar Japan – Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |
| 12:30 | Leave for Osaka | ||
| Afternoon | Exploring Osaka | ||
| Evening | Return to Kyoto Sarira will not stay overnight | Work on journals. Blog #14 – Gabriele and Cristiana | |
| Th 6/4 | 10:00 | Class – discussion of Osaka (castle, garbage), textile reading, and Japanese with Sarira. | Read: How textiles repeatedly revolutionised human technology | Aeon Essays |
| Lunch | |||
| Afternoon | Free | ||
| Evening | Sarira will not stay overnight | Work on journals. Blog #15 – Jessica and Olivia | |
| F 6/ 5 | 9:00 | Meet at student residence to travel to Roketsu dying workshop, which begins at 10 (Sarira will help with translation) ROKETSU Dyeing Studio https://www.roketsu.com/en/home-en/ | Read (before 6/6): Linton, “Making it for Our Country.” |
| Lunch in the student residence or leave with Yuta. | Work on journals. Blog #16 – Caitlyn and Akua | ||
Sarira will not stay overnight | |||
| S 6/ 6 | 10:00 | Meet at student house to travel from Kyoto to Uji | * |
| 12:00 | ウトロ平和祈念館 (Zainichi) [12 PM] Uji Lunch, Museum, and Town Tour | * | |
| Evening class 6-8 pm | Meet at student house for discussion and presentations | Presentations #3: 4 students | |
| Evening | Sarira will stay overnight | Work on journals. Blog #17 – Zach and Nilay | |
| Su 6/ 7 | Day off. Students can explore Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, or Kobe. Sarira will be available and will stay overnight. | * | |
| M 6/ 8 | 9:00 | Meet at student house to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo (shinkansen) | |
| 3:00 | Check in to Tokyo Ueno Hostel | Work on journals. Blog #18 – Cristiana and Olivia | |
| T 6/ 9 | Conclusion 9:00-11:00 Concluding reflections classroom | Write/ type 500-750 words of reflections to present at the final class and email to professors. Criteria: – focus on one commodity – draw on at least 2 or more readings – use themes covered in class to tie these together (avoid nations, nationalism) – Historicize | |
| W 6/ 10 | Departure | ||