Author: ljo9

The first picture is of the shrines in Nara. The tourist guide said there are 3,000 shrines.

The difference between Nara and Kyoto is the size difference and the culture. I think Nara has more traditions and rituals compared to Kyoto — a more fast-paced style and way more shopping area. I think Nara is more based toward tourists that want to know more about history, while Kyoto is geared more toward shopping and entertainment.

The second picture is of the deer in Nara. This was interesting because you never see deer so tame and friendly — letting people touch and pet them. I would never touch them. I was happy to see others touch them. It was a cool experience.

The third picture works with this quote: “The notion of Tao expresses the essential unity of man and nature, and Taoism has long been concerned with techniques aimed at bringing heaven and earth together, blending the sacred powers of the heavens with ritual practice in the mundane world so that human beings can harmonize their life energies with the Tao, or universal spirit.”(Japanese mind pg.72)

Touching this statue is supposed to help heal you. This statue blends the sacred powers of the heavens with ritual practice in the mundane world, and gives us the sense of interacting with the spirit world. — Blog 4 Leonard Oden

The Japanese concept I saw during sumo wrestling was chinmoku — silence in Japanese communication. Most of the time the Japanese sumo wrestlers were silent, except for the occasional grunt, which is kind of hard to describe. While they were quiet, the audience also had to take care to be quiet at the same time. I think the silence was important for respect for the sumo wrestling rituals, and to show how serious they were about their training.

The first picture is the picture of one of the most interesting things I did all day, which was riding on a ferris wheel. It was the first ferris wheel I have been where itnot only plays music, but you’re able to pick the music you want to listen to on the ferris wheel. It was really tall, so I thought I would be able to see the ocean, but I guess it wasn’t tall enough. It was kind of nerve-wracking to be up that high on the ferris wheel.

The second picture is of when I was at the baseball game. I was never a fan of baseball. I always thought baseball was kind of boring, also, I didn’t know any of the rules. When I went to the Akron Aeros baseball game when I was younger that was the most boring thing I’ve ever done.

But when I went to the Japanese baseball game it was quite different. I actually enjoy the game and had a lot of fun there and was rooting for the home team. I think I enjoyed the game so much because the Japanese audience was really into it with all the cheering and rooting.

When I went to the American baseball game there was not that much cheering or rooting. So I think that’s what got me more into the game. I think Japanese are way more into baseball than Americans are. I think there was a strong sense of Shudan Ishiki —Japanese group conscience with the group cheering and just all around interest in the game. — Blog 11 Leonard Oden

Blog 8 Leonard Oden
The first picture is of the food I made. I think it looks pretty. Really I thought making that was awesome. I would love to do something like that again with even bigger foods. I think if America had something like that the store would make a lot of money. I saw a lot of stores in Japan that I never see in America. I like art and that new form of art was really fun for me.

The second picture I want to share is of Goku dabbin. I thought it was hilarious there was also a picture of vegeta doing the same thing. l didn’t think dabbin was popular in Japan, at least not popular enough to have a T-shirt about it. I guess I was wrong. Another interesting thing is some of the American music I hear play at stores — most Japanese don’t understanding what is being said.