The trip was packed every day with a great mix of traditional, modern, and technological experiences. They visited Tokyo Tower, the Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya Crossing, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Mirai-kan), Kawasaki Robostage, TeamLab, Odaiba Waterfront with the Rainbow Bridge, the Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo, Akihabara, a night walk in Shinjuku, a Sumida River cruise, Asakusa, the Senso-ji Temple, Imperial Palace, a projection mapping show at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, and Kamakura to see the Great Buddha statue and Zeniarai Benten Shrine.
The students also participated in a traditional tea ceremony with a tea master in a special tea house, tried their hand at a baseball batting cage, and enjoyed making sushi. They also tasted various foods, including Japanese hot pot, Japanese BBQ, karaage (Japanese fried chicken), Dashimaki omelette, and sushi. During their free time, they explored even more food, snacks, and drinks with their friends. Some loved vending machines everywhere, the shops open till very late at night and some were surprised by the cleaness of the city, politeness and respectfulness of the people and punctuality of the public transport.
When asked, “Would you like to visit Japan again?” one student replied, “Yes, because it was the most fun, exciting, and different place I've been, and I would like to see other places like Kyoto," and another said “Yes, 1,000,000%! I would go again. I miss Japan already."  One student commented, "Tokyo was one of the best places I've visited. The diverse culture and atmosphere made it unique from other places I've been." .  Another added ‘Thank you so much for everything! it was the best time’.
Masaya.Saito, the Japanese guide who assisted with the trip, mentioned how polite and well-behaved our students were. He shared that some people on public transport even asked where the students were from, as they were noticeably quieter and more polite compared to other tourists. The hotel staff made similar comments, praising the students, which was a great compliment to them!
I hope the trip will be a lasting memory for the rest of their lives.

Ms Myers

 

 

Here are the trip journals written by the students:

Day 1: Saturday 26 October

To say the flight was long was an understatement, and our delayed flight created more anticipation for our arrival in Tokyo. Anyhow, the delay, sixteen-hour flight and running across Doha International Airport was well worth the wait. Arriving in Tokyo was a surreal experience, to say the least, as it was so different from the UK. After making it through the tedious process of security and collecting our baggage, we met our tour guide, Masaya. He was a friendly man, who told us all about the hotel and the things we would be doing during our stay in Japan. After a ten-minute coach ride, we had a Japanese hot pot dinner, which was very tasty and traditional. After a long two days of excitement, we arrived at the hotel located in Toyosu named Hotel MONday Premium Toyosu, the rooms were spacious and comfortable; there were vending machines, an area to get breakfast on the second floor and public baths for guests. The hotel was conveniently placed near a 7/11, which many of us went to after a long day of adventuring, and an aeon, a massive supermarket where you could get all your necessities and Mintias.

Day 2: Sunday 27 October

We started the day by going on a sightseeing tour around Tokyo, where we had amazing views of the city while on a coach. The first stop was at a temple, where we had some time to move around, pray, and appreciate the tranquillity of the place. Then, we went to the top of Tokyo Tower and had great views of the city from a high point. We took many different pictures and were able to see just how large Tokyo really is.

Next, we proceeded to the Harajuku area, where we had lunch first before doing some shopping and exploration of the massive area. Afterwards, we went to the large Meiji Shrine and offered prayers for long-lasting couples. We saw massive barrels of sake (that were empty). We continued our walk through Yoyogi Park, which brought us to the busy Shibuya area. Here, we also crossed the famous Shibuya Crossing. It was a beautiful view and experience, and we understand why it is so famous.

The final activity of the day was a Japanese BBQ, where we cooked the food ourselves. It was super tasty!

Day 3: Monday 28 October

We started our day by visiting the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, or ‘Miraikan,’ as the building is known locally. The facilities were very visually impressive as well as scientifically insightful, featuring helpful English translations in many cases. Among the exhibits was a 3D globe mapping various social signals (the number and location of tweets throughout the day, for example), as well as numerous robot displays and even a photo booth.

After this, we went to get lunch at one of the many local Odaiba shopping centres before heading to the Kawasaki Robo Stage, which was an interesting and immersive display of innovative robotics, including a robot that could draw your portrait, an interactive VR machine, and a robot that could efficiently utilise lab equipment. The most visually stunning part of the day, however, was the mystifying ‘teamLab’ experience. This was essentially a selection of immersive artworks that utilised lighting, music, and even, in some rooms, water or other interesting materials to simultaneously affect all of the senses and create a spectacular experience.

At the end of the day, we headed from teamLab back to the Odaiba waterfront to sample the American-style buffet there. The food tasted great, and after finishing, many students went to explore the Diver City shopping centre nearby, marked by the giant robot statue outside and its proximity to the ‘Rainbow Bridge,’ from which the peculiar replica of the Statue of Liberty was visible.

Day 4: Tuesday 29 October

Today, we had breakfast as usual and left at around 8:45 for the tea ceremony. We all drank their matcha tea, and some of us even had the opportunity to make our own. We then had lunch and explored a few shops in the area. Afterward, we went to the Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park, and Ueno Zoo. The museum was huge and contained many national treasures, swords, and ancient scrolls. The zoo had polar bears, rhinos, giraffes, and other animals. It also had a beautiful view; however, we had to leave promptly due to time constraints and the weather.

We then went to Japan's electric city, which was filled with lights, anime features, and other cultural references. We had dinner, where we had seafood and Japanese fried chicken. After dinner, we went to the baseball batting cage and enjoyed the new experience. We then got on the very crowded train and took the bus for the rest of the way to the hotel.

Day 5: Wednesday 30 October

Our day was set to start earlier than most so that we could make it to our next activity on the trip, a boat tour/cruise across the Sumida River in Tokyo. On this tour, we were able to view different famous locations we had seen before from a more nuanced perspective - such as the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Skytree. 

Upon reaching the dock, we walked from the riverbank, decorated with nature and flowers, until we reached the streets of Asakusa. The district of Asakusa is where the clearest blend between the old and modern approaches to “Japanese culture” was, with more traditional architecture prominent at all points and moments. The bustling market between the Sensō-ji gates was the beating heart of our experience in Asakusa, where we shopped for souvenirs, clothes, food, and other goods the stalls had to offer. At the Sensō-ji Shrine, we all had our fortunes offered to us, with most receiving a blessing of good luck and fortune. Although luck wasn’t on my side, as I drew a clear misfortune.

From here, we navigated our way through the Shinjuku train station—thanks to the help of our tour guide—and arrived at the Imperial Palace. This palace is where the Shogun of Japan used to live and where the Emperor currently resides. It would do a disservice to not only the architectural prowess of those in the past but also the sheer scale and awe of the palace to simply call it “Incredible”. 

Upon leaving the palace, we made haste towards Tokyo station whilst avoiding all the heavily dedicated runners that littered the pathways on our journey. From here, we would get a train back to Shinjuku where we spent the majority of our evening learning the basics behind sushi making. To the surprise of most of us, the task at hand was rather simple yet easy to get wrong if one step did not go right - but this seemed to not be a hassle to our number 1 sushi chef of the evening, Mr Bundock.

After making dinner and eating the fruits of our labour, we spent the last dwindling moments of the night having a walk across Shinjuku.

There was one final activity to have in Shinjuku before heading back to the hotel and that was to witness the projection mapping show at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. The light show - named Night and Light - seeks to demonstrate the future of Tokyo being at the epicentre of technological advancements, with fantastic animations and art being the highest of this point. 

We headed back to the hotel, satisfied with not only our day but our time in Tokyo, knowing it would be over soon.

Day 6: Thursday 31 October

We started off our last day in Japan by taking the bus, subway and train to Kamakura - a seaside city an hour south of Tokyo. The first thing we did was have lunch and sit on the beach, which was a more relaxed change from the constant buzz of being in Tokyo and gave us time to reflect on the experiences we had already had on the trip. Then we made our way over to the Great Buddha statue which has been standing since the 13^th century and is situated in a Buddhist temple. After seeing the statue, we decided to hike along a cliff side trail which took us roughly two hours.  Although it wasn’t easy, the views of Kamakura’s coast definitely made it all worth it. Near the end of the hike, we visited a small shrine called Zeniarai Benten Shrine hidden in the cliff where we could wash our coins in the water, as it will allegedly make the money double. Finally, we travelled back into Tokyo to leave the city and head to the airport where we got a final good look at the city at night time before we headed home.