Our second week in Tokyo started out with a Day Trip to the seaside town of Kamakura! A private charter bus came to pick us up and brought us to our destination for a day of temples and beaches.
Here’s a picture with one half of the group in front of the beautiful Hasedera temple. The temple grounds was full with hydrangeas in full bloom in purple, blue and pink colours.
On Tuesday, the International Business and Trade Seminar and the Technology Seminar joined forces again, and visited the Japanese advertisement museum. Some of us learned how shockingly different commercials can be in different cultures :O
Fashion and Culture learned the relaxing technique of sashiko embroidery today with our guest instructor, Keiko. A method of stitching as old as time, and cross-cultural – the running stitch – with a unique decorative element that is exclusively Japanese.
Then we went thrifting to collect secondhand clothing for the final project. The students will learn the sustainable fashion practice of upcycling old clothes into something new.
The Japanese language seminar had a calligraphy session, and some beautiful works were made. “Cat”, “Rock” and “Love” were some of our favourite characters to write today.
Photography seminar students had the honour of attending an capturing the arts of the Japanese tea ceremony “Sado”. We were also allowed our own practice session: doesn’t that look delicious?
On Wednesday, Fashion and Culture learned about the history of indigo dye and the process of how it is made, from plant to dye vat.
Each student created a unique one-of-a-kind tote bag, twisting and folding and wrapping the white fabric bags with bands, then immersing them in the natural indigo dye vats. Each piece was immersed more than five times to build up the rich, dark indigo colour. Once the bags were rinsed and the bands removed, their designs were revealed!
Our first Japanese Fireworks Festival was unforgettable! Dozens of colours in all different shapes and patterns lit up the evening sky at the Tokyo Racecourse Fireworks Festival 2025. We had our picnic blankets and enjoyed some fruits, snacks and.. mosquitos!! during the hour-long show.
Thursday afternoon was another day filled with fun afternoon activities! One group went to the Pokemon Center in Ikebukuro, followed by and hour of petting and playing with eight different kinds of nocturnal pets at an animal cafe. We got to touch a hedgehog, rat, mouse, hamster, chinchillas, squirrel and more.
In the evening we invited some locals to come and chat with us in an International Exchange dinner. Getting to practice our Japanese and making connections with Japanese locals was such an authentic and heart-warming experience for us.
Friday was another day in our seminar groups. Photography went to the downtown, more local area of Sunamachi Ginza to practice shooting portrait pictures.
In their afternoon free time, a group visited the “Micropig cafe” in Harajuku! They look adorable!
