Journals Day 7

We woke up and went up to a breakfast of fruit, sausage, eggs, and juice. We got our itinerary for the day and prepared to board the bus.

We headed off to a lacquer ware factory where they make lacquered items [Yippie :-( ] As we arrived, we are given a little over an hour to check out the interesting dishes and items made hundreds of years ago and items for sale. We checked them all out and crossed the street to the gift shop where little trinkets could be purchased that bared scenes of Japan and Japanese characters. I bought some origami paper and borrowed until we were called back onto the bus.

From the factory, we ended up at a shrine. This was a pretty cool shrine because it was right in the middle of Gifu between a few houses. I asked my delegation leader about this and she told me that many people step into shrines on their way to work or school to pray for their families or even to get an A on their test. I got my shrine book 'shrined' again and took a few pictures with locals. We then departed on foot to our next spot.

At the next spot, a traditional Japanese market, we were given about half an hour to shop for more souvenirs. As I walked through the narrow streets, I could smell the unique smell of 'tourist trap'

At the next spot, a traditional Japanese folk town, we were given about a half hour to wander around the entire area and take in the re-creation of Japan over 100 years ago. I walked the narrow streets and in my mind compared it to Old Town Scottsdale in that it smelled of a tourist trap and was a popular place for locals to hang out and meet with others or just be seen. I tried to avoid the stores that smelled like a trap for my American money and went to the stores where many locals could be seen milling about.

From there, we walked about 2 kilometers to a nearby hotel/restaurant where we were to have an authentic style Japanese lunch. While walking, I noticed how as we entered certain parts of the city with a predominately western feel, vending machines were more plentiful where as places that looked more traditional, minus the 'imitation markets', seemed to have less vending machines and more people acting natural. It was nice to be in a part of Japan that was where locals would come to hang out. We arrived at the hotel/restaurant and ate our lunch( small in size but plenty of flavor and tea) then we were given about 30 minutes to get money or shop or get stamps. I bought airmail stamps from the post office for post cards but I had no post cards and hadn't thought about buying them until now. I am what you would call out of luck if I wanted to get them home before I get there. I returned to the restaurant/hotel and left for our final stop for the day at least with People 2 People.

The bus pulled up in front of a large store. Puzzled, as were the other 35 ambassadors, we filed out of the bus and told to walk through the store. We did as we were told and walked though the store and out the other side to find a Japanese folk village. The area itself wasn't to large but the layout and architecture truly transported us all back to feudal Japan. We watched as a lady did needle point and some were asked to try their luck. The coolest thing about the village is that it had a fountain of youth there. I had to pay to use it so I hope it doesn't run out like a parking meter because it is very expensive to fly back and add a few hundred thousand yen to save my beauty for all future generations. The town itself was amazing and it made me think about how in northern phoenix, we have something similar to this but Arizona rather than Japan over 100 years ago. Both towns are cool and each draw visitors to show off the areas history. The biggest difference between this old town and the Arizona folk town is how technology was utilized in both. In Arizona, western tech was used and developed through necessity and the culture of the west is different than that of the eastern US because of what they used and how it was used. In Japan, the technology used back then was a bit different due to the terrain and landscape so things were done in different ways because of this.

After all the fun had subsided, we were once again corralled into the bus and driven off to our hotel/ sports complex. We were rushed up stairs to dinner and told what our shower schedules were to be and let loose for the night. Some decided to go shopping around the area before showers and lights out. I just decided to go to bed and finish up all the journals. I am getting pretty excited about tomorrow.