Kokubunji, Yukata, and Rotary Orientation

Hey everybody! I thought I would update you guys on what I´ve been up to lately! The other day, I went for a little walk outside. I didn´t really have a plan, I just wanted to get some fresh air and get an idea where everything is in town. Suddenly I saw this entrance that clearly was apart of a shrine. So of course I go in. Later I found out that I visited Kokubunji, one of the many shrines of Takayama.

The entrance

The three levelled pagoda, the only one in the Hida region.

This gingko tree is over a thousand years old, and a national monument. It was impossible to fit the whole thing into a picture.

The exit.

These red things are Sarubobo. Sarubobo are good luck charms from the hid a region. Sarubobo means baby monkey. They´re very popular souvenirs from Takayama.

Later that day, my host mom´s mom came over and dressed me up in a Yukata (basically a light weight, cotton kimono). Later my host parents took me to the old part of Takayama to take some pictures. We got to go inside Susaki, a very tradition Honzen Ryori restaurant.

The lovely ladies that work there

My host parents and I

The day after that, I went to my very first Rotary orientation in Japan. It was pretty, fun especially meeting the other exchange students and getting to know the other rotarians. One tip a governor gave us inbounds (exchange students in Japan), was to not only enjoy Japan´s traditional culture, but also enjoy things like anime and fashion. And I thought that was nice.

Rotary District 2630. A large amount of pins on ones blazer indicates their exchange student status.

Tomorrow is my first day of school, and the day after that I´ll be going to Kyushu (Japan´s southernmost island) with the other exchange students in my district. Busy busy :)