Well I promised I’d update you on what happened the last 3 days in Tokyo so here we go… hold onto your hats cuz it was a crazy ride!!!
Day 9 – Disney Sea
Now I know what you are thinking – why are you taking your students to a Disney theme park? What possible educational purpose could it serve? Well let me just tell you that this particular park is absolutely stunning in its attention to detail – everything is designed to enhance the complete feeling of immersion into the theme you are in – down to the doorknobs! You walk through the venice section and my god it is venice! or the early American area and I’m in san fransisco in the early 1900′s. Everything is themed to the max. Granted this is disney so it is a bit skewed towards the cutesy and overly PC feeling and then you put that on top of the Japanese’s interpretation of us and it gets a little funny. We spent all day there and had a real blast. I will say that their version of an American hot dog is a bit odd – they slice the bun from the top and its made of pork…
Day 10 – Ueno Park zoo
We did the zoo again this year – was a bit cloudy and started to rain at the end, which really kind of stunk. I got some really cool sequences shot of elephants… one of them looked like he was dancing, swinging his head back and forth. I managed to get some decent animals drawings done, but not as many as I had hoped. The students really rocked it up and turned out some rather impressive drawings.
Day 11 – TCA Tokyo Communication Arts
We were very lucky this year to be able to sit in on classes and have a private lecture by esteemed Manga Artist and professor Hiroki Mafuyu. Hiroki was kind enough to have our classes sit in with his classes and allow Ray, Dove and I to participate/help in his basic inking class. It was really amazing. Our students got to learn from a master inker and film tone artist and we got to observe how they teach their classes and participate in helping his students. Let me tell you trying to teaching someone inking when you don’t speak their language actually isn’t as hard as it sounds. There is ALOT you can do simply by demonstrating and gestures.
TCA is like Japan SCAD - literally. Their set up is very similar in facilities and they offer a diverse selection of majors. I was very impressed by there industrial design and comic work and their staff and faculty were just top notch and so friendly. It was a very good day.
Day 12 – Kamakura
A hard trip to do on the last day – but soooooo worth it. If you remember last year’s trip to kamakura – this year was ten times better. We didn’t see as many temples, but we saw the right ones this year in the right order. We started with the Great Bronze Buddha, then gave everyone time for lunch and met up at one of the big red Tojo’s that stand in Kamakura for Tsurugaoka Hachimangu temple. We roamed around, saw the 1000 year old ginko tree, drew, took pictures – I managed to try a candied grape on a stick. Despite its glassy, slimy looks it was actually quite good!
After spending a hour here, we gave everyone the option of either leaving early or continuing with me to Kenjo-ji – my favorite site in Kamakura. Most of the group opt’d to leave, but a few hard core peeps stayed and were rewarded with an amazing sunset atop the mountain we climbed! Kenjo-ji has probably 2500 stairs that you climb to reach a look out that views the temple complex and all of Kamakura. It is one heck of a climb, but it was soooo worth it for the view. Everyone who went was spell bound and swore that this was why they came to Japan. So for those cats who opt’d out – your loss. : )
Day 13 – traveling home
Well the trip home was insanely long, tiring, confusing and as always hectic. I think I watched the remaining movies I didn’t watch on the trip over, slept a little, and prayed constantly for the pain of boredom to go away. We made it safe and sound – all of us – despite some delays, hang ups and general travel issues with connecting flights and such. So I think I’ll call that a success.
Photos from days 9 through 12 will be in the next post for your viewing pleasure, cuz I’m still processing all of them. : )
