For those who don’t know, I have the tremendous honor of spending 10 months (Sep 2018 – July 2019) in Kyoto, Japan on the Fulbright US Student Program. I will be doing Robotics research under the guidance of Dr. Takayuki Kanda, as well as immersing myself in and exploring the Japanese language and culture. Along the way, I intend to blog about my experiences! I’m not going to commit to a particular frequency of blogging, because I recognize that constantly documenting my experiences to share with others prevents me from being as present in the moment as I could be. However, I will try to share key experiences from the journey with you. Enjoy!
Many of the Fulbright grantees to Japan, along with members of the Fulbright Japan board, at the Welcome Reception in Tokyo. Picture from Fulbright Japan Program’s Facebook Page
Hi Amal,
You have an excellent opportunity to explore Japan for your professional career and learning, enjoying their culture, and of course sightseeing….
Couple of points of caution and interest:
– Food can be a challenge particularly being a vegetarian. You will have to reach out to Indian community in Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area to find out availability of Indian food ingredients. Indian restaurants will be plentiful but good only for occasional dining out.
– Be careful about fish flavored items. Even an ice cream can be ‘fish flavored’ as we had found out at an ice cream vendor cart near Osaka Castle while on sightseeing there !
– There used to be a nice “Gurudwara” in Kobe for ‘darshan’ and ‘Langar’ Prasad.
– Places to see around Kobe:
a) Fall colors on nearby mountains.
b) Cherry blossom in April. There are lots of Parks.
c) Kobe ‘Portopia’ Island, which is a man-made island, full of tourist attractions and near by is Kobe Steel’s Plant with their own Port.
d) Osaka Palace.
e) Osaka Railway station which is 5-6 levels below ground with lots of shops, food courts etc…
f) Artificial Skiing resort in near by Kobe mountains.
g) Kobe Cow Farms where they rear cows for famous Kobe Beef.
h) There was an old theater for Japanese Plays and Dances some where between Kobe and Osaka.
i) Around Sannomiya Station (main railway station for Kobe) in one square mile there are like 1200-1500 restaurants and shops !
Of course my recollections are 30 years back and things may have changed but you can explore and see.
Enjoy ….
Daada