The day before last saw me setting off early in the morning to visit the Tokyo National Museum. 義人 and 千嘉ちゃん accompanied me, and together we rode the train for an hour to get there. On the way, I was surprised at the lack of ‘dragon’s breath’. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, it refers to the white, smoky air that comes when you breathe out in winter. In Australia, at temperatures of 8 degrees Celsius, you can normally achieve this effect, however I didn’t receive the same result in Tokyo. Upon enquiring, I found out that it does occur, but at colder temperatures. This leads me to wonder, what is the actual cause of ‘dragon’s breath’ – how does it work? If anybody reading knows the answer, please let me know!

We arrived at the museum before it opened, to avoid the lines, and I was glad to be visiting with Japanese locals as they told me all of the tips and tricks to maximise the experience, as describe in my post about Japanese museums. The exhibition that we went to see was the Terracotta Warriors, and it included hundreds of ancient artefacts, including several actual Terracotta Warriors. I was surprised to discover that, originally, all of the Terracotta Warriors, were painted to look more human. As of today, most of the paint has faded or eroded with time.

After the exhibition, we traipsed over to the neighbouring building to view the feudal Japan artefacts. Featured there were several old Kabuki theatre costumes. In addition to this, we saw an old kimono, which was embroidered with my host mother’s family crest. For those who don’t know, in the old, old days, my host mother’s family were what my host father says is equivalent to ‘kings or royalty’ of their area. Though not actually related to the imperial family, they still have their own shrine in Saga, which is surrounded by mountains.

Following our museum visit, we walked around the neighbouring area until we reached a Soba shop. There, we were joined by 千尋, and all ate a delicious meal of Soba. I was an incredibly slow eater compared to my host family, but it was good to see how they eat Soba, so that I could learn how to eat it properly.

千嘉ちゃん had to go to work, so the rest of us made for Tokyo University. It is such an amazing campus with beautiful architecture and nature spots to relax. Probably my favourite spot was the huge pond, with gorgeous stepping stones that allowed you to view fish and ducks. 

Following this we stopped at the on-campus Starbucks and ordered Christmas drinks. In the seating area there was a life size robot, designed by students at Tokyo University. I’ll say this, the facilities there are really world-class, including a wind turbine-thing for testing cars. It really is a great environment for learning and extending knowledge in whichever field you choose to study.  

-H