Japanese Food Bites: Indulging in the Taste of Summer

I’d like to start this blog post off by saying: I don’t recommend ditching class outings when your responsible for blogging for the day (even if said outings were optional). It wasn’t my intention to ditch responsibilities as much as Japan’s largest aquarium sounded to good to refuse. Therefore, I present to you a snapshot of both, Japan’s gifts from the land and sea: Nara Park and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.

Mandatory turned optional, most of the students joined the professors in going to Nara Park. Famed for their bowing deers, don’t be mistaken, for these deers are anything but polite. “Yeah, I went when I was younger. So why not traumatize myself again?” Mandy clarified by saying “They weren’t aggressive as much as persistent for food”, head-butting her pockets even when there weren’t snacks inside.

At nine, the Nara group met in the hotel lobby and headed off to Kasuga Taisha shrine by a rapid line train and a bus for an hour. The shrine was owned by the Fujisawa family, an aristocratic family with ties to the emperor. With deer wandering around and thousands of moss-covered lanterns littered around, many took opportunities to take photos.

Leaving the shrine, deer also occupied the greater area. Their attention came at a low cost of 200 yen for 10 deer crackers, a low cost from our Econ specialist: Frederick. You can spark their initial curiosity by holding your hand out and letting them take a tentative sniff. But keep your crackers close for Sora called the deer a “public nuisance”.  They chased Frederick down the road, turning him into a glorified Pied Piper. The initial en(deer)ment for the fawn-a faded fast, where a twenty-minute walk turned into forty five as people kept stopping to pet, feed, and photograph.

The group then explored Todaiji Temple, famous for the Great Buddha Hall. There students tried to fit themselves through a giant pole in the middle of the temple. Others refused to try in fear of getting stuck.

As for me and the sea, I left for Osaka soon after the others left of Nara. Though I’d spent the afternoon by myself in Kyoto before, this was my first time traveling alone to and from another city in Japan. The fear of taking the wrong train or getting lost rattled me, and I even considered resigning and joining the others. However, I wasn’t about to let a fear of new experiences stop me from my love of sea creatures.

I stumbled my way onto the special rapid express train to Osaka. Transfer to transfer, I hopped on three trains until I arrived at Osaka Bay. As a San Franciscan, Osaka Bay reminded me a lot of the Golden Gate’s Fisherman’s Warf. Both hailed tourists by the thousands every day, with their world-famous aquariums, and activities for the whole family.

Visiting the aquarium wasn’t as easy as buying a ticket and entering. Tickets ran on a 15-minute interval system where people bought their tickets an hour or two hours in advance and had to wait for their time slot to enter. Once you entered, you could be inside however long you wanted.

With two hours to spare, I wandered around the area looking for time to kill. Part of me found aimless wandering a waste of time. After all, our time in Kyoto, and therefore easy access to Osaka, was coming to an end. On the other hand, finding a free nearby activity in the blistering summer heat would cost something more precious than time: energy. I resigned to wandering around the mall under the sweet relief of AC.

The aquarium’s hailed two whale sharks both inside and outside on the front of the building. Water theme umbrellas attached to benches offered a semblance of shelter form the sun. Inside, the aquarium led you up a forever feeling escalator where the aquarium wound around a great center tank housing giant manta-rays, hammerhead and the whale shark, while smaller exhibits lined the side. The theme of depth persisted as you descended from above water exhibits to the sea floor and deeper into the twilight zone with the whole aquarium be a slow slope downwards.

By coincidence, I arrived at feeding time for the mega central tank. I watched the whale sharks follow the scuba care taker as the ginormous fish opened its mouth and siphoned food though a whirlpool. As I reached the bottom of the tank, so did the fish feed. Small sharks sat at the bottom in piles, unmoving as if in a food coma. Rays swooped down for their fair share too.

I left the aquarium thankful for the opportunity to visit. Likewise, others enjoyed reconnected with nature. Too often we forget that we are one of many species that calls Earth our home. Living in a bubble with only people makes us forget how our existence impacts others. How we can not only develop bonds with each other but other animals as well.