Day 2 and 3 of Japan Trip

     We spent most of our day in a museum for the memory of the Japanese soldiers who were captured during the Pacific war. The museum did not allow for pictures but it included many original texts from WWII and recreations of Japanese prisoner experience. 

       The museum fit perfectly into the Nagamine Project's area of study, as much of the material was in regards to Japanese involvement in Manchuria. Its narrative of the World War II story was a very neutral commentary; giving voice to the experience of prisoners, while not glazing over the atrocities and misdeeds of the Japanese Empire. In addition the museum's narrative positioned the progression of war as being the fault of Japanese extreme nationalism taking control of the government.  According to Prof. Christy this is a stark contrast to another museum we would visit later, which constructs narrative of Japan being forced to pursue agressive policy because of the encroachment of imperial powers. Later I will write about that museum, but for now, here's some pictures of the rest of the day.

First we had a late lunch. This is a traditional Japanese dish, that will find the name later. It has cabbage, meat, egg and a special batter.

We did all the cooking ourselves. First mixing the material together then placing them on the grill in, like a pancake.

 Making sure not burn it you add a special sauce, some fish flakes and your good to go!

After eating we headed to the museum. With a healthy combination of walking and trains we made our journey.

All  of us follow our fearless leader like sheep. Since theres 15 of us we form a giant train of Americans, that gets a lot of looks from people. 

A Japanese Michael Myers?

An interesting looking man, asking for money.

All the metro signs look the same to me..

Basketnest building

The trees seemed to have a nice Fall look to them

Asking directions from a form of law enforcement

The Japanese have rules against walking while smoking and eating, so these men are in charge of enforcing that policy.

A monument to the early Franciscan missionaries who for longest time were the only westerners allowed in Japan.

This is a ground view of Tokyo City Hall

After seeing the museum, which was in a skyscraper, we went to an observation deck to look at the surrounding skyline.

This the view of it from the observation deck

If you look hard you can see the top of mount fuji through the smog.

The middle of the museums building had a hole it that went straight up 65 stories up. I tried to get a picture of the look down but the angle didn't work out. It was very eery. At the bottom floor there was skylight that allowed us to look up and see the sky through the building.