Mech and Tech!

Technology day followed similarly to culture Day with our start at noon. Some of us went to grab Starbucks in the morning before we made our way to Diver City.

At Diver City, we saw the giant Gundam statue, shopped and ate lunch in the mall. I bought two shirts from Uniqlo for less than 2,000 jpy before running into Kat at a pizza place for lunch. We also waited to see the Gundam move which was kind of anticlimactic as only a few pieces and panels on the face moved.

Next, we went to the Miraikan museum which was… not my favorite. Many of the interactions were problematic at best or didn’t have anything meaningful to show other than being slightly cool. For example, there was a game where you chose a goal for the future of humanity. However, many of the different goals were interconnected such as solving global warming and equal access to drinking water. Some were of lesser importance such as the ability for everyone to eat fish. Then, you would send your message into the future by setting a path and trying to avoid the hazards. However, the entire experience didn’t give the participant any feeling of agency or what they can do to help the problem. The museum was also very sparce and did not utilize the space well, in my opinion.

The most interesting interaction I had in the museum was with a Ukiyo-e Hatsune Miku who introduced you to vocaloid.
These robots served no purpose other than looking cool.

Next, we made our way to Team Lab planets. Even though I had been before, the experience was almost just as good the second time around. They also added a garden exhibit since I last came.

The Infinite Crystal Universe
Projected Koi that transformed into flower petals upon contact
Strange Egg like shapes in the garden exhibit
These flowers slowly moved up and down

Lastly, we went back and gathered people for Karaoke. The experience of doing it for the first time was really fun and the mics could reverb really well inside the room.

Until next time!

To be continued…

(Official) Day 0/1

Before meeting with the rest of the group, I went to the aquarium with Professor Jacobs and the sign language interpreters. Afterwards, I went to the building where Kojima productions is located. This was one of my top destinations, since their game Death Stranding is one of two games that makes me want to go into the game industry. Obviously I couldn’t go in but I was able to take a photo with the statue out front.

The next day I tried karaoke for the first time ever, which was on my bucket list since I love singing. It was so cool getting a private room and having drinks brought to us. I’ve always loved the idea of karaoke, but was nervous about trying it in public, usually around drunk people that I don’t know; so having a private room with someone I’m more familiar with was ideal.

Then we all took the bullet train to Kyoto where we met with employees from KCG for dinner. Unfortunately for me, I knew eating was going to be an issue because the Japanese diet consists of a lot of fish – something I am physically unable to eat; but I still had a good time getting to talk to my classmates, being in the environment, and trying new things. In the end, I just told everyone I was vegetarian.