A Universal Good Time

Hi again everyone! It’s Cory. When I mentioned that things would slow down, I was wrong. The past few days have been busy, busy, busy. On Wednesday we had a lecture on Japanese healthcare and their Pharmacy School system, which was not that much different from the US. Like I mentioned before, the key differences are their focus on Kampo medicine and the fact they go to school for 6 years instead of 4. The healthcare in Japan is a lot different than the US, however. It’s a complicated universal healthcare system that I really do not want to try and explain, for fear of explaining it wrong. Let’s just say it sounds like a great system and it seems to work for them, but like they say, “There are no free lunches.” What I know I can say about it is that as their population ages, they will start to run into some issues surrounding funding. They already have incentives in place to lower their medical costs, like and increased effort to use generic medications over brand, and tax refunds for treating with over-the-counter medications. After the lectures we went to a Kampo, a retail and a hospital Pharmacy in Kobe, just to get a feel for their system. My favorite place was the retail pharmacy we went to, since working in retail back home, it was fun to see the differences. The main difference was the waiting room in the Pharmacy. They had free tea, water and coffee for the patients, two massage chairs, an actual WORKING blood pressure cuff and a lot of help. There are no technicians in Japan, only Pharmacists and Clerks, so to see that many people working in the Pharmacy was amazing. It is probably because of all the powders and compounds that they do in Japan instead of capsules and tablets. Still, it was very cool to see. I was skeptical of the Kampo Pharmacy. It was very nice, with fancy decor, jazz music and expensive price tags for the herbs. Apparently it works for people, but I’ll stick with tried and true medications over herbs you boil and drink like tea. 

The next day was our open day, where we could go anywhere we wanted to (within reason). I decided to go to Universal Studios with a couple other people. It was fun, but a little disappointing. Because of summer break, it was extremely busy. The wait times for the good rides were over 2 hours long! Harry Potter world was almost inaccessible with all the people! They had a pass you could buy to send you to the front of the line, but it was only a one time use, and the passes that included the roller coasters and Harry Potter rides were over $200! Still, we saw what we could and made something out of nothing. The roller coaster there was exhilarating (they don’t have that at the Hollywood Park), and the butterbeer and Hog’s Head brew in Harry Potter world were tasty. If I could do the Open Day over again, I would have gone to Kyoto like some other students did, especially after experiencing Kyoto myself the next day. Still, I get to say I went to Universal Studios in Japan!

Kyoto was next, and instead of taking the tram we took a bus, which was very interesting. It let us experience both the good (Japan’s rest stops!) and the bad (TRAFFIC) of driving in Japan. First, the traffic was terrible! It took two and a half hours to get to Kyoto, which was only about 45 minutes away in reality. Their highways are only two lanes each direction, so it’s impossible to get anywhere! No HOV lane either. But the rest stops are amazing! They have mini restaurants in each rest stop, with fresh food, water and other things at the stop. Way better than some Arizona rest stops, which your lucky if the vending machine actually gives you what you selected. Also on the trip, I got to really examine their cars in Japan, which are a lot different than the US. Cars in Japan are all shaped like squares, and there are virtually no trucks. I was surprised to see that there are very little Hondas and a LOT of Priuses. They also have a lot of scooters and motorcycles, which was really cool. I saw one that almost looked like a rocket in the front and was completely decked out with all the comforts (padded seating, radio, speakers, GPS, cup holders). Anyway, while in Kyoto we got to go see Mt. Inari, which was home to over 10,000 torri gates. Torri gates are traditional Japanese gates that are usually at the entrance of a shrine. These gates lined the hiking path up to the summit of the mountain, and each of them were donated by people who had a good business dealing or action. This was probably the best part of the day, although it was the shortest stop. I hiked as far as I could up the mountain before having to turn back due to time constraints. The hike I did go on was amazing because of how dark and cool it got as I was walking through the gates. It was awesome to see just gate after gate after gate. The sheer density of the gates made the pathway dark and cooler than outside. All around the path was forest, so the gates coupled with the animal and insect noises made it a really cool experience.

Finally, we went to Hiroshima on the last day, and it was very bittersweet. It was sad because of the memorial they had there for the nuclear bombs that were dropped during WWII. What made it more sobering was that I’m an American, so it was almost like returning to the scene of the crime. I took my pictures, but I had to really force a smile during our group photo. It just didn’t seem like a place where we should be smiley and cheery. It was a place of remembrance. I certainly do not feel guilty and I’m not going to apologize for our actions at the time, but it is still sad that innocent people had to lose their lives because their government wouldn’t surrender, and our government was so afraid of communism. It was a very complicated and tense time back then, with the war dragging on and on, the threat of communism and the animosity we must have felt for them after their attack on Pearl Harbor. I am just so thankful that Japan and the US are on good terms with each other, given everything that happened. We were welcomed into Japan with open arms by both the KGU and the Osaka University students. We had a cookout, watched fireworks together, exchanged gifts! The people in Japan were all so friendly to us foreigners. Our relationship is a perfect example of what we should be striving for in this world, and I think that’s what the memorial was saying to us. History happened, now the only thing we can do is learn from it. 

After the Peace Park we visited Miyajima, the home to Mt Misen and the partially underwater Torri gate. The gate is partially underwater during high tide, and on dry land during low tide. We arrived during low tide, so we got to walk underneath it. I took my pictures there, but the real highlight was Mt Misen. That was the highest peak on the island and I climbed all the way to the top. Since we were in a time crunch, I cut the hike in half by taking the cable car, which was well worth it. I got to see the whole slew of islands around that area taking the cable car, and all of Hiroshima. It was probably one of the best views I have ever seen. The best view I’ve ever seen though was at the summit of the mountain. It was exhilarating, hiking up to the top. The mountain was almost all jungle and trees going up, which greatly cooled the place down. It was almost 100 that day, but it only felt like the low 80s while hiking. During the hike, I logged 150 flights of stairs on my Fitbit and was virtually out of breath by the end, but again it was worth it. The pictures I have of that view are breathtaking. After climbing back down, we took the ferry back to the “mainland” and got on Japan’s new bullet train, or the Shinkansen. That is a contraption the US definitely needs as soon as possible. It was so comfortable, which three times the leg room as an airplane, and drink and food service available. It travels like over 150 mph, making the trip between Hiroshima and Kobe only an hour and a half instead of about 4 hours by car. After an arduous hike, it was nice to reward myself with a relaxing seat and a beer on the train. While the day started off very sad, it ended up being probably the best day in Japan. Save the best for last, I guess.

Well that’s it for me! I’ll have one more post when I get back to wrap it all up. Thanks for reading!!!!