Let's go find for highlights of Japan！日本の魅力を探しに行こう！

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A bus tour of the Imperial Palace, Asakusa, and other popular sightseeing spots in Tokyo was held for participants! What Tokyo looks like from a global perspective: ・・・・

The first area we visited was Shinjuku area. Known overseas as "Godzilla's city," I was surprised at how well known it is. On the way to Akihabara, the participants saw anime billboards and Akihabara's pop culture and called it "Kawaii Kawaii. It seems that Japan's "Kawaii" culture transcends borders and captures people's hearts.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
The first stop was the Imperial Palace. The participants were very interested in the historical gate. The participants listened intently to the history of how Edo Castle, which served as the political center of the Edo Shogunate, later became the Imperial Palace where the emperor resided. When asked for their impressions, they said, "Knowing the historical background made the scenery in front of us more interesting," and "The contrast between the traditional buildings of the Imperial Palace and the modern buildings in front of it is beautiful.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
The next stop was Asakusa, a town full of traditional downtown atmosphere. As soon as the participants got off the bus, they went to their favorite places individually. It was hard to keep up with them, but one of the joys of touring is that things don't always go as planned! One of the participants wanted to take a picture with a person wearing a kimono so I asked her, and to our surprise, she was a tourist from China! The participants were surprised to hear that and said "Don't Japanese people wear kimonos?”.
One participant bought souvenirs for his family, another was chewing on a bowl of warabimochi ice cream, another was coughing because he had taken too much smoke from the incense burner at Sensoji Temple, and another run to buy "dandanmen" at a convenience store without looking at Asakusa (he told us how delicious the noodles were as hot as the dandanmen). I got a warm feeling by their behavier, which is something I don't usually see in training sessions.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Toward the end of the tour, we visited the Rainbow Bridge. They asked why it was named Rainbow Bridge if it is not Rainbow, so I looked it up. I found out that the name "Rainbow Bridge" was chosen as a nickname from public submission, and that it derives from the meaning of a "rainbow bridge" connecting Shibaura and Odaiba. By being asked "Why?" about things that Japanese people take for granted and do not question, I was able to rediscover the charms of Japan.

On the way home, we had a lot of fun with a quiz on what we had learned on the tour! It was a very touching moment for me to hear them say, "It's not enough only in the morning, I don't want to go home yet!” Nowadays, we can easily find the information we want on the internet, but the memories of what we saw with our own eyes, heard with our own ears, and felt with our own skin will be preserved in our hearts for the rest of our lives. I hope this bus tour will be one of the reasons for them to fall in love with Japan!

(Wakana Numamoto, Intern, Administration Division, JICA Tokyo)