By Megha Lakha
For many of the 21 Lovett students who embarked on the 15-hour flight to Japan, it was the longest flight they’d ever been on.
I spoke to Dr. Myers, the trip’s main coordinator, who said they spent their time in Tokyo and Hiroshima. “We traveled from Tokyo to Hiroshima by bullet train, which was super cool,” she said.
Junior Izzy Taylor said this was her “favorite Lovett trip” and that she hopes “to go back later in life.” Izzy said that she went to India last year, which was “a humongous culture shock, but Japan was just so cool.” Sophomore Cece Cruz, who went on the France trip last year, agreed by saying, “It’s honestly so different from the US in the best ways.” Senior Freya Norgard also said Japan was her favorite, despite having been on the AP Art History trip to Chicago and the Italy trip in 2023.
Cece said her favorite part of the trip was visiting the Torii Gate on Miyajima Island. Even though the group got stuck on a cloudy day, it was still one of the most memorable days of the trip. Junior Thomas Bomar especially appreciated the “island because it was cool seeing all the religious and cultural stuff while also seeing wildlife and good scenery.”
Freya said she really enjoyed the Folks Arts Museum because “of the pottery and building’s architecture.” Dr. Myers loved how “everyday things, coffee mugs, chairs linens, and wood carvings had such a delicate touch of art.”
But for all the scenic and cultural opportunities, the highlight of the trip for Izzy was shopping. Izzy said they went to a vintage shopping district in Tokyo and it was “just blocks upon blocks of cool thrift stores.” She compared the stores to those in the US, saying that Japan’s were much more “unique and curated.” Izzy said, “It was just so fun to wander around with my friends and shop to my heart’s content.”
The students said being on a whole new continent definitely opened their eyes to some cultural differences. Freya, Izzy, and Cece all said that Japan is very quiet. “Like when they say everything is quiet, it’s like you could hear a pin drop on the subway,” Izzy says. “And when you’re out in public, even though you try to avoid it, you are the loud Americans.”
Freya was surprised by the toilets. “They were heated, which was super cool,” she said. At the same time, the high-tech Toto Washlets may have been a little too advanced for Freya because “the buttons on them were all super confusing!”
The trip seemed to have the perfect balance of fun and learning. The students had the opportunity to visit Hiroshima and explore the site where the atomic bomb was dropped, the Atomic Dome. “We just went through the museum and it was really moving,” Izzy said.
Dr. Myers said the visit to Hiroshima was remarkable. “Instead of responding with a grudge and anger to the atomic bomb, you have this Japanese idea saying it stops here,” she explained. “They said they would mourn the deaths and now work really hard to be sure something like this never happens again.”
To end the day on a lighter note, Dr. Myers said she purposefully arranged an arcade trip and got tickets to the Hiroshima Dragonflies basketball game for the students. “The museum itself is really sad, so I wanted to end the day on how the community has recovered,” she said. “It was like here we are watching a professional basketball game in a place that was completely bombed 80 years ago; it’s just sort of amazing how resilient a community can be.”
Thomas said “The basketball game was a super cool experience because we got to see how similar sports are to America and compare it a bit.” So it was definitely one of his highlights from the trip.
While the trip included lots of tours, shopping, and exploring, the students “also spent lots of time with locals- either cleaning up the streets of Tokyo or helping translate books,” according to Freya. Dr. Myers explained how Japan doesn’t have trash cans everywhere because it’s part of their norm to take home their trash and throw it out. “So the trash we picked up was pretty light,” she said.
Now for the food aspect of the trip. Japanese cuisine is simply amazing (in my humble opinion), and those who went on the trip couldn’t agree more. Izzy “tore up the revolving conveyor belt sushi a few times.” The group also indulged in udon and ramen.
There was a funny moment with the hotel breakfast, though. “It was like what the Japanese thought an American breakfast looked like…we go i,n and it’s just this egg soup-looking thing and hotdogs,” Dr. Myers laughed.
While sit-down meals were everyone’s speed, the group also had their fair share of vending machines. “They don’t just have sodas, they have like everything in those vending machines,” Izzy said. Sandwiches, unique snacks, galore… Freya said she particularly enjoyed “those maple leaf snacks in Hiroshima.”
Aside from gobbling up some tasty snacks, one student in particular was able to reconnect with an old friend. Cece met up with a friend, Mei, who lives in Japan, and hung out with [the group] for the day.”
So many friendships were rekindled, but some were also made. “It was neat to see Lovett students hanging with other Lovett students,” Dr. Myers said. “We got some great friendships and shared memories that came out of that.”
