During winter break, I turned 21 (Jan 2nd) but was in Tokyo. Some friends and I celebrated on the following weekend instead so that everyone could join. First, we went to a 6-story entertainment complex that offered karaoke, mini-bikes, arcade games, roller blading, a mechanical bull, pool tables, and an entire sports floor. It even had a spa and showers.
Afterwards, we went to a restaurant downtown that had 食べ放題 (たべほうだい) and 飲み放題 (のみほうだい), or all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink. This type of restaurant is very common in Japan, which foreigners such as us love. We stayed there for a few hours eating and drinking, until they brought out a birthday platter for me on the dance floor. Since two other friends of mine have birthdays near my own, we had decided to have a joint celebration and shared the cake. :)
At the end of the night, some of us shared a cab and went on home.

So part of my trip included visiting Tokyo. I stayed for about 5 days, though I did not take that many pictures. As I stated previously, my main focus was on Miyagi Prefecture. :P

One of the highlights of my time in Tokyo was definitely walking around Jimbocho Book Town, which is an area that has over 150 secondhand book shops. As an avid reader, this was essentially heaven and I spent an entire day browsing. I also got to meet Jun, a good friend from back home, and we had lunch and went shopping together. She and I originally met while attending university in Washington, D.C. and since she moved back home to Tokyo, it was the perfect chance to see one another once more. :)

I also got to cross off an item from my bucket list of things to do while in Japan: Staying in a capsule hotel! It was nicer than I expected, though not something I would do for more than one or two nights. I walked around Roppongi Hills, Asakusa, Shibuya, and a little bit of Akihabara and Shinjuku. Twice when I became tired from walking, I stopped at a movie theater to sit down and watch a movie. It was pretty nice since there are no nearby movie theaters in Oita!

Although I failed miserably, I tried going to Comiket at the Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo International Exhibition Center) but had tons of trouble finding a locker to put my baggage in. Since I booked my hotels at the last-minute, I had to switch hotels something like 4 or 5 times, so I was carrying my luggage around a lot. In the end, I just walked around the front entrance of Comiket and left without having gone in. I did get to see the huuuuge number of people crowded essentially everywhere, though. I don't think I've ever seen that many people in one place. Oh, well. :P

I celebrated New Years in Tokyo with some friends from Oita University that also went to Tokyo during winter holidays. We had dinner at T.G.I Friday's in Harajuku and then headed to Shinjuku to a weird club. Oh, I also turned 21 during my stay in Tokyo. (^-^) My friend Ida (from Finland) and I went to a neko cafe--a cat cafe--for the first time. I also visited Ueno Zoo and had panda-shaped biscuits, hahah.

Here are some pictures of my adventures around Tokyo (sorry there aren't many).

Crossing in front of Shibuya Station

Neko Cafe

Ueno Zoo & Gardens

The main reason I wanted to visit Miyagi Prefecture was due to an article I read about a reservation/zoo that housed nearly a hundred foxes. Being my favorite animal, I was more than keen to go check it out. It ended up being a great decision -- although it was cold, I got to walk around an open ground with dozens of foxes running around freely! I was so happy that I didn't really want to leave.

Miyagi Zao Fox Village, or キツネ村ビレッジ, was located high up in the mountains. From the nearest train station, I took a 20-30 minute cab ride through the town and up the steep mountain roads. Unfortunately, the fox village is inaccessible by means other than a car, so a taxi was undeniably necessary. I want to return when the weather is warmer! (笑)

Needless to say, the trip to the village was worth every second of enduring the cold weather. I almost exploded from exposure to so much cuteness, gahhh. I ended up buying a photo album at the souvenir shop that had tons of pictures of the fox village during the spring and summer months, which looks completely different than during the winter with all of the snow. Most of the foxes were huddled up and napping during my visit, but they run around a lot more when it's warmer outside. This was definitely the highlight of my entire vacation.

As a side note, here is a link to the article where I first heard of the Miyagi Zao Fox Village:
Zao Fox Village: Where all your cutes are belong to us

On my first morning in Sendai, I woke up to snow fall! It was so exciting since it was my first time seeing snow while in Japan. Here's a picture taken from my hotel room window.

During winter holiday, I decided to visit Tokyo and Sendai. I flew into Tokyo from Oita, then took a bullet train (shinkansen) up to Miyagi Prefecture. I stayed in Sendai, the capital city of the prefecture, and visited some other towns. Matsushima is located northeast of Sendai and is well-known for its shrines and Matsushima Bay, which is one of Japan's cultural heritage sites.
This area was in the center of the March 11th tsunami in 2011 and is an hour and a half north of Fukushima, where the nuclear reactor meltdown incident took place. Matsushima Bay was protected from the worst of the tsunami since its iconic islands served a natural barrier from the waves. Other places were not quite so lucky, however, and suffered heavy damage.

I am a huge fan of Korean pop music, and I got the chance to see my favorite K-pop group perform live at the Fukuoka Dome! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I was so excited to go. Unfortunately, pictures were not really allowed, so I only have a handful to share.

Our Discover Oita class went on a field trip to Usa, where we visited a Yayoi Period village that was reconstructed outside of a museum. Afterwards, we ate lunch at a restaurant next to the ocean shore and walked around the beach for a while. We stopped at a famous mountain that was dedicated to a kami and a devil, and has stone Buddha statues carved into the mountainside. Our last stop was at Usa Hachiman Shrine, which is also called Usa Sanctuary.

Yayoi Period Village

Seaside Restaurant & Beach

Stone Buddha Mountain

Usa Hachiman Shrine

During the Light Festival, locals create artistic designs on hollow bamboo trunks. Candles are placed inside, giving it a unique and beautiful glow.

I stumbled across a nice description of the festival on another blog:
"Every year on the 7th and 8th of November, the city of Usuki celebrates the legend of a princess being returned to her parents by lighting 20,000 bamboo candles all over the city. The lights help lead the princess home. The people of this city have also taken it one step further by carving and creating sculptures using just bamboo and relying on the light of a candle to produce something remarkable."

My Chinese friend, Han, invited a few friends over for dinner and we all made dumplings together from scratch, which was a first for me.

Gyōza - 餃子　（ぎょうざ）

Step 1: 作っている！　Making the Dough

The dough was made from a mixture of flour, vegetable juice, and a few other ingredients. The different colors of the dough has to do with what type of vegetables were used to create the juice. For instance, the carrot juice gave that batch of dough an orange tint.

Step 2: ゴロゴロしている！　Rolling Up and Shaping the Dough

We took a batch of dough and split it into manageable sections. The sections were then rolled up, cut into pieces (about 1 in x 1 in), and flattened into circles.

Step 3: 餃子を形作っている！　From Dough to Dumplings

We took the pieces of dough and placed about half a tablespoon's worth of filling in the center of each. We had prepared the filling prior to starting on the dough; one of the fillings was beef and carrots, whereas others were entirely comprised of vegetables. After adding the filling, we folded the dough and shaped it into dumpling-form. This step was actually much more difficult than it seemed, but we gradually improved our dumpling-making skills (let's just ignore the heap of misshapen and wasted dumplings, okay?)

Step 4: 料理している！　Frying

After repeating Steps 2 and 3 with the other batches of dough and filling, Han expertly gathered up the dumplings and deep-fried them until they were nice and crispy.

Step 5: 食べている！　Eating!

With some dipping sauce, the dumplings were absolutely delicious!　 おいしかったです！

We went on a field trip with our tutors (Japanese students who help the international students with daily activities for the first month) to a town called Yufuin. There were three buses full of students!

1st Stop: Rest stop to take some pictures of the great view

2nd Stop: Kokonoe Yume Suspension Bridge

3rd Stop: Kokonoe Yamanami Farm & Restaurant

4th Stop: Yufuin Town

Overall, this was a very fun trip. We got to spend more time with our tutors and other exchange students, as well as explore a beautiful town. I also tried some new food, such as grilled squid on a stick (it was very chewy), and some Yufuin beer. The Studio Ghibli shop was utterly wonderful and a heavenly place for a film otaku like myself. I bought a Spirited Away folder and a few postcards to send to family/friends back home.

We also walked through a mini themed village called "Yufuin Floral Village," although I didn't take any pictures there. It had a sort of Western (more English than American) garden theme with many flowers and cute shops that sold things such as ice cream/gelato, Alice in Wonderland bags and gifts, and even a pony stand!

Returning to Yufuin for a more leisurely visit is definitely on my bucket list!