My Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip to Japan with National Geographic
Story and photos by Maestro Joyner.
From June 22nd to July 12th, 2024, I experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to Japan for three weeks with National Geographic Student Travel. National Geographic Student Travel is a program that enables high school and middle school students to explore the globe during the summer on an assignment project.The six main goals of Student Travel is to inspire students to find their inner explorer, explore their passion, engage thoughtfully and sustainably, build lasting relationships, inspire change, and make a difference.
On our way to Japan, three other students and I first had to take a United Airlines flight to San Francisco, California from Washington D.C. We spent the night at the Crowne Plaza, where we met Yuki Smith, one of the three adult chaperones. This was my first flight ever, which was nerve racking, but exciting, as I got to see the world from high above. The next night was departure day, where everyone got on a flight to Japan. Students who slept at the hotel joined by the rest of the students for the group flight with Yuki from San Francisco, California to Osaka, Japan.
Upon landing in Osaka we met the rest of our leaders, William and Shuhei Fujita, to travel to Mystays Midosuji Honmachi by bus. My group stayed in Osaka for four days. During those days, we had classroom time, where we reflected on the day, learned some Japanese, and planned for the next day. When we had outings, we traveled by walking, which was easy for me as I walk a lot already, but still difficult as there was high heat and humidity as we walked long distances.
The first day was used for introductions, so we went to a restaurant for dinner named Toriemon where I tried chicken, peas, green beans, liver, and salad. Afterwards, we gathered in a classroom where there were instructions for the day, teachings of Japanese words, and information that the group needed that day. The leaders announced that we would be on a cellphone cleanse for seven days to help immerse ourselves into the reality of many other children, and to also learn how to interact with the locals based on the Japanese that we learned.
On day two, all the students – split into photography and anthropology groups – visited a shrine where we learned the history of it, took pictures, were taught the way Japanese people pray at shrines, and learned how to properly honor the Gods there.
Next, my anthropology group gathered in the classroom where we dove deep into the meaning of anthropology and how we can connect to Japanese culture, as our final project was to express what we learned about Japanese culture through a slideshow, picture collage, or a descriptive narrative. Then, we went to the park where my group participated in a team building activity, played tag with each other, and had a one-on-one meeting with our leader, Shuhei.
On day three, the whole group's outing was to Osaka Museum of Housing and Living where we learned why people in Osaka celebrated with floats, decorations using household items, and having those items surround their houses. Afterwards, we were able to walk around to see the items in replica form and could interact with some of them. Next we visited the Osaka Castle, which had 8 floors that displayed many inventions and a terrace with a beautiful view.
After the trip to the castle, my group went back to the classroom where we talked about what surprised, challenged and confirmed our viewpoint of Japan so far.
On the last day, we were split into three groups with one leader each, Kiwi, Watermelon, and Orange and we were given a challenge to race the other groups to “Be Kobe,” a monument on the pier, only using the Japanese language skills that we had learned, asking locals, using maps, and communicating with each other. The only drawbacks were that we couldn’t use our phones and had only three questions that we could ask our leader, Shuhei. We ended up in last place but nonetheless, it was very fun and eye opening to see what it's like not relying on technology to navigate. After eating lunch, everyone was given the option to rest up at the hotel or explore, and I decided to rest up since I didn’t feel well. But by dinner, I felt better, so I joined up with the rest of the group for karaoke and sang happy birthday to one of the students, Maddy.
When traveling to our next location, Kyoto, our group used the Osaka Metro to take the national train and bus to an onsen, a Japanese bath house, where people bathe with the same sex regardless of farmility. It’s called Sennen no Yu Koman. We were introduced to the rules of the place and had the chance to use the onsen that was there.
Many opted out, but I decided to try it, since this was something out of my comfort zone and didn’t feel uncomfortable with. Afterwards, we got dressed in 浴衣 (ayukata) with 下駄 (geta’s) — traditional Japanese clothing and sandals — and got to explore Kinosakichoyushima, Toyooka. Exploring the place improved my view of Japan. Japan is known for its big cities, but the small towns were worth exploring, as they have special meaning to the country and allow you to experience a different part of it.
Another stop was to Kasumi Highschool, a marine school where students go to become sailors. During the visit, we met students named 藤沢 瑠璃 (Ruri), 滝本選菜(Havana), 克產橙紧 (Kaisha), 中村愛海 (Ami), 齡母佈奈 (Reina), and 松开彩息 (Ayaka) who showed us around the school and what inhabits it.
When arriving in the classroom, we taught each other cultural games that we grew up on. Afterwards, we were able to use the sailor simulator, and all took turns being the captain, but also worked together to operate every part of the ship, using replicas of actual equipment on the simulator. Outside the classroom, we were shown the facility where students take care of sea animals. Also, we all went to 余部橋梁撮 (Yobe Bridge Photography Point) where there was a beautiful view of the Yamato Seamount and took pictures.
After leaving the highschool, we traveled to the Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Storks where we learned about the once endangered species, the oriental white storks. We were granted access to the breeding ground – a section of the park that has never been seen by the public – where we saw the oriental storks up close while learning about their behaviors and interactions.
The last location for that day was とご兵 (Todo Hyoriku) a restaurant where we self-served food while meeting the previous mayor of Toyooka, Muneharu Nakagai. He shared the story of how children came to him with complaints of how the pesticides farmers were using were harming the environment that the oriental white storks inhabited. They then were able to come together to find alternative ways to foster plants while also getting storks back into the sky.
Our first location the next day was Sukyo-ji Temple, a Buddist temple, where we participated in zen meditation. Since I have done mediation before, I knew what it was like, but this was very different. It felt like I was connected to my inner being and was in a state of peace. After the zen session, I learned about the history of the temple and how it came to be a symbol of peace. For lunch we went to a soba restaurant where we ate unlimited soba with different toppings. I only got to five plates but it was delicious, and I got to experience different flavors of soba based on the toppings.
Afterwards, we went to 玄武洞公園 (Genbudo Park), a nature preserve that consists of five caves made of columnar joints formed 1.6 million years ago after magma formed vertical cracks. There was a tour guide that explained the history and facts about how the cave came to be and why it’s very popular with tourists. I took a lot of pictures, as the cracks tell a story of how rocks and magma carved a work of art into the Earth. This was our last stop in Toyooka before heading to Kyoto for three days.
For our first day in Kyoto we studied how to interact with the subject of anthropology while learning about plurality from a German-American woman, Hannah Arendt, where she describes plurality as, “the condition of all human life, because we are all the same in being human, but in such as way that nobody is ever the same as anyone else who ever lived, lives or will live.” After the session, my group traveled to 八坂の塔 (Hokan-ji Temple) and broke into smaller groups of three for lunch around the temple where we ate waffles and ice cream.
After that, we headed to Zuikou Kyoto-Kiyomizu studio where we participated in a pottery class where we chose the shape, size, and color of our creations. I made a large black ramen bowl and was able to have it shipped back home for me to have and use. This was an introduction to pottery and it was very fun to be able to mold items with just my hands. It inspired me to try pottery in America and see if I can make other things.
We ended the day at 清水寺 (Kiyomizu-Dera Temple), a Buddhist temple where we enjoyed the amazing view and took many pictures. I really practiced my composition with this area, as the shrine's complimentary red made the images I produced more pleasing, and the many people there helped with filling the frame.
During day two in Kyoto, we headed out to a second-hand photography store where I got a lens cleaner to help sharpen my camera lens. After lunch, we went to a tea ceremony where we learned how to make authentic matcha. It was my very first time tasting authentic matcha. While it was nice, it wasn’t my preference.
After leaving the tea ceremony, we went into our fruit groups to visit 京都御所 (Kyōto-gosho/Kyoto Imperial Palace) where we learned the history and were able to give an offering. After dinner, we were formally introduced to Hiroki Kobayashi, our National Geographic explorer who accompanied us for a portion of the trip. We got to see and learn about the work he did as a photographer during our nightly classroom time.
On our last day, we were able to visit 伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi Inari Taisha/Fushimi Inari Shrine) early in the morning. It’s beautiful, as it’s made from thousands of vermilion 鳥居 (atorii). It has trails that lead into the wooded forest of Mt. Inari. It took two to three hours to go up and down the mountain. After, we traveled to 比叡山 (Mount Hieizan) where we walked around to appreciate the scenery and learn about the many sub-temples within the mountain. For the night, we viewed a presentation made by Hiroki and spoke more about how important his work is.
We spent our morning traveling to Kanazawa and arrived around noon. After we checked in and had lunch, we traveled to 兼六園 (Kenroku-en) Garden where we split up into groups of three to explore and take pictures of the beautiful agriculture within the garden. Afterwards, we had our regular classroom meetings of anthropology where we started to discuss our topic for the final presentation near the end of the trip.
The morning of the next day was the exact same except we left from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-gō via travel bus. We were free to wander around the village and see what it had in store. My group first went shopping and upon looking at what they offered, I saw ひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni/Higurashi: When They Cry) merch and got curious since I had never seen much for that light novel anywhere else. Upon researching, I learned that Shirakawa-gō was the direct inspiration of where the light novel takes place. As the anime adaptation is an all-time favorite of mine, to visit the village it happens to be based on gave me great joy.
After shopping, my group wanted to explore more of the village and witnessed breathtaking sights of the agriculture surrounding each corner. When nightfall came and we had to meet all together for our nightly meeting, I got to witness hundreds of stars in the sky and frogs croaking loudly for the first time. I really wanted to stay longer to experience more, yet we had to sleep after our meetings to be ready to leave for our next destination.
The next day, we spent our morning saying goodbye to our host and heading off by using the train to Takasaki and transferring to Numata. After arriving at the hotel, we got a chance to do laundry, eat ice cream, and hangout until we had to rest for more traveling the next day.
The following day, we checked out of the hotel and headed out to explore 尾瀬 (Oze) before heading to our last destination of Tokyo. However, I was feeling under the weather so I opted out on the hike and stayed in the bus for the duration of the hike. I did exit the bus to see what souvenirs they had to bring back home but I mainly stayed on the bus editing photos that were taken throughout the trip so far.
After everyone had come back from the hike, we set off for Tokyo by departing for Takasaki, taking the 新幹線 (Shinkansen) in the direction of Tokyo then transferring into the Ueno Japan railway (JR) to reach our hotel where we would be staying for the rest of the duration in Japan. When the morning came, we didn’t waste time and immediately headed out en route to Nakhon Manga School where we learned how to draw in the style of manga. I decided to inspire my character off of 炎炎ノ消防隊 (Blazing Fire Brigade/Fire Force) an anime that I loved. It was amazing to dive into the process that goes into creating the format.
Afterwards, we ate at ギャラリーイレブン (Gallery Eleven) where we ate a variety of Mediterranean foods. The food interaction continued as we split into our anthropology and photography groups to take turns making ramen and learning about the diverse history of ramen at 饂飩 根の津 (Udon Nenotsu). It was pleasant to learn the process while simultaneously learning the history. During our classroom time, we put the finishing touches on our final project and since my presentation was more aligned to photography I spent that time editing and filtering out photos. Tomorrow was presentation day, so I spent all my time outside of class as there were a lot of photos that I needed to trickle down for not just the presentation but for uploading online as well.
The second to last day of our trip was here and we started with splitting off into our two groups. My group departed to places around Tokyo including Shibuya. When we reached Shibuya, we got to cross the popular Shibuya Scramble Crossing while looking around to see the lively department stores and shopping malls that housed current fashion trends. Also, we observed Hachiko, who was the faithful dog that walked alongside his master, professor Eizaburo Ueno of Tokyo University, each day when he would head to work. Hachiko would wait until 3pm to greet Ueno. Unfortunately the professor died and never said goodbye but despite that, Hachiko visited the station until his own passing.
After each group's outing, we all came back to the hotel to present our final project for this experience. Photography students presented five pictures that held significant meaning or were the most eye-catching and anthropology students presented a physical or digital infographic about someone that we learned about throughout the trip. I presented photographs that highlighted our journey around Japan despite being in anthropology. Afterwards, we departed to 東京スカイツリー (Tōkyō Sukaitsurī/Tokyo Skytree) for dinner where we celebrated the connections we made with each other, with locals, and the culture from this journey. This was the last night we spent as a collective.
On our last day of the trip, after eating breakfast, I and three others went to Akihabra, a part of Tokyo known for electronics, anime, manga, and overall otaku culture. Once we arrived, I witnessed shops that had popular and niche anime and manga series that I was interested in and spent a lot of money on items like keychains, stickers, and clothing.
After shopping, I went to a cat cafe where I got to see many cats and how they feed them despite the number of cats there. It was intriguing to see another cat cafe and the cultural differences in how they run it. But since our group had to come back to the hotel at a certain time, I didn’t get to fully indulge into that culture. So when my group reunited with everyone else, we went to lunch then got ready to depart from Tokyo to go back home.
Reflecting on this experience, it was amazing to be able to visit Japan—a place that I have dreamt about visiting ever since I was little. I got to interact with the culture; not just through anime and manga but learning how to interact with locals by learning Japanese, wearing and appreciating the cultural attire, trying out the many foods that hold passions of its people, and learning about the culture beyond just the popular tourist attractions by actively exploring the ways of life Japanese people not only experience but live.
As of now, the National Geography Student Travel has been discontinued and webpages have been removed. But I will be forever grateful that I got this once-in-a-lifetime experience to visit Japan and I plan to aim to travel to more places within Asia and show the same care, dedication, and appreciation for them all.
Maestro Joyner is the valedictorian and graduate of the Friendship Online Academy Class of 2025.