March 7

We woke to a morning of mist and light rain. We took a short bus trip to Ninnaji Temple. There we experienced complete silence, interrupted only by the waterfall and the incessant clicking of cameras. A long gravel path led to the temple that sat at the foot of the mist shrouded hills. Behind this ancient, delicate structure lay a quiet pond, surrounded by lush forestry and moss mantled boulders.

By eleven, we were touring the Manga/Anime Museum, where we viewed thousands of comic books and drawings. After seeking inspiration throughout the museum, we were given the opportunity to draw our own Manga with the instruction of a teacher.

We broke into two groups for lunch: one followed Earle in search of Ramen and the other accompanied Mami to a vegetarian buffet.

We took taxis to a small pastry store. We then rode a rickety elevator to the fourth floor, where we met a chef who assisted us in creating our own Mochi flowers. We moulded our Mochi dough into decorative blossoms. After toiling to make dented flower-shaped desserts, we realized that we do not have futures as pastry chefs in Japan. We then formed our own creative shapes. Some of us tried to make flowers, others cats, snakes, and sumo wrestlers. The chef created a maple leaf.

We rode another bus to a tremendously long, canvas-covered street of shops selling fish, fried goods, and green tea flavoured Kit Kats. We returned to the hostel and ate a strange combination of pizza and sushi for dinner.

Matt would also like to note that Macrae failed to eat a particularly large piece of sushi in one bite. Weak.

-Matt Hollander and Macrae Marran