NUFS Study Abroad: Fifth Week

I got sick for the first time in Japan this week. It wouldn't have been too bad, except that I had to go, sick as I was, on an excursion for my Sociology class. It was an obligatory excursion and not going meant automatically failing the class. But then, it ended up being the only thing I did this week.

EXCURSION

We had been studying the history of the pottery industry in Nagoya, and this building used to be a major center. Today it's just a small museum.

There were all kinds of pottery all over in the small room we were first taken too. I just took pictures of what I liked. So, I'm not going to give an explanation at every single photo.

Apparently the White House issued an order for a ceramic plate set back in the mid 1980s, I believe it was President Regan who placed the order.

This was one of the signs right outside the door. What it says, I have no idea.

The second sign outside the door.

Another museum, which was the former house of Japan's first actress, Madame Saddayakko. It, like many of the places we visited, was built in the Meiji Period. We didn't actually go inside this particular house, but, according to our teacher, during the Meiji Period, it was very common to build houses with a Western style exterior and then inside the front of the house would also be Western style, but towards the back would be traditional Japanese style.

This was the house of a relative of the Imoto family. When we went inside we had to take off our shoes at the entrance, before going inside the house itself.

The garden in the front.

Even though it shows the Western part of the house, the photo was taken from the back part of the house, the Japanese style.

There was a tea house in the front garden.

In the Japanese style part, the sliding doors had panels that could be opened or closed to either let in the light or keep it out.

According to our tour guide, most Japanese style houses look very similar. The differences of the houses are in the small details that decorate the house, such as this bat shaped knob.

The garden in the back. They provided shoes near the exit you could use to go explore the back garden.

The house behind it is actually a storage.

This photo, taken from the back garden, is part of the Japanese style part of the house.

There was even more terrain behind the back garden.

On the side.

A hallway inside, which actually led to a restroom.

The family symbol was placed on their employee's uniform.

Upstairs it was more Western style, apparently to accommodate important Western guests since, according to my teacher, there weren't any hotels or public accommodations back then.

What was the office.

A photo of an Imoto family member, riding an ostrich.

A shot of the front garden from the second floor.

The back part of the house, Japanese style.

A display which showed the process to make the valuable white porcelain.

There was actually a little cafe on the first floor, which I doubt was what the room was used for.

We went back outside and put our shoes on to go to the front garden.

The tea house from the back.

Inside the tea house, tea ceremonies would be held.

A separate room inside the tea house, a sort of kitchen, where the preparations for the tea ceremony would be made.

The main house.

I'm not sure what it was, we were merely passing by on route to our destination, but it was impressive.

This house, I think, belonged to a member of the Toyoda family, but I'm not sure. We visited so many places I lost track what was what.

Again it was Western style in the front and then Japanese style in the back.

I took the photo, but didn't go to the second floor till later.

The panels could be closed or open depending on how much light was wanted.

This is the backyard of the house. I'm not sure what that house that was there was.

The house in the backyard looked like it had been burnt, but I was told that the damage wasn't caused by a fire.

On my way up the stairs there was a little window.

Now I'm on the second floor.

This gate is the original gate of the main Toyoda family house and is all that remains of the original house. Now there is an apartment building, which my teacher said is used for Toyota employees.

We went inside the gate and part of the garden remains, but most of the garden is in the back which is accessible only to residents of the apartment building.

The municipal hall from the Meiji Period, which also served as the courthouse.

The tall building right behind the municipal/court house was and still remains prison. In the Meiji Period, prisoners awaiting trail or sentencing were kept there for easy access to the courthouse.

Inside the building.

The big window from the previous photos was a stained glass window.

The ceiling of the entrance hall.

We went to the basement first, which was a small prison. Nothing there except a lot of holding cells.

Inside a holding cell.

The stained glass window in the entrance hall, from the second floor.

A replica of a Meiji Period trial. The man on the left, with red, is the prosecuting attorney, the three in the middle, which had purple, were the three judges of the trail, and the man on the right, which had white, was the defense attorney. And the glass case in front is where the evidence would be placed.

The prisoner would sit directly in front of the three judges.

The rooms were very elegant and completely Western style.

Another replica of a trial from another period, I cannot remember which one.

A replica of modern day courthouse.

A model of the building.

In the words of my teacher, "The judges' coffee room."

A Thomas Edison light-bulb.

Models of other buildings from the Meiji Period.

Back to pottery and ceramics, we went to Noritake Garden. The outside had a really nice and big park.

The first pure, white dinner set made in Japan.

One of the many building in Noritake Garden was a museum. The most interesting part was the first floor, where you could see people actually making ceramics, but taking photos wasn't allowed.