It's hard to believe that I've only got one full day left in Japan. Tomorrow's our last day, capped with a visit to Nippon-Ichi and Trident University. It's going to be a full day with lots of traveling, but a good end to a crazy fantastic trip.
We've done so much in such a short time that all the days have been blurring together and I've hardly had time to stop and think. I've loved just about every minute of it though, and I'm glad that we've managed to do as much as we have. I'm a little bit disappointed that we couldn't see a few places that were on my list and I regret not going to as many companies as I could have, but I've really enjoyed the way the trip has been thus far. As much fun as it's been though, I'm about ready to come home. Doing so much so fast has burnt me out and pushed me a bit, especially in regards of mental endurance. It's been good, but I'm ready to spend some time with my friends and family for a while, without worrying about places to be or time tables.
Thanks for sticking with me through all of this. There will be at least two more blogs, chronicling these final days and a post-trip reflection, so stay tuned!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Toei, Telecom, and Kyoto, Oh My!
Since last I posted, I've visited two more animation studios, done some adventuring out in the city, and spent lots of money. Oh, and I'm in Kyoto now too! Here's the breakdown!
Toei Animation: Toei animated series like Sailor Moon, One Piece, Digimon, and Yu-gi-oh! (to name a few) and is a pretty well know studio both in Japan and overseas. We got to tour the space, though we did not have access to many of the individual series production areas. Even so, we got to see the color and ink process, as well as the special effects process before sitting down with one of the administration for a Q & A. It was very awesome to see and we had many solid questions answered. They surprised us all in the end when they dumped a ton of stuff on the table and told us to take whatever we'd like. Yay free swag!
There's definitely a prestige to Toei that some of the companies we had visited thus far did not have, and they have a lot of pride in their company and what they do. It was really good to see, and then later compare with other studios.
Telecom: Telecom was much smaller than Toei, but felt much more comfortable. It was only one floor above a grocery store and was very cluttered, but it had a homey, friendly feel to it. We got to see behind the scenes, looking at how they worked/what programs they worked with, how they drew, etc. They even showed us some footage that they'd be airing later in the week. It was awesome to see some of the programs I've been working with in action, and to actually see animators at work with the process I've been learning. They were very nice too, and I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere.
Nakano Broadway: Shopping mall for anime fans. Straight and simple. Figures, cards, music...you name it, they had it somewhere. They also had general clothes, shoes, and the usual mall fare too. Throw in some tea shops and you've got Nakano Broadway. I got a lot of my gifts there, as well as a few things for me. ;)
Karaoke: Our second to last night in Japan, we went out as a group to Karaoke. It was an absolute blast! We sung a lot of songs together, and I sung "Kiss Me Goodbye" from Final Fantasy XII myself. I also sung "Feeling Good" with Laura, and we kicked butt. Some of the regulars were played and we had so much fun to as a group, and good times were had by all!
Kyoto: We've been in Kyoto for a day and a half now. We took the bullet train down from Tokyo and Laura and I spent the afternoon at the hotel, taking some time to recover. Our first full day we spent visiting some of the shrines and temples in the area, hiking up and down hills and taking lots of pictures. It was a wonderful, beautiful experience. The day maker, however, was the Kimono and traditional dance. We were dressed up in kimonos, and a well established dancer taught us part of a traditional Japanese dance. It was fantastic, and probably the highlight of my trip thus far. Pictures from it are up on Facebook, along with many other shots from the trip.
Well, we've got another long day tomorrow, so I'm off. Have a good day/night, where ever you are! Thanks for reading!
Toei Animation: Toei animated series like Sailor Moon, One Piece, Digimon, and Yu-gi-oh! (to name a few) and is a pretty well know studio both in Japan and overseas. We got to tour the space, though we did not have access to many of the individual series production areas. Even so, we got to see the color and ink process, as well as the special effects process before sitting down with one of the administration for a Q & A. It was very awesome to see and we had many solid questions answered. They surprised us all in the end when they dumped a ton of stuff on the table and told us to take whatever we'd like. Yay free swag!
There's definitely a prestige to Toei that some of the companies we had visited thus far did not have, and they have a lot of pride in their company and what they do. It was really good to see, and then later compare with other studios.
Telecom: Telecom was much smaller than Toei, but felt much more comfortable. It was only one floor above a grocery store and was very cluttered, but it had a homey, friendly feel to it. We got to see behind the scenes, looking at how they worked/what programs they worked with, how they drew, etc. They even showed us some footage that they'd be airing later in the week. It was awesome to see some of the programs I've been working with in action, and to actually see animators at work with the process I've been learning. They were very nice too, and I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere.
Nakano Broadway: Shopping mall for anime fans. Straight and simple. Figures, cards, music...you name it, they had it somewhere. They also had general clothes, shoes, and the usual mall fare too. Throw in some tea shops and you've got Nakano Broadway. I got a lot of my gifts there, as well as a few things for me. ;)
Karaoke: Our second to last night in Japan, we went out as a group to Karaoke. It was an absolute blast! We sung a lot of songs together, and I sung "Kiss Me Goodbye" from Final Fantasy XII myself. I also sung "Feeling Good" with Laura, and we kicked butt. Some of the regulars were played and we had so much fun to as a group, and good times were had by all!
Kyoto: We've been in Kyoto for a day and a half now. We took the bullet train down from Tokyo and Laura and I spent the afternoon at the hotel, taking some time to recover. Our first full day we spent visiting some of the shrines and temples in the area, hiking up and down hills and taking lots of pictures. It was a wonderful, beautiful experience. The day maker, however, was the Kimono and traditional dance. We were dressed up in kimonos, and a well established dancer taught us part of a traditional Japanese dance. It was fantastic, and probably the highlight of my trip thus far. Pictures from it are up on Facebook, along with many other shots from the trip.
Well, we've got another long day tomorrow, so I'm off. Have a good day/night, where ever you are! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Checking In!
Hey gang!
Japan's been fantastic. It's hard to believe we've only been here three days! We've done so much in such a short amount of time...it's been so much fun. Here are some of the highlights thus far:
Hakuhikan Observatory: Remember the two buildings with the satellite-looking things on them from the third season of Digimon? That building. We went up to the 45th floor and looked out over the city, which is huge! It doesn't feel that big when you're in it, but it's massive. Got some awesome pictures.
Meji Shrine: Beautiful. It's in a forest, smack dab in the middle of Tokyo. It's truly wonderful to behold. We even to see two traditional Japanese weddings being held!
Harajuku: One of the big shopping districts in the area. We visited the Evangelion Store (epic!) and grabbed crepes for lunch before perusing the rest of the district.
Akihabara: Oh lordy. Talk about a geek's paradise. Anything and everything game/electronic can be found here: retro games, consoles, computers, arcades...It was fantastic to see, but so overwhelming in just the sheer number of shops and advertisements. I got some really fantastic stuff though, and will be going back to visit some more shops and have dinner or lunch at the Gundam Cafe.
Fish Market: We were up at 4am for this one, but it was so worth it. We got to see the fish market in action, which was awesome. :D
Ghibli Museum: Probably my favorite part of the trip thus far. The museum is centered around everything the studio has done thus far, including things released this year. I got to see original cells from some of the films, storyboards, life-size renditions of settings, got to sit in a life-size Cat Bus, got to see a mock-up of some studio spaces... The museum itself was so quaint and beautiful, feeling a bit like a hobbit hole in atmosphere, but sporting some beautiful/quirky architecture and some lovely stained glass windows that depicted characters from the studio's works. I spent way too much money in the gift shop/book store, but it was so worth it.
From Software: Our first game studio. We got to sit down with the director of Demon Souls and Dark Souls in a Q&A session. It was really educational, and so cool to speak to someone with experience in the field and in touch with the current industry. It was also nice to learn about what some of these companies look for in employees.
Square Enix Showcase: We found it! It's smaller than anticipated, but really fantastic. I'll be returning later this week to make actual purchases.
I know these are just short synopses, but there's too much to put into one blog. If you want to know the whole story, you'll just have to ask me. ;) It's been a brilliant trip thus far, and I'm excited for the rest too! Toei and Telecom tomorrow!
Japan's been fantastic. It's hard to believe we've only been here three days! We've done so much in such a short amount of time...it's been so much fun. Here are some of the highlights thus far:
Hakuhikan Observatory: Remember the two buildings with the satellite-looking things on them from the third season of Digimon? That building. We went up to the 45th floor and looked out over the city, which is huge! It doesn't feel that big when you're in it, but it's massive. Got some awesome pictures.
Meji Shrine: Beautiful. It's in a forest, smack dab in the middle of Tokyo. It's truly wonderful to behold. We even to see two traditional Japanese weddings being held!
Harajuku: One of the big shopping districts in the area. We visited the Evangelion Store (epic!) and grabbed crepes for lunch before perusing the rest of the district.
Akihabara: Oh lordy. Talk about a geek's paradise. Anything and everything game/electronic can be found here: retro games, consoles, computers, arcades...It was fantastic to see, but so overwhelming in just the sheer number of shops and advertisements. I got some really fantastic stuff though, and will be going back to visit some more shops and have dinner or lunch at the Gundam Cafe.
Fish Market: We were up at 4am for this one, but it was so worth it. We got to see the fish market in action, which was awesome. :D
Ghibli Museum: Probably my favorite part of the trip thus far. The museum is centered around everything the studio has done thus far, including things released this year. I got to see original cells from some of the films, storyboards, life-size renditions of settings, got to sit in a life-size Cat Bus, got to see a mock-up of some studio spaces... The museum itself was so quaint and beautiful, feeling a bit like a hobbit hole in atmosphere, but sporting some beautiful/quirky architecture and some lovely stained glass windows that depicted characters from the studio's works. I spent way too much money in the gift shop/book store, but it was so worth it.
From Software: Our first game studio. We got to sit down with the director of Demon Souls and Dark Souls in a Q&A session. It was really educational, and so cool to speak to someone with experience in the field and in touch with the current industry. It was also nice to learn about what some of these companies look for in employees.
Square Enix Showcase: We found it! It's smaller than anticipated, but really fantastic. I'll be returning later this week to make actual purchases.
I know these are just short synopses, but there's too much to put into one blog. If you want to know the whole story, you'll just have to ask me. ;) It's been a brilliant trip thus far, and I'm excited for the rest too! Toei and Telecom tomorrow!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
I'm Alive!
AKA I've made it in one piece to Japan! The treck started this morning with an early trip to O'Hare, catching our flight that departed at 10:20am on November 25th. We then traveled to the future and landed around 2:30pm on the 26th, after 13 hours or so of flight time. The flight was a little bumpy, but pretty smooth overal. The food was impressive, considering American in-flight food standards (ahem, not very good), and time was split between napping, reading, writing, and watching Cars 2. We landed smoothly, managed to get through customs without too much of a hassle (they had these finger print things that none of us could figure out. You had to place your index fingers on the pads, press down, and hold until it took your picture), and then withdrew/exchanged dollars for yen. I have decided that Japanese yen are much more pretty than American dollars. Anywho...from there, it was onto the bus to the hotel! The ride was relatively uneventful, but involved a lot of picture taking and a beautiful sunset.
We arrived at the hotel, which is pretty classy, considering the fact that we're a group of college kids. The lobby is beautiful, all decorated for the holidays. We felt extremely underdressed in our comfy travel clothes, watching men in suits and women in dresses wandering about. Our instructors gave us 20 minutes to get situated in our rooms before we met up again, when they showed us the convenience store and took us out into the district. From there, they set us off on our own. The group I was with went off for dinner, going into a noodle place. I was baffled by the ordering system: you look at the images outside, pick one, and pay for it at a vending machine-esque station. It gives you a ticket, which you take to the counter. They then make your order, and call it out when it's ready. Which would be fine, if I knew any Japanese. It was a lot of guessing on our part, in terms of picking up the orders. In the end, we all got our food and it was delicious. I got soba noodles and some sort of sweet, fried fish (at least, I think it was fish). I'm so excited for more Japanese cuisine: I forgot how much I enjoyed the flavor base of good, authentic asian food.
Laura and I retired early, returning to the hotel to get settled and prep for the week ahead. I'll be uploading photos from the day to Facebook this evening, so feel free to check those out. Anywho, Day 1 is complete! The real adventure starts tomorrow!
We arrived at the hotel, which is pretty classy, considering the fact that we're a group of college kids. The lobby is beautiful, all decorated for the holidays. We felt extremely underdressed in our comfy travel clothes, watching men in suits and women in dresses wandering about. Our instructors gave us 20 minutes to get situated in our rooms before we met up again, when they showed us the convenience store and took us out into the district. From there, they set us off on our own. The group I was with went off for dinner, going into a noodle place. I was baffled by the ordering system: you look at the images outside, pick one, and pay for it at a vending machine-esque station. It gives you a ticket, which you take to the counter. They then make your order, and call it out when it's ready. Which would be fine, if I knew any Japanese. It was a lot of guessing on our part, in terms of picking up the orders. In the end, we all got our food and it was delicious. I got soba noodles and some sort of sweet, fried fish (at least, I think it was fish). I'm so excited for more Japanese cuisine: I forgot how much I enjoyed the flavor base of good, authentic asian food.
Laura and I retired early, returning to the hotel to get settled and prep for the week ahead. I'll be uploading photos from the day to Facebook this evening, so feel free to check those out. Anywho, Day 1 is complete! The real adventure starts tomorrow!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Welcome!
Hey gang!
This is where I'll be keeping record of my adventures in Japan! For those of you who don't know, I am traveling to Japan through DePaul's Study Abroad Program: specifically the CDM Japan program. We will be staying in Tokyo and Kyoto, visiting a plethora of animation and game companies. The goal is to see how the animation/game industry in Japan is similar and/or different to the North American industry, and what facets of each appeals to the other. It's going to be an awesome trip!
So, if you're interested in hearing about my exploits over the two weeks I am there, stay tuned!
This is where I'll be keeping record of my adventures in Japan! For those of you who don't know, I am traveling to Japan through DePaul's Study Abroad Program: specifically the CDM Japan program. We will be staying in Tokyo and Kyoto, visiting a plethora of animation and game companies. The goal is to see how the animation/game industry in Japan is similar and/or different to the North American industry, and what facets of each appeals to the other. It's going to be an awesome trip!
So, if you're interested in hearing about my exploits over the two weeks I am there, stay tuned!
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