This summer, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks traveling through Japan as part of Chapman University’s Politics of Space and Place in Japan travel course. During the program, we traveled through Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo while studying how history, culture, memory, and everyday life can be understood through the spaces around us. I had actually traveled to Japan twice before, but experiencing the country as a student gave me a completely different perspective.
One of my favorite things about the course was how different it was from a typical class. Instead of spending most of our time sitting in a classroom listening to lectures, our learning was heavily based on fieldwork and observation. Most mornings began with about an hour-long lecture before we headed out to visit two or three locations throughout the day.
These locations could be completely different from one another. We visited museums such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Kyoto Museum for World Peace, as well as temples and shrines like Ryoan-ji. We even visited places like Tokyo Disneyland and took a Tokyo toilet-walking tour to observe how people interact with and use public spaces.
We carried field notebooks everywhere we went, recording observations, thoughts, and connections to class readings. At the end of the course, we used these notes to write a final paper comparing several of the places we visited and analyzing how they used space to represent history, memory, and culture. As someone studying Animation and Visual Effects, I found this very different from my normal classes, but I enjoyed learning to pay closer attention to the environments around me. It made me think more deeply about how spaces can communicate ideas and tell stories.
Of course, some of my favorite memories happened outside of class. Most evenings were free, and we also had a full free day to explore on our own. One night in Kyoto, a few friends and I visited Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its thousands of red torii gates, at around 9 p.m. Because we went so late, there were very few people there. Walking through the gates at night with almost the entire area to ourselves was one of the most memorable experiences of the trip.
I also had a completely unexpected experience while shopping alone one evening. A mother and her three children approached me to compliment my purple hair. We started talking about why I was in Japan, and I explained that I was there for school and that much of our class involved visiting museums, temples, and shrines while taking field notes.
The mother offered to take me to a temple. I assumed she was going to show me another tourist attraction where I could take some pictures. Instead, we took a train to a local Buddhist temple that was still in use by the community. I was invited to join their prayers and chanting. It was definitely not what I expected when I left the hotel to go shopping for small trinkets, but it became one of the coolest experiences of my trip. It gave me the opportunity to experience something I probably never would have discovered on my own.
Another huge part of my experience was the friendships I made. Before the trip began, I reached out to the other students enrolled in the course and offered to create an Instagram group chat. Looking back, I am extremely glad I did. It allowed us to become more comfortable with one another before traveling and gave everyone a place to ask questions. I even coordinated flights with a few people from the group, who eventually became some of my closest friends during the trip. We spent many of our free evenings exploring together, shopping, finding food, and seeing what each city had to offer.
Our professors, Professor Bay and Professor Takaragawa, also made the experience incredibly enjoyable. Both were extremely knowledgeable about Japan and the topics we were studying while still making the course fun. Professor Bay was always giving us local recommendations and brought a lot of humor to the trip. Professor Takaragawa made an effort to get to know each student personally and would talk with us about our majors, interests, and what we enjoyed doing outside of class. Having professors who were excited to explore alongside us made the experience even better.
Living in Japan for two weeks also taught me a few practical things. We stayed in hotels in Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo, all located in busy areas that made exploring during our free time easy. I got to eat plenty of Japanese food, including sushi and ramen, though I probably survived more on convenience store food than anything else. Convenience stores are everywhere in Japan, and I loved how inexpensive and fresh the food could be.
For future students traveling to Japan, I would highly recommend using Google Maps to navigate the train systems. I would also recommend leaving extra room in your suitcase. Japan has amazing shopping, often at great prices, and even basic items like toiletries are easy to purchase once you arrive.
More than anything, this trip helped me become more independent and willing to step outside of my comfort zone. I am naturally a shy person and tend to stay within my own bubble. Since starting at Chapman, I have been making an effort to branch out, meet more people, and try things I normally would not do. I originally chose this course partly because I had already visited Japan twice before. I thought being familiar with the country would make studying abroad feel a little less intimidating.
Instead, having that familiarity gave me the confidence to experience Japan in an entirely new way. I made new friends, explored cities at night, navigated unfamiliar places, spoke with people I never would have met otherwise, and learned outside of a traditional classroom. I returned home with more than field notes and photographs. I came back feeling more independent, more confident, and much more willing to say yes to experiences outside of my comfort zone.
Michaela Paroske
Animation and Visual Effects Major, Emphasis in 2D
Summer 2026
Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo, Japan
Chapman University
Politics Space/Place Mod Japan SU26NS (HIST-335C-01)
