Day 10 June 10 (our first double digit day in this travel program journey)

8:30am: Breakfast at ryokan; 9:40am: Left for a temple near our ryokan inn; We visited 12000 year old "made" from one tree. The temple was bombed in WWII and most of the interior paintings were destroyed / roof burned but rebuilt; 10:40am: We rode bus to Usa-Jingu shrine; 11:10am: Walked around a lot of tori gates; We saw 3-4" caterpillars and koi fish; 11:30am: Visited the three shrines, drew fortunes and wrote wishes, which resulted in Love life predictions- and a few of us were disappointed and for the rest, their Life predictions left them happy; 12:45pm: Lunch; we had fried chicken (katsu) - very sugoi; 2:00pm: We found soft serve ice cream (continuing our quest to taste Japanese ice creams); meanwhile, Kelland, Jess and Emilio "found" more luck; 2:30pm: We rode bus to tea farm; we walked up mountains and hills and saw stinky kawaii cows and lots of solar farms; 3:25pm: Rode bus back to ryokan inn; 3:45pm: Shower/onsen bath; Kelland killed wasp - sugoi; 6:00pm: Eat dinner; 8:00pm: visit fire flies; 8:20pm: group singing as Piano Man, Joseph, played music; 9:30pm: sleep (early morning)
On the 10th day of our journey through Japan, we began the day with breakfast at 8:30. We were graciously served fruit juice, rice, fried egg, juicy melon, a piece of ham, and cabbage salad. After we finished our breakfast, we walked up to a temple near our ryokan inn. We were surprised to learn that the large temple was built from a singular tree by a monk and had been standing for over 12000 years. Our guide, Yo, explained that during World War II, the roof of the temple was bombed, leaving the paintings unprotected from the natural elements. The roof was later restored but the paintings were unsalvageable. However, due to the replicas in a museum we’d visited earlier this week and the basic outlines of what remained, we could imagine the grandeur of the original paintings. As we were exiting, we saw one of the monks sweeping the leaves from the yard and felt very much like a paparazzi group of fans.
Then, we boarded the bus heading for a famous shrine in Oita, Usa-Jingu Shrine. There, we saw lots of Torii gates, and much to Nick’s excitement, lots of soft serve shops. As we walked up the hills to the main shrines, we made sure to walk on the sides of the Tori gates and bridges in order to respect the Shinto practice of NOT walking in the middle of paths (in Shinto, this space is reserved for spirits). We made sure to purify ourselves by washing our left hand first, then the right, then we pretended to wash our mouths. When we finally made our way up all the sacred stairs, we saw the main temple and the two shrines and were able to enter the sacred grounds.
Elizabeth and koi fish! We dispersed across the courtyard- with all of experiencing different aspects of the Temple but always being grateful for what was already given to us and adding a wish in the end. For those who prayed, they first bowed twice, then clapped our hands four times, then spoke what they wished for from the spirits, then bowed once more. Some of us bought wood placards to write our wishes- no surprise that these were for high academic success and college admittances, as well as other more general material successes.
Afterwards, we drew our fortunes from the raffle boxes. Some of us bought fortunes specifically predicting our furture love lives; most were happily surprised by their results, but a few of us faced lesser fates. Afterwards, we walked back the outside of the shrines for our mouthwatering, beautiful, oishi, sugoi-ness and drool-able fried chicken (katsu). We had a beautiful meal of chicken and pescatarian tempura for Alexandra.
To end our meal, we decided to all get soft serve, making a brief stop at the diverse goodies store. Excitingly, Kelland, Emilio, and Jess headed to the gapuchan (coin machines) and purchased various items, Jess another love-related fortune telling, Emilio a cute plushie (with a fortune telling as well), and Kelland a sugoi pink fidget spinner that lights up and spins. Simultaneously, Alexandra and Nicholas Epstein chose to go on a journey in search of a delightful matcha latte, which they successfully acquired. Both were very happy, but especially Nick, and they determined that these lattes were not as good as the National Museum ones they got a few days back but were better than the ones at the Tea Farm (those were too sweet).
Next, the group headed to another tea farm, where we took a long walk in the scorching, blazing sun that helped us all successfully acquire farmer’s tans. Although the sun was quite blinding, we saw bulls relaxing in the grass fields. Many great pictures were taken at this hilly setting. Treading higher in the lands, we found ourselves to be immersed in a bunch of solar panels of different shapes and forms. We then had an enlightening conversation around the origins of climate change and global warming and forms of renewable energy. Afterwards, we returned back to the van, heading back to the ryokan inn. We spent the evening bathing in the onsens and talking in our rooms. Kelland bravely defended us from a wasp that had snuck in while we prepared for dinner. Soon, we’ll enjoy dinner and get a good night’s sleep for the day ahead of us tomorrow.
Mackenzie, Kelland, Jess Mata shi ta

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