Intercultural Design - Tokyo Trip Reflection
6 February 2023 - 12 February 2023 / Week 5
Sim Jia Min 0349784
Intercultural Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Final Project
INSTRUCTIONS (MIB)
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TOKYO TRIP REFLECTION
This is a very special experience for me, and I appreciate having this opportunity to go to a foreign country for study trip purpose. We went to several places each day following the big group with lecturers, also exploring our own places based on our project topics.
The teamLab Planets Tokyo is the place which leaves me with the deepest impression during this trip, I truly enjoyed every moment there, every different area inside there has a very strong visual impact, the background music in different areas also perfectly fits with the space, making the atmosphere become more enjoyable. My favourite area inside there is the place where you can lie down on the floor and enjoy the projection on the ceiling, I think I fall asleep there because the atmosphere was so relaxing & comfortable.
Footage from teamLab Planets
For my group project, we went to the Nakamise-dori street which near the Senso-ji temple. Since that place is a very popular tourist spot, there were so many people around that area. There are also many stores selling wagashi, which is why Asakusa is quite a perfect place for doing data collection for wagashi. Since strawberries in Japan are in season, there are so many stalls selling wagashi with strawberries.
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| Figure 1.2: Ichigo daifuku at Nakamise-dori street, Asakusa |
On the third day of the trip, my group went to Akasaka for exploring more traditional wagashi from some stores with a long history. Since Akasaka is in Minato City, which is the area with the highest GDP in Tokyo, there are so many confectionery companies located their stores in that area. Compared with the wagashi in Asakusa, Akasaka wagashi gives a more classy feeling, you can feel the difference once you step into the store, the wagashi are all neatly displayed on the shelf, give off a really elegant vibe. Maybe it's the difference in target customers, Asakusa wagashi is for tourists, while wagashi in Akasaka is more popular among the locals.
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| Figure 1.3: Wagashi from Akasaka |
I realized how seasons are so important in wagashi culture, the appearance and the name of wagashi can reflect a certain season. The stores are all strictly following the season, they follow certain traditions and guidelines for making different wagashi in different seasons.
Overall this trip was a fun experience, also tiring since we walked for long miles from the start till the end of the trip. But it was all worth it, at least we get to burn some calories from eating lots of wagashi.
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