I had to read the email from my JICE co-ordinator several times.

My professor of the Japanese pop culture course at UBC had asked me if I had any interest in a week-long all-expenses paid trip to Japan.   In a heartbeat, my application was in.  No way would  the process would be so simple.    But a month later, I clicked open the email and Kakehashi and here we were.  I was going to Japan!

What is Kakehashi?

The Kakehashi Project, launched in 2013, is a one-week youth exchange initiative for Canadian and American students organized by the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE for short) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Kakehashi translates to “bridge” in Japanese, connecting people on both sides of the water. The program’s purpose is to enhance international understanding of the nation’s unique culture, diverse society, history, politics and foreign policy, as well as to promote the “Japan brand” overseas to North American visitors.

The program consists of two streams. The Japanese Language stream is tailored to the interests of advanced Japanese language students. The JICE organizers took note of my very limited nihongo track record–two Basic Japanese courses that I had taken at university four years ago, and placed me in the Japanese Pop Culture stream.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The Pop Culture stream is tailored to introduce foreign youth to the inner workings of Japan’s popular culture and aesthetics. We experienced behind-the-scenes manga (Japanese comics) production from concept art to inking to publication.  We learned about the evolution of Japanese animation from black and white cartoons to Your Name (2016).

So what exactly did this mean? For me, it meant visiting sites with historical significance such as Sensoji shrine, Tokyo’s oldest temple. And Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine of the kami Inari famous for its rows of picturesque red gates known as torii.

And of course, this wouldn’t be a pop-culture themed trip without paying a visit to the Kyoto International Manga Museum and of course, the Ghibli Museum–showcasing many beloved Studio Ghibli animated works (that you may have heard of), such as Kiki’s Delivery Service and Spirited Away– and Kyoto’s Seika University, a real school for manga and anime!

About thirty of us would be taking the Shinkansen back and forth between Tokyo and Kyoto, staying the night at a minshuku 民宿 (a traditional Japanese style bed-and-breakfast) in the mountains of Hakodateyama.

We shared our experiences with our hosts and through social media during the trip and we are expected to share our experiences for a three month period after our return from Japan. Our JICE’s hosts were the definition of hospitable, organizing the chauffeured buses, the bullet trains,  all our meals.  I’d say yes to doing it all over again…