Saying ‘sayounara’ to Tokyo
The International Game Design Practices students reflect on what they learned and gained during their week in Japan.
“Be mindful of your volume.”
Richard “Rush” Swope, game design lecturer and our class’s informational gateway to Tokyo, told us quite simply.
“It’s rude to be too loud in some areas, like the train or elevators,” he said.
Asakusa, one of the only noisy parts of Tokyo that the group has encountered. Students had the opportunity to shop at pray at the temple, cleanse themselves at a
purification fountain and shop for souvenirs all in the same area. (Emma Rausch | The Media School)
Producing too much noise is an obvious mistake foreigners make when visiting Japan. A class of 15 students of all grade levels and degree types, we sat attentive in roller desks as Rush reviewed cultural taboos, the proper way to present business cards and key Japanese phrases that would surely prove useful on our International Game Design Practices trip to Tokyo.
Weeks in advance of our March 8 departure, we prepared to practice restraint in respect for our host country’s citizens during the overseas visit. We made mental notes to consciously control our voices, our movements and our excitement.
As we emerged from the subway station into the heart of Shinjuku on Saturday, March 9, we had no idea Tokyo practiced and amplified that same restraint.
The sixth largest city in the world with a reported 13.4 million population, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo is known as Japan’s capital, but perhaps it really deserves a different reputation.
As we wheeled our luggage past restaurants and areas of business at 4:30 p.m. JST, our conga line of 15 students and two instructors produced the loudest noise heard for blocks along the busy main streets.
The city’s silent nature wasn’t blatantly apparent, however, until the class left our hotel to explore the area a few hours later.
“It’s so quiet,” junior Gaby Benninghoff remarked while out sightseeing in Shinjuku. “There’s not one part of Bloomington (within the city limits) that is as quiet as it is here.”
Cars zoomed by, and people entered and exited the sidewalk as they dipped in and out of shops. Even in the midst of the usual hustle and bustle, few things disturbed the peace beyond a few feet from their point of origin.
As odd as it may seem to a foreigner, Tokyo is a peaceful city in name and practice. It does, however, have its noisy spots.
“Shopping districts are Tokyo’s outliers in terms of volume,” senior Kaleb Eberhart said. “The shops are constantly trying to get your attention, so they’re blasting you with advertisements, music and lights to try and draw you in.”
So far, however, our class hasn’t experienced that yet.
On the second day of our week-long trip, our class went out on a group outing to two Tokyo hotspots: the Sensō-ji Temple in Asakusa and the shopping district of Harajuku.
At both areas, people walked shoulder to shoulder, crammed into a 10-foot-wide sidewalk between rows of shops filled with trinkets, clothing, souvenirs and food. The areas were louder, but even with the heavy crowds, Bloomington’s Kirkwood Avenue on a calm Sunday evening still beat both areas in noise volume.
It’s likely our group will find the boisterous side of Tokyo, but for now, we’re enjoying this peaceful anomaly.