Tuesday the classes took the railways out to the suburbs of Tokyo, while we were still technically in the limits of Tokyo it was eye-opening just to see the scale of the world's largest city. We rode for about an hour by train but were still in the city, that's ridiculous. That would be like Salisbury being considered part of Charlotte. As we ventured further from the city, high-rises opened up to views of landscapes and briefly we were able to see Mount Fuji from our rail car.
ICU or the International Christian University was the first stop. The University was build on the grounds of what used to be an airstrip. The entrance was a long road leading up to the complex lined with large Japanese Cherry trees, not yet in full bloom. Unfortunately we would miss the cherry blossom festival by several weeks.
We enjoyed a tour of the facilities followed by a lesson on abenomics then lunch at their cafeteria where we had the opportunity for discussion. Immediately following the tour of ICU several of the groups parted ways, I accompanied the business tour of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), unfortunately my services weren't required or allowed so there aren't many photos from the tour.
BOJ was extremely fascinating, especially for myself who collects American currency it was interesting to hear about the Japanese banking system. One practice that was especially unique was that no matter where we received money the bills/notes were always crisp. Japan, in an effort to cut down on illegal copies shreds a bill after too much use. Where American bills show their journal in the tears and wrinkles, rarely do you find a bill hot of the press.
Below I've attached a video/slideshow of the photos taken:
I've had several people notify me that the slideshow wasn't visible, I'll be trying to upload another slideshow through a separate program. Will hopefully have it up within the next hour.
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