Recently I was given an opportunity to be a part of the JENESYS Malaysia-Japan Sister City Friendship Exchange Program for the duration of eight days from 27th February to 5th March 2024. It was an exchange program organised by Japan International Cooperation Centre (JICE) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) where we got to experience Japan first hand. 12 Malaysia student was chosen to be part of this program and I was so grateful to be one of them.

I was in Japan during the transition of season from winter to spring, so the weather is kind of cold. That was my very first impression of Japan when I stepped out of the airplane on the 27th morning. After an eight-hour flight, we headed to Akihabara to have our orientation and Japanese Language class. I didn’t really feel tired as I was so excited to be in Japan at that time. Then, we visit Senso-ji Temple which located in Asakusa.

To be honest, temple or shrine visit is one of the places that I was so eager to experience as it was a great way to learn more about Japanese culture and traditions. Senso-ji Temple is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, and it portrays interesting aspect of Japanese religious culture that a temple and a shrine coexist in the same space. We also visit Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine during our stay in Fukuoka prefecture where we were fortunate enough to see a Japanese traditional wedding ceremony and the shrine is full of plum blossoms.

Other interesting aspect of this program was the homestay with the host family where we were able to experience the daily life of Japanese people and interact with the local. I have a wonderful three days and two nights with my host family, and we did a lot of things. One of it being putting on a kimono. It was an exciting experience but kind of hard as it has many layers and steps to put it on. We also visit a lot of  interesting places such as Mojiko Eki, Kokura-jo and Kanmon Pedestrian tunnel. We walk back and forth through the undersea tunnel that connect Kyushu and  Honshu.

Food wise is okay as I was not a picky eater, so I tried my best to enjoy as much local food as possible. But what intrigued me was that the difference between the miso shiru in Tokyo and Kitakyushu. At first, I thought that the taste was difference because it was different people who made it, but later I’ve come to learned that the paste that they used are different as Tokyo usually use aka miso while in Kitakyushu shiro miso is much more popular. I personally like the taste of miso shiru in Kitakyushu. My host family also served us miso shiru that used a homemade miso paste and it was delicious.

We did a lot of great activities and visited a lot of interesting places during this program. We were given free time at the end of the day to explore by ourselves in a group, but we do have curfew and must be back by 11pm. During that period, we tried to use the train and to commute to places and it was very adventurous to navigate our way through the Tokyo Station. Nevertheless, I had a very good time in Japan. Although it was only for a short period of eight days, I am very grateful for the opportunity and will cherish the memories well.