Morning
Afternoon
Night life
Thursday started with a free morning, which some used to go on a run, while others went to the samurai ninja museum, and others went to a cat cafe or simply slept in. The museum consisted largely of a guided tour, where we got to try on samurai outfits, learn about Japan’s history and practice throwing shuriken, to various degrees of success. The cat cafe is one of the many animal cafes Tokyo has to offer, from cats to dogs to even owls and capibaras. At the cafe you pay for the time you spend there and drinks are for free. You can even buy some cat treats to give these to them.
After grabbing a quick lunch at the local supermarket, we took the train to the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). This is a huge research institute with departments in almost any direction one can think of. Originally, the institute worked on geology, which is why the tour started in the geological museum of AIST. There, we could admire a vast collection of fossils, minerals and rocks.
Next up was a guided tour through an exhibition of AIST’s innovations over the years. Examples are a durable catalyst for ammonia synthesis, a mini fab for cost-effective small-scale specialized semiconductor production, and a robotic therapy seal to help patients with anxiety problems and such. We really wanted to take a seal home, as it was very kawaii and could be the first step towards the mental healing that the typical Japie so desperately needs. Unfortunately, after giving the seals lots of pets, they wouldn’t let us keep it.
The last and perhaps most interesting part of our time at AIST was spent in their catalysis department, where we heard and discussed about high-throughput catalyst screening combined with machine learning, a novel specialized method of NMR, and a new catalyst for butadiene synthesis from bio-ethanol. This part was especially interesting to our professor Emiel, as he works on catalysis too. Our visit ended with a lab tour to see in person the things we talked about and ask some more questions.
Now most went back to the hostel to change, but others rushed straight to some delicious tempura udon noodles for dinner because of starvation. Soon after, we gathered at the Tokyo Skytree, a building standing over 600 meters tall. We went to the observation deck at 350 m above the ground to see Tokyo lit up at night. When we exited the elevator at the skydeck, it felt like we entered a different world, as a Pokemon advertisement was blasting from the speakers and shown life-size on curved screens all around the skydeck. After taking in the amazing views, a handful of us went for a drink at a beer festival that just so happened to take place at the base of the Skytree. There was also a small shrine named Takagi shrine nearby that was covered in triangular rocks painted to look like cute onigiri. Onigiri are small rice balls filled with fish, meat or something else and wrapped in nori (sea weed) that we all love to eat as a snack, for breakfast or for lunch.
In the evening, some people went to the arcade, a hall were you can play different games like Mario Kart or a kind of music game that was basically Guitar Hero but then with drums. Another group went home so they could watch the Olympic games or sleep early since we have to wake up very early tomorrow again. However not everyone was planning on going to bed at a reasonable time. A group of 10 students spent their evening hours singing the most beautiful songs in a karaoke bar close by the hostel.
Written by: Maurik Engelbert van Bevervoorde & Milva Baar
