h1>My week in Japan
Background
Like all children growing up in the late 2000s and early 2010s, I was introduced to anime through Saturday morning cartoons. (It's weird that streaming has taken over that. It always felt a little special to wake up and watch cartoons before 9 a.m.)
Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person whose interests were always a little niche.
What really fascinated me was the fact that Japan has its own indigenous people (two of them, in fact!) There are the Ainu located in Hokkaido and the Ryukan located near Okinawa.
As an Indigenous person myself.
This was a trip of many firsts. IT was my first time flying and my first time leaving the United States. My family is extremely close with each other, for better and for worse.
I spent the last few years really getting into Tokusatsu. (Kamen Rider, Ultraman, even more obscure shows like Space Sheriff Gavan) It sounds cliche and a little silly but looking out the bus window that first night, I felt like I was in an early Heisei-era episode of Kamen Rider. The late-afternoon/early dusk lighting made everything feel a little romantic.
I'd say my body acclimated to the time change well but that's a lie. I spent a lot of time awake, only being able to sleep around four or so hours a night. (I did fall asleep on the bus at any given chance, so I guess my body decided on survival mode?)
I woke up at four in the morning, the first night. I got up, got dressed and just sat there. I remember looking out at my hotel room window at all the tall buildings and just thinking 'Wow, my entire family is fourteen hours away. I'm an entire country away.' Life truly did feel small right then.
After that, I called my sister and my aunt. Deciding who to call first was difficult.
(My phone didn't work, despite me paying for international. I had Facebook Messenger and Wi-Fi for a majority of the trip so that wasn't so bad, I guess.)
Hokkaido was something different. I remember falling asleep between two young men and praying 'Oh, please don't let me fall asleep on one of them.' And, thankfully, didn't.
Seeing all the snow in Hokkaido made my stomach sink a bit. I didn't pack my winter boots. I wore a pair of grey, cloth boots for the majority of the trip.
During our initial Zoom meetings, I had came away with the phrase 'all indigenous are the same.' The Ainu and the indigenous people of North America did share many similarties. In particular, we had similar fashion. A few young Dine women noted how similar the fish boots the Ainu wore were to traditional Dine moccasins.
At Upopoy, I got to study the ways they weaved. My mother is a weaver and studied traditional Keetoowah footware made of materials such as hemp and natural fibers. I myself have woven a few times so I studied the natural fiber bags intently.