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Western Japan and the Inland Sea
May 30–June 13, 2009
| Itinerary | Register |
Program Leaders: Bob Entenmann, professor of history and Asian studies,
and Sarah Entenmann, freelance editor
Japan’s classical civilization emerged around the Inland Sea separating the main islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. Start your journey at the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, both founded in the eighth century. Stay at a Buddhist temple on Mt. Koya, headquarters of the Shingon sect, and then ferry to Beppu for a stay at a Japanese inn at a hot spring resort before continuing to Nagasaki, the site of Japan’s first contact with the West as well as the target of the second atomic bomb in World War II. Finish in Tokyo, Japan’s modern metropolis.
Seminars and suggested readings will examine classical Japanese civilization in the Heian period, Shinto and Buddhism, Japanese-European relations in Nagasaki, and Japan in World War II.
Itinerary Highlights
Kyoto
Originally a villa for a retired emperor, Nanzenji was turned into a Zen temple in 1291. The main building is built around a garden. Behind it is the Leaping Tiger Garden, one of the great Zen gardens of Japan. The Philosopher’s Path follows a tree-lined canal to Ginkakuji, originally a 15th-century shogun’s villa and now a Buddhist temple.
Ryoanji, a 15th-century Zen temple, is renowned for its dry-landscape garden of 15 rocks surrounded by sand. This austere garden has no vegetation other than moss.
Not far from Kyoto is Himeji Castle, also known as White Heron Castle, built during Japan’s 16th-century Warring States Period. With its whitewashed walls, five-story central tower, moats and defensive walls, it is strikingly beautiful and imposing.
Nara
The 8th-century Todaiji houses the Daibutsu, a 16-meter high statue of the Buddha, in the world’s largest wooden building. Horyuji, a Buddhist temple founded in 607, is the oldest temple in Japan and includes the world’s oldest wooden building.
Koyasan
A mountain-top complex of Buddhist temples, Koyasan is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism and the site of Okuno-in, an immense forested cemetery. We will stay at Rengejo-in, a temple built around a garden and serving vegetarian meals.
Beppu
On the western end of the Inland Sea we will stay at a ryokan, or Japanese-style inn, and enjoy Beppu’s renowned hot spring baths.
Nagasaki
The center of European presence in the 16th century and after Japan was again opened to the outside world in the 1850s, this city became a major port for western trade. Oura Church and Glover Garden are remnants of Nagasaki’s days as a 19th-century treaty port. On August 9, 1945, the city was the target of the second atomic bomb, memorialized in the Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Park.
Program Leaders
Robert Entenmann, professor of history and Asian studies, custom designed this Study Travel program. Bob’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Washington with a major in Far Eastern studies. He earned a master’s degree in East Asian studies at Stanford and a doctorate in history and East Asian languages at Harvard, where he was instructor in history from 1980 to 1981. Along the way he spent a year studying advanced Chinese and Japanese at the Inter-University Program in Chinese Language and Area Studies in Taiwan. Since 1971 he has traveled to Japan sixteen times (not counting short stopovers at the Tokyo airport on the way to China).
Sarah Entenmann has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia. She and Bob led Term in Asia in 1995-96 for St. Olaf students. They have also led Study Travel for adults: two programs in China, one in Vietnam and Cambodia, and one in Japan. Sarah enjoys reading autobiographies of and novels by Asians, studying Asian art, writing, listening to music and meeting new people.
Program Fee
The program fee is $6,800 per person through Feb. 1, 2009. Based on double occupancy, it includes:
- Seminars by Bob Entenmann
- Assistance by Sarah Entenmann and a national guide
- Roundtrip airfare from Minneapolis
- Accommodations
- Breakfast daily and several other group meals
- Group tours
- Admissions for group activities
- Ground transportation
- Gratuities
For single occupancy, add $510. To travel “land only” (making your own arrangements to and from Japan), subtract $1,600.
After Feb. 1, 2009, the program fee is $6,950 per person and could be subject to additional airfare. Payment schedule
Continuing Education Units
Approximately 40 hours of continuing education are available.
Register
Register online, call toll-free 866-255-6523 or fax 507-786-8232. A deposit of $500 per person guarantees your space.
