Our day at Nikko offered us beautiful scenic views of snowy mountains, clear rivers, and ancient cedars. It is easy to understand why it is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and why so many tourists, Japanese and foreign, choose to travel to Nikko. While the environments that we encountered at the Toshogu Shrine and elsewhere in Nikko are pristine examples of nature in Japan, it was also difficult not to notice various aspects of commercialization and commodification within Nikko. While Nikko is a globally recognized site renowned for its nature and beauty, by exploring Avenell’s idea of a “translocal community” I can articulate why our group also chose to stay at a much smaller and less internationally known place like ARI.
The tourism industry and internationalization of Nikko was first apparent by the uniquely decorated train that brought us there; many of the other passengers were also foreigners. Next, we took a crowded bus ride to Toshogu Shrine where we briefly interacted with a large tour group of Indonesians. Out the bus window I saw various restaurants advertising Nikko’s speciality “yuba,” as well as cafes, bakeries, and hamburger shops. Within Toshogu Shrine and after receiving a guided tour of a temple, our group was encouraged to buy small trinkets and gifts, similar to the wide variety of small souvenirs I noticed throughout the town. Finally, while at a small bakery near our train station, I overheard a disgruntled shop keeper whisper “gaijin” to his coworker as my classmates and I noisily made our selections, cementing my identity as a tourist and an outsider.
Our stay in Nikko allowed me to better appreciate why our time at ARI is so crucial to understanding environmental sustainability in Japan. In an idea that Avenell expresses,“the only way to find a larger vision is to be somewhere in particular” (6). Beyond just being in a specific place, however, Avenell also emphasizes the importance of community in his chapter on “The Therapy of Translocal Community.” In a way, Nikko represents visions of Japan that I had before coming here: temples, shrines, history, mountains, and trees. However, at Nikko I felt as though I was not part of a community in the way I am at ARI. While Nikko is a great place to learn about specific environments in Japan, at ARI individuals can come not just to learn but also to teach, an idea that had a “transformative effect” on scientist and activist Miyamoto (Avenell 61). For this reason it is at ARI that I feel able to understand a “universal vision, consciousness, and action transcending the local while remaining attached to it,” and able to carry it forward into my own local community at St. Olaf.
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