Send Merrik to Japan!

Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to check out my fundraiser. I appreciate any and all support as I learn about other parts of the world! Here is a little bit about what you will be helping to make possible... I have the fantastic opportunity to spend 9 days traveling to Japan through a program at Chinook Middle School! I will leave for Japan on July 17, 2023, flying across the Pacific Ocean (an overnight flight!), and landing in Tokyo, where I will spend my first 3 days. I will get a tour of the city, visit the Asakusa Kannon Temple, which is the oldest temple in Japan, visit the Harajuku shopping district, and see the Meiji Shrine, which is located in a beautiful garden hidden in the middle of Tokyo! I will also learn about sumo and enjoy a sumo-style hot pot dinner. I will round out my time in Tokyo with a visit to a technology showroom, a tour of Akihabara electric town, and a visit to the Joyopolis indoor theme park! Day 5 will be spent traveling to Kamakura to visit the Hachimangu Shrine and the Great Buddha of Kamakura, which is ginormous and super gorgeous. We will continue on to Hakone, which I am told has crater lakes and sulfur springs, and you can see Mt Fuji from where I will be staying. From Hakone, I will travel to Owakudani and tour the Hakone National Park. It looks magnificent in pictures! I cannot wait to see it in person. Our group will take a cruise on Lake Ashi and ride a cable car up Mount Komagatake. (so exciting and scary!) I’ll get a photo at the Odawara Castle and then take my first ride on a bullet train to our next stop - Kyoto. In Kyoto, I will spend day 7 taking an expert-led tour of the city, visiting Kyoto’s Golden Zen Temple (Kinkaku-Ji), a Zen Buddhist temple painted in gold leaf and Nijo Castle. There will also be a tour of Arashiyama, which has a ton of unique shrines and temples and, best of all, an incredible bamboo forest! I will end the day seeing a live kimono show at the Textile Center. On my final day in Japan, I will visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine at the base of Inari Mountain. It was for honoring the God of rice and has stone foxes everywhere since they were messengers for Inari. I hope they are as cute as they sound. I will travel to Nara next for a guided tour of our final temple, the Todaiji Temple and see Daibutsu, the world’s largest Buddha statue. We will end in Osaka and explore the famous Canal of Dotonbori. Day 9 I will spend flying back to my family and friends with: • More knowledge about the Otaku culture I already love (which includes anime, manga, Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Kawaii idols, and more) • An expanded food pallet since I will get to dine on authentic Japanese cuisine for every breakfast and dinner. I can’t wait to try legit sushi! • I will have done many different types of travel I have not done before, such as an over-the-ocean flight, cable car, bullet train, cruises and motorcades. • I will have a ton of great photos of all the crazy awesome scenery and nature and all the history I will learn about, like the temples and shrines. • I will have had excellent experiences like the kimono show, which I could only do here. (and hopefully a souvenir or two for my siblings) • Lastly, I will have memories of experiences that will be once in a lifetime and that will never be forgotten. Thank you to everyone who has helped to make this all possible. I feel happy and loved. Merrik