Japanese history. What do most people know about it? Lots of War, typhoons, earthquakes and.. oh, there’s Samurai 侍. Well, today I learnt a whole lot more about Japan’s history. I wouldn’t call myself a history buff or anything, but I really enjoy learning about other countries’ historical backgrounds. They always seem so much more interesting to me than America’s history. (Probably because I haven’t been learning about them since I was 5 years old.)

The most interesting observation I took away from today’s lesson was that Japanese Emperors and Shoguns weren’t very different from Old European Kings and Popes. Similar to the Kings and Popes of the past, the Emperor and Shoguns went back and forth fighting for power over the country for years and years. Popes and Shoguns, although they are representatives of two very different things (the Pope represents religion and faith, while the Shogun represented War and Power), they played very similar roles in their differing countries. Luckily, neither one has much power in modern times. The Shogun doesn’t exist anymore, and a Pope is merely a figurehead for the Catholic Church.

Japan’s history aside, we also talked about Japanese food in class today!!! The last time I visited Japan, several people would ask me about the food here. Because of that, I’ve been taking tons of pictures of mine and my friends’ foods and will continue to do so. Here are a couple photos I’ve taken so far. Enjoy!

Ramen