Feature

The Magical Land of Sunrise
(Samichi Japan- Miss you Japan)

Sharin Shajahan Naomi

Japan, the country of progressive and hard working people and technological wonders and bullet trains, has always appeared to me as an amazing place like those cities in science fiction. I always wanted to see that city but opportunities never came my way. It was destiny that finally took me to the Land of Sunrise.

We had to submit a written submission in the Law Department (DU) to get selected and after many nail-biting hours of waiting I came to know that Sagar and I have been selected among the top six for the Asia Cup Moot Court 2007. We flew out for Japan on 18th August to represent Bangladesh.

Upon landing at Tokyo airport, a bunch of young Japanese law students of International Law Student Exchange Council embraced us in a cordial manner. Then we met the other teams from Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. Though we became good friends with all the participants yet during the competition we fought ferociously to bring fame for our respective countries.

When the moot was over, we became free birds roaming the Tokyo city. One night, Mac and Jackson from Singapore; Ana from Hong Kong, my teammate Sagar and I went out for an adventure in Sibyua. Nights were our usual time for roaming out and gazing at the awesome lights of Tokyo city. An instant comparison used to come in my mind - I cannot go out at night in my own country and even feel uncomfortable walking out in the evening, but in Japan we used to walk late into the night without any hesitation.

After moot, we prepared ourselves for the symposium. We shifted to a traditional Japanese hotel where we started to feel the traditional Japanese touch through our common bedding, common bath system, the unique system of doors, windows, roof etc. Previously all the teams were together mentally, but this scope of physical closeness made us inseparable from each other. We had the honor to visit the parliament, the Supreme Court and their foreign ministry.

Every night we used to party, enjoying iced-coffees, juice, chocolates and snacks. Not only that, we all used to dance together in a free for all style completely ignoring the rules of dance. Japan has given me the definition of friendship, for example, I got Omote, who was my volunteer and now the greatest friend I ever got. He was like a shadow of security with me in Japan and never let me think that I am far away from my parents. I met Mayku, Kurado, Matashiro, the adorable ones. I became a good friend of team members of Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines. I have never laughed as much as I did with the Philippines team; I have never taken so many photos as I did with Mac and Ana from Singapore and Hong Kong. The wonderful moments that I have spent in Japan is impossible to confine in an article, perhaps the following romantic Japanese poem would be a fair try:

My mind is dazzled --
Did you come to visit me?
Did I go to you?
Was our night a dream? Reality?
Was I sleeping? Or was I awake?
( Kokinshu)

Japan is truly a land of sunrise, a land of rising sun of knowledge, delight, and security. As long as I will pursue happiness and success in life, I will whisper to myself in Japanese language " samichi Japan" (miss you Japan).