History/Culture Japan 1/23/23

Japan North to South, Hokkaido to Okinawa: A Virtual Introduction

It’s a country you could call a kaleidoscope of many cultures, cuisines, traditions, geographies and climates from Hokkaido’s bitter winters to Okinawa’s tropical warmth. Japan is one of the U.S.’s closest international partners and it has grown increasingly popular in mainstream American culture, yet it also remains mysterious and exotic to many.

Join Japanese American journalist and cultural consultant Gil Asakawa for this three-week Zoom course where he offers a virtual introduction to Japan via a class that’s both entertaining and enlightening. “I like to think of this course as a travelogue through my home country,” says Asakawa, who was born in Japan and lived there as a child. “I share my experiences growing up in Japan and the many places I’ve visited, including Nemuro at the easternmost tip of Hokkaido, the northernmost island and my mother’s hometown; the main island of Honshu including some of the familiar sights of major cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka; Kyushu and down to Okinawa.”

Asakawa also shares stops at Asakusa, a historic Buddhist Temple and shopping district, as well as lesser-known areas like Yanaka Ginza, a shopping street that evokes Tokyo of 70 years ago and features a fascination with cats to boot! Plus, see some of the haunting monuments to the horrors of war that have been preserved in the southernmost island Okinawa, as well as an annual festival of local seafood in Hokkaido. And enjoy a journey to Takayama, Denver’s Sister City in Japan, known for its famous fall festival.

And finally, get plenty of practical tips on traveling throughout the country now that Japan has reopened to tourism after the pandemic shutdown.

Three Zoom sessions

Mon., Jan. 23, 30, Feb. 6, 2023, 6:30–8:30 pm MT $105

Gil Asakawa was born in Tokyo and moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 8 years old. He’s also a journalist whose latest book, Tabemasho! Let’s Eat! The Tasty History of Japanese Food in America, was published in August, 2022. He published an earlier book, Being Japanese American, in 2004, with a revised second edition published in 2014. His blog, NikkeiView.com, covers Japanese, Japanese American and Asian American issues. He’s spoken about Japan and Japanese Americans to groups across the country and the Pacific. He is a member of the U.S.-Japan Council and chair of the Denver Takayama Sister City Committee, celebrating its 62nd year of close ties with Takayama, which is nestled in the Japanese Alps.

I’m looking forward to teaching a DU Enrichment Program class again, this time on traveling through Japan and sharing information about its diverse regions, culture, and food! Students are eager to learn and engage with the course material. ~ Gil Asakawa, instructor