Last minutes in Tokyo: Sayonara Tokyo Charm

I walked and took pictures the last few hours free after the 10 city presentations were finished. I was exhausted, afraid to get lost, happy, eager to see my family and school back home. I was also very sad. I realized there was so much I had not experienced. Should I have done things differently? Did I take advantage of every minute?

As I looked at the beauty and intriguing Tokyo scenes, I was dissapointed that the daily eye and mind opening experiences surrounding me would not be part of my routine anymore.

I want to ask so many questions. I want to experience conversing in Japanese, not just pointing and using one word speeches. I do not think you can know the "Kokoro=Heart" of any place unless you communicate in their language.


My conclusions are from "my eyes opening my mind". We are different in the way we develop products that are useful to our communities, but we feel and demonstrate fear, hope, happiness, and kindness very much the same way. We all hold our families, our honor and our way of life in a high place. We all want a better reality for the future generations, a world without wars, a world where we can respect and grow from our differences, a world with peace.

The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter. Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) was history's greatest martial artist. He was the founder of Aikido, which can be translated as "The Art of Peace."


As I type and look at my pictures, the whole trip seems like a distant wonderful dream. I wish I were a poet or a writer to express how much this experience has meant to me, but I think it is almost impossible to describe it with words. It was a trip of a life time. I came to test my understanding of diversity as a source of unity and creativity. Well, I have taken a step in the right direction, but I am more certain than ever that "understanding diversity" will be a lifetime quest.