Sustainable Energy in Japan
Hello. My name is Josh Stokley and I am a mechanical engineer senior at the University of Washington and this is about my time studying sustainable energy and culture in Japan. First off, I would like to say that for this study abroad, it is a must to travel at least a week before the actual dates to experience more of Japan. Me and three others were in Tokyo for 5 days walking around, site seeing, and coming across amazing castles and beautiful landscape. I was able to try amazing food and experience rush hour on the trains in Tokyo which is an experience I will never forget.
Matstuyama is the city where the study abroad took place. And wow can I say it is gorgeous. I was constantly in awe of the mountains and the greenery there as well as the huge castle that sits on a hill in the middle of the city. In the picture below, it shows us walking down the steps from that castle. I didn’t know what to expect when I went to Matsuyama, or how much I would be learning or what I would experience. But to put it lightly, it was the best three weeks of my life. I was constantly consumed by the culture and the history of Matsuyama and the deeply rooted traditions in society that I got to witness constantly. One examples is that when you formerly meet someone, it’s tradition to give that person a gift of some sort.
I felt very cared for by the people in Matsuyama. They were very loving and wanted to show off their city, the food they like to eat, and their hobbies that they like to be apart of.
So I am going to talk about some of my highlights of Matsuyama and I would like to start off with one of my favorite things to do, and that was to go back to the place we all were living in the evening and sit around a big table and play cards, drink, talk, and overall have a great time. The people I was fortunate to travel with became some of my closest friends because of the time we had together laughing and playing games with. Many times Japanese students from the university would come to hangout with us there too!
Another highlight was the actual studying part of the trip. We got to do research based around sustainable energy with Master students at Ehime University. I got to study silicon gel as a high voltage is applied to it and study the electrical trees that are produced in the gel. It was fascinating. I gained great experience in research there as well as made life long friends that live here! Senpei and Yuu were great guys and I enjoyed my time with them very much!
One of the field trips we took was to Hiroshima. That was a very humbling experience. Going into this field trip, I didn’t think much of it. The event of world war II happened way before my time and it was something I didn’t think about how it affected the area at the time. As we went through the museum, I read story after story of the families and people that this bomb affected directly and indirectly for decades. It was so sad to read about and look at the horrific pictures and items they had from those days. It was completely sobering. One thing to note is that there were a ton of people in that museum and it was completely silent. I have never been in a room with so many people and it be so quiet.
By far the highlight of this trip was the people I got to hang around. From the people I travelled with to the Japanese people I researched with and even the professors as well. They were a ton of fun! Many nights we would go out together and go do karaoke or go to the hot springs and relax or go to the bar and have a great time. The community that was built there and the memories that was created I will hold onto forever and I am so grateful I got to have this experience and be able to share that with those like you. Thank you for taking your time and reading this and if you’re a mechanical engineer, I would highly recommend this trip, it is once in a lifetime kind of trip and you will not regret it.
Josh Stokley, Early Fall 2019
