A Glimpse of Sendai: Exploring Student Life in Japan (Part 2)

Exploring Student Life in Japan Part 2

In part 1, I have already introduced to you my life as a student in Tohoku University. Now, I would like to introduce to you my dorm and some nice places around my dorm.

Low Rental Fee, High Living Quality
UNIVERSITY HOUSE SANJO II

My dorm is called University House Sanjo II, located about 40min walking distance away from my campus. Thus, I have to cycle to my university every day. However, it is cheap staying at the dorm and every room is fully furnished. You can save like a few 10,000 yen per month if you stay in the dorm. Tohoku University international students are allowed to stay in the university dormitory for 1 year. You can extend your living period by applying to be a student advisor of the dorm. Student advisors are assigned to help the students in the dorm and organize activities for cultural exchange.

The Kitchen

I am staying in an 8-person unit with shared kitchen and bathrooms. In the kitchen, there are induction heating (IH) stoves, rice cookers, microwave oven, toaster, refrigerator for unit use. The single unit consists of a range of students with different nationality. This is to encourage international communications among the students (photo 1).

Recycling

Japan is a country that puts a lot of effort into garbage segragation before disposal. Residents in a unit in the dorm who are on duty have to discard rubbish when the rubbish bin is full. Normally in Japan, there are different days of the week for the collection of different types of garbage. However, for the convenience of international students, we are allowed to take out the trash whenever we like.

The garbage is mainly separated into 4 types: combustible garbage, plastics, cans and PET bottles (photo 2). Each type of rubbish must be put into a certain plastic bags assigned by the Sendai government. You can buy these plastic bags at the supermarket or at convenient stores. The photo on the right shows the garbage bag for combustible garbage (photo 3).

For paper waste, residents have to compile their own paper waste and bring it out when there is an announcement from the management office (normally the 1st and 3rd Monday in a month).

Washroom

This is our washroom. There are 3 toilets, 3 sinks, 3 shower rooms and 2 washing machines (photo 4).

Our toilets are equipped with a lot of buttons, including one that plays the sound of flowing water to cover up the embarrassing sound when you are using the toilet, and also the “washlet” to clean up instead of using toilet paper. So, let’s check out the buttons (photo 5).

The big button on the right is to flush. The one beside it is to create the sound of flowing water. The two buttons in the middle, beside the stop button on the left, is for the washlet. Also, unlimited toilet paper is also prepared for emergency use (photo 6)!

My Room

And finally, This is my room (photo 7). My room is not that big, but is complete with a bed, 2 shelves (one is for the clothes and one is for books etc.), a desk and a chair. Also, each room is also equipped with an air conditioner that gives out both cool air for summer and warm air for winter.

My Favorite

ShiheiDou
The Taste of Local Japanese Sweetness

Whenever I am free, I like to go for a walk around the area where I stay. The place I like the most is ShiheiDou.

ShiheiDou is a shop selling shihei manju (子平饅頭 – a kind of Japanese confection made of flour with red bean paste filling), called ShiheiDou (子平堂). The shop is founded on the year Showa 13 (昭和13年- year 1938AD) and has been inherited by successive generations to this day. The name of the sweet is given by the name of the town, Shihei-Machi (子平町).

Shihei Manju. It is nice to be served hot with Japanese green tea.

Osakihachimangu Shrine
Finding Peace

Bad things happen sometimes in everyone’s life. When I am unhappy, I like to find peace in Osakihachimangu (大崎八幡宮)Shrine, near my dorm.

Cherry blossoms at the shrine.

The shrine during New Year’s.

Flower Hunting
The Pleasures of Spring

Whenever spring comes, I like walking around the place I stay to take photos of beautiful flowers.

Hydrangeas at Shifukuji (資福寺) Temple.

The “rose garden” in a random residential area I found on my way to the supermarket.

A splendid cherry blossom tree found at a random residential area near my place.

Plum blossoms at a temple near Sanjo.

WRITERS PROFILE

GAN WEN SHUOH

27 years old. Bachelor’s Degree holder in Japanese Language and Linguistics program. Currently pursuing Master’s Degree in Cultural Anthropology, Doing research on Japanese chess culture at Tohoku University, Japan. Loves Japanese chess and Japanese culture.