The FGL students went to Naruko-kyo Gorge to enjoy the colorful autumn leaves on Saturday November 9th. Naruko-kyo Gorge is in Osaki City, which stretches between the north east and west areas of Miyagi prefecture. As you know, the Japanese love to experience the four seasons, and seeing autumn foliage is one means of doing so.
Before visiting the gorge, we stopped by the Kankaku Museum (感覚ミュージアム). Founded in 2000, this is the first museum in Japan to be themed on the five senses—vision, hearing, smelling, taste and touch. It consists of two spaces, the monologue zone (瞑想空間) and dialogue zone (身体感覚空間). In the monologue zone, you feel various things by varying the lights or immersing your body in a room with an awkward shape. In the dialogue zone, however, you can feel something else by using tools and touching physical materials by yourself. Many of the students were delighted and we could hear them saying "Wow!" and "Ah!" everywhere.Then we stopped by Katanuma Lake for lunch. This time, we brought boxed lunches and dined along the lakeside in the sunshine. On the way to this place, students were already able to see autumn foliage. When they arrived at the gorge after lunch, the whole landscape was so beautiful. While enjoying seeing the gorge, the students did not miss the food stalls, which were like those at the university festival. As is obvious, the appetite of some students was even greater than the grandeur of nature. Overall, however, all participants seemed to enjoy the whole schedule, and there was constant laughter and glee among students and professors through the day.
