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Freshers Welcome Meet November 12, 2016 Lake Chuzenji, Nikko, JAPAN As the temperatures slowly recede to signal the onset of chilly winters, two things have recently been observed to happen in Japan. Firstly, the beautiful season of autumn gracefully makes its presence felt with colourful transformation of surrounding landscapes. Secondly – and more interestingly – fresh Alumni from IIT Bombay take their first steps into Japan. In continuation of our tradition of welcoming young graduates to this land of the East, this year’s Freshers Welcome Meet was organized on November 12 as a part of IITBAA Japan Chapter’s activities to strengthen ties with our Institute, and the two countries, India and Japan (with a pleasant change!). Cover photo credits: Balachandran Radhakrishnan

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Preparation

After the successful execution and overwhelming participation for the Freshers Welcome Meet in 2015, the Executive Council (EC) members were quite motivated to try out different exciting options. When the idea of conducting an outdoor event was floated, all the EC members unanimously welcomed the pleasant change and decided to support the organizational activities. Preparations began in mid-August. With help from IITBAA office at IIT Bombay, the Chapter confirmed Alumni of 2016 Japan batch, along with their location of residences. It was observed that the participant population was concentrated in two regions – Koriyama city and Tokyo ward areas. When deciding the venue, the beautiful Lake Chuzenji near the historically famous city of Nikko came as a natural choice, as it has good connectivity with both regions, and the event timing would perfectly coincide with the peak of autumn colour change season. In order to reduce travel times and expenses, rental car option of transportation was chosen by the Tokyo participants. As per the convenience of their residences, they were grouped in two units to be accommodated in two rental cars. EC members not only arranged rental car pre-booking but also volunteered to drive the cars.

Photo credits: Balachandran Radhakrishnan

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Photo credits: Prakash Chaki

The option of rail transport worked out well for the participants from Koriyama.

Photo credits: Anuraag Pandey

EC members shouldered the responsibilities of ticket purchases and coordinated with the participants.

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Event To enjoy the bright & sunny weather in Nikko, it was decided to start the journey early morning and finish the Meet by sundown. All groups started around 0600hrs from their residences, as they made their way to Lake Chuzenji. The journey gave everyone ample opportunities to witness the beautifully painted natural canvas in its full glory all along the way.

Photo credits: Prakash Chaki

Photo credits: Balachandran Radhakrishnan

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The groups assembled at the tourist centre of Lake Chuzenji around noon, which eventually timed with the much needed lunch break.

Photo credits: Aniket Khade

For many participants, especially the 2016 batch Alumni, it was the first time to enjoy a taste of Japanese cuisine. While some tried Soba (buckwheat noodles in hot stew), others ordered tempura (deep fried vegetables & fish) set menus along with matcha (green tea).

Photo credit: Aniket Khade

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With the lunch in progress, the participants took turns to introduce themselves. It was a quite interesting to notice the wide diversity amongst the participants with respect to their hometowns, spoken languages, fields of specialization, interests, hobbies and notions about Japan before and after coming here. Senior Alumni shared their experiences on Japanese way of life and work culture, giving helpful insights and guidance on things to expect and ways to deal with them.

Photo credits: Balachandran Radhakrishnan

With all the stomachs full, it was time to enjoy the rest of the day with the magnificent Lake Chuzenji!

Photo credits: Abhijit Datta

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Finding some free time before the boat cruise, participants took a brief stroll on the shores of the lake, interacting amongst themselves and discussing various topics.

Photo credits: Prakash Chaki

Living up to the informal nature of the Meet, the highlight of the event was an hour long boat cruise in the lake. The participants got an opportunity to be in the company of others while pondering at blue skies and blue waters. It was also a time for Senior Alumni to provide useful and interesting information which help to ease certain anxieties of the Freshers.

Photo credits: Balachandran Radhakrishnan Photo credits: Raghunath Bellala

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As the sunlight mellowed towards the end of the day, a final stroll was taken to the nearby Kegon Falls. Falling from a total height of almost 100 metres, it is considered as one of the three great waterfalls of Japan. The surroundings of the waterfall gave a glimpse of the ensuing barren and brown shades of cold winters about to set in.

Photo credits: Raghunandan Krishnamurthy

The fact that such an assortment of natural colours and intensity could be observed at one place left many of the participants with a pleasant surprise and is bound to inspire them to travel and explore many such facets of natural Japan. By 1700hrs in the evening, the groups started their return journeys. Each of the groups had dinner enroute and eventually reached their residences by midnight.

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Summary With a total of 36 people, including Alumni, family members and guests, this year’s Welcome Meet saw the largest ever participation for any event ever organized under IITBAA Japan Chapter activities and all the members made it a grand success! The Chapter would like to thank all the participants for their co-operation and their sincere efforts in all aspects for organizing such a fun-filled and happy get-together. We hope to get more opportunities to organize such events with ever increasing participation in times to come.

Photo credits: A friendly Japanese volunteer

Aniket Ashok Khade IITB Alumni Association – Japan Chapter

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Photo credits: Utkarsh Shrivastava