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Not a complete story, but scattered moments: a reflection in a street mirror, the pause between oncoming trains, the joy of freshly made smoothies at the convenience store.
Japan was our first rotation, the beginning of everything. It was where we took our first steps together out in the world as the first Taejae cohort. We would walk out onto unfamiliar streets everyday with curiosity, uncertainty, and excitement.
Over time, Japan gave us both exciting experiences and quiet in-between moments like waiting for trains, getting lost, learning together, and slowly finding our place in a foreign country.
These memories were never complete stories, but fragments— fleeting, imperfect, and personal.
This series gathers those fragments from our first global rotation as the first Taejae cohort: the first memories we built together abroad, the first place that shaped us as a cohort. Although scattered, they remain etched in our memory, marking the point where our global journey truly began.
Narita International Airport
My first impressions of Japan were a blur of transport and motion; long corridors, underground stairways, and streams of people. Surrounded by unfamiliar signs and sounds, I felt very small yet present. These moments marked my first steps into a new place and chapter in our global rotation life.
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Standing at the Asakusa crossing on my first day in Japan, I faced the infamous Don Quijote, with Tokyo Tower peaking out in the distance. At that moment, Japan felt so real. The streets, the people, the atmosphere - everything carried a rhythm I had only previously known through anime and film.
One thing that stood out about Japan are the stairs and the days that ended with 20,000 steps.
