Day 1
After 24 hours, the Cats have finally made it to Japan! We started our long journey from Tucson at 3:30 am beginning with a road trip to the San Diego airport where we would depart for Tokyo later in the day. After 7 hours of driving we finally made it to San Diego with a few hour to spare before our flight so decided to have  a quick bite to eat at Snooze Eatery in preparation for our 12 hour flight! Finally we made it to the airport and boarded our flight eager for our adventure to begin! After one long flight we landed in Tokyo but our traveling was not done quite yet. We then loaded a bus for a 2 hour ride to the city where our hotel was. After a long two days of traveling we couldn't have been more excited to reach our hotel in Tokyo. We have a fun tripped planned and can't wait to share with you what's in store!
- Maggie Cohen

Day 2
Today was the first day we had breakfast in Japan. At the breakfast they provided both the traditional continental American buffet and a Japanese buffet. The Japanese buffet consisted of rice, daily fish and a selection of vegetables. Once we finished breakfast we traveled to the fish market. We toured around the market and saw a variety of fish from shrimp, octopus and squid. There are 12 fish markets and they supply all the fish for Japan. For lunch we visited an area full of local stall restaurants that served a variety of food. Half of the group ate ramen and the other half had rice and raw tuna. It was delicious. After lunch we traveled on the subway back to the hotel which was an adventure. It is very busy and can be very confusing. The team got a couple of hours to relax at the hotel before heading to dinner. When entering the restaurant we was greeted by kind staff. At the table we had to take off our shoes which was a new experience. The dinner consisted of a set menu starting with an appetizer and finishing with dessert. The appetizer was a potato rolled into a ball and placed on a bed of salt. The next few plates was raw fish ranging from octopus, squid and tuna. The restaurant also specializes in grilled chicken and was given the chicken on a skewer. On one of the plates we tried chicken from the chicken neck. The dinner was a great environment and gave the team a chance to try traditional Japanese food.
- Sophia Thomas



Day 3
Third day of the trip we had our first played match against Meji University. The match started at 9:30am so we did our usual warm up before playing. After doing introductions we exchanged shirts and received a poster from the girls on the team. Three doubles were played and seven singles matches. Once the matches were over we went to the temple where we were able to go walk around and see all the little shops and purchase little souvenirs. Later that evening we walked to Skytree which is one of the tallest buildings. The girls enjoyed it, they said it was extremely pretty to see Toyko from a different view point and that is a wonderful experience. For the remainder of the free time before going back to the hotel we explored the mall. Overall it was an extremely exciting day from being able to compete to seeing from seeing a part of Japan for Skytree.
- Mary Lewis

Day 4
After a good night of sleep and a very powerful breakfast we were ready to leave to the competition site at the Nihon University. First up was an hour subway ride to reach the beautiful facility where we were welcomed by the players and coaches. The players and coaches stood at the entrance to come say hello and show us were we could put our stuff.  Whenever we went from inside to outside we had to remove our shoes because they were not allowed.  We stretched our bodies out before we warmed up since the train was ride so long. Before we started the matches, we exchanged shirts and went through introductions from senior to freshmen on the Nihon University side. Once this was completed we were ready to take on our opponents. We battled and had an amazing time on the court. We also learned a lot from the Japanese tennis culture like respect, battling and working as a team to accomplish one similar goal. Afterwards we had some free time before we had to catch the bullet train to our next destination KYOTO!!
- Marie Van Aelst



Day 4
Today was a very busy day. We woke up early to explore Kyoto. First we visited the Golden Pavilion. That is a park in which a beautiful golden temple, covered with 50 pounds of gold, was located. The temple was surrounded by a little lake and mountains in the background. We walked around in the park and enjoyed learning more about the temple and its background. After that we went to visit another temple, which we could enter. It was very interesting to see a temple from the inside. We continued with a walk through an enormous bamboo forest and arrived at a monkey park. We hiked a mountain to arrive at the top where we could walk around monkeys in their habitat and feed them from behind a fence. It was a truly amazing experience to be as close as we were to the monkeys. They came very close and mimicked our facial expressions and enjoyed the attention as much as we did. After we hiked back down, we could use a little bit of rest and decided to take a boat trip on the Katsuru River. It was a breathtaking experience. We took a boat without motor therefore we could really enjoy the power of nature around us. To finish up our day, we visited one of the biggest and oldest markets in Japan, the Nishiki Market. The market is 400 years old and filled with little stores. We ate dinner there before going back to the hotel. Today was a busy but great day! 
- Gitte Heynemans





Day 5
Our day in Kyoto was amazing. We woke up and walked to a nearby park and had a nice stretch with the team to get our mind right and relax our muscles from all the walking. We started off the morning visiting Sanjusagendo Hall that is famous for its 1,001 Buddha statues and for being the longest wooden structure in Japan. It was breathtaking. Then, we took a little hike to see many different shrines, but the hike was covered most of the way by Japanese arches engraved with Japanese symbols. It was well worth the trek. After the hike we had a chance to shower and get ready for the tea ceremony where we learned how to prepare and serve the tea in the traditional Japanese way. Low and behold, there were very many steps making it difficult to memorize because tea masters have to have 20 years of practice. Last but not least we saw another temple that was very colorful with the forest in the background. It called for some awesome photo ops! So far, Japan has been unreal and will forever be unforgettable. 
- Camila Wesbrooks



Day 6
Today we woke up early at 6am for our tennis practice. After that, we started to make our way to our last destination, which was Osaka! We took an short 40 minute train ride. It was raining the whole day! So we checked our stuff in the hotel and went to the Sake museum, and we saw how they made sake from rice and the process the rice went through and it was very cool. The next thing we did was go to China town! We tried some of the food street there and went to see the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park. It showed and explained the results from this earthquake that happened 20 years ago through a video clip. After such a long and good day we all decided to go back to the hotel and get some good and well deserved sleep for our next day.
- Talya Zandberg

Day 7
Today we woke up very early to leave for our last day of competition. We left the hotel at 6:45 AM for Aioi Gakuin. We took a subway, a train, and a shuttle to get to the courts. We played at a really nice indoor facility where Davis Cup is played and will also be a site for the Olympics in 2020. Everyone played a set of doubles and a shortened match where we played two sets up to 4 games instead of 6. We took the shuttle back to the train station where we had a team lunch and celebrated Maggie and Dev playing their last matches as Wildcats. After taking the train and the subway back we traveled to the center of Osaka where we had time to explore. We did group karaoke which was one of my favorite things we did this trip. The center of Osaka reminded me of Times Square in New York. This was one of my favorite days!
- Taylor Tamblyn 





Day 8

This morning we took a rather long train ride to Hiroshima. To say it was eye opening was an understatement. I am glad they kept the A bomb dome the way it is, as a reminder to everyone who comes to see it of the devastation that the bomb left over Hiroshima. There was a lot of reading to do at the museum and I was glad they had it. I learned a lot about the whole situation and the development of nuclear weapon. Seeing photos of the victims, reading the journal entries of the desperate mothers and fathers trying to find their children was just heart breaking. The major lesson that the museum was trying to teach was the importance of world peace, I think that really hit home for us.  

Next we went to Miyajima Island which was super pretty! They had these cute wild deer that were so friendly and tried to eat our paper! O the island we went to a shrine that had a quite a few stairs…but not as many from a few days before! This shrine was very beautiful as it embraced the moisture and mossiness of the island with lots of little pools and grottos. These places felt so peaceful, a vibe that I cannot say I can find in the US yet.  
- Devin Chypyha

Day 9 

Today we were all pretty tired, we had walked around 100 miles around Japan at this point. We walked to Osaka castle and explored the grounds a bit and then entered the castle. I think many of us were sad that the castles insides had be turned into a modern museum. I would have liked to see what it was like originally.  

We then went back to the hotel and relaxed a bit before heading off to the airport. It was just a wonderfully amazing 10 days. I never thought Japan could be this beautiful. I loved the culture, the discipline of the people and also the structure. Definitely the trip of a lifetime.   
-Devin Chypyha