Over the course of fourteen weeks, this thesis was sculpted and perfected. Working with the Japanese department head and lead professor,  I met one-on-one with Hanai sensei weekly for thirty-minutes to an hour long sessions conversing in Japanese only. Our conversation covered vast topics of culture, life aboard, and eventually landing on my experience touring the DMZ. Although challenging, Hanai sensei encouraged me to talk about my experience and share my opinions in Japanese- diving deeper with each meeting. Along with weekly conversation, I was also writing weekly passages, building on the previous week with a new thought-provoking question. 

This thesis covers four main parts. The introduction and first paragraph being an explanation of why I went on the tour. It was inspired by a Korean society course I took during my study abroad in South Korea. My group and I were conducting research on unification. We decided to see the DMZ first-hand to better understand the propaganda, the want for unification, and the ongoing war. The second part details the underground tunnels. These 220 meter long tunnels were dug out by North Korean soldiers to make contact with South Korea. Their intentions and how many tunnels exist are still unclear to this day. They covered this project with a lie, simply stating they were "searching for coal". The North Korean soldiers made black markings on the wall that can still be seen to convince the public they indeed found coal. Coal does not exist in South Korea.

In the third section was the moment I stepped onto the observation deck. The gloom washed over me and the overwhelming feeling of a capitalist state was put into perspective. I was taken aback by the multiple gift shops and North Korean memorabilia, not to mention the endless cutesy characters decorating the perimeter. It was a feeling of looking into a zoo, binoculars included.

The last section makes note of my final thoughts and the importance of recognizing the on-going war and dual side propaganda.