Foreign Tour Central: Women's Basketball in Japan
8/14/2026 9:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Daily updates from women's basketball's 2026 foreign tour to Japan
GoColumbiaLions.com will post daily updates on the Lions' whereabouts, including pictures and videos from the tour. Check here every morning for a complete summary from each day.
DAY 3 – Exhibition Game 1 & Fushimi Inari Taisha
Columbia played its first game of the foreign tour on Friday, facing off against Ritsumeikan University Biwako Kusatsu Campus. After an exchange of gifts between the two sides, the game got underway at around 1:45 p.m., local time. The Lions led for all but 42 seconds and were ahead by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter on the way to victory. Riley Weiss scored a team-high 17 points and collected a team-high nine rebounds. Incoming transfer Mary Ashley Stevenson (Purdue, Stanford) scored 16 off the bench with four assists, four rebounds and a block, while Hilke Feldrappe, a second-year transfer from Mizzou, rounded out a trio of double-figure scorers with an even 10. Columbia also dominated on the glass, 53-35.
Friday's evening activity was a trip to Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto's most iconic Shinto shrine. It is world-famous for its paths framed by over 10,000 vibrant vermilion torii gates winding up sacred Mount Inari. Founded in 711 A.D., it serves as the head shrine dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, agriculture, business prosperity, and good fortune. The stone foxes at Fushimi Inari Taisha are known as kitsune. They are not the gods themselves, but rather the sacred messengers of Inari, the Shinto deity of rice, agriculture, business, and prosperity. Historically, wild foxes hunted the mice and rats that ate the farmers' rice crops. Because foxes protected the harvests, ancient farmers viewed them as a blessing and a natural partner of Inari, the god of agriculture. Over the centuries, this practical relationship evolved into the religious belief that foxes were the deity's literal guardians and messengers.
The team returned to the hotel afterward to end the night with free time in Kyoto.
DAY 2 – Kinkaku-ji & Kiyomizu-dera
Following a traditional Japanese breakfast at the hotel, the team gathered for a day of exploring historic Kyoto's Japanese temples and shrines. They first toured Kinkaku-ji, which translates to "Temple of the Golden Pavilion". It was first constructed in the late 14th century after the property was purchased by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga Shogun, who transformed it into a massive, luxurious retirement palace. Following his death in 1408, it was converted into a Buddhist temple. Its top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955.
Temple hopping through Kyoto 🏯
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The second temple the Lions visited, Kiyomizu-dera, literally translates to "Pure Water Temple". The name comes from the sacred Otowa Waterfall located within the temple grounds, where clear, pristine mountain water has flowed for over a thousand years. Its history dates back over 1,250 years to when it was founded in 778. The grounds spread over 130,000 square meters along the mid-slope of Mt. Otowa in the eastern part of Kyoto. Most of the present buildings were reconstructed in 1633. In 1944, Kiyomizu-dera Temple was registered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.
Following a full day of temple exploration, the team had free time for dinner and to explore downtown Kyoto in the evening.
DAY 1 – Departure & Arrival
The Lions departed Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday, August 11, around 10:30 a.m. ET, and landed in Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Wednesday, August 12, around 1:15 p.m., local time. They then took a short connecting flight from Tokyo to Osaka, before bussing to the historic former capital of Kyoto. After settling into the hotel, the team walked to the Kyoto Tower Sando for dinner.
Columbia WBB Foreign Tour Itinerary:
August 11 | Depart New York City for Japan
August 12 | Land in Osaka, Bus to Kyoto
August 13 | Kinkaku-ji & Kiyomizu-dera
August 14 | Exhibition Game #1, Fushini Inari Taisha Trail
August 15 | Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Traditional Tea Ceremony
August 16 | Bullet Train to Hiroshima, Peace Memorial Museum
August 17 | Bullet Train to Tokyo, Orientation
August 18 | Tokyo Skytree, City Exploration, Exhibition Game #2
August 19 | Exhibition Game #3 vs. Japanese National Team, TeamLab Immersive Experience
August 20 | Amazing Race Tokyo, Sightseeing
August 21 | Return to New York City
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