Foreign Tour Central: Women's Basketball in Japan
8/18/2026 8:00:00 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 7 – Tokyo Skytree & Exhibition Game #2
Tuesday began with a trip to the Tokyo Skytree. Measuring 2,080 feet, it is the world's tallest tower and the third-tallest structure. On the way there, the team passed through the Tokyo ward of Sumida and the neighborhood of Ryogoku, which is home to many sumo wrestling training stables, where active sumo wrestlers live, train and eat. They also saw the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena, which hosts official 15-day Grand Sumo Tournaments three times a year.
Once at the Tokyo Skytree, the Lions took the elevator up 350 meters to the first observation deck. The elevator carries a top speed of 600 meters per minute, or just over 22 miles per hour. They then took a second elevator to the higher deck, measuring 450 meters in the air. From this deck, there is a 360-degree panoramic view of the entire Kanto region. On clear days, views stretch nearly 70 kilometers and reveal Mount Fuji in the distance.
The team then bussed back to the hotel to eat and get ready for their second exhibition game of the trip. Before the game, the players and staff hosted a youth clinic with local students from American School in Japan (ASIJ).
Tuesday's game was against Rikkyo University Niiza Campus, which posted a 14-5 record last season with an 11-3 mark in league play. They achieved the team's highest national finish in program history, making it to the quarterfinals of the national tournament and earning league promotion to Division 1.
As for the game, Riley Weiss scored 10 first-quarter points to help the Lions jump out to a 27-16 lead. The Lions then piled it on in the second quarter with seven different scorers, highlighted by eight points from Mia Broom in the period. They led by as many as 25 in the third quarter to coast to victory. Broom finished with 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Weiss scored 20 points in 20 minutes to go with four steals, five rebounds and a pair of assists. The Lions totaled 24 assists, 13 steals and outrebounded Rikkyo 56-34.
The team wrapped up a busy day with dinner in downtown Tokyo.
DAY 6 – Travel to Tokyo
Monday was mainly a travel day for the team. The Lions departed their hotel in Hiroshima around 9 a.m. and boarded a 10 a.m. Shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo. The nearly 510-mile journey takes a little less than four hours on the high-speed train. The train arrived just around 2 p.m. The Lions met up with their tour guide for the Tokyo portion of the trip and boarded the bus to their hotel. After checking in and a mobility session to shake off the train ride, they had a team dinner at The Warehouse, located on the second floor of Aloft Tokyo Ginza. They capped the day back at the hotel with a film session to prepare for their next two exhibition games over the next two days.
DAY 5 – Travel to Hiroshima, Peace Memorial Museum
Sunday morning started with a ride on Japan's famous Bullet Train, the Shinkansen, a world-famous network of high-speed passenger trains reaching speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. The team boarded a 9:33 train at Kyoto Station, arriving in Hiroshima Station at 11:11, covering the 230-mile route in roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Once at their destination, the team had a quick lunch before being guided through the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The park includes the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which collects and displays belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials from the event. After spending over an hour in the museum, the team's tour guide took the Lions over to the A-Bomb Dome, which is the skeletal ruins of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and the building closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb. It has been left as it was after the bombing in memory of the casualties. The tour of the park also highlighted the moving history behind the Children's Peace Memorial and the Peace Bell.
After checking into the hotel around 5 p.m., the Lions had a few hours of downtime before ending the day with a team dinner at Micchan Sohonten. It is the birthplace of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.A deeply poignant day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial 🕊️🇯🇵
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) August 17, 2026
🎬 @BLVCKPICS #RoarLionRoar // #EDGE // #OnlyHere 🦁🗽 pic.twitter.com/WIeT33DAQq
DAY 4 – Arashiyama Bamboo Grove & Traditional Tea Ceremony
The team's third full day in Kyoto began with a trip to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a famous natural bamboo forest located in the western outskirts of the city. Featuring towering stalks of moso bamboo, the enclosed walking trail cuts through the dense green stalks, gently climbing uphill toward mountain villas and shrines. The sound of the bamboo rustling in the breeze has even been recognized as one of Japan's 100 Soundscapes, a designation celebrating the country's most treasured natural sounds. Tenryu-ji Temple and the Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama are the two anchor attractions flanking the Bamboo Grove. The temple features the wondrous 14th-century Sogenchi Garden. Together, they represent a perfect mix of ancient Zen history and active wildlife engagement.
The team then boarded the bus back toward downtown Kyoto to learn and take part in a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. This is a ceremonial way of preparing and drinking green tea, typically in a traditional tearoom with a tatami floor. Beyond just serving and receiving tea, one of the main purposes of the tea ceremony is for the guests to enjoy the hospitality of the host in an atmosphere distinct from the fast pace of everyday life. Inside, the team learned about Zen tea philosophies, watched a master demonstration, and whisked their own matcha.
Following the tea ceremony, the team spent the rest of the day getting a final chance to explore downtown Kyoto. They will head for Hiroshima on Sunday morning.
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.New country, same Lions 🇯🇵🩵#RoarLionRoar // #EDGE // #OnlyHere 🦁🗽 pic.twitter.com/LxsGrsioEs
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) August 14, 2026
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 🏯
— Columbia Women's Basketball (@CULionsWBB) August 13, 2026
🎬 @BLVCKPICS #RoarLionRoar // #EDGE // #OnlyHere 🦁🗽 pic.twitter.com/iBqJxMPlyd
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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