Trip with the Most Fascinating Culture: Japan

January 2024

The planning for and execution of this trip was a whirldwind! What began as "solo Japanuary" for my brother, Timmy, quickly turned into a trip for him and his three ladies that was jam-packed with memories to last a lifetime.

It all began when Timmy got word from his employer during the 2023 holiday season that his new role would begin in early February and he'd have the month of January off from work. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to fulfill a bucket-list trip to Japan and, so he started mapping out flights, accommodations, and an itinerary for himself, invited family and friends to join for any portion of it, which his girlfriend, my mom, and I jumped on (Japan had been high on my wish list for quite some time).

The rest of the holiday season turned into researching hotels, trains, and activities for the trip that was rapidly approaching. I found very reasonable flights and planned to be there eight days total, which included some overlap (as luck would have it) with my mom who would be there a week and some change; Timmy's girlfriend, Jess, planned to arrive the day after my departure and would be there with him the remainder of the trip... So much for Timmy's solo travel!

My trip began when I flew from Cincinnati to Atlanta to Tokyo's Haneda airport and landed around 2 pm; from there I took the metro to meet Mom and Timmy at Shinjuku Station, in the Shinjuku neighborhood of Tokyo where our hotel for the night was located. Per their instructions, we convened under a billboard featuring an equally cute and creepy cat video, before walking the half mile or so through the bustling and vibrant streets of Shinjuku to our tiny, but tidy, loft hotel room.

Accounting for my possible exhaustion/jet-lag, that evening's plans included grabbing dinner somewhere within walking distance and discussing what the following day's plans entailed. We wandered over to a sushi restaurant nearby, somewhat secluded from the main road and nestled behind a small, but darling bamboo garden.

As you may know about Japanese culture and cleanliness, wearing shoes inside is not permitted in many places and can be viewed as a sign of disrespect. As we waited in the lobby to be greeted and seated, we noticed three pairs of geisha clogs placed nicely on a ledge just above where "outside" shoes were requested to be removed; so, in an effort to be respectful and act in accordance with the rules, both spoken and unspoken, we slid our shoes off and slid the clogs on our sock-clad feet.

After a couple of minutes, a sock-clad geisha appeared and politely but somewhat frantically instructed us to remove the clogs and follow her to be seated. Slightly confused and desperately trying to piece together the past few moments, we realized we put the geishas' shoes on our feet, and all things considered, the geisha who encountered our ignorance and later served us, must have been horrified to find three foreigners wearing her and her coworkers' shoes! We were MORTIFIED upon this realization but so grateful she (seemingly) chocked our mistake up to stupidity, not cultural offense. Anyway, the sushi we enjoyed there melted like butter in your mouth and we thanked the staff profusely upon departing.

The next day was my first full one. We set out early, enjoying delicious pastries and lattes from a metro station cafe, to take the bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano (a small city on the opposite side of the island from Tokyo). The bullet trains are efficient and comfortable plus offer beautiful views of the Japanese countryside and its smaller towns. Upon arrival to Nagano a few hours later, we dropped our luggage at our hotel (strategically selected for its close proximity to the Nagano Station) before catching a bus to the Snow Monkey Park about an hour away.

When the bus dropped us off in a quaint mountainside neighborhood, we and the other tourists hiked the several miles along a snowy, wooded path until reaching the final climb of stairs into the main park area. Once you enter the main area, there are wild snow monkeys lounging, eating, playing, and swimming everywhere in this winter wonderland; some would defrost in the thermal pools, others would grub near the almost-frozen waterfalls, while others would unwittingly startle tourists by strolling or traipsing through the crowds.

This was such a cool thing to witness, and we stayed there at the park nearly two hours, observing the monkeys, pitying the babies whose cries went ignored, and studying the power dynamics of the troop, before starting our descent. Along the way back to the bus stop, we stopped for lunch at a mountaintop cafe serving hot cocoa, pho, and ramen - perfect to thaw out our frozen fingers.

Once back at the bus station, we decided to take a slightly different route back to Nagano Station (a local bus to a local train) that ended up providing beautiful views of vineyards, small towns, and snow-capped mountains amidst a clear, winter sunset. Once back to our hotel, Mom and I ventured out to Zenkoji Temple in downtown Nagano, while Timmy stayed back to recuperate after he hadn't been feeling well the last couple of days.

Mom and I caught a local bus that dropped us at Zenjoki Temple where we explored the grounds of this famous landmark, albeit in the dark, before meandering back to our hotel through the quaint downtown area of Nagano with its shops, restaurants, and lights all aglow.

Along our stroll, we stopped by a pharmacy to pick up some medicine for Timmy where we were greeted by the sweetest, most hospitable pharmacist who quickly realized we did not speak Japanese; not seeing this language barrier as one at all, she quickly retrieved a chart of the human body and instructed us to point to the affected areas.

Securing the necessary medicine, we made our way to leave, but not before the pharmacist gestured toward a game-wheel of sorts - yes, a small, wooden wheel with numbers on it that each coordinated with a "gift." We spun it, of course, and bowed with gratitude after selecting our gift from a basket of goodies.

Mom and I emerged from the pharmacy, not only relieved and impressed that we were returning to the hotel with medicine for Timmy, but with a slight confusion yet unbridled joy about what had just transpired. We soon learned that gift-giving is a major aspect of Japanese culture and hospitality, but efficiency and accommodation are major markers of it, too. We finished the evening with dinner at the hotel restaurant before calling it a night, and preparing for the next one.

We packed up, checked out, and grabbed breakfast on-the-go at another metro station cafe before boarding the bullet train from Nagano Station to Shin-Takaoka Station, some two hours away. Once we got to Shin-Takaoka, we locked our luggage in some lockers, after a small snafu in which we accidentally fed the machine the storage fee twice. From there, we boarded an empty bus set for two different world heritage sites: Gokayama and Shirakawa-go.

When the bus screeched to a halt on a windy, mountain road at the bus stop for Gokayama, we sheepishly followed the signs for the UNESCO world heritage site before stumbling upon the thatched-roof and snow covered cabins about half a mile later. We didn't encounter anyone else in this ghost-town besides the gift-shop worker, from whom we bought chopsticks, postcards, and matcha snacks. It was a very cool, yet slightly eerie experience to have the whole place nearly to ourselves. We read the historical markers and took in the sights before making our way back to the bus stop.

The bus took us another hour through mountains and tunnels, across bridges, and along snow-drenched trees until we arrived in what felt like Oz: Shirakawa-Go, another UNESCO world heritage site. Here, we hiked up to the main lookout overlooking the village of thatched roofs and koi ponds, before meandering slowly through all the shops, cafes, and museums of this historical town. Hungry and slightly frozen, we plopped down at a tiny restaurant for pho and ramen before making our way back to the bus stop to return to Shin-Takaoka.

Back at the Shin-Takaoka Station, Mom, always with the "can't hurt to ask" mentality, approached one of the workers about the fact that we had accidentally paid the machine twice. The worker looked in the system, confirmed a duplicate payment, and promptly refunded our 1,000 JPY ($8 US) -- all in the time it took for Timmy and I to locate our keys and retrieve the luggage from the lockers. Time and time again we were shown how Japanese culture operates with such a problem-solving efficiency that is impressive and inspiring.

From there, we took the bullet train to Kanazawa before taking the metro into downtown Kyoto, where we would be staying for the next three nights. We made the half-mile walk from the metro station to our hotel through a quaint tunnel of lights with shops and cafes, before settling into our tiny but tidy room.

My third full day was spent exploring the many historical sites of Kyoto, one of Japan's most culturally-significant places and the city that served as the nation's Capitol for centuries before the Emperor's home moved to Tokyo in the late 1800s.

We started the day with breakfast at a cafe along the tunnel of lights near our hotel, before taking a bus to the Kinkaku-ji Temple, a beautiful, golden-plated temple that reflects its shine and aura onto the pond on which it is perched. We strolled through the Japanese gardens and wishing stations of the temple grounds before making our way to a different neighborhood in Kyoto called Arashiyama.

Arashiyama is a vibrant and bustling town with countless shops, vendors, cafes, and restaurants situated along a river at the base of the Instagram-famous Bamboo Forest and Tenryuji Temple. We strolled through the Bamboo Forest, each shoot impressive in its stature and conformity, before wandering through the Tenryuji Temple with its beautiful gardens, gravel pathways, and manicured landscaping.

As we walked along the main drag of Arashiyama, we stopped off in a second-floor restaurant for lunch, where we enjoyed a delicious variety of hot pot meals, fresh fish, and beef curry. After lunch, we took the metro back to Kyoto where we headed to our samurai class.

The class included sword lessons and samurai apparel try-on, as well as ninja kunai throwing and a museum tour. I cannot emphasize how cool and immersive this experience was. In Japanese culture and history, the Emperor always reigned supreme; this individual served as the highest ranking person and figurehead of the country. Below them were the Shoguns (the military and political leaders), then the Diamyos (regional leaders), and finally, the Samurais (the warriors or soldiers hired by Diamyos to protect various peoples and areas).

The hierarchy continued, classifying Ronins, Peasants, Artisans, Merchants, and other "lower classes" of feudal Japan but was abolished in the late 1800s when Saigo Takamori was deemed the last samurai in Japan after leading the Meiji Restoration and later the Satsuma Rebellion.

Our instructor for the sword-cutting class was this enchanting character, equally knowledgeable as he was fascinating; at one point in his tutorial, as he described the calm mental state of sword-wielding, he confessed that he is a master of horseback archery, in which that calm mental state is also a necessity. Somehow this extremely niche talent within an extremely unique sport seemed to make perfect sense, given his hard-to-fully-capture personality and expertise. Timmy and I could not stop cracking up about this random, yet perfectly-suited hidden talent of his.

Getting to dress and slice like a samurai was an honor, and one we'll remember fondly, to say the least. After emerging from the ninja and samurai immersive experience, we strolled along the indoor mall in which the activity was located - which was another tunnel of lights with shops, boutiques, and restaurants, plus a particular cafe that caught our eye... a pig cafe. Yes, a place where you sit and sip on tea, coffee, or other beverages while small pigs cuddle with you and nap in your lap. It was quite literally one of those experiences that felt too unique to pass up so we headed into the pig cafe, and hung out with some adorable piggies.

From what I could tell, these pigs were well fed, trained, taken care of, and deeply loved by the staff there. When any given pig had hit its limit with human contact or connection, they were not forced to play, cuddle, or perform; so, from what we witnessed, I was pleased with the whole operation and selfishly grateful that we got snuggle time with one of my favorite animals.

Believe or not, this day continued a bit longer; on our stroll back to our hotel, we stopped by a casino to play Pachinko, the only gambling game not outlawed by Japanese authorities. The machine is a mix between pinball and slots, but the dozens of rows of machines, each with their flashing neon lights and disorienting arcade-like noises, wore us out after 15 minutes of play, so we folded (metaphorically) and cashed out.

The next day included an exploration of more of Kyoto's historical sites. We grabbed breakfast at a quaint coffee shop before arriving at the grounds of Nijo Castle, with its stunning stature and gorgeous overlook of the Kyoto valley plus expansive and perfectly-manicured Japanese gardens.

From there, we took the metro to Tofuku-ji Temple and wandered through the very quiet, but charming downtown area of this small town. We explored the grounds for a short while before trekking another mile or so to Fushimi Inaro Taisha, where a totally different scene awaited us. Fushimi Inaro, known as the temple of 10,000 gates, held a bustling square at the park's entrance, overflowing with people, red arches, cafes, vendors, and tourist shops.

We began the climb, through the 10,000 gates, stopping at a couple of the stunning, and well-earned views of the valley from various vistas. We dined for lunch in a tiny, sit-on-the-floor mountaintop cafe, before continuing on with the journey, ice cream cones in hand. This was a super special hike - with the red gates continuing as far as the eye could see and the shrines glowing with prayers and coins. As one of the main tourist attractions in all of Japan, I had an idea of how much we'd enjoy it, but this hike and the temples exceeded our expectations!

We didn't realize how involved the Fushimi Inaro hike may be, so were running slightly behind schedule once we decided to metro the metro several stops/transfers to Osaka for the evening. Osaka is home of the Donbori Canal, comparable to NYC's Times Square with its overwhelmingly vibrant and over-stimulatingly bustling canal-side shopping district.

We walked along the canal and through the massive indoor-mall tunnel of lights, cafes, restaurants, and shops. There were nicknack and luxury stores, window-order vendors and high-end restaurants, plus foot massage parlors and expensive-looking spas in every direction - basically, if you could dream it, Donbori has it.

Growing hungry, we landed at a third-story hot-pot restaurant overlooking the canal, and enjoyed a deliciously fresh selection of beef, veggies, and others sides prepared right before our eyes. Hankering for a sweet treat after the meal, we got candied strawberries and strawberry mochi from a corner vendor before venturing back to the underground mall of the Osaka Station to return to our hotel in Kyoto.

My fifth full day turned out to be another jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring one. We, again, grabbed breakfast at a train station cafe before taking the bullet train from Kyoto to Shizuoka, a town situated near the foothills of Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji is only visible about 50% of the time, but there's a higher chance of seeing the volcano during the clear, cool months of winter; we were cautiously optimistic about our chances to observe it but our plan was to get close enough to catch of glimpse and revel in its beauty.

Upon popping out of Shizuoka Station, we headed to a municipal building (Timmy had heard local buildings often have observation decks totally free to enter and high enough to see Mt. Fuji and the valleys below). Although skeptical about workweek hours and public access, we stumbled into the lobby of a Shizuoka municipal building and took the elevator to the top, where we enjoyed nearly 360-degree views of Mt. Fuji - nearly to ourselves, yet again.

We took in these sites for quite some time, marveling at how massive it is compared to the teeny, tiny valley town of Shizuoka, upon which it keeps a watchful gaze. After peeling ourselves away from the observation tower, we continued on through a cute farmer's market and courtyard of shops, restaurants, and cafes in the downtown area, and dined for sushi at a local chain restaurant before returning to the train station to head to Tokyo.

This next part was a bit of a doozy but was the only one over the course of my trip - which is a feat in and of itself! Let me set the scene with context: my mom has many strengths. Navigation is not one of them. She'd miss water if she fell out of a boat. If she claims to know the "way," you can almost count on heading in the opposite direction. Not an issue, though - Timmy and I would playfully tease her before taking control of the way-finding.

The final leg of her journey was from Shizuoka to Tokyo Station to Nareda Airport, but that is much simpler said than done. To be fair, Tokyo's metro station is the largest, most populous one in the world - and although many signs included English - it is difficult for any newbie to navigate that place without a hiccup.

Wanting to see her off regardless, we dropped her off at a train bound for Nareda Airport with literally one minute to spare and after we ran a couple of frantic and confused miles through the maze that is Tokyo Station.

From there, Timmy and I walked a sweaty mile with our own luggage to our hotel, got checked in, and mapped out the evening, which included plans to explore Tokyo's popular gaming and electronics neighborhood called Akihabara.

Once in Akihabara, we had dinner, played arcade games, witnessed Japanese teenagers absolutely destroy DDR, shopped for rare Pokemon cards and unique electronics, witnessed karaoke from across the alley, and meandered through the vibrant, neon streets of this stereotypically Japanese gem.

After a good night's sleep, we got moving fairly early and took the metro down to Yokohama, a neighborhood south of Tokyo's downtown district that is famous for its Chinatown, amusement park, and other attractions. We set out for the Yokohama Observation Tower but stopped at a local cafe off the beaten path where two adorably curious waitresses quizzed us about what else we had seen and done in Japan. They were delighted to hear that we not only had explored the big cities (Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka) but had ventured to more rural areas, too.

After many bows and thank yous, we headed to the Observation Tower, where we enjoyed 360-degree views of downtown Tokyo, Yokohama's amusement park island, Mt. Fuji (again!!), and the surrounding water and valleys. We cheers'ed with ice cream over these stunning views, before trekking over to the amusement park island that included an arcade, a couple of roller coasters, and similar indoor-mall activities. We got a wild hair to ride the large, looping roller coaster and waited in line some 40 minutes amidst a crowd of Japanese teenagers out enjoying the sunny day.

Queasy from the rollercoaster ride and hunger, we headed toward Chinatown, stopping along the way to grab lunch at the coolest dive restaurant with a cheeky chef and super bubbly waitress that served fresh-off-the-grill kebabs. As we dined, two locals seated along the corner of the bar/grill inquired about our travels. We sat there for a while, chatting with the locals and observing the playful chef as he sipped his beer and blotted his sweat.

With the locals as our translators, the chef gifted us "gizzard"-ish bits (as they were described) to thank us for visiting the restaurant. We bowed with gratitude and made our way to leave; before we could, the woman in the pair retrieved a bag of traditional spices from her purse and insisted we accept this gift.

Overwhelmed and amused by everyone's generosity, Timmy and I emerged from this tiny dive bar with full bellies and thankful hearts. What we couldn't figure out is HOW the woman (in Yokohama from Kyoto some 3+ hours away) had extra spices to gift us. We decided that either (1) a friend with whom she planned to stay was no longer receiving the spices as a thank you gift or (2) she carries around gifts to dole out whenever the opportunity presents itself. From what we observed about the Japanese people and culture, it seemed likely that it was the second option.

After a short walk, we arrived at the vibrantly colorful and bustling Chinatown. We wandered through the many sprawling blocks of this flourishing community, indulging in bubble tea and photo ops all while dodging the other tourists and Chinese transplants. Eventually, we made our way back to Yokohama Station, where we enjoyed light shopping and shoulder massages in the underground mall before taking the metro to Shibuya neighborhood in Tokyo.

Once in Shibuya, we admired the Hachiko Statue, a landmark commemorating the unwavering loyalty of a pup to his longtime owner, and Shibuya Crossing, where thousands of people cross an intersection at once in an impressive, ritualistic way. We wandered around Shibuya for a while, shoe-shopping to replace the pair Timmy had literally worn into the ground (after some 50+ miles of walking that week alone), before enjoying a very-reasonably-priced crab legs feast at a local chain and calling it a night.

The next day was my final one in Japan, and we planned to spend the morning exploring more of Tokyo's hidden gems, including the world-famous robot cafe. Even without an official reservation, we enjoyed the full experience from table-side conversation with an automated robot, to beverage-service by a fully-operational robo-server. We even got to have a conversation with the robo-rista manning the coffee bar! It was a unique experience to say the least, and something that embodies the incredibly innovative yet service-driven attitude of the Japanese people.

We meandered through various neighborhoods, fashion malls, and plazas on the way to the Pokemon Center, where Timmy taught me more about the game's storytelling and history, including its most-famous characters and strategies. By early afternoon, we headed back to Tokyo Station where we said our goodbyes.

Timmy, who'd been there almost two weeks had the afternoon to do laundry, replace his shoes, and regroup before his girlfriend Jess arrived the following day. I took the metro and settled in at the airport, before being approached by a super friendly airport worker collecting information about visitors' travels. After about 10 minutes of responding to her survey questions, and confirming that Mt. Fuji was my favorite "sight", she gifted me a miniature Mt. Fuji as. a thank you gift and wished me smooth travels.

I had a while during my trek home to reflect on my time in Japan, and an interaction kept playing in my mind that captures the Japanese essence so well. On one of the many metro/train rides, I witnessed two young schoolgirls board the train and playfully bicker over which one of them would take the only open seat. Nearby to them, a young boy (probably also a teenager) jumped up, bowed to the standing girl, and offered her his seat. Then THEY playfully argued over who should take the available seat, but she eventually accepted, and all three kids smiled gently, respectfully at one another with a kind of deference missing from so many interactions around the world.

The whole trip we had encountered incredibly helpful, kind, generous, and overall accommodating people - from workers to strangers - and, admittedly, I wondered how much of that may have been exaggerated to/for the tourists like us, but I realized that it wasn't a show at all... but something integral to the Japanese way-of-life.

They treat one another with such dignity which is likely one of the MANY reasons why Japan's largest cities feels so safe: crime rates are remarkably low because the culture is rooted in a collective mentality but one that recognizes every person's humanity (i.e. everyone is better off when we see others as dynamic characters, each with our own storylines and troubles).

For now I'll say arigatou gozaimasu, Japan - I'll be back!

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To Do or Not To Do?

All in all, this was an amazing trip that somehow exceeded my expectations! If Japan is already on your list, I recommend you move it up; if it is not, and you've read this far, I would hope you'll add it now.

Getting there isn't too tricky, but will likely be the most expensive aspect; once there, things are extremely reasonably priced, even in the large cities, which shocked me. The best way to navigate around the country is by bullet train (called the Shinkansen), which requires a pre-purchased approval that you exchange for a pass once on the ground in Japan. The bullet train tickets offer a variety of packages and take about two weeks to arrive after you apply and pay online. Prior to arrival, we had booked our accommodations and any structured activities (e.g., the samurai class) but left most everything else flexible, which seemed. to work well for us.

Admittedly, we were not there in Japan's busy tourist season, but as you read, this made for us enjoying many tourist attractions almost entirely to ourselves and allowed us to observe Mt. Fuji on two different days - so there are certainly upsides to going when it's colder/"off season."

Something interesting to note, given Japan's notoriety for being a cutting-edge, tech-driven place is that many places (including restaurants, cafes, shops, and the vending machines on every corner that provide cold OR hot drinks) only accept cash; the good news is that currency can be exchanged easily at the airport upon arrival.

As for concerns about a language barrier, I do not nor does my family speak Japanese, but most signage and people in the touristy areas offer English (in addition to Japanese) and a translation app can be used in situations where that may not be the case. Overall, getting around was no more difficult than navigating any U.S. city's public transportation system, and in instances where we weren't able to communicate as seamlessly, the Japanese folks were patient and gracious as we showed various things or translated various questions on our phones.

The Japanese culture is such a fascinating one - rich with history, religion, sea-to-table food, and technological innovation - that has something to offer every traveler. I hope to go back someday, as there are many more things to see and do, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, plus Hokkaido -- but for now, I remember fondly my (way too) short time there and the wonderful people and adventures we enjoyed along the way!

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