Konnichiwa, it's Nikita once again. We're in Japan! We're now in the Asia part of the trip where we are hopping around a bit more, so expect more of a chaotic journey. So, hence the big jump from Uzbekistan to Japan. Unsurprisingly, Japan is a super popular tourist destination right now with the yen being weaker and many of us millennials having grown up with Japanese culture. I myself had a really strong manga phase in middle school and loved playing Pokemon and anything Nintendo growing up. Japanese food is also my favorite cuisine, so I was truly excited to eat well! We're in Japan for three weeks total and we're hitting the biggest hits for this trip while including some off the beaten path destinations to mix it up. We're also spending my birthday here. I'm going to cover the first half of our time here, while Chester will cover the second half. Strap in, this post is going to be long.
 |
| Golden Temple in Kyoto |
Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Shimanami Kaido
We took an overnight 6 hour flight out of Tashkent and made it bright and early into Tokyo to then take a 5 hour Shinkansen (high speed bullet train) to make it to our first destination: Hiroshima! It was a long, tiring travel day. We wanted to visit Hiroshima to visit the Peace Park and learn more about the A-bomb's effect on the Japanese people. It also seemed like a great starting point to get acquainted with Japan and do a couple side quests.
 |
| Just being silly on the Shinkansen |
Hiroshima
We were told that Hiroshima didn't have much to do, and we would only need a couple of days there. While I think we were able to cover the tourist attractions we wanted to, we left feeling that we could've had another day or so to just walk around and soak it all in.
Our first full day was mainly devoted to the A-bomb Dome and Peace Park. The A-bomb Dome was one of the few structures that was not completely destroyed by the atomic bomb and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site as a reminder of the war and a call for peace. The Peace Park nearby had a couple monuments and museums really emphasizing the devastation the atomic bomb had on the Japanese people. Many of the survivors lived over 1.5 km away from the explosion site, and we heard their stories about survival, trauma, and loss. The main message was a call for peace and the end of nuclear weapons. While the world was moving towards discarding their nuclear weapons, it seems we're at a crossroads with more recent events earlier this year.
Other memorable things that we did in Hiroshima was visit the Hiroshima Castle--an exact replica of the original that was unfortunately destroyed by the atomic bomb--eat, and visit some vintage shops in the area. We tried okonomiyaki for the first time which was like a ramen pancake mixed with seafood, egg, and green onions. We ate plenty of onigiri, Japanese curry, and visited our first izakaya of the trip. All in all, an easy way to enter Japan and one of our favorite stops (but I think everything was one of our favorite stops).
 |
| A-bomb Dome |
 |
| School picture from before the atomic bomb |
 |
| Hiroshima Castle |
 |
| Okonomiyaki |
Miyajima
A popular day trip from Hiroshima is Miyajima (actually formally known as Itsukushima), an island known for its forests and ancient shrines. They have a beautiful Torii gate in the sea that marks the entrance to the shrine. During high tide, the shrine is partially submerged; however, we didn't time the tides right and went during low tide, exposing the whole shrine. We went on a Sunday with weekenders who were spending the day on the island. The shrine itself is about a mile away from the port so we made our way through the shopping area, and I felt a similar excitement in visiting a new place like we did when we started the trip in Lisbon. I loved the lanterns and the buzz in the streets. We were here in Japan!
Slightly detracting from that excitement was the treatment of the deer native to the island. We saw kids chasing and petting them, and the deer following people around for food. It's a little jarring from how we generally approach wildlife in the U.S. That feeling made us question our future day trip to Nara to visit the bowing deer and eventually decided to forego going entirely. The more I looked into it, the less appealing it was to me. It gave me the same feeling as the animal cafes and the zoos, where it is known that animal welfare isn't the highest priority. With a country that has so many positives, this was the first negative we experienced.
We visited two temples while on the island: Itsukushima Shrine and Daishoin Temple. One was more of a Shinto Shrine while the other was a Buddhist temple. These were the first temples that we visited on the trip, and they were a great introduction to what we were going to see. We made an offering at Daishoin to continue the trip on a high note and a wonderful life together. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
 |
| Red Torii gate |
 |
| Chester is so happy to be doing this |
 |
| A little offering |
 |
| Daishoin Temple |
Shimanami Kaido
The Shimanami Kaido was our second side quest in the Hiroshima prefecture. This is an extremely popular cycling route in Japan that is gaining more exposure among foreigners. The path connects six islands together via bridges, and the bike path in total is about 70 km. We opted to do the first 30 km across 3 islands as we didn't quite have the time nor the gear to do the recommended two day trip. The path was beautiful as we rode alongside fields and factories and got that feeling of more rural Japan. Japan's public transportation is so good, we were able to take a ferry back from the third island that was designed for bikes. An active day well spent.
 |
| Taking the ferry to start the Shimanami Kaido |
 |
| Views from our ride |
 |
| One of my favorites from the day. This is the view while enjoying some ice cream |
Osaka
Our next stop in our journey from west to east was Osaka. Our initial plan was to make it in time for the World Expo that was ending while we were in Japan. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of positives to be said about this expo with Reddit reviews saying that the main takeaway was long, winding lines in the heat for mediocre exhibits. While it would have been a unique experience to go, it didn't seem worth it for us, and we instead decided to see what Osaka the city had to offer. For one, this is the second biggest city in Japan being a major economic hub after Tokyo.
We started our time in Osaka with a red-light district and food tour. Not my usual cup of tea, but the tour itself was fascinating. We learned that this red-light district was one of the oldest in the country and was actually quite a beautifully designed area. Prostitution is illegal in Japan; however, a loophole was found by setting up these brothels as restaurants run by the Restaurant Association in the area. On paper, they are restaurants, and it seems the government turns a blind eye to the indiscretions. The women were presented on display with a mama-san managing the whole thing. There didn't seem to be men involved in the operation of these restaurants. After walking through the district, we tried some food: mainly yakitori and fried skewers (not tempura). We walked through the major touristy areas of Osaka, which boasted bright neon lights, carnival games, and a lot of snacks. It really reminded me of Oktoberfest with the fair-like atmosphere.
 |
| An actual restaurant in the area that's in a popular anime that we were allowed to photograph |
 |
| Neon lights |
 |
| Osaka at night |
 |
| The river walk |
The next morning we went to Katsuo-ji Temple known to tourists for their stamp postcard souvenir and daruma dolls. The temple was beautifully nestled into the mountainside only 30 minutes outside of Osaka, and I thought the 6 stamp postcard would be a fun souvenir to take home. While definitely worth going to, it was our first true taste of the crowds in Japan. There were long lines throughout the shrine to not only get the stamps for the postcard but also to take pictures with the larger daruma dolls. We had a similar experience with crowds when visiting the Namba shrine in the middle of the city.
 |
| Iconic daruma dolls |
 |
| Souvenir postcard |
 |
| Namba shrine |
We spent the rest of the day walking around and being super overstimulated by all things Osaka. The neon lights and the chaotic energy of the city were both overwhelming and energizing, and we walked away enjoying our brief stop on our journey east.
Kyoto
Kyoto was a city I was hyped on. We had the most planned activities here, and I was looking forward getting immersed into traditional Japanese culture. We started our time off with a tea ceremony where we learned about the traditional way of preparing green tea and the significance of the tea room itself. To my uncultured eye, the room was ordained simply with a few decor pieces, but what we learned is that the location of the tea pot, the type of flowers present, and the use of the fan all played a significant role in the tea ceremony. Also, the order in which guests sat mattered in their status and importance within the space. The biggest takeaway for me was learning to prepare green tea. Please don't ask me how I've prepared matcha in the past. I would get many disapproving looks. After the tea ceremony and some disappointing revolving sushi, we made our way to a couple of trendy bars: Bee's Knees (top 50 bars in Asia) and Good Morning Record Bar (cool vinyl bar with a lot of Japanese city pop).
 |
| Tea ceremony group |
 |
| Tea was made |
 |
| Good Morning Record Bar where I got all my new city pop recs |
 |
| A curry spot on our walk |
The next day we make our way to Nishiki Market first thing in the morning to try some more food. It's a long food market covering many blocks filled with little restaurants and shops. We were recommended to come early to avoid crowds, and the market was just opening up as we arrived. Our breakfast consisted of gyoza, fried chicken, mini pancakes, and sesame curry bread. Everything was SO good. Bellies full, we made our way to our next activity: an indigo dyeing workshop! I saw this on TikTok, and it looked like a fun way to make a souvenir. We had to pick a design that we would trace on fabric with hot wax multiple times. That fabric then is soaked in indigo dye where the design would appear in white. I made a bamboo wall hanging, and Chester made a tote bag with an octopus and crab. The mother of the owner was probably in her 100s, and she was incredibly patient, encouraging, and somewhat reprimanding with our limited abilities. We were hyped on our souvenirs, and I cannot wait to hang this up in our future home.
 |
| Nishiki Market |
 |
| Karaage and gyozas |
 |
| Dyeing our creations |
 |
| My bamboo wall hanging |
Our last activity in this packed day was a geisha tour, which was recommended by Saachi and Chris from their Japan blog! Both Chester and my knowledge of the history of the geisha was pretty limited so we were curious to learn more. The geisha was born out of street performances and have evolved into the performance and art based form it is today. Maikos or apprentices undergo rigorous education for five years to graduate to become a geisha. They live in these homes with other maikos and must give up their phones and social media for the duration of their training. The craziest thing we learned is that the maikos sleep on these hard blocks to maintain their hairstyle for the week as they only get their hair done once a week. The mama-san who takes care of them schedules their performances and ensures they are set up for success as a geisha. Once they graduate, they are essentially freelancers and are responsible for their own income. Geishas and maikos mainly perform at teahouses at business dinners, so you most likely will see them running to their appointments after the workday ends. Fun fact: Steve Jobs favorite teahouse is the Nintendo teahouse in the middle of the Gion district. A common misconception about geishas is that they are prostitutes, which is completely false. Unfortunately, a man interviewed a geisha and completely bastardized the interview into what we know as Memoirs of a Geisha, which is full of misinformation. It's enraging how this woman's life was completely ruined as a result of this guy's stupidity and ignorance. All in all, we came away with a deep appreciation for the ~300 geishas in Kyoto and hope that tourists will continue to show respect to this group of people so we can continue to learn from them in years to come.
While in Kyoto we had to visit some temples. We visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine (famous red Torii gates) early one humid morning. It's known to be one of the most popular destinations in Kyoto, and we certainly were met with crowds even at that hour in the morning. We hiked through the gates to reach the top where we both said a prayer before continuing on the spiritual walk. We also visited the Kinkaku-ji temple (Golden temple) early one morning as well, which was just gorgeous. While we could envision the spirituality and serenity in these spaces, it was hard to fully engage and be present due to the sheer number of people. We're glad we did it, but we were getting to the point where the shrines may not be providing the tranquil experience we were looking for.
 |
| Fushimi Inari Shrine |
 |
Kinkaku-ji temple
|
Kyoto was the most crowded place in Japan we had visited thus far. You can feel the overtourism, and we recognize we are part of that problem as well. We know the government is going to be putting in cost measures to address that next year, and honestly, it's probably a good thing. Less crowded things we did in Kyoto was attend a local festival that had paper mache floats, walk the Philosopher's path, walk the gardens at Heian Jingu Shrine, and talk to locals in less touristy bars and restaurants.
We had a serendipitous night of connections our last night in Kyoto. We had gone to dinner and noticed that they had currency from different countries on the wall. We had some extra bills from Uzbekistan and decided to give the restaurant one. The waiter who was helping us exclaimed that he and his coworker were from Uzbekistan and hadn't been in 3 years. They had never seen the bill that we gave, and he was so excited to talk to someone who had just visited his home country. Reeling from the excitement of that, we didn't want the night to end and went to a bar on the way home on the second floor, which we found were generally less busy. We walked in and chatted with the bartender and noticed he had a "Chester Forever" tattoo. Of course, this was for Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, but we both thought it was hilarious that he had Chester's name tattooed on him. We met some awesome people at the bar that night and left on a high also giving him some Uzbekistan money. It was a great way to wrap up our time in Kyoto.
 |
| Paper mache floats part of a local festival |
 |
| Leaving our mark in Kyoto |
 |
| Chester forever! |
 |
| Along the Philosopher's Path where we were prayed for by many lovely women |
 |
| Peaceful gardens |
Reflections and Projections
Borrowing Chester's title here, I'm finding there is a lot to say about Japan. Our favorite thing so far here has been just walking around and stumbling upon things to do. There is a beauty of just being in a place without an agenda. We've noticed that there are really robust itineraries for Japan, and while they are a good starting point, I think sticking to them religiously does a disservice to your trip. Some of our favorite things so far have come from not knowing what we're doing and figuring it out on the fly.
Rapid fire things that I love about Japan
- Hotels and accommodations are SO well-stocked. You really don't need much in terms of toiletries and even pajamas to have a pleasant stay
- The toilets. We are installing a bidet immediately when we get home.
- The food is divine and can be divine at all price points. One of our favorite meals was 500 yen ramen (that's $3.25)
- The convenience stores are appropriately hyped. They were the easiest place for us to get cash, and they actually were convenient. We stopped at one easily every other day.
- The trains were so well run and convenient. It was so easy to get around
- Japan is busy! Tourists from all over the world are visiting, and we are seeing firsthand what overtourism here is like. They really could benefit from some tourist pricing.
- The fashion is elite. People are so well dressed and the vintage shops are fun to peruse through, though a lot it is American
I'll leave Chester chat through our next half of Japan and give his overall thoughts on Japan because this blog is LONG.
Comments
Post a Comment