September 2016
Sunny, very hot, very humid, 85-95F (I thought I was melting)
No visa required
Currency: Japanese Yen
I flew from Seoul to Tokyo which was a short flight. I purchased a PASMO pass at the airport that covers all forms of transportation. It can also be used in cabs and to purchase food in the metro terminals. Getting around was a little more tricky since things are not as translated and not as many people speak English as they did in Seoul. I ended up getting on the wrong metro to get to my AIRBNB, but luckily I met a nice lady who had studied in the US and spoke English very well. She helped me find my way.
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After settling in we went to the Tokyo Skytree while the sun was just setting. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see Mt. Fuji, but we were able to see the city light up. For dinner we went to a random place that only served Pork tits and intestines so we apologetically ran out and found another place in a back ally where no one spoke English and the menu was in Japanese. We sat on the floor and used our chopsticks even after the server brought us forks that we didnt ask for lol. After using a translator app we ended up with miso soup, rice, and fried chicken.
Imperial Palace and Meiji Shrine—This day we ended up on the opposite side from the entrance to the imperial palace due to my great navigation skills. We took a guided tour that ended up being only in Japanese so I guess I’ll just have to Google the history later lol. It was a big tour group so there were a few guides that were herding us around. I was yelled at once by a little Japanese lady guide holding a umbrella and then she walked closely behind me for a small portion of the tour… I guess to make sure I didn’t try anything funny.
I was lucky enough to meet up with an old friend from high school who was an exchange student from Japan. It had been 15 years since we had seen each other. She drove us to Kamakura, Japan. It was more of an old Japan feel as there were many people dressed in traditional outfits. There are a lot of cute shops to check out. We made it to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū shrine/temple and made a wish in the well. Tyler’s wish was a success as the winds picked up and cooled us down for a little bit… I guess the wishes only last an hour.
This morning Tyler and I woke up and put on our Jinbei’s that we bought on sale and headed out for adventures in Asakusa and Ueno. Our Airbnb host did not seem impressed with our traditional Japanese outfit and we found out at the end of the day from her daughter that they are usually worn to summer festivals, but asually as pajamas. This would explain the many stares… however, no on asked for our picture like we were hoping. We made our way to Senso-ji Temple and purposefully got lost in the area until we found a place to eat. I think our traditional wear worked in making us look like we fit in because it was the first restaurant that didn’t bring us forks. We also found an owl cafe where you could pet and hold owls. It was really cool, but made me feel like there could be a finding Nemo movie for owls. In Ueno we walked the streets… with more stares… and went to more shrines and an art museum. With all this walking we found a massage spa where we soaked our feet and I opted for a foot massage where Tyler had his back walked on for 30 minutes. It was wonderful.
Today the trek from Roppongi to Shibuya to Harajuku was made. We crossed the Scramble Crossing in Shibuya! We ate crepes in Harajuku that were stuffed with a scoop of ice cream and shaved ice in Shibuya!
On our last day we went to Disney Sea. You can purchase tickets from 7/11 for a half day which is about $30. There is a shuttle that takes you there from the Tokyo tower, but typically we missed it. We ended up taking the metro during rush hour which was an experience. The metro gets so crowded people are literally squished together. Once we got there, the lines were so long we only made it on the tower of terror before the park closed. The Asian tourists get really into dressing up and I couldn’t tell who worked there and who was a tourist.
Some more foods to try would definitely be ramen and sushi belt. Japan is known for it’s love of Pokémon and stores can be found all over the city.
At one point, Tyler and I were lost. Well I take that back; we were lost a lot, but this one time a nice elderly man standing outside of his establishment told us to wait because he had a gift for us as we walked by. He came out with these nice fans and we thanked him because it was so hot. Both fans had a picture of this Geisha and on the back the establishment’s name in Japanese. we used them nonstop during our last 2 days in Tokyo. Before we left for the airport our AIRBNB host asked us if we knew who the Geisha was. We just thought it was a random picture. NO! This was a picture of a famous prostitute and apparently we walked past a “happy ending” establishment. I guess people weren’t staring at our Jinbeis, but our prostitute fans. This picture was taken before we knew the facts.
Here is a whole separate topic. Public bathrooms… my suggestion for ladies is to carry tissues to wipe with and had sanitizer. The public bathrooms were either these squaters or nice toilets with a bidet (which I enjoyed lol). I always waited until I found a nice toilet or usually some places had a handicap toilet, which was just a regular toilet. The city was very clean, we rarely saw homeless people, the cars were clean, streets were nicely paved, and there weren’t any trash cans since people are expected to take their trash home.
Japan has always been on my bucket list ! First, I would love to go to Japan for the Cherry blossoms & to see Nikko in particular but there are incredible amount of sights to see as you mentioned in your post. What surprised me most about Japan is how they are able to preserve such a huge areas of nature while they are currently running out of space in cities like Tokyo ! Thank you for sharing your experience !
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Muchas gracias por dejarme tu comentario.Mi intensión con este artÃculo fue comentar básicamente como encontrar un Nicho de Mercado. Luego influyen otros detalles a considerar también para dar mas presición a la busqueda, pero a grandes razgos por aqui es donde se empieza.Un abrazo.-Twitter:
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I used to use the sling when my daughter was really young, first born. But now she hates!!! it. I wish she di;7̵ndt because I have so much to do! But you should try it.
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nak tanya..kaki saya berparut gigitan nyamuk dan gatal2 dah bertahun labyana..moleh hilang tak?macamana nak place order produk ini?
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Tokyo skytree seems really impressive. But sad that your guided tour included only Japanese conversation. It should include other languages as well, at least english. Kamakura seems interesting. Particularly the old Japan feeling and the traditional dresses..totally worth the trip
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It looks like you had an awesome trip! I have to visit Japan someday, the pictures from the Tokyo Skytree are so cool!
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oh oh! too many men in this part of the country, well I think that is time to move to other state because with too many men in a single point, you know some miesadurstnndings could be presented in the future.
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Ideales Umzugswetter! Willkommen in Hamburg.Schon bald wirst Du hier nicht mehr weg wollen und Karlsruhe wie ein weit entferntes Dorf erscheinen…
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Awesome! I haven’t been to the far east yet! So thanks for the virtual tour. The city view in day and night is just spectacular! Too bad your group tour ended up in Japanese language.
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I heard lot about Tokyo, Japan. But unluckily did not get a chance to visit there. But one day I will also experience this interesting place.
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Sad Sam,Try some of the following websites through Goo&ce:“ManyBooks”g#8220;Projelt Gutenberg”“Simply Scripts”“Classic Reader”“Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts”“The Online Books Page”Most play scripts still in US copyright, however, will not be found online. You will only find historical play scripts.
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Love the face masks. Japan is a lot of fun. And a bit out there too!
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How funny are those face masks!!! We host Japanese students and they always bring them as gifts. What did you think of Disney Sea? I hear its meant to be fantastic.
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Disney Sea was great! I wish we had more time there, but they gave a great fireworks display and hearing the Tower of TERROR in Japanese was pretty great!
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I loved Japan and found the metro confusing too. GladI wasn’t the onlyone who got lost. And great idea to get a foot massage after all that walking. Also loved the Disney cruise. So adorable!!!
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Looks like you had a great time – I like your photos from the Tokyo Skytree, they show just how built-up and densely packed the city is. Happy travels!
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What a fun time you had. We had an experience with a glass floor in the tallest building in the US, and it was quite exhilarating. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
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