If you've read any of my other blog posts, you might remember my multiple other attempts to get to Japan. I really hoped to go during our week off at the end of July, but that was thwarted and I had to settle for the Philippines (what a hardship!!). Then I hoped maybe it would work out for the Chuseok (Thanksgiving) long weekend in September but the Japanese border was still closed to tourists, so I ended up in Kuala Lumpur instead (again, what a hardship!). However, late in August, I was looking around on Skyscanner and saw that there was a roundtrip flight for my last long weekend in Korea, January 20-24, for only $225. At that point in late August, border restrictions had started loosening and the Japanese government was allowing in guided tours only. Since I'd been keeping up with the border news from Japan for so long, it was obvious that the winds were changing, so I decided to take the risk and book the flight. Considering it was a holiday weekend, I knew that price was a steal, and I also knew that prices would skyrocket as soon as the border opened, since almost no one had been allowed in Japan for two and a half years. I didn't even ask if any of my friends wanted to come with me this time because it was so foolish for me to do it that I certainly didn't want to influence anyone else. However, my big risk paid off because Japan announced a full border opening in October (and my flight was promptly worth double what I had paid).
It wouldn't have surprised me if COVID numbers went through the roof and then they slammed the border shut again, so I was hesitant to get excited even after they announced the reopening. But I got really lucky and it actually worked out, so I headed to the airport after school on Friday, January 20 for a late night flight from Seoul to Tokyo, which would only take about 2 hours. I landed around 1am and I had a hotel booked near the airport for the night, since I was just dying to get some sleep. I grabbed a cab to the hotel (and got major sticker shock because a 10 minute ride cost $25; I knew Japan would be much more expensive than Seoul but it still surprised me. A ride like that in Seoul would be $8 or maybe $10). Upon arriving at my perfectly-fine-but-nothing-special hotel, I realized the average Japanese person is used to a more high-tech lifestyle than I am. First of all, my hotel room had its own WiFi network, and I was delighted to discover it had a heated toilet seat. I shortly discovered that literally almost every toilet seat in Tokyo is heated, even in public bathrooms, which was certainly a welcome novelty. My bed also had lights switches built into the frame so that I didn't have to get up to turn off the lights, even the overhead ones. Silly observations but I was delighted.
I slept for about 5.5 hours and showered, grabbed an included breakfast in the hotel lobby, and then made my way over to the train station. The train station closest to my hotel, which was on the outskirts of the city, had six tracks on three floors and they all went different places. I consider myself pretty savvy with public transportation at this point but I was overwhelmed when I arrived. It took me a good 10 minutes and a few deep breaths to figure it out, but eventually I determined which track was the right one and got on the (correct) train.
I disembarked in the center of Tokyo to visit the Imperial Palace. I had booked a tour and registered ahead of time, which is required since the royal family still lives there and they have security protocols if you're going to go inside the palace complex (Anyone can visit the adjacent gardens). The tour started around 10am and we got to see the public part of the Imperial Palace complex, where the royal family greets visiting members of state and such, and also the palace grounds. The grounds are beautiful and impeccably kept but I didn't do any research about the palace itself before I went, so I didn't realize that the original palace was destroyed during WWII and the current palace was built in 1968—and boy, does it look it.
The former Imperial Palace was built in the 1880s, and this watchtower is one of the surviving buildings from that time.
The former Imperial Palace was firebomed in 1945, and the current palace was rebuilt in 1968.
I didn't know what to expect with regards to the Imperial Palace but admittedly, this was not it.
Another surviving watchtower on the edge of the moat that surrounds the complex
View into Tokyo over the moat
I liked the juxtaposition of the 1880s watchtower with the skyscrapers in the background. Our tour guide told us that it was possible to see Mount Fuji from this watchtower back in the day, before pollution and skyscrapers started blocking the view.
After I finished the tour of the main part of the palace, I went for a stroll in the east gardens, which were quite pretty even in January.
Emperor Akihito, the father of the current emperor, had an interest in fish and apparently it was his idea to breed these special hybrid koi fish, whose fins and tails are longer than a normal koi fish
After I explored the palace and the grounds, I hopped on the subway again and disembarked at Harajuku. I still had my backpack with me because I hadn't been to my hostel yet, so I dropped it off in a storage locker and headed out to explore. My first stop was the Meiji Shrine.
Torii, or a traditional Japanese gate, leading to the Meiji Shrine
Courtyard leading to the shrine
Built between 1915 and 1926 to honor the beloved Emperor Meiji, the Meiji Shrine is considered to be one of the nicest (as well as largest and maybe busiest) for tourists to visit in Tokyo.
I got lucky and happened to witness a Shinto wedding procession passing through the shrine courtyard, which was a lovely and welcome surprise
After exploring the shrine, I went looking for lunch via Takeshita Street, the most famous shopping street in Harajuku. I kept my eyes peeled for Harajuku girls, and while I did see some really unique fashion, no such luck on an actual Harajuku girl. I did stumble across Marion Crepes, which served caramel custard cheesecake crepes so you know I had to try one of those (which was incredible, in case you're wondering).
I continued on through Takeshita Street to find a real lunch (not just dessert) and ended up at Harajuku Gyozaro, where I had cucumbers in miso sauce, oolong tea, and fried pork and garlic gyoza. It was a 10/10 meal, seriously.
My next stop was a pet café where I got to hold a hedgehog and a chinchilla. If you can't tell from the pictures, I had a great time.
I then headed down towards Shibuya Crossing, the busiest crosswalk in the world. They say that up to 3,000 people can be crossing there at any one time. On the way, I stopped at Tokyu Hands, a store I had read was a great place for unique souvenirs. I'm not much of a shopper but a one-stop shop is right up my alley, so I decided to check it out. It was more of a department store than a souvenir store but they do have a little bit of everything, and I know they have a bit of a cult following (like people who are obsessed with Target) so I'm glad I stopped in.
Next stop was Uobei Shibuya Dougenzaka, which was a sushi place where you order on a tablet and your sushi zooms out to you on a high-speed conveyor belt. I was in tuna heaven and I tried a couple things I had never heard of, including natto, which are fermented soybeans. It was absolutely not for me but the other sushi I had was amazing.
Finally made it to Shibuya Crossing! Actually crossing the street was fun and relatively uneventful, but as soon as I stopped recording because I had reached the other side, that was where the real claustrophobia lay. Still, I survived!
Didn't want to wait in line for a photo with Hachiko, "a statue of Akita dog Hachikō, remembered for his unwavering loyalty to his deceased owner" that's at Shibuya Crossing, so I took a selfie with the side view.
There's a second floor Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing so I went up there to see the chaos from above.
I then went back to Harajuku to get my bag from the storage locker before hopping on the subway over to my evening activity: a go-kart tour where we actually got to drive them on the street! It was even more fun than it looks and I got up to almost 40 mph (60 km/h).
The tour company took this slow-mo video and I edited it to just me because I was at the back.
Truly living my best life in Tokyo.
After that marathon day, I finally took the subway to my hostel, which was 45 minutes away basically on the other side of the city. But the hostel was clean and comfortable and easy to find, so no complaints from me. In case you were wondering, my phone says I walked 14 miles that day so I slept extremely well that night.
On Sunday, I had a day trip by bus booked to Lake Kawaguchi, one of the Fuji Five Lakes, so named for the breathtaking views of Mount Fuji. I had booked the tour well in advance with no idea how the weather would be, as Mount Fuji is often obscured by cloud cover throughout the year, let alone in January, but the weather gods continued to smile down on me. The photos don't even look real.
Chureito Pagoda with Mount Fuji in the background
Mount Fuji through a torii
I had wagyu beef for lunch and I truly can't describe how delicious it was. I knew it was supposed to be good but it kind of blew my mind. I really didn't know what to expect since they served it to me raw on it's own little stovetop so that I could cook it myself, but even I couldn't mess it up, thank God!
Mount Fuji from the shores of Lake Kawaguchi
Mount Fuji from Oishi Park
Ice cream with a view!
Our last stop was Saiko Iyashi no Sato Nenba, a living museum/recreated traditional village, as the original one was destroyed in a landslide. It's now a village for traditional artisans to practice and sell their handicrafts.
Back in Tokyo, I headed over to the Metropolitan Government Building, which has free observation decks in each of its two towers.
I then set off to explore Omoide Yokocho, an alley lined with izakaya restaurants, which Google says is "an informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks, similar to a pub or a tapas bar."
I had a lemon sour cocktail, edamame, and pork ribs in this photo, but I also tried a tuna skewer and chicken meatballs. Everything was delicious.
I then did a walking tour of Shinjuku, which I didn't realize is Tokyo's red light district until I was already on the tour. It was interesting enough and it was fun to walk around and see all the city lights.
Found Godzilla on our walking tour!
The tour ended at Golden Gai, a street lined with tiny hole-in-the-wall bars, most of which only seat 10 people or less.
I had another lemon sour at Open Book, a book-themed secret bar in Golden Gai, before calling it a night and heading back to my hostel.
Monday was my last day to explore in Tokyo so I slept in a little bit and then walked to a nearby soufflé pancake place. Pancakes are genuinely one of my favorite foods so I couldn't wait to try them, but it turns out they pretty much taste like regular pancakes. I still thoroughly enjoyed!
The next thing on my list was a food tour—of course, since anyone who has read my blog before surely knows how much I love a food tour.
The food tour was in Asakusa, a more traditional neighborhood of Tokyo, and I actually thought it looked like I was in a completely different city than everywhere I'd been prior. Also if you can make it out through the clouds, the Tokyo Skytree is near the top-middle of this photo. It's the third-tallest structure in the world and the tallest tower in the world. Obviously it was too overcast for me to go check it out but supposedly the views are amazing!
Couldn't resist stopping in to a Hello Kitty store on my way to the food tour meeting point (and almost made myself late looking at stuffed animals)
Our first stop was a famous sushi place that literally had a line out the door. The chefs behind the counter made each individual piece by hand and then dropped it on the plate in front of us. We got to try a scallop sushi, amberjack (which I had never even heard of before and had to Google), two different cuts of tuna, and tamago, which is rolled egg omelet sushi.
Our second stop was for soba noodles and shrimp, eggplant, and shishito pepper tempura. The soba noodles were not my favorite, as they are traditionally served cold and I'm just not a fan of cold noodles. But we poured hot water into the sauce to turn it into a drinkable soup once we were done dipping and slurping up the noodles so that was fun!
I didn't take a picture of our next stop because it was a red bean pastry, which are beloved in Korea so I've had them before and don't like them (though I did eat the one on the tour and it was the best one I've ever had, but I still didn't love it). This picture is of matcha mochi. I'd never had mochi before and I think I would've liked it if it wasn't covered in so much matcha powder. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but there was so much it made my mouth dry, like when you overdo cinnamon seasoning.
Our last tasting was Japanese gelato, so I tried a scoop of tofu flavor and a scoop of roasted tea flavor. Our tour guide ordered coriander flavor because it was a new flavor she'd never had, then passed it around and let us try it as well. It was truly one of the grossest things I've ever tried but I enjoyed the two flavors that I actually picked!
After the tour, I explored more in Asakusa, including the Kaminarimon Gate, which leads to Nakamise Shopping Street, a great place to buy souvenirs. I picked up a post card to add to my collection!
At the other end of Nakamise Shopping Street is Hōzōmon Gate, which is the gateway to Sensō-ji, Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple.
Inside the Sensō-ji temple complex
After I explored the temple, I decided to go a little off the beaten path and check out Nezu Shrine. I'm incredibly grateful that I got to go to Japan at all, so this is by no means a complaint, but I admit that I am sad to miss Kyoto. Maybe I'll make it back to this part of the world one day and get to see more of Japan, but in case I don't, Nezu Shrine has a smaller version of the orange torii gates from the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine in Kyoto, so I couldn't resist checking it out. It wasn't near anything else I did that day and I kind of went out of my way to get there, so I nearly didn't go, but it was one of the most beautiful spaces I saw in Tokyo and I'm really glad I went.
This picture doesn't do Nezu Shrine justice because the landscaping was seriously breathtaking, and it's just tucked into a quiet neighborhood because it's a local and unassuming shrine. I only saw two other tourists while I was there; everyone else was there for worship.
The torii gate path
It was so pretty here and I was so glad I made the effort
Set my phone up on a post to take this selfie!
After I explored the shrine, I hopped on the subway down to Ginza, "Tokyo's most famous upmarket shopping, dining and entertainment district," according to Google. I had decided on a whim to try to see a kabuki show, and the main kabuki theater in Tokyo is in Ginza. I went to the box office to see if they had any cheap seats left for that night's performance, and luckily they did! The lady working warned me it wasn't translated but I didn't mind because I just wanted to experience it.
I had some time before the show started so what better way to spend it than to eat some more? I had asked my food tour guide that morning what her favorite Japanese food was, and she told me she loved shabu shabu, aka Japanese hot pot—so naturally I had to try it before I left.
I had sukiyaki, which is a little different than traditional shabu shabu because the meat is cooked in a more flavorful broth and then you dip it in a raw egg before you eat it. I was surprised by how much I loved it, and the vegetables that were cooking in the hot pot were so good as well.
Outside of the kabuki theater
I took a sneaky (extremely short) video so you can see what it was like. The words weren't actually translated but they gave me a summary of the story so that I knew at least the basic plot points. The name of the play was "The Love of Izayoi and Seishin" and it is apparently one of the great classic kabuki plays.
After the show, I attempted to eat one more time but was it didn't work out. I tried to go to this well-known ramen place for their chicken truffle ramen, but the line was out the door and down the street. I decided to explore Akihabara, the electronics district and very famous for video games, while I waited for the line to die down and then I would come back. Unfortunately, the line didn't die down and by the time I came back, they were due to close in an hour so they weren't letting any new people join the line. Alas, I went to Japan and didn't eat any ramen! Thankfully I'd eaten roughly 100 other things that day so it's not like I went hungry.
Akihabara, the electronics district of Tokyo that is also famous for "maid cafes" (You can see a billboard for one right in the middle of this photo). The women who work there dress up as maids and refer to the customers as "master" or "madam." They are a really popular tourist attraction but it's absolutely not my thing so I abstained.
Super Potato Gaming Center, where you can go in and play retro video games
Another video game arcade that's open 24 hours
I tried to go back to the chicken ramen place after this but was turned away, so I finally headed back to my hostel. All in all, I walked 36 miles over the three days I was in Tokyo so I went to bed early and slept very well until 5:15, when I got up to get the subway to the airport for my 9am flight. My flight back to Seoul was blissfully uneventful (it even left on time!) and I was back in my apartment before 2pm. I took a nap and had pizza delivered for dinner, so it was a great end to a wonderful trip.
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