Japan in One Post

Prepare yourselves - this post is going to be a long one.

I learned a lot from my Europe trip. I had planned my time in Europe by the hour, making sure everything was perfect; however, I later came to realize during my trip that the only thing consistent was the fact that my plans were constantly changing. Thus, in this one week excursion to Japan, I decided that the only solid plans I had were that I would be in Tokyo for x-amount of days, and end up in Osaka at some point for my flight back to the states. Initially I wanted to do: Osaka - Hakone - Tokyo - Kanazawa - Gokayama/Shirakawago - Osaka, but soon realized that it would be too time-consuming to even attempt to get to Shirakawago, since the tiny village and UNESCO Heritage site is not easily accessible by public transportation. (I will probably go back again and make Shirakawago my must-go place.)

In the end, I was planning what my day and next day would look like the morning of - I was living day-by-day, and not looking ahead very much. This style has its pros and cons, but it was probably the better way to go, considering my limited amount of time, and the possibility that my mind would change or I would become bored of my current location. My final itinerary was:

Hakone - Tokyo - Nikko - Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka.

Hakone:

Hakone is about an hour away from Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train). Not many foreign tourists visit here, because it is mainly a vacation and day-trip for Tokyo locals and Japanese residents. When I visited, the weather was still fairly cold (45 degrees Fahrenheit), but I would imagine in the Summertime there would be many more things to do and many more Japanese tourists, as the hiking and views are spectacular here. Within one day, I was done with all Hakone seemingly had to offer, and came back to the modern-twist, hipster style ryokan I was staying in to hang out at their bar. The receptionist was a young man in his mid-twenties with bright green hair, and the other worker that I had constant contact with was also around the same age and sneezed every other word he uttered. I striked up some conversation with these two guys along with a woman named Sugiura-san. Sugiura-san was on some solo weekend vacation away from home, an opportunity to get some fresh air. She was such a small person, yet bursting with energy and interesting stories to tell. The green-haired receptionist was a frequent traveler himself, and told us of his adventures in South America. As for the sneezing staff member, he served us a few rounds with few words before taking refuge to his bed. Somehow, despite my limited Japanese language skills, I was able to talk a storm with everyone over chestnut shochu for hours on end. These were all such inspiring people, and I hope to see them again.

Tokyo

Oh, Tokyo. One of the biggest cities that people list next to Paris, London and New York. But perhaps it is because I am from a big city myself that this was probably the least favorite place of mine. I had the privilege of being able to stay with a friend for the few days I was here. Most of my time was spent shopping, eating, and browsing through really weird places central to Japanese pop culture, such as Harujuku and Akihabara. I had an amazing sushi dinner at the Tsukuji Market, which was like swimming in heaven when I thought of the cold, hard, overpriced, old refrigerated sushi sold back at my campus. I also had the chance to see Kabuki Theater for the first time, and that was an extremely interesting experience as well, as it is quite different from the average Western opera.

The one thing that bugged me the most about Tokyo was the people. The overall vibe was something like "we hate foreigners - that means you." I constantly found myself trying to avoid speaking or looking like an outsider in order to fit in and not experience these direct vibes from Tokyo locals. Things seemed too serious here, as if the only thing people here do are work, eat, shop, and work. Tokyo may be a hustling bustling city, but it cannot compare to New York's communal, creative vibe.

Nikko

Nikko, much like Hakone, is also a short 1-2 hour shinkansen ride from Tokyo, and most people come here as a day trip. I've seen my good share of shrines and temples, but Nikko probably has the most beautiful of them all. Unfortunately, I did not know that everything would be closed at 4pm, and therefore arrived at 2pm with absolutely nothing to do for the night and had to wait out in the morning. I was hoping my experience in the hostel I stayed at would keep my nightlife bug alive, but in actuality, I was alone with one male in a mixed dorm. In normal circumstances, if he was a normal person, I would not have had a problem, but it was because he was constantly biting his fingers, whispering to himself, and scanning my body up and down with his eyes that I immediately threw down an extra 3,000 yen to get myself out of there and into a private room. Never have I ever had such a terrible hostel experience. Slightly shaken, I gave myself a break and went to bed early instead of exploring night time in Nikko. Besides that, Nikko itself was a really great place - it felt extremely old and untouched by the bustling modernity that I am so used to. I hate seeing so much Western influence that goes on when I visit other countries, so I was glad to hike up to this small, remote town and step back in time.

A small, unforgettable memory: the weather here was terrible (actually most of my days in Japan were raining). Not knowing this, I didn't bring an umbrella, and for some reason none of the shops in the area seemed to sell them. I was walking in and out of every shop, soaked to the bone, asking if they happened to have any extra umbrellas or knew of a place in the small town where I could get one. Completely wiped out, I finally entered a small, run-down sweets shop to ask. The owners, a Japanese couple well in their 80s, responded by limping to the back of the shop and giving me an old one of theirs. They asked me in Japanese where I had come from, what I was doing here, and all other questions regarding my personal life story. I tried to say as much as I could in my limited Japanese, which seemed to work just fine, as they were chuckling and smiling as I spoke. They were so old, yet so youthful, and I really hope to be able to greet people with such warmth and love when I am their age.

Kyoto

The second most-visited city in Japan - and for a good reason. Generally speaking, if you want new Japan, go to Tokyo, and if you want old Japan, go to Kyoto. There are shrines and temples galore, and many of the buildings are preserved from way back when. Although Kyoto is a great place to see the old, more traditional Japan, I think the amount of tourists that come here ruins that kind of experience. During my time in Kyoto, there was not a single moment where I was not being whacked my selfie sticks and bombarded by huge masses of giggling kimono-wearing foreigners. Many of the pictures you will see here took a long time to take because I had to wait for the masses of people to thin out or climb up to the top of a mountain to avoid the crowds.

I am all for old Japan - I think that is what I prefer. Nikko did a fine job of letting me have that experience, but the only thing enjoyable I found about Kyoto was the old architecture and bamboo grove. On a more positive note, I had my first large social gathering in the common room of the hostel I was staying in. I met people from Indonesia, India, Japan, and Taiwan, and the night was very much alive with sweet sake and conversation. For some reason, I generally found it hard to make friends and meet people in Japan as opposed to Europe - people did not seem as willing to talk this time around. Unfortunately and fortunately, Kyoto is a hot tourist spot and thus more of an opportunity to meet people from varying walks of life.

Osaka

My last stop - Osaka. Most tourists go to Osaka and see the Osaka Castle, Namba, Nara, the aquarium, Universal Studios Japan, etc; however, my goals here were a little bit different. I have several friends that live within the vicinity of Osaka city, and during my last visit to Japan via the JET-Memorial Invitation Program, I was mainly stationed close to an hour train ride from Osaka city center. In many ways, my business in Osaka was to revisit the many nostalgic, warm memories I created in this very place and caused me to have such a deep connection to the country.

Aside from this, I did have a good slice of strangeness that comes with Osaka. Osaka locals are eccentric, and the city is just as vibrant and alive as Tokyo, in fact, even more so. At night, the streets are filled with people half-drunk, hanging around and joking with each other. Places actually stay open past 10pm, although the public transportation did have a curfew of 12:30am. No matter where I walked, there was always a sense of humor, oddity, and friendliness, in either the products or the people. It was a really great way to end the trip - and magic! I also met some really great people along the way! Go figure, when you're in a friendly place you actually meet friendly people.

I want to end this post by sharing the advice/fortune that I was given via omikuji at the Meiji Jingu in Tokyo. If you don't know what omikuji is, it is basically a form of fortune telling in which you shake a box of numbered sticks, and once a stick falls out, you give that corresponding number to the shrine worker. He or she will give you the fortune sheet that is with that designated number. In the case of this particular shrine, these were words taken from the works of Emperor Meiji.

「大空にそびえて見ゆるたかねにも登ればのぼるみちはありけり」

「大空に高くそびえ立っているかわしい峰々にも、登って行けば、自然と登り得る道はあるものです。只必要なのは、頂上を究めなければ止まらない勇気と努力とです。昔は不可能と思われたヒマラヤ、アルプス等の頂上も勇気とたゆまぬ努力とによって、見事に登ることが出来ました。人生の行路も同様です。」

A rough, direct translation of this is: "Climb the highest mountain and you will see your path."

It continues in the second set to explain this reading in more detail, advising me to climb the highest mountain that reaches the sky, even if it is impossible. People once thought that the Himalayas were too difficult to climb, yet one courageous person decided to face this challenge and eventually made it to the top. What was once considered to be unthinkable is now something to be enjoyed by countless amounts of people.

There are a lot of questions I have about this - the main one being what exactly the impossible mountain I have to climb is. What particular obstacle am I looking at? What am I trying to overcome? And how exactly will I have the mindset of believing that nothing is impossible? Thinking like that will never give me an end. There will always be something more I am striving for, and it will be an endless journey of finding my path.

Somehow, this fortune coincides perfectly with my ultimate goal to find my personal freedom, my path (道), whatever that may be. So far, the only way I know of getting out of my comfort zone and attempting to reach this goal of mine is by traveling. I write on this blog and I book random plane tickets to places not only because I love the thrill that comes with exploring, but also because the kinds of experiences I soak up during my journeys are beautiful and invaluable.

I do not believe that there is a universal truth, but rather that it comes in different forms, and is a collection of similar yet contrasting ideas and experiences. And maybe, just maybe, if I keep persisting long enough, I will eventually have a better understanding of what this vague "truth" is. Even if there may never be an end to this constant climb to the top, there are still bits and pieces of truth that are learned along the way. I will have learned more in my efforts to get to the top than if I were to just stand at the bottom, overwhelmed by the distance.

I see this fortune as an encouragement to keep doing what I am doing - even when things seem to become close to impossible, I should keep enduring and pushing to the top. Even if it takes me years to climb, with constant swinging selfie-stick booby traps and stampedes of giggling, crepe-holding anime girls along the way, I will continue.

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Note: if I somehow misread or translated the Japanese here incorrectly, please let me know.

#travel #Japan #backpacking #springbreak