Japan Trip HighlightsJapan Trip HighlightsJust got back from Japan a little over a week ago! Probably more like two weeks by the time my lazy ass actually gets around to posting this. I wanted to share some highlights from the trip and kind of my honest thoughts about the whole thing. As you can probably tell, I was intending to blog daily, but I just got really drained all the time. So I just didn’t… But hey, here I am now.
As you might remember from the last entry, we started in Tokyo! After I went to that bird cafe, we visited some famous sites like the Senso-ji Temple and the Imperial Palace. Our class’s guide also brought us to Harajuku… where I HELLA splurged!
When my free exploration day rolled around, I decided to visit Yokohama’s Chinatown. I’d previously heard that Japan has the biggest Chinatown outside of China (whether that’s actually true or not, I’m not sure), so I wanted to check it out while I was in Tokyo!
I don’t think I have mentioned it in quite a long time, but I really love Chinese culture. China is on top of my bucket list, too. Love the place and the culture… politics and government, not so much.
I can say with full confidence that this was one of my most fun and most significant days in Japan. Not only did I explore Chinatown, but I also had my very first drink and quite the side quest.
As for the drink, I tried some kind of Chinese alcohol. I forgot what it was called, but, since it had “ube” in the title, I assumed it would be sweeter… Hahaha. I was in for such a rude awakening. Stuff was straight up hand sanitizer. At the time, I hadn’t really known the concept of alcohol percentage contents. I started with the wrong stuff.
As for the side quest, I had such a good time in Yokohama! I really couldn’t stop marveling at the place’s beauty. Lots of greenery, flowers, some gorgeous European-inspired architecture, and a breathtaking coast. Not only that, but I stumbled across a theme park with a MASSIVE ferris wheel! I wanted to check it out on my way back from Chinatown and, surely enough, it was still open. I rode the ferris wheel and some other little stuff they had there. Ferris wheel was for sure my favorite. LOVED the lights!
Then, after Tokyo, was Kyoto. I’m going to be completely honest; I really didn’t enjoy Kyoto that much. Sorry. Surprisingly, the crowds for Kyoto were WAY worse than the crowds I experienced in Tokyo. Obviously that doesn’t include places like Shibuya-whose crowds are like Disneyland on steroids. Literal nightmare. I don’t know if I was just better at avoiding crowds in Tokyo because I stuck to more obscure areas or if Kyoto really is just that crowded no matter where you went. I just hated having to walk fifteen minutes to get a coffee, walk fifteen minutes back to the hotel, fight Disneyland crowds at every nearby attraction or restaurant, not finding much outside of Gion’s area, etc. It was just exhausting. It felt like the whole area was just one big tourist trap. Whereas, in Tokyo, I could easily cut into a few alleys and be away from tourist traps in like ten minutes.
The one thing I really did enjoy about Kyoto was seeing cute birds. Our hotel happened to be near a river with lots of duck families, herons, an egret here and there, crows, and some hawks. The birds were both a blessing and a curse because, on one hand, they were so cute!! On the other, Japan just really didn’t have any birds which REALLY shocked me. I thought I was going to see all sorts of birds that I couldn’t find at home, but, alas, it was pretty much all stuff we have at home.
I even went to a small park specifically to birdwatch. I forgot exactly what it’s called, but it was labeled “Wild Bird Forest” in Google Maps. With that in mind, I simply assumed it was a popular birdwatching spot. It wasn’t-not even a duck in the lake. The only bird I saw was a very common heron sitting in a tree.
Aside from the lack of birds, the park itself was beautiful! It was about the only non-crowded place I could find in Kyoto. That and I saw some wild deer and koi. The deer definitely came as a surprise!
After Kyoto, we spent a few nights in a mountainous small town’s Buddhist temple. Aside from the park in Kyoto, this was about one of the only places I felt like I could catch a breath. No crowds at all, surrounded by cultural sites that were completely empty. Even explored the area at sunset, stayed out until late at night, and LOVED it. It was one of the most freeing times of the trip.
For the two nights that we were in Osaka, nothing eventful happened. I wasted my free exploration day trying to reach a far, far away coastal town by train… only to turn around within an hour into the trip because I discovered the place was having severe rain and thunder. I guess all I can really list as a “highlight” is that I ate at a DELICIOUS Chinese hot pot restaurant.
We came back to Tokyo for our last night and then went home. That’s pretty much it.
With the highlights all out of the way, I really wanted to be honest about my experience in Japan. While there were some REALLY high highs (including a very special event I can’t really share about for privacy reasons), there were atrociously low lows. A lot of them. Way more than the highs. I think it’s important that I saved my honest thoughts for last because, otherwise, it would probably look like I just came here to crap on Japan. I didn’t.
As I mentioned above, the crowds were fucking insane. I definitely felt it the most in Kyoto, but it was a problem in several other areas, too. Pretty much every historical site was like this. So were Shibuya and Harajuku, but those are obviously a given. Even some regular streets in Kyoto were just jam-packed with tourists. I couldn’t get over the damn crowds!! If it weren’t for the crowds in these areas, I probably would have enjoyed the group activities and explorations much more.
The food… I have mixed feelings on. Japanese already wasn’t my favorite Asian food before stepping into Japan (much prefer Taiwanese, real Chinese, or Thai). I had just assumed that I didn’t like it because it was “Americanized” and real Japanese food would be a lot better. I was wrong… sort of. The food wasn’t exactly my favorite. It tasted and felt about exactly the same as the Japanese food I’ve eaten in America. Japanese food is just a bit bland for my taste. Sorry. It didn’t exactly help that most of the restaurants did not have any hot sauces or spices to have with the food. It also seemed like very few restaurants served spicy miso ramen (my favorite Japanese food). Maybe spicy miso ramen is more of a Japanese American thing? Who knows. To give Japan some credit, though, I did end up loving sushi again because of them. I had kind of grown out of it prior-mostly just because I don’t like cold food-then loved it again as soon as I had some top class sashimi. Great stuff. Now I love nigiri again! Japan has some great coffee, too.
Honestly, I just found myself eating Japanese BBQ or Korean BBQ most nights. Loved their steaks and they seemed to be some of the few restaurants with spices and sauces. Sadly, I couldn’t find Chinese restaurants very easily.
Aside from Japan itself, the classmates on the trip also played a HUGE role in making the trip just… extremely unenjoyable. I don’t want to go into everything because my hands already hurt from writing all of this, but I had some horrible fucking experiences on this trip. It all started with a then-friend dumping me as a roommate because I was “too awkward” and she found better people. I almost regret not dropping out after this happened. Then another girl lied about being sick just so she wouldn’t have to be roommates with me. Said she was sick and “needed to be alone” just to be out and about perfectly fine and socializing with her friends. This happened in Kyoto, so maybe that’s another part of why I hated Kyoto so much. IDK. In general, my classmates just excluded me from a lot of stuff. I would often ask the chat if anyone wanted to hang out and got no reply. I was all alone and tried to make friends. It just hurt really badly. I suffered so much, but I will spare you the details.
Being alone wasn’t even the worst of it, though. Some annoying guy who kept bothering me for pictures decided it would be a good idea to pretend to rob me. The dude literally fucking attacked me and pulled at my brand new $200 purse I bought from Samantha Vega. And guess what?? The teachers did nothing about it. It took him harassing a girl to tears for them to actually start caring about his behavior. Thankfully, he eventually got kicked from the group, but why didn’t anyone care sooner after he straight up assaulted me?! I swear to God I hate men more and more everyday. Not joking.
Overall, I liked the trip. Didn’t love it. Hated lots of it, to be honest. Maybe I’d feel different if I had traveled alone or with people other than the fresh-out-of-highschoolers. That, and Japan seems to attract a “special” kind of people. Will just leave it at that.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not into anime or really any Eastern media, but I can’t understand or get behind why the West worships Japan like it’s a happy magical dreamland. It’s not-especially if you don’t speak Japanese. To me, it seemed about like any other place. I’m happy to be home because I didn’t like being a “gaijin” or any of the awkwardness that comes with it (restaurants refusing you service, other “microaggressions”, etc). I’ll happily indulge in the fashion because I honestly really DO love Jfashion, but I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to the place itself. I’m so happy to be home.