Even though my trip to Japan (and South Korea) was more than a year ago, I still want to share this experience.

For many years, I have wanted to travel to Japan. But I never got around to actually doing it. At this particular time, I was dealing with a hardship (more professional than personal…but still personal as well) and I knew that I needed to make some changes in my life. I had been doing the same thing, the same way, for years. I started with shifting my mindset. I started telling myself that I could do the things that I wanted to do. After all, that’s what being an adult is about, right? And what I wanted to do, for whatever reason, was to travel. I wanted to travel to a place that I had not been before. Immediately, I thought of Japan.

Fast forward about a week, and I had successfully booked my flight! I couldn’t believe it. The trip was exactly two weeks. I flew into Seoul and spent a few days there, then spent the rest of my time in Tokyo, Minakami, and Kyoto, Japan. I’ll do a separate post about my time in Seoul.

Tokyo

Day 1. Spent lots of time in Mark City in Shibuya trying to find the correct exit to my accommodations. Mark City is several floors of restaurants and shopping (clothes, shoes, makeup, home goods, etc). It was also my introduction to escalator etiquette. People who wish to walk up the escalator can walk on one side without being blocked because everyone else is on the other side.

Day 2. A lot less of Mark City. The whole day was dedicated to exploring Shibuya on foot. I walked all 10 floors of Shibuya 109, and did not find much that I wanted to buy. I contemplated going to see a movie, but the ticket was at least $15. At some point, I went to Bic Camera (electronics store) to pick up a charger adapter and a Japan iTunes gift card. Bic Camera was fun despite me almost falling down the narrow stairs. Lunch was tonkatsu with curry at Curry House Coco Ichibanya, a chain restaurant. After walking past a bunch of arcades (that I cannot believe I did not go into), I decided to walk away from the busy part of Shibuya, and ended up in the quiet and posh Hachiyama-cho. The quaint building of the Madame Toki restaurant caught my eye, but sadly, it was not open.

Day 3. Laundry. I spent a few hours looking for a laundromat that was supposed to be 5 minutes from where I was staying, only to happen upon the laundromat that I had seen the day before, which was only about 10 minutes away from my accommodation. On my laundromat quest, I saw the NHK Broadcasting Center, among many other things.

Lots of window shopping happened in Ginza, but I about lost my mind in Ito-ya, a stationery store. There, I bought a goshuuin and a hanko. Goshuuin is a book that you can take to temples and shrines and have stamped. Usually, it is a combination of stamps and calligraphy, so you can watch the person at the temple or shrine write in your book for 100 yen (about $1 USD). A hanko is a personalized stamp that is used instead of signing documents. Since my name is foreign, the store attendant helped me pick out the kanji.

I managed to tear myself away from all of the beautiful paper and pens and head out to Harajuku. Of course, I walked up and down the famous Takeshita Dori. Despite my assumption that I would not see any clothing that I liked, I shopped in several clothing stores (mainly thrift stores), but ended up only buying something for my brother. Naively, I went into Supreme, thinking that I would get my brother a tshirt, until I saw the price. Ha!

Day 4. Rain in Akihabara. By the time I got to the Gundam Cafe, they were only serving drinks because they ran out of food. And this was at 11:15 am. Too bad. I wandered the area looking for a place to stop for lunch. I received several coupons to maid cafes, but I had a fried oyster meal at some seafood restaurant. What was most exciting to me was the umbrella lock system that gives you a key to prevent someone from stealing your umbrella!

Afterwards, I headed to Sensoji Temple and walked the surrounding area.

In the next post, I’ll talk about my onsen experience in Minakami, Kyoto, and the rest of my time back in Tokyo.

Thank you for reading.