Ah Japan, the country that I highly anticipated. I distinctly remember when we were riding their train from the airport to the main terminal; the announcement on the train was spoken in Japanese. I turned to my cousin and said “This doesn’t feel real. I feel like I’m in an anime or Japanese drama.” During a night in Kenting Taiwan, my cousin curled up beside me and we watched “Memoirs of a Geisha” just to get into the mood for Japan. I had really hoped to catch a glimpse of a geisha during my trip (spoiler alert: we didn’t see one. You either had to be in the right place at the right time, or have a lot of money).
Out of the five countries, Japan was the worst in terms of English speakers. That’s why my cousin and I decided to join a tour But even though it was hard to communicate with people there, it wasn’t really a horrible thing.
The Japanese are so different than any other people I’ve seen. It’s like they’re in their own bubble that consists of their own style, language and culture. You can walk around dressed as a cat, but fit in just fine. They’re modern in many ways such as technology and fashion style, but the old culture of politeness and respect is still present. Unlike the other Asian countries, shop employees wouldn’t yell at you to buy their products. They greet you when you enter, smile politely and if you do end up buying something, they thank you and bow. Besides the people, their history is everywhere. Maybe because Canada is a relatively new country or that most North American cities all have similar buildings and feel to it that I felt like Japan was such a shock to me.
Back to the trip. We went from Osaka, to Kyoto, to Tokyo, with smaller cities in between. The tour took us to Doutonbori in Osaka and we stayed there for two nights. The hotel we stayed at was the worst one because of the small room (which honestly was perfectly fine), but it was in the best location. You could go out the door and walk a block before entering the Doutonbori district, a shopping district with clothes, food and entertainment. But along with new shops, there were also older shops with the traditional paper doors, bamboo structures and paper lanterns. There was a small shrine in the midst of the shopping region where you turn from a busy street with noise and lights into a corner where it was quiet and peaceful. Doutonbori was also known to be a red light district, which I found very amusing. As you walk around the streets, you’ll see shops that were “massage parlors” by day, but by night were places that gave a different type of pleasure. All in all, it was a place filled with nightlife and fun.
I wish we went to more historical sites on the tour. We only visited the Osaka Castle Park and the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. At Osaka Castle, you could really see the history in the place since they kept a lot of the original parts intact. As for Kiyomizu Temple, I definitely got a sense of their religion here. People lit incense, offered donations to ring bells or wrote their wishes on paper strips or wooden blocks to be hung. There was a small waterfall with three streams, each representing a blessing. It’s a temple built on a mountain surrounded by forests. I would give the award for best scenery of the Japan trip to this place.
Osaka Castle
Kiyomizu Temple
This tour had given me enough amusement parks to last the years to come. We went to Universal Studios in Osaka, Fuji-Q amusement park in Fujiyoshida and DisneySea in Tokyo. I got to try so many new experiences like traditional hot springs (being completely nude was awkward), dress in a kigurumi and light sparklers along the beach. It was an amazing experience that I would love to repeat again.
Mt. Fuji