I get antsy when we don’t have a trip on the books. This trip to Japan was initiated because I found some cheap flights when I was daydreaming on google flights. Their “anywhere” feature that shows you flight prices from your starting airport to everywhere in the world is my kryptonite.
However! We almost had to pull the plug on this trip because we put an offer on a house and the closing date was scheduled for when we’d be gone. Title companies don’t let you sign closing paperwork from out of the country. The selling agent said the closing date wasn’t solid so we decided to go on the trip and be ready to sign early or right when we got back. Glad we didn’t cancel the trip because the closing date was postponed several times and 6 months later we still don’t have a closing date… that saga is for another post. Let’s talk about Japan!
Tokyo Pt 1
Our itinerary started and ended in Tokyo with Kyoto sandwiched inbetween. Even my culled down folder of photos from the trip is huge so I’ve split the trip into two posts, one for each city. Here is everything we did in Tokyo! Loads of walking, train hopping, shopping, eating, and temple visiting. My favorite part of this city is the prevalance of cutesy details in everyday life things. Ex: pink interior on the train.
This ^ tree-lined path is a popular place to take photos during peak cherry blossom season. We thought we would arrive just in time to see fall colors, but because the summer was mild, Japan’s fall took a while to show up. We probably missed the colorful foliage by 1-2 weeks. On the bright side, this meant we got to see roses and other blooms.
For the first couple days of the trip I wore my glasses, that I usually only wear at my desk, because everything was blurry. Like really blurry. At one point I couldn’t read or see anything on my phone. Lucas was my seeing-eye-dog and had to navigate the wild train system alone because I was useless. My eyes started to feel strange on the plane then progressively got worse. I had no idea what it was until I told Lucas “my eyes feel the same way they feel when I get them dilated at the optometrist.” That clue was the key. I asked ChatGPT about it then called my older sister (nurse) to confirm the diagnosis. I had accidentally touched a nausea patch behind my ear then rubbed my eyes and the meds dilate your eyes. Even after removing the nausea patch, it took well over 36-48 hours for my eyes to return to normal.
The famous Shibuya Crossing was fun to watch. This video is from mid morning on a weekday so the group is small. We got to experience the real crowd when we came back at night on the weekend.
The week before we arrived an Ikebana festival happened in Tokyo and some of the floral displays were still up. Ikebana is a form of floral design I’m hoping to practice in the future.
At every temple there was a wishing area where you could write a wish or a prayer on something to be hung up with all of the other wishes. There was something special about seeing hundreds of wishes hung together in different languages. A lot of people wished for peace, some health for their families, and others wished the Dodgers would win the world series.
I made sure to book a hotel with an onsen. The onsens are divided by gender so Lucas and I couldn’t go together. I ended up having the place to myself! I loved that the lost and found container was called a “Box of Kind Hearts”.
We ventured out to a different part of the city for a breakfast place (Jade 5) that a coworker recommended. It was great! Serendipitously on our walk back to the bus station after breakfast we found a bakery whose “famous truffle rolls” lived up to the advertised hype. I’d go back to Japan just for those rolls. We ate them before we got a pic.
Tokyo Pt 2
After an incredible experience in Kyoto we rode the train back to Tokyo to hit some shops and prep to go home.
Whenever people ask Lucas what his favorite part of the trip was he says, “the train.” The train was packed. There was only one seat left. Lucas gave it to me, I napped, and he sat on his suitcase in the back so he could see out the window. For 3 hours.
In my trip research I stumbled upon a video someone posted of this hotpot restaurant with collagen bears and had to try it out. It’s called Kumachan Onsen which translates to teddy bear hot spring. The food wasn’t the best in the city, but it was good and the experience was fun! They make you pick out a bear ear headband to wear and you get to pick out your bear color. The hotpot table got surprisingly hot.
We lucked out with an empty row next to us on the long flight home so we split up and stretched out! Lucas’ weird pictures of me asleep as proof of our lux experience. Thank you to Grandma Michelle for pausing your life to come to Portland and treating the kids to such a fun week while we were gone!!
We would love to go back to Japan and bring the kiddos next time!