I got back from a solo trip to Japan last week, my first in Asia, and I had a great time (though not everything went totally smoothly). I’ll give some more general thoughts on the country, its culture, and the experience of navigating it as an American below, but first, the obligatory day-to-day (non-exhaustive, since accounting for *everything* would make the post way too long):
**Day 0**
I landed in Tokyo in the mid afternoon. I was having some stomach problems (something I ate?), so I got to the hotel, threw up, and slept for about 14 hours. Day lost.
**Day 1**
Feeling a bit better, I got on the early tour of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and thought it was interesting to learn a bit about the Japanese monarchy and the way the country sees it. I visited Tokyo Dome City in the afternoon, but was a bit disappointed to find that Thunder Dolphin would be closed the entire time I was in the country. I then hit the Tokyo National Museum, with its rich collection of art from all over Asia. Getting caught in the cold rain afterward sure was an experience too.
**Day 2**
Went to Senso-ji and the Skytree. Great view of Tokyo with Mt. Fuji in the background from there. Also hit Meiji Shrine a bit later, where I felt pretty out of my element while a ritual was going on involving hundreds of people with cloth covered poles. I was sure that I was the only gaijin there for most of my time there.
**Day 3**
Took the Shinkansen to Nagoya, and this was another stop where things went a bit awry. It was all fine at first, as I went to Nagoya Castle and hung around the city center. The hotel I booked had a terrible smell in the rooms (this was not apparent from the lobby, so I checked in thinking nothing of it), like it had never been cleaned. After changing rooms only marginally improved things, I figured that I would tough it out. I slept terribly.
**Day 4**
Impromptu hotel change (massive upgrade) and a trip to Nagashima Spa Land. [Click here to read my ramblings about Japanese park operations and what they said to me about the culture.](https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/197yj2z/nagashima_spa_land_operations_cultural_learnings/) Hakugei was killer, and an equally killer sukiyaki lunch with Matsusaka beef followed.
**Day 5**
Hectic day, this one. Took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and dropped off my luggage. Then I made a quick visit to Higashi Hongan-ji and got back on the train and popped over to Himeji, where I visited the castle (a trip highlight) and the neighboring gardens. Got hit up for a limited express fare on the way back after working on what seemed to be some bad information. My lack of understanding of the Japanese train system was showing. Had a nice steak dinner after getting back to Kyoto too.
**Day 6**
Went to Nijo Castle and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Tea made for a nice refuge from the rain. Took further refuge from the cold in my ryokan’s onsen, and that rock salt bath hit the spot. Had Fushimi-Momoyama Castle to myself in the afternoon (I blame the weather), and it was a bit eerie. Had some good spicy ramen and played pachinko at night, and pachinko made me feel the dumbest I remember ever feeling. The attendant probably explained how to play at least four times (I couldn’t hear, let alone understand him), and then I left what was left of my money at the machine after it wasn’t immediately obvious to me that it was going to spit out an IC card.
**Day 7**
Another hectic day. Went through Arashiyama into lunch time, including the bamboo forest and the monkey park. Tried takoyaki, but I wasn’t crazy about it. Kiyomizu-dera was one of the coolest places I visited across the entire trip, but it was equal parts amusing and annoying to see the path up through it clogged with men who got roped into filming their girlfriends walking from behind in cheap, rented kimonos, even in the low season. Nevertheless, the views are fantastic and the complex has a lot of cool details to see. Went to Fushimi Inari Taisha after that, but didn’t climb the whole mountain. I had done enough walking as it was.
**Day 8**
I thought I would take it easy, but I rarely end up actually doing that. Went to Gion and had a nice shabu lunch. As much as I liked the traditional surroundings and wished that more of Kyoto looked like that, I didn’t care for the constant police presence directing foot traffic and enforcing the “no photography” policy. It all felt rigidly controlled to a greater degree than I tend to appreciate when on vacation, but I suppose they have their reasons. I spent the afternoon in Nara with the deer (go see them if you have the chance; they bow back if you bow, and they’ll bow to ask for food too) and seeing the massive Todai-ji.
**Day 9**
The last Shinkansen ride on the trip, this time back to Tokyo. I finally took some needed rest time before getting a ramen dinner in a booth (one of the most cyberpunk feeling things I saw or did on the whole trip) and going up Tokyo Tower to get a night view of the city from above. It’s amazing how *big* the place is, even coming from LA and its urban sprawl.
**Day 10**
Checked out the Shibuya area, including the famous crossing, and went to one act of a Kabuki show in the afternoon. Circumstance made me unable to get the English guide (long story), so the show didn’t make sense to me, but it was something to try. I went out later at night and ended up getting drunk in Shinjuku. Met some cool people and finally saw the Tokyo of Enter the Void and Ichi the Killer come to life (and wow, the lights). Golden Gai is an absolute vibe too.
**Day 11**
Delighted to not be nursing a hangover, I hit Teamlab Planets around lunch time and then wandered around Roppongi Hills in the afternoon. I was surprised at how many things were closed at that time, but it was alright. I had a super awkward run-in with the artist behind the Striped House Gallery, where I popped in unplanned, saw him talking to some other people, thought I was in the wrong part of the building (not recognizing that his pieces were in the background), and then he told me to look around at his art, but I couldn’t communicate with him about it, so I left after a couple minutes. Capped off the trip with a multi-course sukiyaki dinner overlooking Ginza and all its lights.
**Day 12**
Flew back home.
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Some thoughts on Japan as a place and culture:
• The people are very accommodating and helpful. I even had a situation where Google Maps took me to what turned out to be the nondescript back loading dock of one of my hotels, so when I was looking around for the real entrance, a guy *got out of his car* to ask me what I was looking for, then walked me around the corner to the entrance. I couldn’t believe it. English was limited throughout the trip, of course, but Google Translate and the classic “point at what you want and say ‘please'” tactics worked well for communicating, and I was never given a hard time about the language barrier.
• The place seems very orderly and rule-following, but I do get the impression that a lot of it is about appearances. A good example is crossing the street. When the pedestrian sign was red, but no cars were around, nobody would cross the street until I would. Once I stepped in the street, a bunch of natives would follow, as if nobody wanted to stick out and be the rulebreaker, but some gaijin could break the ice and be noticed for it and then all bets were off.
• I mentioned above that one of my ramen dinners was a very “cyberpunk” feeling moment. You eat the ramen at a counter that’s divided into individual booths, and you look straight ahead and use pre-printed tokens to talk to the staff without having to actually, you know, *talk* to the staff. The feeling was not unlike that of being on the train, surrounded by people who are trying to avoid each other. The Tokyo metro area has about 40 million people, but it feels like they’re largely alone. There’s so much anonymity in a crowd, and the culture does not seem to promote spontaneous interaction. Maybe it’s because I do not speak Japanese, and therefore don’t have access to the true Japanese culture, but simply looking around tells me that people are in their own bubbles, no matter what is happening around them.
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Some thoughts on myself and my relationship with travel:
• This was not my first trip that I planned and purchased, but it was the first one where I was actually alone. The freedom of solo travel is great, and I’ll be doing it again, but not for every trip. Time and place and all that.
• I am chronically unable to relax. I think I walked about eight miles on a day when I woke up thinking that I would take it easy. It’s great for efficiency, but not so great when it sometimes becomes physically painful to walk (that did happen a couple times). Maybe I should be padding my trips even more with the time I spend at a place.
• This was my first time in Asia. I had a lot of “I’m not in Kansas anymore” moments, and I think that’s fundamental to the experience. Variety is the spice of life, and you go somewhere to be somewhere different. Even so, Tokyo is a pretty easy “baby’s first Asian megacity,” and I expect that I’ll be upping the ante in this regard in the not-too-distant future.