Hey, everyone! Well, I made it… to TOKYO! Tokyo is one of the first cities I ever wanted to visit outside of the US – it has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. After being in metropoleis for nearly a month and a half at this point, I wasn’t sure if Tokyo would live up to the hype I’d created for it. Guess what? It has.

Before continuing, and because this is another LONG POST, I want to mention a few things so they don’t get lost:

1) I have started a podcast on Spotify. Please check it out! I’m going to try to add new episodes every two weeks or so. I have already uploaded a podcast where I interviewed Gene about our time in Japan.
2) If you’re interested in my art, have a look at my merchandise on RedBubble!
3) I am nearly finished with my newest novel, The Death of Duncan Lee, but if you haven’t read it already, the link to my first book, Eclipse Me can be found here.

The Shibuya Incident

After Gene and I shared our final day in Osaka hunting for cherry blossoms, we took the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo. A rainy evening awaited us. We didn’t do too much other than check into our accommodation, get sushi, and walk in the rain briefly.

The following morning, we started off strong. We took the train into Shibuya, home to the famous “Scramble Crossing” – an incredibly busy intersection bustling with hordes of people.

I had looked up online where a few vantage points might be. One of them was the Shibuya Hikarie building which had a lobby on the 11th floor. It showcased a great perspective of the city streets below. Since we hadn’t yet been to the crossing, it was a soft introduction. So many people down below!

From there, we walked to another viewpoint, maybe two stories up. I couldn’t believe how many people there were. And yet, it was still nothing compared to what the crossing looks like on a Saturday night!

Finally, we entered the madness. We lined up at the intersection, waiting for the cross signal to change colors. A wall of people stood on the opposite side of the street. The countdown ended and the lights turned green and suddenly, all those people were headed in our direction. It’s easy to see how it’s called “Scramble Crossing” – the way people need to weave in and out of one another’s paths is certainly… well, it’s more of a scramble and less of a walk. Zig, zag, zig, zag.

The area was chaotic, electric, and mesmerizing. Our introduction to Tokyo the night before had been pretty tame. Our accommodation was in a more residential area, far away from the busy, city streets of Tokyo’s hotspots. So, this was really our first induction into the craziness of Tokyo. And boy, was I into it. Amazing!

We walked around the area for a while, ducking in and out of shops that Gene was interested in checking out. He has been on the hunt for the video game soundtrack to one of the Silent Hill games. And guess what? As of the other day, he finally found it!

One thing I was interested in checking out was Nintendo World. And it sucked me in, big time. Immediately, I noticed the Legend of Zelda merchandise and was drawn to it. I spent probably fifteen minutes walking around, trying to figure out if I should buy something or not. I ended up buying a Majora’s Mask pin for myself, because I’ve never seen them anywhere before. I also got my nephew a gift. Next to Nintendo World was a Pokémon Center, which had a to-scale version of MewTwo in his incubation chamber. Very cool!

From Nintendo World, we ventured to Yoyogi Park, a nearby green area that was home to a number of cherry blossom trees. Keep in mind, while Gene and I had seen some cherry blossoms in Osaka, they weren’t completely bloomed yet. This was our first time actually seeing them in all their glory.

The park was, unsurprisingly, packed with people. Because it was raining, it created a pretty atmosphere – people admiring the blooms, sheltering under their black and clear-colored umbrellas. Gene and I wandered through the area for probably an hour, walking amongst the cherry trees lining the park.

Near the end of our time at the park, we found one of my favorite cherry trees. Despite it being a cloudy day, the sun decided to peek through, bathing the petals in a soft glow. Just beautiful!

After that experience, Gene said he’d gotten his fill of cherry blossoms. Unfortunately for me, the obsession had only just begun. A week ago, I was laughing about how absurd it was that people sensationalize the blossoms so much… and suddenly, I had become one of them. I didn’t intend to submit to the cherry blossom hysteria, but… I got sucked in. They are really gorgeous trees! (I’ve since learned that cherry blossom viewing has been part of Japanese culture for over 1,000 years.)

Skytree

Before beginning our trip together, Gene told me he had gotten us tickets to go up the Skytree, which is actually the tallest tower in the world (not to be confused with the tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai… Which I’ve also been to!). It provides 360 views of Tokyo. On a clear day, you can even see Mount Fuji off in the horizon. We had some time to kill, so we walked around the massive shopping mall adjacent to the tower. Gene went souvenir shopping, we got some bunny-shaped snacks, etc. And finally, it was time for our reservation!

We crammed into an elevator with maybe 20 other people and were sent up 350 flights in… under a minute? The elevator ride was so smooth, I wasn’t even sure we were moving at first.

The views were beautiful. Rivers snaked through the city. We were able to see building after building after building. Gene and I snapped pictures as we walked around the observation deck. We then took the elevator up to floor 450, which held the highest point of the tower (that customers were allowed to go to). How cool!

We even got a complimentary picture taken of us, where we stood atop a “glass floor”-type situation, so we could see the ground far, far below us. Eek!

While we’d originally planned to dine at a restaurant at Skytree, it was fully booked out. We ended up getting okonomiyaki at a nearby restaurant. We’d had okonomiyaki once before in Osaka – I was happy to be having it again because it’s SO yummy.

Once finished, we retired to our accommodation. It had been a LONG day in Tokyo. And it was only just the beginning!

Shinjuku and the National Gardens

Gene and I have been pretty lazy in the morning – sleeping in, taking our time getting out the door. It’s quite different from how I normally would operate (love sleeping in, but once I’m up, I typically leave the hostels within like 15min). Our adventure for the day was Shinjuku. I wasn’t sure exactly what was in Shinjuku other than… a “Godzilla Head,” whatever that meant.

Only a few stops from our local train terminal, and we were in Shinjuku. Early on, Gene mentioned there were some record stores he wanted to go to. He had been going into a lot of stores since we’d been in Japan and I kind of wanted to do my own thing, so I told him to message me once he was done and we would meet up. It worked out well because I was able to listen to music, wander the streets of Shinjuku, have some alone time, etc. And Gene was able to find some cool CDs (this was the day he found his Silent Hill soundtrack.)

It was raining out and I finally was able to try the rainjacket my mom had given to me. It is basically a plastic bag with buttons… but I’ll tell you what – it kept me dry!

Before long, I’d stumbled upon the Godzilla Head. When looking up at some buildings, I saw what looked like massive toes peeking off the edge of the building. And from a different perspective… yep, there’s Godzilla, blowing steam out of his mouth.

I still hadn’t heard from Gene, so I decided to check out the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Gene had mentioned he was cherry blossom’d out but I wanted to see more. More. MORE!!!

The national garden had a small fee and I almost decided not to go, but then I thought, what the hell? I’m glad I did, because this was probably where I had one of my best sightings of cherry blossoms (prepare yourselves, because here comes an influx of cherry blossom spam).

The gardens were busy as hell, but there were certain pockets where I was able to enjoy certain trees all to myself. There was one area I was especially happy with, a trail off the beaten track that had cherry blossoms fringing the pathway. It was lovely!

There were some trees that were certainly WAY more popular than others. But… for good reason. They were big trees with tons of branches, tons of flowers.

Stunning products of nature, honestly.

It was hard to get a picture without showing the crowds of people, but I tried my best.

Along the gardens, there were some small ponds which had cherry blossoms sprinkled throughout. A light rain fell down from the sky, patterning the ponds with small rings. Would I have preferred there not to have been rain..? Yes. But that’s okay – part of the experience.

I think I spent about an hour at the gardens before heading to meet up with Gene.

I was reluctant to leave the area but it was almost closing time and it was definitely time for something to eat. Gene and I met up and got ramen – one of my most frequented meals here in Japan. Lovely!

After eating, we stopped by the Hanazono Shinto shrine – which was hidden in plain view, next to a number of tall buildings. I mentioned it in last week’s post, but I love the combination of new/modern/futuristic and old/traditional/spiritual. I have been thinking of certain animes I’ve seen and now, having been in Japan, everything seems to make so much more sense.

Gene went in to Golden Gai / “Piss Alley” while I admired the shrine for a bit longer. Piss Alley is I guess just some alleyways completely stacked with venue after venue of hole-in-the-wall… bars. Once Gene finished, we walked through Shinjuku at nighttime, which was basically an acid trip. THIS was the Tokyo I’d envisioned at night. Amazing!!

We took the train to Ueno Park, one of the most popular spots for cherry blossoms. I had told Gene he didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to, but that I’d wanted to go there to see them at night, since the cherry blossoms are all lit up. It seemed like a cool thing to do. He agreed to join.

The cherry blossom trees were plentiful – I could see why it was a super popular area. There was a festival going on with live bands, food vendors, etc. We got strawberry/banana/sakura-flavored crepes. YUM!

One of my favorite parts of the area was not the super busy spot, but actually a little ways out from the main drag. We walked to a temple-y area, and then came to a small pathway that had cherry trees next to the water. They were lit up in a much more vibrant way than those along the main path. Across the pond, their reflections in the water looked super nice.

After exploring Ueno Park for a time, we took the train back to our accommodation and called it a night.

Omakase

I had booked an omakase experience with Gene ahead of him arriving in Osaka. Early on, Gene told me he didn’t want to stay at hostels but I made it clear that I couldn’t really afford hotels in Japan. Just way too expensive and I’m on a budget. Gene understood but still didn’t want to stay a hostel, so he ended up getting AirBnbs for us. It can be a tricky thing to navigate because Gene is employed and, obviously wants to be enjoying/splurging on his holiday. But for me, as a budget backpacker, I can’t really do that. We had a discussion prior to heading to Japan and it was then reiterated in person as well. I’ve tried to do my part in paying him back in my own way – buying a lot of our meals, snacks, desserts, etc. Gene has been very generous and has treated me to a number of dinners, too. Thank you, Gene!

Anyway – one of the ways I wanted to thank him in a larger way was splurging on an omakase experience. Omakase is essentially… you pay for a dining experience, and the chef prepares you whatever they want. In this case, it was a lot of sushi. And DAMN good sushi. The experience was 90min and throughout, the chefs served us a seemingly endless supply of sushi. It was one after another after another. I tried to take pictures (I felt very annoying doing so, but others had GoPros where they were filming the whole experience lol) to share with you all and with my brother, but I wasn’t able to capture everything in time. Basically it was more than 15 pieces of sushi, along with some other snacks, soups, etc. along the way. It was a great experience. One of the most memorable for me was eel. I’m not sure I’ve ever really tried eel before and it was surprisingly… delicious. I had read a book about eels back when I was in Aotearoa New Zealand, so I feel a certain connection to eels now. Eel have a lot of cultural ties in places like New Zealand, Japan, China, etc. They’re special! And yummy!

After our meal finished, we walked to the Imperial Palace which… honestly, I had no idea, but apparently is still a functioning thing and that’s where the Emperor of Japan lives LOL. We weren’t able to go in, but were able to take pictures of the grounds outside. COOL!

Similarly to Osaka Castle, there was a moat surrounding the castle grounds. Gene wanted to do some more shopping but, again, with me kind of over the shopping thing, we agreed to meet up later. I walked around the grounds some more but then got sidetracked when I saw another popular cherry blossom spot. This was the Chidorigafuchi Green Way which was a river with cherry trees on either side of it. People were able to rent small rowboats to paddle through the area. How lovely that would have been! Instead, I walked the length of the track, trying to nab the perfect shot. I got some decent shots as the sun started to fade.

Around 6pm, Gene and I made plans to meet at Odaiba Marine Park to grab dinner. We went to a TexMex spot, where Gene got chicken fajitas and I got a burrito. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but Gene has had the strangest appetite during our time in Japan haha. For me… I mean, I want Japanese food ALL THE TIME! On Gene’s list, he’s wanted: a burger, pizza, Hawaiian-themed pancake breakfast, Vietnamese, TexMex. I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. From his POV, he doesn’t go on holiday very often, so he wants to try a bit of everything. At times, I felt conflicted because I’m not sure when I’ll return to Japan next, so… I want to be eating Japanese for pretty much every meal. In some ways, I get it, though. Sometimes I just want a goddamn kebab LOL.

After dinner, we walked along the waterfront, where we had a great view of the Rainbow Bridge, the Tokyo Tower, and… the Statue of Liberty? France had temporarily given Tokyo a small replica of the Statue back in 1999 for an exhibition. The statue was returned to France, where it now lives on the Seine, but Tokyo loved the replica so much, they ended up recreating it. Hahaha. AMERICA!

It was pretty cold out. As have been a lot of days. God. I keep saying, “I think this was the last cold day. No, I think THIS was the last cold day.” Well, all I know is that once I land in the Philippines, I’m not going to be complaining of cold days for a loooooooooong time. Instead, y’all can look forward to me complaining about hot weather! Haha.

Ōme

I had been somewhat lazy with my Tokyo planning because I didn’t want to totally dominate plan-making during Gene’s time here. I also have three full days after Gene leaves, so I figured I could see whatever I wanted to once he left. Gene suggested we go to Ōme – which is a town about an hour and a half away. His mother had gone there years ago and recommended it. We got up early and took the train out to Ōme. It was a VERY different vibe from Tokyo. So much quieter. A small, suburban vibe with small mountains lining the area. Not far away, I knew views of Mount Fuji were begging to be seen. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and the mountains were blocking the view anyway. Alas.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we took the bus to an area his mom had recommended, which had super old hand-painted movie posters. In fact, it was a shop that had LOTS of super old things. Old cigarettes, lighters, action figures, you name it. It was pretty neat. A set of stairs led to the attic, which had an area that seemed pretty much devoted to the Snow Lady… who seemed to be kind of a mythological siren of sorts. I really liked that part of the shop!

Afterwards, we went to check out a nearby shrine. I think this was the first shrine I’ve seen in Japan that hasn’t been painted orange..? It had an older look to it, a little more traditional.

We then went for a hike up in the hills. There were signs warning of a bear sighting back in July 2024. I had my wits about me because… well… bears. There were also signs for snakes(!), deer, and wild boar. We saw none of that, unfortunately. BUT what Gene did spot was a GIANT bee. Well, an Asian giant hornet, to be exact. Y’all – I was not prepared for the size of this thing. And to think I thought the bumblebees in Queenstown were big? This hornet was MASSIVE – I mean probably as big as my middle finger (which, admittedly, doesn’t seem that big, but it looked five times the size of a normal bee).

The woods were very pretty. It was nice to get outside the bustling Tokyo metropolis. However, since it was already 3.30pm and we still had an hour and a half to get back to the city (and I was hoping for an early night), we returned to Tokyo.

Stopping in Shinjuku, we went for Ichiran ramen and then went back home. It was Gene’s last night in Tokyo.

Running Around Town

On the day of Gene’s departure, we dropped our luggage at my new hostel then went to Shinjuku together one last time. Gene got last minute souvenirs and then we went up to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which gave us some really lovely (and free!) city views. We were hoping to see Fuji… but to no avail. It was too cloudy along the horizon. Alas. The observatory seemed like the perfect way to wrap up Gene’s trip – one last aerial view of the sprawling city that is Tokyo.

Gene picked up his luggage and suddenly we were saying goodbye at the train station. It felt too familiar – watching Jasper leaving through the turnstiles not long before. While Gene and I had been pretty much joined at the hip since he’d been in Japan, it was now time for him to leave. I waved goodbye and watched him turn the corner. And just like that… alone again. I do enjoy traveling solo, too, though. It’s always nice to share memories with someone, but I like being able to do what I want, when I want, etc. FREEDOM!

I checked into my hostel, had a shower, and then went geisha-hunting. No success, but the area was lovely. I realized I was near the Chidorigafuchi cherry blossom light installation… and it was nighttime! I went to check it out and it was by far the best illumination of cherry blossoms I’d yet seen. Success! (Bonus: I also saw some “raccoon dogs” across the river. They look like a mix of raccoons and… you guessed it, dogs.)

The next morning, I woke up early to try and see some Sumo wrestlers doing their daily morning practice. I got there at the perfect time, 7.20am. I was able to get a front-row seat to watching the practice through the windows. The attraction is free, but it’s requested that people don’t use flash photography, make noise, etc. Once they lifted the blinds, we watched the wrestlers as they stretched. Maybe 20min later, one of the wrestlers grabbed a broom and swept the ground of the ring with what looked like some kind of green dirt.

Eventually, two wrestlers stood in front of one another, crouched into a squat where they acknowledged each other, stood back up, crouched down again and then BAM! They pummeled into one another. It was incredibly sudden and pretty shocking. The force at which they’d thrown their bodies into one another was unreal. Wowzers. By the time I’d left, there was a massive crowd around the windows. Maybe thirty people?

After Sumo, I stopped at a lovely nearby park to exercise. I admired the cherry blossoms (whose petals have now started to fall like snow) and called my parents.

I walked to a nearby Zen garden that Maisie had recommended I check out. There, I made a koi friend, who swam right up to the edge of the pond to greet me. He even poked his mouth out of the water, anticipating food. Cute!

I had sort of a strange plan for the day. I basically was on a mission to run around town, checking out things I wanted to see, but hadn’t yet. Everything was kind of spread out. Sumo, check out the Zen garden, visit the Kit-Kat pop-up shop, try to find some colorful koi fish, go to Harajuku…

After the Zen garden, I walked to where the Kit-Kat pop-up shop allegedly lived. But I couldn’t find it! I walked around the block, re-checked GoogleMaps, then thought, oh, man, maybe it’s closed down! Then I read the comments and said the Kit-Kats are just inside a coffee shop. Okay…? I walked inside and there was a mixed bag of Kit-Kats, the object of my desire! I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned, but where the flavored Kit-Kats are able to be bought in bulk all over the city, they’re all one single flavor. I wanted to try a BUNCH of different flavors. And finally, I found the one place that had a bunch of them to try! I think it was 30 different mini-sized Kit-Kat bars. You don’t want to know how much I paid for the mixed bag. Okay, fine. $25 USD. ABSURD. But I needed to do it. I love Kit-Kats and I wanted to try all the flavors. So, that will be my daily dessert(s) for the rest of my time in Japan. SUCCESS!

I wanted to get to a formerly Michelin-starred restaurant that my brother recommended. It opened at 11am and I got there around 10.30pm. Oh, but it’s a grab-a-ticket situation. My time slot ended up being 2pm. I had time to kill. While I’d gotten up early and wanted a nap, I decided to push through and go to Harajuku.

So, Harajuku is literally the ONLY place in Tokyo that I 100% needed to go to. It is maybe the only place in all of Tokyo that I knew the name of prior to planning my trip here (with the exception of Shibuya). I only know Harajuku from the famous Harajuku style of clothing. Bright, neon, hyper-pop monstrosities of clothing. Basically it is Japanese club kids. I’ve seen a lot of cool styles in Japan so far, with a lot of goth, Lolita, baby-doll looks. Some even leaning towards cyber-punk. But the train ride to Harajuku gave me the greatest, truest of Harajuku looks so far. I SO wish I’d mustered the courage to ask the girls if I could snap a picture, but I didn’t want to harass them. Usually I go out of my way not to take photos of people, but in this instance I wanted one of them so badly! They were dressed in the brightest of colors, with crazy make-up. One of them had bright pink blush all over her nose and blended out towards her cheeks. The eye-makeup to make their eyes look bigger. Pigtails. Bright yellow, pink. Platform shoes. UGH. It was just truly iconic.

I’m not sure what I expected when getting to Harajuku. I mean, to be honest, I guess I expected there to be tons of teenagers and young adults hanging out, dressed up in Harajuku styles waiting to be photographed lol. That wasn’t really the case. The area was filled to the brim with tourists. UGH. I ended up finding out that the true Harajuku style of the early 2000s has died down a lot. People don’t dress up in the same way that they used to. I ended up mentioning it to Jasper and he said, “it’s because of K-Pop.” I researched a little further about the influence of K-Pop. Where Harajuku was about self-expression in the craziest way possible, the rise of K-Pop led to more subdued, more accessible looks. Sleek, elegant, muted color schemes. Acceptable. But to me, that means… same-ness. And I’m always drawn to the colorful. Just look at my art! So, that was a bummer.

HOWEVER, when I went into one of the shopping malls in Harajuku, I was able to see some of the shop employees wearing cool Harajuku-esque clothes (If I understand correctly, I guess technically the Lolita, goth, cyber-punk looks all kind of fit under the umbrella of Harajuku?). And guess what? In one of those shops, helped by one of the Harajuku shop girls… I found the hat I have been looking for since I left America. A baseball cap with cat ears. Any time I pass a hat shop, or a shop that has a lot of baseball caps, I am looking for a new hat to replace the one I had worn out to death. I kept saying to myself (and to Jasper, and to Gene), “I think it’ll be in Tokyo.” And it was. In Harajuku of all places! The one place I NEEDED to get to in Japan. YAY! Two major successes of the day – both a mixed bag of Kit-Kats and a cat hat. Yay!

I ended up making my way back to the restaurant I’d gotten a ticket number for. My brother Dan had recommended a particular ramen I should order. It was SO good. But honestly, I haven’t had a bad ramen since I’ve been in Japan haha. They’ve all been very different but very delicious.

After ramen, I went looking for koi fish. While I’d seen a number of koi since being in Japan, I hadn’t seen the brightly colored ones – white and orange, gold, etc. I looked up a place near my hostel and was able to see them. It was a magical area. Very Zen!

In the evening, I worked on a drawing, had curry chicken for dinner, and otherwise just chilled out. I deserved it after so much running around!

Oh… I also went geisha-hunting again. No geishas, but I did find this beautiful flower arrangement in a bowl of water:

Kamakura

I initially planned to wake up super early to get to Kamakura to try and get a view of Fuji… but then I thought, eh, it’s supposed to be kind of cloudy. If I see it, I see it. I’m going to sleep in. My alarm went off, I snoozed it. Then it went off again. I snoozed it. Then I thought – GO!

I hopped out of bed, did my morning things, and took the 1hr train ride to Kamakura. The skies weren’t looking all that cloudy the closer we got to Kamakura and I was already kicking myself for not getting there sooner.

My main objective was to get to Cape Inamuragasaki – which on clear days, had a view of Mount Fuji. (Note that Kamakura is still about two hours from Fuji, but it is a good spot for views and you don’t have to travel too far from Tokyo to get there.)

I hadn’t done much research for the day trip. My Japanese friend Haruka (whom I met in Queenstown) recommended I check it out. But that’s all I knew other than the Mount Fuji view. I quickly learned the area was rich with temples and shrines. Lots of ’em.

Once I got off the train, I hustled to Cape Inamuragasaki. I made it there JUST in the knick of time – before the haze completely took over. Off in the distance, much taller than I’d imagined it would be, was the peak of Mount Fuji visible to me. I couldn’t believe I was able to see it! And this is where I really was kicking myself for not getting there earlier… early mornings are better for viewing Mount Fuji because as the day wears on, haze starts building up, blurring everything along the horizon. The haze was in full force and Fuji was practically impossible to photograph. Luckily, I brought my zoom camera and with some VERY intensive editing, I was able to bring out some details of Fuji.

I have really bad luck with mountain-viewing. Mount Rainier the first time I went to Seattle… Mount Taranaki in Aotearoa New Zealand… I’m sure there are more. Any time there is a mountain of note, I never really get to see the whole thing. Oh – Mount Denali. I was able to see, similar to Fuji, mostly just the tip (lol).

But hey… I saw it. I didn’t realize until a few days ago just how intensely I wanted to see Fuji. I wish I had planned a few days to stay in the area around the mountain. I had planned for it once upon a time but then when Gene was joining, I decided we would just stick to Osaka and Tokyo – not try to cram too much in. I suppose I have to leave things to do for next time I get to Japan!

Funny story – on the walk over to Cape Inamuragasaki, I was eating an onigiri and suddenly a crow kicked it out of my hands. Within two seconds, there must have been ten crows circling around me and devouring the onigiri. Luckily for me, I’d thought to buy TWO onigiri.

After Cape Inamuragasaki, I walked to Kotoku-in, which is a temple that has a giant Buddha statue. I was hesitant to pay the 300yen fee (like $2 USD lol) because I’m sure in the next year, I’ll be seeing a LOT of giant Buddha statues… but then I saw the head peeking over the fence and I thought, okay, let’s check it out. It was huge! To me, anyway. I think that was the largest Buddha I’ve seen yet. I know I will be seeing more in the coming months, though.

I spent some time people watching, snacking on Kit-Kats, and smelling the pungent incense burning.

Then I went for a hike. It took maybe a little over an hour. It was muddy at points and steep in others.

The walk was enjoyable. I heard birdsong, saw some squirrels… and near the end of my hike, I saw a flight of stairs. There was no sign indicating what was at the top of the stairs. I debated whether I should even go investigate. I decided: YES! Maybe there will be a nice view. There was no nice view but I was rewarded with a sighting of the largest moth I’d ever seen. WHAT?

I couldn’t believe it. It was turning into a windy afternoon and l’il mothy was hanging on for dear life.

What an incredible creature. I looked it up and turns out it is a Japanese luna moth. I snapped like 50 photos of it haha. I just thought it was the coolest thing! I even blew it a kiss as I turned to leave. It felt like a very special experience. Oh, and that area where I saw the moth was actually the summit of Mount Genji. It’s almost as if the moth was a little gift from the mountain.

I originally had planned to stay in Kamakura until sunset to try and capture a nice sunset picture of Fuji from the Cape. However, the clouds had rolled in and it wasn’t looking promising. I decided to head back into the city.

Kamakura was definitely a success in terms of day trips. A glimpse of Mount Fuji, a giant Buddha statue, and a Japanese luna moth. I was really buzzing about that moth!

Japan has been incredible to me in so many ways. While I haven’t loved every single aspect (crowds, public transit, etc.), there is so much I do love about this place. I do hope I can get back one day… but there are so many places to try and see in this world.

Rose, Thorn, Bouquet

Oh, boy… the rose, the thorn, and the bouquet of Japan. Here we go!

Rose

I have a few!

-Seeing the macaque monkeys in Osaka
-Walking through the beautiful Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto
-The luna moth!!!
-Having sushi & ramen in Japan
–Finally getting to Tokyo

Thorn

Public transit was certainly annoying at times. Crowds were certainly very annoying at times.

I think more than anything, a big thorn that I’ve felt digging deeper into my side has been this: not being able to go EVERYWHERE. I can’t go everywhere. I can’t see everything. I KNOW that. I really would like to visit Okinawa, Hiroshima, and spend more time in Kyoto. Honestly, I would like to see as much as possible here. But this is the problem with traveling on a budget. It’s not that I’m totally starving myself of entertainment/seeing what I want to see… but I think here in Japan especially, it has been very apparent to myself that… yes, I am visiting Japan on a budget. I knew this would be a “Best of,” a highlights trip sort of. I figured, let me just at least go. I’m going to Asia, I wanted to at the very least finally make it to Tokyo. But… I then ask myself, well what if I never get back? And then I missed seeing these places? There are so many place to see in the world. I would rather go to countries I haven’t been to than return to one I already have. It’s tough. And I think in this particular instance of Japan, because it is so expensive here (which isn’t conducive to my budget-traveling thing right now lol), I haven’t been able to see everything I would have liked to see. From here on out, it will be better. Everywhere else is cheaper. Japan is EXPENSIVE!

Bouquet

I was very surprised I was able to see a little bit of Mount Fuji! And I think after being in metropoles for so long now (Taiwan, South Korea, now Japan), I thought maybe I wouldn’t be so WOW’d by Japan… but I really was. I immediately fell in love with Japan in a way that did not happen in South Korea or Taiwan. It was like… yes. I love it here. It’s not perfect, I get that. But it is a force of nature. The modern world blends with the rich culture/traditions of the past in a really magnificent way here. I love it!

Miscellaneous

On my final night in Osaka, I was able to meet up with Lucie, Claire, and Claire’s sister. I worked with Lucie and Claire in Queenstown – it was SUPER nice to be able to catch up with them again… and this time, in Tokyo! I am hoping Lucie and I will be able to meet up in the Philippines since we’ll both be there around the same time. We’ll see. We ended up hanging for a while. We walked through the streets of Osaka, stopped at a bar (I had Coca Cola), and then got dinner.

Why, oh, WHY does Japan tease me with strawberry Everything? I kid you not, there is some kind of strawberry dessert around every corner. It has become a cosmic joke at this point. I am such a sucker for strawberry sweets. And they. are. EVERYWHERE.

There was a Japanese woman who started talking to Gene and I on a very crowded train. “Konichiwa! Welcome to Japan!” She told Gene that he was handsome. And then told me I was more handsome LOL. Hateful! Luckily, she was only on the train for one stop. Everyone was watching the interaction go down haha.

I have had these weird moments of clarity where I’ll have to stop myself and go, “I… am in… JAPAN. A place I’ve wanted to visit for as long as I can remember. Pinch me!”

Jasper asked ChatGPT to make an illustration based of a photo of us. How cute! (see below)

I think I like it more when the cherry blossoms start falling – like snow.

Art of the Week

This idea came to me after I’d left Osaka – I really wanted to marry a few of my favorite parts of Japan into a drawing. It has been a while since I’ve done a landscape-y type of piece. While not in love, I do like how it turned out! Tree trunks/branches aren’t super difficult for me… but apparently drawing the clusters of leaves are haha. I’ll have to work on them more in the future. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I like the colors, the composition, etc. (What’s funny is that I drew Fuji even though I hadn’t yet seen it… a premonition?)

Reflections

And just like that… my time in Japan is just about over. I have tomorrow to do some last minute exploring. In the morning, I’ll go back to the observatory that Gene and I went to, to try and see Mount Fuji again. In the evening, I’m hoping to meet up with my friend Haruka. I DEFINITELY need a final lunch of ramen and a sushi dinner!

And then the following morning, I’ll be on a flight to Cebu, Philippines. My hostel there is like $10 USD lol. Crazy. I’ve said it time and again, but I am so looking forward to the cheapness of Southeast Asia. And the warmth. I will be parting ways with my black sweater – RIP. It has served me well the past 2+ years.

P.S. the title of this post is called Lost in Translation because that’s the name of one of my favorite movies that takes place in Tokyo. Check it out if you haven’t!

If any of you have read this post to its completion, please leave a comment! I don’t think anyone actually reads this whole thing, so prove me wrong!

Until next time – sending you all my love. x