I finally visited Japan ! My trip was from 13rd November to 26th November 2023 !
I mostly stayed in
Tokyo but tokyo is a big city so there was many many districts and
areas to visit! I had to take the subway or the train to travel to
another district!! because tokyo is very very big!
I went
to traditional gardens with temples, parks, but also modern places
like the highest tower (640m high or somethin) I went to the very top
and took amazing pictures of the view that i'll share later!
I
went to Shibuya crossing which is a road crossing with many many
people crossing the road at the same time, you can see it in TV
documentaries bout Japan and I experienced it!!! so cool
The
places I visited:
- Tokyo Sky Tree (640m high tower)
-
Tokyo Tower (another tower looking similar to Eiffel tower but
red-orange color)
- Asakusa (traditional buddhist place with
buddhist temples)
- Meiji-Jingu Shrine (Shintoist
temples/shrines)
- Harajuku (district of crazy japanese fashion! (saw many people there dressed as anime characters or as japanese
fashion styles like kawaii or goth lolita etc)
- Shibuya (very
alive/vivid district even at night, you don’t get bored there!)
-
Ginza (luxurious district, stuffs are pretty expensive there but nice
to visit)
- Akihabara (electronics district, I bought USB sticks
there and phone cases)
- Parks (yoyogi, shinjuku parks) very
beautiful scenery of traditional japanese landscapes!)
-
Hikarigaoka park (another park, known for its long alley/avenue with
many autumn trees containing beautiful yellow flowers!)
-
Roppongi (district known for its "wavy" building)
-
Ueno park ( I visited the park itself, containing temples and there
was a place where you could write something you wish on a wooden case
and hang it in the temple for everyone to see. Japanese people
believe that if they write a wish on that wooden case and hang it in
the temple, the "gods" will fulfill that wish!) I wrote the
wish of living in Japan and be happy forever xD
-
Ikebukuro ((I visited an aquarium there in Sunshine city (big mall
with 60 floors!) with many kind of fishes and sea creatures, was
amazing!, there also was a planetarium)
- Cat cafes! was
nice petting the cats!
- Owl cafes! Yes, it is a thing in
Japan! I never petted an owl before, its very creative idea to create
such cafe. I petted owls and my favorite one is that cute baby owl!
It looked so cute! I petted it and it was gently nibbling my hand lol
just like a cat) It was a nice experience! I never got so close to an
owl before! I'm glad I did! they're adorable animals!
- I
also went to several restaurants such as Ramen which are noodles in a
soup broth but not like the boring noodle cups you find in western
countries!!! the real Japanese ramen are A BIG BOWL of noodles, deep
broth and with onions, vegtetables, meat and boiled eggs added! Very
delicious and you feel full after that! (the bowls are really big)
-
I also went to a creative sushi restaurant ! creative because you had
to order the sushis you want on a kind of computer-machine, and when
your order is ready, it slides on a kind of "corridor" on
the table where everyone is sit in a line, and your order slides and
stops right at your place and you can eat it!!! its very much cheaper
price than luxurious sushi restaurants, and the sushis served there
are still tasty.
What I loved bout Japan :
-
Japanese people!!!! they're so nice!! In western world when you ask
for a direction, they either ignore you or tell you "it's right
there!" and thats it. Japanese people actually take the time to
help you find the place you're looking for. Most of them I asked bout
directions, didn't say "you go on the left, right there"
etc ... They said "follow me" and showed you the place.
Even if they were going to the opposite direction than you or even if
they were late, they kept saying follow me and they walked like long
time until they arrive at the place you're looking for, they actually
made sure you could find that place/direction, even if that mean they
give up on their appointment theyre going to etc and actually take
the time and walk long time and you follow them. Very kind and
amazing people!
- Theres no trash cans in Tokyo and
despite that, Little to no trash on the ground! no cans, no bottles,
etc... very rare to see in western world, where theres lot of
trashcans outside but almost everyone throw their things on the
ground.
- Japanese people
line up in front of the train/subway and don’t go in until people
leave the train. They also never cross the road if the light is red,
even if no cars around driving on the road. They have high sense of
self-discipline and respect. I loved it !
- Japanese
toilets!! OMG it was amazing! It's very high-tech and creative! You
have buttons when you push it, a water spray comes out and clean your
private parts after you peed or pooped (sorry didnt find better words
to describe that xD ) . Also in winter or when its cold weather, the
toilet seats are warm!!! thanks to their advanced technology, even
the toilets are futuristic there omg!
At first I had hard
time with tokyo subway stations but the longer I stayed in tokyo, it
became easier. The stations all have a different color, one color for
one station. Example if you want to take the Ginza line, it's yellow.
The trains/subways going to Ginza district are also yellow, so you
can't mistake the line with another one! Hanzomon line is purple,
Fukutoshin is brown, etc etc its really cool!
A trip I’ll never forget !
Some pics of my trip:
Tokyo Sky Tree Tower:
Ramen dishes:
Ueno Park:
Woah I'm so glad that you finally got to visit Japan! That's so super cool! The pictures of the temples and park look so beautiful, and the sushi and ramen must've been tasty. It is also so wonderful that you were able to visit Shibuya and Harajuku and Akihabara too, being such famous places within Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteI think that about Japan being a very clean place they probably have a lot of the same cultural practices as South Korea in which it is customary to take trash home instead of throwing it out in public somewhere. That type of culture where people will take used napkins home with them in their pockets to throw away later is why the public areas are always so clean and neat!