The journey to Japan was my first foreign solo trip (and maybe my last, more on that later). I was in graduate school and I had some scheduled time off of work, so I reached out to an American friend that was living in Japan, teaching English.  

My friend would be working while I was there, so I planned to make week-day trips to nearby cities, and planned to check out Tokyo on the weekends with my resident guide. I mapped out my must-sees, but waited until I arrived to check the train and event schedules before locking in my stops.

The trip was amazing. It was a cultural immersion, filled with festivals, new food, meeting friends of friends, and struggling with a non-Latin based foreign language AND foreign symbols. What follows are a few of my fondest memories.

  • The Sanja Matsuri festival in Tokyo! It was a great celebration, filled with parades of people carrying shrines, plus music and dancing in the streets.  It was a great showing by the locals, and it was so great to be included.
  • Studying train signs, for hours, memorizing city names in roman letters and then in Kanji, counting stops, letting trains go by, all to avoid getting on the wrong train or avoid missing the right stop.
  • The beautiful temples. Some lavish, some simple, all peaceful. Some were a little touristy, some felt like they held a thousand stories, some made me reflect, pray, and dream all at the same time.
  • Adventurous food! I had noodle bowls and bento boxes, sushi, plum wine, and okonomiyaki. I got jacked up on unregulated and self-administered matcha green tea. And I absolutely fell in love with azuki (red bean) paste desserts.
  • Sumo wrestling, shopping, enjoying dinner in the home of locals, the bullet train, an onsen (natural hot spring spa), and so much more!

Here is the rest of my itinerary (more or less, as I’m drawing from memory, receipts, notes, and photos 10+ years later):

Tokyo – home base for my stay!

  • Sensoji Temple – where the Sanja Matsuri festival culminated, so awesome!!!
  • Sumo match – sportsmanship meets performance art. A must see experience.
  • Asakusa – for shopping. I scored a beautiful printed silk handbag.
  • Kappabashi-dougigai Dori – known for kitchen gadgets and cooking supplies. I bought the Mr. a beautiful cleaver.
  • Ate okonomiyaki – Japanese style pizza omelet hybrid.  Cook it yourself, at your table. Super fun!

Chuzenji / Nikko (National Park)

  • Toshogu Shrine
  • Nikko was the last stop on the train ride from Tokyo.  I walked a bit, saw the shrine, had lunch, then took a bus to the top of a mountain. I got off the bus, thinking I would hike a bit before sunset, but within minutes it was raining.  Well guess what, shocking or not, I had read the schedule WRONG, and there were no more buses coming (I kept that bus schedule, as a memento of my ineptitude)!  Thankfully (or not?!) one other person had gotten off with me.  After realizing our unfortunate mistake, considering our options, and contemplating the even more unfortunate reality, an angelic park ranger drove by.  I’ll never know for sure, because I couldn’t ask anyone, but I’ve got to believe that the ranger likely called a bus back to get us.  We rode the bus down the mountain, soaked, and grateful.  I practically jumped off the bus, JUST IN TIME, to get on the last train of the day back to Tokyo. My first outing, and I learned so many things that would serve me well in my future travels. Most importantly, how to read a bus schedule in Kanji.

Kamakura

  • Hasedera (Hase Kannon Temple)
  • The Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kotokuin Temple) – this was epic and beautiful.

Kyoto – my solo overnight trip!

  • Kinkakuji Temple / Rokuon-Ji Temple (Golden Pavilion) – stunning and beautiful.
  • Kiyomizu Temple – Kiymizudera – packed with tourists, but somehow serene and impactful.
  • Heian Shrine – this was one of my favorites, with beautiful gardens and wide open spaces.
  • Nijo Castle
  • Katsura Imperial Villa
  • I stayed at Ryokan Nakajimaya – and it was perfect for me at the time. A ryokan is a type of traditional Japanese Inn that featured tatami-matted rooms and communal bathrooms. It was peaceful, clean, comfortable, in my budget, and available for booking once I arrived in Kyoto. The location was great, within walking distance to restaurants and easy access to train/subways.  Today it has mixed reviews, but I would likely still go back!

Hakone (foot of Mt. Fuji)

  • Tenzan Tohji-kyo – an onsen, communal hot springs bath – it was lovely.  I love a great spa, so I could have spent more time here, days and days and days 🙂

I came home feeling accomplished, and brave. I had traveled to and around Japan, virtually solo (aside from evenings and weekends with my host). But I realized that I would prefer to share trips like that with a companion. There is so much beauty, culture, art, food, and diversity around the world; and it can’t be captured with photos, a blog, or stories. Sure there were other tourists around, but in those moments when I was by myself, I was wishing that I had someone to share my awe and appreciation with.

I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to experience Japan. It is a beautiful country, steeped in culture, history, and tradition.