My last stop was Fukuoka, which I’m going to gloss over because I didn’t really do anything in Fukuoka, besides the Christmas Market, but I did stay in an interesting cube hotel! It was one of the floors of a nicer hotel, so the lobby, bar, and restaurant were all really classy, and the room included a free happy hour from 5-6, not bad! The bed was laid out like a sofa, and you pressed a button on the iphone in the room (it’s like an iphone 3) to make it recline all the way into the bed, or as much as you wanted. The iphone also controlled the lights. There’s nowhere to lock your stuff up, you just pull down your shade and assume no one would ever take anything from your bedroom area, and they don’t! But still a difficult concept to get used to when you’ve got a laptop, DSLR and some lenses in the bag!
free drinks!
Then I also had an interesting experience on my flight. It was a 8:30 am flight, and I guess security didn’t open until 8am, and because of that the security line was wrapped literally around the airport. At some point around 45 minutes before the flight when it became clear that there was no way I would make this flight, I went back to the airline flight desk, told them I was going to miss the flight, and asked about booking another one. They were looking at me like I was speaking Swahili, and told me to go back in the line, someone will come. Uhhh ok.
So now I’m back at the end of the line, wondering what is going to happen. I still assume I’m missing this flight but we’ll see. It’s a cheap flight, so not the end of the world, but still really sucks. Maybe 10 minutes later a lady with a placard comes around yelling Busan, Busan, Busan and then people appeared out of thin air to join her, we formed a group that got taken to our own private security entrance, getting through in 5 minutes, and onto the other side. Boom! A private security entrance, what a world. And for immigration all I had to do was scan my passport, it flashed green and I was good to go. Awesome. You rock Japan!
Literally any other airline in another country you are basically on your own in the airport. Unless you ask people to cut in line, you’re just gonna miss that flight, there’s no one there to help people in danger of missing their flight. You’re most likely screwed. So that was a nice way to leave the country! Although I do wish I knew about this arrangement ahead of time, that was the most stressful morning of the whole trip! An hour later I was in a new country, South Korea.
Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Japan! It’s pretty hard not to. Everything is sooo smooth. From the bullet trains, to the pavement, to the tonkotsu ramen broth. A Japan trip is really travel on easy mode, so low stress. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Lost? People are more than willing to help if you ask. Miss your train? There’s another one in 10 minutes. Traveling by bullet train is basically the best form of travel, period. It is so choice. The rail pass is great. One day I wanted to edit some photos and see some scenery so I hopped on the bullet for an hour and a half, and then took it right back. Fantastic. It’s also probably the most enjoyable country i’ve been to ride a bicycle!
Just look at that pavement, yessss, you can just feel how smooth it is on a bike
One of the very few things that tripped me up traveling was sometimes finding my line in the mega train stations where there’s like 14 different lines connecting. Besides that, let’s see, occasionally you’ll know exactly where something is on google maps, but it’s in a building with 20 floors and you need to know which floor it’s on. And hmm, every once in a while there would be places without an English menu. I suppose I probably screwed up some etiquette stuff here and there too, but tourists get a free pass. After wracking my head, that’s about all I can think of! I don’t think there was a single time when I was upset or angry with anyone or anything really. Literally all of my plans went right according to plan for the most part.
Uhh it’s somewhere in here!
One of the only things I found disappointing was traveling in low season and meeting other travelers. It wasn’t really easy. It’s also not exactly a backpacker hotspot to begin with. If you’re staying in a cube hotel, forget about it, nobody talks to each other at all. Even other foreigners you see also seem to adopt the very Japanese custom of never talking to a random person. Besides maybe a bartender, I don’t think a single person came up to me chat, ask what I was doing in Japan, or anything along those lines. But I was also never asked to buy something, asked for money, never had to haggle over anything, they basically just leave you completely alone! It’s certainly not a bad thing! But I wouldn’t mind a random conversation or chat every once in a while! And I suppose the constant mask wearing doesn’t help.
The Japanese are almost still at 100% percent mask usage in public. Even outdoors and socially distanced, riding a bicycle, or going for a hike, people are still masking! The only people you ever see not masking are tourists, and sometimes some rebellious high school students. One of the cultural phenomena of Japan is that it has a very strict code of public and social conduct. So the power of peer pressure to conform and fit in is especially strong, nobody wants to break it. Until the government says mask are 100% not necessary outdoors, I don’t see the Japanese changing anything soon! But I certainly would have preferred not wearing a mask all the time, heh.
I actually thought the constant neatness and orderliness of Japan might make things a bit boring, but it really wasn’t the case. It’s almost a spectacle in and of itself, how well things run and operate in Japan. I still have some trouble grasping how there’s no litter anywhere, how the roads and sidewalks are always in such perfect condition, the temples never have as much as a spot of paint missing, the bars, restaurants, the public spaces, the toilets especially are so nice and clean. Like plenty of places in the world are kept to a high standard of cleanliness, but nowhere is like Japan. Pooping in a public place is no worry at all!
Traveling a bunch in developed countries also usually doesn’t excite me that much, but there’s just so so so many things that are new and different in Japan that it’s a real treat to see. Everything from the malls, to the public baths, cube hotels, electronic gadgets, ordering food, the city planning, its all so interesting to observe - as well as compare and contrast with the US. Well, Japan wins the vast majority of things! Oh man there are so many things I wish the US had that are more like Japan, but having efficiently designed, walkable and bikeable cities with excellent public transit is a big, huge, winner. Also the restaurant culture where you’re able to have all these small, unique bars and restaurants packed in different nooks and crannies of the city is just superb. The tiny bars that seat 6-8 people are really fun and basically nothing like you find in the US!
I also think that smaller food shops that specialize in just one or only a few things is much better than all the places in the US that come with pages of menu items. And as a solo traveler I do love all the bar seating! These places do one thing and do it right. If you want tonkatsu ramen, you go here. If you want curry you go here, if you want tempura, you go there. One of my favorite food experiences was riding my bike in Kyoto down a walking street and smelling something outrageously good. I stopped my bike and there was a very small shop and it was just one item, crème brulee donuts. I rang the bell and the owner came out from the back and I bought a donut. He took out his blow torch and carmelized the sugar right in front of me. Fantastic.
so good
Some of the coffeeshops are the same way. They don’t mess around with espresso drinks and certainly not frappucinos and the like. They have just a few types of very high quality beans from select countries, its drip coffee, and its black. That’s what you get. Love it! People in Japan have good taste, and they show it. That’s why you see certain random places with lines down the block. Standards are high and people consider it worth the wait for high quality food.
Eating in Japan was great. And that’s from someone who was just stopping in at random non-high end places that looked good with no real recommendations. In the cold weather I especially enjoyed the curry places with deep fried chicken or pork katsu, mmm. Also having eel! A fantastic food, I can’t believe it’s not eaten hardly at all in the US except as sushi. And then there’s these Izakaya restaurants that are small servings of different things, lots of sashimi, but also lots of interesting vegetable dishes. Great. And Yakinuku – grilling your raw meat on small griddles in front of you, lovely. Of course there’s the sushi, high quality and affordable, I actually ate this less than I expected. But that’s only because I didn’t realize how fun the sushi belt conveyor restaurants are until the end! And finally the ramen, my staple meal, so good, so many types. So rich and comforting in the winter. The quick and easy bar seating is perfect. Mmm.
Oh and did I say I love the breakfasts? They love light and fluffy. The pancakes are about 2 inches high! The French toast is similar. They load it with a bunch of crème on top, so I guess it’s not light in calories. And the omelets that you slice open and they ooze out everywhere, yesss. Light and fluffy applies to desserts too, the cheesecakes are like a combination of angel food cake and cheesecake. The egg tarts just melt in your mouth. And perhaps my favorite snack desert was a sweet potato cake-like pastry, shaped into a little cylinder, served hot and fresh. I’m going to find this recipe and make it when I go home. Maybe start my own shop. It’s that good!
And in all this writing I didn’t even touch on how beautiful the parks, temples, castles and shrines are, or how Japan has such a long and interesting history. There really is a lot to like!
I was there 3.5 weeks and I felt like that was just about the perfect amount of time for me. Maybe a whole month would have been best, but not much more than that. I could have spent a couple more days doing absolutely nothing but riding the trains around! But I had just about reached my quota for spending time by myself. I certainly would like to go back at some point, maybe do the north in Sapporo or the south in Okinawa. And cherry blossom season is still on the list, even though I know it’s a double edged sword because the whole country sounds like a zoo for those couple of weeks! But overall Japan exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend it, especially for most tourists who want a convenient easy travel, fantastic cuisine and cocktails, beautiful outdoor spaces and historical sites, and just everything clean, cared for, and well run!