We got back last night from Japan. It was an amazing trip, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
You’ll read a bunch of different stuff while planning a trip to Japan about how Japanese people act and how you need to see this or that, or how you can’t do this or that. I’m here to tell you that some of it is true and some of it is overblown, and whatever you do, make sure to take the trip you want to take and not the one other people want you to take. We did some really touristy stuff and some off the beaten path stuff, and we did what we wanted to do and it was just amazing.
Let’s start, shall we?
Day 1:
Louie and I flew from St Louis to Minneapolis and then Minneapolis to Tokyo.
The first flight was short, the second flight was very long. I tried to sleep as much as possible, but it’s hard to sleep with no leg room and mostly upright.
We landed around 3 pm and easily found the train we needed! Google maps was quite helpful for trains, and we had set up our Suica cards ahead of time so that we just needed to tap our phones as we passed through the gates. You pay for the trains in Tokyo using your Suica card which you can put on your apple wallet and that’s what we did in advance. Easy peasy.
We did carryon only, so we each had a suitcase and a backpack. The train took 40-50 minutes and then it was a short walk to our first accommodation, a place called Ito Ryokan in the Nihombashi neighborhood. It was inexpensive, in a good location, and ended up being quite lovely. We checked in and dropped off our bags, but we knew staying too long would be a dangerous thing as far as jet lag went, so we headed right back out as soon as we could.
We would have to roll out our own futons, which was not a big deal.
Decorations in the room, I’m glad they knew I liked purple.
A few things about the Ryokan: you have to remove your shoes when you come in, there is a step up. And when we first arrived, we ended up chatting with a Japanese man who had been working outside and it turned out that he had just finished a year of college in Missouri! What a coincidence, as most people we met were not very familiar with St Louis or Missouri.
I was pretty hungry, so we picked up a snack at the 7-11 (rice ball) and then walked around.
Our first shrine! Of many, so many, countless shrines to come. Each special in their own way.
Look at that teeny weeny truck!
There were vending machines all over the place.
Finally it was time for dinner, and we chose a place near the Ryokan that was recommended by them, it was called Kyoya and served okonomiyaki.
We walked in and were the only customers, it was run by an older couple. At first we felt strange being the only ones there but it ended up being a great first night–the woman chatted with us in English and made sure we knew what was going on. She cooked the food (a savory pancake with eggs, cabbage and other things) right in front of us while we relaxed.
The restaurant was decorated with a variety of dioramas, which the couple did themselves.
At one point the man made us hats.
It was delicious as well as fun, and the perfect first dinner for us!
Later we wished we had gotten a picture with the owners, but we just didn’t think of it at the time.
Afterwards, we went back to the Ryokan and went to sleep. It was glorious to sleep lying straight out!
Day 2: We had signed up for 8 am breakfast, which ended up feeling quite late as we both woke up earlier, around 5 am, but that gave us time to get ready and relax a bit. Louie found some coffee to have ahead of time.
This flyer was on the table to help us understand how to do things.
Our first Japanese breakfast! It was delicious–I wasn’t sure if I would like Japanese breakfasts and I ended up absolutely loving them. Why NOT have salad for breakfast? And miso soup, and everything else. Tofu, egg, rice, fruit.
Unfortunately it was raining a bit this morning, but not too bad. We had our umbrellas so we headed out for the day. We spent the morning walking about Ginza and made various stops, including a cafe for a banana milk drink and a bathroom, and the Uniglo in Ginza, which had 10 floors. Louie bought a few things, and then we had to hurry to make our noon reservation at Sushi Suzuki, an omakase restaurant I had reserved.
When we got to the restaurant, we had to wait outside until it was exactly noon to be let in.
There were many small courses: squid, flounder, snapper, tuna, another tuna, otoro?, shad?, Horse mackeral, clam, giant scallop, tiger prawn, uni, miso soup, clam, sea eel, turo, and tamago.
It was a pretty serious meal, but you could tell they had a little sense of humor too as they brought out little sushi figurines for some of the courses.
The lunch was really delicious and special, and I was glad I had made the reservation. It was still raining after lunch, but we forged ahead. We visited Hibiya park, library, and museum. At the museum we got in trouble for not buying tickets to the special exhibition and trying to sneak in, oops! Of course it was just because we couldn’t read Japanese, and we apologized and then had to buy tickets.
Then we found a listing for a water pipe museum nearby and finally found it on the fifth floor of a totally random building, this was quite an adventure, but it either wasn’t really there or was closed.
Next we headed towards Tokyo tower and saw the Zojo-shi temple. We happened upon a Buddhist service there and sat and listened for a bit.
Our last planned activity for the day was to attend an orchestra concert at Suntory Hall, so we made our way there. It had been a long and exhausting day, and we had trouble finding the hall, but we made it! I ate a shrimp sandwich and a ginger ale at the concert and then enjoyed the show. It was John Adams conducting John Adams and the audience adored it: they clapped for a ridiculously long time, though they didn’t give a standing ovation. It was strange to us: at the end of the concert the orchestra even left the stage, the house lights came up, and the audience kept clapping. Finally John Adams walked out one last time and then I think people stopped: we had left by then so who knows, they may still be clapping for all I know. I was absolutely exhausted in the concert and at one point in the first half debated if I could take a nap during the concert but managed to stay awake.
We took the train back to ningjocho station then and ate a dame na rinjin ningyocho ten which was an excellent ramen place. Louie found it on tabelog (a good app to use for Japanese restaurants) and while it took us a little bit to actually find the restaurant in real life, it was so good. The only thing that completely surprised us was that there were raw eggs sitting out that you could just add to your ramen if you wanted, no limit.
After that it was DEFINITELY time for bed, I was so tired from being up all day, jet lag, and so much walking. It was a fabulous day in Tokyo, and the next morning we were going to Kyoto, so I’ll pick up there in my next blog post. Feel free to ask any questions, or just comment if you are reading.