Japan

Well, I have done exactly what I didn’t want to do…I got way behind on the blog posts. After leaving Switzerland we spent 2 weeks in Austria, 3 days in Prague and 10 days in Germany and we are now in Japan! I have decided to skip the blog on those spots for now and work on Japan since it is fresh in my mind. I promise to come back to the others soon! Here is our itinerary for our 3 weeks in Japan:

Saitama (suburbs of Tokyo visiting my friend BJ)- 3 days

Fuji Five Lakes- 6 days

Osaka- 3 days

Lake Biwa- 3 days

    Day trip to Nara & Kyoto

Tokyo- 4 days

We did not start off well on our journey to Japan. Both Ross and I started to get sick our last day in Munich. We might have been able to fight off the cold but instead of resting we had to get on a flight to Dubai with a 13 hour layover and then another flight to Tokyo. The layover in Dubai was nice because we got to see friends for a few hours. Ross met his old boss, Allen, for drinks and I met with my friends, Sophia, Victoria, and Chizzy at Sophia’s place. It was so nice getting to see friends for a few hours and being back in Dubai. I weirdly missed the city and it felt like home being back. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to the airport I was feeling so sick. Our flight wasn’t until 8am the next morning so we had to sit in the lounge from midnight until 7am when our flight boarded. We did not sleep at all! I was so tired and felt so awful that I was able to sleep a bit on the flight to Tokyo but Ross did not sleep at all. We arrived around 10pm and headed to our hotel. We book a place right by the airport just to get some sleep and man was it tiny! We opened the door and basically had a small entry way and the rest of the room was just the tiny double bed and some shelving…there was no other space! The bathroom was so small that it was just a toilet and small shower. The sink was in the shower! We tried to sleep but between the jet lag, the uncomfortable bed, and being sick, we didn’t sleep at all! The only good thing was the bathroom was so small I was able to turn it into a steam room to help my cold haha! I had heard the hotels in Tokyo could be tiny…they weren’t joking!  

Tiny Bathroom in 1st hotel

Tiny “house slippers”

We woke up feeling awful and exhausted. We had decided to have a relaxing day at our hotel up north of the city near where my friend, BJ, lives. It was about an hour train ride up there and this was my first taste of public transportation in Japan. To save money, we had bought Japan Rail Pass tickets ahead of time. We also decided to splurge a bit and buy the “green pass,” which is the equivalent of first class. It was nice because there was a separate green car with much larger seats and way less people. The trains and train stations were so clean! Literally no trash anywhere! Our hotel was up in a suburb of Tokyo called Saitama. We had to walk about 10 minutes from the train station to the hotel. The street we walked down was a pedestrian street. There were little restaurants lining the street and people on bikes or just walking around. It was such a cute area! I have never been anywhere in Asia so this was all so new to me! The hotel we booked was huge and the staff were so nice. We had arrived a few hours before check-in but they were still able to help us check-in early and they gave us an upgraded room. It was so much bigger than the last place with a big king bed. We immediately got into bed and passed out for most of the day! Ross slept pretty well but I was so sick I couldn’t really sleep. I just lied there with a sore throat and pounding headache...I couldn’t even muster the strength to go to dinner. Ross was sweet and offered to go pick up takeaway for me. About an hour later the poor guy comes back with chicken sandwiches. He said he went to a dozen traditional Japanese places and couldn’t get any food. Either they wouldn’t do takeaway or he couldn’t figure out how to order. They had these vending machines that you had to put your money in and then select your meal. The machine then prints a ticket for you to give the cook. Of course, it was all in Japanese so Ross couldn’t use it. Although I had been craving some sort of noodle soup, we made the chicken sandwiches work!

Side Note: The toilets in Japan are amazing! They all have built in seat warmers, bidets, and some even have electric sensors to lift the lid up and down and noise canceling systems! Legit!

I finally slept that night and was feeling a little better in the morning but still not great. I was so excited to see BJ though so I did my best to suck it up! BJ is a volleyball friend of mine from Huntington Beach. We used to play coed together all the time until he moved to Japan 6 years ago and I have not seen him since. He now lives in Kuki, which is in the Saitama suburb north of Tokyo, with his wife and son. He picked us up at the train station and we headed to his place. I was still really run down so Ross and I went and slept for a few more hours. That night he took us to eat at a local sushi restaurant. Since we were in the suburbs everything was in Japanese…thank god BJ speaks and reads Japanese pretty well! The sushi restaurant was one of the ones with the conveyer belt that brings all the dishes around. You can either take rolls off the belt or you can order what you want off of a screen in front of your table. There is a second conveyer belt that will then deliver the food directly to your table. We just let BJ get to work ordering…everything he ordered was delicious we had a bunch of traditional sushi like yellow tail and salmon but we also had some stuff I had never tried before. We had a roll that was basically seaweed filled with fermented soybean. It was kind of slimy and sticky but tasted really good. We also had a squid and okra roll…that one wasn’t my favorite. We finished the meal off with mini bowls of ramen that were delicious! It was such a fun experience and something we never could have done without BJ!

Side Note: Japanese people are literally most polite and kind people I have ever been around. They are so welcoming and the most gracious hosts to guests I have ever been around. During our 3 days with BJ, his wife, and friends we tried to treat to meals and couldn’t. They refused to let us pay for anything. It is just the Japanese way. We will forever remember their kindness.

The next day we got to meet Saki, BJ’s wife, and their son Ko, who is 9 months old. They were supposed to have a sport day at his daycare but Ko was sick so we didn’t go. We relaxed that morning and then met his friend, Sumi, for probably the coolest experience of our whole trip! BJ called Sumi “The king of Tokyo” and I don’t think he was kidding. He said Sumi knows everyone. When he heard BJ had friends coming to visit he wanted to make sure we had a very special experience in Tokyo. He knew a guy who is a sushi master and had a restaurant for over 40 years. After his wife passed a few years ago he closed the restaurant and only opens it on occasion for close friends. Well, Sumi called this guy and he opened his restaurant just for us! It was basically the bottom floor of his home and it was tiny. It had 2 tables with Japanese style floor seating and 6 stools at the sushi counter. He went to the fish market that morning the prepare sushi just for us! We got to sit and watch him work and he was explaining everything to us. He showed us all the different fish and ingredients he uses and all his knives. To say the sushi was good would be an understatement…it was unbelievable! I have never had an experience like that before and probably won’t ever again! Thanks again to Sumi for the best lunch ever!

Sushi Master’s house/restaurant 

Sushi Master at work

One of many delicious creations

After lunch we decided to head into the city to watch the Japan vs Samoa rugby game. There was a “Fan Zone” in Yokohama that we wanted to try and go to. Japan has set up Fan Zones in all the cities where Rugby World Cup games are being played. They have huge screens to watch the games and a bar and food. They look really cool! Unfortunately, by the time we got there the Fan Zone in Yokohama was full so we had to find somewhere else to watch the game. We wound up at an English Pub down the street which wound up being super fun! The place was packed with fans watching the rugby and almost everyone was Japanese! The game was really fun and Japan played great! Let’s just say Japanese rugby fans are the best ever! They get super excited about everything and even clap for the other team if they score. It was so fun just being in the environment and cheering on Japan. I cannot wait to watch more of the games here! 

 

Watching Japan v Samoa in Tokyo

Delicious drunk ramen

The next morning was a bit of a struggle. We didn’t get a ton of sleep, were a bit hungover and still sick…ugh. We tried to sleep in a bit and BJ decided to take us out to this shrine north of Saitama called Nikko Tosho-gu. The shrine is a massive complex of different buildings built in the 17^th century honoring the first shogun. It is also where the famous “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” monkey statues originated. I have never seen anything like this place. There were so many different shrine rooms that were beautifully decorated with lots of colors and carvings. There were people there praying and making wishes to the different shrines and I got to make a wish on my Chinese zodiac sign, the dog. I think the part that surprised me the most was the number of souvenir stands in the area and the number of Japanese buying things. BJ told us that it is Japanese custom to bring gifts in to work if you go anywhere…even if its just for a day trip. I would be broke if I had to do that hahaha! I really enjoyed the shrine and spending the day with BJ. That night BJ and Saki took us to an Okonomiyaki restaurant. I had never had okonomiyaki before and the best way I can describe it is that it is kind of like a big savory pancake with different types of ingredients mixed in. You order the ingredients you want and then they bring them all out to you. The tables all have grills in the middle where you cook the food. You start with a flour based batter and then put the ingredients on top, cook it until it gets nice a crisp and then add seasoning and sauce. It was amazing! We tried a few different ones but my favorite was this one with this weird cheese and spicy fish eggs. It’s something I never would have ordered and it wound up being my favorite. 

Okonomiyaki dinner

Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine

Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine

Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine

The next morning BJ cooked us these amazing noodle bowls with curry sauce and eggs and we were on our way to Mt. Fuji. It was so nice getting to see him and meet his wife and son. Hands down, Japanese are the most welcome and generous people I have ever been around.

The trip from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji took half the day but was such a nice experience. The trains in Japan are so nice. We got to take the bullet train for a big portion of the trip, which was very cool. Since we bought our rail pass with green car access we got to sit in the first class cabin. The seats are so spacious with foot rests and super nice bathrooms. Plus, the ride is so smooth! The train goes between 200 and 300mph so I don’t know how it’s not bumpy. We got into Mt. Fuji after dark, walked to our hotel in the pouring rain and got checked. The hotel was very nice. It had a big public onsen and the rooms were spacious. I was still not feeling well our first day in town so we just went to the grocery store and lounged around the hotel. Our second day at Mt. Fuji I was finally starting to feel better! We decided to go for a walk around the lake and get some fresh air. The area we stayed in is called Fuji Five Lakes. It sits at the base of Mt. Fuji and there are five lakes around the area. Our hotel was near Lake Kawaguchi, which is the biggest, most inhabited lake. They have trails set up around the lake where you can walk or ride bikes. The perimeter of the lake is about 20km around so we just walked a small portion. The area was very green and the views back towards Mt. Fuji are really nice. There are tons of hiking trail around the area as well, but I was still too sick to think about taking one of those on. You can also summit Mt. Fuji at certain times of the year. We wound up over on this boat dock enjoying the sun and views before we headed back to the hotel.

 

View of the lake

Lake with Mt. Fuji in the background 

Chilling on the dock enjoying the sun

The next morning I was feeling almost like myself again! I still can’t believe how long I was sick! We decided to get up very early and walk to the Chureito Pagoda. This Pagoda is on a hilltop overlooking Mt. Fuji and the views there early in the morning are supposed to be spectacular! It’s about 400 steps to the top but it was definitely worth it! The morning was so clear and we got the most spectacular shots of the Pagoda with Mt. Fuji in the backdrop! The funniest part was there was this little old Asian lady there with her family. Since we went early, there weren’t tons of people at the view point yet, but this little old lady managed to be on top of us the whole time! We kept moving back, or up the stair away from her and no matter where we went she just had to crowd on top of us. She also kept standing right in everyone’s pictures…I thought Ross was going to throw her from the view point hahaha! We finally got our pictures and, since I was feeling so much better, we decided to go walk around the lake again. The city of Fujiyoshida is very small and quite but the area is so pretty. We really enjoyed just being out in nature and having some down time. That night I decided to try out the onsen for the first time. An onsen is the term for a Japanese hot spring. Because of the volcanic activity around Japan, there are thousands of onsens that they run into the hotels. The way you use an onsen is like this: there is a men’s and women’s section to each onsen. You enter, take off your shoes at the entrance, and find a locker for your things. You then strip down and enter the onsen area to wash off. The”shower”areas are these partitioned areas with little stools. You sit down on one of the stools and clean yourself before entering the water. The stools are soooo tiny and I don’t understand why they don’t make them bigger or make it so you can stand up to shower…when in Japan though! The onsen itself was really nice and I really enjoyed relaxing in the nice warm water. They had an indoor section and an outdoor section, which was nice because you could be in the warm water with the cool air on your face. It was definitely a fun experience that I am glad I took advantage of. 

 

Stairs we took to the Pagoda

Pagoda with Mt. Fuji in the background

Selfie at the Pagoda

Side Note: All the hotels in Japan give you tons of free toiletries including face wash, face lotion, nail clippers, hair brushes, the works! You also get slippers and weird “house shoes” to wear around the room. The best part though is you get free PJs! They are not attractive at all and were obviously way too short for me but I still loved them! The first pair we got were like a long robe that buttoned up in the front and the set here was a top that buttoned and bottoms. I was calling them my “Japanese jammies” haha! I pretty much lived in them the whole time we were at Mt. Fuji. 

 

Rocking my “Japanese Jammies”

The next day wound up being a little stressful. We found out that the super typhoon was headed for Japan and aimed to make a direct hit where we were staying! We were supposed to travel to Osaka the day after the typhoon was set to hit and from what we had heard none of the trains would be working that day. Luckily our hotel in Osaka allowed us to cancel 1 night for free and our hotel in Mt. Fuji allowed us to add on a night for a very low rate. That would never have happened in the US…they would have jacked up the price knowing guests would have no choice but to pay it and they definitely wouldn’t have refunded us a night. We made sure to stock up on food for our room and prepare for the storm. I had been in a hurricane before, but it wasn’t a big one. I had no idea what to expect from a super typhoon but the local news was definitely making it sound scary. It started raining early Saturday morning and continued the whole day. By around 7pm the wind had really picked up and by 10pm it was so strong our window was shaking and actually woke us up! We figured in the morning that there would be tons of damage…broken trees and flooding. We looked outside and it looked like nothing had even happened! The roads were dry and the sun was shining! We did hear though that many areas had severe flooding and damage and we just got lucky. We spent the day catching up with friends and family and started to plan our trip to Vietnam. 

Map of where we were during the Super Typhoon

The next morning we finally headed to Osaka. We were supposed to have 2 full days there but now we had to pack everything into one day, which wound up being fine. Our first stop was Osaka Castle. The original castle and grounds were built in the 1500s but has been restored a few times due to fire and wars. The grounds around the castle cover about 15 acres and are really beautiful. We spent the first part of the day walking around the grounds and the castle. The castle itself is a beautiful 5 tiered building with a view point at the top. It is also surrounded by a mote so there are only a few entrances into the grounds, which I thought was very cool! With Fall coming the leaves on the trees had started to change color. We had such a nice time just walking around the castle grounds and park. Like everything in Japan it was so clean and well kept. After a few hours we walked back into town to explore the Dotonbori District. This area is right on the river with a huge bridge and is famous for gaudy neon lights, crazy signage, and bars and restaurants. It was wild looking! There were sooo many people out and about and the people watching was fantastic! There was even a random “girl band” performing on the river, right near the bridge. Ross definitely wasn’t as interested in this area as I was, but I have never experienced any place like this. Asia is all so new to me so I loved just walking around looking at the shops, signs, and people. 

Osaka Castle

Mote surrounding Osaka Castle

Dotonbori Bridge

From Osaka we headed up to stay a few nights on Lake Biwa. We chose this area because it was a good half way point between Kyoto and Nara and there was a brand new Marriott we could stay at and take advantage of my status…score! We stopped in Kyoto first for the day and just left our bags in a locker at the train station. We decided to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine first. The shrine is famous for the thousands of orange gates, called Torii, that people and businesses donate for good fortune. The gates are all lined up one by one and form almost a cover over the walking path. One side of the gates are inscribed with Japanese writing stating the donors name, business and date of donation. There are over 32,000 Torii! Our expectation versus the reality were so off! We thought it would a small section of gates to walk through and lots of fighting with crowds of tourists to get “the picture”. We were very wrong! First off, the place is massive. Yes, the first section of gates is pretty crowded, but if you keep walking down the path you can find so many spots where you are totally alone. We walked a few miles up through the gates and then there were sections with shrines in honor of the dead. There were locals there praying and chanting in front of the shrines, which was really cool to see. The last section we had to walk up was over 12,000 stairs straight up! The shrines up there were very beautiful and there was a nice view point over the city, which made it worth that hike up. I absolutely loved Fushimi Inari! It was such a unique and beautiful site! 

 

Gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine

You can see names inscribed on 1 side of gates

Side Note: BJ had told me that Japanese people love to wait in lines. I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that until we had spent a bit of time in Japan. Every time you go to get on the metro, or train, or a bus, everyone is quietly standing in a nice, orderly line, waiting their turn to get on board. There is no pushing and shoving or cutting in line and it is amazing!

Our next stop for the day was Kinkaku-Ji aka “Golden Temple”. This site was originally a villa owned by a powerful statesman. In 1397 a shogun purchased it and converted it into a Zen Temple upon his death. It is called the Golden Temple because the whole building is gold! It sits on a lake, which captures the reflection of the temple and the surrounding trees…it is a beautiful site! As with Fushimi Inari, expectation versus reality were very different, only this time it was for the worse! The temple is surrounded by a huge park and so we thought we would be able to leisurely walk around the park and see the temple. In reality, the place was absolutely packed! There was a set route you had to walk which started in front of the temple and then herded you past some of the other important sites in the park and then to the exit. We could barely see the temple or get pictures of it because there were so many people packed in front of it trying to do the same thing as us. Plus, the path was jammed full of tourists so we could barely see anything or stop long enough to figure out what we were looking at. Yes, the Golden Temple was stunning but the overall experience was awful!

 

Golden Temple

We left the Golden Temple late in the afternoon and headed back towards the train station. We found out by accident that a friend of Ross’s named John just happened to be in Kyoto at the same time as us so we wanted to meet up with him. We found a bar close to the train station for him to meet us. As we were sitting there a group of 3 couples walked by and all of a sudden Ross got really excited and started yelling someone’s name. It turns out that one of the couples that walked by were his neighbors from where he grew up…such a small world! They decided to sit down with us for a bit and have a few drinks. Soon John met us as well and we had quite the group to chat with! We had a few drinks with John and then headed across the street for dinner at an Okonomiyaki Restaurant. We had a few more drinks, stuffed our faces and then had to rush to the train station so we could catch the train and last bus to our hotel. It was so fun getting to meet John and also chat with Ross’s old neighbors. 

Drinks with the Marshalls

Dinner with John

Our hotel at Lake Biwa was really nice. It was a brand new Marriott that happened to fit our budget. We got upgraded to a suite that overlooked the lake and had its own private onsen in the room! We decided to have a lazy first day at the hotel and the next day we took the train to Nara. Nara is about an hour train ride south of Lake Biwa and was the capital of Japan in the 8^th century. It is known for its temples and deer that roam free in Nara Park. We walked through the center of town to get to the park and it was such a pretty city. There were lots of quite streets lined with shops and little restaurants. Even before we entered the park we started seeing tons of deer! There are around 1,200 Sika deer that live in and around Nara Park. It is believed that they were originally brought into the city by the royal family, but no one knows for sure. They are also a protected animal and if you are caught hurting or killing one it is a huge fine! Most of them are very domesticated and will eat right out of your hand. Besides the deer, that park is beautiful! It covers about 1,600 acres and has really nice walking paths that lead you to many different shrines around the grounds. We decided to just wander around without any agenda. There was a big group of deer we spotted in a small valley in the park near the lake. We didn’t have anything to feed them so we just started pulling leaves from the trees and most of them would eat them! We eventually found a huge open field that was full of deer! We found a stand that was selling rice crackers we could feed them and man were they a hit! We spent the next 2 hours just walking around feeding and petting the deer. Some of them have even learned that if you bow and they bow back, you will give them a cracker! I loved that! Ross was making fun of me because I would just bow and bow and bow at them and evidently I looked like a crazy person hahaha! Although most of the deer were pretty tame, there were quite a few that were pretty aggressive. We found a small group that we started trying to feed. Next thing I knew they were nipping at my shirt and the males were head butting my leg! I am not gonna lie…that was making me nervous. I eventually just threw my crackers on the ground and ran away while they were distracted haha! For the most part though the deer were super cute and I loved spending a few hours in the park with them! On the way out of the park we saw 2 male deer that were fighting to establish dominance. They were clashing their antlers together and smashing their heads back and forth at each other. This went one for a good 5 minutes until one finally lost. We also saw a few deer crossing the street in the “deer crossing” path, which was pretty ironic and funny. Overall it was a wonderful day spent in nature and I am so happy we had the chance to visit Nara. 

Feeding the deer

Baby deer

Ross and his new girlfriend

I think the best part of Ross’s trip to Japan happened that afternoon and evening. The main reason we came to Japan at this particular time was so that we could be there for the Rugby World Cup and hopefully get tickets to at least one game. We had tried to get tickets on the official website but were unsuccessful. With the Quarter Finals coming up we had been looking online for last minute tickets. They were selling for way over face value but we were still hoping we might find some that weren’t a terrible price. On the train ride to Nara I found 2 tickets that we could actually afford to the Japan vs South Africa quarter final game, so we bought them! Then, that evening Ross got a call from his friend who had tickets to the Ireland vs New Zealand quarter final game saying he had 1 ticket left that we would give him for face value. After a little back and forth with Ross feeling bad that I couldn’t go I finally convinced him to just go to the game without me (he played the “I feel guilty leaving you“ card very well haha). So now Ross had tickets 2 of the quarter final games and I was going to the Japan game, which was the one I really wanted to go to. 

We were up and out of our hotel super early the next day so we could make it to Tokyo in time to watch the 1^st quarter final game at one of the fan zones before Ross took off for the Ireland quarter final. Again, we found a Sheraton property down in Yokohama that fit in our budget so we were able to check in early. We decided to watch the 1^st game at the Fan Zone in Yokohama because we could walk there from our hotel. The fan zone was really nice but really different from what I expected. Anywhere other than Japan a Fan Zone would be super busy and rowdy hours before the game with people getting there early to save seats and start drinking. This one was fairly quiet and not nearly as busy as I expected. There was a big stage set up with a massive screen to show the game behind it. They had a lot of seating in the grass in front of the stage and then back behind that there was a covered tent with some standing only tables and then picnic tables and lots of tvs to watch from in there. We grabbed some seats in the covered area, ordered a few beers, and waited for the game to start. They had some pre game entertainment that was very different from what I expected as well. They had a few, what looked liked, high school bands that came up and played. They also had a tribute of some sort for the start of the Fall season. They had a bunch of people in traditional clothes carrying these big shrines on their shoulders while singing songs and marching in circles. We had no idea what was going on but luckily the Japanese guy sitting next to us spoke English and explained everything to us. The best part though was right before the games started. They handed out flyers that had the National Anthems for all the teams in the quarter finals printed on them. They then played a recording of two Japanese people singing the songs so we could practice singing along with them. It was kind of weird but also really cool. The Japanese are so polite and such good sports spectators…it’s the only place in the world that people would want to learn the National Anthems of other countries. Sure enough, as soon as they played the Anthems for England and Australia everyone was signing along…it was pretty cool. At half time Ross left to head to the Ireland game so I stayed to watch at the Fan Zone. I made friends with a group of Japanese fans and had a great time! Sadly, both Australia and Ireland lost. On the walk back to the hotel I decided to find some late night food. There was an area over near our hotel that had a 24 hour McDonald’s (don’t judge me) so I headed there. The walk was much more confusing than it looked! I wound up circling around the train station and going up and down a bunch of random streets. I wound up on this one small street that was absolutely buzzing! It was packed with tiny restaurants and bars and tons of people were out and about. I eventually found the McDonald’s on this very busy, very cool street that was full of karaoke clubs and arcade rooms. It was a great spot to people watch! I headed back to the room, ate my food and passed out…it had been a long day!

 

Ross and James at the game

Ross at Ireland v New Zealand game

Fan Zone in Yokohama

When I woke up in the morning Ross was there. Evidently it was a crazy and long trip getting back to the hotel after the game. He said he had to wait ages to buy a metro ticket after the game ended, wound up jumping the ticket gate at one point and it took him 2 ½ to 3 hours to get home! Luckily for me he had learned a few things that would help us get home faster that night after the Japan game. That afternoon we went into Tokyo city to meet up with his friend to watch the France vs Wales quarter final game before heading to the Japan vs South Africa game. The bar they picked for us to meet at was right at the corner where Shibuya Crossing is, the busiest intersection/crosswalk in Japan! It was insane!!! They basically let all the cars go and then turn all the lights red and make the whole intersection a pedestrian cross walk in all directions. Everyone just starts walking, crossing each other, and zigzagging through the hundreds of people waiting to cross the street…it’s absolute chaos! We finally made it to the bar, had a few beers and were able to watch the whole game and still have time to make it to the stadium for the next game. The guys were hurting haha! Evidently they drank way too much at the Ireland game so they were very hungover. The game was super exciting and Wales wound up making a comeback and winning! We immediately rushed to the train to head to the game. The trains were all packed and it was pretty crazy getting to the game. We made it just in time for the National Anthems to start! I was so excited to be there since it was my first Rugby Game ever! I seriously had the chills as they were playing the National Anthems…there is just nothing like being at a live sporting event! The fans were amazing! There were people from all over the world at the game and unless they were from South Africa, they were cheering for Japan! The Irish kept singing songs for the Japanese and everyone was decked out in Japan gear…it was so cool! A couple of observations as an American at my first “non-American” sports event. #1, they don’t really play any music during down times, which as weird to me. #2, no cheerleaders or mascots running around! I have to say, I had an absolute blast, but I love the atmosphere of an American sporting event a little more. There was a group of girls sitting next to me that I befriended. They were from Ireland and they were there cheering on Japan. They had kimonos, Japan shirts and Japanese head wraps…they looked amazing! They wound up giving me a kimono and head wrap to wear so I could properly support Japan. Sadly, Japan lost, but I still had the best time at the game and I am so happy we got to have this experience. Ross has officially turned me into a Rugby fan! The ride back to the hotel was long. It took us at least 2 hours to get back. The last portion of the train was mostly locals heading home. I am still amazed at how Japanese people can just fall asleep anywhere. All the people on the train were passed out…standing up, leaning against walls, hunched over in chairs…it didn’t matter. Ross had a girl standing next to him that almost fell on him multiple times! I’m a little jealous, I wish I could sleep like that!

 

Cheering on Japan with my new friends

Geared up for Japan!

Ross and I at the Japan v South Africa game

The next 2 days we were going to site-see around Tokyo but it wound up raining the whole time. We took the opportunity to relax a bit and plan part of our Vietnam trip. As much as I wanted to see more of Tokyo, I know we will be back!

Overall Thoughts: Japan really surprised me. It wasn’t one of the places I was super excited to visit but I absolutely fell in love with the country! It is clean, safe, and beautiful. Whether you want to hike, visit temples, be a foodie, or see the big city, there is something for everyone to do! Plus, the people are so polite and welcoming. I would love to take another trip to Japan in the future!

Negative: This is a tough one. Honestly, there was noting negative with Japan. Being sick was a huge bummer and we missed out on a quite a bit because of it. Also, the typhoon killed 2 days as well. Other than that, Japan gets a 10/10!