Tokyo, Japan

“The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It’s a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.”

Homaro Cantu

Growing up in the dry state of Colorado, with our unpredictable snow storms throughout the spring, I was never really exposed to the flowery scenery of springtime. I didn’t know what it was like to see flowers blooming in April, or maybe I looked for them in the wrong places.

While roaming around Australia, I kept seeing advertisements and influencers posting pictures on Instagram of previous years’ cherry blossom blooming in Japan. I decided I couldn’t miss this, so I flew out to Tokyo at the end of March during peak tourist season. There, my friend Justin from the States met me, and we traveled the country together.

The flight from Brisbane to Tokyo took about 10 hours, which somewhat surprised me because in my mind I pictured Japan and Australia to be close to each other; spoiler alert – they aren’t. I was greeted by the hustle and bustle of the crowded Narita airport, yet well organized.

Prior to leaving Australia, I picked up a Japan Rail Pass which allows you to travel around the entire country using the various railway systems for a significantly cheaper price than what the locals would pay. If you have plans to see as much of Japan as possible in a short amount of time, this rail pass is the way to go, but you have to get it before you arrive in the country, otherwise it will be more expensive.

I quickly learned that people speak English much less frequently than what I’ve been used to (in comparison to Europe). Luckily the major transportation hubs and rail lines contain text in English as well so you can get by. Google Maps is also fairly accurate on the train schedules and platform numbers.

Accommodation was sparse in Tokyo for last minute bookings. The first AirBnb we stayed in had been one of only a couple options left in the city that was reasonably priced.

It was so tiny though, there was the “bedroom” which barely had any space surrounding the double bed, and then the tiny kitchen area and bathroom, both of which could only fit one person at a time. I had been told that people live in small spaces in Tokyo, but I was unprepared for just how small they would be. Justin and I were also giants in comparison to most people out in public.

We went to many places where nobody spoke English. But as long as we were able to point, and say thank-you, we managed to get by fairly well. There is even an option on Google Translate where you can hover over text and it will translate it for you, albeit rather brokenly.

We visited at least six parks throughout Tokyo that were well known for their hanami, or flower viewing. With the cherry blossoms, or sakura, in full bloom, visitors and locals alike flooded parks.

But I didn’t mind; the flowers blew my mind. Some trees were more full of flowers than others, but all of them were gorgeous.

I could admire these flowers for hours, but we were hindered by the cold temperatures and occasional rain. I had to wear basically all of my layers to stay warm, and even whipped out my hat and gloves when wandering around the city.

Food

The best way to warm up in freezing temperatures? Ramen! Japan is well known for their ramen soups, which we ate on a daily basis. Sometimes we would wait in line for an hour just to try a highly rated ramen joint.

The most popular ramen spots are quite small, fitting maybe a couple dozen people. Luckily, everyone eats it quickly; as soon as the soup comes out, the conversation simmers down, and everybody is busy slurping. Literally slurping, something that came as a culture shock to me in the beginning!

Most ramen places have a ticket machine where you put in your money, press the button corresponding to the ramen dish you desire, and then the machine spits out a ticket for you. You then hand the ticket to the chef and they give you ramen in return. You eat and then leave. It is a very efficient system!

I was unprepared for how rare it was for places to accept credit cards. Luckily there are 7/11 convenience stores throughout the city with ATMs where you can withdraw Japanese yen. My problem with foreign currency is never knowing exactly how much I need, and hating to not have enough or to have too much leftover at the end.

In addition to constantly eating ramen, we of course, devoured as much sushi as possible. The best fish, in my opinion, that you can order in Japan is the Bluefin tuna. It is so delectable and just melts in your mouth. We went to one sushi restaurant where all we ordered was tuna.

But I really enjoyed getting my fix for raw fish in conveyer belt sushi restaurants. These spots were all over the city, and it was my type of eating. There are cups at the tables with powdered matcha tea. You add however much matcha you want to your cup and pour hot water from a faucet at your table.

There is also a box filled with pickled ginger, my favorite part. I would consume inordinate amounts of ginger and tea, since both were unlimited at these restaurants. Next you watch the conveyor belt and grab whichever plates look appetizing! Rarely did I see actual sushi rolls; normally only nigiri (fish on rice).

I ate my sushi the “American” way, by mixing wasabi into my soy sauce and dipping my sushi into that. I learned that the locals will put a bit of wasabi on their sushi, and then pour some soy sauce over it, and then eat each piece. Oh, and you can’t enjoy sushi without sake!

Touristy Activities

Tokyo is a quirky and very busy city at all hours of the day. It has a population greater than New York City. Streets are lit up at night with lots of flashing signs advertising shopping areas, restaurants, gaming places, and more.

There are a number of cafes around the city housing certain animals that you can play with for an hour or so, such as cat cafes, hedgehog cafes, and owl cafes. We paid a visit to an owl cafe where we got to stroke the furry birds and let them sit on our shoulders.

I felt somewhat guilty in an establishment like this, because these birds are specifically bred for these cafes, and don’t really have opportunities to spread their wings. I thought these birds were beautiful, but I did kind of fear touching them, even though I was assured they were quite tame.

We also visited a cat cafe, as I am obsessed with cats. I greatly miss my kitty back at home, and Skyping with him just never really works out well for us.

We were given treats to give to the kitties, and apart from getting food from us, they didn’t really want any other attention. But they were still fun to chase around and take pictures of, because cats are the best.

An incredibly touristy activity to enjoy in Tokyo is going to a show at the Robot Restaurant. It’s difficult to describe this chaos, but you are in a small showroom that can seat maybe 100 people, and there is a stage in between the two sections of seating.

The hour and a half time is broken up into three acts, which all involve loud music, laser light shows, crazy costumes, some type of robots or other animals, and lots of music, all in Japanese. It was pandemonium, I couldn’t believe what I was watching half the time, but entertaining nonetheless.

In fact, Robot Restaurant is such a touristy activity that Justin and I happened to be seated a couple seats to the left of a celebrity couple; English model, singer, and actress Cara Delevingne, and actress Ashley Benson. I was so giddy being near them, and could not stop gawking, which I think they were getting quite annoyed at me for.

I did not speak to them, but did manage to sneak a couple pictures, which was hard to do since they were at a weird angle next to us. I couldn’t believe that I traveled all the way to Tokyo to see such famous celebrities! I was distracted for most of the show by them, like a star-struck fool.

I didn’t do too much shopping in Tokyo, but I knew I had to pay a visit to some shops containing famous Japanese cartoons. We visited the Pokemon Mega Center, which was a large store full of any kind of Pokemon related item you would want to buy. It was fun to stroll around and buy some toys here.

Another must-do activity in Tokyo is playing some virtual reality (VR) arcade games! We went to a huge arcade where people were busy playing various shooting and racing games. But the best part was on the top floor; a VR center.

There were about 10 games here, some on rides. One was you standing on a platform that is a magic carpet and you are soaring around shooting at bad guys. The VR really makes you feel like you are in the fantasy world!

One activity we did involved us walking on a thin piece of wood and in the VR world, you are walking across a plank between two skyscrapers at a height. This one was an arduous task because various scenarios in the VR made you lose your balance. It’s crazy how realistic it is in VR, with your mind being so dependent on your vision and hearing.

It’s so realistic that when I did a car racing VR game, where I sat in a go-cart type car, the shaking of the physical car and seeing myself run into walls in the headset, actually made me nauseous. After the car game, I was unable to do any more VR games that involved my body being moved without my control.

I was able to play VR games where I held a gun and had to shoot things, but I couldn’t do anything where I sat in a moving chair or a ride because it made me sick. Note to self, motion sickness and VR do not go well together!

I had a blast in Tokyo, and was there during my birthday. I was delighted that Justin joined me on my travels and celebrated my birthday with me. We had a fun week, but by the end, I was ready to get away from such a large city and go somewhere quieter to enjoy nature.

Luckily the public transportation system is excellent in Japan, with all trains being right on time, making it easy to get around. Additionally, you can ride the Shinkansen, or bullet trains, which can very quickly get you from one city to the next in Japan in no time at all. You really can see it all in just a couple weeks if you wanted!

-Anastasia