Japan

I enjoyed Japan very, very much. The ship docked in Kobe and 3 of my friends and I went straight to the train station to get to Kyoto. It was difficult at first to figure out the trains but once we got the hang of it, it was a piece of cake. We got to Kyoto and checked into our ryokan, a Japanese style inn. This is the traditional type of Japanese room where you eat and sleep on the floor. In the day time, the room is set up with a table and used as a living room. Then before bed, they rearrange it into beds on the floor for sleeping. We were lucky enough to be in Japan during the very short period every year when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Kyoto was absolutely beautiful because the streets were lined with white and pink cherry blossom trees. We spent most of our two days there walking around and enjoying the scenery. We went to a temple that was surrounded by mountains and we got to walk all around with a wonderful view of the city at sunset. The next day we went to a place called “Philosopher’s walk,” which is basically this very long street covered in cherry blossoms that you can walk down for hours. There were lots of little shops and many Japanese people picnicking along the way. I also got to try cherry blossom ice cream, which was quite delicious. Then we went to a food market, where they had lots of different things from sushi to candy to fruit and everything was unbelievably fresh. I had some of the best strawberries I’ve had in a long time there. We spent lots of time there trying the foods and seeing some crazy things that I would never consider eating. Next we went to a life size Zen rock garden and walked around the park with some more beautiful scenery. That night we decided to do karaoke, which is a very popular thing to do in Japan. We rented a room to ourselves, which is the norm, and spent two hours singing lots of our favorite songs and we had a great time.

After two nights in Kyoto, it was time to move on to Tokyo. We just barely made the bullet train and made it to Tokyo in about 2 hours. The train ride was pretty cool considering we were going about 300 mph and it barely felt like we were moving at all. It was dizzying to look out the window though and see everything flying by so fast. We also passed Mt. Fuji on the way, which had lots of snow on the top and was quite a sight. Tokyo was pretty much the opposite of what we left in Kyoto. It is a huge city as I’m sure you know, with lots of skyscrapers, lights and people everywhere. We spent our two days there visiting many of the different districts that are famous for an array of things. The first night we went to see a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome. Baseball is a huge deal in Japan so it was fun to experience the crazy fans. They really make it feel like you’re at an American baseball game and we got hot dogs and beer to get the full experience.  The next day we woke up bright and early around 4:30 am to go see the world famous Tsajiki fish market. They claim that the freshest and best sushi comes from this market. Every morning all of the fishermen bring all their freshly caught fish to the market where the sushi chefs come to bargain for the fish they will use that day in their restaurants. It was quite an experience to see hundreds of live fish getting killed right in front of our eyes and prepared for purchase. There were also some really large fish that had to be cut with really large knives (probably 5 feet long) as well as electric saws. The thing to do after the market is to go eat some fresh sushi right outside and so that’s what we did at 6 in the morning. After a little nap, we made our way to the Harajuku district, which is famous for the crazy Japanese fashion trends. We spent some time walking around and seeing some very interesting outfits and hairstyles. Next, we went to the Akihabara district, which is famous for its electronics and is actually called “Electric Town.” “The area houses thousands of shops selling every technological gadget you can imagine, from computers to gaming consoles and vacuums to DVDs, at reasonable prices. This area is also known as the "Gamer's Mecca" and has in recent times become strongly identified with anime/manga (cartoon) subculture, with the legions of otaku geeks traipsing down on weekends known as Akiba-kei” (Wikipedia). The next stop was the Shinjuku district where we got to go up to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and got a spectacular view of Tokyo at nighttime with all of the buildings lit up and fireworks to top it off. The last day, we went to the Shibuya district, famous for its fashionable shopping district. We didn’t have much time but we did some last minute shopping and saw some more crazy styles of clothing as well as. I also saw the biggest intersection I have ever seen called the “5 way scramble crossing.” We literally had to race back to Yokohama to be on time for the ship, so we unfortunately didn’t get to see that city at all.

Japan felt like being in an Asian version of the United States but more technologically advanced and the nicest people in the world. I was always amused by how almost everything we did, we used some sort of technology to do it. I was also constantly amazed by how unbelievably nice the Japanese people were. They were always willing to help us even when they couldn’t understand us. In one instance, two people turned around in the opposite direction they were going and walked us about three blocks to show us the place we were looking for. Another time, we were just standing on the corner looking confused and some women came up and asked if we needed some help finding something. These acts of kindness were things that don’t normally happen in the United States and it was really refreshing to see genuinely nice people everywhere, especially after dealing with the Chinese people. Looking back on my trip, if I was going to live in any of the countries I’ve been to for a period of time, it would probably be Japan or South Africa.

We have been on the ship for nine days now since Japan and I will be back in the USA tomorrow! Of course I’m talking about Hawaii and we will only be there for two days but it’s kind of a tease for when I actually come home in 18 days.