Adventures with Jack and Julia

Wrapping up Japan in Tokyo just felt so right. Starting in Osaka and diving straight into the culture from the comforts of a big city made the adjustment much easier, and the transition from there into some of the most serene and beautiful mountain towns made all the difference. And Tokyo really has it all. Each district feels unique, the people are so cool, and we know already this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Japan…

Although we spent an entire week in Tokyo, there is truly sooo much to do and see in this city that we really only scratched the surface of it. Behind each major street and attraction lies another plethora of alleyways and side streets filled with mom and pop artisanal shops, restaurants, architecture and parks that it’s simply overwhelming. For this visit, we spent quite a bit of time planning out each day to maximize our time while also always leaving time for an afternoon matcha and also some times when all that we had scheduled was to “explore the area around x”. This mix has been great for us as it gives us flexibility while still maintaining some structure. As such, we decided to cover one or two each day in order to maximize our time.

Day 1, we explored Harajuku and Shibuya. As we entered Harajuku, we happened upon a Harry Potter store so that had to be our first stop. Julia tried (and loved!) her first butter beer here. Even though it was first thing in the morning, as the saying goes, “when in Hogsmeade…!”

Harajuku’s where you find all the cosplayers and kawaii fashion so we were excited when we saw people all decked out in everything from Hello Kitty and Labubu to the attire for a cybergoth rave along the famous Takeshita Street. We wandered through here people watching and marvelling at all the funky and trendy stores and amazing snacks.

Next, we walked through Cat Street which is an adjacent shopping area filled with Japanese streetwear shops and luxury designer stores. Some of them go all out and it’s a bit of a Disneyland for bougie stores.

Harajuku is right next to Shibuya so we went there next to finish off the day. Shibuya’s most famous attraction is this immense omni-directional crosswalk that’s absolute chaos when the lights change. Everyone goes at the same time from five directions and it’s definitely something you have to experience once. We somehow ended up crossing it about eight times this day just due to where we were walking to and one thing that never got old was watching the influencers sprint out into the middle of the crossing trying to get pictures of themselves before everyone enters the road. The things people do for social media!

We also saw the statue of the loyal akita dog named Hachikō who waited every day for nine years at the crossing waiting for his owner who had passed away unexpectedly in 1925. The lineup to get a picture with his statue was huge as he’s a national symbol of devotion in Tokyo and his statue was certainly well-earned.

For day two, we decided to explore the Shinjuku area. While there, we walked through the beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen Garden and went by the Golden Gai area filled with tiny taverns of which a lot had a capacity of only a couple people at a time! We also saw the famous Godzilla head towering over the Toho Building and strolled though Omoide Yokocho, a narrow alleyway all decorated with traditional facades and lined with many bars and restaurants.

We saw so much on this day but the way we capped it off made it truly one to remember. Julia had found that you can ascend the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to their observation deck for a stunning 360 degree view of the city for free! Especially compared to the usually recommended Shibuya Sky observation tower with a cost of $30, this experience simply couldn’t be beat and we’d say is a must for any visit to Tokyo. When the weather is nice, you can even see Mount Fuji from up there! We timed our visit for just before close at around sunset time and enjoyed a delicious plum wine while watched the stars come out and the many lights of the city come alive.

Day three we explored Asakusa and Ueno. Some of the sights we saw were the Senso-ji Temple, Nakamise shopping Street with all its mouth watering foods being sold, and Ueno Park which unfortunately didn’t have its cherry blossoms in bloom yet but was beautiful nonetheless.

This was one of those days where we had scheduled in to explore in and around a zone, so we spent some time at the Ameyoko market before somehow ending up at an arcade for a quick break before continuing on. The amount of arcades, random prize vending machines and pachinko casinos you come across in Japan and Korea is astounding, so we had to go in at least one to try them out. Of the two games of Mario Kart we played, Julia somehow managed to win both of them! A rematch is needed because I (Jack) am pretty sure mine must’ve been faulty or something for this result to have occurred… As for the pachinko and gacha vending machines, we played one claw machine and won a cute keychain of a little bird and decided to name her Phoebe. She’s been with us on Julia’s fannypack since then and has been enjoying her around the world trip! Pachinko was a less fruitful experience, unfortunately. It’s mostly our fault for not really understanding how the game works, but we definitely would’ve been happier if we had left there with 1000 yen after having put 500 yen in the machine than the other way around. The house always wins, as we had the misfortune of finding out!

For dinner, we took a break from Kura and Hama to try out Gluten Free T’s Kitchen for some ramen and gyozas. Everything tasted so great and it was once again awesome that Julia got to try some of the other Japanese specialties.

On our fourth day, we spent time in Akihabara, an area known for selling anime, manga and video games. It is famous for its dense concentration of electronic retailers, multi-story arcades and specialized shops selling rare anime figurines, retro games and merchandise. Julia got to try the Japanese omelette here at a place called Kanda Tamagoken Akihabara Store and it was phenomenal.

We then spent some time wandering through these extremely overstimulating tech stores and as much as we’d have loved to pick up some cool stuff from them, our backpacks are yet again a big limiting factor for us. It’s been for the best though as we really have to keep in mind what we can fit when we look at buying something and more often than not we end up skipping the item because it would take up precious room in our bags. It also would put a bigger dent into our budget and would mean that we couldn’t splurge on dinner like we did on this night as well. We went to Kushiyaki Bistro Fukumimi Ginza for a quintessential izakaya experience complete with some delicious skewers and plum wine. Another must-do when you’re in Japan – it’s a blast.

Japan was everything we had hoped for and more. We both agreed that we would be returning in the future to experience more beauty, learn more about its history and culture, as well as to marvel at how they’re able to keep such a densely populated space so clean. The food is also outstanding and we still talk about it almost daily. We’re sad to be leaving but really excited to visit a new country filled with its own delicious food and sights to see. It’s somewhere we know less about and won’t get the chance to see as much of the country but one we can’t wait to dive right into.

Stay tuned as we head to South Korea next!

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