In the current writing of this, I’m pretty sure that this was the trip of my life [so far]. A thousand different things contributed to it, but I think a summary of reasons would be:
- My first time in Asia
- The furthest from “home” I’ve ever been
- My total time was nearly a month there
- My first “freelanced” trip
- Had some time solo, has some time with friends
- Had some time with a translator, some without
- And of course, everything that Japan was/is
Sure, I did just get to go to Scotland with my friends, but that felt like an age before this. Since then I left my job at Mighty in the Midwest, and was now the one-man OneMohrTime Design company. There were some personal issues that were also being worked out, and this was going to be hitting right at the time I would need a very big “mental refresh.” After all, this was going to span most of December, meaning Christmas and the New Year.
The “Gang” this time around
So, let’s set this round up. I’d be leaving a few days ahead of everyone—so I would be in a couple hostels, on the other side of the world from everyone I know, from everyone I know for a few nights. After that, I’d be joined by Alex Salfai, Brian “Dubbs” Williams, and Yoko Hama from Minneapolis, and Roy Stefanec from Marquette. The five of us would hit a few cities, then Yoko would be leaving halfway through to meet up with her family; which we would also be joining again for the New Year.
Lodging: Tokyo (Taito), Kyoto, Nara, Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo (Shibuya), Shimosuwa, Tokyo (Koto)
Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵
The first few nights for me were at a budget hostel (with a wild pub crawl, including a run-in between a Swiss man and an older yakuza member) and the more traditional hostel Toco, where everyone also stayed a few nights when they finally arrived.
Being alone and having a wildly obvious American accent, I was able to meet some very cool strangers. Some while getting lunches, some while hanging out at the hostel later at night. If I’m being completely honest with you, it’s these one-off interactions that I truly live for while overseas.
The first few days with the whole gang were catching some of the necessary tourist traps, like Tokyo Tower and Asahi Brewery. It was also filled with the same thing that all of my trips have: so. much. walking.
Ueno Photo Shoot
As a freelancer, I now work whenever, wherever. That includes being ready for a photo session just 24 hours after traveling halfway around the world. I was lucky to snag an absolute gem of a shirt on my first walk around the Ameyoko Shopping Street, and met up with photographer Kana Tei a few hours after! We went through a lot of the Ueno district, including the zoo and market area.
You can check out the full set on my modeling project, linked below.
Kyoto, Japan 🇯🇵
After 5 days in Tokyo, it was time for our first ride on the Shinkansen. Kyoto would be a far more traditional leg of the trip, after seeing the largest city on the entire face of the globe. After checking into the hostel Ga-Jyun, we did a post-travel routine of yakiniku and drinks. And as almost every night, stock up at the Family Mart across the street. English was a little tougher to get by with here, but still nothing compared to what I’d expected.
Our tourist destinations for the days here were Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari Shrine, and Iwatayama Monkey Park (although this was coincidentally the 2nd time I’d met monkeys on the trip). Most of the time was spent wandering through very different areas of the city, eating matcha varieties, and annoying the hostel dog Jiro.
Nara, Japan 🇯🇵
Nara was a one-night stop to see the jaw-dropping Tōdai-ji, and to feed the army of deer in the parks. Deer are not an unusual sight in the least when you live in Michigan. That being said, this was the most deer I’ve ever seen in one place in my entire life. We didn’t push it too hard while here, because we were staying in my first ryokan. If you find yourself in Japan, stay at least one night in a ryokan if you can. The whole room is spacious, you’re provided kimonos while on the premises, and while you’re at an incredible multi-course meal, your room is converted to a sleeping area. Yes, there are no beds when you first arrive in your room, you understood that correctly. And yes, you absolutely need to hang out naked with a bunch of older men in the onsen before eating.
Seoul, South Korea 🇰🇷
After having a night with actual rest, we were back on the train, heading to an airport, and finally, to a new country. Seoul was courteous enough to have some record lows for us northerners (5°F/-15°C)—but, I did manage to not lose any toes or fingers. Turns out, Korea can get cold as sh**.
We had a 20 min walk to Itaewon, which you may know from the tragic Halloween Crowd Crush in 2022. However, most of our time there woud be very positive, thankfully.
We toured the Imperial Palace, ate some incredible kimbap and bipimbap, and checked out a few museums. However, what will stay forever with me will be walking the busy streets on Christmas Eve, looking at some incredible light displays. At one point I nearly rented some skates to teach the Koreans some hockey stops, but again, no feeling below my chin from the cold.
After a few nights, we headed back to Japan for the official Christmas Day.
Osaka, Japan 🇯🇵
It was a bit strange coming back to a Japanese city and feeling somewhat “home”. Perhaps it was staying at The Pax, or perhaps the very mild edginess that Osaka had that made it feel like a US city. It could have even been that we spent Christmas morning in a Korean airport and Christmas night eating karaage and singing karaoke. Whatever the reason, Osaka felt amazing to be around the entire time.
You must try takoyaki and okonomiyaki if you go to Osaka!
Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵
Now that we were all fully immersed in the time zone, this was the stretch of seeing touristy Tokyo. Both Shibuya and Shinjuku were significantly busier than the Ueno/Taito City area more than a week before. These areas filled most of the “what you’ll see” articles on travel blogs.
That still wasn’t enough to make it unenjoyable. So much happened in this stretch that I could never replicate.
- We found a high-end whiskey bar inside of a Lawson (like a 7Eleven), where I got compared to a man on a paper bill and danced with an older woman for no real reason. Check out Bar Liquor Museum Kyoto Toji!
- We took a group photo with the entire bar that was playing open mic covers of mostly Beatles songs. We also learned about how many places love to still smoke inside while here
- We had to do the Shibuya Scramble more than once
- Somewhere between 1 and 5 drinks in Golden Gai
- Plus, you’re in Tokyo, something blows your mind every couple hours
Suwa, Japan 🇯🇵
As exhaustion was setting in, we took the Shinkansen out to Suwa, in the Nagano area. We hadn’t seen Yoko in more than a week, and were going to spend the New Year with her family in Shimosuwa. Her entire family was incredibly kind and generous, and reserved a second ryakon for us to stay in for a night.
After the 5th onsen of the trip, I earned the name Wain-san during the dinner; or as it would be in english, Mr. Wine. Since it was customary to pour your guest’s drink, they incorrectly assumed the 350mL I bought was more than enough for a fancy dinner. It prompted her brother to buy me an incredible pinot noir from the Nagano region for NYE the next night. Lesson learned? Sure.
We spent the actual NYE having a quiet dinner of hot pot and different pickled dishes. I even took a bath in their natural hot spring tub, and 30 minutes later watched the ball drop 13 hours before anyone else I knew would be celebrating it.
Tokyo, Japan 🇯🇵
Two of us broke off on New Years Day, ready to head back to Tokyo to head back to a new 2024 in the USA. We left relatively early, with an ironic comment from the Hama family that they were happy we experience no earthquakes while in Japan.
Well, shortly after arriving back in Toyko and sending off my friend to the airport metro, I walked a few parks until my hostel allowed check-ins. There, I passed out in my bed and experienced the most wild case of vertigo in my entire life. My phone blew up with messages while I was dead to the world for an hour that there was a literal earthquake that rocked the region!
As if that wasn’t a wild enough ending note, I also got WhatsApp messages that night that Salfai’s plane rerouted back to Haneda airport due to a sick Laotion man that no one could help. We might have met up, but his new flight was a few hours after mine. Again, what more could happen with hours left in a trip, right?
Well, as I landed in the US (1 of 3 legs that would take another 24 hours), my entire plan discovered we barely missed a fiery plane collision 30 min after takeoff, which I probably would have processed better if I had any mental energy left.
I don’t know when I will be back to Japan, but I know that was not my last time in the east. Mata ne! to my new friends.
