With week one of our Japan trip in the books it’s time for quick a report.

After a short, 10 day trip in 2019, I really fell in love with Japan. However, COVID and lockdowns began very shortly after we finished that trip, and I’ve spent the last three years wondering if my enthusiasm for the country was real, or if perhaps I was just nostalgic over the memory of traveling. I’m happy to report that my excitement for being here returned almost instantly. That’s good, since I’m here with my friend Thomas for over a month this time.

What I did not remember accurately from last time, was the reality of flying for 12 hours. Maybe I’m just getting older now, but my body always lands very unhappy after a long flight.

Once through immigration though, I managed to wake up a bit and enjoy the train ride into Tokyo.

4am Walks

The next few days were a blur of jet lag nausea, convenience store food, and sleep. However, those cycles were punctuated by one of my favorite things to do here: walk. And, since my body couldn’t figure out when I was supposed to be awake or asleep, most of those walks happened between 3am and 6am.

There’s nothing quite like strolling through the peaceful alleys of the otherwise bustling city of Tokyo. But doing so in the very early morning hours is even more special, as you feel like you have the whole city of 14 million to yourself.

On one such walk, I found this great shot of the Skytree that I wanted to take in better light. I went there for sunrise three times and never got the pink, puffy clouds I was looking for. Also, it was taken from a steel bridge that sags and shakes when you walk across it. Thomas found a sign posted on it and translated it from Japanese. Apparently it said the bridge is scheduled for demolition. Safety be damned though. I’m back in Tokyo in a few weeks and I’m going to try and get that photograph again.

As our bodies adjusted to the new timezone, we spent more time walking during the day and watching Japanese television during the night, which is it’s own special kind of entertainment. See below.

If you’re thinking that the above character’s face looks a little bit like a butt, your eyes do not decieve you. The show is, “Butt Detective”. Or maybe “Detective Butt”. Not sure. Doesn’t matter.

Yodobashi Camera, Parks, and Sumo

Other highlights from our week in Tokyo include a tour of Yodobashi Camera, which, is basically just a seven floor electronics store covered in text. And I do mean covered. They sell other stuff as well, I bought beer there.

Per our tradition, we walked a number of parks, which are always beautiful and well-manicured.

Lastly, we bought tickets to some sumo wrestling. And while I didn’t know what to expect going into it, it was super interesting, and I had a fantastic time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good way to describe what it was like, I think it’s the sort of thing you just need to experience.

City Lights & Sky Meat

On our second to last evening, I wanted to find some good raised views of the city, so I did some research and convinced Thomas to wander around with me taking elevators to the tops of buildings. This turned out to be a really interesting decision as we found a cool place to see the city lights. Conveniently, there were also a number of fancy restaurants on the top floor of the building, so we decided to be brave and try one out. (Neither Thomas or I speak that much Japanese. Thomas speaks the most).

After Thomas asked the host if our clothing was appropriate for the restaurant, we were seated, only to find that this was a Japanese BBQ place. We did not know this. It was also $60USD an entree. Oh well, too late.

The menu was strange and felt quite limited. We couldn’t really figure out what to order, so we guessed at some stuff when our waiter showed up. Our first attempted order included a lot of pointing, guessing, and pretty large plate of cow tounge. Lucky for us, our waiter switched to English in pretty short order, pulled out the REAL menu from the stand on the table (which we somehow did not see), and told us we probably didn’t want the cow tounge; He then instructed us to try again. It was pretty funny.

We ended up with some wagu beef, pork and other assorted meats I can’t remember. I had a few glasses of wine and enjoyed the food and the view. This ended up being one of the highlights in the city, so I’m glad we tried it.

Onward to Osaka

We’re in Osaka for two weeks now, so we’ll see what comes of that experience. Thanks for reading!