Sakura, Sushi and Shinkansen: My Japan Tour (Summer '24)

Imagine this: you come home from a tiring summer day at school, yearning for one of those cool popsicles, and your mom approaches you with a smile. It seems weird at first, but then she tells you that you're going to Japan for the holidays! This was an extremely fortunate reality for me, as my mom found the perfect package which would take us there during cherry blossom season. (The cherry (pun intended) on the cake? I would get to skip my checkpoint exams as the flights were fixed and not adjustable!) So, on the 12th of April, many students were focused on their English checkpoint, but not me - I wrote the exam thinking the whole time how I would be in Japan tomorrow by this time, and raced back home to head back to the airport that evening.

Middlepoint Malaysia: The Layover Chapter

Before we could admire Tokyo, we discovered Kuala Lumpur - the capital of Malaysia, on our layover. This Malaysian Airlines layover flight made our prices cheaper, (although I was scared as we all know what happened to MH370 of Malaysian Airlines...) and we got to discover Kuala Lumpur. We went to visit the Petronas Twin Towers and it was a really beautiful area in the evening, glowing with the collective pride of every Malaysian - it was the symbol of Malaysia. Then we headed to a famous market, the Petaling market, where we even tried some Malaysian roast chicken (I did feel it was uncooked however.) The Perdana botanical gardens were also very beautiful and unfortunately we had to rush back to the airport without fully discovering the natural abode of Kuala Lumpur. We got some souvenirs at the airport and boarded our 16 hour flight to Japan - the excitement was really bubbling inside of me by now! (Although, my stomach also bubbled, I don't think that chicken sat well with me.) I bid farewell to the towers from my window seat.

Touring Tokyo: The Largest Metropolis

Tokyo, the capital of Japan's commerce and culture, and age old testament to urbanscapes - I would be touring it! When our flight from Kuala Lumpur landed in Narita, all I could see outside were cherry blossom trees lining the runway - it was cherry season alright!

A sense of euphoria and astonishment washed over me as I walked by several 'Welcome To Japan' signs - I could not ever have believed that I would visit Japan ever, it seemed so far away. As soon as I stepped out of the warmth of the airport, the cold air blast froze me over. I sleepily rode the bus back to the hotel after a tiring day of travel. The next day, I woke up not knowing where we would be going. I just grabbed my peach juice and we hightailed it down to central Tokyo when I spotted it - a comically large skyscraper, dwarfing every other building in the area. It was EXTREMELY tall.

As our tour bus stopped, in a dream like state, not comprehending what was happening, I got into an elevator where I could feel my ears pop and the resistive forces of inertia as I zipped up to the top, where I saw the complete view of Tokyo. Did you know Tokyo is so packed there isn't even a football stadium or a single park? Just concrete.

Of course, we visited the famous Shibuya crossing where 2000+ pedestrians cross every one minute. We couldn't spend a lot of time there but judging by how many people walked there I wonder how cars passed at all, the road was made for the pedestrians. My mom and I even posed with Hachiko (after waiting in a long queue of course)

We then proceeded to an ancient Japanese shrine from 1400 years ago - I just could not imagine it: the
temple was built in a dense forest and as millennia passed by the dense jungle of trees turned into one of concrete while it remained so preserved and it was very remarkable. One look at it and you would think it was built yesterday. The span of time for which it has existed is something I cannot comprehend. 

We then went on a famous Tokyo River Cruise on the Sumida River, but first we reached the river port via a walk from Nakamise-Dori street, a famous and bustling shopping street that has impressively managed to preserve the ancient vibe. Shop entrances were intricately carved and all shop names were in Japanese calligraphy on bamboo sheets which were hanged. Then, we sat on the cruise boat and where I zoned out as the wind blew on my face with views of Tokyo, things I had only seen previously in anime. The buildings, the culture, the people - everything seemed like I was in an anime and that this couldn't possibly be real life.

Later, we were taken to Akihabara Electric Town, a place famous for the largest intersection in the world, the Shibuya crossway. On the way we passed by the Imperial Palace, a piece of nature and beauty of the Edo period preserved in the middle of this urban landscape. At Akihabara, we bought many things at great discounts to what it would be in India - I got a limited edition Nintendo. We then ate Tayakki together, which is chocolate sauce in between two delicious pancakes that melts in the mouth. It gave me nostalgia and reminded me of my childhood (Aren't I still in my childhood?)

When going back to our hotel, we crossed the same bridge as in the morning, The Rainbow Bridge, but this time it was night and I got to admire the wonderful rainbow colors. I then rushed back into the hotel (to use the bathtub first!), slipped into the hotel provided pajamas (That's a thing in Japan!) and turned in for the night, tired beyond exhaustion. 

We spent the whole rest of the next day exploring. I had made two new friends by now (It was inevitable, we three were the only kids in a sea of retired travelers!) and we all sat together in the tour bus just eating all the snacks that the retired tourists rejected and gave to us! It was a long 3 hour drive to Mount Fuji, but once we reached the excitement was peaked! Mount Fuji is such a famous yet fabled mountains and seeing its snowcapped peak just filled all of us with the feels. The excitement was short lived, however because a sudden LANDSLIDE meant the authorities showed up to close up the place and the best we could see was the base of Mount Fuji. However, the tour bus drove us to a location with a full and beautiful view of Mount Fuji even if it meant we could not climb it. I took some pictures with my family and then the bus took us to a local Indian restaurant where I was too full to eat anything and just sat there (because of the snacks!) 

The coach then drove us all to Owakudani, playing loud music on the way from the 90's (it all sounded the same to me...) but the torture stopped once we reached. As soon as I stepped out, all I could smell was rotten eggs... turns out we had just stepped onto a sulfur volcano which gave out the smell of rotten eggs, and it was so fascinating to see, I had never seen anything like that in my life - green smoke erupting from a hill shaped volcano, it just seemed like I was living a cartoon. Locals even smoked eggs on the sulfur flames to make them black, and green on the inside (Dr. Seuss green eggs and ham much?)

Our coach then drove the mountain. I was confused... how were we to get back? The answer was by a gondola. I stamped the souvenir stamp in my stamp collection book from every stop in the cable car ropeway and took in the views. The mystery still continued however: we arrived at the shore of a lake...

Not knowing the details of your day makes the whole vacation better as it allowed

for surprises like this one: we got on a PIRATE ship and it sailed across the bejeweled Lake Ashinoko - and we reached a beautiful Japanese torii gate, where we got off and got to our coach. We then hightailed it back to Tokyo back in time for dinner.

Speeding Shinkansen's and Historical Hiroshima

The very next day, we all got up early and head out to the Tokyo Station. This is something I was very excited for - I've seen that station in a hundred different animes - and it just looks beautiful in my opinion, the exposed brick and intricate designs, its the Japanese equivalent of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Oh and what a splendid sight it was in real life! It wasn't exactly how I had imagined but even better! The station was extremely magical, a contrast between medieval style architecture and the futuristic high speed bullet trains, the Shinkansen. 

That's right! We were about to board the Japanese Nozomi, the infamous "fastest bullet train" on earth! Some say that it travels faster than some aeroplanes! We all lined up excitedly to get on our personal train car. Unlike flights, we started as instantly as we rushed on board, and train attendants started serving us with bento boxes! (Yum!) 

My mother and I waited patiently for the infamous view of Mount Fuji along our route - we had researched all about it, to sit on the left side and how long in we could expect it - and now the others unknowingly missed the view but we, observantly watching out the window, witnessed it. The snow was beautiful. It would be the last time I saw Mount Fuji in the trip. 

We reached Hiroshima, hundreds of kilometers away, inn three hours (What)

We got there and immediately got on a coach that took us all over memorial park and the Hiroshima History museum - it was immensely heavy and emotional and it was hard to breathe inside - burnt clothes of deceased children and videos of burned victims of atomic bombs jumping in the boiling hot river and boiled alive - it was some messed up stuff, I can't believe it was real. It's worse than described.

To be honest, I would have been much happier if we hadn't stopped at Hiroshima. I know that it's history which needs to be acknowledged but it really weighed down on my mind a bit for the rest of the trip. We spent the rest of the day at a cozy ramen restaurant trying to lighten the mood and enjoy the rest of our last day in Hiroshima. 

Kitsune Kyoto and Nara

Kitsune means 'beautiful' in Japanese which is the perfect word to describe these two places. Kyoto is the cultural capital of Japan and used to be the capital before Tokyo. It is because of this there is so much history from the Edo period and from even before! Samurai swords, pagodas, bamboo forests as a resting place for the nobles - the whole city is like I travelled in time to ancient Japan as every building looks like that, Kyoto is very globalized and traditional at the same time! What we had for breakfast proves my point - Aloo Paratha in a Japanese shrine style restaurant. 

We then went to one of the most famous symbols in Japan - The Golden Palace, the Kyoto Kinkauji shrine. It was unreal. The botany was something I had never seen before - every single plant a carefully manicured bonsai, and the palace a beautiful shade of orange glowing in the morning sun - it is said that real gold covered the palace. The palace wasn't open to the public, however but was just as beautiful. We then got matcha ice cream (It is my life mission to replicate that!) and left to the nearby Arashiyama bamboo forest. Nobles planted it to create a peaceful resting place for themselves, but didn't expect tourists hundreds of years later to walk all over their unmarked graves. I even got to try a sweet potato specialty which was nice. 

Then we went to Nara to see one of the biggest shrines and THE biggest Zen Buddhism statue ever. It was magnificent and made me feel very spiritual. It was amazing touching stuff from the 13th century, wood carved intricately by people eons ago. There was even a legendary wooden hole and if you could pass through it, good luck would come to you, and I passed through (Yay!) There were also the cute Japanese deer that learnt to bow down like the locals! I even got to pet one of them (hehe >:D)

Oasis Osaka and A Long Way Home

  

We drove all the way to Osaka the next day, and in my opinion although Osaka is less spread out it was way more of a 'city' than Tokyo. That's just how many building were in Osaka. We entered grandly on a huge suspension bridge, making the one back home in Hyderabad I was so proud of feel embarrassed. Then we went to the hotel and got ready to tour around. Osaka is where we did the most shopping, and not boring stuff for girls but stuff like flavored Kit-Kats exclusive to Japan, Japanese anime clothes, we ate a bunch of stuff like Tayakki again, Japanese chocolate pancakes, and roamed around Yodobashi Camera, which sells WAY more than cameras - the place was a maze and I felt lost. I got anime posters from over there, authentic art in my opinion, and spent the rest of the day and night in the buzzing, busy Dotonbori, the shopping town with many colorful lights and the famous Glico man where we took pictures

The next day was the historical tour of Osaka, which has also been there way longer than Tokyo - there is the famous Osaka castle, often confused for the Tokyo Imperial Palace, but more beautiful in my opinion, and I made a resolution to build the beautiful tiled castle in Minecraft...

We then saw the architecturally confusing and remarkable Umeda Sky Tower. Made me think about what humans have achieved to do - it's the closest thing I've seen to a super villain's futuristic evil citadel lair. It was magic.

We then spent the last day of our trip in Japan wherever we wanted, on our own, and my family and I chose to spend it in Dotonbori, where my mom got some Japanese face creams and a Louis Vuitton bag at discounted prices to India, and We all had this delicious almond and strawberry croissant which made me sentimental. I was so lucky to visit Japan at this age and I can't believe to this day that I did. Oh and what a wonderful experience it was! Made me wonder if in the future I should live there!

My Reflections

Japan made me witness another side of the world, one where they balance globalization and their own culture. A booming tourism center, they had the good foresight to create all those tourist facilities to keep their slowing economy alive. Japan made me feel so lucky and privileged, like can you believe I got the opportunity to go there? I saw people there working so hard every day, crowds of office-goers early in the morning. I respect their work ethics and values. It inspired me to work hard and repay this great big favor from my parents. I will definitely be going there again, the chaotic neutral culture is irresistible! 

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Written By Tanay Raj Gowda

All Photography Courtesy Of Tanay Raj Gowda