Let’s start the adventure
In May 2022 I quit my Job for different reasons, one of them was to go to Japan and visit my girlfriend´s family as well as see if I can imagine to live in Japan for a while. So after some delays and two longer bikepacking-trips, I started the adventure and made my way to Japan. I was not sure what to expect.
I must admit, I had a couple of prejudices regarding the people and the culture. I want to point out, that this story is subjective. It is my personal experience and I built my personal opinions!
Nevertheless I tried to stay open-minded and see it as an adventure. I felt like Christopher Columbus going for an adventure. First thing I already recognized in the plane: japanese people are extremley friendly. And they barely speak english.
Sections
Preparation
In 2022 I decided to visit my girlfriend´s family in Japan. I planned to visit them already 2 years ago, but then Covid kicked in and Japan closed their borders to foreigners. Since I anyway wanted to quit my job and revaluate my future job perspectives, this was a perfect timing for staying longer in Japan. The plan was to travel, get to know the country and also think about if I can imagine to live there for a while.
Japan was started to open the Visa process again from March 2022 and I luckily could get a Working-Holiday-Visa for one year. You need a lot of paper work to get it, also a person living in Japan has to pledge for you (my girlfriends father helped out here) and a pick-up at the Japanese embassy in Munich was necessary.
After all this preparation, some delay caused by two long bikepacking-trips (and my girlfriend staying in Europe till September), I booked a flight from September 2022 to April 2023, packed my backpack and started the adventure!
First Steps in the city
28. November 2022
I landed at Narita Airport in Tokyo (I would recommend Haneda Airport, much easier to get to the city), took a train to Tokyo and met with my girlfriend there. The first few days in Tokyo were quite a culture shock for me – I am from a village with 25 inhabitants and I just entered the biggest city of the world with a population of 14 million people, the metropolitan area even counts around 37.5 million. Nevertheless I tried to stay open-minded and see it as an adventure. I felt like Christopher Columbus going for an adventure. First thing I already recognized in the plane: japanese people are extremley friendly. And they barely speak english.
I also immediately felt a totally different mentality – less eye-contact, less handshaking, less open-minded – at least these were my first impressions the first weeks. Personal expressions here, to be clear!
So the first weeks in Tokyo were quite challenging, it felt difficult for me to make friends, since not many people speak English and I don´t speak Japanese. Also Japan didn´t open yet, so there were less foreigners traveling or working in Tokyo.
After some weeks it started to be more easy-going. I met my girlfriends family and they turned out to be just as “normal” as my own family at home – which was a relieve for me 😀 I also got more familiar with Japanese rules and behaviour – though still some things remain difficult to adapt or even understand.
In general, beside of traveling through Japan, getting to know the culture and the people, my plan was also to find out, if I could imagine living here – at least for some years. So let´s see which adventures I am going to experience and where this path is going to lead me!
Tokyo – biggest city in the world
The first idea of how big Tokyo and the metropolitan area is, you get while flying over the city. This will take around 5 minutes by plane, which is just insane. The good thing about Tokyo is, you often don´t realize being in the biggest city of the world. Once you are living and working there, you establish your „hood“ where you move day in and day out.
If you start visiting areas like Shibuya or you want to take the metro from one side to the other, then you will feel this insane amount of people again. Crossing Tokyo one side to the other will take around 1-1.5h by metro. And since the city is already connected to surrounding cities like Yokohama, you feel you never get out anymore.
Nevertheless depending what´s your preference, you can enjoy quiet moments in one of the numerous parks in Tokyo or you can throw yourself into the crowds of Shibuya-crossing or Takeishta-street – Tokyo offers possibilities for every taste!
History and Culture
Unlike my expectations, Tokyo was not always the capital of Japan. Originally known as „Edo“, Tokyo became capital during the so-called „Meji Restoration“ in 1868. After the fall of the Edo shogunat the emperors residance was transfered from Kyoto to Tokyo and in 1889 Tokyo was officially established. Given the fact of this short history as capital of Japan, todays extent and progress of the city is surprising – at least in my opinion 😀
Nowadays Tokyo is melted with Yokohama and one of the busiest cities in the world.
Things to Do
Dine in local street restaurants – order food from a vending machine and dine inside the restaurant. This is a typical way in Japan to order, especially for Ramen.
Finding these oldschool restaurants in Japan is easy, there is one after another in every street. These restaurants are usually quite small – you just sit on a bar table next to each other, facing to the kitchen. For lunch a lot of people even eat while standing at a bar table. The amount of restaurants is really crazy, I think especially in the cities most people don´t cook but just take out or dine in at restaurants – maybe because restaurants are way cheaper compared to Europe.
If you are searching for a restaurant with a 3.8-stars-review on Google don´t be afraid to go there. Unlike Germany, most of the reviews really show the quality, since japanese people are taking these reviews seriously. In Germany you probably wouldn´t go to a restaurant with 3.8 stars on Google – in Japan this means you can enjoy a tasty Ramen in a normal restaurant.
Visit Tokyo Skytree – tallest structure in Japan with 634m. You can get an amazing view of the city and see the extent of it. I recommend going in the evening (when it´s getting dark).
Shibuya-Crossing – busiest area in Tokyo with an insane crowd crossing the streets. One of the most famous spots in Tokyo.
Drink and eat in an Izakaya-Restaurant – Izakaya Restaurants are like Tapas in Spain. Eat slow and drink a lot while talking.
teamLab Planets Tokyo – a good activity for bad weather. It´s an art facility/museum which uses digital technology to create a connection between visitors and the art itself. You walk barefoot through the exhibition and can interact with the art. Cool experience, I personally most enjoyed the feeling by walking barefoot on different kind of floors.
How to get around in Tokyo
The best way to get around in Tokyo is using public transportation. Even being in the biggest city of the world with dozens of metro lines, finding your way is easy due to the good labelling of the transportation system. Arriving in Tokyo you need a few days to get used to the system, but once understood, it´s no problem. Every line has its own color. So basically you need to find the right color and then the right direction. That´s basically it.
Another advantage, at least compared to Germany, is how regular and punctual the trains arrive. Even going to the next city trains will leave every few minutes. So you don´t have to check the schedule in advance, just walk to the station, wait for some minutes for the next train, done – and you can rely on the punctuality of the train, not like the German trains.
If you wait for a train or a bus, wait in the line – even if it sometimes looks funny seeing 20 people waiting in a 5 meter line for the bus. That´s how they do it 🙂
Okinawa – tropical island vibes
26. Oktober 2022
After staying in the biggest city of the world for some weeks, I needed a change of scenery. Since my girlfriend had one week off, we decided to visit Okinawa. This beautiful island is the most southern and western island of Japan and consists itself of around 113 islands. With just around 1.5 million inhabitants it is a total contrast to Tokyo – which was perfect for me! So we grabbed our swimwear and took the three hour flight to Naha, main city of Okinawa.
History and Culture
The islands of Okinawa were ruled by the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 till Japan occupied the island in 1609 and made it a Japanese prefecture officially in 1879. That´s why you still can find a lot of cultural history of this Kingdom, which was a wealthy trading point due to its location between China, Japan and South-East-Asia.
In World War II the island was occupied by the U.S., used as a strategic position during Vietnam War and returned in 1972 to Japan. The island still is used as a military base for the U.S. and you can find the influence of American lifestyle everywhere.
Things to do
The sub-tropical climate of Okinawa and its coral reefs around the island make it perfect for watersports. You can do surfing (mostly reef breaks though), but the main sport is diving. That´s why we decided to make our first diving experience with the local diving school GoriDive. Especially tailored for beginners this diving trip took around 3 hours including explanations and safety instructions. Close to the beaches you can already experience a beautiful underwater world with coral reefs and different fishes. If you go in the right season and spots you can also find sea turtles, stingrays or whales.
If you are afraid of diving or want to save some money, you can also go snorkeling and will also experience a good part of this underwater world. Especially diving or snorkeling in the “Blue Cave” is said to be the best experience in Okinawa, unfortunately we had too much swell during our stay and the cave was closed.
You can´t escape rainy days, but there is a must-see for these days: the “Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium”. This was my favorite activity beside of diving. You can see strange deepwater creatures, beautiful fish and a breathtaking view on a whale shark and huge stingrays in the big aquarium.
If you are interested in history, I recommend “Ryukyu Mura”, a historical village showing the life during the Ryukyu Kingdom. You can find out about the culture of the Ryukyu Kingdom, their architecture and faith. Every house is protected by shisa statues – as you can see below. The male shisa with the open mouth collects the bad spirits while the closed mouth of the female shisa symbolizes keeping the good spirits.
For shopping and experience of American lifestyle, the “American Village” is worth a visit, you will feel like you just entered Las Vegas – just with tropical island vibes. We visited the village around the Halloween weekend and the people there went nuts – crazy costumes, crowded shops, country music on the streets.
There are also a bunch of nice beaches where you can enjoy the sunset or you go hiking in the “Yambaru National Park” – for every preference you will find a fit. Since my girlfriend left the island some days earlier than me, I toured around with the car and found some of these nice beaches – after some climbing and jungling, I even found a beach just for myself with a stunning sunset.
Last but not least, try out the traditional purple sweet-potatoe torte in the “Diamond Blue Café” – you can also sea the production process of these products.
If you are interested in Karate, Okinawa is the place to be. Nobody knows, but Karate has it´s origin in Okinawa and is said to be a mix of Chinese Kung-Fu and Okinawan martial arts.
Next Stop
The island vibes and laid-back style really made me enjoy the time in Okinawa. If we had more time, I think it would have been nice to check out the other islands, where beaches are maybe even more beautiful. I will come back for sure! But time goes fast and I had head back to Japan main island – next stop: Kyoto!
Kyoto – City of Dreamers
04. November 2022
After spending two weeks in Okinawa, I took a flight to Osaka. I had only three days left before meeting with my girfriend again, so I decided to take the train to Kyoto. Osaka, known for it´s food and nightlife had to wait for another time.
History and Culture
Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868 and therefore has a great amount of cultural history. After a buddhist monk got to much involved in governmental affairs in the 8th century, the emporer decided to relocate the capital in order to make more distance between religion and government. This is why Kyoto was designed with the Shinto Shrines and Temples outside of the center, arranged around the city, unlike most other cities with Temples or Churches in the center. After eleven centuries of being capital, Japan started to open to the western world and for starting over the capital was moved to Tokyo.
In second world war a lot of japanese cities got destroyed, but Kyoto got saved and you can still see tons of old wooden town houses – called Machiya, temples and shrines. Actually Kyoto was also on the list for being bombed, but the war minister of the U.S. government visited Kyoto some years before and wanted to prevent destruction of this historical city. Thanks to this decision, we can now enjoy the world heritage of buddhist temples, shinto shrines and a beautiful old town.
Not only is Kyoto the cultural capital of Japan, but it is also the „City of Dreamers“ – a center for higher education which attracts young people and students to come and fulfill their dreams. There are a lot of universities, including the Kyoto University, second oldest university in Japan.
Things to do
In Kyoto you can find numerous Buddhism Temples, Shinto Shrines and other Historical landmarks. If it´s possible, try to come off-season to avoid large tourist groups. Depending on how much time you have in Kyoto, I recommend to visit the following attractions:
So if you visit Japan, make sure to visit Kyoto as well. Not only because of the rich history, but also because of the atmosphere of this city. Compared to Tokyo it feels more calm and quiet, which I personally prefer. Kyoto is surronded by mountains in three directions, so you always have mountains in sight when walking around, which gave me a feeling of wideness and freedom. I really enjoyed it!
How to get around
Public transportation by train, metro or bus is always the first option in Japan, same in Kyoto. Nevertheless, if you have time and good weather I would suggest renting a bicycle for one or two days to explore the city. Kyoto is more easy to ride and you can get the atmosphere of the city much better than by public transportation. I rented a bicycle near the Kyoto-Station, central in the city and easy to get around.
One route, I recommend is starting at the famous Fushimi-Inari-shrine, with it´s 100 gates. Then go around the city for visiting the Eikan-dō Temple (which is btw great for a evening visit as well), check out the golden temple – Kinkaku-ji and finish with the Arashiyama bamboo forest (which I couldn´t make on time unfortunatley). On this route around the city you can also visit numerous other temples and shrines, but for me this was enough for one day.
If you want to enjoy nightlife in Japan, I can recommend starting in a Izakaya-Restaurant with beer and sake and then go on to a bar. I´ve been to a bar called „The frontier bar“ – extremely small (just 6 bar chairs in the non-smoking-area), nice atmosphere and they made a decent Old-Fashioned with Japanese Whiskey.
So cheers mate or kampai, as the japanese say and see you in the next city!