Coming Up First: Japan

I will not always, especially as I go back into trips I took before this blog was made, write following my itineraries in chronological order, or present entire trips en bloc. However, in a little over a week I will be departing for a three week trip through Japan, and I thought it would be nice to open the blog with some tales from the Land of the Rising Sun.

I've always been interested in Japan. Video games, sushi, manga, samurai, and most recently the Japanese language have all held my fascination at one point or another in my life. Growing up, I lived across the street from a wonderful Japanese woman, and we used to get together to drink tea and discuss cultural differences. And finally, last year, I was fortunate enough to be assigned a Japanese roommate. Actually, my dorm housed no fewer than seven Japanese students. So, before the year was out, my friend Laura and I had resolved to travel to Japan, visit our friends, and see for ourselves the multifaceted wonders of this easternmost country.

As the trip approaches we have been putting the last finishing touches on our itenerary. We built our plans around visiting friends and utilising the unlimited rail travel afforded us by the Japan Rail Pass. Luckily, Laura and I had similar interests concerning Japan and what we would like to get out of the trip. Japan is a large country, and one could easily spend a month or more exploring a single one of it's many different aspects: the bustling, chaotic metropolises, the painfully beautiful countryside, the traditional culture of geisha and samurai, the modern one of technological wonders, manga, and kawaii (cute). And is it better to go go go, packing as much as you can into a few short weeks, or to relax and enjoy the decadence of hot springs and fantastic views of Mount Fuji?

Laura and I decided to try for a balance, and I think our itenerary reflects that quite well. On the other hand, our itenerary has certain weaknesses, mostly in the form of lengthy train rides and our budget limitations. We're staying on Japan's main island, Honshu, the entire time, but reaching almost to the furthest ends of it. I am intensely excited.

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We'll leave the U.S. on July 15th, and arrive in Tokyo on the 16th. We're staying with a friend there, my old roommate, for the next three days. On one day, Laura and I are taking a day trip to Kamakura (big Buddha, temples), and the rest of the time we're doing whatever our host wants to do - she has mentioned a sort of anime museum, and cute stores and restaurants. We'll also simply experience the size and speed of Tokyo, and have fun hanging out with our Japanese friends.

On the 19th, we'll leave Tokyo fairly early for northern Japan. We'll reach Shimokita Hanto, the peninsula at the northern tip of Honshu, where we'll lodge in the city of Mutsu for two nights. If we have any extra time at all, we'll head west to see Hotokegaura (crazy rock formations), or go to a hot spring in the barely settled nearby valleys. Our main point in going to Shimokita Hanto, however, will be to visit sulpherous, ash covered Osore-zan (Fear Mountain), the traditional Japanese gateway to hell and place of lost souls. We'll actually be there for the Itako Taisai festival, where blind mediums summon spirits of the dead.

Then, on the 21st, we'll leave early again for the longest train rides of our trip. We go back south, and through the mountains, to Takayama. Takayama has areas full of old, preserved wooden houses, an interesting history museum, and the ruins of a castle, and we'll experience the well known morning market as well. The next day we'll go to Kanazawa, home to one of Japan's three best gardens, as well as old samurai, ninja, and geisha houses.

From Kanazawa it's on to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan. This is where Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed, and it has an overwhelming number of temples, gardens, shrines, and all those other things tourists go crazy about. We'll spend all of the 23rd in Kyoto, take a day trip to Nara (tame deer, bamboo forests, world's biggest wooden buildings), and then spend another day in Kyoto.

On the 26th we'll head to Hiroshima and visit Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Dome. This is by far the most sobering part of our trip. We'll move on to nearby Miyajima by ferry, wait out the tour groups, and then watch the sunset over the 'floating' tori and spend the night in a ryokan.

The 27th to the 30th mark the least certain part of our itenerary. We have a few friends in Osaka we will want to see, and we'll visit Himeji castle, but we may also explore the city of Kobe and some natural areas in the vicinity before we go there. On the 29th we're going down to Koyasan, a mountain covered in temples, and actually spending the night in one. We'll have to wake up at 6 for morning prayers, and eat shōjin ryōri, traditional Buddhist cuisine. On the 30th we'll either go back to Osaka, or perhaps go back towards Tokyo in the general direction of Mount Fuji. We won't climb it, but it's maybe nice to get a closer look.

On the 31st we head to Nikko for the most relaxing part of our trip. Nikko is home to a few beautiful and elaborate shrines, as well as the original 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' monkeys. It's also very near a number of hot spring resorts and some fantastic nature, so we'll hike and relax and have some time to breathe.

On August 2nd we return to Tokyo for the final days of our trip. We're staying with another Japanese friend, who has asked us to save some energy for her! So we're experiencing Tokyo a bit more, especially whatever our friend has planned (she has mentioned a huge indoor water park), and also visiting Tokyo Disney Sea, before leaving on the 5th.

Who Am I?

I am, at the time of writing, a nineteen year old student at the University of Missouri, Columbia, majoring in Journalism, International Studies, and Spanish. I enjoy doing a wide variety of things, from jumping into lakes in wintertime to ziplining, and so much the better if I haven't done them before, or if I can do them in a foreign country. My hobbies include learning foreign languages, reading, writing, and photography, all of which, happily, go well with my intended career as a travel journalist.

I created this blog in order to share my experiences. You won't find hotel reviews or expert travel tips here, at least not yet. What you will find are pictures and stories - beautiful, funny, bizarre, or, most usually, all three - of my adventures both at home and abroad. I hope you enjoy them thoroughly.