Japan

Who could possibly turn down a free trip? Certainly not me, that's for sure! And so began my Japanese adventure. Being employed by a tour operator, it's only natural that I find myself traveling every now and then. However, this year, nothing big was planned but, on the contrary, I had already crafted my travel plans and scheduled my days off. Then, out of the blue, an opportunity arose: an invitation to join one of the company's tours in Japan.
This escapade was made in three distinct phases. Not content with merely joining the scheduled tour, I carefully extended my sojourn by a few days before and after the official tour dates. My flights had already been taken care of, leaving me responsible only for the expenses incurred during those extra days.
My initial flight brought me to Osaka, the base from which I explored Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji, and the city of Osaka itself. Following my independent exploration, I seamlessly transitioned into the company tour. After bidding farewell to the tour group, I spent a few extra days in Tokyo, but I also traveled to Fujiyoshida and Nikko.
If only the weather had not been the worst (never travel there in the summer! It is extremely hot and humid) with also a typhoon approaching from the South, this trip was a blast that made me extremely thankful for the opportunity but also makes me wish to visit Japan again soon!
読書を楽しんでください (enjoy reading!)

23^rd July
After I don’t know how many hours and two flights, at 8 pm I finally made it to Kansai Airport, Japan! This is a huge airport that serves the Kansai region, including the cities of Osaka and Kyoto. I ran to get as soon as possible to the passport check as I wanted to arrive first at the JR station. It was already late and pretty much everybody had to get their JR pass, so I did not want to wait. It was a wise decision because I waited for my turn for about 15 minutes but the line when I got out was at least for a couple of hours.

– Digression about transportation in Japan. Disclaimer: it is very confusing! I did some research before the trip and, the more I read, the more confused I was. Generally, to connect Japan, there is the JR, Japan railways. It is divided into East and West (seems to be two different companies) and it is the one managing the Shinkansen, the fast train. For tourists, it is possible to purchase passes (online and through agencies is cheaper than on the spot!) for several days that allow you to take as many trains as you wish. There are different passes based on where you want to go and how many days. I got one for my stay ahead that was covering all the areas I planned to visit and one for stay behind that was for the wide area of Tokyo. On top of having the pass, for some trains like the Shinkansen, you also need to reserve your seats. In some cases, you can also just go to the ticket office before boarding the train (there are so many in a short time) and reserve for the next available one. JR also has lines within the main cities, some bus routes in cities, and ferries. However, when it comes to buses and ferries, often the same service is provided by other companies, so you need to be careful about which means you are using. Additionally, some train routes are also not provided by JR, but private companies are offering them. Subways are other services, too. What surprised me is that there is no option to buy an integrated ticket to use, for instance, in a city, but each service needs its ticket. If you go from A to B, for example, you might see on the map that the subway is the fastest way but, if you don’t want to buy an additional ticket, you need to go by train, which might take a little longer. To conclude, traveling in Japan needs a bit more planning in advance to take advantage of discounts, otherwise moving around can become very expensive. –

I got my pass and I headed to the train to go to Osaka (大阪). First of all, the train was decorated inside and outside with Hello Kitty motifs, the second thing is I managed to sit in the wrong place 🫠. At that time, I was not yet an expert on Japanese trains, so I sat in the reserved car and had to move when a Japanese family arrived. Luckily enough, the car was half empty, so I moved to another place and ciao. When I arrived at my stop, I found a supermarket where I bought my first Japanese meal. I got a random sushi for about 3 euros and then I walked to my hotel. It was not super close and, even if it was dark already, it was very hot and humid (ahh Japanese summers…). The hotel was nice, and people at the reception spoke almost no English (normal) but the room was nice.

24^th July
I fell asleep in no time but at 3 am I was up already. I fell asleep again around 6 but then my alarm was at 8. It was hard. I planned to go to Nara because I did not want to skip it and it was not included in the tour, so I dressed up, had a small breakfast, and headed to the train station. I almost fell asleep on the train (and who knows where I would have ended up) but made it to stay awake and get off at the right station. From there I walked towards the main spots to visit. Nara's (奈良) history is very long as it became the permanent capital of the Japanese empire in 710. Permanent lasted however only 75 years, when the capital was moved to Kyoto, about 35 km north. Most of the buildings remained intact as no invasion or war arrived to destroy the city, especially after the loss of importance due to not being the capital anymore. The city is not extremely big, and all the major attractions are in a compact area around Nara-Koen, a park. I started with the Kofuku-ji, a Buddhist temple complex that includes two pagodas and the magnificent Chokondo, the Central Golden Hall. What is visible now is a reconstruction that happened in 2018 after that several fires and other damages destroyed the original one and also several reconstructions. After that, I headed to the Todai-ji, the star attraction in Nara. On the way there, I saw another star of Nara, the famous deer! They are everywhere and got used to humans, so they are not afraid of you, on the contrary, they come to look for food. People are selling special cookies to feed the deer, so I got some. The excitement was high, and they bit me, too! But back to sightseeing. Todai-ji is also a Buddhist temple and home to the famous Daibutsu, a great statue of Buddha. It is one of the largest bronze statues in the world while the structure that houses it is the largest wooden building in the world. This is already incredible but even more so considering the present one is a reconstruction that occurred in 1709 and it is two-thirds of the original. Also, the Buddha statue was recast and the present one is 16 m high and consists of 437 tonnes of bronze and 130 kg of gold. It was indeed very beautiful but, as you can expect, also very crowded. Almost every place I traveled to was crowded but, after all, Japan has just reopened after almost two years and a half because of Covid, and it seems everybody wanted to visit it. So, after seeing the main spots, I explored a bit more the park. It was also slightly better as the trees were making shadows. I say slightly because, no matter what, humidity is a constant there in the summer months, and, even if I tried to stay in the shadow and avoid the sun, I ended up covered in sweat and smelling like after intense training in the gym. And the more I drank (automatic machines to get drinks, all sorts of drinks, are everywhere), the more I sweated.
Right inside the park, I found a small place to eat. They had a few udon dishes, and I got a simple one. The broth was cold and refreshing, exactly what I needed to regain some energy and rest a bit. Then I went to the Kasuga Taisha, a Shinto shrine, and the Wakamiya Jinja. It was very evocative as there were many red gates and buildings painted red in the middle of the green forest. Being also a bit deeper in the park, not many people arrive there so it was more relaxed. In the afternoon, I got back to Osaka. I did not particularly like this city. In a way, it reminded me of Busan, South Korea. There are not many attractions, and it is mostly a live city to enjoy in terms of food and shopping. About food, I was curious about the famous cheesecake of Rikuro. These are super fluffy and have become famous on social media. I bought one and then I headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before going out in the evening. The cake was amazing, and I ate half in no time! For the evening, I planned to go to the Umeda Sky Building, one of the many skyscrapers in the city from which you can have a good view of the city. Now, I must have a problem with skyscrapers because, every time I try to find the entrance of one, I get lost. After more than 40 minutes of wandering around, I managed to enter (from the back door, but that’s another story) and go up. The view was nice as it was sunset, so I saw it with sunlight and then with dark. For dinner, I went to the most famous area for food, Dotombori. The name comes from the canal around which restaurants and nightclubs developed. Considering this was, after all, my first full day in Japan, I was still overwhelmed, and, seeing all the people and lights and options, I got almost a headache. I did not know where to go as some places I read about had long lines to enter and all the information was Japanese only. After walking back and forth a couple of times, I played safe and entered a sushi place. It was one with the conveyor belt and I thought it would have been straightforward. Poor me. Only to get a seat I had to figure out how to get a ticket and then go to my table. Everything was automated and, I don’t need to say it, only in Japanese. I waited almost one hour and then I approached a waiter because it seemed I was the only one not getting a table. Magically, she found me a table right away. The sushi was good but average. The big difference I noticed compared to the one you get here is that they have different types of fish while we usually get salmon and tuna in most cases. All considered the experience was good and the price was low. 

25^th July
Another day, another early wake-up. I left my big luggage at the reception as I would have come back after one day. I packed only my small backpack and off I went. I took my very first Shinkansen direction Hiroshima (広島). I must say, I learned quite fast how to move around with trains (I got lost other times, of course, but not more than usual me). The station in Osaka was huge and, before boarding, I wandered a bit in the shops. No matter where you go, Japan is full of shops selling all sorts of sweets. The best part is that they also have a plastic reproduction on display so you can actually see how they look, and you can choose based also on the aesthetic. For the trip, I only got some onigiris at the convenience store (I love Japanese convenience stores!). The travel to Hiroshima was of about one hour and a half. There, I took a JR bus that brought me to the first day-stop. This was the Atomic Bomb Dome. When the bomb exploded on the 6^th of August 1945, it was almost directly above it and that is the reason why it survived to this day. Nowadays, it stands as a symbol of the city and of its past. From there, it is an easy walk to the other main memorials. All of them are in the Peace Memorial Park, where you can wander and see the various memorials built to commemorate the victims. It was very touching to see them but not as much as visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The museum route explains life in Hiroshima before, during, and after the day that changed its history through pictures and objects. There are many panels recounting private life stories and remaining objects that move you to the point of crying. It takes some time after visiting the exhibition to be able to go out and keep going on with your life. After this intense morning, I went to try the famous okonomiyaki. I went to a very small restaurant with few tables, and I ordered the typical version of it. Okonomiyaki is an omelet/pancake and there are different styles and ingredients. In Hiroshima, they make different layers, so the ingredients are not mixed together. They started by putting cabbage on the grill, then they add batter, eggs, meat, onion, noodles, and other mysterious ingredients. On top, it is decorated with seaweeds, Japanese mayo, and okonomiyaki sauce, with a sweet and sour taste. It was huge and finishing it was hard. After my well-deserved lunch, I took the bus again to go back to the station. From there, I took a train and then a ferry to go to Miyajima (宮島). This is a small island mostly famous for the torii of the Itsukushima Jinja. The red torii is in the water and visible already from the ferry. Crowds do a daily trip to snap a picture with it but, instead of doing only a rapid visit, I decided to book a night there. It was the best decision ever! The hotel was super nice, with an internal onsen (more on this later) and the atmosphere in the evening was priceless. I left my backpack in the hotel and then I went out exploring. I started not with the famous Torii but with the Daisho-in. It is a Buddhist temple at the foot of Mount Misen. A majority of people come for the torii and leave soon the island, only a few people were there exploring this temple. It is one of the most beautiful I have seen in Japan, especially because of the atmosphere. What I like in general about Buddhist temples is that there are different buildings, not just one, and often they are well integrated with the surrounding nature, like in this case. All around it was also full of Jizo statues (each one with a handmade crocheted hat!), a guardian deity of children and travelers. Here, there were also the 500 Rakan statues, each of them different from the others and representing an actual disciple of Buddha. After completing the visit to the temple, I headed to the Itsukushima Shrine. The building consists of a wooden structure with a pier in the sea. Depending on the tides, it is completely in the water or on a sandy beach. In front of the shrine, some meters ahead in the sea, stands the famous Torii. While the colors of sunset began to create an evocative atmosphere, the tide was getting lower making it possible to walk closer and the crowds were leaving the island, I felt really at peace. I stayed there for quite some time, and I lost count of how many pictures I took! For dinner, I went to one of the very few open places. Most of the restaurants stays open only during the day so I was afraid not to have anything to eat. I could not be more wrong! The restaurant I went to was a bit pricey, but still the cheapest option, and I got two different dishes with oysters. They are typical of this area and were indeed delicious.
Back at the hotel,I was eager to try the onsen, the Japanese hot spring. I read a lot about it as there is an onsen etiquette to follow. Moreover, people with tattoos are often not allowed to go as tattoos are associated with the Japanese mafia. Here, I had no problem with it, so I got ready wearing the hotel yukata (a simple, cotton kimono), and entered. First, you need to get completely naked. You can leave all your stuff in a locker while you are bathing. When you enter the actual onsen area, first, you need to sit on the side, where there are small stools. Then, you need to wash and rinse yourself thoroughly. In front of every stool, there are shampoo, conditioner, soap, and a body shower. After you are clean, you can finally enter the thermal water. At first, I was not very sure about it, especially because you need to go naked and also because I was afraid to make some mistakes. After trying it, I can only say it is a must-do experience in Japan. After the intense days of walking, immersing yourself in the hot water and relaxing is pure gold. I stayed a little bit and then I washed myself again before going out. The water is very hot so you cannot stay a very long time.

26^th July
After a good sleep, I was ready for a new adventure. I decided to take the ropeway to reach the top of Mount Misen. Getting to the ropeway was ok although at 9 am the humidity was already bad. Then, at the end of the ropeway, there was still some walking to do. That killed me. I did not walk much, after all, but with the humidity in the air, every step was extremely hard. Nonetheless, I made it to the summit. The view was ok, as the sky was not super clean. Once back down, I got my backpack and ran to get on the ferry to go back to the mainland. From there, I traveled to Hiroshima and then to Himeji (姫路). The train took about one hour, during which I managed to rest a bit. I absolutely did not want to miss Himeji because of its beautiful castle. It is one of the very few original castles built in the XVI century. It was built in 1580 by General Toyotomi Hideyoshi and it earned the nickname of White Heron Castle due to its white-plastered façade and elegant presence. Unfortunately for me, I arrived in Himeji right when the heat was at its peak, so the visit experience was not the greatest. Inside the castle, there is not much to see. You keep on going up, so you get different views over the city but inside there is nothing. The castle was built to defend a territory, so it is military architecture at its finest. It is hard to think as it is built completely with wood so it kind of collides with the western view of strong, rocky fortresses. Outside the castle, there is an interesting garden to visit, Koko-en. Originally, this was the garden of a samurai residence and indeed it was beautiful. Ponds, gates, teahouse… Still, the strong heat did not make me enjoy the place as much as I would have liked.
When I finished the visit, I went back to the train station to get back to Osaka. I was so tired that I did not even go out for dinner instead I ordered some food for delivery. Well, food delivery in Japan was an experience on its own. Logically, all the dish names and menus on the app were in Japanese and it was not possible to copy them outside to translate them. So, after checking a bit, I opted for a Korean restaurant and ordered a couple of dishes that I kind of knew. Then, there was the communication with the courier. Well, in the end, I got my food, that’s the only important thing, right?

27^th July
This was a relaxed day. I stayed in the hotel until I had to check out and then I went to the airport. This time I did not make the same mistake and got a seat in the unreserved car of the train. Once at the airport, I went looking for some food for lunch and got some delicious curry. Then, I went to the arrivals, met my soon-to-be Tour Director, and waited with him for the group to arrive. Luckily, there were no flight issues and the group arrived safe and sound. It was a Girl Scouts one so all female except for a dad. Altogether, we drove back to Osaka and checked in at our hotel. It was right in Dotombori so for dinner we all headed there. There was no planned dinner, so I got to try another specialty of the area: takoyaki. These are ball-shaped snacks made of wheat flour based batter and octopus and cooked in a specially molded pan. I also got a melon pan (a sort of sweet bread) filled with matcha ice cream. I was ready to leave Osaka and move on.

28^th July
After the evening arrival of the group, this was the very first day of the tour. We started the day by stopping by Osaka Castle. It has the classical Japanese aesthetic, but it is not the original one, but a reconstruction occurred in 1931. After that, we drove to Kyoto (京都). Our first stop was at the famous Fushimi Inari-Taisha. This is a vast Shinto shrine known mostly for the over thousand torii gates that stretched until the summit of Mount Inari. The complex is very big and filled with stone foxes. This animal is considered the messenger of Inari, the god of cereals. The shrine was erected in the 8th century by the Hata family and dedicated to the gods of rice and sake. It was peak hour, almost noon so extremely hot, and you can imagine the crowds. Nonetheless, the place is really magical. I wish I had a bit more time to enjoy it, but we had to move. For lunch, we went to a mall. Nothing special but the AC helped. I am not a fan of AC, even when it is very hot, but I must say that the weather in Japan made me change my mind! After lunch, we went to another famous landmark in Kyoto: the Kinkaku-ji. This is a Buddhist temple, and it is completely covered with gold leaf. It was originally built in 1397 as a villa for shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Later on, his son transformed it into a temple that was eventually burned to ashes by a monk. In 1955, the temple was completely reconstructed following the original design and now it reflects on its pond. The last stop of the day was the manga museum. For me, we could have skipped that. I never liked manga or anime and, more than a museum, it was a library where people go to read but being mostly in Japanese, there was not much that you could do, not knowing the language. After this, we went to our hotel. It was quite nice but, even better, had an internal onsen. Unfortunately, it was not possible to go if you had tattoos, but the tour director spoke with the manager, and I got to go for both days of our stay for free.

29^th July
Our day started with a new Buddhist temple: Kiyomizu-dera. It is one of the most ancient temples in Kyoto, dating back to 798. However, the present buildings are reconstructions of 1633. The main hall is a huge veranda from which you get a nice view of the city. We had a guide, but his English was very bad (the same goes with our tour director by the way) so I wandered a bit by myself to see other parts of the complex. Afterward, we went to a kimono factory. It was not particularly interesting, mostly we visited the shop 😅. I indeed did some shopping, but we could have visited something more interesting… For lunch, we went to the Nishiki Market, a covered market where it is possible to find all sorts of food. I tried a bowl with rice and some fish, followed by a fish-shaped pancake filled with cream. Yummy! In the afternoon, we had a very interesting tea ceremony. A woman explained the whole preparation and then we made tea ourselves. The tea was matcha and I think I never had it plain but always with sugar and milk (Starbucks version, basically!). It is very bitter and that is why you should eat a sugar candy right before. Overall, it was a nice activity to do! To avoid the heat a little bit, in the afternoon we went to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Walking inside is very special although pictures really don’t give the idea of the light. For dinner, we went to a good restaurant to get tonkatsu, basically a breaded fried pork cutlet. I would have liked to stay some more time in Kyoto, and I was checking the trains, but I changed my mind eventually. It started to be dark, the hotel was quite outside, and I did not want to overdo it. I thought Kyoto was a much more concentrated city while it is instead very big and spread out. To move from one place to the other takes some time so staying an extra hour would have not made a huge difference. I hope to come back soon to Japan and visit Kyoto again, maybe in a different season.

30^th July
This morning we left quite early to go to Takayama (高山). It was quite a long drive and we arrived for lunch. Takayama is famous for the Meiji era inns and the traditional townscape. The layout of the city dates back to the 17th century and it is focused mainly around two streets: Kokubunji-dori and Hirokoji-dori that, crossing the river, become Yasugawa-dori and Sanmachi-dori. After a good ramen, we went to a local museum that explained the story of the city and then to a Buddhist temple to do a Zen meditation experience. Although very short, still it was nice to do it. For dinner, we went to a very nice restaurant in town and had soba noodles. After dinner, since the hotel was in the city center, I went for a walk to get some nice pictures. On my way, a guy approached me, and we had for two hours the weirdest conversation ever. He did not speak any English, so we had to type every sentence on Google Translate. It was ok but, after some time, I wanted to go back to the hotel, so we walked back. He wanted something else but…ciao! The hotel we were in was the nicest of the whole trip and we had an onsen, too! None of the people on tour tried it, I guess they were too concerned about the naked part, but I enjoyed it another time. This was very cool as there were some outdoor pools and it was possible to resist a bit more in the hot water.

31^st July
Eventually, the combo of heat and AC hit me, and I got a cold. I went to a pharmacy, and they gave me pills for three days and they were super powerful because the cold was gone after one day! In the morning, we visited a local market and then we drove in the direction of Kanazawa. On the way, we stopped to visit the village of Shirakawa-go (白川郷). It is known for the farmhouses in the thatched gassho-zukuri style, and we wandered around for some time. After a brief stop on a beach, we finally arrived in Kanazawa (金沢). We went for dinner and then we stopped in an arcade. And this is how my gambling addiction started. In these places, you try to get plushy and other prizes by moving a mechanic arm. No need to say, most of the time you do not catch anything but, coin after coin, you keep playing. I think I used around 25 euro for the whole trip to Japan and I got only one prize (at least I got something!), a super cute shark-dressed cat.

1^st August 
We started the day by going to a local shop where we had a laboratory to decorate our own chopsticks with gold leaf. Kanazawa is indeed famous for the gold leaf and every shop sells something with it, even the ice cream gets covered with one! Besides this, Kanazawa is interesting to visit because there was no destruction during WWII so many old districts have been preserved intact. We went to one of these and took some nice pictures before heading to Omi-Cho Market. Here, you can see all sorts of stalls selling fish and other products. Obviously, many restaurants are also here, and I tried a local dish, the donburi, a bowl of rice, and some raw fish. It was very good and decorated with some gold as well! In the afternoon, we went to visit the castle and its garden. The castle presents traditional architecture, but the gardens were the most interesting sight. As usual, they are made of different areas, ponds, and architecture. For dinner, we had a hot pot. Basically, you get what you want to eat from a buffet and then you cook it in a boiling pot at the table. I tried it before and I am not a huge fan, especially because boiled meat and veggies are not my favorites, but also because it is hard not to make a mess on the table and, more problematic, on your clothes.

2^nd August
Today was Shinkansen Day for the group. From Takayama, we traveled to Tokyo (東京), the last destination of the tour. The train ride was quite fast, and we made it to the capital city in the late morning. We arrived at Tokyo Station, an impressive building built in 1914. From there, we went straight to the Meiji-Jingu, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It was originally built in 1920 but then destroyed during WWII and rebuilt in 1958. we spent a little time here before heading to the Harajuku area for lunch and free time. We went to Takeshita-Dori, a street full of independent shops selling whatever. My best shopping was chopsticks in the shape of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber! After lunch, we went to Akihabara, the center of the nerd world. They sell all sorts of electronics but, more than that, whatever is related to anime and manga. Again, this is not really my interest, so I just wandered around until the meeting time. For dinner, we went to a restaurant where each table had a grill in the middle, and we had to prepare okonomiyaki ourselves. It was different from the one I had in Hiroshima. First of all, I did it myself, but also the ingredients were slightly different, and they were all mixed together instead of being layered one over the other. The result was surprisingly pretty good! 

3^rd August
This was my last day with the group. They had one extra day to go to Disney World, but I did not go. The day was, as usual, pretty packed. We started going to the Miraikan, a science museum. It was very interesting although we did not have enough time to explore it as we would have liked. After that, we shortly stopped for lunch and then headed to the Asakusa temple. I cannot really say we saw much as we were a bit in a rush, and we stopped not even half an hour. I think I made a good choice to stop in Tokyo a few other days after the tour because I wanted to see this and other things much better than this. For the rest of the afternoon, we went to the Shibuya area. Obviously, the coolest thing was to cross the street in what is rumored to be the busiest intersection in the world. Nearby, there is also a statue that commemorates Hachiko, the famous Japanese Akita dog>. He is remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, for whom he continued to wait for over nine years following Ueno's death. We stayed in the area and many people went to the Pokémon center. I paid a short visit, bought some stickers, and then looked around. Next to it, there was a cool shop full of stationary stuff: a paradise! For dinner, we went to a BBQ place. I am not sure if it is also something traditional Japanese, but it was the same I had in Korea. You get stuff at the buffet and then you grill it directly at your table. It was good but I also had a strong headache. In the evening, I stayed in the lobby to talk and say goodbye to the group. To be honest, I spent enough time with the group, I was eager to be again on my own. Finally, freedom!

4^th August
Another dawn wake-up for me! I had to go to the Shinjuku train station, find the JR office to get my pass, leave my big backpack in a locker, and be on the train to Fujiyoshida by 9.30. I was perfectly on time and excited to go to a small town for a day. Tokyo is extremely big (it is actually the biggest metropolis in the world!) and tiring. I definitely prefer smaller towns. I had to change trains in Otsuki and get on a new one to arrive in Fujiyoshida (富士吉). There, I started to immediately look around to localize Mount Fuji. As I imagined, it was completely covered with clouds. Apparently, it is visible about 80-90 days per year, but I still wanted to try my luck. I left the majority of my stuff at the hostel and started to walk around to see the town. Ok, my expectations were a bit higher than that. The town itself was kind of dead, there were very few shops and almost no people around. I visited a shrine close to the hostel and then headed to the Kitaguchi Fuji Sengen-jinja. This shrine is dedicated to Sakuya-hime, the goddess of the mountain. It was built originally in the 8^th century and then rebuilt in 1800. The main gate is rebuilt every 60 years, a bit bigger every year. The atmosphere was nice as the shrine is surrounded by a forest of cedars. I also had lunch in one of the few open places. It was good but I was not brave enough to try the pizza and opted for a salad. In the afternoon, I went back to the hostel to rest and shower. The room I had was very nice. It was traditional, with tatami, and very quiet. Around 5.30, even though I was not very hungry, I decided to go out. I felt better after a shower, and I was not planning to do much not to sweat again with the heat. I went out, looked towards Fuji and there it was, completely visible and beautiful! From the street, it was a nice view, but I wanted to see it better, so I literally ran to the Arakura Fuji Sengen-jinja, which I planned to visit the next day in the morning. It is a small shrine next to a mountain. Walking up the 400 steps, you get to a nice pagoda with a splendid view over Mount Fuji. It was incredible! I think it was one of the most intense moments I have had in Japan. I stayed there for quite some time to recover after the steps and to enjoy all the change of colors of the mountain at sunset. Once dark, I went back and found a nice izakaya, a local restaurant, to have dinner. After all, I got hungry!

5^th August
Despite planning to sleep a bit more, I woke up quite early. I did not rush to see Mount Fuji, but I did go back to the pagoda. The mountain was still visible but getting covered by clouds. Afterward, I went to try a dessert at a local place. I saw the pictures online and I was interested because it was transparent. It was indeed an experience, but the taste was nothing special. It was made out of water mostly and you need to put sugar on it to give it some taste. Honestly, what surprised me the most was the fact that a woman working there was speaking good English and even some words in Italian! Even though I planned to stay in Fujiyoshida a little more, I decided to go back earlier to Tokyo. Once there, I went to the Tokyo Government Building, which is in the Shinjuku area, right next to the train station. It is one of the few places where you can go to the top of the skyscraper for free. The visit to the city was wonderful and indeed you cannot see the end of the city. In the afternoon, I left my luggage in the hotel and went to the Senso-ji or the Asakusa Kannon Temple. This is the oldest temple in the city and is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. It was originally built in 645 but was destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt. This time there, I had more time to visit it and also to shop a bit. I bought all the last souvenirs so I could start packing everything. After I made the check-in, I rested a bit and then I went to TeamLab. This is a center for digital and immersive art. I have never done something similar, and it is for sure a must-go in Tokyo. You walk inside barefoot and pass through several rooms. One was dark and filled with water and you could see on the surface koi carp moving. They were projected from the ceiling and their movement depended on the people in the water. Another room was covered with mirrors and several orchids were moved in the space. Another again was filled with LED lights, whose color changed, and the music as well. Every room gives different feelings and emotions. It does not last very long so I finished still early but I just went back to the hotel to rest.

6^th August
To use as much as possible my JR pass, I decided to go to Nikko (日光) on the last day of use. This is a small town north of Tokyo famous for its temples and shrines (UNESCO). By chance, it was the centenary of the building of the station, so it was full of posters and staff greeting and thanking us for coming. I started by walking to the Toshu-gu Shrine. This is the main attraction in Nikko and the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun. The shogunate ruled Japan for over 250 years, ending in 1868. Originally, this was supposed to be a simple mausoleum but became later the rich and vast complex we can see still today. Among the most interesting parts, there is the image of the "see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil" monkeys. The main shrine building is dedicated to the spirits of Ieyasu and two others of Japan's most influential historical personalities, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Minamoto Yoritomo. Next to it, there is a gate, decorated with the Nemurineko, the sleeping cat, which leads to the actual mausoleum. Another interesting part was the Honjido Hall. On the ceiling, there is a painting of a Dragon. A priest gives a short explanation and claps two pieces of wood. Surprisingly, clapping them in any part of the hall does not produce anything but clapping them right below the dragon’s mouth produces a bright ringing sound!
After this visit, I went to the Futarasan shrine and then to Rinno-ji. The temple was built in 766 and attracted monks looking for solitude. All the buildings were rich in decorations and gold, truly a beautiful place. The last stop was at the Kanmangafuchi Abyss. This is a gorge where you can walk by the river next to 70 stone statues of Jizo. On the way back, I stopped in a small place run by an old man. I got a matcha tea while resting and looking at the river below. What I needed after such an intense day. Walking towards the train station, I got caught by rain, the first I saw on this trip (and also the last). For dinner, I went to the area of Harajuku in Tokyo, where I found a sushi place. It was again one with a conveyor belt even though you could order also specific dishes. Because of this, there were not many dishes coming as everybody was making requests and took me a little bit of time plus the help of Google Translate, to also order some dishes. When I started, I did not pay attention to the different dishes, so I did not realize right away each of them had a different price. I paid quite a lot for the dinner and, even if good, I was not completely satisfied with my Japanese sushi experience. I walked around the area for a little bit and then I went back to the hotel. 

7^th August
The day to wear the kimono arrived! I went early in the morning to be the first at the shop and, as soon as they opened, I chose my yukata. Then, a woman dressed me and soon I was ready to go out. I was in the area of the Asakusa temple, but it was already full of people, so I decided to head to Ueno Park. Despite the wooden flip-flops, it was ok to walk. There, I found some nice spots where to take pictures. I was getting better and better at using my tripod and managed to get nice pictures. I also went back to Senso-ji, and a Japanese man approached me because he wanted to take some pics of me. He said he was an amateur photographer and later on he sent me the photos via email. Once I had enough pictures, I headed back to leave the kimono and get my clothes. At this point, I decided to go to the area of Shimo Kitazawa. This area is a bit less crowded by non-Japanese people and it is full of secondhand clothing stores. I walked around and got a purple soda drink that tasted like melon (one of the many weird things I tried). I also went to a post office to finally send all my postcards. After that, I decided to go to a temple that is famous for the maneko statues, aka the greeting cat. I checked on the map how to get there and, since I was a bit confused about the train/subway to take, I decided to walk even if it was a bit outside of the ‘main city’. It was maybe not the best decision because it took me almost one hour, but I made it and I also got to see a more residential area of the city. The Gotoku-ji was very nice and indeed full of maneko statues. The legend says that, in the early 17th century, Ii Naotaka  (then the second lord of the Omi-Hikone Domain) escaped from being caught in a sudden thunderstorm after being invited inside the temple by a cat that lived there. He then decided to dedicate the temple to the Ii clan to show gratitude to the cat. To go back to the city, I took a train and went to Harajuku. There, I had dinner in a ramen place. The food was delicious! It was still early so I went to a nearby cat café. The cats were so cute! However, they did not want to play with me ☹. To end the evening, I went to see the Tokyo Tower. It is inspired by the Eiffel Tower and is one of the many symbols of the city. 

8^th August
This was my unfortunately last day in Japan. I started to be a bit tired, and my ankles were painful but still, I loved Japan, and it was sad that my time there came to an end. I checked out from the hotel and went to the Tsukiji market. This is one of the most famous areas to get seafood. Until some years ago, this was the actual fish market while now it is more a concentration of wholesale and retail shops next to restaurants. I skipped the classical Japanese breakfast (only for the strongest stomachs!) and was happy enough to look around. I much preferred to go to a nearby stationary shop that I had found on the map. It was 7 floors of paper, stickers, pens…all beautiful things! The last shopping included some last snacks to bring back to the office (amazing watermelon and grapes candies) in a convenience store and dorayaki. I never had them even though this is one of the most popular snacks in Japan. It is a sort of pancake filled with sweet azuki beans. It is not my favorite, but I had to try it. For lunch, I went to a sushi place that I found through an Instagram post. It was way much better than the others I have been to before, and the proof was a long line. In the end, I did not have to wait much before I sat at the counter. It was fascinating to observe the chefs preparing amazing sushi dishes, almost hypnotic! The lunch was great, I wish I had more of that, but my stomach did not agree. Compared to the other sushi I had, this was definitely on a different level. To end the day, I went to Akihabara for some time before going back to the hotel, getting my stuff, and going to the airport. 

And here comes the end of this unexpected and beautiful trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, with the promise to come back one day and explore the other beautiful places it has!