Since the pandemic has eased, I’ve been to so many places including the US, Denmark, South Korea, Thailand, UK, Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Romania, Portugal, and Poland — in some of the countries even multiple times!

It wasn’t easy to decide which photos to share next, but then it dawned on me that I still have some photos from our trip to Japan in 2020. This country is beyond doubt my favourite to photograph and to tell stories about, and I felt I need to finish the series about our last visit.

Today I’d like to share the photos I took on the concluding two days of our trip.

Omotesando

Omotesando is a captivating neighborhood that combines fashion, amazing architecture, and a lively atmosphere. As you walk along the famous tree-lined street, you see stylish shops with the latest trends from famous designers. The buildings along the street are stunning, with modern and sometimes futuristic designs.

I especially like Omotesando Hills. It is a sleek and modern shopping complex designed by the famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando. This architectural masterpiece offers an impressive blend of luxury brands, trendy boutiques, and inviting cafes.

The area behind Omotesando Hills is filled with a diverse range of attractions and activities. One notable feature is the charming backstreets and hidden alleyways that offer a more local experience. Here, you can discover nice cafes, small independent shops, and unique boutiques that showcase emerging fashion designers and artisans.

Cafe Mameya in Omotesando is a hidden gem for coffee enthusiasts like me. The highlight of the experience is the amazing selection of specialty beans, offering a wide range of flavors and profiles to explore. The baristas will talk to you — also in good English — and brew each cup based on your individual preferences.

Another shopping center Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku is known for its impressive architectural design and the iconic entrance with a mirrored kaleidoscope-like staircase that reflects the vibrant Harajuku atmosphere.

Takeshita

Takeshita Street is a lively and bustling street located in Harajuku. It’s a popular destination for young people and fashion enthusiasts. There you’ll find a wide array of shops selling trendy clothes, accessories, and unique items.

You’ll also find a variety of street food stalls offering tasty snacks. Harajuku-style crepes is probably one of the most popular treats there. These thin crepes are typically filled with a variety of sweet ingredients such as fresh fruits, whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate sauce, and other toppings.

A decade ago, during my time living in Tokyo, I frequently found myself strolling down this street, seeking new clothing and drawing inspiration for my outfits.

From Omotesando to Shibuya

Taking a walk from Omotesando to Shibuya offers a captivating journey through Tokyo’s vibrant cityscape. You will pass by nice boutiques, buildings with modern architecture, pet shops, cozy cafes, and art galleries.

The famous Shibuya Crossing

As you venture onward, the vibrant energy intensifies, leading you to the iconic Shibuya Crossing. Often referred to as the ‘scramble crossing’, it is one of Tokyo’s most famous landmarks and a symbol of the city’s energy.

The Hachiko statue in Shibuya stands as a touching tribute to the loyal dog who waited faithfully for his owner and has become a beloved symbol of loyalty and dedication.

Tokyo Tower

On the final day of our trip we met with our friend and her little daughter for a nice soba lunch in a restaurant close to our hotel. All together we then went to Akihabara and spent some time there.

For the evening Sergio and I have planned the final sightseeing activity of this trip: we were going to visit the Tokyo Tower and its observation deck. It was March 2020, and Tokyo Tower was one the few touristic activities still open to public.

When we left the subway, we started to worry as we realized that the sun was setting soon. We did not know, whether there was a line at the entrance and how long would it take us to get to the observation deck.

Luckily, it was not crowded at all, and after a quick temperature check, we managed to be there just in time for the sunset.

The tower’s observation decks offer unparalleled views of Tokyo’s skyline. I’ve enjoyed so much looking at the city from above and taking these photos.

Zojoji Temple is located next to Tokyo Tower, creating a harmonious juxtaposition between ancient traditions and modernity. It’s a prominent Buddhist temple with a rich history dating back to the 14th century.

The design and architecture of Tokyo Tower stand out, with its striking red and white color scheme and a structure reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.

The trip was absolutely fantastic, just like all my previous experiences in Japan, and I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to visit this incredible country again in the future.

Photos taken in March 2020

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It’s been a while since the last update on this blog. Life got busy: our company has dropped traveling restrictions due to COVID, and this summer I had more business trips than in the last three years altogether. I’ve been to some really cool places, and maybe someday I’ll find time to show some pictures (mostly iPhone-made) from these trips as well, but today I’d like to share some older photos which I’ve prepared already several months ago and didn’t find time to publish them yet.

In February, I read a book about Tokyo, and it was full of nice photographs. It made me very nostalgic. While the country remained closed and no foreign travellers were allowed, I still had some unpublished photographs from our last trip to Japan which took place in March 2020, right in the beginning of the pandemic.

The day after our mini-trip to Mt. Fuji we planned to spend in Tokyo, going to different locations and visiting a friend in the evening.

Plum blossom festival at Yushima Tenjin

Before that trip to Japan I researched for some interesting locations which we haven’t visited yet. I discovered that the shrine Yushima Tenjin was a popular spot to watch plum blossoms, and the timing seemed to be right. Furthermore, I’ve discovered there was a plum blossom festival planned exactly for that day!

We have soon discovered that it was the closing day of the festival and… the plum blossom season was over as well. We only saw some remaining blossoms on the black bushes which were ready to start growing green leaves.

My calculation about the timing was wrong! I guess, I got misled by the fact that two years before that trip we were watching plum blossoms in Kanazawa in the end of March. Well, different tree varieties in different locations bloom at different times.

We walked a bit around the temple and even got to see a Shinto-style wedding ceremony.

Walking towards Ueno

When we left the shrine, we decided to walk towards Ueno Park.

We had a seafood-lunch at Ameyoko market which we also were passing by on our way to Ueno.

Ueno-koen

We got unlucky with plum blossoms, however, when we came to Ueno, we got rewarded with the beautiful view of early cherry blossoms. The peak season has not started yet, but some early varieties were already blooming.

Between the branches we saw many tiny birds of bright green color. I looked them up and found out that these birds are called warbling white-eye (Zosterops japonicus). Many photographers with huge zoom lenses were trying to capture them. That day I only had a 50mm lens with me, and stood no chance to capture these tiny moving creatures.

We did the usual stroll in the park and walked towards Shinobazu pond, the one which looks so different depending on seasons. We also stopped by at the famous Moon Pine.

Shinobazu pond

We walked towards the pond and crossed the bridge to Benten Island. There stands the temple Benten-dō.

There we saw another kind of early cherry blossom tree. I looked it up and learned that this variety is called kanhi-zakura. It has a deeper color than other typical cherry blossoms, and it blooms from early March.

It was tempting to do a walk around the Lotus pond, but we were slowly running out of time. We still had to go to Akihabara to buy a Gundam set, and later we were invited to a friend’s place.

Akihabara

Despite of the pandemic, the electronics shopping district Akihabara seemed as busy as usual.

We quickly found the store we were looking for and made it on time to the dinner in the opposite part of the city.

Photos taken in March 2020

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Two days of our journey we spent at the base of Mt. Fuji. Together with our friend Paul who lives in Tokyo we went to a tiny town called Fujiyoshida and had a great time there.

Day 1

To get there, we took an early bus from Shinjuku station. We did not buy tickets in advance, and we got really lucky to get the last three tickets. Despite the pandemic, the bus was full. As we arrived, we headed straight to the hotel and left our luggage there. The ‘hotel’ was in fact an old two-storey house with a couple of spacious tatami-flloor rooms managed by a friendly Japanese old lady, who gave us a key to our room and demonstrated how to make a futon bed. We’ve already done it so many times in the past, but I guess they always show it to foreigners.

After we left our luggage, we went to explore. We did not have a clear plan, just a list of the sights we wanted to visit. We were also not sure, which of them were open, since many museums and public places in the country were closed due to the pandemic. To our luck, there was a tourist information center, where a nice lady gave us a map of the area, marking close and open attractions. This was super useful, as she also marked the spots of our interest and advised from where and at what time of day Mt. Fuji looks at its best, and told us which transportation means should we take to get to these places. In addition, she also instructed us what to do in case we experience COVID symptoms and gave us a phone number to call, should this happen.

Mt. Tenjo Panoramic Ropeway (also known as Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway)

Although the lady from the tourist information office told us the view from Mt. Tenjo is better in the morning, we could not afford waiting, as we also had other plans for the next day.

We took a cable a car to get on top. There we saw a small caffe, an observation deck and several hilarious figures of tanuki, or Japanese raccoon dog, and a bunny. The observatory has a view of the lake, as well as Aokigahara forest, and Mount Fuji.

It was windy and very sunny. The sky was so clear! Not the best condition for photography, but the view was still enjoyable. From there, we also could see the Fuji-Q Highland, the amusement park which stood silent these days, closed for indefinite time because of the pandemic. It brought back memories of one sunny autumn day Sergio and I spent there a couple of years ago.

Some moments later the summit was covered by a cloud.

It was so cold there! Despite the fact that I put on all the clothes I had, it was still freezing cold.

Now what’s the deal with these tanuki and bunny figures? It turned out, there is a folktale about this place, and these two animals are its main heroes. The line name Mt. Kachi Kachi comes from this folktale. Despite the fact they seem so cute, the tale is rather dark and includes torture and death. Better read it yourself.

Walking along the shore of Lake Kawaguchi

As next we wanted to see a great photographic spot in the Oishi Park. At first, we though we would be able to get there on foot before the sunset, so we walked along the shore of Lake Kawaguchi, enjoying the view and the nice conversation.

At some point we realized that the sunset may actually come sooner than we expected. Luckily, we were walking along the bus route.

Sunset views of Mt. Fuji at the Oishi Park

We arrived to the spot just in time. The sun already started to set and I enjoyed photographing Mt. Fuji in changing light.

Finally, it got dark, and we headed back to the bus. On the way, we saw a very interesting example of modern architecture. It turned out to be the Hoshinoya resort. I would definitely love to spend a night there someday.

The bus brought us back to the ropeway station. From there, we got to walk a little towards the train station. Our hotel was one train stop away from where we were, but before we took the train, we had a nice dinner at a tempura restaurant not far from the station.

Back to the train station

At the station, we had to wait a bit, and when the train arrived it turned out to be decorated with anime characters.

Day 2

My plan was to get up early on the next day and to get to one interesting photo spot to make use of the beautiful morning light. The guys, who are not that passionate about photography, wouldn’t join. I was still jetlagged and, oh well, I’m not a morning person (especially during vacation), so the plan failed on my side, too.

Once we all were ready, we moved our luggage into the locker at the train station to save some time later. Our return bus tickets were for later time, so we had plenty of time to see the remaining sights on our list.

We enjoyed some combini snacks and coffee for breakfast and walked towards, perhaps, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the region and in Japan, but I’ll come later to that. Again, we chose walking, as we wanted to see the town.

We passed by some temples and blooming trees, enjoying the ambience of the provincial town, which at some moments seemed even deserted. It was out of season, plus the pandemic played its role. The streets were empty and almost all local stores and restaurants we were passing by were closed.

Many associate Japan with skyscrapers and hi-tech, however, this country has another face — its countryside, which I find absolutely charming. A railroad, a web of wires connecting electricity poles, and a badass mountain in the background — I could easily imagine it being a scene from an anime of some well-known director.

Chureito Pagoda in Arakurayama Sengen Park

And here we are, at one of the most famous sights in Japan! The sight of the five-story Chureito Pagoda in Arakurayama Sengen Park is probably known to everyone. Usually accompanied with cherry blossoms, it often decorates tourist booklets or general articles about Japan. Finally, we got to see this spot with our own eyes!

As you can see in the photographs, we were a bit early for cherry blossoms, and the sun was on the ‘wrong’ side (and I didn’t bring any lens filters), so I didn’t manage to take a booklet-level masterpiece shot. We still enjoyed the view, though.

Hopefully someday I’ll get to see this place in its full beauty with cherry blossoms around.

Back to the town

We still had plenty of time before our bus back to Tokyo, so, again, we chose to walk back to the town. We walked along the Honcho street enjoying the view.

Kitaguchi-hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine

Our next destination was Kitaguchi-hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine, a UNESCO-listed Shinto shrine complex. The first religious building was built at this very spot in 100 A.D., and since then the place served religious purposes. As the starting point of the Yoshida Trail, during the Edo Period, it was used by pilgrims to pray before their religious pilgrimage up to Mt. Fuji’s summit.

These days the shrine consists of several wooden structures. I found the stone lanterns framing the path through the forest and the surrounding trees which must be over hundred years old especially impressive.

Coffee bus

Right next to the temple stood a retro coffee bus. Of course I couldn’t resist trying their coffee! I even managed to have a small talk in Japanese with the shop owner, who told me that he roasts the beans manually in a small roaster — he actually had it there in the bus!

Donki

We had a simple dinner in one of Matsuya restaurants we found there. After that, it started getting dark, Mt. Fuji completely hid behind thick clouds and it was freezing cold. Fortunately, we stumbled upon a Don Quijote store (or simply Donki), one of those which sell everything possible. We decided to use the opportunity to buy some things from our list to bring home.

It was definitely a great trip with lots of walking and seeing great things. We will definitely return to the area once it will be possible again.

Photos taken in March 2020

The post Our Trip to Fujiyoshida, or Several Views of Mt. Fuji appeared first on Tokidoki.

Another day of our trip we decided to spend in Shinjuku. Shinjuku is one of Tokyo’s wards, considered as major commercial and administrative centre of the city. It’s packed with shops, bars, clubs, restaurants, galleries and all sorts of other establishments. Also its railway station is the busiest in the world.

Although many other parts of Tokyo seemed to be more quiet than usual, affected by the beginning of the pandemic, on that day Shinjuku was as lively as before. In short, our plans for the day included having a ramen, visiting the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, taking some photographs at the Omoide Yokocho and, finally, doing some shopping.

Ichiran ramen

Although Ichiran is a popular ramen chain, we’ve never been to any of its restaurants before, always giving a preference to the Ippudo chain or other individual shops. This time we were curious to try the ramen of Ichiran.

Their ramen could be distinguished by thin noodles and a hearty tonkotsu broth. It was tasty, although I was a bit disappointed by the plain egg — I prefer when it’s marinated.

A very striking difference was in the way you get to eat your ramen! It’s being served in individual booths, so that you don’t get to interact with others and can focus on your ramen. Interactions with the serving personnel are also minimal. You enter the building and select your dish in a vending machine, paying in advance. After you get your receipt, you get an individual booth assigned to you. There, you get a pen and a piece of paper, where you can customise your ramen based on your preferences, picking from different options like, for example, richness of the broth or whether you want some garlic and spicy sauce in it. Your meal is served through a little window in the booth, which gets shut with a curtain after you have it served. Such a dream shop for introverts!

It was definitely an interesting experience, however, for me ramen is a social meal. I really enjoy going to ramen shops with friends, and that makes other shops like Ippudo more attractive for me.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

After the lunch we walked towards the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It’s a very famous park and garden, but somehow we never got to visit it before.

I believe this place should be beautiful in any season, but we particularly enjoyed being there during the spring time. Just look at the photos I took that day!

This park is such a calm place. Being there, it’s hard to believe there is a bustling megapolis out there.

Being in this park reminded me of ‘The Garden of Words‘, a brilliant anime film by Makoto Shinkai. Its action is actually happening in the Shinjuku Gyoen.

Although it was still early for the peak cherry blossom season, we discovered a beautiful early blooming tree near the pond.

We really enjoyed being in the park and stayed there until it’s closing time.

Omoide Yokocho

It started getting dark and we hurried to the Omoide Yokocho, an alleyway full of tiny BBQ restaurants. I discovered this photogenic spot back in 2013, before it became popular amongst Instagram photographers. I couldn’t resist stopping by at that place again.

We were considering having a dinner in one of the yakitori places at Omoide Yokocho, however, we were still not hungry at that time. Furthermore, we already had a heavy ramen that day, and another meaty meal felt like an overkill.

We spent further couple of hours doing shopping in the area. We were in the Tokyu Hands, when all shops in the area started to close. Apparently, they shortened their hours of operation due to the pandemic. So, we started looking for dinner options.

Sushi for dinner

The large train station of Shinjuku hosts many restaurants. We though it would be good to have some sushi. We soon discovered that many restaurants were also closing early that day, however, we still managed to find a sushi shop which was still open. The sushi were really good! It’s a shame I did not memorise the name of the place.

Photos taken in March 2020

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It was by all means an unusual trip. I was in-between the jobs and though it would be nice to spend a week in my favourite country before diving deep into my new role — ironically, just like I did before taking my previous job. Back then in 2018 we went on a two-week trip which I already covered in a series of posts on this blog.

In fact, we decided quite spontaneously to go on that trip: on some day in February I was just browsing ticket prices to whatever places — the activity I enjoyed doing pre-pandemic. I noticed that round-trip prices to Tokyo were lower than usually. That was certainly affected by the beginning of the pandemic and its spread in Asia, but back then people in Europe (us included) were not taking it seriously. I mean, nothing like that ever happened in our lives, and it was impossible to foresee how the whole thing will turn out. So, we bought the tickets just two weeks before going on this 10-day trip. We didn’t know yet it was meant to be our last trip overseas for a long period of time.

In the beginning of March 2020, we were flying back to Tokyo. It was tempting to buy another JR Pass, but that time we did not have enough time for a trip through the country. So, Tokyo was our primary destination and we were planning to leave it only once during the trip — to visit Fujiyoshida, a town close to Mt. Fuji, but I’ll come to that in one of the following posts.   

Arrival day

As always, the flight was quite long and exhausting. I didn’t sleep at all and we arrived to Tokyo early in the morning. For the first couple of nights we booked a hotel where we’ve already stayed before. It’s located in the familiar to us Ningyocho area. In 2013, when I spent six months in Tokyo, we used to live close by and know almost all the shops and restaurants in the area. 

It was raining in Tokyo, so we decided to take a direct shuttle bus from the Narita airport which took us to Suitengumae station. We had to walk from there for about 10 minutes, but that was quite straightforward, since we know the area and didn’t even need any map.

Despite the fact that our planned check-in time was much later, the room was already free, and we were allowed to use it. That was such a big help! We were exhausted, and I was desperate to take a shower. 

According to our initial plan we were going to spend the day doing some shopping at Akihabara and then meeting friends there at a yaki-niku (Japanese BBQ) place. However, we were so tired, that we just went out to have lunch in Kaisen Misakiko, a sushi kaiten nearby our hotel, then returned to the room, had a nap, and went to Akihabara only late in the evening to meet with the friends. It was a very pleasant evening.

Familiar places

Next morning we managed to get up early. We planned so much for the day! 

First thing, we went to Kappabashi, the area in Tokyo we also know very well, since we spent there our three months in 2015. We took the subway to Iriya station and enjoyed walking the familiar streets from there. 

It was such a nice and sunny March morning! We saw some early cherry blossoms.

On the way, we passed by the old house where we used to live, to check if it’s still standing. The whole area almost hasn’t changed since our last visit in 2018!

Shopping at Kappabashi

We went there not just because of feeling nostalgic. Kappabashi-dori is famous for its shops supplying restaurants with all possible items from kitchen utensils to furniture and food-making machines. Although the target customers are restaurant owners, it does not mean you can’t shop there as an ordinary shopper.

In fact, many tourists come to visit that street to buy some souvenirs and to visit the so called sampuru (from English ‘sample’) shops, selling food samples made of plastic. These are often used at restaurants in their shop display windows to demonstrate the menu. Such sample items often look soooo realistic, that it’s even hard to tell that it’s only plastic. Huge pieces can be costly, but some shops offer small items as souvenirs like a tiny sushi or even a kit to make your own food sample. 

We were planning to buy some stuff for our home, like beautiful ramen bowls and some miscellaneous ceramic items. We always wanted to do this kind of shopping there, but were always constrained by the luggage allowance. This time we made sure to leave some extra space for our dinnerware. 

Besides, I wanted to visit the shop called ‘Union’, which sells everything possible for coffee from dripper filters to syphones, cold brew towers and even roasting devices — everything from popular Japanese brands like Hario or Kalita. They sell roasted coffee as well. It’s a paradise for a coffee lover like me, and of course I didn’t leave it empty-handed.

As for the ceramics, the challenge was to find a shop. I didn’t look for any recommendations in advance, so instead we just quickly went through the whole street and noted some potential stores. The one we liked most, Maeda, was located almost in the end of the street. Their showroom wasn’t fancy, but the products they were selling were amazing. There we managed to find everything which was on our list, and the shop staff wrapped everything with care and provided us with a tax free document.

We could have spent more time at Kappabashi, however, our agenda for the day was full. We made a quick stop at Sensing Touch of Earth, a cozy coffee shop which we like despite it’s weird name. I ordered a matcha latte to-go, and we continued walking back towards the subway station.

Imperial Palace

We returned to the hotel and left the stuff we bought at Kappabashi and immediately went back to the subway. This time we were heading to Chiyoda, the administrative center of Tokyo. You may remember the story (which I told you in this post) of how we missed the chance to visit the Imperial Gardens. During that trip we were determined to fix that.

Furthermore, this time I even applied online to get us spots on an official free guided tour through the Imperial Palace grounds. Usually such an application is not necessary, but very helpful. It assures that you will take part in the excursion if you show up at the scheduled time. Visitors without such registrations would be served on a first-come basis.

This time, however, we wouldn’t get in without our registration. Because of the pandemic, many public places like museums, galleries and observation decks decided to close indefinitely. The Imperial Palace excursion takes place outdoors and it was not cancelled, however, the number of participants was limited only to those who were pre-registered. So, we were in!

You may wonder, what is actually this tour about? The Imperial Palace has been the residential place of the Japanese Emperor family since 1868. In the Imperial Palace Complex consisting of several buildings the ruling family undertakes its official duties. Different ceremonies and public activities also take place there.

The excursion is a guided walking tour. There are guides speaking different languages. On that day there were an English speaking and a French speaking guides. The only French couple who joined on that day got a very exclusive tour. We joined the English speaking group of course.

The duration of the walk is about one hour (you will cover about 2.2 km). Taking photographs is allowed, however, you should keep the group’s pace. There are special people following the group who make sure that nobody stays behind.

In general, it was an interesting experience. We’ve learned that all imperial buildings were actually quite modest (no aqua discotheque or anything).

Lazy afternoon in the Imperial Gardens

After the excursion we were a bit hungry. We didn’t have time for lunch before the excursion, and after it was already quite late. There was no point in having a complete meal since in a couple of hours we were meeting up with my former colleagues with whom we were going to have a dinner at an izakaya (a Japanese bar serving drinks and small foods). So, we grabbed some snacks from a convenience store and headed towards the Eastern Imperial Gardens.

There we just sat on the ground in the middle of a park enjoying the sun. It was so warm, we even were able to remove the jackets! We had our snacks, and Sergio told me he would like to take a nap — right there in the park. So, I took my camera and went to explore.

Meeting with my colleagues

In the evening, we went to the institute where we both used to work to meet with my former team. I was as always very glad to see them. There were of course many new members, staff and interns — all are nice people, with whom we spent a pleasant evening in an izakaya. One thing which never happened to us before: the izakaya was completely empty and we were the only customers. 

Night blossoms at Chidorigafuchi

After the party was over, Fumiki offered us to show the early blooming trees in the park near Cidorigafuchi. In the spirit of hanami, we bought some drinks in a convenience store and headed to the park. We were impressed by the large magnolia trees in full bloom.

Midnight snack

At midnight, returning to our hotel, we realised we were hungry again. I guess our jet lag was playing tricks on us. We decided to make a quick stop at a Yoshinoya next to our hotel, and discovered some new healthy items on the menu. The meal I ordered was very delicious!

Photos taken in March 2020

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With this post I would like to wrap up my Japan 2018 series and show you some photos which I did not include in the previous posts. In case you do not know, Japan is actually not the only place I travel to, and on my hard drive I have gigabytes of photos taken on other trips to countries in Europe, Asia and North and South Americas. So, after this post, before I continue showing you Japan in the photos from my most recent trip to this amazing country (I went there again in March 2020), I am planning to take you on a journey to some other beautiful destinations.   

Having returned from the JR Pass trip through the country, we spent another week in Tokyo. I already showed you the blooming cherry blossoms in Chidorigafuchi park and the lucky cat temple Gotokuji — the photos in these posts I shot on the two days when I was not lazy to bring my heavy DSLR camera with me. Most of the photos in this post, in contrast, were shot on my old iPhone or on a tiny Ricoh GR II on the days, when I did not feel like carrying much stuff on me. 

So, what else did we do on that week? First of all, on each day we would meet with people. During our previous stays in the city we developed so many good relationships with different folks living there, and it was really nice to see them again. We would go to izakaya and restaurants, party at Shibuya or enjoy doing hanami with friends. Aww, great times!

Of course we also did some touristy things. Let me list here some of them!

Riding a boat under cherry blossoms on the Sumida river

When our friend Paul asked us, if we would like to do a guided cherry blossom viewing boat ride, we thought it was a great idea. We planned it for the day we were returning back from Osaka. After we brought the luggage to our hotel, we met with Paul and walked towards the Nihonbashi bridge, a historic landmark in Tokyo and the starting point for the boat ride. On the way Paul said that we should get us some drinks for the ride. We wondered whether it won’t be strange to have the drinks during a guided tour, but he said: ‘You will see!’ 

Soon we were seated in the boat. Our guide, a friendly Japanese lady, has welcomed all passengers, translating everything in English for our small group. The atmosphere was super cosy and friendly. The boat has started and we were surprised to see that and all passengers at once took out their drinks and even some bento boxes. Haha, apparently that would have been even weird not to have anything with us! As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, hanami always comes together with food and drinks, and watching cherry blossoms from a boat is in fact nothing different than doing a hanami!

We were truly enjoying the ride. Our guide was telling us interesting facts about the city before we started reaching the places where blooming trees were densely framing the riverbanks. It got dark by that time, the metropolis turned on its lights and the blooming clouds were beautifully lit by lanterns. There were many people on the river banks and bridges, also enjoying cherry blossoms. Many were waving at us when the boat was passing by. We were waving back and it was super fun.

I felt nostalgic when the boat was passing by the area where we once used to live. It has brought back the memories of the time when the three of us met as flatmates in an old apartment building, which has since been demolished. I could see the Sumida promenade, where I would often enjoy my late night jogging. I even enjoyed the strong smell of water and algae, which I used to find disgusting back in the days.  

When the boat ride was over, we decided to grab some snacks and continue doing hanami in the tiny Hamacho park close to the water. We knew this place from before and it felt so good to be back.

Akihabara shopping

I have been to Tokyo many times already and no matter what, somehow we always end up going to Akihabara as one of the first things after we arrive. Akihabara is a very vibrant city part, with huge concentration of electronics shops, gaming gear, anime stuff and other otaku attributes. Even if you are not into electronics or anime, most certainly you will still be amazed by the vibe of this bright and noisy neighbourhood. In Akihabara, I love entertaining myself by going to the Big Camera store and trying out the newest photography gear. 

We had a short break in an Excelsior Caffe. It is a popular chain in Japan, which can be compared to Starbucks. Their coffee is ok, not specialty (but I’ve noticed on their website, they also opened a specialty branch), but they have nice cakes and the atmosphere is usually cosy. The one in Akihabara is a bit overcrowded though.

Back in the day Sergio was upgrading his computer and wanted to buy a new GPU, so we also checked out some shops with computer components. However, we soon have discovered that there was no advantage in buying the stuff there. I probably should add that it was certainly before the day I joined the famous GPU company

Odaiba and the Miraikan museum

During my first internship in Tokyo, my supervising professor had another lab in Miraikan, which is not only a museum of science and innovations, but also a big research center. It happened that I visited the place a couple of times. I even got invited to a summer party organised for its employees, where me and some other foreign students had a quick informal chat with Mamoru Mohri, the Executive Director for the Miraikan, also famous for being the second Japanese astronaut.  

Although I happened to visit the place, I never got to see the public exhibition. During that trip we decided to tick it off the list. That day we got up relatively early in the morning and took a futuristic monorail of the Yurikamome line, which brought us to Odaiba, a man-made island in the Tokyo Bay. It is possible to get to Odaiba by bus or by subway, but I would totally recommend taking the monorail, since the ride through the Rainbow Bridge on itself is an absolutely fun experience. If it is not that crowded, try to get a place in the train’s front (the ‘driver’s spot’) and you will enjoy the feeling of a roller coaster ride through a futuristic landscape. 

Before going to the Miraikan, we made a quick stop at the DiverCity Tokyo Plaza mall where we had some takoyaki for lunch in the food court area.

We also appreciated the giant statue of Gundam, which has replaced the older one.

The museum itself I found a bit disappointing. I am not sure now what I was expecting to see, but being there it felt like the whole exposition was designed for kids as its target audience. We saw some android robots and watched a part of the performance of Asimo, Honda’s famous robot. We went through the interactive installations demonstrating some scientific principles. It was ok, but somehow not very engaging for me.

After the museum we decided to return to the DiverCity mall to do some shopping. Sergio wanted to buy a Gundam constructor in The Gundam Base located in the mall, and I helped him to chose a Unicorn Gundam kit. Here I must say, although I am not a Gundam fan myself, I still enjoyed the store, in particular looking at the huge display with so many variations of different Gundams. 

Roppongi

On the last day of this trip, after visiting the Gotokuji temple, we decided to go to Roppongi. Roppongi is another district in Tokyo. This city part is known as a place where many foreigners live. There is also a big number of foreign restaurants and bars there, and there are also some night clubs, where the majority of visitors are usually foreigners. I am not sure, if it is still like that nowadays, but this is how I remember it from the days I was living in Tokyo.

This time we wouldn’t have time for clubbing or bar hopping in Roppongi. We actually wanted to visit the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, a 54-story skyscraper with an observation deck on top, and yet again — the line to get there was so long, that we decided to leave it for another visit. Instead we spent some time in the super cool museum shop in the building. I bought a set of two plastic flower vases in original Mori Art Museum design. I just love museum shops in modern art museums! There is always so much fun stuff to see there!

Having left the Roppongi Hills, we made a quick stop at another Hard Rock Cafe, where I bough another cool pin for my collection. After that we met with Paul again, who agreed to join us for a ramen before we left to the hotel close to the airport in order to catch our early morning flight to Hong Kong.

Photos taken in March 2018

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When I first time saw somewhere a photo of an army of maneki-nekos, or lucky cats, I became curious about the place where it was shot. I have soon discovered, that this place was in Tokyo, and, like everything in Japan, had some special meaning.     

The story: why there are cats there? 

There is a legend that in the early 17th century, during a heavy thunderstorm, a feudal lord was led to safety of a temple by a cat living there. The cat raised its paw, which he interpreted as an inviting gesture. The lord, grateful to the cat, made generous donations to the temple and even selected its grounds as a cemetery for his family.

Later the temple was renamed as Gotokuji in his honour, and a cat with a raised paw became a symbol of good luck and fortune. Ever since lucky cat figurines have been brought by worshipers to that place.

Gotokuji is a Buddhist temple located in quiet suburbs of Tokyo. It takes about 15 minutes walking to reach the temple grounds from the train station Gotokuji. It is a pleasant walk through residential area with narrow streets and neat gardens.

Left or right?

You may have seen different versions of lucky cat charms: with left, right or both paws raised. Each of them has its special meaning:

• right paw raised is believed to bring good luck,
• left paw is meant to attract customers to a place of business,
• both paws raised offer protection.

The cats in Gotokuji specialise on good luck and have their right paws raised.

How can I place a cat there?

You may wonder, whether you can also place a cat there. Absolutely! The cats of different sizes can be purchased in the temple shop. Just buy one, make a wish and find a nice spot for it. It is also fine to keep a figurine you bought for yourself.

As in any other temple in Japan, they also sell ema boards there. I found them so pretty, so I decided to bring one home as a souvenir.

Besides appreciating the cats, it also worth walking around. The temple complex itself is very nice. We got especially lucky to visit it in spring, while cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and it was adorable.

Photos taken in March 2018

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It may sound cheesy, but cherry blossoms time in Tokyo is my favourite. These lightly pink clouds of petals always remind me of the very day in March of 2013 when I landed in Tokyo for the first time. I took the orange Limousine bus from the Narita airport. In the bus, exhausted after the sleepless night on the plane I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I realised that the bus was already silently sliding through the city, which looked like nowhere else I’ve ever been.

I felt a jolt of excitement when I saw all the futuristic skyscrapers and the curvy multi-storey tangles of the highway. At some point the bus was passing by a large park with a big pond framed by enormously big blooming trees. There were many tiny row- and pedal-boats in the pond. The whole looked like a neatly-drawn idyllic picture from some anime movie. This memory is still very vivid and fresh in my mind. I am still not sure, which park in Tokyo it was, but since then I visited a number of places looking like that in Tokyo. Today I want to show you one of them.

Chidorigafuchi Park

Located in the district of Chiyoda, this is actually not a park but a long sidewalk along a moat surrounding the territory of Imperial Palace. The place is well-known as one of the best viewing spots for cherry blossoms. If you are patient enough and do not mind spending hours in line, make sure to rent a boat in the dedicated place. I have heard it could be an absolutely amazing experience. Unfortunately, we were short in time, and did not rent one ourselves, but I hope we will get to do it someday.

Actually the boat rental is open from March to November, but of course the blooming of sakura trees brings the whole experience to the next level.

Food is an important component of the Japanese culture, hence, hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, is always accompanied with eating and drinking. Haven’t brought your own bento? No worries! You can always grab something from a street food stall.

Yasukuni Shrine

At the same day we have also planned to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. It is a Shinto shrine founded by Emperor Meiji in 1869 as a commemoration for the war victims who died serving Japan. It is another popular tourist spot, but somehow, despite the fact that during our two longer stays in Tokyo we were working in the area close by, we have never visited it before.

Sergio decided to have signed his goshuincho which he bought in Nara.

While he was waiting in line to get the signature, I was examining the ema stand. I already mentioned the tradition of hanging ema in this post.

There were also cherry trees on the shrine grounds. These were of a different kind, with pink blossoms.

Back to Chidorigafuchi

We left the shrine grounds and headed back towards the Chidorigafuchi walkway.  

The blooming trees looked even dreamier in the rays of the setting sun. The place became more crowded though. Sometimes it was even hard to keep walking. 

Imperial Gardens

Here, it was supposed to be a paragraph about our visit to the Imperial Gardens, but to tell you the truth, we failed to get there on that time. It was 4PM and we did not check in advance until what time the place is open… Well, a lesson learnt!

So, instead we had a short coffee-break in one of the shops at the Takebashi station. After that Sergio took a subway train to Shibuya where he was meeting with his uncle. I stayed in the Jimbocho area enjoying the book and stationery shops before meeting with my former colleagues from the institute later that evening.

Photos taken in March 2018

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In that trip, I though it would be nice to expand our horizons and visit Kyushu, the third largest main island of Japan. We have already been to Honshu, Hokkaido and Okinawa, meaning that for us it would be the fourth Japanese island. In the beginning, I planned to go all the way down to Kagoshima to see the active volcano Sakurajima, but our schedule was becoming tight. Instead, we decided to start our acquaintance with the island from such cities as Fukuoka and Kumamoto.

Kitakyushu

We did not really plan to go to Kitakyushu in the beginning. However, as it was on our way from Hiroshima, we decided to spend a night in that city before moving further. We booked a hotel in a walking distance from the central station.

From the tourist booklets in the hotel we have learned that there was a castle located not so far from where we stayed. So, in the morning we decided to go there and take a look. The Kokura castle turned out to be a small and neat building, surrounded by a park where cherry blossoms were in their full bloom. As Kyushu is located relatively in the south, blooming starts a bit earlier there compared to Tokyo.

It was nice to see groups of people gathering there for hanami, or picnics under the cherry trees. The street food stalls were selling deliciously smelling snacks. The sun was shining bright. 

Fukuoka

As we decided to spend the morning in Kitakyushu, it meant we would have less time in Fukuoka, the region’s capital city. Anyway, we did not have any concrete plan for the visit, which meant we were rather flexible. First thing, I bough a pretty pin from the Hard Rock Cafe for my collection to tick it off the list. After that we decided to take a walk to the Tōchō-ji temple and to the Kushida shrine. We found both very beautiful.

The whole city (or at least the part of it we saw) was in bloom.

For lunch we decided to try a Hakata ramen, typical for Fukuoka. From a friend originally coming from that city we have learnt that the best place to have a ramen in Fukuoka is the Canal City Hakata, a big shopping and entertainment complex. We soon have discovered that they have the whole floor dedicated to ramen with at least eight different shops. We randomly picked one.

Wow, I have never had such a fatty ramen before! It was thick and rich in flavour, but after a couple of spoons of that killer-broth, I started to think that I won’t have hunger for at least a week.

Kumamoto

In the evening of the same day we have arrived to Kumamoto. All I knew about that city, was that they had a funny black bear Kumamon for a mascot and that the Kumamoto castle was one of the greatest castles in Japan. These two facts seemed to be enough to make me curious about that city. Only when we arrived at the hotel and turned on the TV, have we learned that the castle actually was severely damaged during the earthquake already in April 2016. Oh well, shame on me for having missed such an important thing.  

Since the castle was closed, there was only one sight left we planned to visit in Kumamoto. Early next morning we went to see the Suizenji Jojuen Garden. It turned out to be a very green and spacious place with elements so typical to traditional Japanese gardens, including a big pond with koi-fish and neatly trimmed pines. The place even had a miniature Mt. Fuji!

Having left the park, we discovered that there was a traditional festival taking place nearby. We stayed there for a while watching the performances and having some snacks from the food area.

The rest of the day we spent on a train returning back to Osaka. The Shinkansen ride took us four hours.

Photos taken in March 2018

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If you travel to Hiroshima, make sure you plan an extra day to visit the island of Itsukushima, also known as Miyajima. It is an absolutely beautiful spot located an hour away from the Hiroshima’s main station. Many of you may be familiar with the iconic view of the red torii gate standing in the water. This floating gate is the most recognisable landmark of the Itsukushima Shrine complex. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Itsukushima Shrine and the red torii

Apart from that shrine, there is a big number of other temples and shrines on the island. The nature is also very beautiful there. One can enjoy cherry blossoms during spring time and red maple leaves in autumn. The island is also quite mountainous, which makes it a good hiking destination.

We got lucky to come to that place on a sunny day. The red color of the torii was particularly vivid in the blueness of the surrounding water.

This place has another fun perk! Similarly to Nara, it is populated by deer. Unlike in Nara, tourists are not allowed to feed them. Hence, these small deer behave much better and do not attack people. Some of them actually allowed me to pet them.

Streets of Miyajima

There are also many food options on Miyajima. One can get a bento from a convenience store, buy some seafood snack from a street merchant or have a meal in one of small traditional restaurants. We chose a very cosy place ふじたや for lunch and had perfect rice bowls topped with grilled eel.

After the lunch we went on a small hike. We walked through the nice streets of the town towards the ropeway station. On the way, we enjoyed some sweet potato ice cream and visited a super cool store selling statues carved of wood.

Mount Misen

The ropeway brought us to the upper station on Mount Misen, the highest peak on Miyajima. Although it is already possible to enjoy the view from the observation deck next to the station, getting to the very peak of the mountain requires some further hike. Hence, we left the observation deck and took a narrow path through the forest.

Daisho-in

On the way to the top, we passed by some halls of the Daisho-in, an important Buddhist temple. In one of the temple buildings, I bought a very cute daruma-shaped ema. Daruma is a Japanese traditional red doll seen as a symbol of good luck. Ema are wooden plaques with some drawings, which typically one can buy in both Shinto and Buddhist temples. After purchasing an ema, you are supposed to write down a wish on it and then hang it in a dedicated spot next to the temple in a way so that the wish can be read by anybody. The more people read the wish, the bigger are chances of it coming true. I did not have any wish to write and brought the ema back home as a souvenir. 

Low tide

After we took the ropeway back and came back to the red gate, we were surprised by the change of the scenery. The water was gone!

During the low tide, which usually starts in the afternoon, is possible to come close to the gate. We decided to join multiple tourists and took a closer look. We could not believe that the ground we were standing on was completely covered by water some hours before!

The whole scenery was stunning in the rays of the setting sun. We walked towards the ferry station to continue our trip.

Photos taken in March 2018

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