First of all, how lucky was I to get to spend three weeks with my terrific daughter?
I learned a bunch of things I didn’t know before I got to Japan, despite months of research. Japan is as confusing as it is convenient. I read that somewhere and it really rings true.
It’s seriously disorienting for the language to be different in sight and sound. I think it would take a really long time to get used to and I don’t think I ever did get used to it so walked around confused and low key causing a scene every day.
Futons and buckwheat pillows are more comfortable than I expected.
You can spend months planning by talking to friends who live or have lived in Japan, and scouring the internet and social media and you will still not figure everything out and will miss out on a ton. It’s the most FOMO place I’ve ever been. You’re always going to wonder if you missed a better town or experience.
The public baths are an affirming and body positive experience. Even though it’s blazing hot outside and the bath water is also hot, you leave feeling refreshed and squeaky clean.
I like managing complicated transportation scenarios and normally thrive in this environment but Japan got me turning in circles, even though it’s a really easy system to actually navigate. I overthought the train stations and found them really confusing until I fully realized that the English signing is pretty good and google maps is totally accurate. It’s also about the sheer number of people in the train stations in the bigger cities, it’s like a hive…so orderly and crowded. In some places there’s help for tourists, like in Hiroshima an English speaking employee approached us in the ticket line and wrote down exactly what train we needed on a slip of paper to give to the ticket counter and there were dedicated foreign ticket buyer lines.
The difference between a 21 year old traveling brain and the 55 year old traveling brain is vast. Compared to Maya it was like I had dementia. The last time we traveled together was summer 2019 when we went to Ecuador for three weeks. She was 16 then and still like a kid needing her parent to guide her on how to do things abroad. Now she is 21 and a very seasoned independent traveler because when she was 19 she solo backpacked Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia, this girl really knows what she is doing! It was an adjustment to see her in this context as an adult.
Food can be pretty inexpensive and a great a meal from 7/11 eaten in the hostel common area would be really satisfying and about $4 per person for a variety of foods to share. At least that’s what we found at the beginning of the trip. By the middle of the trip, the convince store meals turned into more like $6 or $7 per person so we decided that two bowls of spicy ramen for the same price was just as economical. Sushi meals came in about $9 per person for a lot of food.
I was surprised at how it took half the trip for me to get into the groove of traveling here. It could have been the slow start due to being pretty sick and needing to lay very low in Niseko for a few days. I haven’t been sick on a trip since Madras (Chennai ), India in 1994.
Visiting a friend who lives in another country is a very fun thing to do because they already know about everything!
90% of people wears masks. I think a lot of Japanese people already wore masks before COVID but maybe not this many?
Japanese women are serous about their sun protection. They wear arm sleeves, gloves, and sometimes face and neck coverings. I always felt woefully underdressed. Japan is for sure a roller suitcase destination more than a backpacker place.
Public bathrooms are easily found and are spotless. There’s also a privacy button that plays the sound of birds, running water, or music so other people can't hear your offensive toilet sounds.
I only learned 4 words- thank you, hello, excuse me, and water. I know thats pretty lame. I kept wanting to speak with people in Spanish.
Shinkansen trains are surprisingly quite expensive, we paid $110 each for a 3 hours trip from Okayama to Tokyo in many cases flying is cheaper if you can purchase a ticket in advance. Even though the trains are really comfortable the 7 hours Shinkansen we took gave me a woozy headache.
It was harder than I thought to keep up with finding train station stamps for my book. I was too focused on figuring out what was happening around me to have room for extra missions. I started out strong with collecting stamps then completely gave up somewhere along the way.
There’s no jay walking and no one will cross the street until the pedestrian ok to walk sign lights up, even if there are no cars or other people as far as the eye can see. We didn’t see one person break these rules. I think there’s a very hefty fine if you get caught.
Must haves:
A portable phone battery . You will use your phone for the very crucial functions of google translate and maps. A bandana or washcloth in your day bag, Japanese bathrooms don’t have hand towels.
If you’re wondering how much this trip cost in USD, here’s the breakdown for 21 days in Japan, for two adults not including the flights from the US:
$910 for accommodation, we had six free nights borrowing a friends apartment in Niseko so we only had to pay accommodation for 15 nights. We stayed in a combination of bunks in a hostel, private room in a hostel, and low cost roykans.
$ 1102 for food. We always bought our yogurt and fruit breakfast the night before to eat at our accommodation. We normally went out for one restaurant meal a day and the third meal would be light fare from a convenience store. We had one big splurge meal in Niseko. I don’t drink, and Maya paid for her own alcohol so I don’t have stats for that.
$1120 for transportation. This included a flight from Sapporo to Sendai, Shinkansen trains from Yamagata to Hiroshima, another Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Naoshima, then to Tokyo. Also included are local JR and metro trains, trolleys, and ferries.
$272 for activities. This was mostly museum entrance fees, electric bike rental, the jazz club, and Teamlab Borderless in Tokyo.
So that’s $3404 for 21 days in Japan for two people who also had six free nights in a friend’s apartment. We spent an average of $162 a day, or about $81 per person. Per my usual, I was pretty restrained in my spending, I would think an average person would spend significantly more on activities and splash out meals.
Not added into the calculation is the $202 I spent for shopping and souvenirs. I went crazy for ceramics on Kappabashi Street and bought several vintage yukatas.
We may have missed cherry blossom season but the hydrangeas were spectacular.
Thanks Japan, for putting up with me, I know I was a lot.
