I always wanted to visit Japan. Mystified by the proud and ancient culture, the clean and precise thinking and design and the amazing food. I was probably the most excited in the family to visit Japan, but after 10 days there I think we can easily say that we all loved it.
Travel Day
We arrived in Tokyo and decided to take public transportation to our Airbnb apartment in the Azabujuban neighborhood. Following the google directions took us from the Airport shuttle to a train to the metro and finally an hour and a half later arriving in our neighborhood and our cozy apartment. The Japanese train system is extremely efficient but navigating through it for the first time was a new and interesting challenge.
For our first dinner in Japan we had takeout Thai from a local place down the street from our apartment and it was an amazing beginning to 10 days of incredible food delicacies.
Tokyo Day One:
The next morning we set out to walk around Tokyo and made our way, with stops for coffee and a playground break, towards Ginza Noodle Clam Ramen for a soba soup lunch meal. To quote Jude and Myla this was the best soup they had ever had in their life. The place is small, you place your order and pay in a machine and then wait for seats at a bar behind which all the magic happens. Once you sit your food arrives at precisely the right temperature. The noodles are cooked perfectly and the broth is amazing. Michelin star soul warming lunch for under $15 pp.
We walked around Ginza, headed to see the Godzilla statue, ran into Paul McCartney (he waved to us from his car), bought some Matcha, and got a glimpse of the royal palace before heading back home. Fantastic day of exploration the way we enjoy it: on foot.
On the way home we stopped by our local organic supermarket. Like most things in Japan the store was incredibly clean and organized and the quality of the food was very high. Chef Foo Foo Fee Fee was in 7th heaven and completely within her element. Back in our small kitchen more magic happened in the form of a fantastic hygge dinner.
Kamakura Day Trip
The next morning started out with some bulletproof Matcha and a daytrip to Kamakura. Forty minutes outside of Tokyo, Kamakura is an ancient city (humans have been here for at least 10,000 years) and was once the political capital of Japan. Today, it is a small city, that is walkable, quaint and magical.
As we walked out of the train station in Kamakura it started drizzling, but we were more focused on the cute shops with immaculate design and beautiful window fronts. We started walking towards Kotoku-in it started drizzling and Sage fell asleep in the stroller. About 20 minutes later we turned the corner and saw it: Daibutsu, The largest buddha we had ever encountered. To say we were impressed is an understatement and no photos can do it justice. It is enormous and hollow (the kids and I went inside it), its hands holding a special Jobon-Josho-In mudra. We stood in the rain and were mesmerized. Then we lit some incense and watched it burn.
Hasedera temple was our next stop. Incredible architecture built into the green mountain. We explored the temple, walked up the prosperity path to get a beautiful view of the entire area all the way out to the sea and enjoyed spotting the Jizo statues (cute buddhas believed to be protectors of children, babies (born and unborn), and travelers. As we explored I accidently stepped behind a man who was standing in front of a big tree waving his arms backwards. V yelled at me to move as she understood that I was accidently stepping into the area into which he was cleansing his aura. The man, who did not speak a word of English, turned and explained to us, through Japanese words and hand and body gestures the healing power of trees and nature and how all those seeking salvage from others and from buddhas inside the temples are wrong as it is all inside of us and in nature and as we become one with nature we unleash salvation. He also pointed to Jude and (we think) said that his aura shines bright around his head. We agree!
Next stop was lunch. The pressure was on as Kamakura is somewhat of a touristy place and we did not want to “waste” a meal (realistically though we found it almost impossible to have a bad meal in Japan). So after much research we decided on Kaedena, a restaurant specializing on stone pot rice meals. We arrived almost towards the end of lunch service which was great because we got to avoid the crowd. The meal, once again was a gastronomical delight and we all, including Sage enjoyed ourselves immensely.
After lunch, our resident CCL (Crazy Crystal Lady) stopped by for a look around the crystal store across the street from the restaurant. An hour later we all walked out with some new rocks…
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Post crystals the rain picked up but we were determined to make it to the largest temple in Kamakura: Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. We walked as the rain got harder and the sun set. We arrived at the gates of the park before the steps and decided to call it a day and leave this experience for our next time in Kamakura.
Exploring Tokyo
We spent the next couple of days exploring Tokyo at our own pace. We started out the next morning on a search for an organic farmers’ market that was mentioned in a guide, but only found Tenoha, a very nice Japanese/Italian restaurant/store/design space. Market mission aborted, we headed to our first Sushi experience in Japan. A proper sushi meal in Tokyo can range a lot in price, but the quality is always amazing. In general we found that lunches in Japan are a great deal — a dinner in the same exact restaurant can cost 10x the price of about the same amount of food and the quality is similar. With our #travelingcircus lunch worked best. We were not disappointed with our lunch at Tsuna. Once again: mouth watering and amazing.
After lunch we decided to walk towards Yoyogi Park in Shibuya. We walked along the rails as Sage napped and passed through Shinjuku, Tokyo’s equivalent of Times Square. This is what you usually see on TV when you see Tokyo: huge electronic billboards, big crowds and music blasting. We found it much cleaner and less crazy than Times Square, although it is a small corner of Tokyo and not the one we like the most, or will remember much.
Right before Yoyogi Park we saw another classic stereotypical Japanese scene. A KPop Band (Momoland) was giving a free concert outside the stadium nearby and scores of teenage fans dressed in funny outfits were running to be in the audience. Classic.
The next day we stayed in and around our amazing neighborhood of Azabujuban which is in the Minato district. The neighborhood is home to a few foreign consulates and thus has a very international flare to go along with some Japanese temples and memorials. It also has great coffee, and a great park and playground. For lunch we went to Yakiniku: A Japanese BBQ place where we took our shoes off and sat around a table grill and cooked our own meat while cheezy 80s music played loudly in the playground.
After lunch we walked around the neighborhood and a local café owner gave the kids bubbles to blow followed by some more playground time. Our last dinner in Tokyo was super cozy at home.
The next morning was travel day. We packed and headed towards lunch before catching the bullet train to Kyoto. We scouted out a Soba place near the Shinagawa Train Station and hit the jackpot. Shinagawa Kona is a small Soba shop specializing in duck soba. The small, unassuming restaurant had amazing heartwarming Soba and amazing vibes. We arrived with our entire #travelingcircus and our suitcase and the ladies that work there could not have been more welcoming. They quickly packed away all of our luggage, including the stroller in a corner and sat us down at a great table with a view of the small kitchen. The duck broth was delicious and the soba noodles were just perfect. What a way to head off on a train ride.
Kyoto
We took the bullet train from Tokyo and less than 3 hours later, with a beautiful view of Fuji mountain we were in Kyoto. Our Airbnb in Kyoto was called the Natsu House. It was one of the coolest houses we stayed in.
By the time we reached our house and put our bags down it was starting to get dark and we were fairly tired so we decided to take a walk to the local supermarket and let Chef foofoofee prepare our dinner in our new kitchen. Kyoto is not Tokyo. Even though there are many tourists here even less people speak English and the supermarket is clearly a local experience. We were able to procure some items and had a great night in.
We spent our first full day exploring Kyoto by foot. Our first destination: the market!
Day 1: Kyoto markets, lunch at organic place.
Day 2: Hike up from temple to mountain, gelato, dinner at organic place
Day 3: Daytrip to Arashiyama, Monkeys! Lunch with a view. Bamboo forest. Japanese Shakshuka for dinner!!!
Day 4: Gastronomical day. Japanese breakfast. Coffee. Temple. Kaisei Lunch.
Travel day came very fast. We were sad to leave Kyoto but ready for the next leg. We took the bullet train back to Tokyo. On the train we saw what seemed to be a real elderly Geisha traveling with her young apprentice. Everything about her was graceful and meticulous: the hair, the posture, her careful movements, her packed lunch box, unwrapped slowly and eaten mindfully while her aporentice studied every nuance. We arrived at the train station in Tokyo with enough time to make one stop before heading to the airport: Shinagawa Kona for duck soba. Once again the staff was extremely welcoming and the food was the perfect final heart warming meal in Japan before heading to airport to our next destination: Singapore.
Arigato Nippon!!!
Japan Observations:
We loved Japan.
We especially loved Tokyo. It is one of those cities where we would always be foreigners, but if an expat type of opportunity arose, for a limited time we would definitely enjoy our stay. I would also recommend it to any student looking for a place to spend a semester abroad. It is a beautiful, clean and nice city. The food quality is superb everywhere and the service is first rate. The people are extremely nice and polite and the culture is unique, interesting and very different from western culture, but stands on its own proud history. There is a great sense of thought and special attention paid to design of everything: food, small apartments, etc. And there is a unique sense of style, somewhat similar to Scandi-Nordic style. You can sense the pride that people take in their craft and everything that they do. You can see why the French have deep respect for Japan and Japanese chefs, food and immaculate style. Contrary to what you hear we also did not find it expensive relative to New York or other cities we visited. A great high end coffee is under $5 and you can have a Michelin star lunch for under $20 per person.
Some small things are interesting:
(1) There are no trash cans in Tokyo. But there is also no litter on the streets. Everyone just carries their trash with them if they have any.
(2) Lunch time in the park is an interesting event as people step out to have their lunch. Those packed from home can be extremely meticulous collection of carefully wrapped bento boxes. It is interesting to see that for the most part you will found single people on benches eating on their own. Loneliness is very Japanese these days. Quite different from ultra social Tel Aviv.
(3) English is not widely spoken or understood at all, but people are very friendly and will try to explain and help by any means possible.
(4) There are public toilets, but those usually have no doors and are often not “western style”
(5) Toilets in general are interesting as there are “western” toilets which are often ultra modern, heated with a built in bidet and “traditional” toilets which require awkward squatting.