Japan aka: Nippon, Nihon, 日本, Japón

Japanese people- seriously just such nice people.

…and it was awesome. Clean, great people, and great shopping, if you’re into videogames or cheap older sportswear (from the South African World Cup). The sites were great, though some of them were being renovated. Anyway, we saw a baseball game (which are a bit quieter than what we’re used to in Korea, but still louder than the US. The subways, metros and trains were not nearly as confusing as everyone says they are. Not only were there many signs in English, but also some in Korean, which was perfect for my little travel group. People were great and very helpful. Sometimes we would only look slightly lost and people would thank us for being there during their time of need, and offer their help. One thing I noticed was that almost everything was for profit. In Korea, if you spend the equivalent of about US$100, they almost always throw something in for free or let you haggle the price a bit. In Japan, you spend that much, and they only offer to sell you more at full price. They do sincerely thank you for your purchase, or even lack of purchase, in other words browsing is welcome, but when you buy, they only really expect you to buy more. We also went to Joypolis, a Sega-themed amusement park, and Disneyland. Both of them were cool and unigue. I’d love to go back, though I’m not sure when that will happen.

in 6 months.

Japan has always been a dream of mine. Sadly, this particular visit was short and trapped in an airport, not once, but twice! If you are trying to save a bit of cash while on the go, Nagoya is the airport for you. See, Narita charges you a special service fee for using their airport. On a round trip flight, this comes to close to US$100! So, we chose Nagoya for our trip to Guam. On the way, we had a four hour layover. We should have gone through customs and then come back through security to kill the time. That’s how boring the international terminal is! Killng four hours there almost killed us. It was early evening and only one set of duty-free was open and the Japanese/American Fusion Restaurant thing was open. We did manage to get some Yen coins in change after buying some small items from the Duty Free Shop. On the way back, we only had 1.5 hours. That wasn’t too bad, and everything was open.

The reason the trip is worth it, however, is that the view coming into the airport (while landing) was incredible. We had a clear day and saw many mountains, small villages, back roads, and then finally Nagoya itself. What a view!

This has been #1 on my list for some time, and I’m finally going to do it.

My plans are:

Tokyo to see Akihabara, see a Giants baseball game, go to Alcatraz E.R., go to Shibuya Crossing, see the cosplayers and bands in Harajuku, drinks lots of sake, play pachinko, go to the video game arcades (like Sega Gigo), go to a punk rock show and also see visual-kei bands, and to visit the Miraikan museum.

Nagoya for the Sumo tournament.

Osaka for the Tenjin festival, to try sukiyaki, to attend a J-League soccer match, to visit Dotonbori and Den Den Town, Osaka castle, and maybe to see some more live music.

Kyoto for a tour, to visit shrines, to possibly attend another J-League match.

Takayama, to stay in a Ryokan, and to try the beef.

And travel by shinkasen.

Being in Japan was like no other experience. My most memorable moments were standing on Mount Fuji, dressing like a geisha in Harajuku, snacking in the maid cafe in Akihabara, and exploring the wonders of the Ghibli Museum. I also enjoyed the Obon Festival and that beautiful but haunting enka music I will always remember.

I’m going to see if my mum would like to come with me to Japan. she wants to go to Kyoto. Perhaps when i finish my degree

I will be going to Japan this summer as a part of my MBA program. We will be going to Tokyo and Nagoya.

I’m pretty excited about it.

In the past we have had weveral exchange students from Japan who have stayed with us. I’m hoping to meet up with at least one of them.

if you have a lot of money or young enough to learn the language, I highly recommend moving there.

Japan is amazing! :) Will write a longer entry next time. :)