November 2008.
I’m standing in Tokyo
as a huge parade comes up
a street in Asakusa.
I can barely breathe with excitement.
(I am in Japan! I am in Japan!)
I stand at the back of a crowd and try to peer
over people’s heads to see the parade…
Someone glances round, smiles at me,
says something I don’t understand,
then gestures for me to move forward,
then another person does the same,
and another, and another…
Until I’m right at the front,
with people smiling at me,
nodding, being so lovely
that it almost distracts me
from taking pictures.
******
It’s now 2012. And I can barely breathe with
excitement… because we’re going back to
the land that invented washi tape!
And I can’t wait! Here’s why:
If you’ve ever seen Lost in Translation,
you’ll have an idea just how magical,
mysterious, zany, crazy and cute Tokyo is.
Except in real life, it’s even better.
It’s overwhelming but in a brilliant way.
There’s just so much colour everywhere in Japan…
from old shrine gates in Kyoto to paper
cranes in Hiroshima to this little girl in Tokyo.
Even the signs are cute…
yes, those are helpful raccoons
telling you not to get your hand stuck!
And the randomness… a calendar based on brushing your teeth?
Well, of course! Diet tights? Yup, you can get those too.
And an arcade game based on zombies… and eh typing?
As well as Tokyo, we spent time into Kyoto…
with its cute trains, Golden Pavilion, and the Geishas.
Wherever we went in Kyoto, I seemed to attract lots
of school children who wanted to take my picture…
We suspected this was because of my 2008
inclination to dress like a children’s TV presenter!
I have never been so excited to go back somewhere…
Honestly I’ve been causing myself near heart failure
while trying to plan this next trip.
My number 1 tip for Japan is to wear slip on shoes,
not Converses. I swear I spent 1/3 of our last trip,
lacing and unlacing my trainers.
Oh and this time, if I can, I’m drawing a fox wishing plaque
at Fushimi Inari (possibly the most magical place ever)
and buying a giga pudding. (It has the craziest video ever
and was everywhere we went in 2008!)
*******
Maybe once I’m back from the trip
I might do a proper guide?
If anyone has any recommendations
of places to go, I’d love them!
Or if you share my love of Japan,
do let me know! *Super excited!*
*******
{P.S.} Ok, not so much of a P.S.
as an extra bit of this blog post…
I have so many weird and wonderful
stories from my last trip but I wanted
to share this one… it’s pretty much
my most embarrassing story EVER!
Here goes:
If you’ve heard of a traditional Japanese onsen,
you might have an idea where I’m going with this…
It’s a Japanese bath, that you bathe in naked.
With strangers. Naked. So far, so unBritish.
As the onsens are segregated,
I’m going in on my own. Naked.
(Did I mention the naked thing already?)
I’m determined to be cool about it.
In fact, I’m doing quite well at being cool
until a 90 year old little woman decides that
she will instruct me on the ways of the onsen.
Cue much pointing from her, lots of directions in Japanese…
which seem to mean that I’m using the wrong kind of soap
and not scrubbing vigorously enough apparently!
It’s hot, I’m scarlet and naked.
Did I mention she was naked too?
I have never felt so British. Ever.
So this time, I think we’ll do a modern onsen!
Or I’ll learn the phrase, “Thank you for your help
but I can manage on my own!”
P.P.S. If anyone has any embarrassing travel stories,
do feel free to share… so I’m not alone here!
RT @Convo_Pieces I left my heart in Tokyo..: http://t.co/1g0g6qkf (plus my most embarrassing travel story ever!) >> un i @seiriol – wel jel!
That story made me giggle!
Japan looks so wonderful. When I was in college I had a friend who went on holiday there every year and she always brought back wonderful sweets and goodies.
Japan is on my bucket list for sure!
Have a good day!
Ellie xx
Ellie recently posted..20 Things I Love About My Fella
@Convo_Pieces It’s shooting up my ‘must visit list’ even more now after seeing those photos.
I am not British and I lived in Scandinavia long enough to get over the “naked in front of other people” embarrassment. But I had once a Syrian woman shouting at me in Arabic in a Turkish bath in Damascus. When I looked at her with an interrogating look, she grabbed my exfoliating glove, reached for my arm and starting scrubbing so hard I thought I she was going to peel all my skin off. I was quite shocked at the beginning. Then I couldn’t stop laughing. And she started laughing madly too. And all the women around us started laughing. It was one of the weirdest travel moments I have ever experienced!
Oh wow Carmen! I can’t imagine how red I’d have gone if she’d actually started scrubbing me!! Glad your shock turned to laughter though – that’s a brilliant story (and doesn’t make me feel like I’m the only person these things happen to!) 😉
Ha ha, this made me laugh… I went to Japan in 2008 too and fell in love! My best friend was living there and we managed to see sooo much – I’ve been dying to go back ever since. I’m hugely jealous! My fave bits were Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama, and just the whole of Kyoto pretty much! If you didn’t get to Arashiyama last time I really recommend it 🙂 I went to an onsen too, giggled ridiculously the whole time, but I’d totally go back to one!
Sally
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Oh I haven’t been to Arashiyama… I think we only did a tiny bit of Kyoto really so will be putting that on my list! Thanks for the recommendation Sally 🙂
Japan is on the places we want to go to asap. I want to go in the spring and see the blossom and see the bright lights in tokyo and not be able to read the street signs. So I am so jealous right now.
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@Convo_Pieces Seriously jealous right now. It’s so high on my must-visit list.
It’s so funny to read your post and see so many pictures that are almost identical to the ones I took there two years ago – even down to the drumming game (except with me in, not you!). If you didn’t have a chance last time I can definitely recommend taking traditional tea in a tea house in a zen garden. Or if you fancy something a little more quirky try tea in a Maid Cafe. Both amazing – if very different – experiences.
Natalie recently posted..An Everyday Treat
He he, Natalie, the drum game was the only one I had a vague idea what I was doing… all the other games, I was just wildly pressing buttons 😉 We didn’t do a tea house last time (no idea how that happened… though we did do a zen garden) so that’s going on my list!
Excited for you! can’t wait to hear all about it!
I am *so* jealous! Do you have room in your case? I am only small!!! ;D
heehee….nakedness in Japan. brilliant.
I can’t wait to hear all about it. I have yet to sample the delights of Japan but the gypsy in me is always tempted to move out there to teach English for a year. I love East Asia.
x
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I live in Washington, DC but a part of my soul lives in Tokyo. After traveling the world for many years I had the privelege to visit Tokyo in 2006. I never encounterted a people, culture and country that I loved more. I’m a Caucasian but I so love the Japanese people, they have exactly the same values of honor and respect I’ve always had but never found in Western culture.
Oooh sounds amazing! One of my friends has just left for a year teaching in Japan. I would love to go one day x
You are so lucky. My mister and I went to my homeland of New Zealand last February for his first visit. It was fabulous but then there was the Christchurch earthquake….tragic and it meant we couldn’t visit friends there and we spent hours glued to the TV as the tragedy unfolded. Then we were due to travel through Tokyo on the way home to London, but then there was the Tsunami days before we due to visit. SO we couldn’t go there either. But we were very lucky to not be in either cities at the time of both tragedies. I do hope to go Tokyo in the not too distant future! x C
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Oh I am jealous! I was in Japan in April 2009 and loved it! I so want to go back. There are some posts on my blog (tagged at the side)- with some good places to go = but it sounds like you’ve been to many of them already! I loved Fushimi Inari shrine, the Golden Pavilion, the Silver Pavilion, the fish market in Tokyo was amazing and trips to Nara and Nikko as well as to Miyajima Island. Try some okonomikayi. The station in Kyoto has some amazing places to eat, make sure you go to the 100 yen stores (although they may be 110 yen stores by now!) I found this place online and they have a store in Toyko – Mark’s Stationary – oh and of course for stationary you have to go to Itoya in Ginza for the most amazing selection. Try to find the Muji superstore with the instore cafe – amazing too (in Tokyo – somewhere near the main station and the huge conference centre. I also loved Takayama – beautiful edo period town with a market and lots of cool little shops and the Hida Folk Museum where they’ve brought buildings from all over Japan so you can see the gassho-zakuri houses. In Kyoto there is the temple that is famous for the old archers (can’t remember it’s name) and the beautiful Kiyomuzi-Dera temple built on enormous stilts without any nails.
As for the onsen – we went to stay in a ryokan in Takayama and I thought that our group were the only people staying there so off I trotted to the baths thinking I was the only person in the place, stripped off and opened the door to go into the baths and squealed loudly as I realised there were 4 Japanese guests sitting in the bath – they all smiled – they must have just thought – tourist!!
Have a lovely time and I can’t wait to read all about it!
Oh wow Di! Thank you so much for this comment – amazingness! 🙂 I’ve done a few of these like the fish market but lots of stuff you’ve suggested I haven’t, so they’re going on my (now rather big!) list!! Thank you! 🙂
He he on the onsen… guess it must be pretty amusing if you’re native to onsens seeing how embarrassed we all are by it! 😉
Just thought of somewhere else in Takayama – the Hida Takayama Art Gallery has an amazing collection of art deco and Mackintosh furtniture! Funny to see it in Japan.
http://www.muji.com/storelocator/#/Japan/Tokyo – it’s the Yurakucho store you want to visit – apparently it’s the only Muji to have every line – and it has (or at least it did) have an amazing cafe. The Detatched Imperial Gardens in Tokyo were also amazing as were Shinjuku-Gyoen Park – particularly during cherry blossom or iris season. If I think of anything else I’ll let you know.
I loved this post about your previous trip to Japan. The boyfriend and I would love to go in the next few years and this was a really interesting insight from what you usually hear about traveling to the magical land!
I would love another guide about it and perhaps included some tips on how to get along with customs and culture. I’ve already learnt how to deal with the onsen situation!
Thank you and I hope you have a fab trip.
@Convo_Pieces I can ask my old flatmate who now lives in Tokyo for locsl suggestions. She has amazing taste!
Not sure if it’s embarrasing or not I found it more amusing than anything 😛 Me and my parents got lost and somehow ended up in the Miami Dade Prison Car Park at 11pm asking one of the policemen for the directions back to Miami Beach.
xx
Tina recently posted..Everyone’s Irish on March 17th
very excited for you zoe. it’s been on my list for a while, i think we will do it when the boys are a bit older. it will blow their minds! i love lost in translation – one of my favourites. x
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That is a brilliant story!!
Mine goes like this:
I’m in Paris, I have left my friends for a morning in the city by myself (I like to do that when I travel) and I’m standing at the traffic lights across the road from L’Hotel De Ville. I realise that I’m soon to catch up with my friends and so not having a watch on me, I decide to put my French to good use and ask the hot guy standing beside me what time it is.
“Quel temps fait-il?” I ask, tapping my wrist (clearly signalling a watch) to compensate for my crap Parisian accent.
The guy looks up at the sky, laughs at me and walks off.
I was enraged. But soon mortified when I realised I had just asked him what the weather was like.
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You had me at washi tape. (Do you know I’ve never been to Japan? It’s on the must-do list.) Lovely post. xx
Top Bird @ Wee Birdy recently posted..How to build an Easter book collection: top 10 Easter books for kids
so so jealous. haven’t made it to Japan yet! can’t wait to see all your photos…xxx
Oh I am envious! I would love to visit Japan but can’t get my other half on board. He fancies other places first. As for embarassing stories, I have many, but then I don’t even need to leave the country to cover that one!
OhAbigail recently posted..Happy
Lucky you, looks so utterly strange and magnificent. My traveling has dwindled drastically since I became a mum. But I can dream! Maybe one day. No, definitely one day. X
I really really want to go there some day, so I’m green with envy now! (But then again, green is my favourite colour, so that’s not a bad thing I reckon.) I’m already looking forward to your tales of new Japanese adventures!
Marlous recently posted..Count your blessings
Sounds so wonderful! A pilgrimage to the sacred land of Washi Tape! I’ve got it pencilled in for my 30th in two years time…better start saving! Fab post as always xxx
Takayama is ridiculously dripping with culture and small village cool…..
Amanohasidate is an awesome if not random side trip. A fun place to ride a bike around and worth it for the signs that instruct you on what to do up at the look out….. (You need to turn around, bend down and look at the view from between your knees. In this position, the thin strip of land looks like a “Bridge to Heaven.”) But the cut out figure with voluptuous red lips shaped in a huge “O” shape make it seem so much more kinkier than what it is!!!
[…] pictures made me think on Zoë & her upcoming trip to Japan. Posted in: Photo Tips « Things I’ve Been Thinking About […]
I am so utterly jealous – but in a good way. I would love to go to Japan and I wish you as much fantasticness as you had hte first time around. And the nakedness?! We want to hear alllllll about how you manage that bath the next time around! lots of love Ali x
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I would absolutely LOVE to visit Japan, it must have more photo opportunities and fascinating eye candy per square mile than anywhere else. Sadly I think it’s going to be some years before that dream comes true. Great photos and I shall remember the tip about converse – I live in them usually!
Not sure about most embarrassing travel episode, I have had quite a few disasters in SE Asia though – dengue fever, burglary, bodies washing up on local beach, serious freak out of claustrophobia in some caves (more potholing, which I was NOT prepared for. Actually that was pretty embarrassing), um, oh yeah, night dive in bad weather where we almost lost the boat… Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t travel!
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I have heard it is beautiful though – as yet – i have never been myself…..of course (slaps ones forehead!) but my husband travels a lot. It does look like a wonderful place to visit.
Have a wonderful weekend
Nina xxx
I’ve never been to Japan but always wanted to visit. I am so jealous and cannot wait to hear what you learn and experience this time! Maybe you could try the baths again?
Siobhan recently posted..French Kissing in the USA
Oh, Japan! I am so super jealous. We spent a month there in 2010 and I completely fell in love.
Definitely make time for Fushimi Inari – the foxes are only a tiny part of the awesomeness.
Also, if you have an interest in gardens, the Saiho-ji temple and moss garden http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3937.html in kyoto is awesome. You have to book in advance, we asked our hotel to do it for us via email and they had everything sorted for us when we arrived (of course, in true Japanese fashion). You have to take part in a calligraphy writing session before wandering the gardens and it is just magical.
Oh I could carry on for hours about the best bits of Japan. Can’t wait to read about your adventures 🙂
Another Emma recently posted..Flower love
Fab post – brought memories of Tokyo flooding back!! Can I be cheeky and ask what software you use to get your super cute split frames with hearts in the middle of your pics? It’s adorable and was thinking it would be nice as part of our wedding decorations! x
littleswallow recently posted..Change of plans – big time
I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned Himeji Castle! It was definitely a highlight among highlights of my trip to Japan in 2009 🙂
I’m sure you already know about the Japan Rail Pass, too, but just in case: it’s a rail card that you can only buy outside of Japan (ie: non-residents only) and mine was about £150 for two weeks, but you can use it on any train in Japan, including the Shinkansen bullet trains and most of the Tokyo subway lines. It felt expensive at the time, but once you’re there it is SO much easier knowing you’ve already got your ticket sorted, and it meant I got to visit Hiroshima on the bullet train (oh yeah, and travel on a BULLET TRAIN!) – a 1.5 hour trip which normally takes about 6 hours on a regular train. Hiroshima was emotional: humbling and awe-inspiring.
Your onsen story is funny 🙂 I am just starting to plan my next trip back too! I am hoping to go to Okinawa after a visit to my family in Tokyo. This is probably way obvious but I always make sure to leave hours in my itinerary to go to the shops Kiddy Land and Tokyu Hands in Shibuya. Have you also seen the Hello Sandwich and Asking For Trouble guides? They have good recommendations.
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If you want to be daring then Beppu is a must for Onsens. Otherwise Dogo Onsen is the oldest in Japan – it’s in Shikoku and everyone walks around the town at night in their bathrobes. I heart Japan 🙂
I can’t wait to go to Japan, and thanks to you, now I’ll be prepared for nudity!! 🙂 xx
Loved reading about your trip to Japan and particularly about the Japanese Onsen. I was never game enough to brave it! I would love to go back to Japan some day soon.Lovely post.