2週間の日本一人旅で学んだこと：やるべきこと、見逃すべきこと、そして学んだ教訓

2週間の日本一人旅で学んだこと：やるべきこと、見逃すべきこと、そして学んだ教訓

It’s been a year since I was in Japan, and I haven’t even looked through all the videos I took until now. It turns out I took over 1,000 over the course of 2 weeks of solo travel. So, I thought I’d share them now. One of the standout moments from this trip was staying in a wooden townhouse built over 100 years ago in Kyoto. I booked this through Airbnb and there was one bedroom, but it could accommodate up to four guests depending how they set up the beds. When I arrived, my driver couldn’t figure out where my Airbnb actually was. So, he got out just to make sure it was down this certain alleyway. And it turns out it was. So, he dropped me off at the end of the street and I wheeled my luggage down. I want to give a tour of this place cuz it’s so cool. I just walked through. So, you walk in and there’s this foyer room. You walk into this front room. All the windows in the house are like this. Just a sofa. This is for It looks like the Wi-Fi. Still haven’t figured out how to turn this light on. You walk into the kitchen area. Again, have to figure out the light situation. Obviously, this is an old home. It’s all wood. I’m going to step on these stairs for you. Like, I thought I was going to break this when I walked in. It kind of feels like a sauna in here. Like it’s really trapping in the heat. So, luckily they do have air conditioning. There’s one sink area, cups, stove top, teapot. I’ll only be here for one night, so I’m not going to fully get into all these appliances. This goes up to the bedroom. It looks like that slides shut. Then we have the bathroom area. Here is the sink. It’s all separated. And the bathroom. Nice toilet per usual. Typical setup that I’ve seen in Japan with the bedet. The flush button is on the side there. This is just like a storage area. Then this is covered by a curtain. So this is going to be the shower area. This is like the most clear window I’ve seen. And then a light. push this door and here is the shower. So, yeah, pretty nice. And then you step out of the shower there. Okay, now let’s go up the stairs. So, see if you can hear the creaking and some air conditioning. It still feels like 100° in here. Still cooling off. I wonder how it’s going to be sleeping here tonight. Maybe one night is enough. There’s this flooring detail that they had in the Rioen that I stayed in in Tokyo. Traditional bed that’s laid out. Show you what the walls are made of. It focuses in. And then there’s this. I’m assuming you can close. This opens up. Additional beds. Maybe I can stack them. Some things in here. I don’t know why opening things up just kind of freaks me. You can see the difference in my face since I’ve come up here in my sweat compared to when I started the video downstairs. So, I don’t know how this is going to go tonight. I already saw a spider in here. So, we’ll also see if I get bit tonight. In Japan, there are house rules. And so, this was left here to fill out sign. This is a remote to the light. Fashion really just goes out the window for me when I’m profusely sweating. Now, making up for last time, I’m on my way to Oh, yeah. Let’s rewind so I can tell you why I only stayed in this Airbnb for one night instead of three. While I was in Tokyo, there was one of the biggest typhoons Japan has had in a decade. And I didn’t know much about typhoons before this trip, but by the end of it, I knew a lot. I learned that you don’t actually know how bad a typhoon will be until it hits land. So, while I was supposed to be on a train to Mount Fuji, I extended my stay in Tokyo to wait it out and sea. There’s train suspensions and cancellations and there was no point in going to Mount Fuji. I missed Mount Fuji completely and my first couple of days in Kyoto, which meant I had to cancel experiences and reservations I had booked. I decided to take the train the opposite route of the typhoon. I didn’t know many cities in Japan, so I zoomed in on the map and clicked on Fukushima, and that’s where I spent the next few nights. I did a grocery run for my traveling. Dried mango. I’ll stick things like um jasmine flavored. Oh, that’s something else. This apple and this tea. And that was all like $8 USD, which is crazy. This is a steamed bread with egg. This Rioin didn’t have an elevator, but they did have a luggage elevator. I usually had late morning starts when I was in Japan, and most breakfast places opened at 11:00 a.m. and usually only had two breakfast food options. [Music] Thank you. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] One thing I do remember about this trip is that I was often deceived by walking directions on my phone map. This day, I tried to go to a garden and the entry point to the park was not what I expected when I got there. And I was already walking for so long and overheating. So, I decided to turn around, but the walk back was an hour. And this is when I realized how impatient I am and used to having a million options for anything like food and transportation. I couldn’t just call an Uber in this area and there was one bus that I could get. I also thought the bus ticket system was cool. You get on at a certain number so it adds up how far you traveled on the bus which shows the driver how much you pay when you get off. I always had to have cash on me for moments like these. Similar to Australia, there are so many shopping centers here. But that turned out really nice because I often had to step inside of one just for air conditioning to cool off. My slippies. This is like the deepest bathtub I’ve ever seen. Like, okay, if I put my leg in there, like, it actually goes up to my knee. Okay, I’m going to get my money’s worth. A body towel. Okay, so this is like the last place. It’s a body towel, but it’s little. Well, I don’t really know what you’re supposed to do with it. Oh, it’s like plastic. Let’s see. Huh. Yeah, I’m taking this home with me. Here I was trying to figure out how to use the washing machine. Another reason you should always have cash on you here. [Music] I worked up enough courage to walk into this ramen restaurant, which I didn’t do a lot here. Someone working had to show me how to use the machine at the front to order. That was absolutely the best ramen I’ve ever had. That was so good. I like how the drinks here don’t ever really taste too sweet. This is exactly what I want to be doing on a holiday. Today I’m taking a 2-hour train to a town nearby. Another day of things I didn’t think I was doing on this trip. I did like the milk tea in Japan. Most times the only alternative milk option was soy, so I ended up drinking a lot more dairy than I usually do. This edamame shake was unexpectedly one of my favorite things that I tried in Japan. And these sandwiches were always a go-to. This was an air conditioned waiting room on the train platform. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I went to see this temple, but I got there too late in the day to go inside and for anything else to be open in the town. So, I probably could have gone without this part of the trip, but it was still cool to see another part of Japan [Music] required. I love Kyoto. I think it’s one of those places that is just as good as everyone says it is. It’s a tourist spot for a reason and it really lived up to the hype. The only disappointment of the trip was that I didn’t get to spend as much time there. So, if I ever go back to Japan, I have to see more of it. And it’s just as magical as everyone makes it out to be. I’m on my way to a food tour that I’m so happy that I’m making because I booked it and paid like $160 for this. And so I’m going to stop at some things along the way. I did all the typical tourist spots that I could fit in. I did a walk by the Nij Castle Square. I took so many videos on the streets of every corner that I turned. I mean, I couldn’t put my camera down. And it’s just so peaceful in Japan everywhere you go, even in a busy city. I went to a sort of hidden sushi bar that I found online and I worked up the courage to go in and sit there and order by myself, which like I’ve mentioned before was really hard for me to do in Japan. I should have eaten more sushi when I was here. I think that’s another regret. Then I took a bus to this meeting point for the food tour that I booked and this river was so beautiful. This was the Kyoto night foodie tour on Trip Adviser. I don’t think the same exact booking is up on the site anymore, but there are a few like these to choose from. And I think that there’s two night markets here. I can’t remember which one we went to. I was actually the only one who booked the tour on this day. So, I got my own little private tour. This was the first time I had tofu skin. Every day during the night time, many restaurants are open. This is a seasonal. We were at a traditional restaurant first, so we left our shoes at the door and they gave us slippers to wear. My tour guide was a young woman who was in university, and it was really fun spending a few hours with her, having one-on-one conversation about our home life and comparing lifestyles and learning more about Japanese food culture. We went to three different restaurants, and at each place, I got to choose what I wanted out of a few food and drink options. After she explained the choices, I wanted to make sure that I was following their customs and being polite because the people here are very respectful of each other. And I remember her telling me that if I didn’t want to finish any food in front of me that it was okay. I shouldn’t feel pressured to. Some of the side alleyways were so teeny tiny. I that like stood out to me a lot here. I had never had real sake before this and I actually did not like it, but I felt really bad wasting what they poured. So, I tried to drink as much as I could. I was actually really already full by this point. We ended at this restaurant on the river for dessert and then we said goodbye and went our separate ways. I walked along the river and saw this is where many people gathered to hang out. I did feel really really safe in Japan. I was never catc calledled or felt like anyone was being creepy toward me. I also thought I would love to come back with friends at some point because it would be really really a fun place for a group trip. Next morning, I checked out of the Airbnb and stored my luggage in these lockers at the train station. Then I got a cab to a traditional tea ceremony that I booked. This was a recommendation from a friend and I was so happy that I did it. You go to one location where they dress you in a kimono and then they do your hair and then you walk to the building where the ceremony is and they show you how to make traditional matcha. I got really emotional during it because I was taken aback by how thoughtful everything that the people do here is and how rich their history and traditions are and that’s just not something that I was raised with. So, I had a lot of appreciation for the care that went into everything. Next, it was time for the Kiomizu street and temple. [Music] [Music] Okay. [Music] I took some of my favorite photos ever on this day. I had no time to waste. So, I got coffee and then called an Uber to go to the very famous 1,000 Tori gates. I actually had no knowledge of Japan before planning this trip. So, I didn’t know about this. Um, but everybody who comes here does this location. Each gate was donated and each one has the donor’s name written on it. I know 1,000 is a lot, but to really see how long the pathway went on and how many gates there actually were was incredible. There’s tons of people at the start, but then the crowd kind of trickles off as you go. You can turn back at any time or you can do a loop. It took a pretty long time to get back to the main entrance. And then I was off to the train station for a change of scenery. [Music] I really saved the best for last because I love Osaka. It’s my favorite part of Japan by far. I would spend so much more time here. It’s funny how you don’t actually ever know what’s going to be your best part of a trip based on reviews or what people tell you about cuz it’s just so dependent on what you personally vibe with when you’re actually there. Which is why I think it’s important to just go and see everything you can. The first time I walked around near my Airbnb here, I was just in love with it. And I thought if I ever lived in Japan, which I probably won’t, it would be here. [Music] I went to the night market and that was really cool. It felt like what you would imagine Tokyo to feel like, but obviously not as big. I don’t remember what these were called, but I waited so long for them, and I was really fascinated by how they made them. But then when I tried them, I didn’t even like them. Then I just wandered around the rest of the night. I still think about this chicken katsu. Sometimes I order that here just to reminisce. Okay, so I had to go to Nara to see the deer. I always see these cute videos of people by the deer. But oh my god, this was like the only part of the trip I actually didn’t love because the deer were all up on you. They just wanted food and there were flies everywhere. So I left. Then it was back to Tokyo. This is the speed train everyone talks about, so I had to get a video. I got my hair done here and we had to talk through Google Translate, which ended up being fine. Even with the unexpected, things are bound to go wrong and I’m just happy when it doesn’t impact my safety or health. All in all, it was a perfect trip. Then I was off to Spain.

It’s been a while since I’ve made a video like this, and it was really fun to look back on everything I did in Japan after an entire year. It’s times like this when I’m so happy I have the problem of not being able to put my phone down.

Chapters:
00:00 Kyoto
00:40 100-Year Old AirBnb
04:23 Typhoon/Tokyo
05:31 The Train
05:57 Fukushima
10:15 Aizu-Wakamatsu
06:50 Transportation
10:51 Kyoto
11:57 Kyoto Food Walking Tour
14:10 Tea Ceremony
14:33 Kiyomizu-Dera
15:46 1000 Torii Red Gates
16:43 Osaka
18:39 Nara Deer