Kobe and Kyoto-
Japan is one of those countries that I didn’t have very much knowledge going into, therefore I had very few expectations on what it would be like. What I remember thinking prior to Japan is that I would see people, and cars, and skyscrapers everywhere I turned. Yes, I did see these things in Kobe, Tokyo, and Yokohama, but in Kyoto I saw some of the most beautiful fall foliage I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was on par with Vermont’s foliage and I never thought I’d be able to say another place compares to Vermont during this time of year.
Prior to Japan, I was starting to become sad about missing autumn. Fall is one of my favorite times of year; I love the smell that rainfall leaves on fallen leaves, I love the vibrant colors that pop from the tips of tree branches, and I love the way that the cool air whispers across my skin while the sun warms me from the outside in. It was foreign to me to be bombarded by sweltering heat in October and the very beginning of November. Yes, China offered some relief to the immense heat and I was able to see the changing color of the leaves while climbing the Great Wall in Beijing, but Kyoto, Japan offered the sensory cornucopia that I was looking for.
Kyoto was the first stop of my independent travel plans. My friend Bonnie and I planned to travel together from Kobe to Kyoto to Tokyo and then onto Yokohama. Our ship docked in Kobe on the 14th and the immigration process took quite a while. Our ship was cleared to disembark before noon and then I walked around Kobe with two of my friends. I noticed right away that although there were thousands of people on the streets going about their days there was barely any noise coming from the crowd. I was amazed that so many people could be so quiet. In the middle of the city, I was able to hear birds chirping, or music playing far in the distance because of the lack of car horns honking, or brakes squealing, or the obnoxiously loud talking between two people a foot apart from each other. Don’t get me wrong…there was noise. It wasn’t completely quiet. However, I wasn’t expecting the level of quiet that I became aware of.
A second thing that I immediately noticed about Kobe and then subsequently noticed in the other cities I visited was the lack of trashcans on the street. This might seem like a strange observation, but pair it with not seeing a single piece of trash on the ground and it really gets you thinking. I wondered if the Japanese took pride in clean streets, or if the government imposes strict fine on litterers, or if they held on to their trash until they got home. Then, I remembered something I learned in a class of mine the day before I got to Japan: the Japanese find it rude to drink or eat while walking. It was as simple as that. There was no trash on the ground or no need for trashcans because very few people had trash to throw away while walking around the city. I wonder if Americans would be able to adopt such beliefs. Maybe that would solve the unyielding trash problems that many urban areas have in the US.
A third thing I noticed everywhere I went in the five days I spent in Japan was how well everyone was dressed. I think I can count on two hands how many times I saw Japanese people walking around in jeans and sneakers. The women, during the afternoons, all wore heels or boots with dresses or dress slacks or skirts and the men wore business suits or slacks with dress shoes. Even the younger people were immaculately dressed. At night…well…everything transformed in a way. I’ve never seen so many girls walking around in 40 degree weather with booty shorts and miniskirts on nor have I seen so many boys with long, teased hair, long nails, and waxed eyebrows. Tokyo, more so than the other cities I was in, had these types of people that came out at night. Everywhere I turned in downtown Tokyo, I saw Japanese teenagers who were either intoxicated beyond coherency or higher than I thought physically possible for someone to be. Supposedly, Japan’s youth feels a strong need to rebel against their societies guidelines and the wealth that many Japanese parents possess provides them the opportunity to do so.
The second morning in Japan, Bonnie and I, along with three other people, headed from Kobe to Kyoto via a local train. For a 45 minute ride, it cost about $10USD…about double the price for what it would cost to get from my town to New York City in the same time via train. This seemed to be typical in Japan. If something back home normally costs 5$, it’s 10$ in Japan. When we got off the train in Kyoto Station, we didn’t have any plans so we grabbed a map, bought an all-day bus pass for around 500 Yen (or 5$ USD), and headed for the westernmost area in Kyoto. On the map, it showed a few different shrines, temples, and other landmarks that might be of interest to us. We were pleasantly surprised as we hopped off the bus to find that we were in an area that was “off the beaten path”. The five of us were the only non-Japanese people for as far as we could see for a few hours. Our first destination was a Shinto Shrine. Once we got to the Shrine, we realized that there was a Shinto ceremony taking place that was similar to a Catholic Communion. Little boys and girls were running around in ornate clothes and were having their picture taken both by their family and by professional photographers. At first, I felt a little out of place being there, but our presence didn’t seem to phase the ceremony-goers in the least.
After our visit to the Shrine, we decided to head north on foot to see where we might end up. It felt good to wander around without a plan. For the last two months, every port I visited I had a plan for. Japan was different. I knew I would be off the ship for three days but that was it. There were no definites, no time constraints, no nothings. I had my backpack, money, and a comfortable pair of shoes on my feet. I was happy.
The five of us ended up coming to what appeared to be a park at the top of an endless set of stone stairs. I remember making mention of how I felt like I was climbing the Great Wall all over again! The view at the top was absolutely magnificent. To our backs, we were surrounded by mountains with leaves in shades of reds, oranges, yellows and in front of us lay a large lake on the left and the city on the right. After a half hour or so, we decided to head toward the lake and spend some time walking around.
Bonnie and I decided not to rent a paddleboat, but the other three did so we met them after an hour at the entrance of the lake. Walking around for that hour was refreshing. It felt great to be outside and to feel the cool breeze and warm sun upon my skin. I already miss it. When the five of us met back up, we walked to the bus station, hopped on separate buses and went our separate ways. Ben and Paige headed to Tokyo, Brian decided to break off and use his Bullet Train pass to see where he could end up, and Bonnie and I decided to take the bus into the center of Kyoto for another couple of hours before heading to Tokyo.
It was probably around 3pm at this time and we grabbed some bananas and sandwiches from a grocery store and headed to a local park where we saw dozens of children running around with their fathers chasing after them. It was the first time in a long time I saw dads playing so wholeheartedly with their children. Granted, it was probably the only time during the week that they were able to since a majority of men work insane hours during the week, preventing them from spending much time with their family. After Bonnie and I sat and watched for a while, we decided to head back to Kyoto Station to catch the Bullet Train to Tokyo…
Tokyo-
Tokyo is an amazing city for various reasons. In many ways, it reminded me of New York City, and in other ways, it was uniquely “Tokyo”. The similarities of New York were its skyscrapers, subway system (although it was much cleaner), businesses (there was one section of Tokyo that seemed to be picked up off of 5th Ave and transplanted into Japan), and restaurants (I saw just as many Italian restaurants in Tokyo as I’ve seen in NYC!). The differences…24 hour internet cafes, karaoke clubs on every corner, and discrimination…Discrimination? You ask. Yep, discrimination. I found out the hard way that if you are a white female, especially from America, you aren’t allowed into many establishments. These ranged anywhere from restaurants to karaoke clubs, to hotels. Bonnie and I looked for a hotel/hostel/capsule hotel to stay in our first night in Tokyo for 4 hours before we decided to call our search for a place to stay quits.
I should probably tell you that around midnight, while looking for a hotel, a Japanese couple came up to us and asked if we needed help. We didn’t really need “help” in the sense of trying to find the location of a place we were looking for, figuring we had nowhere to go, but we were looking for a hotel with vacancy. The problem we ran into, even with the help of our native speaking acquaintances was that rooms were fully booked, we weren’t men (capsule hotels mainly are for men), and the one females-only capsule hotel we did find, with vacancy might I add, didn’t even let us through the doors because we weren’t Japanese. I didn’t find out until I got back on the ship three days later that they most likely thought I was a prostitute. A prostitute?! Supposedly I’m (meaning white American women) are a “hot commodity” among Japanese business men. Interesting, huh?
Around 2:30am, our two Japanese friends, Bonnie, and I decided to crash at a restaurant that stayed open until 5am. I was able to catch about a half hour nap during that time, but we were soon ushered out the door at 4:45am. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, Bonnie and I said our good-byes to our new friends and headed to the Tokyo train station. We were headed to Tokyo Disneyland.
Tokyo Disneyland-
So, you might be sitting in your seat right now and saying to yourself, “Did she really go to Disney?” The answer to your question is, “Yes, I did. I spent 15 hours from the time I arrived at the gate until the time that I left the park that night. And I loved every minute of it.” Although it was cool and rainy, I felt like I was 8 years old again without a care in the world. I ate churros, and popcorn, an overly greasy chicken patty, and ice cream, and I’m sure other junk as well and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty! I was at Disneyland…without adult supervision :-) I’m not going to get into Disney in any great detail because I doubt you all want to hear about Space Mountain and It’s a Small World, but just know that if you ever go to Tokyo, you should definitely spend a day at Disney. Okay, enough said.
Later that night, we had to worry about lodging again so we hurried off to Guest Relations before the park closed. The woman who helped us was an absolute sweetheart and set us up at a relatively cheap hotel about 25 minutes away by bus. Little did we know, it was in an area of Tokyo that had absolutely no signs in English, but we managed to navigate our way to our hotel, get a solid six hours sleep, and then head on to our next adventure. Bonnie was going back to Disney, this time to DisneySea, and I was heading to meet the ship in Yokohama for an FDP I had at 11am.
Yokohama-
If anyone travels to Tokyo, you have to experience what I was able to at 7:30am during the morning commute. Not only was I the only non-Japanese person at the train station/on the train, but I was one of four women I saw in a half-hour period in the train car I was in. If you can imagine, try really hard, squishing 44 people into an area approximately 7’’x7’’, do so now. Did you try to imagine that? Okay, now, put that 7’’x7’’ area inside of a train car between two doors. That is exactly what I went through for a half hour. Not only was I one of these 44 people in that area (there were probably over 125 people on the entire car), but I was stuck in the middle. I had people pushing at me from all directions. When the train stopped at a station, one or two people would get off and another ten would squish in. There came a point in time when I didn’t even need to hold onto the bar above my head because we were squished so tightly that when the train slowed down, no one moved. All I kept thinking was “thank god that I’m not claustrophobic”. It was a wonderful feeling to step off of that train and have my own space back.
I had to take one more connecting train from a suburb of Tokyo to Yokohama and I made it back to the train earlier than expected and had some time to relax before I had to head out again. At 11:30am, a group of twenty or so students and faculty hopped back on the subway and headed to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Noodle Museum. This FDP was for my Psychology of Food and Culture class. I don’t know how educational it was, but I definitely enjoyed the Ramen that I had…There were three floors- the first floor being a gift shop and a small museum area, the second and first floor were set up how Old Town Tokyo was set up in the 1950’s (when Ramen was first introduced). There were eight different shops where you could buy Ramen noodles, representing the eight different regions where different types of Ramen originated. You all are probably thinking that I ate instant Ramen, but the only “instant” involved was how fast it came out. The Ramen I chose had a pork broth base with two slices of pork on top, some vegetables on top, and of course curly ramen noodles. There were cloves of fresh garlic sitting on the table so I added a couple to my soup. I was a happy Italian for the moment, but I don’t think anyone else was happy with me when we conversed for the rest of the afternoon!
After the Ramen Museum, I tagged along with my Sociology professor, Dr. Scott, and her seven year old daughter Mezzie. About a fifteen minute walk from where our ship was docked, there was a small amusement park with supposedly the largest Ferris Wheel in the world. I have always been under the impression that Big Ben was the largest one, but every country I’ve visited has had “the biggest” something in the world. For seven dollars a person, we rode on the Ferris Wheel for about fifteen minutes and saw over the skyline of Yokohama. It was nice being able to see Yokohama from the top down instead of looking from the bottom up.
Instead of continuing on with Dr. Scott and her daughter, I separated from them after the amusement park and went back to the ship. I intended to take a short nap, but when my alarm went off an hour later, I shut it off, rolled over, and slept another fourteen hours…I suppose I was exhausted…
The next morning, my roommate (who got back from Tokyo around midnight the night before) and I went to breakfast, got dressed and ventured out into Yokohama for a few hours. We walked far and wide in search of sushi, but we couldn’t find anywhere that served sushi for less than twenty dollars a plate. Normally, I would consider paying that, but after already spending as much money as I had in Japan, I settled for not having twenty-dollar sushi. Instead, Jen and I ate a cheaper restaurant and I was full and happy when I left.
Overall, the time I spent in Japan was wonderful. I would definitely consider going back to Japan in the future, but I would like to get off the beaten path and do some hiking and venturing into the mountains. One of the things that I’ve learned from Semester at Sea so far is that I shouldn’t have any sort of preconceived ideas about a country I’ve never been to before. All the research and all the preparation you may do doesn’t prepare you for what it will really be like when you actually get there. As an example, I thought Japan was mainly city and skyscrapers. I never would have guessed that Japan is an island nation made up of over three thousand islands, most of which are covered in mountains.
