Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Konnichiwa! Sadly, we left our final foreign soil Tuesday to embark on our ten-day Pacific crossing to Hawaii. My time in Japan was the perfect ending to my world travels for now - we had a blast! After all of the chaos, dirtiness and lack of infrastructure in many of our other ports, Japan’s efficiency and cleanliness were a treat! Although not a lot of people speak even a word of English, all of the Japanese people were so friendly and willing to help. All of the young kids that we encountered on trains wanted to practice their English with us, and people went out of their way to show us where we needed to go. I traveled through Japan with two of my best friends on the ship – both about 5’9’’ and both blonde…yep, our pictures together are quite hilarious! While they stuck out like sore thumbs, I was excited to be able to see the tops of others’ heads for the first time! You know the average height of a country is very low when I was taller than many. Japan offers a special Rail Pass for tourists with unlimited use of their extensive train system. This was the best investment we could have made – we were able to hop on the bullet trains and make our way to 8 cities in 5 days!

What we did

We arrived in Yokohama, a small city near Tokyo, on Friday. Stepping off the ship, we got our first glimpse of fall. Unlike the tropical weather (or snow in Beijing) that we’ve experienced for most of the rest of the voyage, Japan offered cool, crisp beautiful autumn days for the duration of our stay. I was so very excited to see beautiful foliage throughout the country…I was worried that I had missed fall this year by being away. Our first stop, after lunch at the train station (which in Japan is totally the way to go – they have excellent restaurants in all of the stations), was Kamakura. A small town on the waterfront, it reminded me of a New England town like Rockport, but instead of lobster t-shirts, soap, candy, etc., there was Hello Kitty, Samurai swords and Japanese characters everywhere. The main attraction in Kamakura is the largest wooden Buddha statue in the world, built in the thirteenth century.

That night, we stayed in an upscale district of Tokyo called Ginza. We had a delicious sushi dinner and explored the city a bit. Just like any other modern city, skyscrapers and traffic dominated Tokyo. We went into the famous Sony Building and saw the newest, largest flat screen TVs on display. That night, we also went to a famous Tokyo bar made entirely of ice – everything from the tables to the walls, the bar itself and the glasses in which the drinks were served. When you walk in, they give you a warm poncho with gloves to keep you warm! We met a group of local Japanese people who we shared stories with until we were too cold and had to leave!

The next morning, we took one of the world’s fastest train lines, the Shinkansen, to Hiroshima. We had a very somber afternoon visiting the memorials and museum dedicated to the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. At the edge of the Peace Park still stand the remnants of the old Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall. Today the skeleton of the building is known as the A-Bomb Dome, and you can see the twisted metal beams that remain from the bomb. We spent a few hours walking through the Peace Memorial Museum. It was fascinating to read the history of World War II and the U.S. decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima from a Japanese perspective. Although there was a bias in the information against the United States, the museum told the story in a compelling, moving manner. I was particularly interested to learn that Hiroshima was chosen above other Japanese targets because of its size, the fact that there were no known U.S. P.O.W.s there, and that it had not undergone the same levels of air raids that devastated other cities. The museum also had gruesome photos and remains from the bomb that were extremely chilling, but important to see. On display there were a series of annual letters that have been sent from the mayor of Hiroshima to the U.S. President since the end of WWII encouraging the president to disarm, with no success. Unfortunately, as humans, we have a long history of allowing history to repeat itself. Let’s hope that the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the exception. We visited the many statues and memorials in the area, commemorating victims of the bombs. There is also a plaque that was laid at the hypocenter of the bomb, the exact spot above which the bomb was dropped. After seeing a mural of the city completely demolished by the bomb with only a building or two left standing, it is truly remarkable that in such a short time, Hiroshima could be rebuilt into such a beautiful place.

From Hiroshima, we continued west on the train to Fukuoka. Each year, Japan has six major sumo wrestling tournaments, each one held in a different city for about two weeks. Fukuoka was hosting a sumo tournament while we were there, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it! Because we were in Japan over a holiday weekend, everything was absolutely packed with crowds. We weren’t able to find a place to stay in Fukuoka, so we had some adventures that night! We ate dinner at what my guidebook called the Ramen Stadium – there were eight different ramen noodle restaurants in the same enclosed area. The Ramen Stadium was in a beautiful outdoor shopping area, which we enjoyed walking through and window shopping (as the stores were already closed). We decided to kill time by going to a midnight movie. If you thought movies in the U.S. were expensive, we paid 1800 yen (about $20) to see A Christmas Carol (or to nap through it in comfortable, warm seats)! While leaving the movie at about 2:30 am, we saw a robot security guard! Oh Japanese technology…From here, we killed time at a coffee shop bookstore that was open until 4am. Then, we got pretty desperate and found a clean, heated public toilet :) Coming from the U.S., when someone says, “Make sure to get there early because there could be a line for tickets,” that could mean line up the night before! Being my mother’s daughter, I figured that we might as well go to the stadium and wait on line nice and early to make sure we beat the crowd. Well, we got there at about 5 am and there was not another soul there until after 7am. Better safe than sorry, right? Yeah, my friends made fun of me quite a bit for that suggestion. We bought our tickets at about 8am, and then went back to our favorite coffee shop for a few hours.

The Sumo tournament is an all-day event, going from the lowest ranked rikishi (wrestler) to the highest ranked rikishi at the end of the day. When we arrived around noon, the arena was still pretty empty, so we were able to sit very close for a while. We watched several rounds of matches, each lasting on average less than a minute. I was surprised by the amount of strategy and skill required to succeed – the biggest men don’t always win! To win a match, one must force his opponent out of the ring or force any part of his opponent’s body to touch the ground. As the afternoon wore on, more and more spectators arrived and pushed us up to our arena seats. The seats closer to the mound are actually just mats on the ground – the Japanese are not too big on furniture. As the wrestlers became more highly ranked, there were more and more rituals added to each match. For instance, the rikishi throw salt onto the doyho (ring) before fighting each other. We bought tegata, a copy of the top-ranked wrestler’s handprint (HUGE) and his fighting name written in Japanese calligraphy, as souvenirs from the event! After a few hours of watching large men fight each other and eating Japanese snacks, we boarded yet another train for Osaka.

Although we had every intention of exploring Osaka that night, by the time we found our hostel we were too exhausted to leave! We had some convenience store sushi (which I have to say was excellent!) and relaxed in our less-than-ideal rooms. And by less than ideal, I mean there was a mat. On the floor. With a small pillow. Oh well, we weren’t expecting luxury…We woke up the next morning and traveled a short distance to Kyoto. Kyoto was absolutely packed with tourists and Japanese alike, all who were enjoying the beautiful fall weather, and a day off from work due to the national holiday. All of the trains and monuments were extremely crowded that day, but that didn’t stop us!

There was so much to see in Kyoto, but we only had one day there so we had to prioritize our visits. We first went to the Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to the Inari g-d of rice and sake. In addition to the shrine itself, there are over 10,000 bright orange torri gates that create a tunnel-like path through the woods. From here, we visited Tofuku-ji, a famous Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. The temple is also known for its spectacular fall foliage, which we thoroughly enjoyed seeing. The line to get a ticket to go inside the temple was monstrous, so we just walked around the perimeter instead. That afternoon, we went to Sanjusangen-do, home of 1001 gilded statues of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. There are 1000 standing in lines, and the most famous statue is a very large seated Kannon. It was extremely impressive to see the intricate detail of each one of the statues, built by over 70 craftsmen in the 12th century.

That evening, we finally made our way back to the ship, which had traveled from Yokohama to Kobe while we were gone. After a much needed shower, we went out for one of the best meals I have EVER had (that is a very loaded statement)…see below for details! We couldn’t leave Japan without singing karaoke, so we met up with some friends and spent a hilarious two-plus hours at a karaoke bar with our own private room (so I only had to embarrass myself in front of ten friends rather than an entire crowd)! The next morning, we woke up bright and early to make it to Himeji before lunchtime to visit the Himeji-jo fortress. It is one of twelve surviving fortresses from feudal Japan, built in 1346. We went up to the 6th and top floor to see a great view of the surrounding area, and more fall foliage!

We returned to the ship just in time for a field trip for one of my business classes to a Japanese candy factory. Glico is a large corporation that sells not only candy, but also dairy products, health products and many others. We toured the factory, learned a lot about the differences between Japanese and American business practices, and best of all paid a visit to the company store to try all of their products! They are most famous for their Pocky sticks, a pretzel-like stick covered in chocolate. The President of the company told our translator that of all of the daily tours that come through the factory, our group of about 40 people spent the most money at the store. I think it’s safe to say that we perpetuated the overweight American stereotype!

What we ate

As with most of the countries that we have visited, I enjoyed the food in Japan very much. We ate a lot of meals in train stations, which may seem odd. But, it wasn’t fast food like what we see in American train stations; instead, the train stations in Japan are microcosms of the cities themselves, with delicious restaurants, gift shops, post offices, etc. The best sushi we had was in Tokyo on our first night – my friend Nicky and I decided to be adventurous and try the sashimi combination platter. We sat at the sushi bar of the restaurant, and hesitated to ask the man preparing the fish what it was until after we had tasted it! It was the best tuna I had ever tasted! We also ate salmon, yellowtail, arcfish, octopus, shrimp, whitefish, and some others that we didn’t dare to ask. And unlike sashimi back home, there was no rice involved here…I will definitely be more adventurous with my sushi orders at home now! We tried several bento boxes for lunch, and were surprised at how fresh and delicious the pre-prepared boxed meals could be. They had yogurt in pouches with straws and sealed packages of fresh edamame and lots of other delicious healthy snacks, too! Another quirky thing about Japan is the overwhelming presence of vending machines everywhere. They have rows of cold beverages and rows of hot beverages, such as canned coffees and teas, for sale in vending machines at train stations, in malls and on the street. They also sell cigarettes, soup, ice cream - just about anything you could ever imagine out of vending machines!

On our final evening in Kobe, we decided to splurge and try real Kobe beef. My guide book recommended a restaurant called A-1, and said that it was a favorite for foreigners. Based on the prices listed, we expected it to be a pretty upscale place. Much to our surprise, it was a very small, dark place with wooden tables. It was mostly frequented by locals, and it smelled DELICIOUS when we walked in. They prepared the filets teppan-yaki style, on the grill right in front of you. The beef was served on a smoking skillet, and was eaten with chopsticks. In my opinion, any steak that doesn’t require utensils other than chopsticks to be eaten is automatically delicious. I truly don’t know if I have ever had a bite of something so tasty…the kobe beef in the states can’t possibly compare with the real thing.



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Getting back on the ship was a bittersweet moment – Japan was such a wonderful port, but it was also our final moment on foreign soil. As we look forward to Hawaii and returning home, it was awfully hard to know that our travels have come to an end. I had a blast traveling independently with just two close friends – we were able to easily adjust our plans and just enjoy each others’ company without worrying about keeping up with a big group and a strict itinerary. The combination of modern and traditional facets of life in Japan was truly fascinating to observe and experience throughout our five days there. Although Japan is just as developed (if not more in some ways) as Europe or the United States, it has a peculiarly unique culture and way of life that we very much enjoyed being part of, even if just for a brief period of time. We saw a lot of the country in five days, but there are plenty of other things I would love to go back and see. Hopefully sometime in the future!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m very sad that I will be missing the holiday for the first time ever, but this experience has been well worth it. I hope my family enjoys the extra food (especially dessert) that will be available in my absence! I am so thankful for so many things in my life – obviously the opportunities that I have had during this amazing semester, but more importantly to all of you, my friends and family, who care enough about me to follow my travels while I’m gone! I look forward to sharing more with you all when I return home in just a few short weeks. More from Hawaii…Sayonara!