Top Takeaways - #11

Alex and I have been in Japan for the last week and a half and it's been a great start to this long leg of the trip. Here are our top takeaways from our time in Tokyo and Takayama!

The famous "Shibuya Scramble!"

1. Japanese people are the nicest we have encountered so far in our travels. Everyone is extremely polite, hospitable and very kind.  We have been welcomed with smiles and treated very well so far.

2. Communicating is much easier than expected. We cannot even attempt Japanese beyond “Arigato” but have found many people that speak some English and are willing to assist. Even our hosts in Takayama (who spoke almost zero English) could use google translate or make a hand motion to suggest eating or showering.

3. Trains and subways in Japan are extremely user-friendly. From the detailed maps and intuitive train stop methodology to the on-time departures and high-speed trains, we have had a very easy time getting around.

4. Conveyer belt sushi is awesome. The fresh fish in Japan is top-notch and can be obtained in in many different locations, including upscale restaurants, the fish market and even in budget-friendly restaurants where the chef makes small plates to be zipped across the counter on a conveyer belt.

5. Tokyo is huge but less intimidating than expected. While some parts of the city are fast-paced and crowded (as evidenced by the time-lapse video above), other areas are quiet and suburban. Because Tokyo consumes such a large area (more akin to London than New York) there is a greater variety of neighborhoods, which made the city feel much more manageable.

6. Tokyo residents wait in line everywhere! From chocolate to gyoza to popcorn, we saw so many lines for both stores and restaurants. Even local ramen spots often had lines, albeit very efficient and fast moving ones!

7. Alex is basically a giant here. I feel so bad for him every time he has to duck or, more often than not, bangs his head on a doorframe or low-hanging beam. Space definitely comes at a premium in Japan so we have been learning to adjust.

8. We love Japanese food! Thinking mostly of rice and sushi, we hadn’t tried many of the other types of Japenese cuisine before coming to Japan. We now love curry udon, ramen, steamed hida beef buns, gyoza, tonkatsu…the list is endless! It took eight days of only local cuisine before we craved something else – a burger, naturally – which is a record for us!

9. The Japanese stereotype of excessive cute-sy ornaments, animation and cats is well-founded. Every shop, storefront, menu and sign seems to have one of the above-mentioned adornments. We should have known given the presence of cat cafes!

10. The toilet situation is confusing. Japanese-style toilets are basically urinals in the ground – which I would use if I had to – but are always alongside regular toilets. The “regular” toilets are not just any toilet, though; they have all kinds of bells and whistles including heated seats, a flush-sound (to mask the real thing?) and various “sprays” for your behind. Also a hilarious translation error resulted in a bathroom sign instructing ladies not to “throw skewers in the toilet.”

Peak: Lunch with Mike and Nikou in downtown Tokyo. You just can’t beat running into friends on the other side of the world!

Pit: It rained every day we were in the Takayama area and the passing hailstorm really put a damper on our sightseeing activities.

Next Stop: Kyoto

Shirakawa-Go

Before getting into today’s trek to Shirakawa-Go, I need to conclude Sarah’s thought on Center4 from last night - these burgers were amazing! I’m probably a little biased since this is the first non-Japanese meal I’ve had since leaving the US, but these burgers are well reviewed and they didn’t disappoint. I had the local specialty, the Hida Beef burger, and Sarah opted for the Quatro Burger (which includes cheese, egg, bacon and avocado). We also sampled a few local beers, though they claimed to have Brooklyn Lager available too – so you know this place is hip! Definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in Takayama and craving something other than udon.

My Hida Beef burger (Sarah’s was too tall to fit in a picture!).

We woke up early this morning to catch our bus to two UNESCO World Heritage sites - the villages of Ainokura-Gokayama and Shirakawa-Go. Both of these villages are known for their thatched, and extremely steep, roofed houses. The weather looked cloudy as we departed, but not cloudy enough for a steady rain all day. Fingers crossed…

Our first stop was Ainokura-Gokayama. This village has 23 historic houses and is nestled at the base of some impressive mountains. Even though the rain hadn’t let up by the time we arrived we were still treated to some excellent views!

Gokayama village.

Jinushi shrine with the “Twenty Day Stone” on the left. The locals say that no matter how much snow falls during the winter, if they can see this stone during their spring seasonal festival all the snow will thaw within 20 days.

A fire pit in one of the traditional houses.

Another amazing view of the village and the surrounding mountains.

After about an hour at Gokayama it was time to head to Shirakawa-Go. This tour was strategically arranged – if we were amazed by Gokayama’s 23 houses, we were sure to be blown away by Shirakawa-Go’s 114 houses, right?! The village lived up to all the hype. Despite the fact that it was raining off-and-on the entire time we were there, it was amazing to see the village up close!

A peaceful waterfall on the outskirts of town.

One of the traditional houses in Shirakawa-Go.

We paused in one of the houses to warm up with some much needed tea!

We arrived at a vantage point overlooking all of Shirakawa-Go just as the clouds parted!

We wandered the streets of Shirakawa-Go for two hours then boarded our bus back to Takayama. By the time we got back to town it was time for dinner and we were happy to stumble upon Heianraku, a phenomenal Japanese / Chinese fusion restaurant. The owner was eager to take care of us – and give us many (unsolicited) free samples of the specials she was making for the night. Our main courses were excellent but the highlight of the night has to go to the sweet and spicy meatballs. Out. Of. This. World! This restaurant is a must-visit if you are ever in Takayama!

Perfect end to the day.

Tomorrow we’re leaving rural Japan for Kyoto – our last four days in a traditional ryokan have been fun but we’re looking forward to a “real” hotel room in a bigger city!

Trekking Through Takayama

Given the quickly shifting weather Alex and I have been experiencing in Takayama and Kamikochi we were thrilled to wake up early with the sun shining outside. We decided to make use of the great weather and went for a morning run through town before returning for a shower and soak in our new favorite spa. Needing coffee and nourishment we found Soeur, a cute little spot serving amazing tea, great coffee and incredible little scones.

I recommend the chocolate chip scone and caramel tea if you ever find yourself passing through!

By the time we finished our breakfast the weather had turned cold, cloudy and rainy. Hopeful that the sun would return later on we headed to the Higashiyama Walking Course, which winds through many of the town's historic temples and other landmarks. The weather continued to shift between cloudy, rainy and intermittent sunshine (as the pictures show!) and though we were pretty cold walking around outside we really enjoyed checking out the various shrines and ruins.

Unryuji Temple.

Alex posing by another building at the Unryuji Temple complex.

The Sogenji Temple entrance.

Daioji Temple.

Alex read that Takayama is currently celebrating the Festival of Glorious Fall Foliage and we would have to agree!

In the garden of the Hokkeji Temple.

Another temple garden. Look at the finely raked rocks!

One of the shrines had hundreds of tiny, intricate paper cranes.

Soyuji Temple.

Ninomaru Park.

Shorenji Temple.

Freezing and ready to eat, we headed to a nearby Japanese restaurant and warmed up with some soup - the curry udon has become our local favorite. Afterward we walked around the historic neighborhood of Takayama and checked out some of the "old private houses" which are really just the original homes built in the town.

Walking down the streets of Takayama.

The weather actually got much worse - it hailed! - so we stopped into a nearby sake brewery and had a few tastings (at $1USD a pop and at 19% alcohol content, we were able to warm up quickly!) We tried to keep walking around, visiting various shops and checking out the crowded streets, but the freezing temperatures and rain made it pretty miserable so we headed back to Soeur for some tea and internet access.

For dinner we are walking over to Center4 for burgers - our first non-Japanese meal since we've been here! Given the local specialty is beef, we are pretty excited...

Chilly Kamikochi

Sarah and I had our first Japan Rail experience yesterday as we traveled from Tokyo to Takayama. Generally transportation in Japan has been extremely efficient and easy to navigate (there is English on every sign, for instance), and this was no exception. Our trains arrived on time, to the minute, and the JR staff was very friendly, almost eager to help us find our way.

Quick sidebar / tidbit for you if you're ever visiting Japan and plan on traveling around the country a bit. The Japan Rail Group allows foreigners to purchase a Japan Rail Pass that is good for use on almost all trains that run on the six different Japan Rail lines. The pricing is based on the number of weeks you want it for (we got the two week pass) and if you are going to see a bunch of different cities, it is definitely worth it. However, you need to buy a pass before you enter Japan and there are only four or five travel agencies in the US that are licensed to sell the passes to you. Fortunately I figured this out two days before we left and the Nippon Travel Agency has one of its three US locations in Secaucus, NJ - so we were able to get a pass in time. If you don't happen to live 30 minutes away from a JR-endorsed travel agency though, you should plan a little further in advance than we did!

Anyway, our trip took about five hours door to door due to our transfer at Nagoya but we didn't mind having a little downtime to read and relax after a busy few days in Tokyo. After settling into our traditional Japanese-style ryokan, Tsukamoto Sou, we borrowed two of their bikes and went for a ride around town. It's easy to see why this is a popular tourist destination - the town is beautiful, especially with the leaves turning colors.

Our room. This type of set up is common at ryokans - just thin mattresses on the straw-mat floor with blankets. We have a shared hot springs bath too...but more on that later.

Paused to take a photo along one of the rivers running through town.

Sarah rode a little bit ahead to pose for a picture.

After our bike ride we went back to our ryokan and got ready for dinner. The local specialty is Hida Beef, which is raised locally, served to you raw so you can cook it to your preferred temperature. Overall it felt kind of gimmick-y but the beef was good so no complaints here - it was a great way to end our first day in Takayama!

The beef didn't take long to cook with a flame like that!

We woke up early today and headed to the bus station for our trip to Kamikochi, home of the "Japanese Alps." Unfortunately, it was raining this morning but we were optimistic that it would clear up later on. The trip takes about two hours (there isn't a direct bus so we had to transfer) and, fortunately for us, the rain was just letting up as we pulled into the park. We went for a hike up and down the Azusa River, ending at Taisho Pond. Even though it was a cloudy (and cold!) day, we still had a great time taking in all the views!

Not a bad view from Kappa Bridge.

Misty clouds rising above the mountains as the rain cleared out.

Found another tourist to take our picture at Taisho Pond.

Mt. Hotaka from Taisho Pond.

By the time we had returned to the visitor center, we were both ready to get out of the cold. We took the next bus back to Takayama, then headed to our ryokan to check out this shared hot springs bath situation. I was a little unsure what it would be like, but it turned out to be amazing. Basically you shower in a sauna then soak in a hot tub 'til you're ready to get out. And because we're the only ones staying at the ryokan right now, shared really means private! Plus they gave us sweet robes to get to-and-from the shower room. Definitely the right way to warm up after a cold day of hiking!

Pre-shower selfie.

Tomorrow we'll explore more of Takayama itself, including the famous shrine walking tour. Fingers crossed for better weather!

On the Go in Tokyo

After sending a picture of an animated cat menu for Shochu to my friend Oya, she remarked that Tokyo is “like Disneyland, but for adults.” And after spending a few days here, Alex and I can definitely appreciate that sentiment (see Alex’s video from the Robot Restaurant post) but we both agree that there is more to Tokyo than just stereotypes. In some ways I feel a little defensive of Japan because most Americans - including me - don’t seem to place it at the top of their vacation lists. For whatever reason, Japan, and Tokyo specifically, is perceived as harsh, uninviting, uber-modern and really, really far away; however, Alex and I found Tokyo to be just like London or New York in many ways: vibrant, huge and diverse, full of cool bars, unique shops and amazing restaurants and totally accessible. We left Tokyo this morning after only a few days and thought “we could live in this city if one of us landed a job here.”

Saturday and Sunday turned out to be pretty cloudy and dreary so we were glad we did so much sight-seeing on Friday when the weather was beautiful. We woke up Saturday still feeling a little jetlagged so we started the day with coffee and some trip-planning. For lunch we headed to a cheap ramen bar where we ordered via vending machine and sat at a small counter, never seeing our server save for her hand when she slipped our bowls to us.

A pretty hearty - and extremely efficient! - meal for less than $10.

After lunch we headed to Omotesando and walked around Tokyo’s version of Fifth Avenue. In addition to the high number of fashionable young people and designer stores, we were surprised to see so many lines of patiently-waiting Japanese people. What was everyone waiting for? Popcorn and chocolate! The lines for Garrett’s Popcorn and Max Brenner Chocolate (who knew each had a Tokyo outpost?) snaked all the way up and down the street and attracted more attention than any of the other stores. However, as we were trying to avoid the crowds we did stumble upon one of my new favorite areas in Tokyo: Meiji Jingumae, a pedestrian-friendly area with lots of cool shops and restaurants.

Feeling a little worn out, we headed home to shower and figure out a game plan for the evening, which ultimately landed us at Robot Restaurant. I won’t borrow from Alex’s post, suffice to say that it was one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve ever had.

We woke up sleepy (ok maybe a little hungover) on Sunday morning and were in the mood for a big NYC-style brunch. Since Japanese breakfast typically consists of rice and fish, we sought out a western-style café in Roppongi Hills, an upscale area of Tokyo known as the Skyscraper district. The eggs benedict at Lauderdale were somewhat of a letdown but the pancakes were incredible and I was happy we had four to share! Afterward we strolled around and checked out a few stores before heading to the Harajuku district.

One of the many colorful storefronts.

Charming house on one of the residential streets.

Harajuku, known as a popular spot for young teenage girls to buy the latest in street fashion, was completely insane. The streets felt like Mardi Gras and we couldn’t help but gawk at what can only be described as costumes.

Complete insanity.

The Japanese are REALLY into cats.

Craving some quiet relaxation, we did what anyone would do: had a tea at the local rabbit café. Similar to a cat café (which have begun to pop up in the US), the rabbit café was a place for us to have a drink while playing with rabbits. Definitely not the most sanitary of experiences but one I’m not going to forget anytime soon.

Look at this cutie.

Given its size, I am not convinced this was actually a rabbit!

After thoroughly washing our hands we went to the popular Harajuku Gyozaro for dinner and were happy the line wasn’t too long! The food was awesome and a bargain at $2.50 for six piping-hot gyoza. We left feeling full and content after another great day touring the streets of Tokyo.

Sometimes simple is best: perfectly cooked gyoza.

We woke up early Monday morning to make it to the Tsukiji Market and watch the fishmongers cutting and cleaning the day’s fresh catch. While we missed the famous 5:20am tuna auction (I swear we would have gone if public transportation was running at 4am), we were still able to see all kinds of fish and other sea creatures and scored a front-row sushi spot for breakfast, a must-do when in Tokyo.

Checking out the day's fresh catch.

One of the many storefronts outside of the fish market.

Inside the fish market.

Enormous tuna.

Be sure to avoid all of the moving dollies and fishmongers!

The best - and freshest - sushi we have had so far.

Having narrowly avoided multiple motorized dolly collisions, we took the subway up to Asakusa and spent the rest of the morning checking out the area (admittedly very touristy) and exploring the Senso-ji shrine.

Entrance to the Senso-ji shrine.

Tons of shops and tourists on the streets leading up to the shrine.

Standing in front of the Senso-ji shrine.

Alex in front of one of the surrounding pagodas.

The Senso-ji shrine.

Nearby garden with accompanying Buddha.

We saw some other (smaller) shrines in an adjacent park .

While the shrine and surrounding areas were pretty cool, the highlight of the day was lunch with our New York friends Mike and Nikou, who allowed us to crash the final day of their honeymoon! We had a great time catching up over bento box lunches and a private shamisen concert at Waentei-Kikko (If you go, go for the experience, not the food) and all agreed it was pretty cool we were having lunch together halfway around the world from NYC!

Loved spending time with these two!

Once we finished our long lunch and said our goodbyes, Alex and I made our way to the Tokyo Metro Government Building for some amazing views of the city at dusk.  The building offers two observatory desks with free admission, making it the best option for checking out the skyline in Tokyo (which explained the line we had to wait in!).

Twilight in Tokyo.

Having sampled fresh sushi, ramen, tempura and a handful of other Japanese dishes, we ended our time in Tokyo with the biggest bowls of udon I have ever seen. I thought the cuisine in Japan would be relatively “light” as compared to some of the American and South American foods we had sampled but – besides sushi – no such luck!

Biggest bowl of udon ever.

We rolled ourselves home to pack and get ready for the early train to Takayama – where I am currently writing this post – and got to bed early. We are excited to spend some time in the Japanese Alps and expect that the pace will be a little less crazy than Tokyo!