One year later and I’m finally getting around to sharing my images from our trip to Tokyo, Japan! My twin brother Parker & I spent a glorious week there last May. It took me ages to narrow down the 1000+ photos to a mere 600. He & I have been infatuated with Japan since we were really young. We were introduced to anime and Studio Ghibli movies at around 7 years old. I voraciously read Japanese street fashion books & manga in middle & high school. I love Japanese food + culture as well. It was such a treat for us to experience firsthand!
I rented a Fujifilm X100F from my buddy Devin at Glazer’s Camera in Seattle. It was a pretty perfect little travel camera. I love that it has an old-school film camera look that’s mixed with modern features. I’m normally a Canon girl, but the Fuji pleasantly surprised me. I found I didn’t have to do a ton of editing to make the images look beautiful & the built-in color profiles were flattering to the colors of the city.
DAY 1
Upon arriving at the Narita airport in the evening, we bought our Suica cards, train tickets & exchanged our Dollars for Yen. Suica or Passmo are re-loadable cards that can be used to pay for all transit and are accepted at most Konbini (convenience) stores, vending machines & even regular stores. I wish we had them here in the States! I got a deeeeelish yuzu tea drink at Starbucks (their specialty drinks in Japan are SO GOOD) and got a pork meatball, cabbage, ginger + carrot noodle soup at Lawson’s (a konbini) at the airport before we boarded the train to the main city. I ate this soup almost daily for lunch or breakfast.
We stayed at a cute boutique hotel chain in Ginza/Shimbashi called the b shimbashi, about a 7 minute walk from the Shimbashi station. The hotel was very clean and the front desk staff were very kind. Ginza/Shimbashi is a great area of the city to stay if you want to see what the businessmen and nightlife are like in Japan. At all hours of the day, everyone is dressed perfectly in blazers or full suits. Even when it was 90 degrees out or past midnight, the salary men (and women) are wearing their best business attire.
There were no other Americans (or foreigners in general) around for a majority of our trip, so we were very immersed in the culture right away. Sometimes we were pretty confused about what to do and had trouble with the language barrier, but luckily most people are helpful and friendly and the machines are efficient. Some restaurants are Japanese speakers only though, so be aware.
There are SO many restaurants, it’s absolutely insane. Many of them only have room for 5-10 customers at a time. Most shops have their menu outside or photorealistic plastic food displays. Space is definitely a commodity in Tokyo.
After exploring around our hotel, we crashed hard.
DAY 2
The next day, we got some breakfast/lunch at Family Mart & ate at a nearby park. The pickled veggie + sesame beef sushi pictured here was another staple food for me on our trip. I wish I knew how to make it. If you’re ballin’ on a budget, konbini will be your best friend. There are thousands scattered across the city and they all offer cheap, good quality food and drinks as well as liquor, ATMs, mailboxes, etc. PSA - There are hardly any trash cans in Tokyo. We found out that most people take their trash & recycling home with them to dispose of / sort.
Next we walked to the 400 year old Shinto shrine Atago Jinja. It’s the highest land point in the entire city. To get to the shrine, you need to climb up a super steep set of 86 stone stairs. The legend of the temple says a young samurai rode his horse up the steps and presented a plum branch to the area’s Shogun (military leader). I love how there are so many beautiful, tucked away shrines in Japan. As we were leaving, we saw a group of 8 monks entering the main temple.
We then walked to Ginza, a luxury shopping district that features designer fashion, Michelin star dining, electronics & department stores. We had our first ichigo daifuku (strawberry inside mochi with red bean paste). Ginza is so swanky & beautiful. The stores are so elegant. We went to the original Uniqlo store where they were shooting a segment for the news, and I bought a sweeet limited edition Gudetama (a lazy egg Sanrio character) shirt.
Something super cool I noticed is how clean their dressing rooms are. You remove your shoes outside, the employees clean the floor in between guests AND they supply you with a mesh face cover you wear when taking garments off over your head so you don’t get makeup on your/their clothes. SO cool. American dressing rooms are always so dirty.
We had lunch at the massive department store, Mitsukoshi, the oldest surviving department store chain in Japan (founded 1673). In the store’s basement, there are 100+ immaculate specialty food stalls with beautifully packaged bento boxes, fruit, sweets & dishes from other Asian countries. They also have $300 mangoes & $200 watermelons (WHAT?!?). Ginza is all about excess! We ate on the beautiful rooftop garden patio. My bro got a bento box (that had baby clams in it whooops) & I got a Thai style cashew, chicken & herb salad.
The Dior store had a sexy robot sculpture by Hajime Sorayama in the window and I loved it!
After Ginza, we made our way to one of my favorite areas - Asakusa. Asakusa almost feels stuck in time. It’s home to Sensōji Temple, the oldest (and probably busiest) in Tokyo. The street near Sensoji Temple, Nakamise-dori, is filled with shops + food stalls. If you want a free birds-eye view of the temple, Tokyo Skytree and the surrounding area, head across the street from the Kaminarimon Gate to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center.
My brother bought some soy bean powder dusted mochi, I bought a fortune, then we cleansed ourselves before waiting at the steps of the temple to pray.
I really grew to enjoy praying at the temples in Tokyo. I normally am not a religious person, but I gravitate towards Buddhism/Shinto-ism & the way they approach religion in Japan. Appreciating and respecting nature is so important. For the first time in my life, when I prayed, I felt truly at ease and calm. I felt more connected to what I was doing then I ever have in American churches.
After praying, we explored the area around the temple which was SO COOL. We found an Okonomiyaki restaurant for dinner. Okonomiyaki is a sort of grilled cabbage pancake that usually contains shrimp & pork belly (and sometimes squid or octopus) and is topped with shaved bonito flakes, pickled ginger, spring onion, tonkotsu sauce + mayo. It’s savory, sweet and earthy all at once.
After dinner we walked around the area some more before taking the subway home for the night.
Day 3
Day 3 was arguably the most hyped up. We snagged tickets to the elusive Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka the month before our trip. They only release a limited number of tickets each day so we were worried we wouldn’t get any. Mitaka is a suburb about 40 minutes outside of Tokyo. It was really interesting to see the difference between suburban and big city houses and neighborhoods.
For lunch, we got crepes and omelets at a cute French-inspired spot nearby. I remember it being boiling hot inside, but the food was pretty good.
Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to take photos inside the museum (they want to preserve the integrity of the exhibits). The exhibits we’re incredibly detailed and ornate. My favorite was definitely the area that showed original drawings and concept art in different themed desk/office spaces that were coordinated with the film’s location.
On the roof, the biggest tourist draw is a giant statue of the robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
The museum store had a ton of really unique merch as well. I picked up some really beautiful postcards for friends and family and a soot sprite keychain. I wanted a lot more but the shop was sooo packed.
After the museum, we explored the local area a bit. I was so surprised by the sheer amount of bicycles sitting out unlocked. Japanese people are so respectful and trusting of others, it’s amazing. I wish America was less prone to theft. Compared to Tokyo, Mitaka was incredibly quiet and not very busy.
We found a Tsukemen ramen spot called Tetsu near the train station. Ordering from a machine was interesting, we had a bit of trouble but the lady working there was so sweet and tried to help us. Tsukemen has a more concentrated broth that you dip the noodles in instead of having a lot of liquid broth.
Next, we took the train to Nakano Broadway, a shopping area with a lot of toys and specialty shops. So many interesting or really creepy things in people’s collections. There may or may not have been a used underwear machine! hahaha
We headed back to Tokyo to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, a monolithic government building with an incredibly beautiful (and free!) view. The sun was setting on the city and being able to see it from such a high vantage point was awesome. It was super crowded at the top, but beautiful none the less. A great way to end a very memorable day.
