Japan

Tokyo, my first stop in Japan, has about 13 million people. To help put that in perspective, New York City has less than 8.5 million. That is a lot of people. The Greater Tokyo Area has 35 million people and is the world's largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of $1.191USD trillion (according to Wikipedia). Tokyo is a huge, cool, interesting, and fascinating place full of contradictions, suits and white shirts on men, good food, and loads of things that make no sense. In the end, though, there is not that much.

I anticipated on spending four nights there and feeling that I had only seen a fraction of the city (how you would feel if you spend four nights in NYC) but after walking around for 8 hours the first day I was there I looked at a map and realized I had covered about 75% of the city. Obviously there is more to do than what I did in that 75%, but I can say I got a good feel for each area and could certainly describe the differences between them. Do not get the wrong idea. I really enjoyed my time in Tokyo; it really is a cool city. I ended up spending three nights there and the first night was just me arriving, getting the following day organized, and going to sleep after a very long flight.

A few things about Tokyo that will stick with me:

1. The fish market: The fish market in Tokyo is the biggest fish market in the world and known among visitors to be one of the craziest things you can see in Japan (which says a lot). It lived up to its reputation. It is like nothing I have ever seen. The floor is covered with bloodied sea water. There are all sorts of creatures for sale, some dead and some alive. Some tiny some enormous. Some rather pleasant looking others terrifying. There is yelling, pushing, weird electric carts rushing about. All this was around 6:30AM. The market dies down around 8AM, but starts before dawn, with a tuna auction. I wanted to see this auction so that I could see the biggest tuna caught before they are cut up but the auction takes place before public transportation starts running for the day and the market is too far to walk to from my hostel.

Next to the fish market is where just about everybody goes for the traditional breakfast given the location: sushi. My and a guy I met at the hostel waited in line for about 1.5 hours with mostly locals (a good sign) to eat the most expensive, freshest, and best sushi I have ever had. Now, this sushi is expensive (the least expensive pieces run about $3 each), but if you go to the part of town right next door, which "boasts" the most expensive real estate in the world, the meal would cost ten fold.

2. Shibuya: The Shibuya ward of Tokyo, specifically the Shibuya crossing, pretty much sums modern Japan. This video was not taken by me, though I did take video of the crossing. That happens over and over and over. It is truly stunning to see.

3. The trains and train culture: Tokyo's train system is like nothing I have ever seen. It is not only that the system is so extensive, but it is also the culture train riding. Other than the sound of the train and any other ambient noise, the train is quiet. Almost nobody talks on the train. You are not allowed to talk on your phone. Just about everybody closes their eyes and sleeps no matter what the hour is. It is weird.

From Tokyo I took a Japan Rail (JR) train to Osaka, with a stop in Shizuoka with the intention of getting some views of Mount Fuji. The JR train itself is a trip. The train is moving so fast that unless you are looking at something very far you do not have time to see it. So the idea of seeing the country on the JR train is foiled. However, falling asleep on the train is dangerous because if you miss your stop you will end up really far from where you want to go. It was too foggy to see Mount Fuji but Shizuoka is very nice by itself. It is full of parks and small streets to explore.

Osaka is often not visited by tourists because it is thought of as too similar to Tokyo. This is true in that both are big cities with similarities, but false in that one is a substitute for the other. Osaka has a different feel to it. The people are less busy and have more personality. That said, they are similar and I do understand why many skip it in favor of allocating that time elsewhere.

While in Osaka I took a day trip to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan, and another day trip to Kobe. Koyto is nice, full of shrines and temples. I think most people spend too much time in Kyoto as I felt I had enough in a day. Maybe two days would be preferable to one, but more than that is overkill.

Kobe was just OK but I think I was in a bad mood so did not really enjoy it much. Had I been in a better mood I am sure I would have enjoyed it more. What I did like most about my Kobe day was the sake brewery that I went to. I got a few tasting of different sakes and ended up buy a bottle. It was interesting and funny to listen to the guy tell me about each different sake and what makes each unique. I ended up buying a bottle and will ship it home from China.

Overall, Japan is a really interesting place. I do not understand 99% of what is going on there. Seriously. The phrase that I learned to explain anything in Japan that I cannot think of a rationale explanation for is, "This is Japan." At first, this did not satisfy me as explanation, but it really is sufficient. I really liked Japan and would certainly visit again.