The bridge dressed in glitter
"In synonymous with life transitions
Ducks in the river
The crescent in perfection
As we continue to search for stars in the sky -- the seaker
The smell of the water during sunset
The reds, the hues
The chill in my body the blues
The jazz in my soul
The quiet in my bone
Music to my ears amidst the silence the tranquil..
The green of the grass
the lovers looking into each other's eyes feeling the present, promising the future
The bridge dressed in glitter..."
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- Kamiya Kumar & Kayhan Sanyal (A work in progress poetry)
Himeji Castle
Japan was always on our bucket-list and when we saw a steal on flight tickets we just had to grab the opportunity! The cherry on the cake was that the tickets were available for my 31st birthday.
Itinerary
Our Itinerary included the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima and places around these cities. We didn't know this at the time but our decision to get the Japan Rail Pass was a spontaneous travellers dream come true. It provided unparalleled access to the country through its railway system. At $270 for 7 days of unlimited travel, it seems a bit pricey at first but was the best decision we took!
Golden Gai
We checked into our hotel in the central and lively Shinjuku area of Tokyo and made our way to Golden Gai to start the birthday celebrations. Golden Gai was a great experience! Tiny alleys where the roof covered the sky above us, gave us a taste of 1940 Tokyo. The place is home to numerous bars and restaurants seating 5-8 people at max. The bartenders double down as PR agent and try to woo you to their quaint spot with offers of Sake, Umeshu, and Japanese whiskey. While many places charge a seating fee ranging from 700-1000 yen per person, a few really nice places won't charge you anything. Be mindful of the rates of the drinks because you may end up paying more. We learnt it the hard way. Drinks range from 600-800 yen. Rest assured you will meet travelers and locals who have come to experience this unique setting. FYI it's not a date spot.
Toshodaiji, Nara
$1350 per person
9
days
03/11/18-03/18/18
Getting There​
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Flight Duration: 16+ hour
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Cost: $490
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Train from Narita to Tokyo
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JR Pass: $270
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100 Yen = $1
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Stay
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Kyoto at Almont Hotel: $66​
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Hiroshima at Hotel Granvia: $150
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Our hotel in Tokyo although expensive was really bad so not recommending.
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Stay in a Capsule Hotel just for the experience.
Food
This is where it gets really good​
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Ramen (Food court at the Train Station and Ippudo in Tokyo)
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Kobe Grill (At Kobe or place in Tokyo - Lunch is cheaper than Dinner)
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Sushi at Tokyo's Fish Market
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Katsu Curry
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Shabu Shabu
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Okonomiyaki at Hiroshima
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Yakitori street food
Local Travel
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JR Pass Hands Down: at $270 you can catch bullet trains to anywhere for a week in addition to trains in the city.
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Highlights
Tokyo
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Tokyo Fish Market (5am)
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Kamakura (Buddha Statue)
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Museum of Art and Natural History
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Sushi
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Host and Hostess Cafe in the red light district and general Nightlife.
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Golden Gai
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Onsen in the North
Kyoto
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Shrines
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Food at Kyoto Station (Ramen is Yum)
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Beer near the river
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Yamazaki Distillery
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Nara Day Trip
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Sumo Wrestling in Osaka (We missed this)
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Show in the Geisha District.
Hiroshima
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Peace Memorial
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Hiroshima Castle
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Park
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Okonomiyaki
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Miyajima
The next day left for the cute Buddhist town of Nara, 1 hour away from Kyoto on the JR line. The town is well know for it's stupas, temples, deer and is perfect for a half day trip from Kyoto. At the hub of Buddhism in Japan, Nara is home to the Buddha statue at todaiji and the ashes of Buddha himself supposedly brought to Nara by a high priest and located at Toshotaiji Temple complex ($6 entry). The parks surrounding Todaiji are home to many deer and many travellers come there to feed them special cookies that you get from vendors in the area. Other places to see is the Yakushiji Temple complex, which has scenes from Buddha's life ($16 entry + $5 to enter the pillars).
Nara
The city is well connected and three bus routes service all parts of the town but I would strongly recommend taking a bike and cycling through the quaint town. Although we were a little early for the Cherry Blossom we got to see some peach blossoms in the Yakushiji Temple complex.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
2 hours and 20 minutes away from Tokyo is the once capital city of Kyoto. Kyoto is a quintessential Japanese town and just how I imagined Japan to be. Hustle and bustle amidst Edo architecture! The city is filled with shrines and we didn’t do all of them but it is perfect place to use as a base as you travel the south of Japan. The center point of Shinto practices, the shrines are three orange coloured pieces of wood bound together like a gate or pathway and come in all numbers and sizes. At Fushimi Inari Taisha (one such shrine) it seems like 1000 such gates form two path - one leading forward and one leading back. They say you make any wish and run through them both and it comes true.
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Ok, honestly its just a walk. It really is. Yes you are surrounded by towering Bamboo groves and yes it is really picturesque but the groves are a good hour away and if you don’t get there early in the morning you will be surrounded by a swarm of people (luckily we made it in the morning). So if you have never seen bamboo groves in your life and have an early morning to kill. Do it! Also I think there were some around Kamakura which is less touristy so you could make your way there.
Kinkakuji, Kyoto
Kinkaku-ji is spectacular. Must see! Again gets a little crowded but totally worth it and there is some amazing green tea ice-cream outside. So indulge! To sum it up some of the sites that we strongly recommend in Kyoto would be Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kinkaku-ji, Geisha District and the Arashiyama Bamboo Groves. Cycle around town, grab some beers and go down to the river bank and chill.
Shinto Shrine, Miyajima
Buddha Statue, Kamakura
Nara
The Geisha way of life is synonymous to Japanese culture. The Geisha women practice the art of entertaining and are considered to be perfectionist. They come from a house where they live in as an apprentice, or meiko, learning to become consorts. Here they practice till they become a Geiko. I wonder if the age old culture will even allow men to attempt to become a Geisha. That would truly be disruptive! #its2018. If you can I would totally recommend seeing their performance.
Yamazaki Distillery
A favourite part of the trip was going to the Yamazaki distillery where we literally experienced a whiskey buffet. OMG heaven! Yamazaki 30 years for $30 is a steal. You also have super great whiskey for $6-10. Though remember to book your tickets to the distillery tour well in advance. Those go really fast!
Hiroshima Peace Dome
Hiroshima Peace Memorial
On 6th August 1945 at 8:15 AM, the United States of America dropped the first ever atomic bomb turning the world upside down forever. The bomb, little boy, exploded 600 meters above the building and was strategically targeted since it’s the zero milestone of the city. Among the cities shortlisted for the bombings were Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Yokohama based on criterions such as the size of the city, prominence, and topography enabling maximum damage. These cities were left untouched by nightly bombings at that time to assess the true damage cause by a nuclear weapon. Almost everyone killed by the bomb were civilians. One thought that left both Kamiya and me dumbfounded was that amidst the horrors that the world has witnessed in the past, we failed to fathom how 72 years later, choices we are making on a daily basis as human beings are wrought by hate, destruction and power. We need endless love, compassion and empathy to transform the world where we currently reside.
Himeji Castle
Hiroshima Castle
On the way back from Hiroshima we stopped by at Himeji Castle, a UNESCO world heritage site. We went up all the floors of the castle and got a beautiful view of the city from the top. We highly recommend stopping here as it is one of the best preserved sites and you can still see the secret chambers of the samurai shoguns.
Takaragawa Onsen*
*Image is Borrowed from the web
The best kept non-secrets of Japan are the natural hot springs called "Onsens". Public baths are yet another aspect of Japanese culture that must be experienced. While most of the onsen in and around Tokyo and to the south of it are gender specific, there are Onsens in the north that are mixed gender onsens. This was amazing since both Kamiya and I wanted to share the experience together. We found one that was in the middle of snow capped mountains in the open and headed there in a Shinkansen. After 3.5 hours of traveling we reached Takaragawa a Ryokan resort in the north. Takaragawa had both mixed gender Onsen and gender specific Onsen. The water was nice and hot and the views were magnificent. We spent the day there dipping, drinking, and eating. It was absolute bliss. Definitely read about the manners of using an onsen to avoid offending anyone. This was a highlight of our trip!
We made our way back to Tokyo for the next few days. Tokyo is a quirky city with Robot bars, maid cafes, and love hotels. Love hotels are fantasy themed hotel rooms which people can book by the hour. That said I would recommend looking staying in one as the room sizes are definitely bigger. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, and Shimokitawaza are some neighbourhoods to explore and sushi in Tokyo is the freshest. The museums in Tokyo are fantastic and give great insight into the history. The great thing is that all of them are located really close to each other so you can visit them all in one go.
Food and Japan go hand in hand. WOW! We were in grub heaven - Kobe Grills, Ramen, Yakitori on the street, Onigiri at 7/11's (haha! I lost it), Katsu Curry, and Okonomiyaki. We did miss out on a few things and we went 1 week outside of the cherry blossoms blooming. I guess this gives us a reason to come back!
~ Kayhan K. Sanyal