To Go or Not To Go: Tourist Hot Spots & Off the Beaten Path
There are definitely some activities that remain on my bucket list for traveling to Japan because of how far ahead you must book them. The Ghibli Museum, for example, has you get in line with up to 11,000 other potential patrons about one hour before tickets open for sale on the 10th of the month before you are going at 10am in Japan. Needless to say, I was not able to secure my ticket. I was not able to go to this experience & others like the new Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, which was just plain booked for months before I even started my own scheduling process. Let me tell you about what I was able to book instead, mostly using the Klook app.
Much of what I booked in advance were the classes I have written about in “Travel Light, Take a Class”; outside of the craft classes I scheduled a morning tour in Nara, & art experiences like teamLab Planets in Tokyo. To speak directly to my afternoon at teamLab, it had highs & lows. The highlight of the moment being the Garden Area, where thousands of live orchids cascade from the ceiling of an almost entirely mirrored room. The smell was phenomenal, the sight was otherworldly, I cried three times. I did not nearly have as strong of an emotional reaction to the rest & I must express my regret in not going into this room last. Being able to get tickets for this is still 100% worth it but maybe try for an earlier time-slot than right at noon like me. While this exhibit is, by design, meant for you to capture as much as possible on your phone, especially if you’re an influencer, I still recommend putting your phone away to experience this art directly for yourself. If they could make a perfume that mimics the smell of those orchids, I wouldn’t even look at the cost.
On the same day I took my morning tour to Nara, I also decided to take my free afternoon to make my way to Senbon Torii in Kyoto. The day prior, while I was wrestling with a Japanese clothes dryer at the hotel, I had tried to get there while I was waiting. I came to learn that no matter where you’ve been, no matter how many subways you’ve navigated, you cannot approach the Japanese subway system with overconfidence. After going in a complete circle the first try without a device, & another round getting trapped on a platform because of the way I had scanned in my Suica card, I had given up on this visit for that day. I had then spent the rest of my time relaxing in the hotel onsen before having beef udon noodle soup for dinner. When I did arrive at the Torii Gates the following day, it was as much of a mob scene as Nara was that morning; of course this is typical for a sunny Saturday in a tourist hotbed.
The Torii Gates were a breathtaking experience, & the pedestrian traffic was among the heaviest of my trip. Unfortunately I was weary of the crowds by this point on what became a very hot day, & another tourist overheard me make a silly remark about it under my breath. Sorry about that, whoever you are; at that point I was feeling overwhelmed & I only had the air to vent my frustrations to. Feeling mentally squished by the crowds, I was relieved to find a quiet hiking path to the Fushimi Kandakara Shrine, which features dragons. The path past this shrine in a bamboo forest took me to a sparsely occupied cemetery, these kinds of places are where I have found a lot of peace in my life. That may sound morbid but it was nice to find a moment of solitude & silence among the deceased. This is where I donated a coin & participated in the typical Shinto prayer (two bows, two claps, & a bow); I said my thanks to the dead for allowing me to observe their place of rest. I was also pleased to encounter a Karasu ( Carrion Crow), who cheekily took a swoop at my head.
About half of my stay were free days I left open in case I needed rest, do laundry, or to go on walkabouts. One day I spent mostly doing laundry, which was much more convenient in an Airbnb where they give you a hanger to air dry your clothing during the day. Even on one day of rest in Nakano, Tokyo, I still managed about 10,000 steps because I decided to take a jaunt up to Nakano Broadway; a pedestrian shopping arcade not unlike Teramachi in Kyoto. Given that I had arrived in time for the Sakura blossoms at their peak, the most popular tourist spots were regularly packed like sardines. Coming from the rural Green Mountains of Vermont, I found this shift from my low density to high density quite exciting, even if exhausting. The first time I found myself packed in was my walk through Shibuya to the Meiji Jingu Shrine within Yoyogi Park. I happened upon Community Day in the park at this time, which also attracted large crowds. This is where I met a Karasu up close at the Meiji Shrine, which subsequently inspired my tattoo from the lovely Three Tides Tattoo Shinsekai in Osaka later in my trip. Understandably, not everyone would include this in their own travel experience but I am pleased to say that you can book ahead if you want to but these talented artists also accept walk-ins to their studio. Even given some strict social standards towards tattoos in Japan, I am pleased to have picked up this ritual on my travels.
I believe some of the former restrictions on tattooed individuals are being lifted, slowly but surely. I was fortunate that hotels I stayed in either offered covers or had no restrictive policy that prevented you from enjoying their onsen. If you are willing to let go of any personal convictions about public nudity you may have, going to the onsen is essential to traveling in Japan. Though I did not book these myself, there are private onsen you can book for yourself. These are a community space to unwind, you will see friends washing each others backs & adults helping their elderly parents or grandparents wash up to relax as well. I can only speak for myself, but even with some tattoos I did not find people staring at me ever. I was able to relax at the end of most days in a way that helped immensely to get me acclimated to the time shift. So whether you book privately, go for the exclusive hotel, or try a public facility; you would seriously miss out if you didn’t try an onsen. There was no shortage of experiences to enjoy in Japan & for everything I had mapped out I was barely able to scratch the surface. I knew I would be feeling this way when I returned home: there is much left to discover therefore one day I must return to Japan. This will also not be my last post about this trip, so thank you for reading & stay tuned for more!
How about that view?