Most
of my time here in Japan, my goal is to be a local. Live like a local, act like
a local I don't want to be a tourist. But sometimes on your study abroad
experience, you just have to be a tourist. That means embracing all the tourist
attractions and acting like the American you are! And that's exactly what my
friends and I did! For five jam-packed days, we took our bags and made our way
to Tokyo for the ultimate tourist experience.
(Warning:
This is a long post!!!)
Day
1
The
adventure starts with actually trying to get to Tokyo. There's a couple ways to
get to Tokyo, airplane or shinkansen, or bullet train. The shinkansen is more
expensive, but we figured this is an experience. When will we ever ride it
again? So we make our way to Kyoto and hop on the shinkansen! It's a four hour
ride to Tokyo, but on the way, we get to see the landscape of Japan.
We
make our way to through the insanely busy station in Tokyo and eventually reach
the district where our Airbnb is located. Fun Fact! Apparently Airbnb is
illegal in Tokyo. We didn't know that until after our stay. Anyways, we walk
down the road towards the Airbnb, and we realize we are located near the Tokyo
Skytree! In Tokyo, there's two main towers where you can view the Tokyo
skyline- Tokyo Tower, and Tokyo Skytree. It was a nice surprise!
After
some time, we finally find the right building for our Airbnb. It was a
surprisingly nice room given the price. Another group of friends arrived to
Tokyo before us. They arrived to their room and were in horror. They had a
squatty potty. And the window looked right out to a concrete wall. We were
relieved to find a very normal toilet and shower in our Airbnb.
Since
we arrived in Tokyo around 4 p.m., the only thing we had planned was the Robot
Restaurant. The Robot Restaurant is THE touristy thing to do in Japan. Located
in Shinjuku, the place for Japanese nightlife, the Robot Restaurant is a dinner
and a show, though dinner is optional. This place is so touristy that
there were no Japanese people in the audience. There's nothing more Japanese
than giant robots right in your face fighting each other. It's insane. I highly
recommend going to the Robot Restaurant if you're ever in Tokyo.
After
the Robot Restaurant, we had back to our room for a nice early morning. That's
because we're going to...
Day
2
DISNEYLAND!!
Who
doesn't like Disneyland? No one, that's who. With one of my friends never been
to Disney before, and another friend and I loving Disney, it was only natural
to make plans to visit Tokyo Disneyland. To ensure we had tickets, we woke up
at 6 a.m. and made the two hour train ride to Disneyland. We entered the gates,
and it's just as magical as Disney World, with a few differences here and
there. Right off the bat, Main Street has a glass roof. This was Godsend since
it decided to rain all day long. There were also branching sides as well,
instead of the straight street in Disney World.
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| Even the train was Disney themed! |
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| They had a marching band playing classic songs. The glass roof made it dry! |
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| You could buy Mike Wazowki melon bread! |
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| A trip to Disney is never complete without a picture in front of the castle! |
Throughout
the day, the differences continued, but it was still just as fun! For example,
all the rides are in Japanese. But that doesn't mean you still can't enjoy
them! We rode Star Tours, located in Tomorrowland, twice despite the Japanese
voice acting. However, the Philharmagic definitely felt off with the Japanese.
In this attraction, you basically go through all the popular Disney songs. So
instead of hearing "A Whole New World" or "I Just Can't Wait to
Be King" in English, it was all in Japanese. Also, Goofy in Japanese just
doesn't sound right.
Perhaps
my favorite difference was Cinderella's Castle. In Tokyo Disneyland, they don't
have the meet and greets with the characters, like they do in the American
parks. As a result, they made in addition to Cinderella's Castle where you can
go inside and go to the Throne Room. It was truly unique.
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| Queen for about 30 seconds |
Another
fun fact about the park is that the food in both Disney Sea and Disneyland are
not theme with the area. Instead, it's just basic Japanese food. We found this
out the hard way when we went to Frontierland, knowing that one of the
restaurants back home was a Southern style restaurant. In Japan however, this
restaurant featured curry. Definitely not the biscuits and fried chicken we
were expecting.
Despite
the rain, my friends and I had a great time! We had a great cultural moment
observing something so similar, but seeing it in a different culture’s eyes.
Even how people act and dress at Disneyland is culture. At the park, everyone
was with someone. Going to the park alone is not a thing here. And the reason
why we knew that was because every group or couple matched. I'm not talking
about the "Reeve Family Reunion" matching T-shirts and khaki shorts.
Nope, I'm talking about either matching uniforms with matching ears,
fashionable outfits based on Disney characters, even the makeup and hair were
matching. It certainly made our little group feel out of place at times.
Our
day at Disneyland ends, however, that doesn't mean we're done with the park
yet!
Day
3
Next
day, Disney Sea!!
We
get up a little bit later this time, but we still make it 30 minutes after the
gates opening. Disney Sea is a completely unique park that you can only find in
Japan. All the rides are only found in Japan, with the exception of Indiana
Jones, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Magic Carpet ride. The theme of
the park revolves around different ports around the world. The areas are
Mediterranean, Mysterious Island (from the book by Jules Verne), American
Waterfront, Agrabah, Lost River Delta (themed around a jungle), and an
underground section dedicated to the Little Mermaid. With the park
sitting right on the sea, this theme is perfect for the area. And
thankfully, there was no rain today!!
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| King Triton's Castle |
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| Atlantica is all underground! |
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| You can even see Ariel's Grotto! |
And
our lucky continued throughout the day. Jenny, one of my friends, knew what all
the popular and must rides were, so we were able to get Fast Passes for the
biggest rides. The most popular ride at Disney Sea is definitely Journey
to the Center of the Earth. It operates much like Fast Track in EPCOT. Instead
of a 180 minute wait, we only waited for 45 minutes thanks to the fast passes!
It was intense, but I could totally see why it's one of the most popular
rides.
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| The mountain in the background is Mysterious Island. It's where you can go to the Center of the Earth! |
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| Inside Mysterious Island. Here you can explore 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea! |
My
favorite parts of the park is the fort that sits right below the mountain for
Journey to the Center of the earth. Here's a picture of it, so you can see for
yourself.
It's really striking as one of the first things you see in the park. It's also completely explorable!! Another favorite part is Agrabah. The area is dressed to the nines in mosaics. It's really stunning. And the double decker merry-go-round allows you to see the full area.
It's really striking as one of the first things you see in the park. It's also completely explorable!! Another favorite part is Agrabah. The area is dressed to the nines in mosaics. It's really stunning. And the double decker merry-go-round allows you to see the full area.
After
spending the full day there, we head back to the room for some much needed
rest.
Day
4
After
two days for intense walking, waking up early, and staying up late, we decided
to sleep in this day. Today is another packed day.
First
stop, Akihabara. In other words, the Geek Holy Land. This area in Tokyo is
famous for its hundreds of shops dedicated to anime, video games, figurines,
and many more geeky items. And it certainly holds up to its name! Lining the
streets were cramped stores filled with anime and video game merchandise. There
were claw machine games that held figurines and stuffed animals. There's also
cafes around this area. There's the infamous maid cafes, but there's also the
Final Fantasy Cafe and Square Enix (created of Final Fantasy games) Cafe.
Unfortunately, we couldn't get reservations for the cafes, but we were allowed
in and could take pictures of the interior. Much money was spent in this area.
After
a long day in Akihabara, we make our way to another famous district in Tokyo, Harajuku.
Harajuku is the fashion district in Japan. This is where the crazy fashion
styles of Japan can be found. There's also plenty of stores to be found in this
area. Unfortunately, we get there late enough that most stores were closing.
Despite Tokyo being bigger than NYC, it doesn't mean that the stores stay open
until midnight like they do in NYC. The stores in the biggest shopping center
close at 9 p.m., just like they do in little Hirakata. So with our trip to Harajuku
cut short, we made our way to our next stop.
In
my opinion, we saved the best for last- Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower can be done in
either the day or night, but I highly recommend going at night. The night view
of the city is specular. The inside was decorated with lights to resemble the
cherry blossoms just coming into bloom.
I
could talk more about the view, but I think I'll let the pictures do the rest
of the talking.
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| The lights were added to mimic sakura blossoms! |
Day
5
This
day was one of my friend's last days here until she had to leave for another
trip. So today was all about hitting up the areas she wanted to hit up! Today
was a temple run day. The first temple we hit was a local temple near our
Airbnb. Since it was a local one, it was nice and peaceful. Then we went to
Meiji Shrine, one of the most famous temples in Tokyo. This temple is dedicated
to Emperor Meiji, perhaps one of the most famous and well beloved Emperors in
Japanese history. Located next to the hustle and bustle of Harajuku, the giant
park gives a real contrast to the rest of the city. The forest like park gives
a real sense of peace.
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| It looks like my driveway! Just a lot bigger. |
After
going to Meiji, we went to the most controversial temple in Japan, Yasukuni
Temple. Here, the temple houses memorials for Japanese war heroes,
especially for WWII. However, some of these war heroes are declared war
criminals to the rest of the world. There's also the issue of Koreans being
dedicated as war heroes. Many Koreans were forced to fight for the
Japanese, resulting in their families wanting their family members removed from
the shrine. However, all the people held in memoriam here are also
declared kami, or gods. This makes the matter a little more complicated.
Doesn't mean it's right, just means it's a little complicated. Regardless of
the controversy, the temple was very beautiful.
After
a quick trip to the Pokemon Center in Tokyo, my friend makes her way on
her own little adventure. Thus, it's just Jenny and me. We head off to be
as we prepare for another great day in Tokyo.
Day
6
For
our last day in Tokyo, we meet up with a very special person, Funa! Funa was a foreign
exchange student at Maryville last year. Since she lives in Tokyo, we thought
this was the perfect time to meet up! It's really great to see your friends in
their home. Funa took my friend and I through Ueno Park, a giant park used for
the famous cherry blossom viewings and filled with temples, a zoo, and a couple
museums. We also stopped by a store and got panda bread! As we toured the
temples, it was great catching up with an old friend. Unfortunately, the
weather started to become very cold, leading us to cut our visit a bit short.
But it was great to see her again!
After
Ueno Park, my friend and I went to the Capcom Bar located in Shinjuku. The
Capcom Bar is a basically like a cafe based around famous Capcom games, such as
Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Phoenix Wright, and Street Fighter.
Since my friend loves Monster Hunter, she mostly ordered from that menu. I
ordered a bit from the Mega Man (or Rock Man in Japan), Monster Hunter, and
Phoenix Wright menu. It was definitely a great way to end our trip!
Day 7
Day 7
As
we make the very long journey home, we are beyond tired. We spend five, jammed
packed days in Tokyo. Here I was worried that we wouldn't have enough things to
do, but we still didn't see everything we wanted to see. Tokyo
is definitely a must see, but you have to remember that it doesn't
represent all of Japan, just like NYC doesn't represent all of the USA. The
giant city made me miss little Hirakata. I was so happy to be back. As fun as
Tokyo is, it didn't feel like home like Hirakata does. Being a tourist is
fun and all, but living here is what's really fun.