Paul Grau

japan

Impressions on Japan from my trip in summer 2011.

Japan really fulfilled my expectations. It is very strange, indeed.

Everything is so different there. It starts with obvious aspects like infrastructure and architecture and doesn't end with people's attitudes.

I found it to be actually quite relaxed. And of course it's very clean and safe. It's definitely a good, though quite costly, place to travel.

Don't make the mistake to travel the whole country in a month. (I traveled from Nagasaki to Tokyo in 2 weeks, which was far too short.) Focus on one area, and get off the beaten path. (I love that phrase.)

One time I just took a train in any direction because I had some hours left before my actual train left. Just one station ahead the train was crossing an incredible canyon with a station actually on the bridge. I couldn't believe my eyes and jumped off the train. (For the curious, the station was called Hozukyo, near Kyoto. There's a picture of it on the right ->)

Go to Tokyo and take lots of time with you. It's huge but not at all intimidating. There are lots of different districts each a little tour in its own. The circle line is very convenient and even when crowded quite manageable.

I was in town when it was struck by a medium Tsunami. Train traffic came to a halt and people had to wait at stations for hours, but no one bothered. Outside umbrellas flew all over the place. It was a very special, peaceful situation. (As a side note, it was actually quite difficult to find English speaking people on the street.)

I want to recommend Fukuoka. It's a comparably small metropolis with a chilled athmosphere. It features a nice shopping district, a huge lake, Japanese garden, museums, art galleries and the like. For a start, it's much more manageable (and walkable) than Tokyo.

From there it's not far to Nagasaki, which I would choose over Hiroshima if I had to. It's small, friendly and peaceful. The atomic bomb memorial museum is impressive.

In Hiroshima, I actually preferred nearby Miyajima. A very nice hostel with great staff is located on the mainland, just a few steps away from the station, and the island makes a georgeous day trip.

Hiroshima is not really bad, either. Especially the food (Okonomiyaki... in front of you prepared incredibly delicious kind-of omelette) is great, and of course the peace memorials are as impressive as Nagasaki's, but the city is much larger and wanna-be cosmopolitan, in my opinion.

You can safely skip Osaka. It's not a bad city, but not really a great one as well. At night time Dotomburi is quite cool, but apart from that it's superfluous and quite big. The underground shopping malls near the main station are huge and crowded, I actually got lost in them. Not exactly a recommendation.

Do go to Nara when in the Kyoto area. It's an easy side trip and really worth it. A very small town with lots of historic sights like temples, parks and wild deer grabbing maps out of your back pocket (this actually happened to me).

Kyoto is nice as well. Again, the food... I loved Banzai, a buffet style lunch. The temples in the north east are also worth visiting, while the central park is not. Because I didn't find any hostel nor hotel in Kyoto I spent one night in a kind of internet cafe near Shin-Osaka. This was a memorable experience. For a reasonable price you can spend the night in a reclining chair with internet connection, a huge collection of (Japanese) Manga and DVDs, free drinks and a shower at your disposal, set in a dimmed, chilled and private athmosphere.

After my trip, I felt like having missed so much on the way. I definitely need to come back as soon as time and money allow it. Predominantly money.