My trip to Japan (summary)
Wow! What a trip! This trip to Japan is actually the first true overseas holiday trip I've ever made (company trips do not count), and it was really nice to be able to travel with a bunch of friends, if only for a short while.
On the whole, it was an enjoyable trip, although at this point in time, I must confess that I am suffering a little from temple-fatigue -- I must have seen like twenty or thirty Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines (not to mention a few churches) ever since arriving in Japan.
Language was a serious barrier. Using a combination of broken Japanese and pidgin English, we were generally able to get around to finding places and asking for directions. Gesturing and good drawing skills help somewhat when words fail. However, broken Japanese / pidgin English does not always work, especially when it comes to disputes with shopkeepers (which I will describe in detail when I talk about Hakuba).
For most of the first week of the trip (to be precise days 1-3, 5-7), I was travelling with Priscilla, Mervyn and Gabriel, Pouyan and my sister. After that I mostly travelled on my own as I hopped from one place to another around Kansai and Kyushu.
Before I go into details of the trip, I shall provide a high-level summary of the trip (geee, this is starting to sound a bit like work) so that it will be easier for reading, and for me to organize my thoughts when I document my escapades in Japan.
This was my itinerary in Japan:
These are the cities I visited:
Honshu
- Tokyo
- Chiba
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Hiroshima
- Okayama
- Himeji
- Nagano / Hakuba
Kyushu
- Nagasaki
- Fukuoka / Hakata
All of these cities are south and west of Tokyo. To get an idea of where these cities are, refer to the red dots on the following map (click to see a larger version of the map):
Hakuba is not named on the map, but it is about 40km west of Nagano.
On the whole, it was an enjoyable trip, although at this point in time, I must confess that I am suffering a little from temple-fatigue -- I must have seen like twenty or thirty Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines (not to mention a few churches) ever since arriving in Japan.
Language was a serious barrier. Using a combination of broken Japanese and pidgin English, we were generally able to get around to finding places and asking for directions. Gesturing and good drawing skills help somewhat when words fail. However, broken Japanese / pidgin English does not always work, especially when it comes to disputes with shopkeepers (which I will describe in detail when I talk about Hakuba).
For most of the first week of the trip (to be precise days 1-3, 5-7), I was travelling with Priscilla, Mervyn and Gabriel, Pouyan and my sister. After that I mostly travelled on my own as I hopped from one place to another around Kansai and Kyushu.
Before I go into details of the trip, I shall provide a high-level summary of the trip (geee, this is starting to sound a bit like work) so that it will be easier for reading, and for me to organize my thoughts when I document my escapades in Japan.
This was my itinerary in Japan:
| Day | Date | Location | Places visited |
| 1 | 15 Jan (Sun) | Tokyo (東京) | Harajuku (原宿), Shinjuku (新宿) |
| 2 | 16 Jan (Mon) | Kyoto (京都) | Kinkakuji (金閣寺), Gion (祇園) |
| 3 | 17 Jan (Tue) | Kyoto (京都) | Kiyomizu Dera (清水寺), Way of the Philosopher (哲学の道), Ginkakuji (銀閣寺), Heian Shrine (平安神宮) |
| 4 | 18 Jan (Wed) | Nara (奈良) | Nara Koen (奈良公園), Kofukuji (興福寺), Daibutsuden (大仏殿) |
| 5 | 19 Jan (Thu) | Tokyo (東京) | Tokyo Disneyland |
| 6 | 20 Jan (Fri) | Tokyo (東京) | Akihabara (秋葉原), Asakusa (浅草), Shinjuku (新宿) |
| 7 | 21 Jan (Sat) | Tokyo (東京) | Chiba (千葉), Harajuku (原宿) |
| 8 | 22 Jan (Sun) | Tokyo (東京) | Imperial Palace (), Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社) |
| 9 | 23 Jan (Mon) | Hiroshima (広島) | A really loooong 7 hours journey (90 minutes from Chiba to Tokyo, and then 5 hours by Hikari Shinkansen to Hiroshima |
| 10 | 24 Jan (Tue) | Hiroshima (広島) | Miyajima (宮島), A-Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム), A-Bomb Museum () |
| 11 | 25 Jan (Wed) | Nagasaki (長崎), Fukuoka / Hakata (福岡・博多) | Temple Street (寺町), Chinatown (新天地), Dejima (出島), Atomic Bomb Museum () |
| 12 | 26 Jan (Thu) | Okayama (岡山), Himeji (姫路) | Koraku-en Park (後楽園), Himeji Castle (姫路城) |
| 13 | 27 Jan (Fri) | Nagano (長野), Hakuba (白馬) | Hakuba Town |
| 14 | 28 Jan (Sat) | Hakuba (白馬) | Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort (白馬五竜スキー) |
| 15 | 29 Jan (Sun) | Hakuba (白馬) | Hakuba Goryu Ski Resort (白馬五竜スキー) |
| 16 | 30 Jan (Mon) | Chiba (千葉) | 7-11, Olympic (*lol*) |
| 17 | 31 Jan (Mon) | Narita (千葉), Singapore (シンガポール) | Home sweet home |
These are the cities I visited:
Honshu
- Tokyo
- Chiba
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Hiroshima
- Okayama
- Himeji
- Nagano / Hakuba
Kyushu
- Nagasaki
- Fukuoka / Hakata
All of these cities are south and west of Tokyo. To get an idea of where these cities are, refer to the red dots on the following map (click to see a larger version of the map):
Hakuba is not named on the map, but it is about 40km west of Nagano.
