15 days. Such a short time, but 15 days in Japan changed my life.

Like many trips these days, it started with a flight.

I flew from Arizona, to LA, to Seoul, to Narita (Tokyo). Or at least that was the plan. I actually ended up missing my connecting flight in Seoul because we were late going out of LAX (Lots of construction going on there at the time, and I get the feeling that it's pretty hectic to begin with there). We were flying Korean Air and I didn't really know what to expect from them, but I have to say that I was pretty blown away by how well they handled everything.

Even though I missed our connection, they had let us know what to expect before we even started to descend for landing. Then once we arrived they were standing there with a sign with my name on it and tickets for a flight to Haneda (Tokyo's OTHER airport) just 40 minutes from when we landed. It actually worked out pretty well since Haneda was closer to my hotel and less expensive to get to. Was hardly even late for when we should have arrived.

HOW OFTEN DOES THAT CRAP HAPPEN!?

As far as travel was concerned, everything else was pretty stellar. I ended up seeing Tokyo and Kyoto with a short detour over to Fujikawaguchiko (say that 3 times fast) to check out Mt Fuji and to see what a Ryokan has to offer.

For those who don't know what a Ryokan is, they are a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically include traditional tatami (straw panel) floors, convertible rooms common bathing areas (with water from nearby hot springs//Onsen//温泉), and they often include food. They're typically in a scenic area and I happen to be about to ramble on about one.

The room was remarkably comfortable and the view was AMAZING .

They convert the room from living room to bedroom in the evening, which basically involves moving the table/chairs over and pulling out Japanese Futons (think fluffy padded sleeping bag/mattress, not folding couch). I don't mind sleeping on the floor to begin with, but I'd probably actually prefer this over a lot of the beds I've slept on.

The food at the Ryokan was pretty fantastic as well. I ain't talkin' bout no self serve egg product and cereal. They brought a 3 course meal to the room for dinner and we had something equally as impressive for breakfast in the dining hall the next day.

Felt a bit spoiled staying there, not going to lie.
Oh, and I really liked the hot springs baths. I enjoyed the hot springs in Colorado as well for the same reasons. Hot Tub + Mountain Views = a good time.

Considering that it was a room for 2 and included all of that stuff it wasn't too bad on the price considering I paid ~$300USD a night. For me it was a bit too posh, but it was a really neat experience that I am glad I had. The area was absolutely beautiful though. Went up a nearby mountain and got to look in awe at Mt Fuji. Would have been neat to climb that one, but that's just another adventure for next time.

Pretty though, innit? I can only show you so much through the limited pictures that I have, but the mountains were gorgeous. My phone actually imploded the day I got back so I lost most of the pictures. C'est la vie. Also, if you were curious where I stayed, it's a place called Kasuitei Ooya (link below)

Most everything that I did while I was out there was relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. I would actually say that aside from the Ryokan, the stuff that I spent more money on tended to be less rewarding than the cheaper alternative. For example, I took a hop on/hop off sightseeing bus around Kyoto to see a few of the "must see" tourist stops but I actually had more fun taking random public transit to some other places the next day.

I spent nearly an entire day walking around the Kyoto Botanical Gardens and that cost me a grand total of 200yen ($2 roughly). When earlier in the week I had spent $10-20 to get into some of the places along the sightseeing bus route that I spent maybe an hour in and were basically a nice place or two to take a photo, a small nature reserve, and a bunch of vendors selling treats and knick knacks.

Kyoto was a pretty amazing city. I seem to like smaller cities more than metropolis (metropolises? Metropoli?) in general, but it's also kind of the scenery of the old capital with the mountains and rivers appearing prominently throughout the city. It was a bit more my style rather than Tokyo as far as cities go, but I still liked Tokyo a lot as well. There were a lot of places with greenery around Tokyo as well, they were just a little bit more buried.

I also happened to be in Japan on International Museum Day, so I ended up going to the Tokyo National Museum and a couple of smaller art museums while I was out there (all for free). May seems like a good month for travel if you like that sort of stuff. I personally like museums, they give me a chance to ham it up with priceless works of art.

Exhibit A

Also, if you have any plans on traveling there but you're freaked out like "OMG, but Brains! I don't speak any of the local language!" I think you'll find that if you're capable of reading this post, then you'll be fine in Japan (and presumably many places in Asia). Unless you're a bit off of the beaten path, everything has an English translation and most people speak at least some English. As far as I understand it, English has sort of become a de facto intermediary language for a lot of countries around the world and Asia is no exception.

English really doesn't help me much in South America, but even if you're somewhere where you have no common language it's really not THAT bad struggling through to get what you want if you need something from the store or the like. I had been learning some Japanese in my spare time (i.e. painfully slowly) for a while so I did use it a little bit, but I didn't really need it in most cases. Seemed like everywhere I went they would automatically talk to me in english if they spoke it before a single word came out of my mouth. Guess being a whitey in an Asian country makes you stand out a bit.

Also... It was remarkably clean. I mean seriously, how do you convince the collective citizens of a metropolis to not throw trash all over the sidewalks. Especially when there are zero trash cans around. I know that isn't the most exciting thing to talk about, but it kind of blows my mind.

This post is extremely brief for everything that I experienced there, but it has already been a few months since I was there. I don't want to sit here and glorify something that happened in the past over and over here, but it really was life changing for me. I didn't want to write a novel about it on here, but I did want to write about it.

I can't wait to go back and see what else the country has to offer. I spent a very small amount of time exploring a place that I've wanted to go for years, and it's not by any means the only country on my bucket list. If I continue at the rate that I am going I'll never even come close to going everywhere that I want to. Not only that, but I spent most of my time in Japan walking around in the cities checking out attractions, food, and shopping. The dream I had of going to Japan (well, Asia in general) was more about seeing the countryside, finding off the beaten path sights, really absorbing what the culture and people had to offer. The tourist experience is great, but there's more to be had than Japan: the theme park ride.

I'm going back. And I'm going to take my time and see all the things that I missed out last time. And I'm going to share the experience with anyone who is interested, you included. This time without the strict time constraints and relationship issues getting in the way. Next time... I'm going to climb some frickin mountains.

It's a wonderful time to be alive; and I appreciate all of the technological and scientific advancements that make our comfortable lives possible, but I think that we have somehow forgotten just how much this planet gives to us. We are content to live in our own self created bubble while there is a real, visceral experience to be had when you go out and connect with nature. I enjoy experiencing the cities and walking around, but I love exploring any place where there's mountains, running water, wildlife, etc.

I will cherish the experience that I had, but there's really no reason to compromise. Life is short.

I've made my fair share compromises, but that's the past and this is now. I've learned from it, and I'm realizing that life is out there waiting to be seized. There's nothing stopping me from going back and seeing what I've missed. Sure, there are obstacles, but you don't stop every time you run into a speed bump in the road.

It's all about how far you're willing to go.

How important is it to you? How important to you are the things that you would sacrifice?
There is invariably going to be sacrifice in any decision you make, it's just a question of what you're sacrificing.

If you've got the will and you're not sacrificing anything you'd lament the loss of, I'd say shoot for whatever it is you want.
That's what I'm going for.

In summation: Japan is a beautiful country. Lot of Asians though... (couldn't resist).

-- Brains

(Braaaaiiinnnsss)

Sources:
All mine except for the food, that was from http://www.kasuiteiooya.com/
(Direct Link: Food Picture)

PS. Stay thirsty my friends

PPS. the first picture is in front of some facility in Kyoto. Think it's part of a nearby Buddhist temple, but I'm not 100% sure. I just thought they were neat.