Hello there! It's about time I blog about my experiences in the incredible country of Japan. It is my second favorite country (after Italy) out of the fifteen I've been to. I have never felt such peace within a big city as I did in Tokyo. It is so clean, there is no traffic because everyone takes the trains, and the people are extraordinarily nice. There are areas with tall skyscrapers, tons of lights and crowds of people... and then within maybe half a mile is a completely serene shrine or quiet temple area with amazing history and a restful atmosphere.
Also one of the best things about my trip to Tokyo was that my brother Stephan lives there, and he and his roommate generously let my friends and I stay at his awesome apartment in Akihabara, the technological center of Tokyo. Cara and I got to sleep on futons in a traditional tatami mat tea room which was really special. It was really nice to spend some time with family as I will not be going home for Christmas this year.
We had 3 weeks off of work in October for the in-between semesters break. So Cara, Grant, and I left for Tokyo the first morning of our break (October 6th) and were there until October 14th.
--- 10/6 ---
We arrived Saturday afternoon, exhausted after our early morning start and 8-hour flight. That night Stephan's landlady Marico took us out to dinner at a nearby delicious Italian place. Funny first meal in Japan right? But we had a nice time and would soon get our fill of sushi, noodles, and sashimi. Marico is one of the nicest ladies on the face of the planet. She gave us food almost every day while we were in Tokyo, had us over to her apartment for a homemade sushi dinner, and gave us many gifts when we left.
 |
Marico, Stephan, Grant, Cara, and myself
|
--- 10/7 ---
On Sunday, Stephan along with his friend Ayu and roommate Rich took us to a beautiful area a bit outside of Tokyo called Kamakura. We walked down some nice shopping streets till we got to a beautiful area with lots of trees and a temple at the top of a hill.
 |
| My brother and I walking near his apartment |
 |
| Kamakura |
 |
| I love the kimonos! |
When we got near the temple, there was an event going on, with people in traditional clothes, and men riding horses at high speeds with amazing costumes on, while using a huge bow and arrow to shoot a target! We weren't sure what it was for but it was a really cool unplanned thing we got to see! Unfortunately there were too many people/the horses were going to fast to get any pictures.
 |
| Ayu, Grant, Rich, Stephan, me, Cara |
We then went and saw a huge, old buddha. It was quite beautiful and we all took lots of pictures. By now we had already fallen in love with Japan. The sound of Japanese was so beautiful to our ears (It sounds like the French of Asian languages to me), the weather was perfect, and everything was so beautiful that I couldn't stop taking pictures! I took over a thousand in a week!
 |
| My brother & I. :) |
Then we went to a beach for a bit and enjoyed the beautiful sunset.
For dinner we had our first sushi in Japan! We went to a sushi-go-round place, where you just grab whatever plate of sushi looks good going around on the conveyer belt next to your table. There were chefs preparing the sushi right there and it was so fresh and delicious.
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Cara, me and Ayu, happy with our sushi :) |
--- 10/8 ---
On Monday, Stephan took us to the famous Harajuku area. On our way there, we wandered through Omote-Sando and turned off the main street to a less crowded, but really cool shopping area down some side streets. (the places off the beaten path are ALWAYS the best... just a traveler's tip for you.)
 |
| Omote-Sando |
 |
| There was a store called Hello Texas... so of course all the Texans had to get a picture with it! |
Then we went to the most famous street in Harajuku! It was so crowded I couldn't take many pictures, but there were lots of random shops and people dressed up however they want; Japanese street fashion is crazy but so fun to see.
 |
| At the end of the street. Crowded much? |
 |
| That is a dude. Also I don't know what the guy behind him is doing, but it's hilarious. |
Once we got to the end of Harajuku Street, within 10 minutes we were within the forested entrance to Meiji Shrine. The contrast between the two places was crazy. We walked down a large, quiet walkway through big beautiful trees until we got to the restful and beautiful shrine. There weren't crowds of people and you couldn't hear any cars or sounds of the city.
 |
| Cara, me, and Grant |
 |
| Sake barrels |
After experiencing the peacefulness within Meiji Shrine, we went to Shibuya for the evening. It is a bustling area with tons of lights, shops, restaurants, and people everywhere. Shibuya is kind of what you think of when you think of Japan at night, and I really enjoyed the area.
For dinner, we met up with our dear friend Chiaki, and she and Stephan took us to one of the best restaurants EVER. It is a Tempanyaki restaurant called the Teppen Otoko Dojo. I can't explain the amazingness of it in words, you just kind of have to be there. But I will try. First of all, the food was scrumptious. But what makes that place so special is the atmosphere. A very unique group of guys work there, and they are all awesome. They have so much energy and enthusiasm. When you walk in the whole restaurant cheers for you, every time you say you like the food they all cheer, and at the end they gave us free dessert simply because it was our first time in Japan. Apparently working there is at least a 2 year commitment and the guys all have to get along and become close friends and are very serious about working there, even though it is just a restaurant. (The work ethic in Japan overall is really intense. We saw business men in their suits going home/out at like 11:00 at night!) We had so much fun joking around with the waiters, and we ended up going back another night.
 |
| Cooking fish right in front of us |
 |
| My chopstick skills significantly increased in just a week in Japan. |
 |
| Some of the guys that worked there. I love Japanese people. |
To top off the evening we went karaoke-ing (I don't think that's a verb..) which was really fun. And we took pictures in the silly photo booths that make your eyes huge, your skin all pink and creamy looking, and in general you just end up looking like an anime character Here is an example of one:
 |
| Hello, I am a chipmunk. |
--- 10/9 ---
On Tuesday, Stephan had to work so Cara, Grant, and I were on our own. So we woke up, chugged some coffee, and played video games in one of the crazy Japanese arcades in Akihabara of course. It was a blast. (The Japanese people spend so much time in there and are so much better than we will ever be. In fact you often see men in business suits there after work, or on their lunch break! Such a huge part of their culture.)
Also, an amazing story that proves that Japan is magical:
While we were getting coffee, I looked up and saw out the window... two carts full of babies. In matching hats. I think they were on a field trip and the carts were being pushed by some adults, and I can't express how cute it was!! My reaction was pretty priceless according to Cara and Grant.
After eating some amazing Chinese noodles for lunch which I have no doubt at MSG in them, we went to one of my favorite areas of Tokyo, the historical district of Asakusa. We wandered through many shopping areas and saw the beautiful, huge Sensoji temple. One of my favorite moments of the day, and of the entire week, was when I was wandering alone, I got some free authentic and delicious green tea, and just sat near Sensoji temple soaking in the atmosphere. The weather was perfectly sunny with a breeze, and there were many people out. There were families with the cutest children ever, couples, people with their dogs, and an older Japanese gentleman happened to sit by me and started talking to me. He only spoke Japanese, but in the few words I knew we were able to share in how beautiful the day was, and that the tea was oishi (delicious). He even pulled out his camera and showed me pictures of his granddaughter in a kimono. It was a nice moment and I felt such an overwhelming sense of peace in that place, I don't have the words to explain it.
After spending some time in and around Sensoji temple, we wandered throughout Asakusa. We went to the top of a hotel to see the view and did some shopping in a really cool area. (I got 2 woodblock prints from the 1800s... I couldn't resist.)
 |
| The tallest building is the new Tokyo Skytree Tower |
 |
| Hahaha one of my favorites. We didn't plan those faces, we're just awesome like that.. |
 |
| The two prints I bought |
 |
| I don't know WHAT the sculptor of that crap-looking gold thing was thinking... |
We had delicious sushi for dinner, then we wandered over near the Skytree Tower, the newest, tallest building in Tokyo, to see if we could go up to the top. The line was crazy long so we decided against it, but it was cool to see it up close.
 |
| I liked these cool lit-up stairs. |
--- 10/10 ---
On Wednesday, Cara and I decided to explore the area around Ueno Station. We ended up in a really non-touristy, industrial sort of area when we got lost looking for the park, but as a photographer, I really enjoyed it.
We then found Ueno Park, and it was an insanely beautiful, peaceful place. I think something I really treasure in a city is if it has large green areas, which Tokyo certainly does.
We also went to the National Museum, which had Japanese art, kimonos, armor, and more.
 |
| National Museum |
 |
| View from the front of the National Museum |
 |
| I love Japanese art. |
 |
| Behind the museum |
 |
| Watercolor I bought there |
 |
| Near one of the entrances to Ueno Park |
For dinner, Marico had us over to her apartment for homemade sushi! Then we watched a bit of some silly Japanese game shows. Those things are ridiculous. And then Stephan's friend Sam (often called samurai Sam) took us for a driving tour around Tokyo!
 |
| Rainbow Bridge |
On Thursday, Chiaki took us to a beautiful traditional restaurant for a delicious lunch. It was a house turned into a restaurant, and we sat on the ground in tatami mat rooms!
 |
| Fried fish, miso soup, green tea and more |
After lunch Stephan took us to an amazing, hidden jewel called Super Potato. Super Potato is a 3-story store that sells only old video game stuff. They have EVERYTHING, from games to gaming systems, stuffed animals of characters, walkthroughs, controllers, the list goes on. And really old, hard to find original stuff. The top floor is an arcade with some really old cool games. It was a really unique cool place that we never would have found on our own!
For the afternoon, Cara and I went back to Ueno park (it is so big we didn't even see half of it the day before) and read for a bit. A lovely, relaxing afternoon.
For dinner, Sam and Stephan took us to a cool traditional restaurant in Shinjuku, and we met up with a bunch of their friends after that as well. We also got to see my friend Andrew from Bangkok, he happened to be in Japan when we were too which was cool!
On Friday, Chiaki took us to ANOTHER awesome restaurant for lunch! We had some traditional sabo noodles in Akihabara at what was supposed to be the best sabo noodle place in Tokyo.
 |
| Chiaki and I in front of the sabo noodle place |
In the afternoon, we baked cookies for Marico (you should have seen Cara and I trying to find ingredients in a Japanese grocery store... but they turned out alright!) then explored a trendy area called Shimokitazawa. We ended up eating and spending the evening at a delicious, tiny French restaurant. The owner and waiters all spoke Japanese, French, and English and were really nice.
Our last full day in Tokyo. We spent the afternoon at the Imperial Palace gardens. It was bright and sunny and I took about a million pictures of the beautiful bonsai trees.
 |
| Near the train station on the way to the gardens |
We went back to the Dojo for dinner (and we took Andrew with us to experience the amazingness of it), and gave the waiters the pictures we had taken with them, which were of course received with a lot of shouting and enthusiasm. All too soon it was Sunday and Cara and I headed back to Bangkok.
I do not know if I will ever live in Japan, but I would love to. It is very expensive, but it is a beautiful, wonderful place. I want to go back for sure and see other cities. It was a nice break from Bangkok in pretty much every way and I'm so thankful I was blessed enough to be able to go there.
This post was insanely long, good job if you read it all. If you would like to see the entirety of my photos, here are links to my 3 facebook albums:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152325969630574.938466.657300573&type=1&l=1413c119a9
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152326052555574.938482.657300573&type=1&l=a8c9ed86f3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152363424395574.943178.657300573&type=1&l=2cffdf5e11
And here is a link to my instagram (photos I take with my iPhone):
http://followgram.me/e_fisher
Next time I will blog about my time in Phuket, the island to the south of Thailand! Thanks for reading!
~ Elisa
