Japan & South Korea
I looked at the words in this title every day for over 8 months. Every day before my trip, I would see the names of the countries I was finally going to in the group chat I had with the friends I was going with, on the Google Doc we created to plan things out, and on the plaque in my mind where these destinations have always been reserved for a dream.
I was finally making my dream come true.
Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to go to Japan. I loved Japanese food and Japanese art, and as I grew older, I enjoyed Japanese music and anime. I kept trying to teach myself some Japanese (read ‘trying’) because I wanted to prepare myself to visit. I had this vision of what Japan would be.
And it lived up to it.
City 1: Osaka, Japan
We only had 24 hours in Osaka, but it felt like just enough. We woke up a little early with jet-lag and made our way to Osaka Castle. It was pretty tall and had an awesome view of the city. It also doubled as a museum, so we leisured around and walked through it.
Then, we made a quick stop to see Osaka Tower before heading to Shinsaibashi.
Shinsaibashi is a shopping district that offers everything from chain clothing stores to cute ice cream shops to souvenir shops. We ended up spending a majority of our day here. It was only day 1 in Japan, but we went in June, which is one of the hottest months to go. We needed to get some new clothes to adjust — a perfect excuse to go shopping. (I love Japanese fashion. It’s super flowy and airy and comfortable.)
After we were done shopping and exploring Shinsaibashi, we decided to grab our bags and head to our next destination for the trip — Kyoto.
City 2: Kyoto, Japan
I don’t have enough words to describe how much I loved Kyoto. Kyoto was by far my favorite city. It’s small enough for me to feel at home but large enough to have plenty to explore.
And the temples. I loved the temples. I loved the history and the stories hidden in them. I loved how well cared for they are and the grounds that they’re on. I also just loved seeing places in person that I had only ever seen pictures of. It was amazing.
We started out Kyoto by exploring the temples all around the city. The first stop: Fushimi Inari Taisha.
AKA the red gates called torii gates. Fushimi Inari is the head shrine of the kami (god) Inari. It also sits at the base of a mountain called Inari. There are a thousand torii gates that sit along the mountain, and you can keep following them up to the summit to get a great view of the city.
After leaving Fushimi Inari, we headed to Konchi-in Temple (and the surrounding smaller temples), Ginkaku-ji Temple (the Silver Temple), and Kinkaku-ji Temple (the Golden Temple).
Out of all the temples we visited, I loved Kinkaku-ji the most for the temple itself, but Ginkaku-ji for the grounds. All the temples are gorgeous, but for me what sets them apart is their grounds and how they fit into their location. I love the nature surrounding them, especially in the height of summer where everything is so green.
The day after all the temples, we decided to head to Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. The path to see the Bamboo Forest itself is pretty small — just a short pathway — but the bamboo is tall and gorgeous. We got there early enough in the day where we could get some awesome pictures without many people in the back.
Then, we headed back to the main part of Kyoto and decided to try out a cat cafe! The one we went to was less cafe and more play-with-cats, which was awesome. You basically walk in, pay, grab a coffee if you want, and then sit with cats. You can see how unbelievably happy I am petting this cat.
Finally, we stopped by one of the temples in the city. We didn’t get too far in, but my friend got a great picture of me using a purification fountain. These fountains are at every shrine or temple in Japan. You take the water from the fountain with the ladle to rinse your hands and your mouth as part of shrine etiquette.
City 3: Nara, Japan
The next day, we went to both Nara and Uji. Nara is a cute city outside of Kyoto that is famous for its deer park. The deer just wander around outside, basically. It’s not a petting zoo or any formalized interaction with the deer, but rather a cute stroll amongst the deer.
The park has some awesome scenery, and Nara itself is very cute!
City 4: Uji, Japan
Uji is the place to go if you like matcha. As a matcha lover myself — I have at least 1 cup a day — I was incredibly excited to head there. There’s specifically a matcha street that sits right along a river. On the street, I bought myself some nice Japanese matcha and got an amazing matcha shaved ice.
At the end of the street, there’s a famous Japanese temple called the Byodo-in Temple.
City 5: Tokyo, Japan
I don’t quite know how to describe Tokyo. It’s busy and bright and colorful. There are areas where people are everywhere and there are areas where you’re the only person on the street.
We started out in a more crowded place: Akihabara. As I said, I enjoy anime, so I wanted to see the famed district in person. I also wanted to find gifts for my brothers who also like anime.
On Sundays, police close the streets in Akihabara, so everyone can walk on the street. Akihabara is full of anime-related things — from big stores selling manga and action figures and gifts to maid cafes. It’s a lot to take in.
We also decided to go to Tokyo tower that day. (It’s huge.)
Over the next couple of days, we wandered around Tokyo. We went to Shibuya crossing and Harajuku. We also went down this shopping street in Harajuku called Cat Street.
We also decided to go to the largest Starbucks in the world, which is in a cute district of Tokyo, right by a river. There’s a ton of outdoor seating with great views of the city.
Finally, on our last day in Tokyo, we went to the Digital Art Museum. It’s an interactive art museum with the theme:
Wander, explore, discover in one borderless world.
While it was full of people, it was very fun to explore the museum and discover all the different rooms. (If you plan on going, buy your tickets ahead of time!)
And that concluded Tokyo.
City 6: Hakone, Japan
While we were in Tokyo, we did a quick 24 hour trip to Hakone, which is a cute spa/onsen town just outside Kyoto. We ended up heading to Yunessun, a large spa resort that has a bunch of themed baths (like coffee, wine, sake, green tea, soy protein, etc.). It also overlooks the mountains.
Hakone itself is incredibly scenic, too. These are photos of our bus ride up to and from Yunessun and photos around the town.
Hakone was a relaxing paradise and a nice break of pace from Tokyo. This is one of the places I’m looking forward to returning to.
South Korea was a place I realized I wanted to visit later in life. I discovered a love for Korean food (Korean fried chicken might be the best thing on Earth and bulgogi bibimbap has a special place in my heart right next to Korean fried chicken). I also discovered a love for k-dramas and k-pop. I had some expectations of what South Korea would be like.
City 7: Seoul, South Korea
I love Seoul. It’s a beautiful city, full of cute cafes, amazing shops, and unbelievably good food. There’s just enough nature and city to form a nice balance. There was something about Seoul that, well, touched my soul.
I think Seoul is best described in a series of photos.
We stayed in the cosmetic district, Myeongdong, which was a great center point for all our adventures from there. We went to outdoor street markets to get food, headed to Seoul Forest to get good views of the city and take a nice stroll through nature, and stopped by an awesome bakery that I had heard about — Victoria bakery — which had an amazing sparkling lemonade.
We wandered around the city and ate and shopped, which is really the perfect way to spend a couple of days — my last couple of days in Asia (for this round, at least).
My trip to Asia allowed me to disconnect from the internet and connect with the world around me. I got to explore new places and see historical sights and get lost in the lights. I loved every leg of my trip, and I’m already planning my next one back. There was something about Japan and South Korea, as two places I had dreamed of going, that makes me want to go back again and again.
I’m glad that I was able to achieve one of my goals with this trip, and I’m glad for the experiences it gave me and the adventures I got to have.
Until next time,
Lexi
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