I was looking back at my old posts and realized that I never wrote a Japan entry for this blog…o__o even though Japan was one of my favorite countries that I’ve ever visited, and considering that I took a year of Japanese in college since I loved it so much and even fundraised for relief efforts after the giant tsunami….it’s never too late to write a travel post now! はじめましょう～！
Tried to separate the pictures by district. Photo-heavy post coming up:
So a bit about Tokyo - it has a population of ~13million and is the largest metropolitan area in the world. Its culture is so unique: very technologically advanced, super traditional, cute, trendy, and cool all at once. It’s definitely a lot to take in BUT I LOVE IT.
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Minato (港区)
Tokyo Tower! One of Japan’s landmarks and the 2nd tallest man-made structure in the country. Design was inspired by the Eiffel Tower, but the Tokyo Tower is actually taller by 13 meters. The suite that I was staying was literally right next to the tower so I had a beautiful window view of it and the city. This was taken on my first night there. ^_^
And Tokyo has cute little parks like these scattered around. This one is called 芝公園 , or Shiba Kouen (I think “shiba” means “lawn” or “turf”. “kouen” means “park”). Also after one year of intensive Japanese, I can finally read signs like these! (correct me if anything is inaccurate please haha)
1. This is everyone’s park. Let’s cherish the flowers and trees.
2. Cars and motorcycles can’t be driven here.
3. Hold your garbage. (aka don’t litter)
Looking through the rest of my pictures now to see if I can read anything else haha. :)
A shrine close to Minato~
Their gas stations are so cool - pumps are at the top!
And I spy a lolita girl in Minato! Which isn’t very common since this district is more for business and work, so it was a nice surprise. 可愛いか～:)
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Shibuya (渋谷区)
Shibuya! One of my favorite parts of Tokyo. Known as a very trendy and fashionable place for young people to shop and hang out. Shibuya crossing is photographed a lot, and I often see this scene on my tumblr feed. Reminds me a bit of Times Square haha.
Regarding the fashion, I noticed that 90% of Japanese girls wear dresses rather than pants; if they did wear pants, they were really awesome pants…so I felt so out of place with my plain jeans/shorts lol. Also, rarely is anyone there a lazy dresser. Even in 90F degree humid weather they take the time to wear beautiful clothes (even long-sleeved sweaters and thick tights! o_o) and don’t look like they’re dying under those clothes… forever in awe.
Example of cool pants! すごいね～
I think we wandered into Shibuya 109 for a bit. A giant department store with accessories to die for. <3
I wish my hair could be this long again… sigh
First time eating authentic sushi in Japan! (second time eating at a rotating sushi bar… first time was in China, and third time was in NYC.)
NHK is Japan’s national broadcasting company, so we went to check its Studio Park out. You might know Domo-kun as its official mascot~!
Traditional kimono costumes worn by the actors/actresses~
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Harajuku (原宿)
Takeshita Dori! A popular street for its shops and trends. Harajuku is another well-known place where young people like to hang out. Ever heard of Harajuku fashion? There are also lots of cosplayers there.
J-rock guys! Or is there another term for them? Gyaru guys? lol
Sailors!
Not sure if he knew it was upside down or strategic marketing ploy…haha
This looked scary o_o
Okay fruit in Tokyo is RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. By a rough estimate, $1 USD = ￥８０円 (Japanese yen). You do the math.
WHY CAN’T AMERICAN DRINK MACHINES BE AS CUTE AS THESE /crying ;o;
Schoolgirls! Another example of Japan’s culture that centers around “cute”, or “kawaii”. Okay this is a creeper pic but I couldn’t help it…..:P
Even their billboards and vending machines are so 可愛い….
And of course, the Pokemon store! This was located in Minato. I ended up going here twice and having a having a shopping spree… okay it looks like there were a lot of little kids but in defense there were plenty of teenagers there too lol
Like them!
Girls wearing kimonos around was actually quite common. Apparently there are fireworks every Friday in Tokyo, so people like to dress up for those. However, even on non-Fridays, there would be people wearing kimonos (so I’m never sure what the occasion is).
View of Tokyo from above~
One thing I love about Japanese restaurants is that they have “fake” food displayed in glass cases so you know what you’re going to get. Plus I’m sure it makes most everyone hungry just looking at it so more customers haha!
Also I like taking pictures of American fast-food in foreign countries lol. Thing is rarely did I see any overweight people during my entire stay in Japan.
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Asakusa （浅草）
Asahi Beer Tower, it’s also a very popular building for photographs!
Rickshaw! Kinda wish I rode one when I was there.
かみなりもん (Kaminari Gate)
So in Japanese and Chinese culture, they use Asian swastika symbols to represent creation as a whole, or the number 10,000. It pops a up a lot in its traditional culture, but has a completely different meaning from what people associate it with today. In Japan, it’s called まんじ(manji).
Past the gate is the famous Sensō-ji temple~
At Japanese temples, there are often paper wishes written and tied to these racks.
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Akihabara（秋葉原）
I look painfully touristy wearing my Tokyo shirt…./facepalm
Akihabara is known for its amazing electronics and anime/manga collections. Although in recent years, it’s been known for being the center of “otaku culture”. The term otaku has gotten more of a negative connotation by the way it’s been portrayed, but that aside, Akihabara is just a really fun place to be. Don’t have any street pictures because I think it was already dark outside, but this was one of the many floors in a single electronics store there haha!
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Phew, this post took a while to write, but it was really fun revisiting all my old pictures (and discovering that there were a bunch I forgot about?! omg) This will probably be my longest post from my Japan vacation, but I still have tons of pictures from other cities that I visited~
List of where I’ll be going with my family for 2 weeks in June! 10+ cities, 4 countries (if you consider Vatican City and Monaco as independent states). Bolded cities are the ones we’ll be staying at overnight.
And then back to NYC just in time to start my research project at Columbia! So, so excited. I was debating between Italy and California for the longest time, but I’m glad to see a more solid travel itinerary now.
Nope! I was the only person from my area to go (I only know one other person from my state at Columbia). Don’t worry though! This mentality exists everywhere, not just for NYC students haha…so this advice can be applied to all prefrosh. :)
I would say your best bet is to start chatting on the college Facebook group for your class if there is one. Find out who’s in your major/concentration since you’ll probably have some of the same classes. See which students might live in your state, and that is another good way to make friends. Also find out who’s living on your floor and start chatting to get to know floormates. When you finally move in, it’ll be less of an awkward beginning and more friendly on a personal level. Once you’re on campus, check out the clubs that you’re interested in, since people with common interests will tend to bond easily.
Also, at the beginning of the year, every freshman is desperate to make friends so there’ll be a lot of random introductions, icebreakers, and parties thrown by upperclassmen haha…you’ll be meeting a lot of new people but you don’t have to remember all the names or constantly keep in touch with every person you say hi to; over time you’ll being seeing and hanging out with certain people more than others, and you’ll have a pretty solid group of friends by the end of the year. ^_^
Good luck! Hope that helps. You’ll be fine~