Japan, the review

Two weeks in Japan are certainly not enough time, but as I leave I find myself feeling pretty happy (and exhausted) about all that we managed to experience during our stay. In 12 days we visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Naoshima and Osaka.

My impression is that Japanese people are incredibly polite, curious and pragmatic. I was very impressed by Japan overall; the size and harmony of its cities, its simple yet impeccable sense of style, the practical way of thinking of its people, which is reflected in everything everywhere; but most of all, I was wowed by their modern traditionalism, something I have never seen anywhere else. Japanese people have embraced ‘globalized ways’ (for lack of better words) while still practicing their traditional customs. This is reflected on their many shrines and temples (always filled with worshipers), their social rituals, and their respect for the elderly, to name a few.

Tokyo is a very big city that surprises you by its calm and feasibility. Some tips for when you visit Tokyo:

1. Approach the city by neighborhood rather than by specific attractions. Some of the places we visited:

• Harajuku: expect to find crowds of young people wearing all sorts of fashion styles. Great for people watching and also a good place to shop or get your hair cut. Lots of cute little boutique shops hide behind Omotesando Hills where you find all the big designer brands. It is also right next to Jojogi Park and the Meiji Shrine which are beautiful and also fantastic spots to discover the Japanese modern yet traditional way of living. I especially liked the woods around the Meiji Shrine - a full grown forest right at the heart of the city, you can get lost there for hours and just listen to the cicadas and the trees.
• Akihabara 'Electric Town': this is very cool. Chuodori Street especially, which hosts an endless number stores and buildings filled with electronics, gadgets and accessories. There biggest store there is called Yodobashi and it has 6 floors filled with electronic products that range from cameras and computers to watches and beauty electrics. Hanging out in this area is fun even if you're not allowed to shop (like me!) because of all the video game consoles, manga and anime. We even got blisters from playing so much!
• Shibuya: worth a visit as well. Great for shopping and home to the famous 'Shibuya crossing' which is the Tokyo version of Times Square with a scramble pedestrian crossing that was made famous  by 'Lost in Translation' (the movie) and is just incredible because of the amount of people that cross it every couple of minutes. This is were you find xxx the dog also.

2. Do what the locals do, the way to locals do it. We didn't have much time, but I can think of a couple of good examples:

• Go to the Tsukiji Fish Market before 7am and have fresh sushi for breakfast. Tsukiji Market is a wholesale fish market, probably one of the biggest ones in Asia. Known and visited by few curious tourists, it hosts a Tuna Auction early in the morning and it offers a very diverse and interesting variety of sea creatures. It's busy since early in the morning but visitors are no longer allowed inside before 9am. However, if you're discreet you'll manage to explore a bit before you are politely asked to leave- and then that's breakfast time! There's a growing number of small sushi places right by the market, but the most famous one is called 'Sushi Dai'. For about 25 quid get a sushi plate of the highest quality and freshness, hot miso soup and green tea. Some of the fish you'll be handed won't look or taste familiar, like Uni (Sea Urchin) for example; but it's worth trying, even if only once.
• Watch Sumo. If you're lucky enough to be in town during one of the Sumo Tournaments, definitely get tickets. Sumo is surprisingly nice to watch- the matches are brief, but you get lost in the stadium, the audience, the rituals around the wrestling ring or dohyo, the styles and techniques of each of the wrestlers...it's worth it.
• Go to a baseball game. Baseball is huge in Japan and so are the stadiums. People go crazy with the cheering, the team memorabilia and balloons. Really fun.

KYOTO is a beautiful city and it was probably our favourite place in Japan. With a couple thousand temples, both Zen (Buddhist) and Shinto, Kyoto also has a wonderful culinary offer and it's a fun place overall. A couple of tips:

• Rent a bike while you're there. Kyoto is enjoyable and safe even for first-time-urban-bikers. The city is bigger than you'd expect, although pretty chilled and with a lot less people than Tokyo. You will find a lot of fellow bikers around, who enjoy priority over pedestrians. It's fun, plus with the amount of temples and shrines to see it's an easy, fast and cheap way to get around!
• Enjoy the shrines and temples, but don't rush it. Kyoto has so many temples to visit that you might feel like you need to hurry in order to see as many as possible; I would recommend that you visit at least the Golden Pavillion, the Fushimi Inari Shrine and Sanjusangendo Temple. Those were the ones that I found most impressive. I was also taken by the smaller, less known and crowded ones we visited spontaneously and would recommend you see a couple of these too, because you’ll find it easier to feel the energy and spirituality of these places away from the crowds, the cameras and the souvenir shops.
• Visit HAFUU for the best beef. Ever. Small and isolated, this place is run by a veteran Kyoto butcher and though it can be pricey, there are some budget yummy choices. HAFUU will make non-meat lovers crave meat later.

NARA is and feels a lot smaller than Tokyo or Kyoto. Famous for its friendly deer, which are actually everywhere, Nara is small and amicable. We even made a couple of local friends that showed us how kind and generous Japanese people can be. One of them, an artist called Tomoko, has even created a couple of sketches based on our meeting and is gifting them to us! Definite highlight of our time in Japan. A couple of tips for Nara:

• Stay at a Ryokan or traditional Japanese hotel. There seem to be many around Nara and they are surprisingly comfortable and beautiful.
• Play with the deer. You can see them all over, especially around Nara Park and around the Todai-ji Temple and the Kasuga Shrine, around Deer Park. They let you pet them and you can get pretty cute pictures taken with them, as long as you feed them yummy deer cookies available on sale in every corner.
• Visit the Todai-ji Temple and the Kasuga-taisha Temple. The first one is the world’s largest wooden building and has a great wooden Buddha inside, and the second is filled with lanterns and deer, and if you walk to the left once you climb back down from the main shrine, you’ll get to a high wooden building one has a fantastic view over the city, particularly magical in the late afternoon. The smell of the incense along with the light over the city is pretty special. There's a good view of the city from the Mount Wakakusa as well, but you must drive there. Recommended at night.

NAOSHIMA is a little island of 3.5K inhabitants that is pretty hard to get to, but it’s definitely worth the trip. It’s renowned for its contemporary art museums, which host many site-specific installations and pretty special pieces by a variety of artists. I found the island to be creative in itself and especially liked the Lee Ufan and the Benesse House Museums.They are both by the same architect, Tadao Ando and they allow you to enjoy the space along with the pieces. I found their ongoing House Art Project brilliant as well- they take empty houses scattered about residential areas and turn the spaces into works of art; there's 7 of them so far, and you can make a fun day out of walking around to visit each of them, with coffee stops along the way. Genius way of attracting tourism.

OSAKA is the third biggest city in Japan (after Tokyo and Yokohama) and it has a young feel to it. Lots of students, fashion and food. We didn't have enough time to properly see it, but a good friend of ours grew up there and she told us that the musts are Okonmiyaki, Udon and Ramen eating, Karaoke and a taste of the nightlife.

We loved Japan, will most certainly go back whenever we get a chance!

P.S. Best tip for Japan: carry cash around. Surprisingly, cards are rarely accepted.