Why Japan?
For Angelica it all began with Hello Kitty. As a kid she would visit the Sanrio store in the Santa Anita Mall every chance she got. Her and her friends would collect Hello Kitty stationary, Hello Kitty stickers, and plushies of their favorite characters (hers is Pochacco). Between this and easy access to fantastic sushi, she developed a healthy obsession with Japan at a very young age…
For Christian it all began with My Neighbor Totoro. His mom bought it for him on VHS when he was five and he was instantly captivated, watching it over and over again. Other Studio Ghibli classics and Totoro stuffed animals soon followed. As Christian learned about the history of Japan through the samurai exhibit at the Met and the Magic Treehouse book series, he made it a goal to go there some day…
So we made it to Japan! Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us take the trip of a lifetime. If you see either of us in person and ask about the trip, we could talk your ear off for hours about all the places we explored and food we devoured. Since it might be a while before we get to see some of you so we wanted to give you some of the highlights of our adventure. Scroll all the way down the page to see some of the best pictures from the trip!
So what was Tokyo like?
The trip started in Tokyo. Despite 24 hours of travel and very little sleep, we were so excited that we ran around the city nonstop. We averaged 20,000 steps a day and took full advantage of the robust Tokyo subway system. Each day, we would explore a different neighborhood, shopping for vintage clothes and records in Koenji, visiting the lucky cat shrine in Setagaya City, and swapping drinks and stories with salarymen in Shinjuku. There was a natural flow with each day’s itinerary and we took turns taking each other to destinations we had read or heard about. Angelica took Christian to the Tokyo flea market and the incredible Yayoi Kusama museum. Christian took Angelica to the arts/record shop district in Shimokitizawa and the anime streets of Akihabara. Each day we discovered new incredible things to eat, fluffy pancakes filled with custard, coriander salad, and every tried every curry place we saw.
Where else did you guys go?
We spent a couple days in Kyoto and worked to see as much of the city as humanly possible. We walked on the nightingale floors of Nijo castle, fed monkeys at the top of a mountain, and explored the bamboo groves, moss gardens, and cemeteries surrounding various Buddhist temples. We got custom rings made that we will cherish forever, and Angelica took us to a famous bar renowned for its cocktails and the owner’s record collection where he would play requests all night long.
The other big city we spent time in was Osaka. In many ways, this is the Japan you see in the movies. Flashing lights, neon everywhere you look, street food on every corner, and narrow alleys crammed with tiny, incredible restaurants. We spent days walking across the city, eating takoyaki, buying vintage video games and clothes, and exploring hole in the wall bars. We took a trip out to Nara, an area known for sacred deer. Angelica got to have her Disney princess moment when a deer bowed to her and let her pet it in exchange for a cracker.
After five days of overstimulation, nonstop eating, shopping, and drinking in Osaka, we needed change of pace. A dear friend of Angelica’s had recommended staying in Koyasan, home to Okunoin cemetery, the oldest and largest one in Japan. Since Christian proposed to Angelica surrounded by tombstones, the suggestion made perfect sense. We stayed in a Buddhist monastery near the cemetery, eating their food and attending morning prayer services. The cemetery itself was simultaneously majestic, cozy, and mysterious. Limitless tombstones, crypts, and shrines populated the thick forests and we visited the vast mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism. It poured rain the entire time we were there, adding to the tranquility.
Ok, but where was the most romantic place you went?
On a trip that’s basically perfect, it’s hard to choose highlights, but our time in Kinosaki would be a top contender. When planning our trip, we knew we had to visit an onsen town, which is a community built around the various natural hot springs found across Japan. Kinosaki was a little off the beaten path and allowed people with tattoos in the onsens which made it a natural choice. After a beautiful hour and a half train ride through the countryside, we checked into the nicest hotel either of us had ever stayed at. Our suite included an outdoor stone hot tub and huge windows looking out onto the mountain. We were treated to divine, meticulously curated nine course dinners both nights we were there and had someone come into their room in the evening to give us massages before bed. When we weren’t luxuriating at our hotel, we were visiting each of the onsens across the town. Each hot spring supposedly had a different health benefit, one protecting you and your friends from illness, another imbuing you with strength and fertility. Angelica dubbed this part of the trip “the honeymoon within the honeymoon” and she couldn’t be more correct. Every moment was perfect.
What was the best thing you guys ate?
Impossible question, we didn’t have one bad meal the entire trip. Some highlights:
The aforementioned nine course meals in Kinosaki are obviously in the running. They included beautiful pieces of crab, perfect morsels of wagyu, and expertly crafted sushi.
Shin-Umeda Shokudoga Street in Osaka is worth mentioning. This is a network of tiny restaurants hidden within the bowels of the enormous Umeda Train Station. Each food counter specialized in a different dish whether it was duck wrapped mushrooms, whale meat, or fried skewers. We spent hours hopping counters, leaving so full, but still wishing we could eat more.
Our last night in Tokyo, Angelica found a well known and somewhat exclusive sushi counter in Tokyo near Shinjuku. We got the last two seats at the counter and had an unforgettable omakase. It was Christian’s first time having it, it will be hard for anything else to measure up.
We spent multiple nights running through the yokochos of Tokyo and Osaka. A yokocho is a narrow alley crammed with pubs, snack bars, and street food stalls. Takoyaki, tonkatsu, curry, gyoza, and the best fried chicken either of us have ever had.
