I had the opportunity to once again go to Japan this year for a 2-month trip. The first month was spent at a language school in Kōbe. There’s not much to say about it, I didn’t learn many new things in class but was able to practice a lot since speaking constituted a majority of the curriculum and class sizes of about 4 people meant plenty of chances to actively engage in conversation.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the first month was the fact that we were not accommodated in dormitories or apartments like last time, but rather lived together with host families which was a new experience for me. At first I was kind of taken aback by the idea of living together with people I don’t know, but my host family was super nice and I had a great time. Eating breakfast and dinner together, going on weekend trips, going shopping etc. allowed me to experience things I could not experience as a student living in a dormitory.
Kōbe is a city situated about a half an hour train ride away from Ōsaka. I don’t think there’s too much to say here, our language school was located in the city center near Motomachi close to some nice shopping districts and Chinatown. One of the highlights for me was Mt. Rokko with its beautiful view on the night skyline and bay area that stretches as far as Ōsaka on a clear day.
Another popular place is the hot spring town Arima Onsen. Getting there took about 1 hour by train and we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the two Onsen bathhouses Gin no Yu and Kin no Yu.
My host family took me on a day trip to Awajishima, the island between Honshū and Shikoku. We drove a while to its southern-most point where we boarded the Uzushio cruise that took us to the nearby bridge where we saw the large whirlpools that form whenever the tide changes.
Other highlights include trips to Osaka and Uji, lots of good food, an art exhibition and an unexpected encounter with three Miatas.
After the first month, I went to Tōkyō to pick up a friend at the airport. We spent a few more days there and then headed south with the final goal being Kagoshima.
We then headed to Odawara, a comparatively small town not too far from Tōkyō and near Mt. Fuji. I didn’t bother with meticulously planning everything beforehand so we mainly booked accomodations through AirBnB the day before we arrived and also bought Shinkansen tickets right before departure which was no problem at all. AirBnBs were surprisingly cheap, with the average price hovering around $50 a night for two people. Even though I only wanted to book an apartment in Odawara, we ended up with a whole traditional house with tatami and fusuma for ourselves.
Since I acquired a Japanese translation for my driver’s license which I wanted to make use of, we decided to rent a car for two days. On the first day, we circled Mt. Fuji counterclockwise, starting at lake Yamanaka and stopping at each of the five lakes. We rode a cable car which also had a long wait time, but I think it was worth it.
I heard good things about lake Ashi and Hakone shrine which are somewhat remote but easily reachable by car, so we drove there the next day. The shrine is not bad, but it was under renovation so you couldn’t see much, the weather was bad and there were too many tourists to even remotely enjoy any of it or take any pictures so I was kind of disappointed.
Nara and Kyoto were the next stops. We stayed at Daiwa Roynet Hotel near Nara station which was comparatively cheap and had a free public bath. Nara is of course known for its thousands of free-roaming deer in Nara park which we visited twice. Kyōto was stressful as always, with full buses and huge crowds everywhere.
Kyūshū was the first time for me and it didn’t disappoint. We stayed in Fukuoka for a few days, then headed to Yufu-in by bus, then back to Kumamoto and finally to our last stop, Kagoshima. Yufu-in was definitely a highlight since it’s a resort town and we chose a Ryokan to stay at. The room included two huge beds and a private bath as well as a Kaiseki breakfast and dinner.
Kumamoto has a nice castle and Kagoshima lies next to Sakurajima, an active volcano. We visited an observation platform, but unfortunately couldn’t hike further up since it was raining and the wind was extremely strong.
We then flew back to Tōkyō and spent our last two days mainly roaming around Don Quijote before departing back to Germany.