Timmy Xiao

home ยท blog

I went to Japan

2023-07-20

It was cool.

Trip Details

  • 2023-06-24 -> 2023-06-27: Tokyo
  • 2023-06-28: Shirakawa-go + Kanazawa
  • 2023-06-29: Hiroshima
  • 2023-06-30: Miyajima Island
  • 2023-07-01: Himeji + Osaka
  • 2023-07-02: Amanohashidate
  • 2023-07-03 -> 2023-07-04: Kyoto
  • 2023-07-05: Sapporo
  • 2023-07-06: Furano + Biei
  • 2023-07-07: Mount Fuji
  • 2023-07-08: Tokyo

Brain Dump

I do not recall being approached or harrassed by unpleasant strangers. I seem to get weird encounter stories everytime I go somewhere (although that has mainly been in the US or Canada). It almost always happens in public transit. In Japan, everyone is quiet and minds their business.

Speaking of transit, transit there is nice. I want it here in the US. It makes places walkable and a lot of places were packed full of different things to explore. The zoning laws seem amazing. Meanwhile, in the US, most places are so far apart that you would need a car.

Transit does get packed however, especially in Tokyo. I recall two awkward incidents where I wanted to move just an inch of my body, but I was not able to without disturbing others.

Even though there is a higher density of people in Japan, there is not that much noise. I did mention people in transit being silent, but I also notice that there is less ambient noise.

Food here was great. A lot of places offer good food for a decent price compared to the US. People say that the average food in Japan is better, but I cannot say I definitely agree. However, I would say that the average price to food goodness is better (compared to the US).

You may have noticed that I moved around A LOT. Yea haha, I think it was fine. I liked it.

The weather sucked. It was super hot and humid. It also rained. It was raining during our planned time of reaching the Mount Fuji summit. We already climbed like 80% of the way and decided to go back down. That sucked.

I also suck at Japanese. I was being carried by my friends. I need to be better.