As the customs officer stamped my passport I thought This is it: I’m officially in Japan, and I couldn’t refrain from smiling with excitement. This was no business trip. This was my honeymoon and all I had to do was enjoy every second of it. My husband and I were entering for the first time in our lives the Land of the Rising Sun not yet knowing that ten days later, leaving was going to be heartbreaking.
Japan does this to you. It makes you fall in love with vending machines and neon lights. It makes you want to stay forever to watch Japanese fashion and its crowded streets. It makes your time spent on the toilet a quite pleasant one (I’m not kidding, bathrooms are super clean even on metro stations), and when it is time to go back home, well…it breaks your heart to leave.
Vending machine products
But it is not love at first sight. Japan is not plain or bland. On the contrary, Japan is all about being speechless, awestruck, and stupefied, all in a good way of course. And you’ll know you’re in love on your third or fourth day, when you will have processed your first impressions.
Woman on a tram
It can be overwhelming and planning a trip can cause confusion and frustration: there’s so much to see it’s hard to choose where to go and what to do once you’re there. Especially if you plan everything on your own, as we did.
Japanese toilet
However, being lost is part of the fun! Not following a precise plan and schedule can lead you to discover great places and have memorable experiences, which is exactly what happened to us during our lovely monocando honeymoon.
In the next posts I will describe what we did in the five cities we visited, cool places we got to see, great food eaten, and give tips and advice to potential travellers.
Welcome to Japan!
Index:
Kyoto – Part II
Nara – Part III
Hiroshima – Part IV
Miyajima island – Part V
Tokyo – Part VI
