Clean, orderly, and civilized like Switzerland. Vast, colorful, and lively like New York City. Filled with history, traditions, and great food like Italy. The perfect blend, Tokyo is intense. Each district or ‘special ward’ has so much to offer one would need to spend weeks in each one in order to experience it all. Tokyo is not just another ‘cool’ city; it is the city, and the most interesting, intriguing and stupefying I have ever visited in my life, not to mention my favorite.
Archivi tag: Japon
Hiroshima, the city of hope – Part IV
When planning our honeymoon, we were hesitant about visiting Hiroshima. We were both intrigued by it but didn’t know if it was really worth the visit, considering we didn’t have much time. So I asked a dear Japanese friend of mine who encouraged us to go by saying that, and I’m paraphrasing here, it is important to see the scars Japan still has not only on its people but also on its land. The word scar struck me at first, but of course she was right. Japan is the first and only country in the world that has been atomic bombed, and although this is no reason to be proud, I believe its outcome has greatly contributed to uplifting the Japanese spirit I so much admire and felt in this city of hope.
I think the best adjective to describe Hiroshima is bittersweet. This is exactly how I felt when I laid my eyes on its people, its, streets, its monuments, the A-bomb Dome. Continua a leggere
Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun – Part I
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.