Japan - Manga, Yakuza and Sushi

Tokyo

Dear friends, as promized this post will be about my first visit to Japan in 2010.

I left New Zealand to continue my world travel, with my backpack and a flight ticket to Tokyo. Even I fly a lot, this time it was different. I was sitting in the plane and could feel the excitement to arrive. For years I have been dreaming to visit this country, studied the language and the culture and finally my dream was about to come true.

When I arrived at the Tokyo International Airport it was busy and as expected full of people. I picked up my lugage and bought a subway ticket to the city. They have those subway system maps whick you can get for free. My friends warned me already about how hard it will be to understand how the subway works - and they were absolutely right. It was a challenge but at the end it worked well and I arrived at Asakusa station where I booked my accomodation. It was a nice hostel with really friendly staff and cosy interior. I enjoyed it so much to finally speak Japanese in Japan, this also made the daily life so much easier, as most of the people do not speak English.

My first days were full of adventure. I had this map of Tokyo with must see higlights of the city and directions how to get there. Every day was like waking up, grab a breakfast and then exploring a new part of the city.

Akihabara

The most impressive spots that I liked most were Asakusa, Tokyo-Ginza, Akihabara and Kamakura. It was so much fun exploring the small shops, the big supermarkets, the city gardens and mostly to taste all kinds of Japanese food. If you are into really fresh sushi then you should visit the famous fish market.

Ginza

In the evening there are several options what you can do and I preferred the visits in an Izakaya. An izakaya (居酒屋) is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking. Even Tokyo is one of the most expensice cities, there are still options to eat out for cheap if you take the time to compare the prices and find out the cheaper spots.

Asakusa

Time is passing by quick in Tokyo and one day I had to move on to visit South Korea. It was really hard to leave but the flight was booked in advance and I had to move on. Tokyo is a must have on you bucket list - if you have one ;-)