2014 Travels: Japan

I searched everywhere for the journal I kept while I was in Japan. Alas, it has disappeared into the land of journal storage. So I'll be working with my memory! 

In April 2014, I set off to Japan with my good friend Jenna. The trip came out of nowhere. I was starting my final year of my undergrad, living by myself, and re-adjusting to life back in Australia. All credit is due to Jenna -- she organised the entire thing and all I had to do was show up.

Travelling with someone new (regardless of how close you are) can really test some limits. We both have very strong personalities, both textbook Capricorns. It was about halfway through the trip when Jenna turned to me and said, “do you know what? I still actually really like you. I was afraid we would hate each other by now”. We both laughed. I told her I liked travelling with her too. Because it was the truth – Jenna was the best person I had ever travelled with. We both were decisive when we needed to be, we work well under pressure, and valued the other person’s needs.

Maybe it was the combination of having such an amazing friend and being in an amazing country, but Japan was 10/10. The only negative things I could say were: 1. Being a vegetarian is SO freaking difficult in a country that puts fish in everything! 2. We didn’t pack warm enough clothing, April in Japan is COLD.

We were there for just under three weeks, travelling to Tokyo, Nara, Takayama, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka.

Takayama was my absolute favourite part was. We travelled everywhere by the Shinkansen -- except on this leg. We took an old train two hours to Takayama, which is up in the mountains of Japan. It was the last week of the cherry blossom season when we arrived there. Takayama is basically everything you would expect a small Japanese town to be. We were staying in a traditional ryokan. They gave us each a yakuza (a beautiful Japanese robe -- there's a photo below) to wear, which I loved and Jenna hated.

Don't you dare take a photo of me, she said. I did it anyway. She looked great. 

While we were having dinner, a housemaid made our beds and tidied our room. Hands down the best sleep I have ever had. If you think a bed is comfortable, you need to try sleeping in a ryokan on the floor. Seriously. 

In our ryokan there was also an onsen. An onsen is a hot spring where people come to bathe... together... naked. Naturally, we decided we'd give it ago. 

It's definitely an experience like no other. Our onsen was same-sex only, but they're sometimes are mixed.

When you first arrive at an onsen, there's a room with shelves filled with baskets to keep your clothes in while you bathe, alongside washing baskets for your towels and vanities with hair dryers for after you've finished. You undress and walk into the next room. 

There's little washing stations for you to clean yourself before actually getting into the onsen.

Jenna and I were the only ones there, which I think we were grateful for.  

We were in there for maybe 10 minutes before a handful of older Japanese women wandered in. We definitely blended in. Two blonde Westerns just chilling in our birthday suits. We decided to go outside to the smaller more intimate onsen so the other ladies could bathe in peace. 

In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea. They definitely got a show. Jenna, the 6-foot tall fitness model and me (tallish for Japan!) 5'6" hour-glass, mustering all our confidence to wade out of the water and casually climb some stairs to get into the outside tub. Oh boy, that was fun.

I had managed to get my knickers on before a Japanese woman tapped my shoulder. Instinctively, I turned around to face her. I was greeted with a toothy smile and wandering eyes. I was still half naked, staring at this lady staring at me. 

"Kawaii!" she exclaimed. Jenna roared with laughed when she realised what was happening. 

"Yes, she's very cute". Jenna's nudged my arm, her tone laced with sarcasm.

It wasn't the first time in Japan that someone had called me kawaii! It was however the first time someone had called me kawaii naked. Almost everywhere we went Jenna and I were stopped for photos. We put it down to her height and my hair. We didn't have to open a single door or stand up on a train. People were too well mannered. It makes me ashamed of the treatment they'd get in Australia. 

One day Jenna and I were completely lost. A couple stopped and spent 20 minutes walking us in the right direction, thanked us for our time, and began walking back from where we came home.

  

Next stop, New Zealand!