Japan

Japan, Japan, Japan. It was an adventure.

Day One: The ship docked in Kobe, Japan. We got off pretty late on the
first day since immigration took forever, but by 11 we were off the ship
and exploring. First we stopped at this little restaurant to have lunch.
As soon as we walked in we were greeted by the waiter who handed us
menus and stood over us while we tried to decipher the options listed in
Japanese. It's going to be so weird coming home and having time to look
at a menu because in every country we have been to the waited stands
anxiously over you as you decide. We tried to communicate that we would
take anything that didn't have meat or seafood in it but the waiter
wasn't understanding so we resorted to drawing pictures of a cow and
fish and putting X's through them. They thought this was hilarious and
nodded happily and put in an order for us. The lunch ended up being
delicious, I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious. And there
was no mystery meat in it so I wasn't nervous about trying it.
After lunch, we had our first of many confusing encounters with the
Japanese rail system. We were trying to get to the other side of Kobe to
the Sake Museum. All of the stops seemed to have similar names and no
matter how hard we tried we could not remember the names of the places
we had been or needed to go, the words were too foreign to us. Finally
we began to get the hang of it and luckily it wasn't very hard to find
someone who spoke at least a little bit of English. We found that the
easiest way to double check if we were getting on the right train was to
point at the tracks and say the name of the stop we needed to get to.
The person would either nod or put their arms in a big X and say NO!
haha it was actually really funny. We got a lot of no's that day.
Eventually we made it to the Sake Museum where we toured around and
learned how they make sake, it is a really intense process. Then we got
free Sake tastings which was a nice little added bonus. After the Sake
Museum we decided to go to the Fashion Museum because it was fairly
close and free entry. It was really cool, they had the plants that make
each colored dye and different fashions based on the eras from places
around the world. After the Museum we got lost. We wandered for a bit
around, ended up in this building that looked like Star Trek or
something. It was this huge empty building with like a million lit up
escalators going everywhere, we thought it was a mall but that didn't
end up being the case. So we got out of there pretty fast and then
finally found the train station and made it back to the ship. We were
supposed to meet up with a couple other girls to go to a baseball game
at the Kobe Stadium but they were running late from their FDP. As we
were leaving we ran into them though so we all rushed to the train. We
decided after the first stop that a taxi might be faster so we jumped
into two of them and asked to go to the stadium. The drivers were
confused which made us concerned but they started to drive anyway. As we
drove the meter rose at a ridiculous rate so we started to panic and I
got out my Japanese phrasebook and frantically was trying to look up
STOP. Finally we found it but the driver was like "no, no." so we were
like "yes, yes." and eventually we got him to pull over. I used the
phrasebook to ask if there even was a baseball game that night because
we had heard mixed answers and he said "no, no baseball." so we were
like Greeeeaat. We ended up having to pay him 3,000 yuen between three
of us which wasn't too bad but had we continued it would have been so
expensive. At that point we realized that taxis in Japan were out of the
question because they were way too expensive. Later on in the week this
became a huge downfall.... But that night we walked about half a mile to
a train station, hopped on a train and got dinner since we were all
starving. We walked around a little that night and then headed back to
the ship. On our way back to the ship we got the trains all mixed up
again and ended up riding all around trying to get back to the ship, we
passed it twice but never stopped at it, so frustrating but kind of funny.
Day Two: The next day Sahana and I went to Hiroshima. We had originally
planned to do it independently but we found people who were selling
their SAS trip tickets for like a third of what they originally cost and
what we paid was less than what the bullet train would cost one way. SAS
trips are sort of annoying but since it was the cheaper option we opted
for it, we had to bring our backpacks though because we planned on
signing out when the group went back to Kobe to meet the ship and
instead we planned on taking the trains to Kyoto. Hiroshima was awesome,
we took a bus there which was a five hour ride. Once we got there we
went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum which was so intense. They
had models of what Hiroshima looked like prior to the bomb and then what
it looked like after the bomb went off. They had personal accounts,
pictures, and pieces of clothing people were wearing. They had a bunch
of artifacts like watches that had all stopped at 8:15 when the bomb
went off and pieces of wall that were melted that we could touch. They
had a step that literally had a persons shadow burned into it. The
terrible thing about the bomb was that even if the people in the
proximity weren't burned to death or didn't die from injury, within the
next year almost all had died from radiation poisoning. They also had
letters of protest from the Hiroshima mayor to every country any time
they tested a nuclear missile. Hiroshima has taken it upon themselves
since the attack to be active in preaching peace and anti nuclear
weapons. They had a list of how many nuclear weapons each country has
and every test each country has done. The U.S. last tested missiles in
2011 in Nevada. Japan has 0 nuclear weapons. The museum went on to show
what damage a nuclear bomb does and how if a nuclear war ever broke out,
the world would go into an nuclear winter. After the museum we walked
through the memorial park and as we were walking we came upon the Queen
of Cambodia and all her security guards visiting the children's
memorial. We then went to the dome which is like the famous building in
Hiroshima meant to remember the devastation the bomb caused, it was the
only building left standing after the bomb went off but it is basically
just the frame of the building that is left. We got to see the epicenter
and also the bridge which was the original target for the bomb. I was
talking to a girl from the ship and she told me that the guy who was
flying the plane that dropped the bomb came to her school when she was
in elementary school to talk to the kids and he is so guilty for being a
part of the bombing, he cried when talking about it and was basically
just devastated still. It was kind of cool the way the Japanese view the
bombing though, they made it clear in the museum that the bomb was a
result of war and that the war was where we all went wrong, they don't
entirely blame the United States because, in a way, it was necessary to
end the war in which many more would have died had it not been for the
bombing of Hiroshima. It was very different from the museum in Vietnam
which made the Americans out to be the only monster. Even though people
predicted that vegetation would never grow in Hiroshima again and people
would not be able to live there, it is now a thriving city with
beautiful parks.
Leaving Hiroshima ended up being a huge struggle because one girl from
the group had wandered off so we sat on the bus waiting for her but we
could only wait so long or else we would all miss the train. We ended up
leaving without her which was a huge issue A. because it was five hours
back to Kobe and B. the ship was leaving that night and she was signed
up to be in transit which means she had opted to ride the ship to Tokyo
not travel there independently. Luckily, she somehow got a taxi to the
train station in time and showed up right as we were boarding the train.
Getting on any kind of trains, especially bullet trains, in Japan is
scary business. Everyone pushes and shoves and crams themselves in. I
can't believe we all got on but we did. The train ride was only about an
hour and a half and we all got off in Kobe. Sahana and I signed out and
went to the regular train station to start our adventure to Kyoto. It
actually went pretty smoothly and we made it from Kobe to Kyoto with
only a few connections around 10 ish. This is where the real trouble
started. Our friends had booked a hostel in Kyoto and we were supposed
to be staying with them and we had directions on how to get there, they
just ended up being super vague. We couldn't find the right streets at
first but eventually we were on the right track. Luckily, just as we
were getting to the road we needed to turn onto (which we would have
missed) we ran into our friends who brought us the rest of the way. The
hostel was actually really nice, there were eight of us in one room and
we had these big fluffy mats to sleep on on the floor. But we had a
shower and bathroom for ourselves and there was wifi. Sahana and I went
out to get some food and then we all just hung out in the hostel for the
night.
Day Three: The next day we all had different plans so some people left
super early to catch trains at like 6 am to Tokyo but Lindsay, Sahana,
and I planned on staying in Kyoto for the day to see the cherry
blossoms. We left the hostel and took the busses (another hard thing to
figure out) to The Philosopher's Path which is a famous path lined with
cherry blossom trees and temples. It was really really pretty. We spent
the day there and then headed to the train station to buy our bullet
train ticket to Tokyo, near where the ship was going to be docked the
next day. We had to rush to the train because we wanted to make it to a
baseball game that night (try numero dos) so we needed to be on the four
o'clock train. Luckily we made it after sprinting through the station
with our huge bags. The ride was about two hours which wasn't bad at
all. As we went through Yokohama (where the ship was in transit to) I
saw Mt Fuji out the window which was awesome! It like doesn't really fit
with the surroundings because it is so huge.
Once we made it to Tokyo we hopped on some trains and made it to the
baseball stadium pretty easily. We still had our huge backpacks so we
got some weird looks as we headed to our seats. The game was between the
Giants and the Dragons, we were seated in the Giants section so we
decided to root for them. They ended up winning. The game was really fun
because the crowd gets so involved and everyone was really excited to
be there.
After the game is where all the trouble began. We had planned on finding
a cheap hostel or hotel once we got to Tokyo but as we walked around we
found that literally every hostel or hotel was either extremely
expensive or completely booked. Instead of stressing out too much at the
time we were like okay, whatever we will just put our backpacks in the
locker at the train station in Shabuya, get ready to go out, and stay
out until the trains start running at five. Then at five we were going
to head towards Yokohama where the ship would be docked at eight.
Obviously it wasn't a very well thought out plan but we didn't have much
choice. Around midnight we were ready to go out but we were also
starving so we tried to look for a place to eat. Everywhere but Burger
King was closed. So we ate at Burger King, as we were eating I'm pretty
sure we met a famous band. These like middle aged guys from Sweden came
in and started talking to us and telling us they had been all over the
US and that they like played the drums, etc. obviously hinting they were
in a band. We would have asked what band but they were actually really
creepy and like all metaled out and so we kind of were steering clear as
much as possible, I really wish we had asked though. They had a bunch of
Japanese groupies with them too, very interesting. We left Burger King
in a hurry and then we all realized we were exhausted from not really
sleeping the night before and such a long day, the last thing we wanted
to do was go out and we also realized that our plan wasn't much of a
plan. At that point we had run into some other SAS kids who told us they
were staying in an internet cafe which was actually more of a hostel for
super cheap. We decided to search out the internet cafe, after about an
hour of that we finally found it pretty much right where we had
originally started looking for it. Thank you language barrier. We went
up expecting all our troubles to be over but found out that in order to
stay there we needed our passports. I had my passport with me, but
Lindsay and Sahana had left theirs in their bags in the train station.
We were like, okay not a big deal we will just go grab them. We walked
back to the train station and that's when we realized the streets of
Shabuya get really creepy late at night so we were seriously hurrying
and avoiding everyone and when we finally made it to the train station
we found out that when the trains stop at twelve, they also lock up the
entire train station. Our bags were locked inside. So basically we found
ourselves homeless. We went into the Starbucks to figure out what to do,
we thought about staying there all night but they ended up closing at
three thirty. At this point we were desperate so we made another attempt
at the cyber cafe. After begging Lindsay and Sahana were able to share a
cubicle but had to agree to not use the internet. I was able to get my
own cubicle since I had my passport which was nice. This place was so
weird, it was like dim lighting and there were hundreds of cubicles with
computers and like soft matted floors. There were free drinks and like
vending machines you could get chicken tenders out of, it was so
bizarre. To stay there was super cheap too. I found out later that these
cyber cafes cater to people in Japan who have serious gaming addictions
and literally just spend their whole lives there playing games on the
internet, creepy. So that night we ended up getting to sleep around 4:30
and stayed there until about 7 but sleeping was not pleasant because it
was actually freezing in there and there were Asian men snoring all
around me in their cubicles.
Day Four: At seven we went back to the train station, got our bags and
headed to Yokohama to meet the ship. The ride from Tokyo to Yokohama is
actually really long, like an hour long train ride which really sucked.
But we made it back, showered and changed quick and headed back into
Tokyo. We went to lunch, explored Harajuku, and walked around for the
day. Tokyo is so cool and so huge, there was so much to see and do. That
night we planned on going back to the ship to sleep. We also really
wanted to go to a theme restaurant because we heard they were really
cool. We went to the Ninja themed one for lunch but they didn't have an
opening until 9:30 that night. We knew we would not have time to do that
and make it on the trains back to the ship before they stopped at twelve
so we made a new plan. We made the reservation and went to Rappongi, a
really cool part of town that a bunch of people were staying in and
going out in that night, and found another internet cafe. This time we
all had our passports and since it was a super cheap option we decided
it was the best place to stay. We bought an hour of internet so we could
look up directions back to the Ninja restaurant and also made
reservations to stay that night. Everything was going really smoothly
and we were pretty shocked that things were finally working out. We got
ready to go to eat and asked the guy behind the counter, who seemed to
speak really good English, if he could hold our bags behind the counter
until we came back from dinner. He was perfectly fine with it, took our
bags and put them behind the counter...or so we thought. We left and
went to dinner which was so cool. The restaurant is all dark and they
bring you through this maze thing at first and then you get seated in
our own little room. The food was delicious and during the meal a ninja
comes and does some really cool magic tricks. It was so fun. After
dinner we made it back to the cafe and planned on going out but just had
to grab some things from the bags so we went up to the counter where a
new guy was working and asked for our bags. He looked all around and
told us there were no bags. We were like, um well we left them with the
guy who was working here at eight. The guy shrugged and so I was like
look we left them with him you need to call him and ask where they went.
So the guy called and talked for a really long time then came back out
and told us that unfortunately the other worker thought the bags were
trash...like, really? How would we possibly have produced that much
trash in the hour we were there before and also he had seen us taking
stuff from the bag and he spoke English really well! We were so mad, but
the guy was actually really genuine and apologetic. Sahana had
accidentally left her credit card in the bag so she rushed to go cancel
it and Lindsay had left her nook in the bag. Luckily I didn't leave
anything valuable because I just carry everything with me but they were
so upset. I asked the guy if he could bring us down to the dumpster to
see if it was on top so he brought me down in the pouring rain but
little did I know that the dumpster was actually a compacter, there was
no hope. Lindsay was so upset because the nook was a gift from her dad
and I could tell the guy felt terrible. He kept saying I can't believe
it, I'm so sorry. He actually called the head of the company and got
permission to reimburse Lindsay so in the end she got a new iPad out of
the deal which I would say is winning. After all that went down none of
us were in the mood to go out, it was super late, and we were so tired
so we got in our cubicles and called it a night.
Day Five: We woke up at four forty five the next morning and checked out
because Sahana had a SAS trip that left at seven. We thought we were
doing alright because we got on the 5:15 train but as soon as we made it
one stop passed Shabuya the train stopped and the doors opened. After a
while we thought it was weird we were still sitting there and it was
also so freezing since the doors were open. We asked if anyone spoke
English in the car and one guy did and he explained that the train in
front of us was in an accident so we were stuck here for a while. Keep
in mind that none of us had jackets since those were in the bags that
were now compacted. We were so cold! Luckily, we weren't on the train in
the accident though. After an hour and a half the train finally moved
again but we were so miserable and cold. When we got to Yokohama we had
to run through the down pouring rain to get back the ship. We were all
so exhausted and luck was not on our side so we decided to stay on the
ship since on ship time was at like six anyway. It turns out that the
train in front of us wasn't actually in an accident, but a person had
jumped in front of it to commit suicide. So crazy.

Japan is an amazing country and there is so much history and so much to
see. I would recommend if you ever go, have reservations, be prepared
for the difficulties of language barrier, and always leave extra time
because figuring out the train system in so difficult. I had a great
time despite the difficulties of the last couple days, the first few
days were really great and even our day in Tokyo was awesome. I
seriously can't believe our last country is over, only two more weeks
and I will be home. It definitely hasn't sunk in all the stuff I have
experienced and I'm sure it will take some time to process everything.
This has most definitely been an epic voyage around the world.