Japan Trip of a Lifetime: It Inspired Me To Move Here

Don’t you just love those Facebook Memories? Sometimes they can be pretty cringey, but most of the time they are nice to look back on. Facebook reminded me that it was exactly 4 years ago, on the 12th of July 2018, that I landed in Japan on my very first trip here. Wow. Time really does fly! I mentioned it briefly in my very first post, but this trip really changed the trajectory of my life. And now, I’m going to share that trip with you!

A blue passport book with a boarding pass poking out the top is being held. There is a quote on the book saying the world is a wonderland waiting to be discovered by adele basheer. The boarding pass has Japan Airlines, Melbourne Airport and Toyko Narita Int written on it. Underneath is the date 12 July.

Arriving in Tokyo

Most people have difficulty sleeping on a plane, but I’m the opposite. It’s actually extremely difficult for me to stay awake on one. Since I’ve been flying for as long as I can remember (I believe I was less than a year old for my first one), I unintentionally trained myself to sleep on all flights. Because of this, I chose to take a red-eye flight to Tokyo from Melbourne. I flew with Japan Airlines, more commonly known as JAL and the service was fantastic.

A view from an airplane window shows the sun shining brightly over the wing and underneath the sky can be seen. It looks like the ocean with giant fluffy white clouds floating above.

An airplane breakfast meal from Japan Airlines is shown. It is served on a red tray and includes some cut fruit, yakult, chobani yogurt, a croissant, orange juice and a hot meal covered in foil.

I arrived in the morning, well-rested and ready to begin my Japan adventure. As most tourists do, I took the Keisei Skyliner from Narita Airport to Ueno Station. It’s not quite a bullet train, but I was super impressed with how fast and smooth this train was! I made it to Ueno Station with no issues, however, here is where I encountered the first bump in my journey.

Ueno Station

If you’ve read An Encounter: A Bike, The Japanese Police and I, you can probably guess what happened and why. After arriving at Ueno Station, I immediately became lost, inside the station. I am directionally challenged and heavily dependent on things such as Google Maps. However, not even Google could help me. My goal was to get to Akihabara, where I had chosen to stay, and I needed to take a subway on the Hibiya Line. I was walking around the station searching for any signs, looking at my phone, Googling, and looking at a paper map. Eventually, I found an information center and asked the staff where to go. She told me I had to exit the station and follow the road.

The exterior of Akihabara Bay Hotel is shown. The hotel sign is brightly lit and the exterior is white with orange and red bubbles clustered on parts. It sits on a narrow Japanese street with high rise buildings on both sides. — Akihabara Bay Hotel: A capsule hotel for women only

I come from a country where there is only one train station for each area. I wasn’t aware that there were in fact, 4 Ueno Stations. And they aren’t right next to each other. After about 40 minutes of being lost, and finally getting help, I found the main Ueno Station. It was a good 5-minute walk from Keisei Ueno Station.

My First Day in Tokyo

I’d like to say that I made it to the capsule hotel where I was staying without any other issues, but that would be a lie. I got lost again trying to find the hotel. I’m not sure whether it’s still an issue in that area, but I discovered that my Google Maps was off by a street (the marker showing my location was incorrect). But I did eventually find it! After offloading my suitcase, I set off to explore the famous Shibuya area!

A Welcome to SHIBUYA sign is shown above a shopping street. Crowds of people including some schoolboys can be seen under the sign walking along the street. Restaurants and other shops can be seen in the background.

By the time I reached Shibuya, I was feeling pretty hungry. I’m sure most people would imagine that I’d get some Japanese food such as ramen for my first proper meal. I’m a sucker for sweets though so I ended up at a nice little cafe with a crème brulée and some juice. After that, I strolled around taking it all in and looking at the shops.

A creme brulee with strawberries, kiwi fruit, berries, melon and cream on the side is shown on a white cafe table in Shibuya. On the right is a glass of orange juice and behind is a straw basket holding cutlery and serviettes.

Owl Cafe

Japan is pretty famous for its animal cafes. Cat cafes are probably the first that comes to mind, but unfortunately, I am allergic to the cute creatures. Unfortunately, animal rights in Japan are a bit lacking, so if you do want to visit an animal cafe, do your research and choose wisely. I ended up going to an owl cafe called Akihabara’s Owl no Mori アウルの森 (the store closed in 2021 due to the pandemic) which had started as a business in 2015 but in 2017 became a protected animal cafe.

At Akihabara's Owl no Mori アウルの森, a big owl is seen perched on a branch. It looks like the owl has a flower on its head from the fake plant decorations behind it.

At Akihabara's Owl no Mori アウルの森, a big owl is perched atop a black cupboard. Its eyes are big and orange.

When I visited, the cafe was dimly lit but had some spotlights and the owls were out on perches. Some of them did have a tether to their foot, but others had none at all. Overall none of the owls looked unhappy and I enjoyed seeing so many different kinds. I was particularly surprised by their size! I actually thought one was a realistic plush toy until it moved its head! Usually, I would see the smaller owls in Australia (about 30cm in size).

At Akihabara's Owl no Mori アウルの森, a white owl with black coloured feather tips is seen in front of a blue and black background. The owl is looking to the left and has black eyes.

Ueno Park

The next day, I decided to visit Ueno Zoo! I was getting around using the different subway lines okay by that point. Though exiting the station was still a bit difficult. Ueno Zoo is located in Ueno Park which has many things to see, including gardens, shrines and museums. I wandered around the park for a bit first and found a nice temple. At this temple, there was a man selling jade bracelets. We chatted for a bit and he told me that he had started selling these bracelets after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. At this temple, I also got my very first ever Omikuji, which are Japanese fortune slips. After the temple, I saw a shrine and got to walk through all these beautiful Torii gates!

A light green jade bracelet with a lapis lazuli bead is shown on Josey Annaleise's wrist. Below is a golden bracelet.

An omikuji, Japanese fortune slip from Ueno park is shown. It reads No.15 Excellent Luck. It gives details on general luck, love, work, study, money, travel and lucky item.

Ueno Zoo

I made it to Ueno Zoo, which is Japan’s oldest zoo. Ueno Zoo is particularly famous for having some pandas, which I really wanted to see. I was really looking forward to seeing the 1-year-old panda cub Xiang Xiang. You won’t believe how long the line to see them was though! I think I waited 2 hours or more. Thankfully the line was well organised and there were shades set up, so very little of that time was in the direct sun. It was still a very hot wait though. But Xiang Xiang and her mother were super cute and I think the wait was worth it!

Giant Pandas Xiang Xiang and her mother Shin Shin in their exhibit at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo Japan. Shin Shin is sitting and eating bamboo, behind her Xiang Xiang is lying down taking a nap on a wooden bed.

I did leave the zoo quite confused though. When I visited the nocturnal house, I saw some echidnas (which are my favourite Aussie animal), but I never knew they were nocturnal and I’d only ever seen them out and about in broad daylight. I spoke to someone later at Australia Zoo who confirmed that they were not fully nocturnal and that they were known to be more active around dusk.

Giant Panda rice bento at Ueno Zoo. It looks very cute.

Josey Annaleise shows the souvenirs she bought from Ueno Zoo in Tokyo Japan. They are sitting on an orange table. She bought a small square shaped bag with Ueno Zoo, Xiang Xiang and Giant panda images on it. On top is a hand towel that is pink and blue with pandas on it. To the right is a panda plush toy that has a pink ribbon saying Xiang Xiang around its neck.

Tokyo National Museum

After the zoo, I headed on over to Tokyo National Museum. I got a little bit confused when buying my ticket however and ended up buying one for the special exhibit at the time: JOMON: 10,000 Years of Prehistoric Art in Japan. I was able to borrow a set of headphones so I could walk through the exhibit and listen to an English narration that explained what the Jomon period was and the different styles of pottery I was looking at. The pottery from that period was very beautiful and unique and a lot of the designs looked like flames reaching into the sky. After exploring the special exhibit, I still had some time to see the normal permanent display, which had things like kimonos and katanas. Overall, it was an incredible day!

Samurai Armour on display at Tokyo National Museum Japan.

My first Japan trip was just under 2 weeks, so this is going to be a small series recounting that holiday. Next time in part 2, I’ll tell you about my travels to see Mt Fuji and the theme park Fuji-Q Highland! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, or subscribe (down below) for an email when the next blog is posted! If you enjoyed reading about my travels in Tokyo, leave a comment! Where would you go sightseeing?