 |
| Asakusa |
After my trip to Jeju Island, I felt confident about traveling Asia alone, and as a solo-women traveler, I can conclude that it is very doable and safe to travel in Asia alone. Traveling to Jeju Island proved to be easier than Tokyo, Japan, simply because of the language barrier. The two things I first realized after arriving in Japan are that; English is not as widely known as it is in South Korea, but thankfully Google Maps works in Japan.
The hostel I stayed at was almost an hour outside of most of the tourist attractions, but the area had other benefits.
My first full day in Tokyo I took time to try and learn their metro system (I can't say I ever really learned how it worked) and made my way to Asakusa.
 |
| Fish Tempura |
There I walked around one of the most famous Buddhist temples of the area. I learned there, that the original temple had been bombed during the World War. One of the most prominent parts of the temple is the large lantern hanging from the gate; in English, it is known as the Thunder Gate. I spent the day wandering up and down the streets and observing people around the shrine. I took advantage of the numerous shops in Nakamise Dori, a famous shopping street filled with Japanese souvenirs, to do some gift shopping.
 |
| Holding an Owl |
For lunch, I found some street food to enjoy and tried four different foods. I had Taiyaki, which is similar to a Korean street food, Fish Tempura, a type of deep-fried cheese stick and Dango.
While wandering around some of the side streets I came across a woman holding with an owl. She explained that she was promoting an owl cafe. I took the opportunity to go inside and get some milk tea. They had a room full of at least twenty owls, all of different species. For a small price of $5, you can hold an owl of your choosing. They also have two different types of parrots and another type of bird that I don't know the type of. Along with meerkats, hedgehogs, some otters, and one lizard. All of the animals are available to hold and feed for an additional charge.
 |
| Asahi |
The next day I was able to meet up with my friend Asahi.
Asahi and I met while he was studying abroad at Portland State University. When I found out I would be studying abroad in South Korea, I knew that I had to take the opportunity to make the quick flight over to Japan to meet up with him. We connected again and exchanged stories about how our lives had been in the few months we hadn't seen each other.
 |
| Satoshi |
We met at the statue of Hachiko. Asahi told me the story of the dog who would wait for his owner every day at the station. The statue is in Shibuya which is one of the most famous shopping districts. We participated in the Shibuya Scramble Crossing and explored some of the shopping towers before finding a place to get hotpot for dinner.
On another day I met with my other friend Satoshi. We met near Ueno and went out for dinner.
On my third day, I took the time to explore the area I was staying in
. I borrowed one of the bikes the hostel owner provided and went for a bike ride around the area. I spent three hours biking along the river and down neighborhood streets until the sun went down. For dinner, I decided that I should finally try some ramen. After all, it's a must to have while in Japan. After a quick internet search, I found that luck was on my side. Near where I was staying was a famous ramen restaurant, that many tourists would travel almost an hour to get to. The restaurant is famous because it appeared in this youtube video.
 |
| Ramen |
The owner doesn't speak English and the machine used to order is written in Japanese, but thankfully one of the employees helped me. The ramen was very delicious and I was very glad to be so close to the restaurant.
 |
| Bowls |
Another night, I went to another restaurant in my area for sushi. The place was smaller and not as well know so I took the opportunity to be adventures. With the help of Google Translate, I explained to the owner that I had never been to Japan and didn't know what to order. I asked him just make me something. He made me sushi cuts of salmon and tuna (I think). Then another gentleman came into the restaurant. It was clear the two knew each other and were friends. They asked where I was from and asked how long I was in Japan. After I finished my sushi, the owner made me more and more food until I finally told him I was full. At the end, I think I had tried five or six new foods; and I don't know the names of any of them, but they were all delicious.
 |
| Hamarikyu Gardens |
Of course, with sushi and ramen, I also wanted to try authentic Japanese tea. I found a park with a tea shop located in the middle of a pond, but sadly it was closed for construction, so I, unfortunately, was not able to try any Japanese tea this time.
However, the park was beautiful to explore. The park had remains from the Edo Period including two houses that explained how they used to keep, train and use hawks to hunt. The park is surrounded by a seaweed moat and has a calming experience while inside the grounds.
 |
The last cultural experience I wanted to make sure I had while in Japan was the samurai and ninja culture. After a quick internet search, I found that most of the ninja museums or experiences were further south. However, I did find a samurai museum in Tokyo. There are numerous places to go where you can train like a samurai or a ninja if you want as well.
 |
| Narita Temple |
For me, this was probably the most exciting part of my trip. I had never really learned about samurais before and really knew nothing about them, so the museum was the perfect place for me to learn. They even had a demonstration at the end. Normally, it is two samurais fighting, but the day I went to was a special occasion and they had a ninja and a samurai fight for the demonstration. One lucky kid from the crowd even got a lesson at the end.
On the last day of my trip, I made my way to the airport. Near the airport, there are lots of places to go by shuttle from the airport, but there are not very many places that you can get to from the metro line. I was able to get to a temple near Narita though. This temple was my favorite that I visited. The distance away from the city gave it an even deeper connection to the earth. I also think that the rain from that day gave it a calming effect.
 |
| New Friends |
The final adventure of my trip came on the plane ride. On the plane back I sat next to a Japanese couple that are my age. I overheard them asking for help with directions getting into Seoul and I offered to help them. We shared the mini-adventure of going through customs together and got to know each other.
I told them I was originally from Oregon and then I found out that the boyfriend, Shuya will be studying abroad at Oregon State University soon! (So friends! If you see him, say hi! He's super cool).
After making sure they got a taxi to their hotel I returned to go back inside the airport and wait until the subway opened up to make my way back home.
I ended my adventure in Tokyo, made it home and am currently celebrating my final week in South Korea before I return back to the United State in January.
