Japan Winter 2017
March 30, 2018
I am
back in Japan and it is winter again. I have a love-hate relationship with
winter as I really hate the cold but I also love it! I don’t know! I came to
Japan for a 90-day business trip, and I had the weekends and the whole Christmas
break to travel around. I did not really went out of Tokyo area because the
flights and the train tickets were expensive, so I just researched for places
around Tokyo that I have not visited yet and visited them, and revisited the places that I like in Tokyo.
1.
Kamakura
My friends and I went for day trip to Kamakura. Ben planned
the trip and I was one of the free floaters. It was well-planned, fun and the
weather was nice.
We went to see Tsuguraoka Hachimangu Shrine, Hasedera Temple
and the great Daibutsu, and walked around Komachi Dori, a shopping street in
Kamakura. We were not able to visit a
lot of places because we went on a holiday and the trains and temples were
packed. We spent almost two hours just waiting in line to see Tsuguraoka
Hachimangu, and around 40 minutes to wait for our turn to ride the train going
to Hase where the Great Daibutsu is found. Eventually, hunger and tiredness
came and we hurried back to Kawasaki to eat ramen.
2.
Odaiba
The last time I went to Odaiba was in 2012 and now my office
is located in Odaiba. I do not really have time to visit places and do sight-seeing
while working so I went one night and I was not disappointed. Odaiba is such a
beauty.
3.
Akihabara
I have visited Akihabara countless times but I consider every
visit the first time. It is because every time I visit, I always find and see
new things which were not there the last time I visited. They were probably
there but because there is too much to see in Akiba, I have not seen them.
4 Ueno
Ueno is such a nice place and I have also visited it countless
times. However, this time, I decided to spend money and pay for a ticket to the
museum, the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo. It was huge and it was so hard to
cover all the buildings in just a few hours. I was also lucky that day because
there was a new exhibit called Roads of Arabia. This exhibition for the very
first time in Japan displayed treasures from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that
reveal a dynamic history and culture. More than 400 invaluable cultural
properties were displayed.
5.
Zojoji Temple
The first temple I visited for the New Year was this temple.
It was my first time and it was a good experience. There were a lot of people
when I came and there were tiny shops outside. Beside the temple, Tokyo Tower
is standing tall and at night, the lights from the tower illuminate the dark
areas of the temple. They had Sentai Kosodate Jizo (Unborn Children Garden) and
they dressed the “unborn children” with red apron and red hat.
6.
Shinjuku
The only time I went to Shinjuku was when I went to visit the
Shinjuku gyoen. This time I went there to shop! Shinjuku is well known as a
shopping district and famous brands’ stores line up the streets. But I did not
shop for clothes or shoes. I shopped for Japanese Language Proficiency Test
reviewers. I recently passed N2 and I really want to pass N1 this December or
next July so I bought some books. I might have gotten so excited and spent too
much but I do not care!
7.
Kinshicho
I went to this place even though it was too far from where I
live because of Daiso. Yes, Daiso, the 100 yen shop. But I was disappointed and
I don’t want to talk about that. On the bright side, I saw a very beautiful
view of the Tokyo Skytree (I later found out that Kinshicho is the Skytree
village), and got to watch a live show of three handsome boys singing.
8.
Illuminations
One of the nice things about going to Japan during the winter
is that they have tons of beautiful illuminations because it is Christmas season.
I have been to four illuminations and none of them disappointed me. I wish I
went to more illuminations!
I
went to see the illumination in Roponggi, Caretta Shiodome, Marunouchi, and
Odaiba.
Yoyogi Park
When I visited, it was in the middle of winter so there was nothing but dead trees. I enjoyed walking there althugh there was nothing. I planned to go back but I got lazy and ended up not going.
Harajuku
Harajuku is one of my favorite places in Tokyo. I do not know how many times I have visited but Harajuku just never gets boring for me.
Keihin Fushimi Inari Shrine
This shrine is located in Kawasaki and I visited it for the first time. It was a small but beautiful shrine in Kawasaki dedicated to Inari.
I think that's it. My trip to Tokyo Winter 2017 ends there~
I will be going back again in a few days for work and that time, I think I have to find new places to visit again.
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