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We made plans to go to Japan with some friends during their trip to Canada last year, and were looking forward to our visit since we left for Asia in October of 2016. Landing in Tokyo, we were expecting an Asian version of New York City but were surprised by how quiet and orderly everything seemed! We loved the city and learning about Japanese culture by appreciating the kindness of the locals, enjoying the food (we had breakfast sushi for the first time!) and taking in the variety of beautiful cherry blossoms around the city.

In the first of our two episodes about our time in Japan, we talk about our stay in Tokyo at the beginning and end of our trip. We jumped in right away with a walking tour which covered the popular Omotesanto and Harajuku neighbourhoods, and had some unique experiences with Becky Gillespie, who has been on the show, showing us around. She took us to the colourful Akihabara anime district, a trendy maid cafe, and a delicious traditional Japanese meal.

We had some quintessential Tokyo experiences like visiting Shibuya Crossing and enjoying conveyor belt sushi, and talk about our experience in learning about the new culture around us. We also talk about how every experience we had made us fall in love with the country even more, and how it was bittersweet leaving on the last day.

If you are interested in learning about Japanese culture and the unique experiences Tokyo has to offer, you don’t want to miss this episode!

Enjoy!

What we talk about:

• Why we went to Japan and our arrival in the country
• Our walking tour with Context Tours, which provided some interesting insight into the local architecture, including how the buildings are designed to withstand earthquakes which are more common in Japan
• Visiting the trendy and busy Harajuku neighbourhood, with lots of shopping and sweet treats!
• Exploring the high-end Omotesanto Street, considered the Champs Elysees of Tokyo
• Enjoying the world-famous cherry blossoms in Shiba and Yoyogi Park, and how the blossoms made Tokyo even more beautiful
• Our first impressions of Tokyo, the fanstastic weather, and how the quietness and order in such a large city was different than what we expected
• How much walking we did! On our first day we walked from the Asakusa neighborhood (north-east) where we were staying all the way to Harajuku (south-west)
• The challenge of visiting a place with a completely different alphabet system
• Our positive and fun experiences with learning aspects of a culture that is very different from our own, and our feeling that sightseeing in Tokyo really enables you to immerse yourself in Japanese culture
• Our experience with the more traditional Japanese sleeping arrangements in our AirBnB
• Our visit to the Skytree, Tokyo’s tallest building
• Hanging out with Tokyo Becky and visiting the National Palace, Tokyo station and of course, more cherry blossoms!
• Visiting the colorful Akihabara anime district and catching a Mariokart tour go by!
• Our unique experience in an increasingly trending Maid Cafe, where young women address you by terms like “master” and “princess,” and an audio snippet from our visit there
• Our delicious traditional Japanese meal in the Shimokitazawa neighborhood and our visit to an arcade
• Our visit to the iconic Shibuya crossing and our next-level experience with the quintessential Japanese dining experience – conveyor belt sushi
• What our friends Steve and Julia love about Japan including the culture, cherry blossoms, and Pokemon Go!
• Steve and Julia’s  observations on the kindness of strangers, the prevalence of fantasy advertising, and people carrying their dogs
• Why it was more economical for us to buy and a Japanese tourist train JR Pass and how to decide if you should get one before visiting Japan
• Taking the Shinkansen bullet train to Mount Fuji
• Visiting the busy Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo and eating sushi for breakfast
• Our visit to the Shinjuku neighborhood on our last day, our last sushi dinner, and our feelings on leaving Japan
• Our decision to spend our last night in the airport due to higher cost accommodation near the airport

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This episode is brought to you by Praxis. Praxis is the future of education, a 9-month program with a 6-month apprenticeship at a startup. It is education, without schooling. If you are 17 to 25 and ready to break free of the conventional path, go to discoverpraxis.com

Music Credits:

www.bensound.com

Check out some of the great things we did during our visit!