Chinese New Year In Nippon

Four months ago, I started the process of deciding where I would go for my week long Chinese New Year break in early February. I had been told multiple times by friends that the break needs to be seen as a big opportunity because you won't have this long of a period off for the rest of the year and Taipei turns into a ghost town with people leaving to visit their families or go on a vacation. The top two choices were located in Southeast Asia: Cambodia and Myanmar. I wanted to visit either of these countries because it would be an adventure unlike anything I had ever experienced. A completely different culture. Both countries have had multiple military coups in the past 20 years, and Myanmar opened up its borders only five years ago, just for perspective.

Shinjuku Streets

The third option was less intense, but would be just as fascinating: Japan. My good friend Dave is teaching English there, and I had been enamored with the country ever since visiting its southern most prefecture, Okinawa, in November. As (the regular) new year approached, I had to make my decision. I thought in depth about the pros and cons, logistics, and goals. I chose Japan. I would have the opportunity to explore both Tokyo and the countryside, visiting a great friend in the process.

Shortly after I booked my trip to Tokyo, Dave texted me and said "I've got some good news for you." I texted him right back and asked what it was. He explained that one of the teachers at his high school would be interested in having me give a talk on my experiences in college and Taiwan. Best of all, I'd be paid to do it. I would have presented for free (shhh!) because I knew it would be so interesting to have a conversation with bright Japanese high school students, but getting paid was a cool bonus.

Shibuya Scramble

I remember so clearly stepping off the plane, and feeling that cool, fresh air. Invigorating. I was so ready for this trip. Narita Airport is massive, but I asked a couple information desks how to get to the city and they directed me to the correct train, which took well over one hour to get to central Tokyo.

My Airbnb (technically illegal in Japan but somehow still operates) was in Shibuya, one of the most popular districts in Tokyo. My first couple days in Tokyo consisted of me exploring Shibuya and a surrounding district, Shinjuku. That night I met up with a friend from Taipei, Jesus, and we decided on an Sumire Izakaya, classic Japanese establishments with small dishes and brews, from a blog post I had read about from 2012. I left out that last piece of info for Jesus, hoping that it would still be there as we were on our way. We arrived, were seated, and see a small plastic device on the table that says "Push Button For Service." We press it, and within about 5 seconds, a waiter appears. We ask for "ni birru, kudasai," which is improper Japanese for two beers. If only we had this kind of service everywhere else. After we finished, we get the bill and the beers are 280 yen a piece, about 3 USD, which is super cheap for Shibuya. I later found out that we were charged from the "foreigner menu." The beers for Japanese are 120 yen...

The Tower of Tokyo

I went out for a run the next day around Shibuya and Roppongi in chilly weather, with the goal of seeing and hanging out at Tokyo Tower. I made some wrong turns along the way, but I felt like I had all the time in the world. Getting lost with no set itinerary is fantastic. Do it whenever you have the chance.

I met up with Dave and his old college roommate, Hirofumi, later that evening to walk around Hirofumi's suburb. Coincidentally, he lives in Tokyo's Okinawa district, the prefecture Dave and I visited 4 months earlier. Hirofumi graciously supplied us with shelter for two nights, along with great information on Japanese culture. Among the most interesting is his kotatsu, a traditional Japanese desk/heating blanket that almost every household owns, where they curl up during the winter months to relax after a long day's work. The work culture in Japan is insane, by the way. It's hard to explain in short, but the high stress work environments cause many problems.

Imperial Palace Main Gate

We had to get a couple Okinawan donuts for breakfast the next morning to remind us of the good times on that beautiful island. I had a brand new experience as we boarded a train for Central Tokyo to explore the magnificent and beautiful Imperial Palace. Dave and Hirofumi take the only two available seats on one side of the car, and I settle for a seat on the side opposite them. I sit down right next to a lady who's with her son, and after about three seconds, she quickly gets up and moves to the other side of her son. It was so strange. She was not comfortable being that close to a foreigner. Sure, there could have been a bad experience she had with a 'gai jin', but I think it's probably the Japanese ideology of that stretches back centuries to the foundations of the country of not accepting outsiders. I believe this is quite rare nowadays, but it's still a little shocking to have this happen with how 'global' we are.

We went for dinner at a restaurant in a posh district of Tokyo called Ginza. We ordered all kinds of plates, including karaage, chicken heart with Teriyaki sauce, and tempura avacado with fish egg/mayonnaise dip. Karaage is my newly crowned all-time favorite chicken dish. Oiishi-desu...delicious. 

Cultured gentleman

After about an hour, we hear a girl at the table next to us yell out to the waiter in Japanese. Hirofumi translated as "she's dead." But it wasn't the girl who yelled out that was 'dead', it was her friend across the table she was talking about. The friend had gotten wasted, and crashed onto the table. It's now only 7 pm, and her night is already over. Meanwhile, her boss, was smirking and enjoying the scene.

It took a turn for the worst when the girl shouts (Hirofumi translating), "get us a bag, quickly!" It was too late. Her food quietly dribbled out onto her arm and the rest of the table. It was fascinating to hear Hirofumi explain the situation as well. He said, "Since you are foreigners, it's okay if you look, but if we look, it's seen as highly disrespectful." The main thing is, you have to be alert in Ginza. You never know what's going to happen.

Dave and I hopped on the Shinkansen the next afternoon, and were in Dave's quaint town in central Japan, Urasa, in an hour and a half. This was my first time on a bullet train, even though Taiwan has one of its own, ironically built by the Japanese. Cruising along at 160 mph, I thought during our short journey how outrageous it is that the US doesn't have a full scale high speed rail system. Should have been built decades ago. It's about a 15 minute walk from the train station to Dave's apartment. I knew it was going to be a great trip as we exited the station to the fresh, mountain air and some light snowfall.

The first full day in Urasa was a great one. We headed to one of Dave's high schools he teaches at, Kokusai Joho International High School. I presented first to the seniors and then to the juniors. These students are so impressive. One student's research project was based on Paul Graham's Y Combinator, the highly successful Silicon Valley incubator, and the students even knew about Coursera.org. It's rare that students in the US would be discussing these types of subjects, so obviously being in rural Japan it was even more stunning. We learned so much from each other, and the experience with them was among the most valuable I've had in Asia.

The Lodge and Niigata Mountains

Dave dropped me off the next morning at the mountain to ski for the first time since Crystal Mountain last winter. So jealous he lives only 10 minutes from a FEW ski resorts! I picked it back up quickly, and got some good runs in before an afternoon snow storm crushed my dreams of being able to competently ski backwards.

The next day, Dave and I decided we could sleep because he was taking the day off from school, and the biggest thing we had on our itinerary was visiting one of the best sake distilleries in the world, Hakkaisan Brewery. We made our way to the modern looking building and were soon taking in an all Japanese tour. We nodded our heads like we knew what our tour guide was saying, when we had absolutely zero clue. Dave astutely pointed out later our tour guide could have been 13 years old or 30. The most interesting thing about the brewery, that we could see from a picture diagram, is how they've used natural refrigeration for hundreds of years, packing a mound of snow 70 feet long and 25 feet high, keeping the building cool year round even in the sticky summer months. After a small tasting, which included tasting nearly every available sake, we went to the gift shop to buy a few bottles of our own.

My gloves and skis from the 80s #Single

Thursday was the best day yet. Dave described it as the "best day in months," both because of the weather and what we did. We got up fairly early to hit the slopes together, so we drive down there to get a 1000 yen ($10 USD) half day ticket, and pick up some rental gear. I walked into the shop and discover their gear is actually from the 80s. The skis, gloves, poles...everything. I thought I had jumped in a hot tub time machine, or maybe more like an onsen time machine. It was radical.

Winter Wonderland

We left the slopes ready to start the most important matter of business while I was in Urasa: filming a video for the Second Annual Denise M. Chesney Memorial Bike Ride. Last summer, Dave and I rode 300 miles from Seattle to Spokane to honor my mom, who passed away from breast cancer in 2007. This year, we are returning to the Pacific Northwest to ride from Seattle to Leavenworth in August. Our goal was to create a video promoting the ride and sharing our story. We collected some great footage, and our friend from Gonzaga, Yalda Rafie, pieced it together for a beautiful video. That evening, we celebrated a successful week in Urasa with some of Dave's friends from International University of Japan at the best Italian restaurant, out of two, in town. We headed out to IUJ to continue the festivities, finishing off one of those bottles of sake in the process.

The start of the second weekend in Japan began on Friday with us planning to take the Shinkansen to Tokyo at 12:45 pm. But before we knew it, the clock struck noon, and the Zags were playing in 30 minutes. We thought 'is there any reason we need to get to Tokyo before 3?' The Zags are obviously more important than getting to Tokyo two hours earlier. So a 12:45 pm departure turned into a 3:45. We arrived in Tokyo to meet a mutual friend from Australia, who stayed with us in our beautiful, albeit sketchy, Airbnb (we retrieved the key from a box attached to back fence of the apartment complex). We caught a glimpse of the Tokyo sunrise on our way back from a club in Shibuya, T2, which hosted some of the most fascinating social dynamics I'd ever seen.  

Glorious burger

We woke up a little late, but to a gorgeous Tokyo Spring-like day nonetheless, and headed out to get burgers at Blacows in Shibuya. This place is listed among the best burger joints in the world, and it actually ended up being the best burger I'd ever had. I went with the bacon-avacado (you can never wrong with California style), and it's just a big party in your mouth with the Wagyu beef and fluffy, buttery bun.

The last day in Tokyo was a special one because Dave organized a Gonzaga Day celebration at a basketball specific bar in Harajuku called Coast 2 Coast. At the event, we met a fellow Desmetonian who graduated in '58, and a few other graduates from the 80s. We took one last stroll around Tokyo before heading to the pub to watch the Arsenal-Leicester game, in which Arsenal had a 90th minute winner from my guy "WELBECKKKK!!!" Being in the ever odd ecstatic/tipsy state allowed me to miss my connecting train to Haneda Airport. Awesome. At least I made it to about 3 miles away from the airport. It could have been much worse. I made my 5 am flight back to Taipei in time for a nap before work at 2 pm that day!

Go Zags!

This trip exceeded all of my expectations, and I accomplished so much in just 12 days. From exploring the jungle that is Tokyo to skiing and sake tasting to the conversations with Japanese high school students, this was truly the trip of a lifetime. Spending time with a great friend, meeting new ones, and having all kinds of new experiences on this adventure in Japan are things I'll remember for the rest of my life. I'm thankful for how much I've been able to experience since moving to Asia, it's been an incredible journey.