Japan

My trip to Japan happened because I decided I wanted to explore Asia in 2019, so why not start with the Land of the Rising Sun? It turned out to be the best experience of my life. I’ve debated with myself on which angle I should take when talking about my trip because of the numerous experiences that have had a lasting effect on me. Should I talk more about being a black American in a homogeneous, Asian culture? Should I focus on the contrast of the Western Christian faith vs that of Buddhism and Shintoism? What about the technological advances, the food, etc? How will these things coalesce with my overall story? These are the questions that went through my mind while writing this blog post. In an attempt to not make this post too long but still wanting you to understand my experience, I’ll briefly take you through all of it.

The first stop on my trip was Tokyo. I arrived a couple days before New Years, the biggest holiday of the year. Upon arrival at the airport, I picked up my RailPass and pocket WiFi, then hopped the train to my capsule hotel where I slept comfortably until the next morning. I spent the day going to temples, visiting craft breweries like Asahi, eating cheap but delicious sushi, and exploring Ueno Park. I still didn’t have a plan on how I’d celebrate New Years so I opened my Couchsurfing app to see what other travelers were doing.

I saw there was a large meet-up happening at an Irish pub near Shibuya Crossing so that’s where I headed. I arrived at the bar, ordered a beer, and mingled with the group. I met people from Japan, Germany, USA, Taiwan, Australia, France. It was a mix of natives, expats, and travelers. They were all incredibly intelligent and had an intriguing story. We were having a good time until the Irish manager came over yelling at me and a few others demanding that we either keep buying drinks or leave. I decided I wasn’t supporting this guy’s business anymore so me and 3 others left. The four us, Matt(San Francisco), Jessica(Germany), Rick(Japan), and I walked around the neighborhood, bar hopping and getting to know each other.

We arrived back at Shibuya Crossing, the busiest intersection in the entire world, just in time for the New Year countdown. There was easily 30,000+ people there. A few minutes before January 1st, 2019, this massive crowd began singing “We Are the Champions” in unison. Then the countdown began 10 seconds before midnight. You had to be there to understand the excitement of that moment. After ringing in the New Year, the four of us walked to 7-Eleven to purchase beverages before plotting our next move. I purchased a can of Chu-Hi, which is basically the Japanese equivalent of 4Loko but tastes way better.

As we stood outside of 7-Eleven, we befriended a group of intoxicated British women. They were a lively bunch and our group grew from 4 to 9 people. We got food and drinks at a nearby restaurant with unlimited alcohol for one low price. As you can imagine, our conversations took an interesting but hilarious turn. I’ll leave it at that. Anyway, a few hours later we left and walked to a shrine about a mile away. The custom in Japan is to visit a shrine or temple in the new year to pray. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people there at 4 in the morning so this was obviously a huge part of the culture. We continued to hang out all night/morning and watched the sunrise standing on a bridge. Our time together was coming to an end so we exchanged hugs and contact info then went our separate ways.

I spent the rest of the week seeing the top sites, eating seafood from restaurants and street vendors, and even squeezed in a day trip to Nikko. This is when it became clear the major differences between western and Japanese culture. First, everything is much smaller than I’m used to. Sitting at any restaurant was uncomfortable because my legs were too long to fit under the table. Some urinals were so low I had to bend my knees while taking a piss. I was constantly bumping my head on doorways and horizontal pole grips on the trains. This country clearly wasn’t built for a 6 foot tall person like myself. Despite obviously standing out, I was treated the same as every other foreigner.

Japanese people in general are incredibly courteous and made me feel welcome everywhere I went. They didn’t look at me as a scary black man which was a huge reprieve from life in the states. The seafood was also different. I ate sushi at mostly conveyer belt bars but the fish was fresher than I’m used to and mostly infused with wasabi. My favorite thing to eat was takoyaki, which is a fried ball filled with octopus. It’s served in different flavors, all of which are tasty. Also, the 7-Elevens sell higher quality food than a typical Japanese restaurant in Chicago and it’s not even close, no exaggeration. Another major difference was the public transit. You can get anywhere in the country easily by train or bus. It is fast, reliable, and comfortable. The train rides are so smooth it feels like you’re literally floating. Contrast this with the United States where NYC is the only place in the entire country with public transit that covers the entire city but it’s still terrible in comparison.

The biggest difference in my opinion though was when it came to religion or lack thereof. The majority of Japanese people don’t strongly follow a specific faith but most of them will still go to shrines or temples on New Years to pray. Every country I’ve visited thus far has been majority Christian so this was a mind altering experience for me. As a follower of the Christian faith, I grew up believing that any person that didn’t believe the way we did was spending eternity in hell. Japan is full of incredible people with great hearts but only 1% of them are Christians. I’ve had doubts before but this is when I really started to question my own faith and things I was taught to be true. I began asking why a loving God would condemn these people to hell. I still don’t have the answers but I reflect on it daily.

My time in Tokyo came to an end and I took a bullet train to Kyoto. The first thing I did was go to a Japanese Curry spot. It had various curry dishes with levels of spice from 1-10. I picked level 3 thinking I could handle it but I was mistaken. 10 would have probably killed me. After crying through my meal, I walked to a nearby brewery, Kyoto Beer Lab. The bartenders spoke fluent English, which is incredibly rare in Japan so it felt good to be able to communicate with other humans. I sat next to a college aged woman at the bar who was playing with a game I’ve never seen before. After bartender explained to me how it worked I decided to join her. The best way to describe it is a 3D Connect Four. I thought I was smart enough to beat her but I lost swiftly three games in a row. She didn’t speak any English but knew how to laugh at me each time she beat me. It was a humbling experience.

Soon after, an older gentlemen sat next to us and seemed very excited to talk to me. I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying but he was cool so I didn’t mind. The three us sat and communicated...well sort of in the limited knowledge of each others' languages. The college woman left and it was only me and the older guy. A man about my age eventually sat and joined us named Rikito. He spoke fluent Japanese and English so he was able to translate what the older guy was saying to me. Rikito is a funny, awesome guy that grew up in North Carolina but lives in Japan teaching English as a second language. We talked about the things we hated about the American culture and life in Japan. Our conversation made me want to pack up everything and move to Asia because life is so different in that part of the world. As I got up to leave, the old man joyfully gave me a hug and let me know that he’s happy he had the chance to talk to me. By the way, the beer at this place was incredible.

The next day I connected with a traveler from Germany through Couchsurfing named Larissa. We met up at the Ryozen Kannon monument which was built to honor those killed in World War 2. Then we walked extensively exploring more sites as we talked and learned more about each other’s culture. We just met but it felt like we’ve been friends for years the way we laughed and made fun of each other. Later that night we met up at a bar with 2 guys from India(Punjab and a southern city I don't remember the name of) and one from France.

As the hours passed our group got smaller until it was only the Punjabi and I. He was inebriated and seemed to have a goal of flirting with every woman in that bar while using me as bait. The women’s faces lit up the moment he told them where I was from. They couldn’t understand me but giggled at everything I said. It was bizarre but fascinating. We eventually ended up at another bar close by where he continued the same game. At this point he’s so drunk he can barely stand up on his own. In the midst of drinking, we spent some time talking to a nice couple. They were friendly and had a warm spirit about them. I left for a few minutes to use the bathroom and came back to the Punjabi yelling at the couple while the husband, Kris, tried to calm him down. He couldn’t tell us why he was upset. I was confused and so was he apparently.

After a few minutes he stumbled away and Kris invited me to do karaoke with him and his wife. I accepted with no hesitation and abandoned the drunk, Indian guy. We got to the karaoke spot, rented a room, and sang for hours until I literally fell asleep with the mic in my hand. I woke up embarrassed and took a taxi back to my hostel.

Later that day I wandered a bit. Kyoto is a more traditional city than Tokyo as a result of it being unscathed by the war. I spent much of my time exploring temples since there isn’t much else to do. Some were more fascinating than others but it quickly became repetitive. The highlight for me was Fushimi-Inari which I’ve seen in pictures for years. Walking through the hundreds of tori gates felt surreal.

I took a day trip to Osaka some time between temple hopping and met up with Larissa one last time. We drank sake and Chu-Hi the entire day as we explored the city. Suddenly everything was funny. We couldn't stop laughing. Osaka at night felt like Times Square on steroids. I’ve never seen that many neon lights in one spot. Osaka has an America Town which reminds of Jamaica, Queens, from the blaring hip-hop music, to the numerous shops selling sneakers and clothing. We had so much fun together I was sad when I had to say goodbye. We hugged and promised to keep in touch.

A trip like this wouldn’t be complete without something going wrong. It was my last day in Japan and I headed to the airport hours earlier than I needed to because I’m paranoid about missing flights. I was flying out of Narita airport in Tokyo which is a three hour commute from Kyoto. This required me to transfer trains in between my journey. As I got off the first train and made it on the second one I realized I forgot my bag on the last train! It was too late to get off as the train was already moving and wasn’t stopping until it reached the airport.

The moment the train stopped I ran off and caught the first one back to Tokyo station, which is the main hub an hour in the other direction, hoping it was turned into lost and found. I made it back but struggled to ask for directions. I finally found an employee that spoke English and was able to help me. It was winter time but I was soaked in sweat from my anxiety. I made it to the lost & found and they had my bag! I filled out some paperwork and said “Arigato!” as I ran back to train platform. I make it on the train with seconds to spare. If I missed this one, catching my flight would’ve been impossible.

I made it to the airport but only had 40 minutes to get to my gate. This is when I encountered another obstacle. I had to return my pocket WiFi but couldn’t find the counter. I was frustrated and flustered. I sped walked through the massive airport until things started to look familiar. I returned the WiFi, got through security in 5 minutes, and made it to my gate the moment my boarding group was announced. I boarded the plane and sat relaxed in my seat. Then I turned on a horror film starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski as the plane headed to the United States. I was finally going home.

Traveling always shifts my perspective but this trip in particular took it to another level. I learned so much and built new relationships along the way. This experience made me that much more curious of what the rest of Asia has to offer.