Japan

In December of 2024 I spent 3 and a half weeks traveling all over Japan and the trip was nothing short of incredible. The food is superb, the people are the friendliest of any country I’ve visited so far, it’s very affordable, the reliable rail system makes navigation a breeze, and there is a never-ending list of sights to see.

The first 2 weeks of my trip I spent traveling solo, but meeting many people along the way. I flew into Tokyo, spent one night there, but immediately started south, saving Tokyo for later in the trip. My first real stop was in Hiroshima where I visited the site of the Atomic Bomb drop and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum which was by far the most emotional taxing museum I’ve ever been to. I continued south to the foodie city of Fukuoka which I felt was like a ‘tiny’ Tokyo (population 1.6M vs Tokyo’s 38M). After finishing up in the south, I caught a flight up to the northern island of Hokkaido to ski ‘Jappow’ in the world famous Niseko which had it’s snowiest December in 68 years. After skiing, I caught a bus over to Sapporo — a beautiful metropolitan winterscape this time of year — where I explored the city and visited the Sapporo beer museum. Solo traveling coming to an end, on Christmas Eve I caught a flight down to Osaka and grabbed a train to nearby Kyoto, where I met up with close friends Tyler and Amy, and his parents Gary, and Ann.

I spent Christmas Eve in Kyoto with the Kuwamoto clan eating the best sushi I’ve ever had (and probably ever will), and the next few days exploring nearby Osaka with them. On the 27th, Kari arrived so I caught a Shinkansen (high speed train) up to Tokyo and spent 5 days exploring the most populated city on earth with her. We spent new years out in Golden Gai, an area known for tiny bars (think 7 seats and a bartender), swapping stories with strangers around the world; my favorite past time. After Tokyo, Kari and I headed down to see and feel the traditional atmosphere of Kyoto, and feed some deer along the way. We wrapped up the trip knocking out a few last minute adventures in Tokyo before flying home.

Out of all the amazing things I could say about this country, the one that stands out to me far and above everything else is how genuine, caring, open, funny, sincere, and welcoming the locals are. The countless conversations that I had with strangers will forever hold a special place in my memories.

These posts are roughly in chronological order, keeping in mind that I visited Kyoto/Osaka twice and Tokyo technically 3 times…

Fukuoka

Niseko (Skiing)

Sapporo

Kyoto/Osaka

Tokyo

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