Tokyo is an amazing city pack with so many people and experiences! The metro area of Tokyo actually has more people than all of Canada! Crazy, eh?

We were in Japan during Japan’s Golden Week, which has several spiritual/civic holidays, such as Children’s Day, the Emperor’s birthday, etc. We attended some Shinto ceremonies around the city during this time. The Shinto shrines in Tokyo are very beautiful and are steeped in tradition.

In contrast to the solemn Shinto ceremonies, Tokyo also has the bustling downtown with all kinds of lights, robot cafes, arcades, and almost anything you can imagine! The famous Shibuya cross walk is fascinating to watch, where a mad rush of pedestrians bolt across the street to beat waiting flux of cars!

Something I didn’t know about Japan – Japanese love baseball! We attended a match in Tokyo in the Swallow’s stadium. There’s nothing quite like watching baseball and drinking a warm sake! The Swallow fans have a funny celebration when their team reaches home – everyone pulls out a mini umbrella and bobs them up in down in surprising unison! It was like a choreographed sports wave with umbrellas!

A great day trip was to the Fuji Five Lakes, near the base of Mt. Fuji. We hopped a bus there, and wandered the trails around the lakes. We wanted to climb up Mt. Fuji, but there was too much snow at this time of year (May). The views were beautiful, as we had some gorgeous weather.

And a trip to Tokyo would be incomplete without trying some sushi! We found a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Yes, this is exactly what you’re thinking. The chefs are in the middle surrounded by a conveyor belt of little plates with sushi. Customers sit on the outside of this conveyor belt and grab plates as they go around. When you’re done you bring your plates to the front and pay for each plate (different colour plates represent different prices). It was so delicious!

Note that this posting is about our travels from May 2016. This marks the end of the Asia trip. Jon continues his journey to Taiwan, and I head back to Canada to explore the Canadian and US National Parks. Asia has been a blast with so many amazing people, places, and experiences. The journey continues!

Cheers, Shawn

Asia Trip – Early 2016