As the weekend approached, I fell asleep knowing that my family was on the flight on their way to Tokyo. I met them in a train station just before our shinkansen bullet train was to leave for Kyoto. 2 and a half hours later, we pulled up to Kyoto station and I with my jet-lagged family walked through the old streets of the ancient capitol of Japan. I felt like I had arrived in a new country. The atmosphere of Kyoto felt totally different from Tokyo. The quiet streets lined with old architecture made me feel like I traveled a century into the past.
We tried to see as much of Kyoto as we could before Typhoon Hagibus was to slam into the coast. We were not directly in the path of the typhoon, but this was to be the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in decades.
On the day of the typhoon, we woke up to pouring rain. It did not stop until late that evening. We went to a cafe nearby our hotel and enjoyed breakfast while watching the storm roll in.
The next day, I woke up to perfectly blue skies. It was hard to believe that a typhoon hit just the day before. We used this perfect weather to take a train to Nara. Nara is a town famous for its dear park. I had heard stories of deer coming up to people and bowing to get food, but I did not think that was common.
As soon as I stepped into the park, several dear came up to me, bowed, and then started nudging me if I did not immediately give them food. Where I am from near Chicago, it is rare to even spot a deer, much less have one come up to you. After this, we stumbled across old back streets with Japanese restaurants at every turn.
Our next stop was Osaka on the same day. Osaka was jaw-dropping. We walked out of the station and made our way to a river that we had heard was famous for its bright lights and night life. It did not disappoint. I had never seen any place so lively as Osaka. Bands played along the river as people dressed up in costumes roamed the streets. Street food vendors shouted as the smell of their products filled the air. Go-Karts sped down the main roads. It was hard to believe that I was not in an amusement park.
The next day, we took a shinkansen back to Tokyo. We filled the weekend with so many activities that we were exhausted. Despite this, my family was excited to see Tokyo. We walked to Asakusa, an older district of Tokyo with the famous Senso-ji temple. There is much to see in Tokyo with so little time, so I hope I can be a good tour guide and show them the best places of the city.
(I will add photos soon. WordPress will not let me add them at the moment.)
Japan 2019 