How to Fully Enjoy Japan

This may not seem like a big topic to go over. Just going to Japan is all the enjoyment you need, but when you get there you may forget that fact. This is going to be a short blog but still very important.

You may have all of your Japan trip planned out, like where you're going and all the places you'll see. You may think your schedule is jammed with a lot going on but once you are there you will notice that there are free spaces in your schedule. And not only that but say you have been very active all day (you'll be doing a lot of walking for sure), you'll start to get tired and want to rest. You'll be going back to either your small hotel room or your small airbnb. Now if you're going back to go to sleep then that's fine, but if you're going back to your place of stay just to relax you will be making a grave mistake. If you do that for one day, you'll continue making the same decision of retiring for the night the next day and the day. Soon you'll start to get bored and want your trip to end sooner. That may seem very hard to believe but you will start to feel that way whether you know it or not.

Now, how do we solve this problem you may come across during your Japan trip. Whatever you do don't go back to your room unless you are tired. Japan is a country set on rules whether they're written or not. In Japan it is common courtesy to start quieting down at 10pm. That means you can't do anything too noisy such as watching tv or talking too loud. Even Japanese people often stay out until they want to sleep for this reason. So if you end up retiring to your room early you'll be very bored because you're pretty much not allow to do anything.

What should you do instead? Well shopping won't be possible since a lot of the shops start closing at around 9pm or even earlier. Try finding an izakaiya or anyplace to eat late at night like a ramen stand or fast food joint. These places are open super late and is a great way to get to experience the local life. And you'll be able to be as loud as you want as the drunk Japanese people can be pretty rowdy. By the time you're done eating and chatting you'll be ready to go to bed.

Mos Burger was a frequent choice when I was studying abroad.

Another thing you can do is just explore the area you're staying in. Japan is a very safe country, so walking around at night is not a problem. I remember walking around the streets of Kyoto at 2am. I didn't feel unsafe at all. It was just very quiet, so remember to stay quiet if you are exploring a residential neighborhood. If you're exploring a night life street then you can be as loud as you want. I've visited a night life area in Osaka once. It wasn't super loud but people were still out and about.

Osaka streets at night.

I hope this helps you enjoy Japan a little bit more. You may think you have everything planned but there will be breaks in your schedule and you may want to take the opportunity to explore more of Japan.

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Thanks for reading! Until next time!