Two Uses for your Passport in Japan

This is not going to be a blog about how to get a passport. That is for another day. This blog post is about the two uses for your passport when you are in Japan as a visitor or tourist. Your passport has more functions than you know about. The main use of a passport is to get you into Japan when traveling, but did you know it still has purpose once in Japan? Let's talk about it some more.

Seeing Cherry Blossoms in Japan

My first and only time so far to see cherry blossoms in Japan was back in spring of 2014 for my honeymoon. I always heard it was a great time to go to Japan and that it was beautiful. Now that I went for myself (and I'm going again in 2019) I can truly say it is an amazing sight to see but no amount of pictures or stories will do the cherry blossom season justice. You really do have to go see it for yourself in order to really understand the beauty of spring time in Japan.

Why You Should Study Abroad in Japan

There are many ways to travel to Japan. You can go for vacation, a job or on a guided tour, but one of the best ways to experience Japan is through studying abroad. Whether you choose a program at a school in your own country or applying to a Japanese school, studying abroad has many benefits that other traveling methods don't offer. I'm going to be talking about why you should be studying abroad in Japan.

Adventures at Tokyo DisneySea

Japan's second Disney park is Tokyo DisneySea. Just like Tokyo Disneyland, this Disney park can also be fully explored in a day. I personally did one day in each park and felt fulfilled. Tokyo DisneySea is known for being the more mature of the parks as it has more thrilling rides and the park has a worldly theme that adults can appreciate. This Disney park is highly praised and is a crowd favorite, especially for couples. Let's get deeper into what makes this park so pleasing.

Stories From Japan: Is that a Tengu?

I've encountered a lot of animals in Japan, from deer to monkeys and your common house-pets. I never thought I would have such an abnormal encounter to a common outdoor animal such as a crow. Crows are kind of those universal birds that every sees around outside. From my past experiences with crows, they are loud and seem like they always have a watchful eye on you but nothing more. In Japan, I experienced something completely different.

Experience Autumn Season in Japan

Japan is a place that's a great example of having all four seasons. It's mostly known for it's spring time cherry blossoms, as it is a sight to see. But another season that should not be ignored is autumn. For someone like myself who comes from a place that just has summer and winter, the autumn foliage an amazing experience. There are so many colors during the fall season in Japan that it gets to be mesmerizing. I'm just used to colors green and brown, or no leaves at all. So I'm going to give you my opinion and experience of autumn in Japan!

Queue Culture in Japan

Japan is already different from a lot of other countries, but their culture is stands out the most. If you have ever been to Japan you probably experienced the differences in Japanese culture and the culture you come from. For those of you who have not been to Japan it will either be a fun experience or a difficult one. One of the things about the Japanese culture that amazes me id the "queue culture," or the standing in line culture.

Things You'll Need to Prepare for in Japan

Japan is a very different country, from all other countries in the world. It's a country that has modernized but still held onto its traditions and unique culture. The things you're used to in your own country may not apply in Japan, and I'm not talking about major things such as the language. I'm going to discuss the smaller things that you won't catch unless you actually experience Japan because not a lot of people talk about the smaller things. You could call these things mini culture shocks.

Stories From Japan: Lost Gaijin

I had two public talks a few weeks ago. One talk was about manners in Japan and another was on travel in Japan. Both brought up really interesting questions from the attendees. But one question really stuck out to me. "What do you do when your lost?" Now the logical and predictable thing to do is to ask for help, but most people either don't know Japanese to that extent or have no confidence in their Japanese to ask for help. Instead of answering with these replies I simply said "do the lost gaijin look."

Budgeting a Japan Trip

One of the things I always hear from people is that they can't go to Japan because it's too expensive. It's really not that expensive if you know how to budget. I never knew how to budget until I got married. As the bride, traditionally, my parents paid for most of the wedding and its related festivities. They gave me a budget for my wedding that I had to follow and that's how I developed tricks to help me budget. I never thought to relate my budgeting experience with a trip to Japan, but I see how my budgeting method can help people get to Japan.

Eating at Gion Gyuzen

This is a restaurant recommendation if you ever go to Kyoto, Japan. When many people think of eating out in Japan, they usually think of sushi or ramen. There's more to Japan than sushi or ramen, and it would be a shame if you didn't get to experience that. I'm going to introduce a restaurant called Gion Gyuzen, an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu and sukiyaki restaurant.

Exploring Nara, Japan

Nara Prefecture is south of Kyoto and east of Osaka Prefecture. We'll be talking about the city of Nara today. It is an ancient city, as it used to be Japan's capital. It's a small city but still significant for it's history and tourist attractions.

When planning your trip to Japan keep in mind to stop by Nara. It's a stop on almost every guided tour in Japan. It won't require you to be there all day, probably just a few hours, so you won't have to book another hotel. Nara is a great day trip to take. To reduce travel time you'll want to travel to Nara from either Osaka or Kyoto, as those are the closest. When traveling to Nara, get off at Nara Station. From the station you can walk to the one place I'm recommending you to visit, and that's Nara Deer Park.

Snow Monkey Park in Nagano

When my husband and I were planning for our trip to Japan we had a few times on our to-do list that we have never done before. One of the things we wanted to do was to go up to Nagano to stay at an onsen (hot spring resort) and visit the Snow Monkey Park. Once we landed in Japan we stayed the night in Tokyo but headed out to Nagano in the morning by shinkansen (bullet train). We left at about 10 A.M. and arrived at Nagano station by noon.

Trying Kit-Kats from Japan

As a child I always loved Kit-Kats. The chocolate had a distinct flavor than all the other chocolate candy. But then I went to Japan for the first time and my love for Kit-Kats deepened. I never knew Kit-Kats were so popular in Japan that they had more than 40 flavors existing. My goal is to eat as many different flavors of Kit-Kats as possible. I've eaten a few Kit-Kats before I started blogging: green tea, green tea sakura, pudding, sweet potato and brown rice tea. I recently went back to Japan and knew I wanted to add to my Kit-Kat experience, and I always look for flavors I know I can't get at an Asian market back home. Here are three Kit-Kats I discovered while in Japan.

Using the Japan Rail Pass

In November, I got to use the Japan Rail Pass for the first time. I can confidently say I will never travel without it again. It made traveling throughout Japan easy, convenient, and stress-free. It was literally "pick a place, and go!"

Pokemon Center in Japan

There are many fun and exciting things to do in Japan. One of the stops I need to make when I'm in Japan is to a Pokemon Center. There are many across Japan, each store having its own special items from the region along with standard item in every store. The Pokemon Center is my chance to stock up on Pokemon merchandise that you can't get in any of the stores in America, or anywhere else for that matter. Last year, the Pokemon Center has made it available for people to purchase their merchandise online which you can check out here (please note that the website is still very limited in what you can buy). These items are of a greater quality than any other place that has Pokemon merchandise available. For me, that would be Toys R' Us and their selection is nothing compared to the Pokemon Center. Not only to purchase items, but to just step into a Pokemon Center is an experience if you are Pokemon fan like me. The store just takes your breathe away with all it has to offer. Let's just say most of my spending money for Japan goes to the Pokemon Center, and I'll show you why.