Phoenix's Phixations
007: Japan Edition
Hey guys! I wanted to switch things up and share some snapshots that my wife and I took while on our Japan trip coupled with some of my favorite experiences during the past two weeks. I will be fixating/reminiscing on these details for the foreseeable future.. I hope you enjoy ~
Listening:
Throughout the trip and especially while riding the trains from city to city, this Kikagaku Moyo album was the perfect psychedelic blend to calm down my monkey mind. It also helped boost my cognitive focus and serve as the ideal backdrop while looking at the array of traditional villages, coastal towns, and major hubs from the train windows.
TOKYO
Even though Tokyo was the first leg of our trip, I don’t think I’ve still truly processed it.. especially when you pair it with the jet lag and extreme culture shock we were experiencing. But I will add that from the moment we arrived, it felt so welcoming and inspiring thanks to the people, food, and overall design (their public transit system in particular) of the city.
Experiences: Seeing Mount Fuji from the bus and on Lake Anza, bucket-list tattoo from Zilly: getting one of his signature shark designs tattooed on me after 11+ years of wishing and waiting..still can’t believe it, and seeing Shinjuku at night was absolutely insane:
Survey monument: naturally, I was constantly on the hunt for survey monuments wherever we were exploring and this chiseled “X” on a granite square was one of the most unique ones I have ever encountered!
Drinking: On day 1, we officially started our canned coffee addiction for the entirety of the trip thanks to the amazing vending machines near us at all times.. you already know we had to start it off with a can of Suntory BOSS Cafe Au Lait in honor of our favorite film character Hirayama from Perfect Days..
KYOTO
Kyoto was the ideal city to settle into the trip after getting mind-fucked by Tokyo for the first few days. I felt like I finally found my bearings once we got to Kyoto and walked through its quaint neighborhoods while on the way to coffee, food, etc. It was the perfect wind-down.. and do I need to mention that a river always helps me feel right at home? ;-)
Experiences: The garden at Sanjūsangendō Temple, Kamo River, and Philosopher’s Path were some of my favorite places in Kyoto. On top of that, the quiet moments and scenes we’d come across while walking through the neighborhoods will forever be imprinted in my mind:
Drinking: I had my favorite espresso at Goodman Roaster and easily the best matcha I’ve ever had at KOAN. side note: KOAN was the most beautiful cafe I’ve ever seen.. please click the link I added above to see it via Instagram.
OSAKA
Our third city/stop was Osaka. The nightlife and overall party vibe was definitely a lot for my wife and I to take in but it was truly unforgettable to say the least. I will add that parts of Osaka were quite dirty and less unkept as compared to Kyoto and Tokyo but that honestly made it feel more like the major cities/college towns here in California to me, haha. In a strange way, Osaka was the perfect ender to our Japan trip.
Experiences: Dotonbori at night, Osaka Castle, Namba Yasaka Shrine, and Nakazakicho: a neighborhood that miraculously survived the countless air raids of WWII..
Survey/boundary markings: While checking out Osaka Castle, I made it a point (after seeing a placard and note inside the castle) to find some of the rock carvings on a small portion of one of the walls:
Drinking: I luckily found the best cortado of the trip on our very last morning at the cutest little coffee van: NOAM
Japan, you were fucking amazing and I already cannot wait to come back..
Not pictured/noted: the food we had throughout the trip. I mean it when I say that we did not have a bad meal while in Japan. Even a quick grab-n-go lunch from one of their convenience stores or a $3 bowl of soba noodles was absolutely amazing. It would’ve been too difficult to try and narrow down my favorite meals into this article which is why I am not including them.
Thanks for checking out some of our Japan highlights. It was easily the best trip of my life and I still have not quite grasped all that I got experience. Stay tuned for future Japan articles once I decide to sit down and sift through my archive..
Until then, take care ~
I would love to visit Japan, but I have to say that I can only imagine how overstimulating Tokyo would be. I think I would struggle with that, too. Otherwise, I am fascinated with Japanese culture and would definitely love to spend time in all the other places you mentioned.
Awesome stuff! We’ll be in the same boat as I’m also working through my Japan photos. It’s a process…glad you had such a rad trip, that place is the absolute best.