Thursday (Day 4): Today happened to be a day centered around food! Before coming to Japan, I had seen one Japanese restaurant pop up on my Instagram feed hundreds of times: Tsujihan. At this restaurant, they serve a raw fish rice bowl that comes with a complimentary soup afterwards. Knowing that the restaurant usually has a wait time of over an hour, I decided to go here for a late lunch/early dinner. Next, I tried Mont Blanc (a Japanese dessert made of chestnut cream) at a nearby cafe. The Mont Blanc had layers of cake, fruit, and ice cream inside and came with a traditional cup of matcha. Both were super delicious!
Before going back to my Airbnb, I decided to visit the famous Character Street inside of Tokyo Station. It was so cool to see that many shops based on famous Japanese characters such as those from Studio Ghibli movies or anime. I also walked around Ramen Street (an entire area inside the subway station that is dedicated to selling ramen), but I didn’t end up eating anything because I was too full from my earlier meal 😂
Friday (Day 5): [I didn’t have much planned for this day, but it ended up being one of the most meaningful days that I spent in Japan ☺️]
I slept in really late this morning; it has been more difficult than I expected to adjust to the time difference between here and Europe. Because I woke up late, I had a hard time finding a place within walking distance that was open so that I could have lunch. Luckily, I happened to stumble upon a hole in the wall restaurant with decent ratings 3 minutes away from my Airbnb!
Let me set the scene: this tiny restaurant has a L-shaped counter that wraps around the kitchen in which the restaurant’s owner and sole chef cooks/serves the food. There were 3 people sitting at this counter, talking to the grandma standing in the kitchen. When I went inside, everyone fell silent. The grandma started speaking to me in Japanese, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. The youngest of the 3 customers, Yoshi, happened to speak English, and he told me to sit down and translated the menu for the grandma.
I had broiled fish and rice and delicious side dishes; I felt like I was genuinely experiencing the food enjoyed by the locals. As I continued to talk to the grandma and the other customers (through body language and Yoshi’s translations), I found out that they all knew each other through this restaurant and came to eat here almost every single day. As we continued our conversation and I finished eating my meal, the grandma started giving me pieces of chocolate and ice cream and even brewed me an iced coffee for free! I was really surprised at and grateful for the hospitality and kindness that everyone showed me. Eventually, the grandma called her granddaughter, Aoi, to come and meet the strange girl from America that happened to visit her restaurant. When Aoi came, we automatically clicked and made plans to get dinner together that very night!
So, after working at a cafe for a few hours, I met up with Aoi, and she took me to a local ramen and gyoza restaurant. Her younger brother and Yoshi joined us there, and we talked together for hours! They all showed me around the neighborhood, and we talked about what it was like growing up in Japan vs. in the United States and about what we wanted to do in the future.
Traveling alone has definitely taught me how to enjoy my own company and how to be comfortable exploring on my own. But at the same time, this experience has shown me how important the people around me really are. The friends that I made today really enhanced not only my day but my entire stay in Japan, and I am so thankful for them and Aoi’s grandma’s restaurant.
Thanks for reading 🤍