Many weeks of research has led me to a place where I feel confident to start sharing my journey of visiting Japan. At first, I was unsure as to whether or not write my experiences until after the trip, but a real-time account where I highlight my experiences day-to-day as they occur will capture the experience much better.
While I have not tracked how many hours spent on research, a hundred would be a conservative estimate. Each hour has been rewarding in its self, allowing me to grasp Japan more and more with each passing hour of research. Hours will go by until I fall asleep at night, one night I found myself awake even until 6 in the morning while browsing topics on traveling to Japan.
I must recommend Booking.com for it’s fantastic and easy Free Cancellation as well as a Pay Later feature allowing you to curate your vacation perfectly with plenty of time to make changes as you discover new places to visit on your itinerary. One has to be careful though and make sure they read the cancellation policies of each establishment as they vary from ryokan to ryokan and hotel to hotel. Many other sites are available. However, Booking.com has plenty of reviews, in the thousands sometimes. Japanican and Japan-Guide are some other easy to start places to help one who is beginning to plan their trip. Otherwise, Google is your best friend and with the right keywords, you can find a vast amount of resources to guide you.
These are a few of the television shows I’ve been viewing to prepare:
Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown / Tokyo (Netflix)Chef’s Table / Kaiseki cooking at N/Naka (Netflix)Rudy Max’s World: Tokyo and Kyoto (Hulu)An array of anime airing for the 2016 Summer Season. In no particular order (Crunchyroll + Google Search + Youtube)
KiznaiverBoku No Hero AcademyRe: ZeroSakamoto Desu GaBungou Stray DogsJoker GameDragon Ball Super, and last but not least:
Of course, much more anime has been watched. However, I am including only the anime currently releasing week to week. Though I am not expecting to talk to locals about anime, if the topic were to come up I would be up-to-date with the current season’s lineup.
There was a very exciting go-kart experience Tokyo that I found on Govoyagin.
Now if only I could overcome my sloth to get an International Driver’s Permit (a requirement to drive automobiles in Japan) before leaving. Sheesh, with this laziness it’s a wonder how I’ll do anything in my time there.