Japan was… surreal. It was the port that made me realize that my voyage was quickly coming to an end. While I was ready to see my family and celebrate Christmas, I was NOT ready for my world adventure to end. I was determined to cram as much as I possibly could into my 5-day-Japan adventure. I had no field classes (1 required “field trip” for each course taken, during the semester, in a country of the professor’s choice) left to complete and no field programs (purchased excursions organized by SAS) planned for me; I was completely on my own planning my itinerary. I’m grateful I left my Japan itinerary clear because I was able to adventure with new friends/individuals I didn’t get to spend much time with in previous ports; I had a few ideas I wanted to incorporate, but it was a pretty go with the flow experience. 

Day 1:

I woke up extremely early for what my voyage peers named the “early risers club”, which pretty much consisted of waking up for the sunrise. This one happened to be the morning we were scheduled to be pulling into the port of Kobe, Japan. The sunrise was breathtaking and I remember the indescribable feeling of seeing the land come into view with the sun illuminating the city; it set the theme of my Japan port experience.

We were able to disembark the ship in the late morning and I was grateful to make plans with my friends Nicole, Ana, Julia, and Juliana. Something I really enjoyed about spending the majority of my time in Japan with them, was that we each contributed about 2 things and put them on our itinerary, making sure each person got to do what they wanted to, all while taking some amazing instagram pics.

After docking in Kobe, our first stop was a must see for Nicole- the Tower of the Sun temple. The tower is located just outside of Osaka, about an hour and a half from Kobe port via train. “The tower was designed by artist Taro Okamoto, as a symbol of the 1970 Expo in Osaka. The tower is a symbol representing the energies of all things in the universe that are created through the past, present and future”. Even though the tower is very touristy, it was a really unique site to see and made for a really great photo op.

On our way back to the ship, we visited the Cup of Noodle Factory, where we each got to decorate and color our cup and then select our own flavors to go into our noodles. I really enjoyed this experience. It was completely different than something I would have thought to do but I’m so glad I participated because we all laughed and had a blast.

Before returning to the ship for the night, we made a final visit to a local sushi restaurant called Nakago. It is the best sushi I have ever eaten to this day. My friends and I gathered around a tiny table, sitting in traditional Japanese style, on the floor with our legs crossed discussing all the things we were excited to see in the coming days: bamboo, robots, clubs, matcha, and more.

Day 2: 

Kyoto.. Only about an hour and a half via train from Kobe port and one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. I really admired the culture in Japan: respectful, harmonious, clean… in some ways opposite of my home country. I love how easy public transportation is and how quickly you can get from one city to the next. We had a very packed day and couldn’t wait to experience the beauty the country had to offer. 

Immediately upon exiting the train I discovered the matcha ice cream, obviously it was a must try. I had never had matcha anything before that day and I think it’s safe to say I fell in love. My friends finally scurried me along and we made our way to the bamboo forest.

It’s really hard to remember that the seasons are changing when you’re sailing across the world on a ship and all you see is water for days. I remember arriving at the Bamboo Forest and being mesmerized by the beauty of the fall leaves surrounding the forest and the city of Kyoto. The city was embraced by colors of orange, reds, and yellows and I couldn’t get over how peaceful it was… until I was trampled by what seemed to be an endless amount of tourists trying to take photos of the bamboo. Despite the crowds, I would recommend the forest to anyone visiting the city, as it is also a must see.

Did you know that there’s an entire park dedicated to visiting the snow monkeys of Kyoto? Neither did I, until my friends told me we were going. For just  ¥550, or less than $5.00 you can hike up a hill for 30 minutes (honestly a little more difficult than I was mentally prepared for) to see the monkeys and feed them. I thought one really neat aspect of the park was the monkeys are not caged. There is a caged area where tourists can actually go inside and the monkeys come up to the cage to swing from the metal and eat food from the people- almost like the opposite concept of a zoo. The monkeys scared me a little but I thought it was really interesting to see them in their natural habitat and view the panoramic view of the city from the top of the hill. 

Another destination we had in mind was the Fushimi Inari Shrine and it was…. absolutely stunning. The shrine is followed by many hiking trails that are lined with hundreds of orange torii gates. Although we didn’t hike very far, we walked the grounds and took many pictures of the shrine, which is one of many dedicated to the Shinto rice God, Inari.

It was an extremely busy day and we had an early flight the next day, so we caught up with some friends and were lucky to be invited to take a SAS field class bus back to the ship (transportation is outrageously expensive in Japan and this saved us a lot of money).

Day 3: 

When we first woke up we had a lot of trouble finding a taxi that early in the morning (keep this in mind if you’re ever traveling in Kobe) so we had to wait for the first train to start running, which made us so late we were literally sprinting to the gate of our plane. Luckily we made it right on time and landed in Tokyo after a quick one hour flight. 

The first highlight on our itinerary was actually one of the ideas that I had put on my list of required things to do in Japan; fluffy pancakes. I didn’t really know where to get them, so I googled places and we went to the first one that was listed. We stepped into The Happy Pancake and immediately knew we had walked into the right place; the chefs were cooking the pancakes behind a huge glass window so customers could watch the entire process. I ordered the berry and cream cheese pancakes and would 10/10 recommend this place to anyone passing through Tokyo.

Shibuya Crossing is known as the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world- also famously known from Scarlott Johanson’s Lost in Translation movie. I was mesmerized by the chaos while sitting on the top floor of the Starbucks, watching the aerial view of all the people crossing and traffic patterns. After this, we moved to street level to join the fun and cross the street ourselves. The whole experience made my head spin but was so much fun, we ended up crossing multiple times. 

My friends and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around at different stores at the mall and taking photos. I was so relieved because I found the perfect alumni ball jumpsuit: the huge event on the ship where everyone dresses up super fancy and celebrates the voyage and graduation. I also bought a super cool purple wig to wear out later that night (sas students all decided we would do this to go out to the club). 

Earlier that week we bought tickets to go to the Robot Restaurant – for those reading this was my TOP Tokyo experience and I truly believe you can’t visit this city without going here. I have no words to describe my experience here… upon arrival, we were led down the stairs and into a large room where we were presented with the craziest show I have ever seen. There was loud music, bright lights, moving floats, and explosions, all while the robots were pretending to be at war with one another.

It all left me a little confused and speechless… So in true SASer fashion, we found out where everyone was going and took the first taxi to the club- purple wig and all. For the rest of the night I was surrounded by my shipmates at the club Womb, listening to great music and having the time of our lives.

Day 4: 

The second day in Tokyo was spent wandering around again. It was kind of nice to have points of interest, but also have the freedom to just walk around and get lost in the most amazing places in the city. Nicole had the idea of going to a few places all of which included: the Monster Cafe and the Kaleidoscopic Mirrored Escalator at the Tokyo Plaza Omotesando Harajuku. I thought each were really unique photo ops, but definitely could have done without the Monster Cafe- it was extremely overpriced and I was not impressed by the food options. 

My favorite of the day was Takeshita Street in the Harajuku district. Everything is so bold and colorful: from clothing, to food, to street signs. We were on a mission to find the giant rainbow cotton candy and it was actually the coolest thing ever!! I loved seeing all of the character this place holds and how free everyone was just being themselves. 

Shortly after, we went to Ichiran Ramen where I got to order ramen noodles from a vending machine… well kinda. This experience was very different from any dining experience i’ve ever had, but when in Tokyo!! You select what you’d like to order from a vending machine that prints you out a receipt, from there you pick your seat in your own little cubicle where you’ll fill out a preference sheet. I selected how hot I wanted my noodles, the amount of salt, the hardness of the noodle etc. Then when your meal is done, a tiny window is opened in your cubicle and out comes the ramen. 

Before returning to our AirBnb we climbed to the top of Tokyo City View observation tower where we got to look over the entire city. I thought it was overpriced and crowded, but I made the most of this experience, despite the desperate need for a nap! 

After some much needed rest we all got ready for one last adventure in Tokyo. We marched to the subway station and made our way to Club TK, where we met up with a bunch of other SASers. It was packed, but I had so much fun dancing and meeting new people, one of my shipmates even pretended to be Charlie Puth? The rest was history.

We packed our bags, got 30 minutes of sleep, said farewell to Tokyo, and caught our early flight back to Kobe. How we managed to get there, I’ll never know. 

Day 5: 

I slept most of the morning because … man did Tokyo take a LOT of energy. But I knew I would hate myself if I didn’t at least venture out and make the most of what was left of my afternoon. *Unfortunately I did not bring my camera due to the rain, only GoPRO videos were taken*

I set out by myself for some Kobe Beef at a place called Steakland or ステーキランド 神戸館 in Japanese、 which was within walking distance to the port. The restaurant grilled the beef right in front of you on your own little grill, hibachi style. I loved watching the chef flip around the beef and slice it before setting it on my plate. I don’t know if I was just extremely hungover or if this was actually the best thing I’ve ever tasted- I think a little bit of both, but nonetheless, if you’re in Kobe get yourself some Kobe beef. 

It was a very rainy and dreary day so I walked a little further to the Ikuta Jinja Shrine before turning around for a short walk to the ship. According to google, it is “one of the oldest shrines in all of Japan”. I got really lucky because of the rain, I was one of the only people there and it reminded me just how peaceful the majority of Japan is.

To me my experience in Japan was like day and night. My first two days along with my last, were extremely tranquil and gave me such an appreciation of Japanese culture. I admire how kind and respectful the Japanese people are. However, once I traveled to Tokyo my experience was flipped 180 degrees. The people were still kind, but there was so much beauty in the chaos- I also loved the anime, the flashing lights, and the exoticness of the city. It truly was the best, last, official multi-day port.