After the slow pace of Myanmar, I landed in one of the most hi-tech places on the planet, Tokyo, and experienced a kind of reverse culture shock. There are so many people. The men wear trousers not skirts. The doors open automatically. The toilets have a mind of their own and should come with an instruction manual for their many controls, automatically lifting their lids and heating their seats as I open the cubical door. I’m instructed to sit not squat.

And I must flush the toilet paper instead of throwing it in the bin although it takes me 5 minutes to find the flush button and it’s a while before I’m brave enough to press the ‘female cleansing’ button 🙊

I added Japan to my itinerary almost on a whim enroute to the Philippines. Before quitting to travel, I worked at Google and my team was based in Tokyo. Come visit when you’re in this part of the world they said. So here I am!

What I discovered pretty much immediately that Japan is a 30-something backpacker’s dream come true. I thought I had outgrown dormitary rooms but Japanese hostels have raised the bar so high I can’t even see it anymore. Plus I can’t afford my own room in Japan.

A dorm bed here costs about £30 and generally gets you a sleeping pod, which I didn’t know I’d been missing out on until now. Amazing. You have a decent sized bed and enough space to sit up in, a reading light, some shelf space (a bit like a mini version of those all in one beds you want as a teenage girl) all safely enclosed by a curtain. And a pair of slippers – get used to taking your shoes off a lot in Japan! The calibre of fellow travellers is also that bit higher – your average 18 year old on their gap year can’t afford it 🙊

As I stepped off the plane and onto the Tokyo metro system, I thought it was going to be harder to get around than it actually is. Rail staff generally speak enough English to point you in the right direction and a few words of Japanese (excuse me, thank you) go a long way! I also discovered that whilst I spent half my time getting lost inside the stations and figuring out which of the hundreds of lines to take (Tokyo has the biggest station in the world, Shinjuku), once you’re actually on the train it’s easy as stations are numbered and announcements are even in English.

On to Tokyo itself, with only two full days it was always going to be jam packed. I don’t like big cities. But I loved Tokyo. I could even imagine living here. Because whilst there are over 9 million people, there is an efficiency to it and pockets of calm to be found. People are incredibly polite and they like to queue. I was waiting to board a bus when I realised everyone people was waiting for me to get on first as I’d arrived before them. As a Brit I obviously appreciate the queue, although I don’t see the point of waiting at a pedestrian crossing for the little green man when the road is clearly empty 🤔

Two days barely scratched the surface and I can only write about my own experiences. I stayed in the Asakusa area, to the east of the city where a lot of the hostels are based. On both days I left my hostel early mornings armed with a paper tourist map and a metro card and pounded the streets for several hours, only returning late at night to sleep.

Asakusa is a good area due to the proximity to the Dempo-in Temple, the Sky Tower and the river, also a fairly early metro station to take you into the city. I found a lovely vegan cafe called The Farm by the river for my first Japanese lunch.

The Sky Tower used to hold the title of World’s Tallest Building so naturally I went to the very top. I don’t think I even looked at the extra cost for the top floors – what’s the point if you don’t go to the highest point?! They also have a post box up there which I thought was pretty cool.

The views from the top were stunning – although the Barbie doll exhibition on the top was a little odd. I never considered Barbie to be a career goal.

The Dempo-in shrine gave me my first experience of Asian girls dressing up in kimonos, whipping out their selfie sticks at the slightest hint of cherry blossom. Note to other tourists – these are not Geisha 😂 It also introduced me to the fortune slips, whereby you pay a coin or two, shake a box and pull out a stick with a number on it then find that number on a big chest of drawers type thing, and discover your fortune. Unfortunately I couldn’t understand my number but some girls helped me out and I was relieved to find my fortune was a good one. Not to worry though – if you get a bad one, simply tie it to the post and get rid of it.

I popped in the Google office for a free lunch and view from the top of the Roppongi Hills office. Whilst their suggestion of for afternoon activities was some way off (Fish market and Maid Cafe) it was nice to catch up in person although it felt like a weird parallel universe where work me and backpacker me collided 🤔

They also treated me to a unique private dining experience in a Tempura restaurant which was the best food I ate for a while. Three of us sat in a private room whilst the chef prepared course after course in front of us before explaining exactly how each piece should be eaten. With a delicious vegetable only menu for me of course.

When in Tokyo you have to check out the Shinjuku area with the iconic neon signs and walk around at night. I realise this is a bit like saying when in London you must go to Picadillly Circus, an area no Londoner just wanders around by choice, but I couldn’t quite get my head around these scenes after India and Myanmar. A good place to get a break from the crowds and see the city lights for free is the Government Building observatory.

I also had to see the World’s Busiest Crossing at Shibuya (maybe I should start watching record breakers as I seem to enjoy this type of thing) which despite apparently having 2500 people crossing in all directions, felt relatively calm. Photo below!

My favourite area was probably Harajuku where I wandered around the quieter streets, had coffee, browsed the weird and wonderful fashion shops in Takeshita Street (sooo many people!) and found a gorgeous silver jewelry shop with abundance of skulls, where the owner was a lovely guy from Myanmar of all places – I got a few freebies for that reason 😎

I was intrigued by the number of cat and dog cafes but didn’t go in as I can’t imagine I’d have been happy to see animals contained in cafes. Below is a video of the crowds on Harajuku Street – I didn’t last long there.

The makeup shops also fascinated me. There is makeup for things I didn’t know existed…. And skin lightening is a big thing – I’ve given up on finding a normal moisturiser without going the Michael Jackson route and am just putting hand cream on my face until I get to the Philippines. Neither can I find a hair conditioner that isn’t industrial sized. I’ve spent hours in these shops just looking and wondering what everything is.

Japan is also home of the super duper vending machine, on every corner and selling cans of hot coffee. I did not see any vending machines for more dodgy things shall we say, which I had been told existed.

I was only planning 10 days in Japan initially, so after 3 nights I moved on to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji and experience the Japanese bathing phenomenon of Onsen…