Let`s walk off the beaten path
We are finally allowed to welcome our students to study with us!
It has been a journey, to say the least, but we are now about to exit the dark tunnel and plan for the future!
So how would you like to spend your first few days in Japan?
Well, depending on whether you need to quarantine or not, it will change some things, but let us assume you are done with the quarantine or did not have to do it at all.
Usually speaking, you will land in one of 3 main ports:
Tokyo, Chubu (Nagoya) or Fukuoka. So let`s look at what you could do before starting your course! This time we will cover the not so famous places.
So let’s say you landed in Tokyo!
Tokyo
YES! You are here, THE place to visit in Japan. So many years of dreaming what it would be like to walk the streets of Akihabara, ride the overcrowded trains in the morning, cross the world-famous Shibuya crossing, or get lost in Shinjuku station.
We have covered some places in our previous post about 5 places to visit.
But if you look close enough, you will find the:
Basho Memorial Museum
Who is Matsuo Basho? Only one of the most famous Haiku poets in Japan!
One of his most famous haiku:
古池や 蛙飛び込む 水の音
ふるいいけや
かわずとびこむ
みずのおと
An ancient pond,
A frog leaps in,
Sound of water
The idea of haiku is not to rhyme or be very deep with difficult words, but rather, immerse the reader or listener in the atmosphere of the moment.
Basho lived between 1644 to 1694 and in his short 50 years of life, he managed to change the Haiku world of his day.
If you are interested in going, the map is here.
If you like going off the beaten path, this is a wonderful little museum. How about a challenge? Go there on your first day and then the last day. See how much you can understand after studying with us!
Nagoya
For a lot of tourists and visitors to Japan, Nagoya is THE off the beaten path place, so technically speaking anywhere you go is not really well known outside of Japan. But how about the most bonkers Jinja shrine we have heard of? No not the shrine celebrating the phallus, much weirder.
The Momotaro Shrine!
Who is Momotaro? A hero born from a peach! Hence the name 桃太郎 (momo means a peach). To shorten the story to fit the format:
A long time ago, in a land far far away, in Japan, there lived a couple who struggled to make ends meet. One day the grandfather went to the river and saw a massive peach floating. He brought it back home and as they were about to cut it to eat, from the peach sprang a boy! They called him Momotaro. He made friends with animals and fought demons and became a hero! You can say that he was the original Demon Slayer.
So in Aichi prefecture, in Inuayama (super close to Nagoya) there is a shrine dedicated to this character.
More information can be found on this website.
Technically speaking people go to this shrine to ask for luck in getting pregnant or children`s health, but either way, it is a wonderfully weird place!
Fukuoka
Japan is full of places of historical significance, and the following place is definitely not one of them. But if you like cats, this is the place for you!
The Cat Island!
It is called Ainoshima (相島）and it is an island off the coast of Fukuoka. This island is famous for cats! About 150 of them.
Considering that are roughly 400 million pet cats in the world for 7 billion people. So about 17.5 people per cat. This island has a grand total of about 500 humans, so about 3 humans per cat.
Now, it is a living hell if you are allergic, but if not, do yourself a favour and go!
Cats are cute, the Japanese countryside is beautiful and people who live in small villages tend to be very friendly!
The website is in Japanese, but uber-cute so have a look here on the island’s website.
Conclusion
So there you have it!
Here are 3 more places you just have to visit. But for now, let’s sort out your travel plans and make sure that your journey is stress-free!
We are really looking forward to seeing you soon!
