Welcome to 2023! “New year, same me” is what I once wrote on greeting cards in my high school Japanese class. As I had mentioned in my last entry, I had planned a major trip that started in Fukuoka and had me going as far east as Kyoto Shizuoka. I’ll go over each of the places I visited in detail below.
Fukuoka
Over the pandemic before I had even applied (or known about) JET, I planned a 14-day adventure starting in Fukuoka and ending in Tokyo. While this trip didn’t last nearly as long, I fulfilled my original plan of starting in Fukuoka. The Shinkansen ride over was smooth, and navigating Hakata Station to the subway line was easy enough. One of the things that fascinated me the most was how there were multiple shopping malls in the station. I arrived on December 25th around noon and as expected for holiday weekend, everything was packed. The Pokemon Center had a queue to go in, lines of people waiting to eat Hakata ramen, and tons of people walking around the Tenjin area. My initial plans of going up Fukuoka Tower was thwarted as the wait time for the elevators was over 50 minutes. Instead I walked around the outside and took some photos from the ground instead.
Nagato, a quiet city by the sea
Now you might be asking why I would want to visit a city that isn’t frequented by tourists. Personally, I think it is more interesting to explore places off the beaten path. No, it’s not because I dislike large crowds. Not at all….
I had a very nice time just walking around the city and exploring what looked interesting on Google Maps. For smaller places like this, a day was more than enough to see what I wanted to see. I spent more time than I wanted in the Toy Museum. Which was more of a toy playground for kids rather than a museum. I was really impressed with how all the toys were carved out of wood. And played around with a few of them.
My original plan was to stay at Yumoto onsen but I ended up just doing a day trip instead. If I had more time, I absolutely would have gone to the nearby Motonosumi Inari Shrine. On the way back, I got a chance to try Hakata ramen. I’m not much of a food expert but it was tasty!
Okunoshima, you mean Usagishima?
After leaving Fukuoka, the next stop on the journey was an overnight stop on the island of Okunoshima. Commonly referred to as Rabbit Island, it did not disappoint. The island is easily reached by a short ferry ride. Very quickly after you leave the ferry, you see rabbits running around and people feeding them. I too bought a ton of food to feed the rabbits. The rabbits will run up to you to investigate you, and I fed them food from the palm of my hand. The rabbits make the cutest chewing noise ever.
As mentioned, I decided to stay overnight on the island in order to not feel rushed. The one and only resort on the island was great, and I enjoyed the dinner and breakfast buffet. One loop around the island can take a few hours depending on how fast you walk and how much time you spend looking at the ruins of the various facilities on the island (and feeding the rabbits of course).
Hanging out with cats in Osaka and a short day trip to Shizuoka
Regrettably, all good things must come to an end. And I had to say goodbye to my new rabbit buddies and continue on my journey across the western half of Japan. After collecting a rail pass at Okayama (the same station I transferred through on my way east), I arrived in Kyoto. A city that is very familiar to me. There was something else that I was looking forward to, and that was a trip to a cat shelter. I found this experience while browsing Airbnb. The listing stated that the proceeds would be used to help rescue more cats and maintain the shelter. Sounds like a win-win scenario to me. I get to hang out with cute cats while my money gets put to a good cause. The cats were very cute and seemed to be well taken care so no concerns on that end.
I had not originally planned to head further east than Kyoto. But I decided that I wanted to see Mt. Fuji. Luckily, the weather in Shizuoka was clear and the clouds didn’t completely cover the mountain. Honestly Shizuoka seemed like a nice city to live in. Access to the Shinkansen but not massive and crowded like Tokyo or Osaka. Obviously not as much to do compared to those two but for someone living there, I can imagine having all that one would need.
After that it was an admittedly long ride back to Kyoto. And in Kyoto I welcomed 2023 at Heian Shrine which had a good amount of people. But nowhere near the level of crowded as some of the other tourist attractions in Kyoto. Unfortunately I was too sleepy and tired to catch the first sunrise. After that, it was back to home. I spent a little more than I wanted to this trip, so this month (and probably next) will be more localized traveling. I am monitoring plane tickets to Taiwan though. And that may just happen very soon…
