Before you jump in, please make sure you’re caught up with Part One!

All set? Cool, I’ll bring Johnny’s Playlist back for you as well. 🤝

Day 9 (July 16th)

After a great time in Tokyo, we headed next to Kyoto, and (at last!) got our first experience with Japan’s legendary Shinkansen (bullet train) system. While we found the ticketing system a bit more convoluted than that of the subway, these trains are epic: roomy, tricked-out with plane-like seats and FAST. I’ve included a video below from outside Sarah’s window seat.

After checking in at the hotel (and no, the rooms throughout the trip did NOT magically get bigger), we headed out for a walking tour focused on Kyoto’s Geisha culture.

Kyoto is a much older city than Tokyo, and you immediately feel a bit like you’ve stepped back in time. Before we left, I’d looked up comparisons of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka to U.S. cities, and the results were Tokyo as NYC (center of everything, fast-paced, modern), Kyoto as Boston (weaving in more history, a bit of a university town feel) and Osaka as Chicago (a little edgier and more down-to-earth), and this generally aligns with my experience.

I definitely had multiple “this is almost too spot-on” vibes that night with some of the scenery, feeling like I’d stumbled into an American Japanese restaurant desperately trying to look authentic with their outdoor decor, before realizing that this was, in fact, the OG.

We also happened to have inadvertently stumbled into the MASSIVE country-wide Gion Festival near the end of the night, and it was quite a scene, especially in the subway stations.

Anyway, I’m now ready to do an AMA on Geishas.

Day 10 (July 17th)

This was an EPIC day. Despite having to cram back into a van, we had an amazingly knowledgeable tour guide, who looked uncannily like my boss from my last company.

We started at the legendary Fushimi Inari-taisha, a massive shrine featuring thousands of orange gates. For fellow nerds out there, this was apparently Shigeru Miyamoto’s inspiration for the game Star Fox.

It was absolutely pouring rain most of the day, which would have been a bummer, but it ended up ensuring that things weren’t as insanely crowded as usual, so it got a thumbs up from both of us. Plus, by that point we’d purchased sick clear umbrellas, and mine doubled as a cane when my back flared up. So fresh, so young!

From there we headed to the Kinkaku-ji Temple, which is coated in gold leaf. It was stunning to see, despite the fact that there’s a high chance that it could appeal to America’s regrettable current President.

We then briefly walked through a giant bamboo forest, before arriving in Nara for the main event(s): a tour of the astounding Todai-ji Temple and THE DEER.

The temple was until 1998 the world’s largest wooden building, and photos don’t do justice to its scale, along with that of the massive Buddha statue inside (each of its eyes alone is over 3 feet wide, for example).

Then, FINALLY, it was DEER TIME. Nara has a gigantic population of deer that freely mingle with humans, in efforts to score one of the readily-available (and government-approved) deer crackers sold by vendors.

They were endlessly charming, and lightly frightening when they figured out that you did indeed have crackers. 10/10, would deer again.

Day 11 (July 18th)

After waking up in post-deer bliss, our brief time in/around Kyoto had ended, and it was time for Osaka!

We hopped back on the Shinkansen, and since Kyoto and Osaka are so close, the trip was legit like 15-20 minutes.

As mentioned earlier, you can think of Osaka a bit like the Chicago of Japan, though I’d also throw in a dash of New Orleans, and a pinch of Los Angeles.

Everything feels a little bit wilder, as if people have let their hair down a bit, but are still very much in the business of making money/hustling. Our guide, in fact, said that a common Osaka greeting is “Are you making money?” (with “Little by little” as a common response).

It’s also known as THE foodie city in Japan, so we were excited about our first tour, which was an evening bar/restaurant crawl to sample tons of dishes.

We were already full 3 restaurants in, but it was awesome to get our heads around the various local specialties, the flagship of which is Takoyaki (octopus balls, and by that I mean octopus pieces rolled into flour balls, not deez nuts).

It was on this tour that we got to eat a variety of awesome chicken dishes at a restaurant owned by Johnny, creator of the legendary Johnny’s Playlist that you may be should be listening to right now!

Day 12 (July 19th)

The next morning we headed out early to the famous Osaka Castle, where I became the tour guide’s teacher’s pet as the only one that had watched Shogun. The whole area is gorgeous, and nestled right within the modern city, like an ancient Central Park.

We then walked through Amerikamura, which (to our obvious delight) is an America-themed area within Osaka. LOT of love for Michael Jordan. I’ve included some pics below.

We then hit the Dōtonbori area, which definitely had Shibuya-style Times Square energy, and features The Glico Man, an illuminated billboard of a runner with raised arms that has randomly become an Osaka icon.

Day 13 (July 20th)

And just like that, our guided tours were done, so we were free to go fully off the rails. And reader, we did…right out of the gate.

I’d been looking for other things to do in Osaka, and I quickly came across Bear Paw Cafe, a tiny establishment that serves all food exclusively through a hole in the wall, out of which emerges a bear paw.

Obviously we couldn’t get there fast enough, and I’ve included a couple videos below. Please note that each of our orders was delivered by a DIFFERENT BEAR PAW.

We then headed to the Osaka Museum of History, which had fantastic exhibits and a great view of Osaka Castle.

We ended the day with a return visit to Amerikamura, where we not only scored a great Japanese Return To Oz mini-poster, but I encountered arguably the best collared shirt ever produced (photo below).

Right before arriving back at the hotel, I was also finally able to capture a little video of the Mario Kart-style go-kart experiences available in Osaka (as well as Tokyo). While we didn’t drive one (next time!), it was heartwarming to know that there are indeed maniacs out there driving go-karts through busy city streets.

Day 14 (July 21st)

Years ago, I’d gone with my father-in-law and brother-in-law on a sobering tour of the Pearl Harbor attack site, and I’d always wanted to do the same for Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

Thankfully, Hiroshima was only about an hour and half away on the Shinkansen, so we decided to do a day trip.

I expected the experience to be pretty sobering, and it did not disappoint.

The museum pulled no punches showcasing the absolute horrors experienced, and Hiroshima’s decision to leave the remaining dome structure at ground zero exactly as it was on that dark day in 1945 makes a very powerful statement.

That said, it’s also amazing to see that 80 years later, the city itself (outside of the memorial zone) is…totally normal. They’ll obviously never forget (nor should any of us), but it was a encouraging to see that life did indeed move on.

Day 15 (July 22nd)

For our final pre-travel day, Sarah wanted to visit the site of the 1970 Expo (World’s Fair) in Osaka. As fate would have it, Osaka was holding the 2025 Expo while we were there, but both of us were much bigger fans of avoiding the hellish crowds, and instead hitting up the funky ’70s version.

This was a great choice, as it was relatively empty, and we got to stroll though this strange and beautiful park, which features the giant Tower of the Sun statue.

Interestingly, the ’70 Expo featured the premiere of the first-ever IMAX film, as well as demonstrations of conveyor belt sushi, early mobile phones, and local area networking!

Day 16 (July 23rd)

Our time in Japan finally over, we got up early to take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo for our flight. Things were largely uneventful, aside from sitting next to a lady that was furiously tapping the “like” button on videos (of herself?) on two phones at once. This was exactly the energy I needed to prep for the long trip back.

Closing Thoughts

I found Japan to be fascinating, and a place I’d highly recommend visiting at least once in your life. The long flight aside, I’d welcome the chance to go back (especially to Okinawa so I can re-live my Karate Kid II-obsessed childhood).

Both Sarah and I found the general awareness of/deference to those around you in public to be super refreshing, as it’s something sorely lacking right now in America. The thought of throwing 50 Americans into a jam-packed subway car and having everything go flawlessly (and often wordlessly!) is straight-up laughable, first and foremost since they wouldn’t leave their giant SUVs in the first place.

That said, the submissive “maid cafe”-style experiences and pervasive extremely-sexualized anime women illustrations certainly raised our eyebrows (though of course there’s nuance here), and I remain pretty concerned over the results of last week’s Japanese elections. Japan is often mentioned as existing precisely at the intersection of the ancient and the modern, and this balance can easily be tipped at any time.

Overall though, mark me down as a big fan, and I’m extremely grateful that we got the opportunity to visit. Arigato, Japan! 🫡 🇯🇵 💪