Photo: Danz in Tokyo

“It doesn’t take long to be initiated into Tokyo’s madness: the city’s sheer level of energy – fuelled by consumer culture in hyper drive – rubs raw against ancient tradition. Sightseeing can either be a sensory assault that leaves you elated or an encounter with understatement that leaves you in awe; stand in the heart of Shinjuku, though, surrounded by all that neon, all those bizarre fashions, and you might think you’ve stepping onto an alien planet.”
- Lonely Planet’s Blue List 2006

I spent my Sunday afternoon planning our upcoming trip to Japan next month. John and I traded in our air miles to make the trip. We will be flying for free! What makes this trip even more exciting than the average trip for us, will be spending it with my Canadian friend, Beka and her fiance, Christian. They live in Tokyo.

Our first trip to Japan will include the top three places in Japan, which, in my opinion, should be on any travel itinerary. We will begin and end our journey in Tokyo. We have also planned an excursion to Mt. Fuji and a few days in Kyoto.

I’m sure I could spend ten days in Tokyo and still not see everything I want to see, but we’re going to give it a good try. A day trip to Shinjuku Station, the entertainment, business and shopping district extraordinaire is high on our list of things to do. This is THE place to go to people-watch, as young, hip Japanase urbanites rock the streets in the latest Japanese fashions. Shinjuku also happens to by Tokyo’s skyscraper district. This place is going to pulse with neon energy. Beka and I have already planned a Sunday afternoon excursion to Harajuku, which is the teenage fashion district, with young people decked out in cosplay and anime costumes.

A sumo wrestling match is also on our list of things to do, if tickets can be arranged. Food is going to be a delicious and fresh adventure three times daily. Therefore, it’s important to us to make an early morning stop at the Tsukiji fish market, where the freshest seafood can be gawked at before it’s shipped off to restaurants throughout the city.

We’re also trying to plan a hiking excursion up Mt. Fuji, Japan’s best-known landmark and most popular tourist attraction. If we are able to book everything through, this will be our first excursion hiking up a volcano.

If our pilgrimage up Mt.Fuji doesn’t work out, perhaps we’ll go to the Shirakawa-go region, where thatch-roofed gassho-zakuri houses lay picturesque in the Shokawa Valley. I’d love to spend the night in one of these quaint little homes.

Our last stop will be Kyoto, the cultural heartbeat of Japan. This is where we’ll be able to see such classic images of pebble-raked gardens, geisha and beautiful ponds, temples and shrines.

We’re going to pack as much as we can into ten days and it is going to be incredible. We aren’t going to have nearly enough time to see everything we want to see, but that’s what second trips are for.