The Japan (Summer) Diaries
In honor of the anniversary of my first trip to Japan being this time eight years ago, I wanted to share some memories for that unforgettable trip.
Two weeks in Japan. July 23-August 5, 2015.
Sometimes it feels just like yesterday.
Let’s start off with the first five days of the 14 day trip, since they were the most similar.
Day 1 - Day 5
The majority of each day was spent participating in the judo summer course at the Kodokan, the first official school for judo in Japan. At the time, I was practicing judo through a club at my college, as well as a local dojo closer to my home; this particular trip was taken by me and some of my fellow judokas from the college club, along with our Sensei, in order to participate in this summer course.
From 9:30am to 5pm every day, we made our way to the Kodokan to practice in a 8-storey building, on the 7th floor that lacked AC. It was gruelingly wearing our thick gigs, the required uniform in judo for gripping purposes, but we made it somehow, with a lot of sweat rolling down us and lots of tape wrapped around our blistering hands and feet. We would get an hour and a half break for lunch, in which we would have to peel off our sweaty uniform and change into regular clothes, only to come back from lunch to pull the sweaty clothes back on. Every time I think of this memory, my skin crawls from discomfort.
But despite the exhaustion, it was without a doubt an amazing privilege and an awesome learning experience that I will never forget.
The only difference in each day is what we did during our lunch breaks from 12:30-2, and of course, after the days session ended at five. Our group of people never traveled far for lunch, always picking some place nearby the Kodokan, which there was MANY, and thanks to our Sensei, we had a tour guide of sorts for the eating session of our trip.
The first day on our lunch break, he brought us to a small nearby restaurant to get Gyudon, or beef bowls; rice under sliced beef and onions simmered in a mildly sweet sauce. Such a simple dish, but it was indeed heaven in a bowl. While this might not be the first food that comes to mind when thinking of Japanese food, it was the perfect option that wasn’t too heavy before returning to practice and I highly recommend adding it to your list of foods to try in Japan.
Something else to add to your Japan list, 7/Eleven. Dinner the first night was quick, and yet still delicious, thanks to 7/Eleven, the best convenience store ever and absolutely nothing like the gas stations we have here in the U.S. My dinner that first night consisted of onigiri (a rice ball with a variety of options for the filling), gyoza and some sort of pizza/pasta hot meal. When I say that I bought onigiri nearly every single day…that’s how great it is; and cheap!
Day Two’s lunch was spent in the subway station nearest the Kodokan, and by that, I mean an underground maze/mall/food court city of its own. We finally got our hands on some authentic sushi! I was in foodie heaven, eating sushi in freaking Japan! I got one whole box of tuna nigiri, since that was my favorite at the time, but also an assorted fish box to diversify my palate.
After the second day of training came to an end, I walked away from the Kodokan, instead of boarding the subway and heading back to my hotel like the rest of my teammates, in search for a Gi shop. There was no definite plan other than buying a Gi in Japan and wandering aimlessly. In doing so, I came across what I thought at the time was a random, small shrine but was in fact simply a neighborhood shrine, something I later came to understand as I expanded my knowledge more and more about the Japanese culture.
After another 7/Eleven visit (a daily, sometimes multiple times a day, occurrence) is when I discovered the Starbucks Discoveries drink. With a straw that you punch through the lid, it was essentially a quick, to go Starbucks drink that you might find at any store back home in the States, except it was magical me, especially the unique packaging and seasonal flavor offerings, alongside the usual, yearly flavors.
For dinner, ramen! The first of many future bowls.
Day Three’s lunch: ebi chahan, or shrimp fried rice, but it tasted way more fresh than I have ever had before or since.
I also started consuming such a variety of matcha-flavored options that I started doing a “Matcha of the Day” series to share later on social media. Matcha is comparable to vanilla in Japan, it was everywhere. I will never forget my first matcha Oreos.
Day Three ended with a trip to the Mizuno store after practice, where I purchased my a Gi bag that I still own to the day, even though I have long since hung up my judo Gi.
Day Four, I ventured into the amusement park area literally next door to the Kodokan, complete with a rollercoaster whose track shared a part of the roof, to eat at my very first conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. What an experience! I actually ended up eating here again the next day. Post-lunch, I tried a Japanese Starbucks exclusive seasonal drink, the “Peach in Peach” Frappuccino, they called it, made with chunks of juicy peach, the perfect cooling beverage for the summer heat. That night after practice, I ventured to Ikebukuro, visiting the Pokemon store and the KitKat store. KitKat’s in Japan come in all kinds of unique flavors and it was my mission to try them all - or as many as possible. The flavors found and tried: Butter, Strawberry Maple, and Sakura Matcha. Surprisingly, the butter flavor wasn’t all that bad.
The fifth and final day of the summer course was a half day, practice in the first half, a tournament for the second half, should you wish to participate. Despite the amazing course, I was ready to rest, so I didn’t join the tournament, to my slight regret. That place should have been called a sauna for how hot it was. We celebrated the end of the course with a group dinner, all of us teammates, sitting at a traditional Japanese restaurant, sipping delicious sparkling sake.
To the chagrin of my body, this wasn’t the end of judo on the trip.
So, where to next?
