goodwill trip | nagoya & tokyo, japan

it’s hard to believe three months ago we were exploring tokyo and nagoya. it was a trip of a lifetime and unlike any other trip to japan i’ve ever experienced before. having been to japan a handful of times and studied abroad in tokyo for one year, we still managed to do things i will probably never have the opportunity to do again. 

we began our trip in tokyo on tuesday, october 13th at 5:30 a.m. after a red eye flight from san francisco. once we reached the new otani, we immediately started exploring the city. after three coffees and nearly twenty-thousand steps later, we managed to go to ueno, asakusa, sky tree, harajuku, and shibuya in one day. i thought my legs were going to fall off by the end of the day. it was a good thing i studied abroad there or else it would have taken us even longer to find everything. it was fun being able to guide everyone around :)

haneda airport at sunrise

playing around in asakusa

ippudo ramen from the food court in sky tree

almost done with our day

side streets of asakusa

for our second and last day in tokyo together, we decided to go to tokyo disneysea. i couldn’t tell who was more excited (or who shopped more), the parents or us. we all had a great time going on rides, shopping, and eating the specialty foods. we were surprised to see so many groups of girls matching since usually we always get odd stares for matching all the time. 

little green men custard mochi

they had so many different flavors of popcorn!

by thursday it was already time to make our way to nagoya! after meeting and thanking the staff of the new otani, we took the shinkansen from tokyo station to nagoya station. after we checked in to the creston hotel, it was time to get ready for our welcome dinner hosted by pyua O2. we enjoyed getting to know the members of pyua O2 and performances from geishas. luckily my mom speaks japanese because at the table was me, my mom, dad, and four japanese businessmen and only one of them spoke english. they were all so nice though and one of them even added me on facebook!

my bento for the train

the best shrimp tempura i've ever had -- nagoya is famous for their shrimp tempura

the next day we made visitations to nagoya city hall, matsuzakaya, and mitsukoshi. while at nagoya city hall, we met mayor takashi kawamura and his staff. after our visitations, we participated in a short tea ceremony and then went to lunch with pyua O2 to one of their restaurants. after lunch we went to ohsu shopping street where we discovered this awesome store called liquor off and they buy unopened alcohol bottles off people. later that evening we attended the sister city reception where we met nagoya’s other sister cities and also performed two elvis songs, love me tender and hound dog. one of the coolest parts of the reception though was they had food from each of the sister city's country, so for u.s. they had pancakes. we also got a cute koala pin from the sydney representatives.

matcha with gold flakes 

koi fish pond from the restaurant

found a cute alice in wonderland store!

we should have this in the u.s.!

saturday was the official start of the nagoya matsuri, one of nagoya’s largest festivals. in the morning we had a rehearsal for our dance for later that day and then some of the younger guys who work for nagoya city took us out to lunch at a shrimp tempura restaurant. we later performed our modern dance from coronation during the sister city festival at oasis 21 (shopping mall) and again at a smaller food festival. later that evening we had dinner at one of the pyua O2 member’s restaurants and sang the night away at karaoke. after karaoke, the girls and i attempted to go back to this club called w, but we were rejected because we were not japanese. they were a bit confused though when they saw us.

on the roof of oasis 21

i didn't think one shrimp tempura was going to be enough... but it was bigger than i expected.

sunday was our last and possibly one of the most memorable days in nagoya. we started the day taking a short tour of nagoya castle. shortly after we had to get ready to be in the parade! i couldn’t believe the amount of people in attendance – there were thousands and thousands of people. it was such a difference compared to the parade during nisei week. the best part was seeing all the children smile as we waved at them. we finished the day eating wagyu shabu shabu with nagoya city officials. 

best shabu shabu i've ever had

the next morning we checked out of creston hotel and drove to gero onsen with pyua O2. along the way to gero we stopped in takayama and gifu for some lunch and sake tasting. we ate lunch at a steak place in takayama and it was one of the best steaks i ever had. they are known for their hida beef, which tasted like butter infused steak and was extremely tender! it was served along side a curry gravy sauce. we also made a short stop at a sake distillery in gifu where we got a tour of their facility and also did a sake tasting. once we got to gero, we were able to jump in the onsen a little before dinner. during dinner there was taiko entertainment and we even got to play on some of the drums! after dinner, we went back into the onsen under the night sky.

when tuesday came, i couldn’t believe it was already our last day with pyua O2. before we headed back to nagoya, we were able to go to the onsen one last time and stopped in inuyama. once we got back to creston hotel, it was time to say good-bye – even our tour guide was crying! our time in nagoya wouldn’t have been nearly the same without the hospitality of pyua O2 and nagoya city officials. later that evening i took a shinkansen back to tokyo to visit friends.

morning onsen

my parents went with me to nagoya station to say goodbye -- they were going to leave the next day for wakayama to visit family. for some reason, i remember being extremely nervous. i think because it was the first time in a long time i was traveling completely on my own. i made it safe to tokyo and went straight to destiny's apartment, which was going to be my home for my last few days. that night we even facetimed our friend, sam!

we facetimed sam!

wednesday afternoon destiny and i decided to have lunch at the thai restaurant we used to eat at all the time when we were studying at waseda. even after 4 years, the cook still remembered us! it seemed just like yesterday. we didn't stay out long since destiny had to get back to work, but i went exploring on my own. by chance, some executives from the national cherry blossom festival happened to be in tokyo and wanted to meet up with some former ncbf goodwill ambassadors in tokyo. what were the chances? i thought i would say hello since it seemed too good to be true. i was able to network with some former gwa's and met up with my friend from college, melissa, for dinner afterwards. the last time melissa was when she was living in new york and i couldn't believe she was living and teaching english in tokyo. it was great catching up with her.

thursday i met up with my friend amie who is teaching english in chiba. luckily since her school was busy with midterms, she was able to take the day off to spend in tokyo with me. amie and i have been good friends since we were little so it was exciting to be able to spend time with her in tokyo. we started our day eating lunch at one of my favorite spots, magokoro soontofu. after, we headed over to this little coffee shop in shibuya called little nap (how perfect is that name?). we spent a lot of time here catching up -- it was just what i needed. then we headed over to shibuya for a mini photo session in the shibuya scramble and another food break at muji cafe. after some shopping, we met up with one of our friends from high school who works for softbank for dinner at a little gyoza shop in a train station. he also invited a couple of his co-workers who also happened to be from the same area as all of us -- it's crazy how even in a big city like tokyo, you can still meet people from your hometown in california. after we all took a picture together, it was time to head back before it got too late. being able to hang out with an old friend in my old stomping grounds felt like a brand new experience.

by friday morning, i couldn't believe my trip was already over. i love how every trip i've taken to japan is unlike the other -- i always manage to experience new things, meet new people, and see old friends. this trip exceeded my expectations and made me cherish my home away from home even more than i did before. for my last meal, destiny took me to one of her favorite spots -- a tomato soup based ramen shop. then it was time to say goodbye :(

when i got back to la, i was able to relive my friday by sleeping. i knew i had to be well rested since my platform event was the next morning at the crack of dawn. luckily for me though, the jet lag worked in my favor and i was completely energized for the homeboy 5k run! i had a great turnout with support from the janm staff, friends, and family. in the end, i managed to raise over $2,500! this definitely was the cherry on top to my trip.

breakfast on the plane.

some of my 5k teammates and supporters

it's crazy to think i'm almost half way done with my nisei week journey. every step of the way has been meaningful and memorable. i'm beyond fortunate to have these experiences which i hope to continue sharing with everyone who chooses to read my posts or joins me along the way. i'm also lucky to call both japan and the u.s. my homes.

next nisei week trip: hawaii!