Japan pt. 1

Updated: 01/29/2025

Japan was life-changing and one of the most healing experiences ever. it was always a dream to travel to Japan so the fact that it really happened is unbelievable.

i went with my friends and we did pretty much everything you can think of in 7 days. i spent more time in Japan than my friends but you can read about that in my MAMA blog. since we did so much i’ll only talk about my top 3 favorite things we did. 

1. Tokyo Disney Sea

   
   

i was actually in heaven at Tokyo Disney. if you don’t know, Disneyland in Tokyo is divided into two parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. my friends and i decided to spend our whole day at Disney Sea because we found out through research that the other park is less specific and unique to Japan than Disney Sea is. there were also particular rides and attractions at Disney Sea we were looking forward to such as the Peter Pan ride, the Frozen ride and the Tangled ride in the Fantasy Springs area. i promise im not a Disney adult! we just saw them on TikTok and thought they were cute….. 

anyway, the first thing we did was ride a bus that conveniently took us directly from where we were to the parks. honestly, we didn’t know the bus existed and thought we were supposed to take a regular bus so that was a pleasant surprise. also it was hard finding it at first because Google Maps is weird but we kinda worked with the other tourists to find it. they were nice enough to guide us the right way.

once we arrived at 8:30 AM there were already a million Disney adults waiting in line so i highly recommend that you come as early as possible. i also recommend saving a PDF copy or screenshot of your ticket because there is 0 service there. you WILL have difficulty pulling up the code to scan from the internet if you do not already have it saved which can hold you back from entering the park. if you purchase the ticket through Klook, you will be sent an email with a PDF copy so i suggest saving that.

after we entered the park we immediately went on the app to reserve the main rides we wanted to ride (Peter Pan, Tangled, and Frozen) which is another tedious thing you might go through. the time slots filled up so fast that we only reserved a time for the Tangled ride. we were fine with it but were surprised.

we spent the whole day riding rides, walking, and eating foods including the alien mochis. my favorite rides were the Tangled and Peter Pan one even though it was so short. my favorite food was the chicken curry and lassi drink i had from an Aladdin-themed restaurant. at the end of the day, we watched the iconic light show, Believe! Sea of Dreams and it was beautiful. it was fun to see this type of show in a language besides English even though a lot of it was still in English…. i know it’s a given that it would be in Japanese, but it is still nice to see.

by the end of the day we each had walked more than 30,000 steps so we were dead but it was worth it.

2. teamLab Planets Tokyo DMM

i was so excited for this one…

if you don’t know, teamlab is a museum-type place known for its interactive and immersive art installations. i was excited to visit because i have seen multiple celebrities visit and post pictures of the installations. there is this one installation where you walk in knee-deep water. i know it sounds pretty gross at first because you’re walking around barefoot sharing foot water with a bunch of strangers but hear me out. they have you clean your feet first; this whole process made us feel better about the hygiene there.

my favorite installation ended up being the reflective room with a bunch of lights, one of the first you walk through. i thought that my favorite was going to be the room with the water but the reflective lights one was cool and made me feel like i was walking on air. i think the coolest exhibit was the room with mirrors and flowers hanging from the ceiling. first, it smelled really good because they used real flowers. they also detect movement and ascend upward when you are near them. they descended when movement was not detected. i honestly didn’t know what to expect from this place besides fascination but it exceeded any expectations i did have. the only thing i wish was that it was longer. it took us about 30-40 minutes to walk through the whole thing.

my friends and i purchased our tickets through the official website. when purchasing tickets, make sure to book the reservation at the correct location because there is more than one. although i heard the other location has cool installations, most people book it on accident because they think it’s the one with the water and flowers.

3. Kamakura

Kamakura was saurrrr fun. i rlly love traveling to places with lots of greenery and nature. Kamakura was not only full of nature, but it’s also a coastal area of Japan so we were able to visit the ocean as well (my last time seeing the ocean in Asia). we spent a full day here (day trip woooo!!!).

we started the day off at Komachi-dori street which is a road full of small shops and lots of traditional Japanese food stalls. from there we visited the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. i liked this experience particularly because of all the people i saw paying their respects. i know that might sound weird but i think it was nice to see people in touch with their cultural beliefs and respecting the shrine. it was refreshing to witness, to say the least. when visiting temples, there are places with water spouts that everyone can drink from or rinse their hands with. the water is clean enough and i think it is also blessed. i liked to rinse my hands here whenever i had the chance.

after the temple, we left for a small bamboo forest and temple located in the same place at Houkokuji. the weather was a bit gloomy and it started to rain so the scenery looked nice. when paying, we had the option to purchase tickets to walk around the bamboo forest or walk around and be served a bowl of traditionally made Japanese matcha so most of us chose the latter. i like strong matcha, but i usually like it cold. however, it was really cold that day and my throat was sore so the hot matcha was hitting.

after the bamboo forest and temple, we left for Shichirigahama Beach. i was looking forward to this part of the day because i had been so ocean-deprived in Seoul even though i was just in Busan the week before. Mt. Fuji is usually visible from here but since it was so gloomy that day we couldn’t see it from where we were. the beach was nice and the sand was black so that was interesting because i thought black sand only existed near volcanoes. there was a nearby railway that we visited because it was a spot that served as inspiration for a scene in a famous anime called Slam Dunk. although there were a lot of other tourists there, we had a good time and even rode the train that crossed the location back to where we needed to go.

Kamakura gave me Jeju vibes because it felt healing in a way. idk why but i always feel refreshed and rejuvenated when i spend time near the ocean.

i wish i could talk about every single thing i did in Japan like visiting Shabuya, buying two pairs of Onitsuka Tigers and all the shrines and temples i visited in Tokyo, but this blog would be at least a 3-hour read so please feel free to reach out if you want me to let you know about any of my other experiences.