Picturing Japan

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Many years ago, when our friends Shawn and Laura saw their friend’s photos from a trip to Japan, they became curious about the country; by the time they saw the 2003 movie Lost in Translation, set in a moody, glittering version of Tokyo, they were hooked.

A Los Angeles-based movie trailer editor and real estate agent respectively, the couple works almost constantly. It took a few years to carve out the time and money, but in late May 2009, they were finally able to put aside 10 days to celebrate their 8th wedding anniversary with their own trip to Japan:

6 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Kyoto and 1 (amazing) night in Koyasan.

The couple began their journey with three nights at The Peninsula Tokyo; the hotel is located in a swanky neighborhood called Ginza, considered the Beverly Hills of Tokyo. The couple were blown away by the Peninsula’s top-notch level of service, where bellmen dressed head-to-toe in crisp white ensure that guests never do their own heavy lifting.

Shawn was eager to explore the bizarre fashion scene at Tokyo’s Harajuku; on Sundays, teenagers flock to the Harajuku train station (one stop north of Shibuya on the Yamanote Line), stash their more conservative clothes in lockers and splash out in a makeshift costume parade along tiny, narrow Takeshita Street. “Harajuku Kids” typically dress up as goth brides, French maids, furry animals or their favorite anime characters, preening for tourists’ cameras and each other.

On the last morning of the couple’s first leg in Tokyo, bento lunch boxes were procured for them and they were driven to the train station in one of the Peninsula’s Rolls Royces; after their driver got them settled aboard the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) , he waited for the train to leave the station, bowing all the while as they pulled away. Still on a post-five-star service high, they whisked off to Kyoto for two nights.

In Kyoto, they stayed right by the train station at the lavish Hotel Granvia. While in town, they headed to the foothills of the Higashiyama Mountain Range to celebrate their anniversary at the famous Kikunoi Restaurant with a traditional Kaiseki meal of 14 courses. This culinary adventure turned out to be both the best and worst meal of their lives (so far).

After being seated in a small private room with one table on the floor and sliding doors, the couple’s most obscure menu item came early: turtle soup with a little drop of turtle blood. Next, their waitress brought out a basket, removing the top to show off a small school of live, flopping fish. Several staggering courses later, these same fish were presented as dinner, fried and skewered; Shawn and Laura were instructed to eat them whole, head and all, so as to capture the desired bitter after-taste.

By the time this gargantuan meal was winding down, they were merely nibbling so as not to be rude, fighting the over-stuffed temptation to lie down and never eat again. Just when they thought they couldn’t handle another bite, a special anniversary dessert was presented to them…and amazingly, they managed to find a just little extra room.

At Kikunoi, the waitresses are geisha-san, older geisha who no longer wear traditional makeup and have many years’ worth of experience providing impeccable service. They adhere tightly to Japanese rules of decorum, and appreciate tourists making an effort to comply with them. For instance, Laura had been advised that indoors, neither shoes nor bare feet are acceptable in Japan; having worn dress sandals to dinner at Kikunoi, she was careful to bring along socks so as not to offend, and the geisha-san quietly clapped in appreciation.

To see younger generations of geisha, Shawn and Laura headed to Gion, the heart of Old Kyoto. The neighborhood is full of traditional ryokan (guesthouses) and teahouses; at approximately a quarter to seven each evening, just before sunset, young geisha known as maiko scurry out quickly to the teahouses, ochaya (banquet houses) and ryotei (very high-end restaurants) to entertain and amuse wealthy families and businessmen. Surrounded by an otherwise modern city full of people in modern dress, these young women with flowers in their hair, in full white makeup and kimonos, make for an incredible photo opportunity. However, maiko move fast and won’t slow down for anyone, so determined photographers must be respectful…and prepared to take a lot of blurry shots for each successful one.

From Kyoto, Shawn and Laura traveled 3 hours south to Koyasan: the Shinkansen to Osaka, followed by a subway, a local train, a tram, and finally, a bus. Thankfully, the Granvia had connected them with Chris Rowthorne, a Lonely Planet writer who runs a small Kyoto-based tour company; one of Rowthorne’s guides wrote down travel directions in Japanese so the couple could point and ask for help along their epic way.

Their ultimate destination was just one night at Eko-in Koyasan, a Buddhist retreat atop a mountain shrouded in fog and surrounded by a redwood forest and about 100 hundred working temples. A colleague of Shawn’s had stayed at Eko-in a couple of years before, and advised him to choose it over a ryokan in Kyoto; happily, the couple’s one night stay at Eko-in was their most treasured experience in Japan.

Here, Buddhist monks are retreat caretakers, the food is gorgeous and vegetarian, and all guests have the opportunity to attend a sacred fire ceremony.

Their one day in Koyasan, they toured an ancient cemetery just before sunset. Strolling amongst a redwood grove, surrounded by moss-covered monuments, glassy ponds and the wafting sound of Buddhist chanting, this was their most tranquil moment in Japan.

Coming down from the mountain by cable car, Shawn and Laura returned to Kyoto for one more night at the Granvia. Then, inspired by the glittering main location of Lost in Translation, they headed back to Tokyo for three nights at the Park Hyatt. (As it turned out, they thought the Hyatt was elegant, but that the Peninsula is a far swankier stay.)

On this second jaunt in Tokyo, they had the best sushi of their lives…up to a point. At the famed Sushi Saito, a tiny spot with only seven bar seats, they were the only non-Japanese diners; jumping in to the deep end, they decided to eat whatever everyone else was eating.

Midway through their meal, Chef Saito-san took out something that looked like a large mushroom and began slicing it, causing a ripple of excitement through everyone at the counter. The chef offered a sample to Shawn and Laura, and as they munched with curiosity he told them they were eating…raw turtle. Their take on the texture: “A little like chewing a rubber tire.”

But terrapin flesh aside, Shawn and Laura would love to go back to Japan, and even feel they could see themselves living there someday. But for now, they’d just love to explore more of this amazing country — and urge you to do the same.