My son is obsessed with Pokémon. Ever since Jollibee came out with a kiddie meal with free Pokémons a few months ago and I introduced him to the show—1997’s Pokémon season one, Indigo League—he’s hooked. It was just fitting then that on our recent trip to Japan’s Kansai region, we found the perfect lodging for him—a full Pokémon-themed room at MIMARU Hotel in Kyoto’s Kawaramachi Gojo area. It’s a surprise, and we’re just as excited to see the look on his face when he enters the room!

For Star Navigator’s shore excursions, Naha is the one I’m most excited about. The first reason is that it has white, sandy, tropical beaches—a place I don’t usually associate with Japan. And second, being part of Okinawa Prefecture, it’s so remotely located it’s actually closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan—a place that most tourists are not easily able to access. Naha is so far; it actually took us more than a day and a half to reach it from Kumamoto.

Kuma-where? I had never heard of Kumamoto prior to our Star Cruises Japan trip. We were now on the fourth day of our cruise, visiting Nagasaki the day before. It turns out, the Kumamoto Prefecture is just a sleep away via a cruise ship. I woke up with our ship docking at Kumamoto’s cruise port, a red lighthouse punctuating a very still and calm Japanese morning.

It took almost two full days to cruise from Keelung City in Taiwan to Japan’s Nagasaki. It was gonna be our first stop for our 6D5N StarDream cruise aboard the Star Navigator. En route, we spent our time exploring the nooks and crannies of the ship, enjoyed the onboard entertainment, and pigged out on its food offerings—both at the free inclusive restaurants and those worth splurging on.

Nagasaki calmly slid across my room’s balcony as I awoke on the third day of our voyage. A peaceful welcome to our first destination in Japan.

Hues of blues and warm oranges paint the skies as our ship parted the still waters of Kumamoto. A jagged range of mountains silhouetted the horizon, their edges aglow with the setting sun. On our right, a small solitary lighthouse stood on an islet—painted in immaculate whites, its lights winking a silent sayonara to us. We were midway through our five-night StarDream cruise to Japan—suspended between hellos and goodbyes aboard the Star Navigator—on a journey filled with luxurious entertainment, a flood of delectable food, and quick adventures.

Coming from a Hida Furukawa day tour, we decided to go back to our hotel—Mercure Hida Takayama—to freshen up before continuing to the famous Takayama Old Street. And while BG was busy inside the toilet and Kid A on the TV, I decided to pass the time watching the trains at the back of the hotel—our balcony directly overlooks the tracks.

SUNSET FROM OUR BALCONY IN MERCURE HIDA TAKAYAMA

I quickly forgot about the trains as I parted the drapes, the sun was lighting the town of Takayama and the nearby mountains with its majestic rays. I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped the most beautiful sunset we’ve had in Japan yet.

We were on the second half of our Nagoya Tour. Taking a three-hour long bus ride from Takayama, we arrived at Travelodge Nagoya Sakae early in the afternoon. Hauling two medium-sized suitcases, a camera bag, and a toddler with more energy than an Energizer bunny, I quickly plopped down on Travelodge’s comfy sofa while the wife, BG, and our friend, MM, sorted out our reservations.

It’s confirmed, we’re staying in Tokyo for another full day. A few minutes before we actually went out of our lodging in Asakusa, Enaka Central Hostel, we checked our phone for our flight schedule and found that it has been rescheduled. Instead of a midmorning flight, we’re having our flight from Tokyo to Manila via Cebu Pacific at midnight due to the typhoon that just passed Japan. We cannot be more happy with this news!

A JAPANESE FAMILY ENJOYING A VISIT TO MEIJI SHRINE

Quickly gathering our wits, we immediately formulated a plan. After visiting nearby prefectures like Nikko in Tochigi and Hakone in Kanagawa, a quick day tour of Tokyo was indeed in order. We consulted the Klook app for cheap Tokyo tours, but it was way too late to book one then. So, we did what we usually do best, do a Tokyo walk, DIY style.

It was on our last day in Japan when the rains stopped. We woke early, needing to catch our flight back to Manila via Cebu Pacific. With backpacks hoisted, we checked our flight on our mobile phone for the last time before heading out the door and, tadaaah, it was cancelled due to the recent storm and rescheduled for later that evening! You can just imagine our joy with that news; it means we suddenly have an extra full day to explore Tokyo on our own! Hurrah for cancelled flights! C went back to our dorm room, while I checked out the roof deck of our hostel—it was fully dry, at last!

ASAKUSA AT NIGHT

The previous night, we transferred to a second lodging. Coming from Wired Hotel Asakusa, our next accommodation was just a few minutes walk away, ENAKA Asakusa Central Hostel (now, Samurai Hostel Asakusa). We found this via Agoda, and it was the cheapest hostel we could find that’s within striking distance from where we were.

We mostly spent the light of days outside Tokyo. On our first day, we rested, tired from the flight from our unbelievably cheap flight from Manila to Tokyo via Cebu Pacific. But on our second day in the city, we woke early to catch a train to visit Hakone, hoping to have a glimpse of Mount Fuji amidst dreary weather. On the third, we scrambled across Asakusa for a day trip to Nikko. It’s all well and good, but how about Tokyo? Don’t we want to see Tokyo?

Of course, we did. We saw Tokyo after dark.

Without umbrellas, we braved the incessant rains and visited the olden temples of Nikko. It was pouring harder than the previous days and it was incredibly hard to go from one place to the next. The scenery, century-old temples on backdrops of pre-autumn foliage was nothing short of poetic. But taking photographs was out of the question as our lenses quickly filled with droplets the moment we train them on anything. One thing was for sure, we needed umbrellas!

USING THE NIKKO TRAVEL PASS

As with our one day Hakone Free Pass Tour, we booked our Nikko Travel Pass from Klook right after booking our cheap flight from Manila to Tokyo via Cebu Pacific. We got it the same day we booked our previous tour via the easy-to-use app on our phone—easy breezy. The pass can be used for two to four days in Nikko and Kinugawa—including transfers from Tokyo and back—and it is unlimited. As a bonus, you can also utilize it for discounts on selected tourism facilities and souvenirs shops in Nikko, Kinugawa, and even Asakusa!

We were standing on the deck of a pirate ship, cruising across the serene waters of Lake Ashi when it started to drizzle. It’s been raining on and off, but as this particular shower ended, a full rainbow suddenly radiated on the horizon. I was reminded of the tale of going to a rainbow’s end to find a pot of gold.

AUTUMN IN HAKONE

After scoring cheap flights via Cebu Pacific to Tokyo, it was decided that on our second day in Tokyo, we would go straight to Hakone to have a look see of Mount Fuji. It was still raining in the city and the forecast for Hakone, which was two hours away by train, was more of the same. Still, we persisted, hoping against hope that the weather would favor us.

We really didn’t have much of a choice but to stay indoors, it was raining cats and dogs outside Tokyo. It was our first day in Japan and the weather wasn’t really cooperating. Good thing, we actually have something to do indoors a few hours after our arrival. Eat.

TAKING THE TRAIN FROM ASAKUSA

Walking from Wired Hotel Asakusa, then taking the subway from Asakusa to Roppongi Hills—thank you Klook for the very affordable unlimited subway pass—we took shelter at Grand Hyatt Tokyo’s expansive and warm lobby. A few minutes later and we were led to the sixth floor.

Raining, it was always raining. It was almost midnight as we splashed through the wet sidewalks of Asakusa, avoiding puddles and hugging ourselves against the one-digit coldness of the evening. We arrived at Senso-ji Temple, surprised to see the oldest Buddhist temple this side of Tokyo sans the usual throng of picture-takers. It was almost more than four years since I went here alone one rainy morning; it’s still raining now, but this time, I have friends to share the downpour with.

WE BOOKED OUR VARIOUS TRAIN TICKETS VIA KLOOK

Scoring an unbelievably cheap flight to Tokyo via Cebu Pacific, we arrived in Narita Airport all excited and pumped up. We were rarin’ to go but we still have to redeem our Klook vouchers for 4G Simcards (PHP882.00, 3GB good for eight days) we would use to surf the net while in Japan, Tokyo Skyliner train tickets (PHP990.00, one way) which we would use for the ride from the airport to the city, and most importantly our Unlimited Tokyo Subway Pass (starts at PHP382.00 for a one day pass)—this one is heaven sent, traveling around Tokyo is expensive, but with this, it became a lot cheaper. Like really, a whole lot. It was a breeze booking all these prior to our trip, we just fired up our Klook app on our phone, and it was easy as saying arigato gozaimasu.

If you’re gonna ask me what I would remember the most during my three-day jaunt in Japan, it would probably be the rain. It poured days and nights the whole time we were in the so-called Land of the Rising Sun. But it was not a deterrent for exploration. Drenched and soggy, we still braved the streets of Tokyo and Kanagawa as much as time would allow.

Japan used to be an unreachable dream that I thought would totally remain as a such. I’m totally indebted to Sony Philippines for picking me to follow Sony Alpha’s new camera ambassadors; Pilar Tuason, Manny Librodo and Pepe Diokno to Japan.

I’ve been using a Sony NEX5n camera since winning it from the KLM-DPP On Assignment: Europe a few years back and the Sony A77 and other lenses (I so love the E 10-18mm!)provided by Sony for this trip perfectly complimented it.

Subarashii Japan!

  
   P O S T C A R D S
   Impossible Japan

   D A Y  O N E  |  T O K Y O

   Manila – Japan
   Of Geishas and Kaisekis
   The Old and the New at Toranomon’s Konpira Shrine
   Almost Paris at the Tokyo Tower

   D A Y  T W O  |  T O K Y O  &  K A N A G A W A

   Rainy Morning to Atago Shrine
   Old Castles and Unending Rains 
   Rushing Lunch at Yumoto Fujiya Hotel
   Reveries on Cemeteries
   Mists and Trails at Hakone’s Fujiya Hotel 
   Secret Temples
   Braving Tokyo’s Underground
   Rainy Nights at Shibuya Crossing
   Two Nights at Tokyo’s Okura Hotel

   D A Y  T H R E E  |  T O K Y O

   Buying Memories at Asakusa’s Nakamise Street
   The Oldest Buddhist Temple in Japan
   Mementos and Souvenirs

My three-day Japan trip wouldn’t be complete without bringing home something to remind me of my journey after time passes. I know not a few people who think that buying souvenirs is kinda kitschy, superficial and touristy, but I really don’t mind, whatever floats your boat as they say.

The perfect place to buy souvenirs in Tokyo is at Asakusa’s Nakamise Street. They have almost everything, if not really everything every keychain loving tourists love. Besides the almost one hundred shops lining its main avenue, there are other side streets I wasn’t able to explore where more touristy junks can be purchased. One of the nicest things I got here were a pair wooden Japanese dolls. It was expensive at ¥1,000.00 but they looked really cute and very Japanese.

The rain lashed and tried to tear away the umbrella from my hands as I approached the massive Hozomon Gate that precedes the Sensoji Temple. I was on a buying spree for souvenirs to bring back home at Asakusa’s Nakamise Street when I chanced upon its red gates. I still have a few hours left before my plane leaves for Manila and it’s only with good fortune that my last destination before leaving Japan would be Tokyo’s largest Buddhist Temple and not to mention, the country’s oldest.

I watched from the comfort of Hotel Okura’s breakfast nook as a transparent umbrella whipped off a salaryman’s hand on his way to work outside the streets of Tokyo. The rain had worsened on our third and last day in Japan. It wasn’t a good way to start the morning at all.
My original plan was to check the nearby Imperial Palace by foot. I’d like to savor Tokyo on my own slow terms. I wanted to see its side streets, its small stores and its ordinary life unfold by walking through its thoroughfares. But it looks like I’d have to come up with a quick plan B.

One of the things I really like about being sponsored on a trip is that I get to stay at really posh hotels. It’s something I usually don’t have the luxury for when traveling on my own since they cost as much, or probably more, than my whole trip expenses combined.

Sony Philippines was generous enough to host us at one of the nicest hotel around Tokyo, the five-star Okura Hotel in the city’s Minato ward. The area is pretty quiet for my taste, being surrounded mostly by office buildings and foreign embassies (49 embassies to be exact). Good thing it’s just a hop away from various train terminals so getting around through subways isn’t a problem at all.

The freezing night air blasted through the open gates of Shibuya Station. The weather had been sour through our whole day jaunt at Hakone and it remained the same when we returned to Tokyo. The rest of the guys wanted nothing but a bowl of ramen and the comfort of their soft hotel bed afterwards, but I was thinking of other things.

My mind is flashing images of multi-colored skyscrapers, swarms of chic Japanese citizens walking across a vast crossing and Blade Runner-esque neon Japanese billboards. I’m thinking of Tokyo’s famous Shibuya Crossing.