In Japan, I tried something different for the first time: working while travelling around a country, instead of staying in one place for a few weeks or months. I planned out a typical itinerary in my style (trying to see „everything“, moving around a lot) but slowed it down significantly compared to my usual 2-3 week holidays in the past. I had to, given that I was planning to work every day. Due to the time difference though, it worked out that I had almost the whole day available for sightseeing until about 16.00, when I would head back to the hotel and work in the evening. I did pick 3 places where I stayed a bit longer – one of them being Tokyo, simply because there is so much to see. I spent 9 days here initially, then came back just to catch my flight to Okinawa, and had another 1.5 days there at the end of my trip.

At the beginning of my trip, I chose to stay in Asakusa, one of the older neighbourhoods of Tokyo, near the Asakusa Shrine. During my first evening in Tokyo, I went there for a quick walk, not expecting it to my beautifully illuminated and surrounded by cherry trees. What a start to my time in Japan!

Over the next few days, I spent the majority of the time chasing cherry blossoms and exploring one park after the other. Cherry blossoms were a bit early this year, so I wanted to make the most of it before they were gone. It was really pretty to walk around in the parks of Tokyo and so much fun to watch tourists and Japanese alike taking lots and lots of photos. People go to the park for picnics, go out on a paddle boat and there is this positive vibe in the air. Some of my favourite places to view the cherry blossoms were Ueno Park, Chidorigafuchi Park and Shinjuku Gyoen Park – but I’m sure there are lots of other beautiful spots. Can’t see them all, even if you try (like me)!

There are lots of cool viewpoints in Tokyo – unsurprisingly, given that it is a city full of tall skyscrapers. Lots of these viewing platforms require an entrance ticket though, and while I am not travelling low budget anymore, I don’t like having to book stuff in advance, when you don’t even know yet how the weather is going to be like. Hence, I was happy to find out that there is a free viewing platform at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. You just need to stand in line and wait… which didn’t even take that long (about 30min for me) and up there I was rewarded with amazing views over the city. Highly recommended!

Day by day, I explored different parts of the city. I walked through modern neighbourhoods of Shinjuku and Shibuya, drank a coffee at Starbucks at the latter to watch the craziness at the famous Shibuya crossing, went window-shopping in the fancy streets near Tokyo Station and even walked around Odaiba Marine Park a bit. And of course, I checked out the car-free Sunday in Akihabara!

Of course, I also tasted the local cuisine, which proved a bit tricky being vegetarian. I did find some good vegan ramen places though! I also went to a cat cafe to tick off one of the weird things to do in Japan – and it was actually super fun. I visited countless temples large and small and worked my ass off in the evenings to be able to go out explore next day again. Good times!

I was pretty lucky with the weather which was sunny the majority of the time and hence also did two day trips from Tokyo that only make sense in good weather: Fuji Five Lakes and Mt. Takao. Mt Takao is a popular hiking region for people that live in Tokyo, that can be reached by public transport. Hiking trails are well sign-posted (also in English) and the views are quite pretty.

While I enjoyed my time there, I probably wouldn’t return. I was lucky it was a clear day so I got another view of Mt. Fuji – but it paled compared to how I was able to view the mountain on my day trip to Fuji Five Lakes. Fuji Five Lakes is a region consisting of five lakes (duuh!), but most people (incl. myself) that talk about going there, actually only visit one of them (Kawaguchi). Again, it can be reached by public transport – however, I was surprised to find the first train of the day fully booked when I showed up at the train station! I am still unsure whether I could have boarded the train without a seat reservation, as this is generally possible on most trains in Japan. However, as this was one of my first days in Japan and I just got told „fully booked“ by the agent at the counter, I waited for the next train. Unfortunately, that meant arriving late and there being lots of people at my first stop already, the famous Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine. One of the most famous photo spots in cherry blossom season, I maybe shouldn’t have been so surprised… Was it worth it? Hell yeah. The views of Mt. Fuji on that day were stunning!

After viewing the shrine and surroundings, I continued to the actual lake where I had wanted to rent a bike to cycle around the lake. Unfortunately, all bikes were rented out for the day, which was a big disappointment at that moment. I walked along the lake shore for a bit instead and had some amazing food, but there wasn’t really that much to do and see once Mt. Fuji was around the corner and out of sight. So I walked back and realized on Maps.Me that there was a hiking trail up where the Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway was going. Just a short hike up the mountain and once again I got rewarded with views of Mt. Fuji, this time in the late afternoon light. A day trip that was very much worth it!

As mentioned, I returned to Tokyo at the end of my trip around Japan for a day and a half. Of course, I did some souvenir shopping and tried some more Japanese food. I also managed to secure a ticket for the Cirque du Soleil show „Alegria“ with the extremely patient help of a Lawson-supermarket-employee, who spent 45min with me booking that ticket. It better be worth it, I thought… and it was! What a way to end my time in Japan, watching some flying trapeze and other cool acrobatics!