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Photos by: Emory MBAs

Edited by: Don Hansen (IG: @_donhansen)

For context, I took this trip as a part of my Emory MBA program and decided to extend on the front and back ends of the predetermined dates with the philosophy that there is no purpose in traveling across the world and not seeing everything possible. My Dr. Seuss, “Oh the places you’ll go,” approach led me to 6 cities and 2 countries in one trip. It also forced me to split this trip into a series of posts. This first post will primarily focus on Tokyo, but before I dive in, here’s a bit about Japan.

Japan Highlights:

-Island nation

-Population: 126,451,398 people (July 2017 est. per world fact finder)

+40% over 55 years old

There is no such thing as retirement

My Personal Notations:

-Trash cans are not a thing

-Littering is not a thing (hold your trash)

-If you don’t like sushi, you will likely have an issue

-They walk most places (pack accordingly…Kanye Shrug)

-They don’t carry sizes over a smedium (XL in japan = Medium to Large US) in stores

-If your shoe size is bigger than an 11, you will have an issue purchasing shoes

-Japanese are skeptical of foreigners

-Taxi doors open automatically

-Toilets are computers (link)

1st leg – Tokyo

Sitting still has never been my forte and Tokyo is massive so I bounced around a lot in the few days I was there. My apologies if this feels disjointed at all, but it’s the way things played out.

I landed at Tokyo Narita Airport in the middle of the day, excited and anxious at the same time. I booked my flights separate from my group as I was taken off of the waitlist for the course only a month before the trip. Total cost to fly round trip was $1600, main cabin would have been $1200, but for longer flights, I prefer to book business class. LEG ROOM IS NECESSARY, 10hrs with my legs folded in a window seat is not the move!

Full transparency, I tend to live my life a quarter mile at a time (shout out Vin Diesel) so planning is something I only do when I’m in charge. As an additional note, if I don’t plan I often times don’t read the plan. Do Better Jonathan!

So this was an instance where I flew halfway around the world and didn’t know what was going on. I landed in the airport with no idea if the rest of the group had landed or were still in flight, so I quickly had to get my bearings.

The information desks at Narita are really helpful and to my fortune, I had been texting one of my classmates who had previously sent his itinerary as a part of the conversation. So as they say, I was golden! (Thanks Marty!).

 

 

Fortunately, I was first to land and meeting up was not a problem.

We caught a bus from the airport to the business district and walked about half a mile to our Airbnb. Note to self, learn to pack lighter or lift more cause Geez!

The Airbnb was super nice (if you’re reading this, thanks Jeremy), but it was really the least of our concerns, we desperately needed food lol. So, we were off to the races! We googled a bar/club that we thought would be interesting, went to that general vicinity and searched for food. We ended up at a local spot in Honsanrizuka that had really high-quality sushi; it was scary and fantastic (see pictures below)!

 

 

As expected, the sushi in Japan is and will be the best you will ever find, and they serve it in abundance.

I heard mixed reviews on nightlife in Tokyo as there seem to be stark contrasts in the preferences.  I’m generally a Rap/Hip hop/R&B type so I was skeptical. We stumbled into a night spot called Genius Tokyo, which was really dope. They were playing Top 40 but somehow midway through the night we landed at “Gangnam Style”. I was confused, but hey, we are in Asia so whatever.

Things to expect as an American in an Japanese night club:

-If you’re above 6’4” or generally over 200 lbs expect to be touched (they were astonished to say the least)

-If you don’t download google translate with the appropriate languages prior to traveling to any foreign country please be prepared to gesture or point at things in a desperate attempt to bridge the language barrier

-Expect JPOP (Japanese Pop music) because it is definitely a thing

-Expect not to have coat check — The Japanese have payable locker systems that you use for your belongings, and you either get a key or a code to retrieve your items when you leave —  it’s CLUTCH!

The next day was full of exploration. We started by roaming the city and went to:

Tokyo Tower which is an amazing landmark, and it’s the world’s largest broadcasting tower. You could see the city in all of its glamour. There were buildings for miles upon miles like a New York ten times over.

The tower is complete with a mall and several restaurants which leads me to lunch. We had our first noodles of Japan (Yakisoba) which are hot and came in three different flavors. They were amazing!

After lunch we caught the train and went back to the Airbnb to gather ourselves and meet up with the last person in our group. Naps were necessary and then we closed the day with dinner at Robot Restaurant. This dinner was DIFFERENT. It’s really difficult to describe but here’s my try:

Imagine the scene from Alice in Wonderland when she falls down the hole, and there are psychedelic colors and shapes everywhere, that’s what the entrance was like. Once you’re 4 flights downstairs, there’s pseudo-arena seating and a main floor where the robots battle. There are three different scenes and robots 8-9 ft tall put on a show with Power Ranger fight music playing in the background the entire time. It was a lot. I must say, the day was one for the books, but the night is where stories are made.

After Robot Restaurant, we went to Shibuya crossing and saw 1500 people (rough estimate) cross an intersection from 5 different starting points, and to my amazement, it worked. The crossing took all of 15 mins to see and at that point we were ready to go out. Before we went out, we were sure to fill our stomachs with McDonald’s  (which outside of the states is fire) because we were expecting a long night.

We went to a club in Shibuya called Womb which was straight EDM. I literally had a beat pulsating through my body for 4 hours. The same beat. NO DEVIATION. Needless to say, this was not my cup of tea. When I finally looked around, everyone was dancing, but no one had drinks…. it was at this point I decided to dip lol.

On the way out to the main strip, I noticed this spot in the cut called Harlem. There were people in streetwear, Nike SB dunks, Jordans, fitteds, etc; I had to go in.  IT. WAS. LIT. The DJ was playing nothing but the hits, and we closed out the night like champs!

We ended up eating at 6am in Roppongi, an area in Central Tokyo with 24hr restaurants, at this spot called CoCo Curry which is essentially “the Waffle House of Japan,” and the food is pure flames literally! Not only does it have amazing flavor, but I was only able to handle the #2 spicy level of 10. I love spicy food, but who is eating #10 spicy?? (QTNA)

The next morning we were set to leave Tokyo but I had to swing through Harajuku to get my final feels of the city.

That part of town is a Hypebeast’s Dream: Bape, Supreme, & Atmos all in the same spot. I’m far less of a sneaker-head than I was eight years ago. Just know the old me would have left with $0 in my pockets.

Tokyo is truly the wave. If you ever get the opportunity, definitely check it out. If I could leave you with one quote it would be this:

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

To a Life Worth Living,
The Wkender.