Eight Days in Japan

I was already in Seattle for my sister’s baby shower, so I flew from Seattle to Seoul, connected onward to Tokyo Haneda, and returned from Tokyo Narita to Seattle. The full airfare was $2,137.73 in Delta Premium Select, which felt substantial at the time and now feels like the sort of fare I would screenshot and send to people.

I had not yet flown internationally in Delta One, so I did not have enough evidence to convince myself that the upgrade was worth the much larger price difference. Premium Select felt like the reasonable middle ground. It was noticeably more comfortable than Main Cabin, with slippers, bedding, an amenity kit, a useful footrest, and enough recline to make resting possible. Actual good sleep was still ambitious.

The cabin was arranged 2-4-2, and I had the window seat in one of the pairs. My seatmate was a father traveling to Seoul to visit his daughter, who was stationed there. He had never left the country before and was nervous in that very specific way people are when they are trying to look excited enough to conceal the nervous part. We talked for a while, then discovered that we both mostly wanted to sleep. An ideal long-haul relationship.

I remember almost nothing about the food, which usually means it was neither impressive nor offensive. The Seoul to Haneda segment was on Korean Air and was pleasant in all the small ways that make a short flight feel easier. The staff was exceptionally friendly, and boarding and deplaning moved quickly because both doors were used.

By the return flight, I was deeply tired. I had spent the week covering Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, Osaka, Kamakura, and DisneySea, then had to land in Seattle and help throw a baby shower. I slept through most of the flight home because there really was no alternate plan.

Flight Summary

$2,137.73

SEA to ICN to HND · NRT to SEA ·

Delta Premium Select

DAYS 01 & 02

Because I was there to visit Lila and her family, the trip started quietly on base instead of with a checklist of Tokyo landmarks.

It was Easter, the weather was warm and breezy, and the base sat right on the water. We had brunch, did an egg hunt with the kids, and gave the jet lag a day to win. Later came the 100 Yen Store, a grocery-store field trip, sushi boats, Japanese curry, and the purchase that shaped the rest of the week: a goshuincho for collecting shrine seals and calligraphy. These books are beautiful and made in such a way that you can collect each shrine’s unique seals (sometimes for a small donation) without the ink bleeding – they make a perfect souvenir and encourage you to visit many shrines and temples.

DAY 03

Tokyo began with expensive tolls, fancy Kit Kats, and proof that the trains really do run with almost unnerving precision.

We parked outside the center, took the train in, and moved from Harajuku street art and the Nintendo steps to a rainbow cotton candy the size of my torso. Meiji Jingu felt impossibly quiet for a shrine in the middle of one of the world’s largest cities. Then came a rainbow wall of bath bombs at Lush and the day’s least subtle highlight: a full hour at a hedgehog café.

DAY 04

The day started with an illusion museum and ended with a last-minute decision to leave for Kyoto and Osaka the next morning.

Since we had decided to go south the next day, we bought the bullet train tickets at the station, then spent the rest of the day wandering the market and trying street food. One fried “chicken” ball produced a tentacle, which raised more questions than it answered.

DAYS 05 & 06

We booked the Osaka hotel from the train on a complete whim and somehow ended up with what must be the best view of Osaka castle you can get.

From Shin-Yokohama, the bullet train took a little over three hours. We checked into Hotel New Otani Osaka, which will go down as one of the best random hotel selections I’ve ever made. We then hen headed to Fushimi Inari to see the torii gates, ate street food near the shrine, and continued to Kyoto’s bamboo forest. That evening, Osaka delivered the meal I had been waiting for: top-grade Kobe steak cooked in front of us, plus one shrimp head I ate mostly to keep the chef from putting it back on my friend’s plate.

The next morning was rainy, so we slowed down with a tram tour of the Osaka Castle grounds, lunch at a café, and an early train back to Yokosuka. That evening we stuck around the base so I could get my Starbucks You Are Here series mug, a duffel bag for me to pack what ended up being 34 pounds of candy and stationary I had bought, and an amazing bowl of ramen.

DAY 07

Kamakura may have been my favorite stop of the entire trip.

The beachside town felt calmer from the start. There were elaborate Frozen-character lattes, small shops, engraved chopsticks for gifts, and several temples and shrines. Hokokuji’s bamboo forest was smaller than Kyoto’s, but quiet enough to hear the bamboo moving and I enjoyed it much more. The Owl Forest was less serene but owls are much more intense up close than expected.

DAY 08

A rainy departure day turned into an almost-empty DisneySea and a very close call with airport traffic.

We arrived before opening, ate green alien mochi for breakfast, rode nearly everything, and worked through as many popcorn flavors as possible before leaving for Narita. Traffic was terrible, but the airport itself was organized, courteous, and mercifully easy to navigate.