Your next Japan trip: where should you go??

May 18, 2024

I feel like it's been a while since I wrote a newsletter filled with recommendations for things to do in Japan.

Let's do that ^^

Especially if it's your first trip to Japan, you have to try what I've come to call my 定番ていばん (go-to, standard):

Go to 東京とうきょう (Tokyo), 京都きょうと (Kyoto) (with a day trip to 奈良なら [Nara]), and 福岡ふくおか (Fukuoka)!*

*I got a bit excited and ended up turning this newsletter into 3 parts because I had too much to talk about

Let's look at Tokyo first~

In Tokyo, you get a very "modern" Japan. It is the biggest city in the world after all, and there are endless things to do.

I've always landed at 羽田はねだ空港くうこう (Haneda Airport) so this is where my journey begins. If the sun is still up by the time I drop my things off at the hotel, I…

- Start the hunt for 神社じんじゃs (shrines) and make sure I bring a 御朱印帳ごしゅいんちょう or buy one at my first shrine.

Yeah, I know I said modern city haha. But it's really fun to visit all the parks and shrines. And it's interesting to compare them to Kyoto, Nara, and Fukuoka once you make your way there~

御朱印帳ごしゅいんちょうs are small notebooks meant to be filled with 御朱印ごしゅいん, which are stamps that you glue/tape into your 御朱印帳 that tell you what shrine you visited and on what day.

Note that 御朱印ごしゅいん are for 神社じんじゃ and not お寺てら (temples) ^^

These are really fun to collect and make a fantastic souvenir.

Here's a pic of two of the 御朱印ごしゅいん in my 御朱印帳ごしゅいん:

The one on the right is from a shrine in 上野公園うえのこうえん (Ueno Park), and the one on the left is from 明治神宮めいじじんぐう (Meiji Shrine). We'll talk about 明治神宮めいじじんぐう in a sec! ^^

A lot of shrines even write it directly into your book calligraphy-style instead of giving you a stamp.

Just keep your ear open for something like お待まちください (please wait) with some time period, potentially up to 20分にじゅっぷん (20 minutes), as they have to write it in everyone's books and wait for the ink to dry ^^

I remember being caught off guard when I was asked this.

Partly because I wasn't too sure how 御朱印ごしゅいん worked to begin with, but honestly I could still go for more listening practice as well.

I should've pressed the Study Now button more so my ears were more used to how fast people speak ^^;

If you don't have an account to press that button with yet, you can make one here for free

Anyway, after that, it's likely time for dinner and going to bed early to help avoid 時差じさぼけ (jet lag). The next day, I would probably…

- Go to 明治神宮めいじじんぐう (Meiji shrine) to appreciate the vibes and history.

明治天皇めいじてんのう (Emperor Meiji) is the emperor who brought about the 明治維新めいじいしん (Meiji Restoration) which changed Japan to be more Western, and he is enshrined there along with 昭憲しょうけん皇太后こうたいごう (Empress Shoken).

Kind of surreal to be there. So much history.

While doing that, I'd also…

- Visit 代々木よよぎ公園こうえん (Yoyogi Park) as well, which is close to 明治神宮めいじじんぐう. I think I discover a new part of that park every time I go there, it's so much bigger than I realize every time haha.

And of course…

- Go to 秋葉あきば (Akiba, Akihabara) and explore all the game shops, assuming you're into games, anime, manga, and that type of subculture like I am 👀

Be sure to visit retro game stores like Super Potato (and whatever you run into while exploring). Buy a bunch of Japanese games and play them when you're back at the hotel!

Book Off is also a great go-to and it's fun to explore how Book Offs are different between cities. Be sure to visit them in Kyoto and Fukuoka as well ^^

This newsletter is turning into a book though, so speed run time:

- Visit ヨドバシカメラ (Yodobashi Camera) because they have everything. Maybe buy a board game in Japanese!

- Check out 雷門かみなりもん (Kaminari-mon) and 浅草寺あさくさでら (Asakusa Temple) and be sure to explore the nearby 商店街しょうてんがい (shopping street)!

- Check out 原宿はらじゅく (Harajuku) if you're into fashion. You can actually do a 原宿はらじゅく → 明治神宮めいじじんぐう → 代々木よよぎ公園こうえん run pretty quickly since they're all right next to each other.

- Check out 築地つきじ市場しじょう (Tsukiji Market) which is a famous fish market and take pictures of bad fish puns that correlate with my name (たい) and send them to me in the community discord, like this:

Again, this newsletter will be split into 3 parts as I've written a ton on just Tokyo and still feel like I missed a lot ^^;

I hope you find something you enjoy on this list! I'd love to know your personal favorites in Tokyo in the #travel channel in the community~

Weekly Japanese practice:

You're at a social gathering, and someone you just met asks you how you got into your current job and what made you choose it. You tell them...

How to respond:
1. Make a Discord account
2. Join the NativShark community by clicking this link
3. Click here to see the conversation and post your response!

We're active in there all week! And feel free to ask for help if you want to say something specific. Both myself and other learners will be in there offering advice and help~

Submit prompts you want to see here.

NativShark goodie bag

4 new Units have been added to Phase Three ^^

This also comes with us reaching Milestone 37!

Double Negatives

You're highly familiar with uses of double negatives in Japanese.

As always, these Units are filled with vocab with their own unique contexts that help you understand Japanese at a deeper level, any relevant new kanji, and natural conversations called Dialogues at the end. They also have the following lessons:

Enjoy your next trip!
Ty