Exploring Japan – a family adventure, by Zack Whitten
AWT
Exploring Japan…
Over the Australian summer holidays I went on a trip to Japan with my family. During the trip we went to two different cities as well and the northern island of Hokkaido for a skiing adventure. The cities I visited were Tokyo and Kyoto, and for the skiing trip we stayed at Club Med Kiroro Grand, a popular ski resort in Hokkaido, especially for families.
Tokyo was… Awesome! It was a little whacky and crazy, but an extremely cool place with amazing culture as well as good vibes and atmosphere to top it off. We arrived in Tokyo in the evening and we went straight to our amazing hotel. Hotel Indigo is in the heart of Shibuya just a 5 Minute walk from the famous Shibuya Crossing and walking distance from the best shops in all of Tokyo.
Team Labs is an amazing, futuristic experience that is a MUST-visit when in Tokyo. There are two Team Labs but the one my family went to was Team Lab Planets located in Toyosu. It is a very cool artistic/futuristic experience with many different rooms to walk through offering different weird, amazing and brilliant things.
For part of the time in Team Labs the room is filled with water up to your knees, I recommend bringing water-proof shorts to wear for that time in the room to ensure nothing gets wet. The way Team Labs is created makes you really wonder how it is even possible to create anything so cool and strange and how long and hard it would have taken people to create it. Once you enter I would recommend you download the free Team Labs App to make the experience more interactive and engaging.
Harujuku (suburb of Tokyo)
Harajuku is the part of Japan people usually think about, people dressed up in crazy outfits, weird shops and strange food! Inside Harajuku we visited Takeshita Street, the center of weird and trendy Japanese culture. The street is a 350-Metre pedestrian street full of trendy shops and cafes. Many Cafes have animals inside them from cats to Otters! It is a sensory weird experience but very cool. A very busy street but worth seeing to see proper strange Japanese culture.
Shopping in Ginza
Ginza is a very classy and upscale district in Tokyo famous for its designer shopping, many compare it to Bond Street in London or Rodeo Drive in LA. Ginza had everything, even a Chrome Hearts store which was very cool to see for the first time. Ginza is very different from the chaos of Harajuku and Shibuya and a place where people go for a calm time and to shop for expensive things. My dad loved the watches!
Tsujiki Outer Fish Markets
The Tsujiki Outer Fish Markets were my personal highlight of Tokyo. The food in Tokyo is amazing as you would expect but the fish markets were the best tasting experience I had. The fish market name can be deceiving because if you don’t like fish that’s no problem because this market has all the Japanese food you can think of, not just fish. If you are a fan of sashimi, especially tuna, this place will be heaven for you. The tuna is so fresh and so fatty it melts inside of your mouth and it is the best you will have anywhere. There is also salmon, kingfish, octopus ….all fresh and amazing. Now, if you aren’t a seafood lover that is fine because this market has fresh wagyu beef skewers, sandwiches and beef balls ready to go freshly made everywhere you look.
Not only is there wagyu beef there is amazing pork as well as all the desserts you can think of and there are so many streets of food you can get lost. If you are a matcha enjoyer this place is perfect for you. Not only can you drink the matcha, but you can also buy your own matcha powder to bring home with a whisk to make fresh Japanese matcha at home!
Kyoto
After 3 Amazing days in Tokyo, we took an awesome high-speed train for 2.5 hrs to Kyoto. This was a ride on the Shinkansen, the bullet train.
Kyoto has a very different vibe to Tokyo but I really loved it. More traditional with other historical things to do rather than crazy Tokyo nightlife. Kyoto is a world heritage listed city. One day we had a tour guide who took us around to see historical and interesting places in Kyoto showcasing the city’s rich history. We learnt about the main religion of Japan, Shintoism and the fact that many people in Japan follow not only Shintoism but Buddhism as well and that the two religions coexist and often share Temples and Shrines. Many people follow these two religions because they historically blend. Kyoto is a very spiritual place.
We visited a famous temple which is now a place where tourists visit called the Kinkaku-ji shrine, it is set in a beautiful peaceful area in the forest where it has been preserved so well it is at natural beauty and is a very peaceful place.
The Bamboo Forest is another must see in Kyoto. The natural beauty as well as the shrines really makes it a calm and amazing environment. I recommend that getting a tour guide with a car for the day would be extremely helpful and worth it to learn so much extra about this beautiful place.
Skiing in Club Med Kiroro Grand-Hokkaido
As an Australian who loves skiing and goes every year, in Australia, I have never experienced the abnormal amount of snow Japan has to offer, especially Hokkaido. It was a life changing experience and I mean that. To get to the resort we took a plane from Osaka Airport, a 1-hour drive from Kyoto. The plane ride was about an hour, and we landed at Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo. Once we landed, we were collected by the club med bus and we departed on our journey to Kiroro.
There was more snow in the airport far away from the ski slopes than I had ever seen in Australia! The drive took about 2 hours, and more snow covered the roads until we arrived at the hotel, Club Med Kiroro Grand. The Club Med was amazing. We signed in, collected our ski gear and had the first of many buffets, which are for breakfast lunch and dinner. My personal favourite was the different meats on selection each night as well as the sashimi bar. I was there with my family and friends, and it was so much fun, there was a traditional Japanese Onsen. Every day after we got off the slopes we would swim and sauna and so much more.
Now…the snow was amazing. It felt like you were floating and you didn’t even need to leave the run to sink into powder. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I went on powder hunting adventures, and it is amazing if you want that fresh champagne powder Japan is famous for. Do not worry if you are not an experienced skier because Club Med offers groups for all abilities, and there are plenty of groomed pistes to enjoy. The lines were very small for the majority of the time, and it was the best skiing experience I have ever had. The great thing about Club Med is that we would put our skis on and walk straight to the lift, hardly any hassle required! I loved Tokyo and Kyoto, but this was by far my favourite part of the trip and an amazing experience.
Thanks for reading – next blog will be from Vietnam!
