That's All Folks!

April 4th, 2026 - 5:30PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Thank you for reading! We genuinely appreicate you for taking the time to visit us here on the internet. It was a joy recapping our days and trying to capture the special moments while they were still fresh.

Japan is truly a beautiful country full of kind and respectful people. We both keep talking about how we feel changed after visiting. Japanese craft, manners, history, religion, illustration, city planning-- all of it was so thoughtful, intentional, and different! Now, we want to do what we can to hold onto those things and put them into practice in our own lives.

We hope that you too can go some day. It's worth it.

See you next time! <3

The Haul

April 4th, 2026 - 3:33PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Show and tell time! We want to share with you some of the things that we brought back with us.

There's a lot here and, to be honest, it was hard to not get more. The Yen is very cheap compared to the dollar right now, so it was significantly more affordable than if we had bought everythinghere in America. That combined with Japanese craftmanship and brands that you can't get out of the country (at least without paying a fortune for shipping), we let ourselves splurge.

We wanted to let these items tell just a few more stories before we wrap up.

Let's start with some clothing.

Two jackets and slippers.

You may know of Uniqlo and sister brand GU-- they exist in the States but are originally from Japan. Their stores there are gigantic, multiple floor buildings and offer a wider selection compared to here. Laura got a denim jacket and polyester men's jacket that has a cool streetwear-style fit.

As for the slippers, those were for Billy. In Japanese shrines, homes, and even in changing rooms, they wear little slippers and make sure to not let their dirty outside shoes ever touch domestic spaces. After getting accustomed to them, we got a cheap pair for the apartment.

A mix of shoes, jeans, a bag, and a hat.

Okay, there are some things in this collection that we already talked about: namely, the jeans. Laura wound up getting a pair too from Momotaro's sister brand, Setto. We got it at a really wonderful little shop in Kichijoji where the proprietor was friendly and attentively brought Laura pair after pair to try on.

Now, take a look at the shoes in the top left corner of the picture above. See how the big toe is separated from the rest of the shoe? They're inspired by traditional Japanese tabi socks that were originally worn with thonged sandals-- a style from the 15th century! But today, people are making cool updated versions of them-- like this sneaker by Nike. They were first modernized by Maison Margiela in 1988. Laura loves the look of them and wore an inspired pair for our wedding!

Another cool piece here are the sneaker-like ballet flats by Rockfish, a Korean footwear brand that is inspired by Cornwall, England of all places. They're similar to the tabi-sneakers in that they put a fun twist on a classic design.

Billy here: Okay, so I got 4 records by Haruka Nakamura, an artist that my friend John introduced me to some years ago. Nauamura is a modern-classical style pianist who also makes "chill beats". It's basically just really soothing piano music. I listen to it all the time when I'm working. They're impossible to get in the states, so I got as many as I could. I got two records by Yellow Magic Orchestra, a legendary eletcronic music group from the 80s, one random CD from a band that I heard from a little stand in a store and thought was cool, one video game soundtrack for Final Fantasy X, two CDs by a rock band called The Pillows who did the sountrack to my favorite anime, FLCL, one j-jazz album by Ryu Fukui, who I heard recently on a YouTube DJ set and thought was fantastic, and then of course, the CD from Oaktails, the screamo band we saw live early on in the trip. Laura got a CD too by a band called Kinokoteikoku and it's awesome!

We both wanted to get keepsakes from our favorite Japanese authors. For Laura, that was a book by Sayaka Murata. And for Billy, there were a few, by Haruki Murakami, Yasunari Kawabata, and Kazuo Ishiguro (who is really British but was born in Japan). Billy also got a few first copies of manga in Japanese: primarily, Naruto volume 1. He hopes to be able to actually read it in Japanese one day.

Next up: some kitchen goods! We found a tiny antique store in Kyoto ran by a very sweet man that had a ton of vintage sake cups for sale. We picked up a couple after browsing for awhile.

With Laura's desire to try all the matcha fulfilled, we had to stop by Ippodo Tea, a famous Japanese tea shop from 1717, to pick up some tins.

Of course we also had to grab some chopsticks, chopstick rests, and a little egg pan!

Laura here - If you know me at all, you know I'm a stationery fan. I love collecting paper goods and stickers. It's fun to look down at my notebooks and see little mementos from different artists and places adding some fun personality. I love it. When we spent time with Toru, he took us to Itoya and I never wanted to leave. Throughout the trip, we also went to a few other places and collected stickers, notepads, stamps and more. The Japanese dedication to stationery made my heart so happy. I could have gotten more but resisted!

Still Laura. Billy was shocked when I left him at the hotel one night and did a big skincare / makeup shopping trip, coming back with 3 giant bags. Half of this are products I love but are more expensive in America, and the other half are items I've been told I have to try while in Japan. I can't wait to test them out!

The Japanese dedication to little guys is very endearing. Everyone has one and is carrying them around. Plus, they're easy, cheap, and fun to get in gashapon and crane games that are all over the city.

Note the little baby figurine: this is a vintage Kewpie doll, which is a classic toy and is probably most well known for being associated with Kewpie Mayonnaise-- the best mayonnaise!

There's a smiling egg sandwich here, based on the famous convenience store sandwiches that we had like every other day.

There are 3 charms that we got when visiting shrines. One is to commemorate the year of the horse.

Look at the cute little PS2! The disc tray opens and everything.

So that's it. That's the haul. So many things. So little time. If only we had infinite money and space.

Bagel Run

April 4th, 2026 - 5:55AM (Eastern Standard Time)

Billy here again. Jet lag is keeping me up. I've been awake since 2:00AM. Thought I'd offer a quick story.

Yesterday, we went for bagels in the morning, naturally. And over the short walk, eating, and grabbing a coffee, we saw more people of different races, shapes, sizes, and colors than our entire two weeks in Japan. It really put into perspective just how culturally diverse America, and specifically New York City, really is. It's special and should not be taken for granted.

Catching Up - Pt. 6: The End of Days

April 3rd, 2026 - 3:16PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Alright, let's do the recap of the final day:

We took it slow. It was another rainy day and we didn't want to burn ourselves out for our early morning flight the following day. We went back to the Shimokitazawa neighborhood. It was one of our favorites from early on in the trip-- where we saw the screamo show.

For breakfast, we had some wildly fluffy pancakes. After, we took one final stroll, walking around the streets. The pedestrain streets are really such a dang joy to walk and Shimokitzawa has a really nice mix of architecture and verticality that makes every street feel worth walking down. We picked up a few final gifts and souveniers and then got back on the train.

One final stroll through the streets of Shimokitazawa.

Let's talk about music one more time for a second. Billy's back once again.

We went back to a store that we thought was really fun called Village Vanguard. It's kind of like a pop-culture store filled with books and memorabilia of all kinds. It is kind of like an FYE at the mall but if FYE was cool-- or maybe a less emo Hot Topic?

Exploring both this store and Tower Records a few days prior really highlighted how relevant rock music still is in Japan. It was wildly refreshing to see. Bands playing alternative, indie, pop-punk, and even shoegaze music were often labelled "pop" at most of these stores. Tower Records even had an entire floor dedicated to Japanese indie rock and this "pop" music. And it was actually packed with people! There were cut-outs of band members that teens were taking photos with. New, young, bands were showcased left and right. As a fan of this kind of music, and in bands like these, it was very nice to see this type of music still actually having relevancy at such a large scale. Rock just isn't really a thing anymore in America! It gave me a little bit of hope.

CDs were also advertised in a cool way: there were often little TV screens playing music videos around stores. Below them sat little CD players with headphones to easily check out the music. I don't know a lot about Japanese music and was eager to be introduced to a few new bands. I thought this was an awesome and easy way to get into them. I walked by a little screen where a band was playing a riff that sounded shockingly similar to The Menzingers. I bought it on principal.

Anyway, thanks for reading more nerd shit~

An example of a little music video screen advertising a new band.

Actually, let's stay on the nerd shit-- just of a different kind. We made one more stop on the way back to our hotel: the Pokemon Center store in Shibuya. It felt important for me to get something Pokemon related while here.

There were so many little reasons why we both wanted to go to Japan, but for me, my desire to visit all really began with Pokemon. I used to dream of a world where Pokemon were real. I'd imagine seeing Pokemon in the woods looking out the window of the backseat of my parents' car. I'd pretend my Pokemon party lived with me at home. And I dreamt of a world where Pokemon trainers were indeed everywhere, looking for their next battle. The first few games mean the world to me and still influence types of video games and media I consume. It genuienly makes me so happy that Pokemon is still as relevant as ever and that little kids of every generation get to have fun with the world like I did.

All throughout Tokyo and Kyoto, Pokemon were unavoidable: Pikachu on vending machines, plushies on the bags of boys and girls of all ages-- even "cool" fashion kids had little Pokemon hanging from their leather cross-body bags. It felt like my dream was just a little bit true here.

In the Pokemon Center, it was heart-warming to see people of all ages picking up their favorite Pokemon. A little piece of my childhood felt fulfilled. I didn't realize how much it would mean to me. I'm old now! But that's okay! Pokemon still exits and we all get to share it together! I bought a little Totodile plush just for the heck of it and for the little Billy inside of me.

There was a huge Mewtwo at the entrance to the store, just like in the first movie.

Dreams fulfilled, we then made the reluctant trip to pick up a vessel to transport all of our spoils home. We went to the department store and picked up a suitcase and returned to our shoebox hotel room to sadly begin packing our things.

We emerged for one final bowl of ramen. And it was perfect.

The last ramen.

We took the long way home and walked through Shinjuku's bright back alleys one last time and killed our final Yen coins on some crane games on the way home.

Laura's last little guy.

The rainy streets of Shinjuku.

Mascots and Little Guys

April 3rd, 2026 - 5:26AM (Eastern Standard Time)

Well. We went to bed at 6:00PM last night and are now awake at 5:00AM. Let's talk about little guys as the east coast wakes.

Mascots and illustrations of little cute things are all over the place. This is probably unsurprising to some, as loud little anime characters are basically a stereotype of the Japanese at the point. However, we were surprised by really just how prevalent they were. Even "official" things like construction notices and emergency access points often used cute illustrations. It makes the city feel like it is geared toward children-- which is actually kind of wonderful. If even a little kid can understand a sign, then that sign is successful in conveying its meaning to everyone.

Apparently the prevalent mascot culture actually has a name: yuru-kyara, meaning something like "laid-back character". It's common to find mascots not just for brands and businesses, but also neighborhoods and events. There was a little sakura flower girl on the signage for the cherry blossom festivals-- a different mascot for the Ueno Park cherry blossoms and another for Inokashira park. We saw a little flame and water characters for an upcoming Olympic-like event, the Asian Games. They're genuinely all over the place and we kind of wish we took more photos of them. But anyway, here's a small collection:

We were also deeply fascinated by the value of graphic design prevalent in Japan's history. The mon, or emblems, even from the ancient Japanese are always striking and beautiful. Ultra-minimal and and tightly abstract family crests, called jomon, were in use since the year 900. These icons and logos were on samurai armor, swords, and can still be seen today at buddhist temples. Hundreds of years later, they still feel shockingly modern with bold contrast and thin line work.

Here are some (not enough) examples of logos and symbols we saw around:

Landed

April 2nd, 2026 - 4:43PM (Eastern Standard Time)

We are home. We've still got a few things to write about so will continue to update through the weekend. In the meantime: we sleep.

Catching Up - Pt. 5: Unexpected Jazz

April 2nd, 2026 - 2:00PM Japan Time??? (MID-FLIGHT)

Hello. We are currently aboard the flight home. We are somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. We have no idea what time it is. Did we cross back into yesterday yet?

Two days left to recap: The end-of-trip-rain had arrived. Our new videogame-enjoying friend from the bar the other night recommended the town of Kichijoji to us based on the places that we had visited and enjoyed thus far. We took the free day to go check it out.

But first, we were craving a big western breakfast. We haven't really figured out how to do breakfast here. It doesn't seem like breakfast restaurant places are common even for Japanese style food. Maybe we just don't know how to look for them. It also seems like most restaurants don't open until lunch. Even cafes open kind of late here and they often serve only coffee and sweets. So, if you're in the mood for something a little more substantial, it can be hard to find. But we got one! It was an "international" breakfast place not too far from the train once we arrived at Kichijoji. It was perhaps the only meal that we feel like we overpayed for during this entire trip. It consisted of pretty standard bacon and eggs-- no ketchup, no jam for our toast. But hey, it's what we wanted.

Our so-so American breakfast.

Kichijoji is indeed very cute! Right by the train station are a few larger buildings like a lot of the big areas of Tokyo. However, just a few blocks away, it calms down very quickly. There were lots of little streets with cute parks and stores. We, as usual, grabbed another, very good, coffee. Afterward, we went into a few pleasant shops.

Billy had determined that he would not feel satisfied if he did not buy at least one Pokemon related piece of merchandise on this trip. So, we tried a few used game shops in the area with no luck.

But really, the highlight of Kichijoji was Inokashira Park-- yet another gorgeously cultivated area with a big central lake. Despite the rain, we loved it. After the stroll, we headed back to the hotel. We decided to take it easy for a few hours and then go out somewhere for our last "night on the town".

Rainy day streets of Kichijoji.

Staying dry in the occassional store.

Some wildly fantastic and cheap tonkatsu for lunch.

Always have to stop in when there's a goshapon shop.

Some more gorgeous cherry blossoms at the park

We decided to try and catch some more live music in the area. Shinjuku is a huge night life spot and we really hadn't experienced much of it. We thought-- how about some jazz? We could have a relatively chill time and see some music in a less intense setting.

We walked down into a basement bar that was jam-packed with people. But the proprietor saw us looking through a window in the door and waved us in happily anyway. It was goddamn bumping. A piano, drum kit, and upright bass trio were squeezed into the right corner of the bar. Jazz records adorned all of the walls, and the rest of the space were people seated at little tables. The man scooted us around to the bar, we got a drink, and then forced us through the crowd all the way up to the front of the room and sat us inches away from the band-- the only seats left in the whole place.

We couldn't even get the full band in one photo we were so close.

Maybe not the vibe we were originally looking for, but it was awesome. The musicians ruled. Every few songs, one or two of the members would get up, grab everyones' empty cups on our tables, and then a new person would replace them: they were all members of the staff or regulars working shifts and playing at the same time. It was uncanny to watch a dude totally shred the piano and then come up and ask if you want another drink.

We were basically sitting on top of the people next to us, but it wound up working out greatly. We made friends with a group from Ireland who were all incredibly warm, chatty, and delightfully nerdy, just like us (well, just like Billy, at least). They asked us to karaoke and we couldn't turn them down. It was a very fun final late night for us.

You know I'm such a foooool for youuuuuuuu~

Catching Up - Pt. 4: Nails & Festivals

April 2nd, 2026 - 12:45PM (Japan Time)

East Asian countries are pretty well known for having great cosmetics and spas, so Laura made sure to try and have at least one fun and unique beauty appointment. She scheduled getting her nails done Monday morning in another new neighborhood. While she was at her appointment, Billy was delighted to find another Cafe WEEKENDERS, the place we loved from Kyoto, right down the block. He spent some time there reading while Laura was away.

Laura's cool nails.

Billy's cool coffee.

It was projected to be our last sunny day, so we tried to see some of the remaining outside sights that we had on our list. First, we went to one final shrine: Senso-ji. This shrine is the oldest in Tokyo and is the single most-visited religious site in the world with over 30 million visitors a year. Walking through its gigantic gate, a market of stalls leads up to the main shrine. It reminded us a lot of our time in Kyoto. We enjoyed strolling and seeing the architecture. On Laura's continual search for all things matcha flavored, she finally got some matcha ice cream.

A quick visit through Senso-ji.

Remember how we told you there are different shopping areas based on subject? Well, the kitchen part of the city was just a short walk away, so we stopped in.

Look at the big-chef-man on the roof.

We got a tip from our Philadelphian train-mate that there was an awesome spring festival going on in Ueno Park. We walked down there and he was absolutely correct. As far as the eye could see, pink and white cherry blossoms. It reminded us of our local McCarren Park on the first days of spring: every piece of available soil was covered by blankets with friends and families enjoying the day, drinking beers, hanging out under the cherry blossom branches. We followed the crowds through the aisles and aisles of trees, and as the sun set, picked some food from street stands. We had okonomiyaki, yakisoba, a sweet potato, and one of our new favorite desserts, taiyaki, a little waffle filled with custard. Oh, and we saw a monkey walking on stilts!

The Cherry Blossom Festival in Ueno Park. Beautiful trees and good snacks.

Catching Up - Pt. 3: Meals & Memories

April 2nd, 2026 - 9:30AM (Japan Time)

Have you ever had a meal break you? Bring a tear to your eye out of beauty? Well, this omakase lunch did. Omakase is a dining style where the chef picks everything that you eat-- and mostly consists of shashimi and sushi.

This lunch was the only meal that we scheduled the entire trip-- we wanted to have one that was a little more special to celebrate our honeymoon. It was wonderful.

We got off at the Nakameguro station, and walked sunny small side streets to an unassuming concrete block of a building down an alley. Inside was a small bar of 10 seats. We were met with 15 or so little dishes of fish and soup.

Sunny Nakameguro streets.

Some shots from our meal at Udatsu Sushi.

We're very grateful to have had the opportunity to be here-- to be alive, to visit Japan, and to be able to spend it comfortably. This meal really made us feel our gratitude for the past few weeks. Sometimes it doesn't feel real that we actually did take the jump to come this far across the world. It's certainly something both of us didn't think we'd actually be able to do just a few years ago. We're very thankful.

Slightly buzzed on emotion and sake, we spent the afternoon walking around in the sun. The cherry blossoms were finally in full bloom. And it's true: it really does create quite a magical atmosphere. Everyone, including all of the locals, all find joy in the sakura trees. We weren't sure if it was something hyped up only for tourists. But no-- on plenty of occasions, we saw plenty of people stopping to appreciate the streets-- a business woman taking a photo on the way to work or teens taking selfies in front of them.

Turns out, there was actually a cherry blossom festival along the Meguro river. We flowed into the crowed and joined it ourselves. It was a wonderful little surprise.

Spring in full effect.

We see a cute coffee spot? We stop in.

We see a cute book store? We stop in.

More cute side streets.

On a bridge over the Meguro river during the annual cherry blossom festival.

We popped into a bar that looked cute and proceeded to hang out there for the next 5 hours. The staff was wildly friendly but didn't speak much English. An englishman-turned-japanaese resident heard our accents and helped us translate. The whole bar was talking to him, clearly a regular at the bar, and we could hear him saying that we're from America and on honeymoon, etc. Some folks at the bar gave us Japanese wine as a gift. We drank and ate some shocklingly good pasta!

After a little while, another American couple came in. We chatted with them right away. Turns out, they're from upstate New York and their son now lives in Tokyo doing sound design for video games at Sony. We had a great time talking with them. Their son, his wife, and daugter, arrived a little bit later and we got along swimmingly. We got some great local recommendations and continued to have a jovial time at the bar with Americans and Japanese alike. One of the people who gave us some wine is actually a sommalier who is trying to get Japanese wines to be sold in America. She has been to Greenpoint for a convention and plans on holding another next year! We're going to try and go. She taught us that Japanese wine is actually best grown in Hokkaido, the super northern island known for its snow and skiing, and that there are over 550 wineries in Japan now. Fun stuff. We also learned later that the other person who gave us wine is actually a famous Japanese comedian who goes by Higuchi-kun. It was a blast and we felt like we were really welcomed by this place.

Our fun evening of pasta and drinks at Sifflet.

Catching Up - Pt. 2: The Flea Market

April 1st, 2026 - 11:27PM (Japan Time)

Passing it to Laura!

I love antique shopping! It's something that's always been really important for my mom, brother, and I. My mom has a great eye and has always led us into vintage shops growing up, and so naturally we've picked it up from her. I get a little spark of excitement when I find something that I like: little figurines, ceramics, or a cool ring. I was most interested in finding hand-made items in Japan to see how the craft differs from ours in America. I found a flea market that only happens twice a month that would be active while we were in Japan, so we made sure to go.

In a super industrial area above Tokyo station were colorful stands with antiques, clothing, unravelled blankets on the ground. We picked up two pieces of artwork, a little kewpie doll, some old figurines, and Billy got a big piece of hand-dyed indigo (see his previous post about denim). I could have spent days there, but we had to run to catch our lunch omakase reservation! This was the only big meal we booked in advance so I was excited to have it on the calendar.

The Tokyo station flea market!

Okay, we've got to get up early for our flight tomorrow. But we'll be back with more soon!

Catching Up - Pt. 1

April 1st, 2026 - 10:52PM (Japan Time)

Phew, how do we recap the last few days? Our flight home is tomorrow morning. We've just packed up (after having to buy two new bags). We're prepped as much as we can be.

However, there's still so much we haven't told you about! At this rate, we might share on the ol' blog here for the next few days as we recuperate at home. But for now, let's see how far we can get tonight.

Like we mentioned, during this last leg of the trip, our hotel has been a shoebox. And because of that, we haven't been spending a lot of time there. The first half of the trip, our mornings were pretty leisurely: we'd have breakfast and then spend some time at the hotel, usually researching things and writing, and then begin our day. Most days we'd return to the hotel in the afternoon to recharge-- another useful time to relax and write. But because our hotel is so small, we've been trying to stay out of it as much as possible. So, our apologies for less updates over the past few days!

Denim pick-up day was a success. We had returned to a few neighborhoods we had been to previously: we walked the world's busiest pedestrian crossing in Shibuya, got some lunch and people-watched the fashionistas of Harajuku, and then tried out a new neighborhood, Jimbocho, the book village, in the evening. It was a gorgeous spring day.

Shibuya Crossing in the daytime.

Buying records at the absolutely incredible Tower Records. 9 floors of CDs and Vinyl!

Wandering the back streets of Harajuku. It's incredibly cute over here.

A cherry blossom outside of a building in Jimbocho.

People watching all around

An infinite number of stores and an infinite number of doo-dads

Jimbocho was a really cool example of how shopping districts are all grouped together in Tokyo. It's a relatively small area but with over 100 used book stores-- and it's been that way since the 30s.

Districts like this are really quite convenient as a shopper. Do you need to do some kitchen shopping? Easy-- just head to the kitchen part of the city and you've get every possible option available to you. It's hard to imagine how all these stores stay in business competing with tens to hundreds of others within a few block radius.

We spent the afternoon checking out books, wishing we could read more Japanese.

You know, maybe that's a good transition to say: we've been able to get by with very little understanding of Japanese. In most situations, you can say "hello", point at an item on a menu, say "this please" and then gesture your way through anything else. There's a lot of light bowing and "thank you"'s. Here are a few key phrases we've been using:

おはよう (Ohayō): Good morning

こんにちは (Konnichiwa): Hello!

こんばんは (Konbanwa): Good evening

ありがとうございます (Arigatōgozaimasu): Thank you very much

これをください (Kore o kudasai): Give me this please

はい (Hai): Yes

いいえ (Īe): No

A lot of people speak at least rudimentary English here. With just a few caveman sentences we can both get across what we're trying to say. And in more complex situations, the Google Translate app has genuinely been an incredible tool. You can use your phone's camera, pointed at any sign, package, whatever, to see a translation of any Japanese text. On a few occasions, we would type our questions into the app and then just show the output to folks. Sometimes they used it back, too. It's so, so awesome.

That being said, we at least typically tried to begin and end our conversations in Japanese to, you know, at least try to speak the language. A lot of the time, people would take one look at us and then start speaking English anyway. But hey, we tried.

A Brief Note on Denim

March 31th, 2026 - 10:07AM (Japan Time)

Is anyone still reading this? If you are, please text one clown emoji to either Billy or Laura. Thank you.

The past few days have included revisiting old neighborhoods, seeing some new ones, and enjoying the cherry blossoms while we can. The rest of our trip looks like rain.

On Saturday we went back over to Shibuya / Harajuku to pick up some pants that Billy bought and got hemmed earlier in the trip.

Okay nerds, Billy here, let's get into it. Let's talk denim.

I love jeans. I always wear them. I do not, when I get home after a long day, change into sweat pants. Jeans are my sweat pants. I've been this way since I was in high school. Occasionally, a slack will make its way into the lineup (and increasingly so), but I wear jeans almost every day.

The Japanese are known to make some of the best jeans in the world. Why? Well, here's a little history. After World War II, the Allied Powers occupied Japan, and in doing so, started to directly influence Japanese culture in a new way. Kids started to see the clothing that American G.I.s were wearing and as more time passed, western fashion became wildly popular. However, none of the clothes that were desired were easy to get. They all had to be imported from the west. So, the Japanese started to reverse engineer, specifically, Levi's 501 jeans. They recreated every single detail (so much so, that Levi's actually sued a bunch of these companies later on, but that's another story).

Studio D'Artisan is one of the "Osaka 5" - one of the 5 big Levi's recreation companies from back in the day. The pigs ripping the jeans is a fun play on the Levi's horses.

You see, modern jeans are quite different than those from the 1940s. Jeans today are pre-washed to help them feel softer and look pre-faded. The fabric isn't 100% cotton and often includes polyester and elastic to make them stretchy. They're made on super-efficient looms that can create identical pairs by the thousands.

What makes the Japanese jeans special are that they are still made the "old" way.

That means the they are made on older looms, have nicer and more interesting fabric, include hand-stitched elements, use natural dyes, are more ethically sourced and assembled, and ultimately make a much more unique piece of clothing. Think vinyl records -- vinyl is a high quality product that is super inefficient to make, but the characteristics of it are sought after as music sounds unique to the medium and the artwork and packaging tends to be of higher quality. Ultimately, it makes for a great collector's item! These jeans are kind of the same thing. They're full of fun and nerdy details if you care enough to look.

Indigo dying is also an ancient practice in Japan, known as Aizome. It's one of the oldest fabric dying techniques in the world. Not every pair of jeans uses this technique, but it's something rooted in Japanese culture that often does translate to their indigo fabric.

So, who knew? Blue jeans combine a really cool mix of both American and Japanese cultures.

A poor photo of the two pairs that I got.

The Final Stretch

March 29th, 2026 - 8:49PM (Japan Time)

Okay ~ we're back.

Right after getting off the Shinkansen, we looked at eachother like we were back where we belonged. It felt familiar being back in Tokyo.

Our last hotel is in the Shinjuku neighborhood - a wild area known for its nightlife. It's full of a lot of, by our standards, out-there attractions: maid cafes, where girls dote on your every whim (as a male), muscle bars, where boys with ripped shirts playfully carry you to your seat and put you in headlocks (as a female), peep shows, izakaya, whatever -- every kind of theme bar imagineable. We're staying a few blocks off of the main area in a Korean part of the neighborhood. It gave us a bit of cultural whiplash after staying on the silent streets of Kyoto for a few nights. You kids want cultural? Well, YOU GOT IT, BABY.

Our last hotel is the cheapest of the bunch. It's the classic Tokyo shoebox: the room is basically just the size of our bed. The shower is within arms reach while laying down. It's another funny comparison compared to the luxury of our last hotel. Hey, it is what it is! We're back.

Like usual, after we dropped our bags off and walked around the neighborhood to get our bearings. The cherry blossoms are really starting to come out.

Cherry blossoms looking kayewtttt.

We got some Chinese food, laid low, and then went for a long walk around the busier part of the neighborhood.

This little beer frog is all over the place.

Shinjuku Streets.

Note the girl waving in the window.

Oops! Peepshow!

GOJIRAAAAAAA

Back Alleys of Shinjuku.

Laura won a little stuffy from a crane game.

Micro Update: Toilet Technology

March 27th, 2026 - 8:49PM (Japan Time)

Let's talk about toilets. They're all robots here. They all have bidets - even the toilets in public parks. They have buttons that can open the lids without even touching them. They are heated. Some play music to comfort you while you do your business. Some, when you walk in the room, automatically open and welcome you. The toilets are of the future. The only toilet that was not futuristic was in the Zen Buddist garden in Kyoto, which was instead, a hole in the ground.

Finally Getting It

March 27th, 2026 - 11:30AM (Japan Time)

We're back on the Shinkansen to Tokyo. It feels a little bittersweet to be leaving Kyoto -- largely because we feel like we were just starting to be at the right speed for the city. We'll talk about that more in a little bit. First, a recap of our last day:

Okay, so coffee in Kyoto is incredible. We aren't sure if this is just a Japanese-in-general kind of thing or if it's just Kyoto, but every coffee we've had has been delicious. It seems like every craft that the Japanese choose to latch onto, they perfect it better than the originators.

Walden Woods Cafe -- look at this yuzu cream puff

The public transit isn't nearly as robust in Kyoto, so we've spent most of our time walking around our adjacent neighborhoods. But today, we were feeling a little sick of the area and wanted to get a different view of the city.

Toru recommended another Zen Buddhist garden over this way, the Daisen-in, so we made that our first stop to have a local landmark orient us. Immediately walking up the subway stairs, this neighborhood was even quieter than the already quiet streets where we are staying. However, it was really nice and peaceful. Not quiet in an eerie way but in a local way -- families going to school. Stuff like that. We liked it.

And yet, once again, when we got to the grounds of the Daisen-in and its surrouding area, we were met with gorgeous history and landscapes. But the best part? It felt like the grounds were ours. There were a handful of other people here but it was only a few compared to the tens (and maybe hundreds) of some of the other places we've visited in Kyoto. It was incredibly freshing.

This juniper tree is thought to be 1,400+ years old.

Serene images from the Daisen-in.

On the same grounds, we entered a bonzai exhibit. It's a quiet little garden with 20+ absolutely beautifully manicured trees. We sat here for a while and drew.

A morning of peace and quiet -- the bonzai garden.

Pleased with our morning away from the crowds, we decided to walk all the way down the city back to our area. After a while, we stopped by a cafe, a bit more old school in style than some of the coffee places we had been going to in Kyoto. It feels like there are disctinctively two kinds of coffee shops: newer, modern, and minimalist and then old-school, which are deeply French in their decor, seating, vibe. This one was in the latter camp. The only other patron was an old lady sat in a booth having lunch. The proprietor gave us a seat, hand-made us rice and curry, an egg sandwich, and a drip coffee. It was very a sweet and wonderful little experience. It was one step away from being Cafe LeBlanc. If you know, you know.

Our little pit-stop at Cafe OLE.

Unfortunately, the temple that we made our destination on our map was closed by the time we got there. But we were satisfied with the day and went back to the hotel.

We spent some more time before dinner in the hotel's library and enjoyed the atmosphere.

This night, we had a reservation at an udon restaurant. More noodles! But these are super thick and chewy. They aren't in any broth either. This was easily our favorite meal while in Kyoto. Great food and a good place to hang.

Yes, that is a chunk of butter on the noodles.

We decided to go to one more spot on the way home to make the most of our last night in Kyoto. So, we stopped by Bar Hachi. Billy had found this place on the way home from a walk a few days prior. It's a listening bar downstairs and record store upstairs. Now, how this differs from the record bar we went to earlier in the week is that this one actively discourages being chatty. It's a place meant for you to listen -- the music comes first. Sure, grab a drink or dessert, but enjoy the vibe first and foremost. We were the only people there for a little while so we spoke (as best we could) with the bartender and got recommendations about Japanese jazz. They grabbed a few records and played them front to back for us. Others trickled in and we filled the 8-seat bar. Why doesn't anything like this exist in New York!? It's a wonderful to spend some relaxing time.

Bar Hachi

Okay, so: now that we've made it through our time here, let's be honest about how we felt about Kyoto. It took us a long time to feel like we understood how to enjoy this city in a way that felt meaningful to us. And primarily, it was because of all of the tourists.

Now, we know how silly it is to be complaining about tourists while being them ourselves. But in Kyoto, wow, they are overwhelming and almost unavoidable. Almost 70% of the people on any given street, in any restaurant, in any shop, etc. were travellers. And while that is fun in some regards -- we met some fellow foreigners who we really liked -- it makes the city feel kind of uncanny at times. We kept saying that it feels like a movie set -- like if we walked down the wrong alley, we'd see the PAs, boom mics, and cameras. Where are all of the people living in the city? Because everywhere we went, it was mostly tourists.

It generally wasn't that big of a deal, but it dulled the pure magic of what we had been experiencing so far by just a little bit. We would be having a peaceful morning at a cafe and then some damn Americans (Spaniards / Russians / insert country) would come in being loud and harsh the vibe. This is a problem with any sight-seeing district, but it felt pervasive in Kyoto -- even away from the main historical attractions.

In Tokyo, the city was so dense with goodies that in any neighborhood we could pop into a random restaurant and have a life-altering meal. But in Kyoto where we were staying, the food felt more catered to tourists. A lot of places we couldn't even get into because they were at capacity or simply closed early. And what we could get into felt less personal, and more like fast dining. Food is one of our favorite parts of travelling and besides the coffee, we felt like we didn't really get a lot of incredible food in Kyoto.

Now the good news is: this is all our fault! Now that we know what to expect from Kyoto, we think that we would do it a little differently. We would stay in a different part of the city: away from the main attractions. We would make sure to book reservations for almost all dinners and we'd consolidate sight-seeing into a few different places, knowing that those will be our "tourist" days.

The city is absolutely beautiful and there are aspects of it that we won't be forgetting. Particularly, the Buddist Zen gardens really stuck out to us and always felt like areas of peace.

Our hotel was also absolutely incredible. The staff was consistently amazing, the rooms well taken care of, and the public spaces were gorgeous. It was a gift to be able to splurge on staying at a nice place like this.

Like we said at the start of this post: it's bittersweet to be leaving because we were just figuring out how to tackle Kyoto in a way that worked for us. And, aleady, we feel a bit nostalgic for it. But generally, we're just happy that we got to a place with the city that made it feel worthwhile.

But for now, we're excited to be heading back to Tokyo for the last leg of our trip.

Rainy Day In Kyoto

March 26th, 2026 - 5:47PM (Japan Time)

Yesterday was a rainy day here. We decided to take it easy after our semi-late night out at the record bar.

We grabbed breakfast at a nice little shop by the hotel and then took a stroll to another ancient garden two blocks away, Shosei-en.

Breakfast cafe.

And once again, it was gorgeous. There were heron flying around the treetops and loudly cackling at each other.

Look at that heron!

We decided it might be fun to catch a movie while we are here. We love going to the movies back home. So we found a local theater, picked a random film, and gave it a try. It was an anime film about two girls, one an artist, and the other a dancer, who go to Paris to follow their dreams. Drama ensues. It was kind of fun! No real major differences between the way the Japanese do movies! The popcorn was just as buttery. It was a calm little way to spend the afternoon.

So, this is something we haven't talked about yet: vending machines here are all over the place and full of all kinds of items. You can get a warm sandwich from a vending machine. You can get all kinds of drinks, cold or hot. And you can get orange juice squeezed right before you. They're legitimately everywhere. It's hard to imagine the infrastructure of how they get consistently refilled. But they're wildly convenient and fun when you get to try something new from one.

Squeezed orange juice right before your eyes - outside of a parking lot on a random side street!

Nothing else too exciting to share from this day! We laid low, recharged. We've been in Japan for a week now and are feeling the fatigue of walking around so much.

The Ancient City Part 2

March 26th, 2026 - 9:06AM (Japan Time)

After our day of sight-seeing, we did a hair more shopping, got another fantastic coffee from Cafe WEEKENDERS, and then took a break at the hotel "library". It's a room filled with Nintendo merch and old consoles. It's a great place to relax - and write this blog!

Writing to you all!

The Nintendo Library.

We had tonkatsu for dinner - breaded pork cutlet.

After, we tried a few bars. The first made only cocktails with tea as a component. We had matcha martinis and hojicha old fashioneds. It was a very sweet little place. We were the only people there. It was quiet. The owner was kind and even gave us some extra hojicha to go along with the drinks. He poured us a bag of tea leaves just for us when we asked to take some home. It was nice and felt like our first intimate meal/hang out while in Kyoto. We'll get more into that in just a bit.

We found a record bar that we had walked by earlier. It was bumping by the time we got back around to it. A man inside saw us looking into the window and he beckoned us to come in, so we did. We stood in the back corner of the bar, bumping 70s r&b. The vibe was really great. Everyone was having so much fun. The music was good.

A local guy, also in our little bar corner, wound up talking to us for the majority the whole night. Shout out to Issei! He told us that it was actually the bar's one year anniversary that night, so we decided to stay a bit longer to help celebrate.

We also chatted with some other travellers, some from Italy, and others from LA. We got along great with the folks from LA and just like on our train ride, had fun talking about our respective trips so far. Good people in faraway places.

Happy anniversary Record Bar Yamada!

The Ancient City

March 25th, 2026 - 8:31PM (Japan Time)

Day 2 in Kyoto, we kicked things off with a Japanese style breakfast at our hotel. We were excited to finally try something a bit more traditional. Miso soup, some fish, rice -- a whole slew of little dishes. Very different than what we typically eat for breakfast, but very good.

Our first japanese breakfast.

This was our day to see the sights: to check out the historic temples and gardens that this city is known for. It was beautiful out: not a cloud in the sky -- warm.

Some local streets.

There are shrines and gardens all over Kyoto. It's almost impossible not to run into one by mistake. However, the really famous ones are in the Gion district. We had walked a little bit around here our first night, but went into it full-on. We were worried about crowds, as we hear they can get really bad in this area, so we were up and out early.

And thankfully, it was actually a really pleasant experience. We had yet another absolutely delicious coffee under the shadow of a giant pagota -- the Yasaka pagoda. It towers over the hilly streets. These, too, also feel old. The roofs, the facades, despite being filled with modern amenities, feel like something you could have imagined hundreds of years ago. Apparently, this has a lot to do with Kyoto not being attacked at all during World War II. It wasn't bombed quite like some other cultural cities, and therefore, a lot of its historical architecture has been preserved.

Yasaka Pagoda.

We walked through the streets, basking in the day.

We decided to visit some of the gardens that Toru recommened to us a few miles away. We decided to walk it. And almost immediately, we saw more gardens and shrines. A gigantic, stoic figure, a park, a forest, two more huge temples. We just kept running into more and more on our walk.

The deceptively modern Ryōzen Kannon, a monument to those lost during World War II.

Sakura, cherry blossoms, are juuuuuust starting to bloom!

The Kōdai-ji Temple Bamboo Forest.

Yasaka Shrine with its large stone torii gate.

But the real highlight was Nanzen-ji: a Zen Buddist temple with absolutely gorgeous grounds, massive structures, and some tranquil stone gardens. This was all right at the foot of the mountain. We walked shoe-less throughougtt he buddist buildings. We smelled the sweet air with a subtle aroma of wood and trees.

Nanzen-Ji's grounds and gardens.

Day One In Kyoto... Continued

March 25th, 2026 - 9:31AM (Japan Time)

We tepidly walked around the back streets, looking for our destination. It was so quiet it felt like we were somewhere we weren't supposed to be. After a 15 minute walk, the population slowly got larger. We entered a shopping district, and then, boom - we were in the thick of Nishiki Market -- a long, narrow, covered market with stalls and crowds of all kinds. It was jam-packed - kind of like Reading Terminal Market but four times as big.

Nishiki Market.

Like everything we've been sharing, there's a lot of history behind this place. These streets have been the site of a fish market since the 700s.

We waddled our way through the crowds, oo'd and aah'd at all of the various stalls. We grabbed some sushi, a big piece of fried shrimp on a stick, a bun full of wagyu beef, and some donuts.

Bun full-o-beef

A bit fried from our travel and the crowds of the market, we ducked out to a coffee shop a few blocks away. Tucked in the back of a little parking lot, we shared an absolutely delcious iced latte with a group of folks looking for a pick-me-up.

It's pretty common that you don't eat or drink while walking around on the street or in shops here. Most places have seating for you to have your drink outside of the store. We are so used to grabbing a coffee and then going about our business with it in hand. But it's kind of nice to sit down and enjoy it intentionally.

WEEKENDERS Coffee - very good

On the walk back to our hotel, we walked along the Kamo River. It reminded us a lot of the Seine in Paris -- people sitting along the banks watching the sun slowly set.

Kamo River at sunset

We took a break at the hotel and went back out a little later at night. We mostly just wanted to understand our surroundings better.

While looking at a food menu outside of a restaurant, we felt someone approach us, looked over, and it was a geisha! She was leading a small family into the restaurant, hosting them into a memorable meal. It was very quick, but cool to see.

We grabbed some food, got our bearings, and called it a night.

Some more streets nearby.

Day One In Kyoto

March 24th, 2026 - 7:30PM (Japan Time)

We've been pretty non-stop since we left Tokyo. Feet are sore. Time to write.

Yesterday, we took the Shinkansen, the bullet train, from Tokyo to Kyoto.

The Shinkansen snaking its way through Tokyo -- before it reaches hundreds of MPH.

We paid a small fee from our first hotel to send our bags to the next, so we were travelling lightly.

It's common for people to pick up lunch and have it on the train. Box lunches are called "bento". You may have had a sushi lunch special bento. It's the same kind of thing. We got our bentos and boarded.

One of our bento boxes from the train.

Funny enough, the family sitting next to us were other tourits and from Philadelphia. We talked to them for the majority of the ride, sharing stories and recommendations about our trips so far. Small world, right? Shout out to Gary and the family.

The train ride was incredibly simple. It took us a little over two hours to go ~280 miles. That's like if we went from New York to a bit passed Washington D.C., which is over a 4.5 hour drive, typically.

It's pretty amazing that a train this fast has existed since 1964.

Flying through the countryside.

Unfortunately, it was a bit too overcast to see the massive Mount Fuji on the ride. Hopefully we'll get a glimpse on the way back home.

So, then we arrived in Kyoto - the cultural capital of Japan! It's older than Tokyo by about 700 years and was the capital of the country for hundreds. It's nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides. It's much smaller than Tokyo, and its size is immediately apparent. Even walking in the business district, the buildings don't feel nearly as tall and futuristic as even the smaller areas of Tokyo. It's a completely different speed.

So here's a fun fact about our hotel:

The Nintendo Playing Card Co.

Our hotel is located in the second headquarters of the Nintendo Playing Card Company -- Nintendo before they became famous for their video games. The offices, the president's residence, and the card factory have all been renovated to be hotel rooms. We're staying on the top floor of the president's residence. It's... so cool. We're very thankful to be staying here.

Our hotel.

After we dropped off our bags, we went out on the town to get a feel for our surroundings. Laura heard about a famous market, Nishiki Market, not too far away from us so we made that our first destination.

Our walk was so shockingly quiet compared to Tokyo. The streets are all very narrow, the buildings are only two stories tall, folks' garages are open to the street, no locks on bikes, no security at all. Can you imagine believing in your neighbors and tourists to not steal your shit?

Surrounding our hotel~

We need to head out to dinner, but we'll continue with some more stories about our first night in Kyoto next time.

Bald / Beard

March 23rd, 2026 - 8:38AM (Japan Time)

Billy here with a micro-update. We're heading to Kyoto in just a bit and I'm killing time at the hotel.

I just wanted to say that being bald here as a young person just, like, isn't a thing. Same with having a beard. Back home, it's definitely a trope for young guys who are losing their hair (and don't want to look like George Costanza) to go full-bald, grow out a beard, and wear glasses. It is a Type of Guy that I belong to. Annnnd, that kind of guy doesn't exist here. I also can't really believe how uncommon even simple facial hair is. Anyway, there you go! Have fun with that!

Retroactively Called Craft

March 22nd, 2026 - 11:05PM (Japan Time)

Today, we decided to shift gears from Electric Town to something a bit calmer and rooted in nature. Laura found a small museum with minimal architecture and attractive grounds, so we decided to make that our first stop.

We rode the subway to the other side of Minato City, on the border of the Harajuku and Shibuya neighborhoods, to the Nezu Museum. We'll just let this first photo explain the vibe.

Laura at the Nezu Museum entrance. I mean, just look at that bamboo.

We were unable to take photos once inside the museum, so you'll just have to use your imagination on this one.

The exhibits were all artifacts mostly from Japanese and Chinese culture. One gallery was a collection of ancient buddha statues. The primary exhibit was a collection on Japanese swords and their intricasies. We saw different blades crafted over hundreds of years, their unique ornaments, and details carved into hand guards, hilts, and casings. They were gorgeous -- true marks of craftmanship. Another room was dedicated to armor. Another, a collection of items all realated to tea. And then a collection on next-level-ancient Chinese bronze artifacts.

Billy was wondering what the modern equivalent of such craftmanship is. Is it... an iPhone? Is the craft now just happening on a microchip scale? These ancient pieces feel wildly more crafted than so much in our lives still to this day.

After wrapping up our viewing, we took a stroll around the serene grounds of the museum. Again, just look at this place:

The museum's beautiful garden.

Since we were already in the area, we walked into Harajuku. This is another high-end shopping district known for its sense of street fashion. It was well known a decade or two ago for kids on the cutting edge. You may have seen the photos of girls dressed to the nines in cutesey, and what some may consider wildly-over-the-top, kawaii outfits.

Continuing Laura's dream of consuming the best matcha tea possible, we stopped into quite a remarkable tea house, Matsubaya Saryō. We've never had anything like this before. We had a tea set where we each had two teas and a sweet little snack. Each was poured with delicate care in beautiful containers. Once again, we'll just let the photos speak:

We sat outside next to a gigantic bonzai tree, sipped our tea, and people-watched for over an hour. The experience was intentionally slow. It took like 15 minutes just for one tea to be prepared. Haruka Nakamura, one of Billy's favorite Japanese musicians, was playing over the radio as the breeze blew through the noren above.

After, we continued our walk deeper into Harajuku.

Perhaps a theme for today was "craft." We each went into stores looking for items that the Japanese are known for -- and things you just can't find in the States. Laura was on the hunt for some new, unique, shoes and Billy was searching for denim. We popped into stores casually, tried some things on, and just had fun playing around with clothing for the evening. We'll get into the specifics of why we wanted these things some other time.

We grabbed some okonomiyaki along the way and walked around until the sun set.

Tomorrow, we head to Kyoto. We're both a little sad to already be leaving Tokyo as each day we feel more comfortable and adjusted to the city. But from everything we hear, Kyoto is supposed to be truly special. We'll find out soon!

ANIME, MUSIC, AND MORE!

March 22nd, 2026 - 11:05AM (Japan Time)

In this episode: anime, sushi, vintage, music.

We started yesterday by travelling to Akihabara, also known as the "Electric Town". It is the quintessential anime / video game / nerd part of Tokyo.

On the way, we popped by a local shrine. We sort of alluded to this earlier, but didn't communicate just how common shrines are. Shrines are kind of like mini parks all over the city/country. You'll be walking through a completely busy, modern street, and then find a little offshoot into a quiet area with people paying respects, praying, and looking inward for just a moment. They aren't really green spaces with people lounging around, but instead buildings with courtyards. I'm sure they vary quite a bit. They feel quite different from any religious area in America so we're making a point to stop by whenever we can.

Kanda Myojin Shrine

Here's a little story we learned about this shrine. It's from 730. OLD. Around 940, a man named Taira no Masakado led an insurrection against the government. He was killed but his decapitated head was brought back and buried at the foot of a hill near here. Any time this shrine fell into disrepair, the locals felt as though his spirit was angry and would cause more disaster and misforture. He became a deity out of both fear and respect. So much so, that 1,000 years later the Emperor tried to remove Masakado's spirit as he was still seen as a symbol of an anti-government. The locals were so upset that after World War II, he was given his deity status back. The amount of history built into the ground here feels staggering at times.

And then just a few blocks over we were greeted by, well, billboards of busty anime women! That's a mix of ancient and modern culture for ya!

Akihabara

Another cultural note: capsule machines, like a gumball machine or those typically found in malls, diners, and grocery stores for little kids in America, are very popular here. It's called gashapon, and you can find the capsule machines with anything in them. Basically, there is a small souvenir for literally every single thing to be found in a gashapon. And they are everywhere in Akihabara.

Gashapon everywhere

Laura's first gashapon

Laura has been really excited by all of the cute little trinkets all over the place and has been collecting a small batch. They're really fun.

Akihabara was simlutaneously completely overwhelming for a nerd like myself (Billy here again). Every video game imaginable. All of the original packaging. Figurines, computer parts, stuffed animals, you name it. I could probably have spent a full day here finding gems in the nooks and crannies, but it all felt so overstimulating. I don't know if I've ever been in a place that has so much of, particularly, my video game interests in one place. It was a nostalgia explosion. I kind of short circuited and didn't really buy much. But it was a fun experience.

It's a-me.

The coveted original Pokemon games.

This is my slime.

We made our way back to our hotel for a pitstop. But first, we had conveyor belt suishi for lunch. It was... incredible -- a hole-in-the-wall spot underneath the raised train platform. The kind of place where everyone turns around to look at you when you walk in. No english anywhere. We fumbled our way through figuring out how it worked but damn, it was worth it. We ate our bellies full and only spent $16. Fanatastic. Somehow, the best meal we've had so far.

Conveyor belt sushi.

After, we made our way over to the Shimokitazawa neighborhood. Immediately upon getting off the train, this area felt more like home -- people with guitars strapped to their backs, younger people with trendy fashion -- real Brookyln vibes.

Laura has been seeking out as much matcha tea as possible so we beelined to one near the train.

Her review so far: "Much better than America."

One thing worth noting is how many pedestriatian streets there are. Technically, cars can go down these streets as well, but they rarely do. And when it does, everyone just moves out of the way for a second and then they go back into the street. This feels like another impossibility in New York, where drivers will run you down without a second thought. The street is theirs, not ours! But here, these little sreets are overflowing with people in the best way. It creates an atmosphere that's very calm. Yet another small but notable difference between our two cities.

Pedestrian streets in Shimokitazawa.

This area is filled with vintage stores. We did some browsing and hung around in the nice weather. It's on the verge of spring here as well, but slightly warmer than back in New York. We're basking in it after the brutal winter we had this year.

Always have to hit the photobooth.

But the real reason why we were in this neighborhood was to catch a gig. It was really important to Billy that we try to see some live music while abroad. After doing a bit of research, we found three venues in this neighborhood that all had shows Saturday night.

We went to a venue in a basement on the corner of a street down an alley called Shelter. We got some help from a local man running a "punk rock" clothing store to help us figure out how to get tickets. We descended.

Entrance to Shelter.

Billy here again. Please excuse the music nerdery. This will mean nothing to the people who are not in bands but I have to remark at this: this gig's doors were at 6:00PM, the music started at 6:30PM, it was a two-band bill, and it was over by 9:00PM. This is an impossibility in America. I have never been to a show more succinct and easy to attend. No staying up late, no sitting through 3 bands to see the one you actually paid to see. That being said, the ticket was actually kind of expensive comparatively. It was like $30 per person for a small venue. Once inside though, beers were only $2! But a higher ticket price means the venue and bands actually get paid, and people can go home because the venue isn't relying on drink sales to carry the cost of the night. Oh, and the bathroom was clean. Another impossibility. ANYWAY~~

The band "to overflow evidence"

The show we wound up going to was emo as hell. The two bands both had twinkly guitars that then went into dramatically intense metal-like sections. At one point during the first act (a band called "to overflow evidence"), the whole band and their fans in the crowd were singing along to a chant-like section of the song. It was just like my friends and I with our favorite bands back home. While we didn't know the words, there was a universal language there that we definitely understood. It's just so nice that there are some things that really do transcend cultures and it makes me happy that alternative music has a scene everywhere.

Laura couldn't get over how much this guy looked like Billy. One in the same.

The second band, Oaktails, was particularly impressive. They absolutely destroyed it. The songs were wildly intense. The vocalist was all over the stage. The performance was captivating. It really meant a lot to me.

Oaktails killing it.

We said hi to the band afterward and bought a CD. They were very friendly. The whole experience was wonderful and I'm so glad we had a chance to catch some music. We might try to go to another before our time here is up.

The town was almost dead by the time we got out of the show despite it being only 9:00PM. The subway stops running at midnight here, and so it seems like shops, restaurants, etc. all close quite early to allow for people to get back to their homes. Still, there's plenty open for the locals.

We popped by a little izakaya spot. Izakaya basically means a bar where you eat little bits of food while you drink. We had some snacks and headed home.

As one final stop on the way home, we got out at Shibuya Crossing. This is a famous intersection at one of the busiest places in Toykyo. It's a gigantic area, not dissimilar to Times Square, where thousands of people move across the streets getting to shops, trains, whatever the nighttime destination. We went up just to see it to cap off our great night.

Shibuya Crossing at night.

With Toru

March 21th, 2026 - 6:00AM (Japan Time)

We had a slow morning yesterday: grabbed some breakfast and had a coffee overlooking the city.

Drawing the skyline.

Soon after, Toru met us at the hotel. Toru is an old friend of Laura's dad, Howie. They are both landscape architects and met while in school. He wanted to walk us through some of his projects in the Ginza area today. Remember how we saw the Hiyao Miyazaki installation yesterday? Well, Toru designed that entire park! So cool. It was a genuinely beautiful experience being able to walk through his work, get to know each other, and continue a friendship that was established decades ago. It was particularly special to feel a personal connection so early in our trip here. It was a very pleasant day and put us in incredibly good spirits.

Toru walking us through his work

Toru took us to this incredible 12 floor stationery store called Itoya. His daughter is a product designer there and created some amazing notebooks for the brand and he gifted us some! Two architects with daughters who illustrate.

The work of Toru's daughter

Laura, as we walked through all of the aisles at one point declared, "I am in a flow state," while buying stickers, pens, and stamps. Once we made it thorugh all 12 stories, we grabbed some coffee and lunch with Toru.

In Ginza, they close the main street down during busy pedestrian hours. We said goodby to Toru in the street and continued on with our day.

Us and Toru

We wandered around and went into the giant UNIQLO flagship - Laura really wanted a jacket! We also went to GU, Uniqlo's sister brand, and got a hat and a bag.

Imagine if Times Square was NOT filled with cars, no honking, huge sidewalks, no garpage on the street, and you have Ginza. For being a huge shopping destination, it was surprisingly pleasant.

Some cool architecture 1

Billy in the street

At that point we needed a break and were pretty hungry so walked over to a soba restaurant that our upstairs neighbors, back in New York, had recommended called Ginza Kagari - Soba. The broth was insane. Buttery. Delicious.

The restaurant was down this cool side alley

The SOBA

We came back to the hotel to relax for a bit before going back out and wandering the streets. We found some really unique back alleyways that all had restaurants and bars hidden underneath the railways.

There's soemthing to be said about the efficient use of space. Every nook of every building seems to be full of a shop or bar. There are bars going up to the 10th floor of the a building. There are shops underneath the subway. Inbetween the alleyways are mode hidden nooks with noodle bars that only seat 4 people. It's pretty cool and makes the city feel impossibly dense.

Some buildings in back alleys.

Arrival Continued...

March 20th, 2026 - 6:00AM (Japan Time)

Okay! We just slept like 12 hours. Back to it:

There's a pretty big park not too far away that has this gigantic red and white structure that looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower. We went over there to check it out.

Tokyo Tower through the trees.

This unassuming man was selling sweet pototaoes that were smoked by a wooden fire in the back of this tiny truck. We got one and it was delicious.

It's hard to understand how impossibly old everything is. Shiba Park contains a gigantic temple call Zōjō-ji that was built in 1393. Most of it was destroyed during World War II, but it's still amazing to see. We didn't take any photos of the inside because it felt sacrilige to do so. But it was beautiful. A man (a monk maybe?) was reciting a chant to a few seated individuals. Even though I know nothing of the practice, it was moving for just the few moments we watched.

Zōjō-ji Temple, a historic site in Shiba Park.

The view from inside the temple looking out.

We were both feeling quite exhausted at this point even though it was barely noon. We walked back to the hotel and recharged.

We went out for an early dinner at a ramen shop called Ichiran (recommended by our friend Jack). It was just the right thing to warm us up after a long day of travel. The pork was delicious.

A delicious bowl of ramen.

And that was really it! It was 5:00PM when we went home and decided that we had to lay down for good. Still working on getting our sleep schedules aligned.

Today we are planning to go to the Ginza shopping district. But first, we'll be meeting a friend of Laura's dad, Toru, who will be showing us around. See ya later!

Arrival

March 19th, 2026 - 7:20PM (Japan Time)

We have arrived! We have had our first full day! We are exhausted but happy! Okay! I'm going to do my best to recap even though my eyes are closing as I write this.

Beautiful Lawn Guyland at night - right after takeoff

Our flight boarded at 3:50AM and staying up to the wee hours of the morning actually had its benefits: mainly that we slept through over half the 14 hour flight. It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. Some cramped legs were really all we had to deal with. The service was nice. The ride was smooth. It was over before we knew it--a best case scenario!

Smiles as soon as we landed.

Billy ran into another old friend.

We keep saying to eachother how this trip doesn't feel real yet. It doesn't seem like we're actually halfway across the world. It doesn't feel like it's actually possible or that we actually started this trip.

For me (Billy), I first felt like we were in a new place when riding the subway to our hotel. Because we landed at ~6:00AM, by the time we got through customs and on our way, we were in the prime rush hour commute. As we sat with our bags between our legs, we were surrounded by school girls with plushie keychains dangling from their bags, businessmen all dessed in sleek black suits, women with perfectly manicured nails, teenagers in their gakuran (traditional school uniforms with a military flair), all starting their days. They formed a human wall around us. It felt a little bit like we could have been on display, but no one looked up from their phone screens. Despite being a completely packed train, it was silent.

The view from our hotel

It was a bit of a dreary day upon arrival, but it didn't matter much.

We cleaned up and got settled. We went out for a walk once we had enough energy to get oriented with our neighborhood.

Our first hotel is right between two bigger neighborhoods: Minato City and Ginza. I'm doing my best to learn about them to understand their history and unique characters. Both are pretty high-end business and shopping districts. The immediate area around our hotel is lots of sky scrapers and businesses. It's quite sleek.

For those unfamiliar, Japanese convenience stores (also known as Konbini) are legendary. 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMarts are on almost every street corner. They're cheap, reliable, and have pretty decent food. We stopped into our first right down the stairs of our hotel. And the rumors were true: it was quite great.

Outside of our first Konbini.

We checked out the local streets. It turns out, there's this cool Hiyao Miyazaki installation right across the street from our hotel. It looks like its right out of the movie Howl's Moving Castle.

An installation designed by Hiyao Miyzaki, of Studio Ghibli fame, right across the street from our hotel.

Some of the surrounding area.

After taking a pit stop for some matcha, we walked to Shiba Park but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Too. Tired. To. Continue...

Japan Bound

March 18th, 2026 - 1:07AM

Hello. It's 1:07AM. We're sitting at our gate at JFK, waiting to board our flight to Japan. It's a direct flight from NYC right to Tokyo--14.5 hours. Our flight was already delayed by two hours and is now boarding a 3:50AM. But it's okay! We're in good spirits and building up our tiredness to get a couple of hours of sleep as soon as we get on the plane.

Billy and Guy

We ran into Billy's good friend, Guy, at the airport! Small world. Talk to you soon.