Tokyo and Nagoya trip.

Night view of Takabatake Cho, where our dorms are, Nara at night.

Night Buses and Bullet Trains

Yamazoe Mura Tea Ceremony with host family.

My final destinations in Japan were Tokyo and then Nagoya.

Night view of fruit tree on Takabatake cho, Nara.

After I said goodbye to friends, I left Nara, I took a bus to the Nara city JR Train station, to take a train to the Osaka Umeda station, with a friend. Our goal was to take the "Night bus" to Tokyo from Osaka.

Shinjuku

A note on "Night buses", often but not always they are at night, and the most inexpensive way to travel long distances. For my situation, I ordered 2 tickets from Osaka to Shinjuku by way of bus from the Willerexpress website. 

After I ordered them I was given two options of how to pay; either by credit card or go to the convenience store within 2 days and pay there.

The trip was from 9am. until about 8pm and costed about $30 per person. 

My friend and I barely made it on the bus, we were 2 minutes late and the tickets were non-refundable. Thankfully the many awesome, helpful and friendly Kansai people we stopped for directions along the way helped us to get on the bus before it left.

We couldn't believe we had made it on the bus, and that we were on our way to Tokyo. We were full of doubt when we were running to the bus station and our lungs and legs were burning, but we pushed on and made it!

We even saw Mount Fuji along the way. Unfortunately my camera was in my bag in the luggage, so I don't have an actual photo, but I have a great mental photo.

Inside Karaoke box in Shinjuku

During the trip it was about 1 break every two hours which was absolutely necessary for me to get up, move or whatever.

After we arrived in Shinjuku, we had no real idea where we were, I had banked on getting a good map at the station upon arrival, but was told that they didn't carry maps (this was at the information center of all places).

Then it started raining, and of course neither of us had an umbrella and were so exhausted it was difficult to think rationally on next to no sleep and a squished bus ride.

So wandering around trying to find a hotel, in the rain when our brains were mush we decided to sleep in a karaoke box. 

Turns out that because it was so close to the station they charged an outrageous price, about 3 times the price we typically paid back in Nara for the 11 o'clock til 5 am time slot.

A view from the Washington Hotel in Shinjuku.

And after we paid and tried to sleep we couldn't because it was so loud and drunk people kept making noise outside our door. It was not a fun night for us.

After we left the karaoke box having gotten maybe an hour or two tops of sleep we managed to find a clustering of hotels. We stayed in one until noon or 1pm and then decided to be more proactive and find a place to sleep before the Friday night crowd did.

After we secured a place to sleep we felt much better and were able to explore the Shinjuku area more. For me I love the backstreet areas.

Shinjuku back street wanderings.

We met up with some friends and had Gyros street food at a stall near Times Square and then went to bed early enjoying our nice hotel room even though we wanted to try out the capsule hotel scene.

In a garden, backstreets Shinjuku.

The next morning we ate (I of course had a natto roll), got some money out for a shinkansen (bullet train) ride, and then we took a train from Shinjuku to Bunkyo-ku's Sendagi and Yanaka Ginza areas.

Local business wall painting in backstreets of Shinjuku.

After we arrived at the Nippori station I was happy to see I could find my way around well. We bought our Shinkansen tickets at the station for Tokyo station to Nagoya for roughly $120. 

Side streets of Shinjuku.

It was expensive but it was also my next to last day in Japan and it was an experience I had planned for for some time.

Cats sleeping on bench in Hibiya park, 2011.

After we left the station we visited the Yanaka Ginza areas, and Yanaka cemetery as well as areas of Sendagi like the park and coffee shop I had frequented on my previous trip to Japan.

Cat sleeping on tree trunk in Tokyo's Hibiya Park, June 2011.

I even saw a man making rope by hand and another older guy who made wooden foldable knives some smaller then my thumb.

Courtesy Photo of Boglarka Kiss,  Bunkyo-ku Cafe Espresso Factory.

After our short time in Bunkyo-ku we headed back to the station so we could get on the Shinkansen and then off to Nagoya.

Studio Ghibli visit, on the way, 2011.

The Shinkansen trip was interesting, not as fast at times as I had assumed, but at other times it sounded like a plane and it was so comfortable!

After the Shinkansen ride I said goodbye to my friend twice, once at first and then again because she had my camera in her bag.

In Shinjuku, saying goodbye to the Karaoke box we slept in.

I explored the areas around the station as I waited to meet up with my friend who had studied for the summer at CMU, who lived in Nagoya.

I went with her and friends to Karaoke (even though I thought after the karaoke box sleeping debacle I would never again). Then we went out to eat some amazing Nagoya foods, and we took a packed train to her boyfriends where she let me sleep over.

At Nagoya's Centrair Airport.

Then in the morning she took me to the Nagoya airport (making it my 3rd airport in Japan-Narita, Osaka and now Nagoya). We said goodbye and wished each other a great new year.

Using a cloth mask as a personal humidifier on the plane home.

This time coming home I didn't cry, I didn't fret, and I was excited to see my people.

It wasn't because Japan was bad, on the contrary- I was so happy with my experiences in language, and culture this time around, so much so that I felt accomplished, but also I missed things from my life. Mainly my boyfriend and my active role in Journalism writing.

I felt like I had met my goals head on, and while some times were tough, I made it, persevered and did what I came to do. 

As a result I feel I did and still am benefiting from the amazing journeys I have had.