This post is a little later than I planned, but what with us flying over to Las Vegas to plan our wedding and it being so flipping hot in England, everything has been running a little slower. For this travel diary I wanted to take a different angle to what I'd normally do. With Japan being so far away and somewhere that you definitely need to plan for, I want to put together a list of things that we learned in the 10 days we spent traveling around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, as well as a few of our top tips.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has been to Japan, or if you're thinking about going soon?
Take Recommendations, But Find Your Own Way
Tokyo is massive. With every district comes different interpretations of city guides and things to do, but with an economy which moves so fast it's hard to for guides to keep up. Before we left for Japan Yasumi gave us some sound advice, "Don't worry about following specific guides. Recommendations are great but businesses come and go every single month, so the chances are that you'll be disappointed. Just go explore on your own!".
Wander Down the Backstreets
We were in Japan on business, but as it was a research project for Dan's furniture brand we constantly on the lookout for inspiration. Having Yasumi's advice in the back of our minds worked out perfectly, and as we weaved in and out of the cities backstreets – especially in Harajuku – we came across all sorts of coffee shops, design studios, independent stores, local makers, intriguing characters.
Take Artless Craft for instance; a beautifully designed coffee + tea shop in central Harajuku. We spent a good hour chatting to the owners about their design business (just behind the coffee shop), football, and how the city is constantly changing...
