I want to be honest with you. The first few days in Tokyo were rough for me.
I hate not being in control. New place, unfamiliar systems, no one around who knows me. Language barrier, and good old American entitlement that the world is supposed to accommodate us. It put me in a bad headspace early and I could feel myself closing off to everything around me. That is not a good way to experience anything, let alone an amazing city like Tokyo.
But I checked myself, I caught my arrogance and my privilege. I recognized what I was doing and I slapped some sense into myself. I got out of my own way.
After that the trip opened up and Tokyo became something else entirely. It is a big amazing city, but to be honest, I’m from NYC, and while it has its own unique flavor, a city is a city. So I did city things in Tokyo, eating, shopping, walking around and hanging out. City things.
From Tokyo, I went to visit a place called Nikko. This was different, here I saw Mount Fuji from a distance, towering and blanketed white with snow. There is something about seeing it in person that no photograph really prepares you for. It just sits there on the horizon like it has always been there and always will be, completely unbothered by everything happening below it.
I saw buildings constructed with the designs of ancient Asian culture worked right into the walls. Not as decoration. As identity. You could feel the history behind every surface. Nikko was a beautiful place and it moved me.
Asia has wonders I was not prepared for. Japan was just the beginning.
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