What to do in Japan - Part 1

Kon'nichiwaaaa!

20 years old and dropped off in Japan for three years, whats a girl to do? Party non-stop in one of the biggest cities in the world, fall in love, travel all throughout Asia, indulge in Japanese culture. My time living abroad taught me my independence and inability to fear the unknown but ravish in it. No matter how much I hated being packed on a train like a sardine or farmer carrying my groceries home for three miles; those years were the time of my life. I lived in Yokosuka, roughly an hour and a half from Tokyo. Listed below are some MUST SEE activities to do while visiting/living. This will be part 1, encompassing festivals and night life. 

Festivals

Festivals are huge in Japan. Almost everything is celebrated whether it be ancient rulers, flowers, or fertility. If you can schedule your travel plans around a main event, I strongly suggest it! Listed below are some of the festivals I was fortunate enough to attend. 

Fertility: 

This festival is a day long and takes place around the first week of April. I attended the one at the Kanayama Shrine, and it was so much fun! This really shows that in the Japanese culture they really do celebrate EVERYTHING! So yes, penis' and vaginas' were celebrated by the masses of all ages. Hey, its not everyday you get to ride an erected wooden penis with your best friends in public, take advantage of the opportunity and hop on it!

Cherry Blossom Season: 

This is roughly a month long season that typically begins in the latter part of March to the middle of April but varies from prefecture to prefecture. Some of my favorite activities included Hanami's in Yoyogi Park, which are picnic's under the cherry blossom trees.

 

Night Life

The Japanese people work hard, but they definitely make sure to party harder! Listed in this column are some of the more unique night clubs, or places that I found.

Robot Bar:

Japan, 〒160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Kabukicho, 1 Chome−7−７ 新宿ロボットビル B2F

This was by far the coolest show I saw during my time here. It is a little tricky to spot in the well lit and sensory overloaded streets of Shinjuku, but just keep a look out for giant robots with woman's heads attached and you cant miss it! You have to purchase your tickets ahead of time which can be found and purchased on their website.

* Their are also ninja, murder, Alice in wonderland etc. themed restaurants all throughout Tokyo. I unfortunately never ventured off to them, which only means I need to go back and experience these gems but a lot of them can be found on this blog post: Bizarre themed Tokyo Restaurants.

Trump Room:

1 Chome-12-１４ Jinnan, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0041, Japan

This place was stumbled upon by complete accident but became one of my go-to spots in Tokyo. Its extremely hard to find, which makes me think what was I even doing the night my drunk ass slid inside this place which is completely hidden from the outside. But its a great spot for edgy trend setters, new DJs, and a bunch of models; probably because the decor is so instagram worthy. These are the verbal directions to make it a little more "findable": Find your way to Tower records and turn up the street toward the TGI Fridays making a right at the street before the restaurant. Tucked in the right corner at the end of the street is the lounge, there are no signs, but I am sure you will see people outside. Ooo and don't even bother coming until around 12am-1am.

Ageha

2 Chome-2-１０ Shinkiba, Koto, Tokyo 136-0082, Japan

The biggest night club in Asia. I cant even keep track of how many stages, rooms, sceneries this place has; but it is complete with a rooftop stage with a pool for you to jump into at the end of the night. Definitely a place you HAVE to check out. Only suggestions are to 1. know that if you go it is out of the way so you will have to stay until 5am when the trains start-up again because its not in an area to hop from place to place via walking. And 2. CHECK THE SCHEDULE, they have multiple themed nights, including gay night. Which was awesome for one of our friends in the group... but getting to watch him make out with multiple men as I struggled to find a man buy me a drink was no bueno haha; other than that its an awesome place with huge headliners!

* Some other notable places would include club Womb and ATOM, but really anything you stumble upon in Shibuya district will be a good time.