My Way of Discovering Near and Far around Japan: Live Every Day Like You're Travelling
I often get questions like "Mami, how do you discover places in Japan?" or "How do you find the cheapest tickets?" (or "You are so adventurous!"). Having traveled around the world, lived, and worked, I always wanted to live like a local while traveling. But I also wondered how can we bring that travel- high into our everyday lives? That "live in the present" thing. After coming back to Japan, I think I've established a way to be a curious tourist in my home country and found my own way of discovering new things near and far. In fact, it doesn't have to be completely "new things" and it can be found very near, but keep discovering to satisfy my own curiosity and make myself happy; live like traveling and travel like living ... anywhere! are my priorities.
Because …. 『知と食は現場にあり』
Real knowledge and food are on the spot!
A little bit of my background. My habits of discovering new places in a new city and town, near and far, have started young but especially when I was working for a global IT company. Most of my clients were tourist accommodations (beach resorts, bnb, business hotels, boutique hotels, homestays, from global chains to local guesthouses … even love hotels) and I was in charge of areas such as greater Tokyo, including Chiba and Yokohama, and Kansai areas such as Osaka and Wakayama, and Kyushu areas such as Fukuoka and Kumamoto. My every business trip duration was like a week or two weeks, stayed in many accommodations (with some limited budgets, of course!). During my business trip, I met many business partners, and I was in charge of marketing, increasing their business revenues, and improving customer services. To be honest, I haven't had much time to really "discover" places as I ate my breakfast and lunch in the car, while attending some online meetings with colleagues around the world with time differences, between my appointments to those tourist accommodations. Yet, discovering local places and meeting local people helped me A LOT for my business communications with accommodation partners, too.
This is not only about traveling, but more about living including traveling. The following things are my habits and mindsets, which I think help me discover places and always keep myself adventurous.
1. Do sports. (Yog, jogging, badminton, or even walking for 30 mins)
2. Use different streets and get lost somewhere.
3. Learn another language.
4. Doesn't have to go far to make yourself feel you are on vacation
5. Be a tourist in your hometown (sometimes!)
6. Watch movies (that teach you different cultures and languages)
7. Decide the theme of the day
8. Read books and write my feelings
My way of Traveling around Japan. I used to travel around Japan and abroad reading all the brochures by travel agencies and book with tours. All the places were decided by the agencies and went to all the places including souvenir shops even if I did not have any intention to buy a thing. Now that all the travel platforms become so convenient and help us connect with likely-minded people and places, I use the following platforms.
My Google map
First of all, I am a heavy user of Google map. I walk a lot and see google map on the whole way. Wheneve I find interesting, I either bookmark, or simply go there and take photos for my next visit. I also make a list with titles such as "my favorite cafes in Tokyo" all for myself and friends.
Transportation
Flights
I will first check skyscanner for the flights (for both domestic and international). You can check by date and route, or if you have not decided which date you go, you can find the cheapest option available in a month so that you can buy the ticket on the cheapest day of the month. My hidden hobby is to see all the routes available from the location I am at by just typing "anywhere" for the destination. So you check the flights and see which airline companies, times, routes etc … sometimes, LCC (Low Cost Carrier) has its own sales on their websites so you also better to check their websites.
LCC: Jetstar, Vanilla Air, peach, SPRING JAPAN, Skymark etc
Buses
Usually, buses are the cheapest option to travel. I was once happy to find a night bus that goes from Niigata station to Tokyo Teleport Bus Stop. All the other passengers except me went off at Shinjuku Bus Terminal, yet for me, Tokyo Teleport Bus Stop was the perfect location where I can go back to TIEC by 12 mins walk. Anyway, here is the first thing I would check. Bushikaku. Hikaku in Japanese means comparison, so this page will show all the bus options available.
Just like for flights, you search by route, time, price and book online. You may also see the bus seats so that you can book your seat by seeing all the seats available. Weekdays are usually cheaper than weekends (mostly Saturday) and earlier bookings have cheaper sales. (For example, from Shizuoka to Tokyo, one way is around 3000JPY. If you book a few days before the departure day, you get something like 2340JPY. But of course, all these are subject to many factors.) If you want to choose by company, WILLER is a popular bus company both for domestic and international tourists. I think it was one of the first bus companies in Japan that provided services in English and it has a super user-friendly UX (user experience design)!
Trains (Shinkansen)
I usually do not travel by trains (or Shinkansen) because they are more expensive, and cannot stop when your intuition tells you to stop. But if I do need to travel by trains, then I'll book online, sometimes Platt Kodama. Among all the Shinkansens, Kodama is the cheapest one as it stops at more stations and takes longer. When you book Platt Kodama online, you will receive their confirmation email which is rather long and complicated but once you get used to it, cheaper and all good. You can receive your train tickets at the designated stations using your booking number and you also receive a voucher to buy a drink.
Seishun 18 Kippu is another way to travel all over Japan (Especially when you have time and want to enjoy local JR trains). Seishun in Japanese means youth, or springtime of life, yet this special ticket is for everyone (to make you feel anytime is your springtime of life. I guess.). Details can be found in the link.
Tourist Accommodations
Then, how do I find accommodations? For business hotels and normal accommodations, I use Booking.com. Basically, if you have no clue about your destination, you might wanna see what types of accommodations are available and what per-night costs are, and grasp the local vibes and atmosphere. Even if you do not book through Booking.com, this platform is the best way to see tourist accommodations and the destination's atmosphere.
If the number of travelers is big like more than 4 persons, then I consider renting a big room from Airbnb. Airbnb is also a great global and user-friendly platform with so many different kinds of accommodation types from the resort, castle, tree-house, guesthouse, bnb, etc and just by browsing, I feel like I was traveling around the world.
HafH is a Japanese accommodation subscription platform, where you pay a fixed amount of monthly payment and you book registered accommodations. The best part for me to use it is the prices aren't affected by weekends or high-demand dates and simple booking procedures. I also like how they categorize accommodation types such as Resort hotels, Ryokan with Saunas, Remote work stays, Solo-travel, and Onsens.
Then I go deep dive. If I feel like traveling to work with locals, WWOOF,
Couch Surfing, and SAGOJO and TENJIKU are options.
If you have used global travel community sites such as Workaway, you get what it means to be a "traveler and worker". TENJIKU is a platform by SAGOJO, where you can stay in guesthouses for free in place of some work (PR, marketing, guesthouse cleaning, gardening, reception … any other work you are good at!). It is not really for those who are looking for free accommodations, but for those who like to talk to local people, discover places, find "second-home away home". As of now (April, 2022), there are guesthouses in Yoshino (Nara), Shimonoseki (Yamaguchi), Itoshima (Fukuoka), Nachi-Katsuura (Wakayama), Katori (Chiba), Kyotango (Kyoto) etc ..!
Outdoor Activities
I like to participate in Marathon & Jogging whenever I go. Even for my last business trips, I usually brought my sports shoes and get ready to run. By the way, for Tokyo, no matter whether you travel, live, or work, I highly recommend you to run around Kokyo! One round is approximately 5km so easy to keep up with your time and condition.
Even searching mountains for hiking, trail running, and trekking is super fun. RUNNET is a platform for all the marathons held in Japan.
Or if you like Cycling, Shimanami Kaido is the best place. Onomichi (in Hiroshima Prefecture) to Imabari (Ehime Prefecture) is around 70 km ride. Some experts will finish within a half day while first-time rider stays for 1 night and finish within 2 days.
Onsen and Sauna
After the outdoor activities, hotsprings (Onsen) and Sauna are my must. So I usually find a place to run/jog, or exercise, and stay, and onsen and sauna facilities.
Work Cafes & Hotels in Tokyo
Cafe and hotel exploration is one of my hobbies. Since many of my international friends are living in Tokyo, I would like to share some of my favorites here.
Hotels in Tokyo
I used to visit all hotels and tourist accommodations for my work and exploring new boutique hotels and well-design sites (or renovated ones) become my hobby wherever I visit.
ROPPONGI HOTEL S (Roppongi)
One@Tokyo (Oshiage)
K5（Nihonbashi）
The Lively（Azabu Jyuban）
Of course, I cannot afford to stay at these boutique hotels (yet! and never know if ever) so I just enjoy watching their designs and getting inspiration. Whoever gets chance to stay at these hotels, please share your thoughts and experience with me.
Cafes in Tokyo
Bridge COFFEE & Icecream
ROAR Coffee
https://www.timeout.jp/tokyo/ja/restaurant/50-best-cafe
Dixans Kudanshita
JUPITERS COFFEE ROASTERS
and many more to come!
Work Cafes in Hotels
Some of the hotels and hostels in Tokyo have nice cozy cafes where you can stay and study for a whole day with a good vibe and strong WiFi.
abno @ DDD Hotel
TRUNK Cafe Shibuya @ TRUNK
Berth Coffee @ CITAN
Gather by UNPLAN @UNPLAN Kagurazaka
My Related notes
Work Cafes in Odaiba
Here I summarized my favorite cafes for remote work and study in Odaiba (Though in Japanese, you'll understand the location and name at least.). Some of them have super strong WiFi, some of them with a max limit of WiFi usage, and others with Odaiba's public WiFi available. To me, how comfy the chairs are is also quite important (because I usually stay for a few hours!).
One hostel/guesthouse in each prefecture
When we were all that ”Stayhome” time, I wanted to somehow help all hostels and guesthouses by sharing their beautiful designs and concepts. I do not know how many precious traveler friends I've met in shared dormitories and kitchens all around the world. I do not know how much I learned from their hospitality and communities. I wished to preserve all of them during the most challenging times. The writing was my way of showing my gratitude to all owners and friends.
創造の場所であるカフェ代のサポートを頂けると嬉しいです！ 旅先で出会った料理、カフェ、空間、建築、熱帯植物を紹介していきます。 感性=知識×経験 மிக்க நன்றி