April 2024
My husband is a travel-holic.
Okay, I’m projecting a bit but I really enjoy being his Plus One. He works hard, plays harder and I get to tag along.
We’ve come a long way since our days of buying peanut butter and jelly at Walmart to sustain life in Death Valley (although there really aren’t a lot of fine dining establishments in the desert, so that sounds much more dramatic than it really was). Regardless, those memories will alway ground us and bring smiles to our faces. Nowadays, we travel in style-partly due to one of us being High-Maintenance and mostly due to his mastery of the credit card game. This latest trip has officially elevated him to GrandMaster! The Champagne Krug Grande Cuvée in ANA First Class did not disappoint. Nor did the endless Sake list or the cute little bottles of Japanese Whisky come to think on it. Oh, and then there was the Aman trifecta...more on that later.
We originally planned this trip for March 2020. Needless to say, all of those plans were rescheduled annually- either COVID or other scheduling conflicts got in the way. Since the overall goal was to see Japan during Sakura season, we specifically wanted to be there in the early spring.
Spoiler alert- after four years of trying, we still missed it.
We landed in Tokyo after a 16 hour flight from Chicago and quite a few pours of the Krug, just in time for bed. We left from Chicago rather than Boston because His Royal Highmaintenance (HRH here on out) is very particular about kinds of planes and seat configurations and tail numbers and ANA doesn’t fly out of Boston. Or maybe they do, I don’t know- but I do know (now) that the “special” planes are only in Chicago. HRH taught me that.
It’s been a long time since we’ve taken a photography-centric vacation. Since 2020, our trips turned to sand and sea and where the only masks we wore were snorkels. My camera and all the gear got stuffed into the back of the closet, behind the suntan lotion and flip flops. I even found that I wasn’t missing it, didn’t have that urge to lug 20lbs of gear through cobblestoned streets and up ancient ruins any longer. And when my all-purpose lens (the one that had barely survived a chance meeting with the sidewalk back in Thailand) rolled off the bed and smashed while packing for this trip, I thought maybe I should just hang up my photographer’s hat altogether.
Not so fast.
Not only were we there to shoot masses of pink petals and pagodas, we had a couple of photo shoots scheduled with local photographers. We’ve done this in the past- in Provence, Thailand, Cambodia and Peru to name a few, and though I’m a little leery at first, it has always been some of the best money spent. What better way to really get a feel for the place you are exploring? A local knows the hidden spots, how to avoid the crowds, how to navigate and often how to speak the language. And a photographer sees the beauty in places Instagram never will. Oddly enough, in all of the places we’ve hired photographers, none of them were true locals. They were all transplants who came to visit, fell in love and stayed.
Whether they fell in love with a person, or the place...well that’s their story to tell. But they saw the beauty, and are excited to share it.
Our first full evening there we spent exploring hidden neighborhoods by practicing street photography with Lukasz Palka. His recently published book, Tokyo Unseen is an incredibly artistic and authentic visual representation of the city both past and present. It was also a little intimidating to walk alongside the likes of a true master of the craft, especially when the impromptu nature of street photography is so outside of our comfort zone. Not only was Lukasz a humble and an incredibly amiable person to be with, he was such a wonderful, patient mentor with a wealth of ideas and teachable skills. It was an honor to see the vibrance of the city through his lens.
We continued to practice some of the tricks he taught us throughout the rest of the trip. Here are a few of my favorites:
Check out others in my gallery here-https://www.dorothydobens.com/japan-street
I had decided well before we even got there that I didn’t like Tokyo. I really don’t like cities- they have crowds, noise, crowds, trash, crowds, rude people- so I was eager to get those first few days of the trip out of the way. I thought maybe I’d just enjoy it from our 38th floor hotel room the whole time!
Turns out Tokyo ended up being one of my favorite stops of the trip. Tokyo did have crowds, that was inevitable given its size and the mass influx of people like us who thought they might catch sight of a cherry blossom. But the city was exceptionally clean and orderly. The Japanese are so polite and respectful, the only rude people were the tourists. Another reason we enjoyed Tokyo is because we coincidentally had family and friends visiting at the same time, so we had the fortune of sharing a bit of our trip with them also. And a little bit of Sake.
It also didn’t hurt that Aman Tokyo ended up being our favorite hotel of the trip- and it had some serious competition.
Averaging about 15,000 steps per day, and ridiculous numbers of “flights climbed”, we managed to get enough of a feel for the city to know we will definitely return someday. We revived our old habits of getting up at 4AM to shoot sunrise- which in most places was also necessary to avoid the crowds and the fake Geishas looking for their next IG post.
We successfully achieved this with a couple of temples in Tokyo.
And also managed to squeeze in some of the must-see touristy spots during the day.
mostly because attempts at shooting sunset locations were usually foiled due to the aforementioned fake Geishas. The Kimono rental business is certainly thriving.
A full two weeks away, this may have been one of the longest trips we’ve taken- when it takes 16 hours to get there, might as well stay for a while. So in the interest of avoiding a novella, I’ll stick to a couple of highlights.
From Tokyo, we (okay.. he...I just followed him) navigated the train station like a boss and took the bullet down to Ise Shima. I failed to mention that the weather in Tokyo was awful. Rain, wind, cold...and despite crossing every finger and toe, we weren’t spared from it by heading south.
Our purpose in choosing this location was two-fold: an opportunity to stay at another Aman, Amanemu, where we took advantage of the slow pace, the tranquil seaside setting and the spa; but mostly the chance to meet and learn more about the thousand year old tradition of Ama- the women sea divers with a rich history of free diving for seafood and pearls (originally without any scuba gear-or clothing for that matter!). At Ama Hut Satoumian we met an Ama, heard stories, learned about their trade and had a delicious lunch of fresh seafood cooked in the replica Ama hut. I especially loved this experience after having just read Lisa See’s Island of Sea Women (fictional, and set in Korea but gave me a great background). It’s entirely possible that this pitstop may have also inspired me to pick up a new pair of pearl earrings at Matsui Pearls, where the shopkeepers were so wonderfully helpful.
From Shima, we headed to Kyoto for a few days. One more chance to stay in another Aman. Aman Kyoto is set on the outskirts of Kyoto, in a lush green foresty-garden-like setting. The grounds are absolutely stunning, and the onsen at the spa is to die for (though full disclosure- I didn’t use it- not into the whole naked in public thing).
While in Kyoto, we did all the touristy things (along with the rest of the worldwide-web-full of Instagrammers) such as:
The Bamboo Forest
The Geisha District of Gion
but the really special part of this trip was getting up close and personal with Maiko, or apprentice Geisha in both a private photo shoot and also a private tea ceremony in the Gion district in Kyoto. The Maiko we met were in different stages of their apprenticeship, which is most easily distinguished by their hair styles and hair combs. It’s also a great way to tell the difference between a real Maiko and an imposter influencer.
Indulge me a second here, as I really enjoyed rekindling the challenge of portraiture-it’s been a while- and she was such an accommodating and patient model.
Adornments to their kimono are usually antiques passed down to them from more advanced Geishas.
I really thought I was going to fall in love with Kyoto, and it had serious potential. I do think I’d go back, but never during Sakura season, and I’d probably also aim for the less touristy areas. My favorite stop in Kyoto was a quick trip to Otagi Nembutsuji Temple, with thousands of individually carved, moss covered statues. We only had an hour here, before we had to catch a train to Osaka, but I truly could have spent all day. And maybe it was the rain, but I don’t think the tourists make the trip to the outskirts of Kyoto to visit this temple.
Next stop, Osaka. Where surprise, surprise...raining again.
I’m not saying Osaka was not worth seeing, but I would recommend just a day trip on a quick train ride from Kyoto- we stayed two nights in a hotel with yet another amazing view-
In between raindrops, we did go exploring the city a bit-
Saw a cool dragon temple- The Namba Yasaka Shrine
The covered food markets kept us dry and fed-
Osaka was another chance to reconnect with family, eat non-stop, and practice some more street photography on our own.
Dotonbori at night is a must see, with some cool speakeasies
and street lights to put Times Square to shame. But 10/10 agoraphobics would not recommend.
One of my biggest dreads prior to this trip was the food. Well-meaning friends and family didn’t hesitate to excitedly share IG posts on the smorgasbord that is Japan prior to our trip, and to be honest, it kind of freaked me out a bit. This coming from a girl who doesn’t eat mushrooms. And whose favorite sushi is sweet potato maki. I successfully dodged a high end subway station sushi reservation in Tokyo and was living in fear of the upcoming business dinner HRH had scheduled for our last night. Takoyaki sounded delicious until I read the ingredients.
My travel companions-friends, family and business colleagues alike- were very understanding and supportive about my quirky palate. (But really...is my palate quirky? Or is it the stuff you non-quirky palate sporting people eat?) We did manage to have some delicious Japanese food- including ramen, omurice, and mazeyaki but the best thing EVER was the Strawberry Daifuku with the smooth red bean paste. It might actually be better than pizza-which if you know me, is the highest culinary honor I could bestow. I couldn’t walk past a food market stall without trying every one. If you try one, and don’t love it, you need to try another one.
Actually, it was two solid weeks of the best fruit we’ve ever had. Who knew kumquats were so amazing?
Our final destination was Mt. Fuji up close and personal.
Mt. Fuji reminds me of Mt. Rainier in Seattle. It’s like a fake mountain, just painted on the sky. You only see it every now and then if you’re lucky. The first time it peeked out was one of our first days in Tokyo, sitting at breakfast when I looked out the window and said- OMG! and told HRH to look quick before it was gone. That was early on in the trip, and little did we know that the next two weeks of rain and clouds would make that sight pretty momentous. If you do your homework and sit on the correct side of the train, you may be lucky enough to see it when heading to or from Osaka, Kyoto or Shima. It’s just gorgeous but you’re also going to catch it just whizzing by- thus the poor quality of this photo.
So we hopped a bus from Tokyo to the resort town of Fujikawaguchiko. The bus/train station there was slightly more crowded than Grand Central Station and there were about 2 taxis for the entire town. After a little bit of yelling at each other, we decided to hoof it to the onsen we were staying at, which was about a half mile walk or more. It always feels like more.
We settled in, enjoyed the in-room onsen and finished the evening with a non-stop Japanese dinner (consisting of the previously mentioned quirk) and a whole lotta sake. After seeing Mt. Fuji from the bus station, and the hordes of Instagrammers getting their iconic photo of Lawson with Fuji in the background, we were eager to get up before the sunrise to hike the 400 steps to the Chureito Pagoda for the real iconic shot of Fuji with all the gorgeous cherry blossoms in the foreground and Fuji in the background.
Or not.
Kind of nothing went as hoped for on this little side trip- the front desk staff at the hotel was borderline hate-able. The availability of a taxi anywhere in this town was basically zilch. We did manage to get a taxi to this Pagoda, but couldn’t get one back. So once again, after a little bit of yelling at each other, we decided to hoof it to the onsen we were staying at, which involved a half mile walk and a ride on a Thomas the Tank Engine inspired train with a really great name.
We were late for breakfast, there were no cherry blossoms and Fuji slept in that day. However, even a bad day at Mt. Fuji is better than a good day in the office, right? Luckily, the iconic image, as we intended it to be, has been captured infinity times by Instagrammers worldwide and we can see it there. No one likes a copy-cat anyway.
Our hearts were in the right place but I think we’d plan a bit more time here to allow for Fuji’s whims, the weather and navigation. And the chance to just chill out. And we’d stay somewhere else. (By the way, renting a car is always an option, but since I don’t love riding shotgun with HRH when the steering wheel is on the left, I really wouldn’t like to when it’s on the right.)
After one last night in Tokyo, a Shabu Shabu business dinner, and a last minute shopping trip in Ginza we hit the road and headed home.
via HRH’s happy place in the sky- ANA First Class. Where Fuji wished us a final goodbye as we sipped on a glass of Krug.
