A Father and Son's Trip to Japan

In February of 2025, my brainiac son Justin had to attend a conference in Kyoto Japan, for his work. While there he planned to take some extra vacation time to tour major sites around Japan. He spent the better part of a year studying about Japan—its culture, the best sights to see, and where to eat. He even learned the basics of the Japanese language to get around more easily. He developed a detailed itinerary for his trip, which he was sharing with his mother and me one day and during that conversation, Tami remarked how it was a shame that he had to do it all alone. I jokingly said that I’d go with him for company—and that was the beginning of our once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Somehow, we pulled it all together with a lot of support from Tami and the folks at my work, who graciously allowed me to take time off during a critical point in some major projects. Seeing Justin's itinerary, I knew the trip would be physically demanding. I had about a month and a half to prepare, so I began doing yoga most days and walking as much as I could on weekends. This preparation was one of many blessings the trip provided—I ended up in better shape than I’d been in years.
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During the pre-trip planning, Justin and I continued to refine the itinerary and make final preparations. Here is a copy of that planned itinerary:

As you can see, it was a pretty ambitious itinerary, and we were largely able to stick to it, with only a few adjustments. Fortunately, we kept a daily journal during our travels because the experience was so packed with events that everything started to blur together. This story and the following journal are not meant to be literary masterpieces but rather just a way to remember the time Justin and I shared—and to inform family and friends of our grand adventure.

Before diving into the details, I want to share some observations about Japan, its people, and cultural differences.

First and foremost, the Japanese people are friendly and engaging. Often time when you encountered someone out on the street you were greeted with a friendly smile and bow. Whenever we needed directions or help, we easily found someone willing to assist. What struck me most was the cleanliness—even in bustling cities it was all very clean. We learned that in Japan, eating or drinking while walking or on a train or bus is considered rude, so there are few public trash cans and people carry their trash with them to dispose of it at home. There are rules of etiquette that govern everything from using chopsticks, to how to pay for something, to offering up your seat on a train to an elder. 

There’s a strong sense of order and uniformity throughout Japan. Workers in service roles wear uniforms with white gloves. All students—from grade school to college—wear uniforms. In train stations, there are markings on the ground directing people where to line up for each train, and people follow them! That is, until you get to cities like Tokyo, where the hustle is more intense and the subways are jam-packed. Everywhere you walk there is a yellow line letting you know what side to walk on.

The contrast between the more rural more traditional areas of Japan and the densely packed urban metropolises was profound.  The rural areas with subdued traditional architecture exude peaceful harmony, and the urban areas were vibrant meccas of controlled chaos. The cities are full of bright signs, neon, and video screens.  I also found it very interesting how pervasive the culture of anime, manga, and Pokemon are.  It's everywhere in the cities even down to custom crafted and painted manhole covers of Pokemon characters.  I would love to study how that whole cultural shift happened.

There are social customs that we found both amusing and impressive. For instance, in one popular Kyoto restaurant there was always a line on the sidewalk to get in.  Once you made it through the door there was a lobby with chairs all around and people waited in the queue for their turn to be called. When the closest group was called to their table, everyone moved up a chair closer to the entrance to the dining room—like musical chairs, but orderly.

At first, the cities didn’t feel crowded. Then we realized that much of urban life happens underground. Below the streets are massive multi-level networks of tunnels, shopping arcades, and subway stations. It was incredibly efficient and easy to get around—thanks in no small part to Justin’s navigation skills. We took just about every form of transportation: taxi, train, bullet train, tram, water taxi, bus, limo—you name it.  I think a rickshaw was the only thing we didn’t try.

I was blown away by the vast number of shops, restaurants, food booths, and bars in Tokyo.  I know that Tokyo is the most populous city in the world but the sheer number of these establishments is mind blowing.  They are crammed everywhere and some are no larger than a walk in closet.  We saw many little mini bars that only had 3 or 4 seats for patrons in a cramped little space. Another thing that blew me away was the Japanese toilets. Because space is so limited in the cities in some restaurants the bathrooms we the size of a broom closet. However the toilets were amazing thrones of modern technology.  In some bathrooms you walk in and the lights come on, the toilet seat raises and lights up, and the seats are heated.  Not to mention the multi-function warm water bidet.  These are truly the cadillac of the pooping stools.  Many are also very efficient in that the sink to wash your hands is on the top of the tank. So when you flush the water flows through the sink to fill the tank, genius! The other thing about some of the bathrooms that was comical is they were equipped with a wall rack where you can hang your baby on the wall while you did your business.
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​The Food!!  I have mentioned in the daily travel journal about some of the meals we ate, but I need to expand on just how incredible the food in Japan is.  While I have always loved Asian foods, Japan’s culinary diversity is amazing.  And while we had some incredible meals in high end restaurants, it was the abundance of good food everywhere that really shocked me. Street foods are everywhere. The convenance stores in Japan like Lawsons, Family Mart, and 7/11 are well known to have good snacks and simple foods, but even the vending machines that are all over Japan have good fresh foods.  And they also have both hot and cold items.  But I can honestly say that I had some of the best meals I have ever had in Japan.  Some of the top meals we had started with our Kobe beef experience that was great. It was simple and straight forward cooked unseasoned on a flat top right in front of us.  They also had a variety of fresh vegetables and mushrooms as well as some crispy slivers of garlic to accompany the meal.  It was served on our plates along with a little salt, pepper, and matcha. Simple but awesome! Then there was the omakase tempura experience.  Omakase means “I’ll leave it up to you” so you are served whatever the chef wants to prepare from among the freshest items available. Here we dined at a small oval bar with our chef in the middle cooking up a variety of tempura items.  It was fantastic!  We also had an omakase sushi meal where we had our own sushi master serve us a variety of the freshest sushi imaginable. The hole in the wall gyoza restaurant we dined at was amazing.  Here we had the best crispy hot wings I have ever had!!  We also had a fantastic curry meal.  This meal included two types of curry that was simple and superb. I didn’t really know that curry was a thing in Japan, but it is, even the hotel we stayed at in Kyoto served curry for breakfast. As we had so many top-notch meals it is impossible to come down on a favorite, but I have to say that our traditional Japanese luncheon that we had in our private room with our exquisite server is an experience I will never forget!

But what stood out most to me most was the respect the Japanese have for their history and traditions. Their historic sites are beautifully preserved. We saw structures over a thousand years old still in great condition due to constant maintenance and cultural pride. It was heartwarming as we visited these historical sites to see so many school groups with children of all ages touring the sites and learning their history first hand.  On two occasions Justin and I were interviewed by these student groups.  One was elementary students, and the other was grade school kids. This practice teaches them valuable life skills, but also the opportunity to practice their English. The countryside and mountains were breathtaking, even more so than the impressive cities. We visited castles, temples, and shrines, many nestled in nature. Justin collected goshuin, which are ornate calligraphy seals stamped by monks at each temple. These goshuin include each temple’s name and the date of our visit hand crafted in beautiful brushwork calligraphy.

The only downside of the trip for me was the physical demands. We walked and climbed stairs and hiked mountain trails every day. You can see our step count in the daily journal.  At times, I truly thought Justin was trying to kill me.  But I wouldn’t trade any of it. This was truly a trip of a lifetime for me. Not only because I got to check off one of my bucket list destinations, but because I got to do it with Justin. We’d never had this kind of father-son time before, having always done things as a family, so this time we had together was a blessing I will carry for the remainder of my days.
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Spending that much time together showed me how much alike we really are. We both loved the historical places, we are both major foodies and open to trying anything so the food was amazing, and the culture made you feel very much at ease there. We traveled well together, which made everything smoother. Justin was a fantastic guide, and his planning ensured that we always had somewhere to go, something to see—and of course something delicious to eat.

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