As a more meaningful way to celebrate our graduation as Master students and spend this last truly free time in a long while, I joined my friends on a trip to Japan.
Preparations
Kudos to my friends for planning the itinerary and discussing the details. We planned to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with a day trip to Nara.
Other than planning, these are many important things to prepare before the trip:
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Visa: Japan has an embassy and many consulates in China, and each is responsible for a specific region. In particular, the Japan Embassy requires individuals to apply for a visa through a designated travel agency. This is not particularly complex, as you can just pick an agency in your region and follow their instructions, or head over to TaoBao and purchase a visa application service. Prepare the required documents, deliver them to the agency, and wait for your passport to be returned with the visa.
One thing to note is that Japan no longer issues physical single-entry visas that are stamped in your passport, but instead issues a digital visa that can be opened and displayed on your phone. This will be useful later.
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Flights: My friends handled the flight bookings. For departure, we flew from Shanghai (PVG) to Tokyo (NRT), and returned from Osaka (KIX) to Shanghai (PVG). The flights were direct and took about 3 hours each way. To save some money, we booked the flights in advance and chose a budget airline (Spring Airlines), which later caused some issues. I personally wanted to return home directly after the trip, so I booked a separate flight from Osaka to Shenzhen (SZX) on the same day, skipping Shanghai.
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Accommodation: We booked hotels in Kyoto for our stay there, but opted for Airbnb in Tokyo and Osaka, as hotel prices in these cities were orbitantly high (partially accounting for Expo 2025). For homestays, we chose places close to the city center and had good reviews, to ensure convenience and comfort.
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Transportation: Japan’s metro system is very convenient and efficient, so why not? We inspected the IC card system and decided that a Suica card would be sufficient for most of our needs. Since we were going to land at Narita International Airport, we purchased a Skyliner + 3-day Tokyo Subway pass combo online, which allowed us to take the Skyliner train from Narita Airport to downtown Tokyo and convenient subway rides during our stay there.
For iPhone users, the Suica card can be added to Apple Wallet and recharged through Apple Pay, which is even more convenient than physical cards. I unfortunately am an Android user, so I had to buy a physical card at NRT, priced at JP¥ 500 for the card itself.
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Connectivity: From our friends’ recommendations, we purchased data SIM cards from CMLink for our phones. There’s one advantage of CMLink over local Japanese SIM cards: Data traffic exits through Hong Kong, which means good connectivity to both mainland China and the rest of the world.
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Money & Payments: Japan is a very well-developed country, so cashless payments are prevalent. However, some cash is still required occasionally, so we exchanged some cash at our local bank before the trip. Three of us brought JP¥ 30,000 (≈ US$ 208) each, and I brought a bit less at JP¥ 20,000 (≈ US$ 140). We also brought our bank cards for convenience, as VISA and Mastercard are widely accepted in Japan.
My primary credit card is a UnionPay and VISA dual-branded card, which due to regulatory reasons, is a magnetic stripe card with no IC chip. So I additionally brought my Bank of China (Hong Kong) Mastercard debit card, which is an IC-and-NFC card and should cover the cases where the mag-stripe card is unusable.
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Other items: Mobile phone, power banks, chargers, and a suitable backpack because you will need to carry your stuff around including your passport.
Unlike many other countries, Japan uses a different standard for power delivery, at 100V and 50/60 Hz, so you will need to double check your power adapter to ensure it’s compatible.
Also, one of us brought a roll of garbage bags, as Japan has a very strict garbage sorting system and doesn’t install garbage bins in public places. This means we had to carry our garbage around until we found a suitable bin, so these bags would prevent our backpacks from getting dirty.
Before the trip
There’s a Visit Japan Web system that allows you to register your trip beforehand. It combines visa verification and customs declaration into one, and streamlines the disembarkation process.
Day 0: Shanghai
Because our flight was in the morning, we decided to stay overnight at a hotel near PVG. This also brings us a chance to meet up with our friends who were working or studying in Shanghai, and we had a nice dinner together. To save some stamina, we headed to the hotel right after dinner and rested for the night, so that we could get up early the next day without feeling too tired.
I was surprised to find that Shanghai metro uses 3 languages for the on-train radio announcements: Mandarin Chinese, English, and Shanghai dialect, at least on Line 16.
Day 1: Arrival in Tokyo
Waking up at 6 AM, we rode the hotel shuttle bus to PVG, and it was an ordinary flight to NRT.
We landed at Terminal 3 and went through the immigration and customs checks smoothly. Because we prepared our Visit Japan Web registration, all we had to do was to show the QR code to the self-service kiosk and then present our passports to the immigration officer.
The first thing we interacted with after disembarkation and getting out of T3 was a vending machine. Interestingly, it supported both cash and card payments, and we used our NFC-enabled bank cards to buy a bottle of water. The prices were substantially higher than in Shanghai, at JP¥ 160 for a 500ml bottle, 2x as much as that in Shanghai, but the difference was certainly negligible for such a one-off case.
We then took another shuttle bus to Terminal 2, where we redeemed our Skyliner and the Tokyo Subway pass tickets and purchased our Suica cards. Worth commending is that the labels and signs throughout Japan are highly accessible, with everything written in 4 languages: Japanese, English, Chinese (Simplified), and Korean.
Skyliner is a all-reserved train service that connects Narita International Airport to downtown Tokyo, and we took it to the other end of the line, Keisei-Ueno Station. Its high frequency means that we didn’t have to wait long and the seats were rarely full. Needless to say, the train was very clean and comfortable, with spacious seats and large windows compared to High-Speed Rail trains in China.
At Keisei-Ueno Station, we transferred to the Tokyo Metro and took the Hibiya Line to our Airbnb in Minowa. How nice it is that every station is numbered, so that those who are not familiar with the station names can just call out the station number.
In this way, we can name this ride “from H-18 to H-20”.
The next sensation was the narrowness of exit stairways in the subway stations in Tokyo. Subway stations in China are generally spacious, with wide stairways and escalators, and very well-lit. Taking this station as example, the exit stairway is very narrow with no escalator installed, though there are elevators for those in need.
My first impression of Japanese streets are cleanliness and orderliness. As anticipated, despite having no trash cans on the streets, it’s still very clean and tidy.
After a short break, we went out to explore the neighborhood and had dinner. It didn’t take long to notice the abundance of vending machines in Japan, which all sell an assortment of drinks, with around half of them being coffee. How the Japanese love coffee! Also the prices are very inconsistent, and it’s often the case that the same bottle of drink becomes as much as JP¥ 30 cheaper or pricier in a few meters. These vending machines also appear to be operated by different companies, as the design and payment options vary a lot. Some machines are cash-only, while others accept cash, card, and even QR code payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay. These vending machines made up our water supply throughout our entire journey in Japan.
We headed back to the metro station and rode to Asakusa, making a transfer at Ueno Station. Here came the next surprise: the Tokyo Metro doesn’t have cross-platform transfers, so we had to exit the turnstiles for Hibiya Line and enter those for Ginza Line. We entered Asakusa ROX and found our way through the crowded shopping mall, only to find that the renowned Kura Sushi was fully booked for the night. After some wandering, we decided to try a random restaurant, and noticed the nice-looking tonkatsu outside Tokiwa Restaurant. To be honest, it was delicious, and its quality was well reflected in the price, at JP¥ 1,980, rather typical of Asakusa (indeed).
What’s even more typical is the pathetic supply of rice, which isn’t even half of a bowl. A refill is sold separately at JP¥ 100. Well, what can I say, this is Tokyo after all!
On our free roam at the perimeter, we noticed the in-car subway map looking like spaghetti.
We made a brief visit to the Tokyo Skytree and the Tokyo Tower, before returning to our stay. On our way back shopping for supplies at a 7-Eleven nearby, I noticed a peculiar pricing of bottled water:
- JP¥ 118 for a 500 mL package
- JP¥ 131 for a 2 L package
I guess the prices all went to the bottle instead of the water. No wonder why the Japanese are so keen on recycling plastic bottles, that’s some good revenue!
Day 2: Kyu-Furukawa Gardens & Sunshine Aquarium
Day 2 was arranged for anime pilgrimage by my friends (for BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! in particular), so they sure provided a joyful itinerary for the day despite my innocence in anime.
First stop was Kyu-Furukawa Gardens, a tranquil garden in the Kita ward of Tokyo. Educated by the experience of the previous day, I was for sure surprised by the humble price of the entrance ticket, at JP¥ 150.
The garden is very well maintained, along with a beautiful Western-style mansion. Problem was, it was already summer, well past the blooming season of most flowers, so the garden was not as colorful as it could be.
Somehow, the roads in Kita really reminded me of Doraemon.
We then rode the city bus to Asukayama Park nearby for more pilgrimage. The bus felt good, but again except for the fare, which was JP¥ 180 for a 10-minute ride. In contrast, bus rides in Shanghai only cost a few Chinese yuans (≤ JP¥ 100).
The sun made the visit to the park very enjoyable, with a steam locomotive on display and a nice playground, and the kids having fun brought an energetic vibe to the atmosphere.
Following another ride on the Tokyo Sakura Tram, we arrived at Chitose Bridge, where we had lunch at a nearby restaurant after takings a few photos over the roads. For the first time in Japan, I made a payment using my magnetic stripe credit card. I was delighted to know that the card remained functional after years of cold storage in my drawer. It was a nice beef don, except that the ragú was extremely salty.
The assortment of seasonings on the table was definitely remarkable.
For the afternoon, we visited the Sunshine City in Ikebukuro. It’s a large shopping mall, though most of the stores were not of our interest. We briefly browsed through an anime merchandise store, and then headed towards the Sunshine Aquarium on the top floor.
As famous as it is, the first thing to notice is the Detective Conan (a.k.a. Case Closed) wall at the entrance of the aquarium.
And a horror-looking vending machine for edible insects.
Inside the aquarium are hundreds of tanks at display, with a wide variety of marine life. I’m no expert in marine biology, so here are just some photos of the exhibits.
Coming out of the aquarium, we met with friends studying and working in Tokyo and headed to an arcade around Ueno, where we tried out some Japan-native arcade games like maimai DX. With 8 people together, we had our yakiniku dinner at a restaurant in Ueno, which was a great way to end the day.
Day 3: Shibuya & Shimokitazawa
Day 3 continues as anime pilgrimage in another direction.
During our exploration of Shibuya, we encountered the Pride March of Tokyo, where multiple groups of people marched through the streets, decorated with rainbow flags and banners.
The march added to the crowd in Shibuya, which was already bustling with people. Strangely, streets in Shibuya were barely equipped with vending machines, and the crowd added to the scarcity of water supply. We squeezed our way through the crowd and through a park, only to find a group of vending machines that already had queues built up long before them. So out of desperation, we quickly found our way to the next available subway station and continued to Shimokitazawa.
My friends purchased some merchandise at Honda Theater, and then we managed to locate three prominent scenes from Bocchi the Rock! in the neighborhood.
For dinner, we went to the Uobei Sushi in Shibuya, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. I was certainly shocked by the prices, as an average salmon sushi plate is priced at JP¥ 160, even less than half of that in Shanghai.
Adding to the superior quality and tasty flavor, this is definitely the best sushi I have ever had.
Following dinner, we went to Shibuya PARCO, a large shopping mall nearby, and enjoyed ourselves with various brand stores and a Pokémon Center.
Day 4: Tokyo Skytree & Akihabara
Our last day in Tokyo encompassed a visit to the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest structure in Japan.
We arrived by metro at Oshiage Station, and was then met with a complex of escalators leading up into the shopping mall beneath the Skytree.
After traversing through the shopping mall and queuing up for admission, the first sight to behold was the well-decorated elevator leading up to the observation deck. The decoration is said to be seasonal, with four variants throughout the year. Presumably, this is the summer variant, judging by our time of visit.
From the main observation deck at 350 m above ground, we had a panoramic view of Tokyo. Very typical of Japan, the streets are very well organized, with a grid-like layout but narrow roads. Also the buildings are generally not very tall unlike in Shanghai, presumably due to the earthquake risk as Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
At the 340 m level, there is a glass floor that allows you to see straight down to the ground, similar to the one in the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai. However, the glass floor here is too small to provide any excitement, and the view is nowhere near as impressive as that in the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Coming out of Tokyo Skytree, we returned to the metro station and headed towards Ningyocho for another renowned ramen restaurant. In the metro station, there was a vending machine for ice creams that caught our attention. We bought an ice cream each, and I was surprised at its decent taste under a reasonable price.
Arriving at the destined restaurant, we were delighted to find readily available seats (as it was 2 PM already). Unlike other ramen noodles, this one is served with the soup and toppings in a separate bowl, which is quite unique. You are supposed to add the noodle to the soup bowl in batches before enjoying it.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon in Akihabara, the anime and electronics district of Tokyo.
The first few stores were not of my interest, as they were mostly anime merchandise stores. But when it comes to the Sofmap, the wide variety of electronics and gadgets definitely warrants a visit.
The first floor (ground floor in British English) is for second-handed Apple mobile devices, mostly iPhones and iPads. The upper floors are for various computer components, peripherals, and gaming devices.
Following Sofmap, we visited a few more stores in Akihabara, including Surugaya, Mandarake and AmiAmi, before giving the longest stop of the day at K-Books, a large store for anime merchandise.
The merchandise was well beyond my understanding, so here are just some photos of the offerings.
For the last dinner in Tokyo, we booked a table at Niku no Kirikata (肉の切り方) in Nihombashi, a restaurant specializing in grilled meat. Despite the pricing at JP¥ 7,200 per person, the quality and the experience were unparalleled.
And this concludes our stay in Tokyo.
Day 5: Shinkansen to Kyoto
After getting up and packing up our luggages, we took the metro to Tokyo Station and proceeded with our plan of Kyoto. Since Shinkansen from Tokyo to western Japan has a frequent headway of every 5 minutes, we didn’t have to worry about ticket and seat availability, so tickets were purchased on the spot.
Unseen elsewhere, purchasing the Shinkansen tickets required us to produce our metro tickets or Suica cards, presumably because the ticket office is located inside before the metro turnstiles. We purchased tickets for Nozomi 35, one the fastest Shinkansen lines with the least stops, and the tickets were priced at JP¥ 13,970 per person.
Given its high headway frequency, it’s not surprising that the platform looks similar to a metro platform.
The other thing that caught our attention was a Shinkansen Coffee machine. It offered a variety of coffee drinks, and what’s more intriguing is that the beverage is brewed on the spot, with a small cup of coffee beans ground and brewed into a cup of coffee. There’s even a screen showing the internals of the machine, which is quite fascinating.
Our journey on the Shinkansen was very comfortable and we enjoyed the rural scenery along the way.
After a 2-hour ride, we arrived at Kyoto Station, a modern yet tremendous and complex station. We checked in at our hotel before heading out to explore the city. We took our lunch-and-dinner for the day at yet another random ramen restaurant, which featured a unique taste.
My first impression of Kyoto is its simplistic and even primitive metro system, with nonexistent platform doors, making it look very dated.
We then took a stroll around the Shijo Bridge, a bridge over the Kamo River, and enjoyed the view of the river and the city. It was drizzling at the time, but previous showers had boosted the current of the Kamo River, making it look more lively.
We returned to our hotel for a break and fortunately stayed over another downpour. Late in the evening, we went hungry and headed for a nearby kebab restaurant. What a nice way to call it a day!
Day 6: Nara and Fushimi Inari Taisha
The next day in Kyoto was arranged for a short trip to Nara. Slightly to my surprise, several common tourist target cities are closely located, including Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. The transportation to Nara is only a 40-minute ride on the Kintetsu Nara Line, costing JP¥ 1,440. Also, I was happy that Kintetsu stations support tap-to-ride with NFC bank cards, so I could save some Suica balance and consequently cash1.
Except that Kintetsu station platforms are the narrowest I have ever seen…
It was another drizzling day in Nara, though fortunately the rain was not prohibitive to our visit. Shortly after coming out of Kintetsu Nara Station, we noticed the first deer and became excited to take photos of it. Not many steps did we take before we crossed paths with a herd of deer, which were roaming freely in the streets and parks.
However, as we approached the Nara Park, the situation quickly turned chaotic. The rain had made the ground muddy, and the deers were roaming everywhere, bringing a lot of mud onto the walkways. Tourists were feeding the deers with special deer crackers, which drove the deers even more aggressive.
As interesting as it was, deers are not fended off from potentially dangerous places like vehicle roads, so here it comes:
Vending machines in this area are also very localized, with deer crackers and other deer-related products for sale.
Through a long walk through the woods, we arrived at Kasuga-taisha Shrine. With uncooperative weather and the rain-soaked ground, considering our plan for the afternoon to a similarly-styled shrine, we decided to cut the visit short here and start searching for our pre-determined tonkatsu restaurant.
This is the best tonkatsu I have ever had at a very reasonable price of JP¥ 1,848. Even more to my surprise, the meal included free refills of everything but the tonkatsu itself. Notably, this is the first time in Japan that I have seen free refills of rice, whose price is not known for being generous in Japan.
With the delicious tonkatsu, I ended up refilling everything twice and coming out extremely satisfied.
We headed back to Kyoto in the afternoon and dropped off halfway for Fushimi Inari Taisha, a famous shrine known for its thousands of vermilion torii gates.
Similar to anime merchandise stores, the cultural significance of the shrine is beyond my understanding, so here come the photos.
Before the part of densest vegetation, there’s a toilet and a vending machine, noting that up the mountain is considered a sacred place and these are the last facilities you will find.
On our way back to the station, we bought some snacks from the streetside stores. The first store amazed us with overpriced cucumbers, which we laughed at and moved on. We then bought some ice cream from another store at JP¥ 400, thinking that it would be the most reasonable price we could find near such an attraction (which it later turned out to be even more true). The ice cream tasted good, except I’m not a fan of 功克力.
Walking further away, we were slightly surprised to find that the JP¥ 400 ice cream was actually the cheapest we could find, as every other store sold ice creams at at least JP¥ 500,and Taiwan Tapiocas even went up to JP¥ 800.
Coming back to Kyoto, we went to (again!) a ramen restaurant for dinner, and took a walk around the city for the evening. For once, I was surprised to find that the driers in a public laundry were out of service. Guess Japanese products aren’t always that reliable after all.
Day 7: Kyoto Railway Museum & Kiyomizu-dera
The last day in Kyoto began at the Kyoto Railway Museum. Into the museum are three large locomotives and a photo service.
Further into the museum are a few more carriages of various types, including a Shinkansen carriage, a dining carriage, and some passenger carriages redecorated to display parts and artifacts from the past.
Notably, the dining car is used as a restaurant and sells many train-shaped take-out meals, which are very popular among visitors. By the time we arrived at the selling stand, half of the meals were already sold out, and we had to settle for less popular ones.
After lunch, we went for a live steam locomotive ride, which only launched once every hour, priced separately at JP¥ 300.
Further inside the museum is a large exhibition hall, which features a wide range of exhibits, including more cars, station equipments and artifacts, and many railway models.
The best thing about the museum is its many interactive exhibits, including a train control simulator with RC trains inside a large podium, a real ticket machine and gate, and a signal control simulator. These exhibits are very well designed and provide a great experience for visitors of all ages.
The afternoon was arranged for a visit to Kiyomizu-dera, a famous Buddhist temple in Kyoto.
Unlike previous days, the weather on this day was extra sunny, so natural scenery around the temple was alive and vibrant.
Surrounded by the forest and on a mountain, the temple features stunning nature views.
On our way back to the city, we came by Shijo Bridge again, this time to find it more gentle and peaceful, as it did not rain today.
For dinner, we planned a prestigious kaiseki meal near Kyoto Station, which is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. It’s a very unique experience, with each course being carefully prepared and presented, and the ingredients being seasonal and local.
After the main dish, we were served a dessert of matcha cake and ice cream, which was a perfect way to end the meal.
In the evening, we took (yet another) walk back to the Shijo Bridge, where we enjoyed the night view of the Kamo River and the city, unencumbered by rain.
On our way back to the hotel, we got lost in the complex of Kyoto Station while trying to refund an unused metro pass.
Because this entire day was planned for Kyoto, we bought a single-day metro pass, thinking it would be useful. However, two of us ended up using it only once and gettings it rejected by the ticket machine at almost everywhere else. It was throughout the day that we realized that the metro pass is only valid for Kyoto Municipal Subway (with only two lines!), while there are at least four other metro operators in Kyoto that covers the rest of the city. Obviously, these alternative operators do not accept the metro pass, so we decided to refund the last unused one. What a mess!
Day 8: Osaka Castle
The next day, we took the Hankyu Line to Osaka, which is only a 40-minute ride.
After arriving at Osaka, we located our Airbnb, unloaded our luggages, and headed out for lunch. Unsurprisingly, there can never be too much ramen again.
The first interesting thing we noticed in Osaka was that (almost) all bottle trash cans in the metro stations were covered up, labeling
Due to special vigilance, trash box can NOT be used.
Well, the Japanese sometimes do weird things.
Anyways, we went on to Osaka Castle for a nice trip.
Coming out of Tanimachi 4-chome Station, the first thing to see are two landmark buildings.
It was a super sunny day and the grass was very green there, so for sure the scenery was very pleasant.
We rode a cart from the outside to the entrance to the castle at JP¥ 300 per person, skipping a long walk under the sun.
To my surprise, the inner moat has already dried up and is now a grassy field.
We redeemed our tickets and entered the castle, now a museum for the history of Osaka and much of Japan. The ground floor elevator took us to the 5th floor, where the museum starts.
5F is equipped with many video screens showing Japanese history, primarily focusing on the Sengoku period, with image and text descriptions about the battles and notable figures of the time. The same went for 6F.
Interestingly, the video screens employed a smart trick with mirrors to create a parallax effect, granting the scene a depth-of-field effect.
The castle somehow did not have a 7th floor (or was skipped entirely), and the 8th floor is the observation deck. From this vantage point, we had a panoramic view of Osaka, with the Kyocera Dome and the Umeda Sky Building in sight.
Also, while there are alternate stairways connecting up to 5F, the central spiral stairway is the only way to go up to 8F.
After coming down from the observation deck, we visited 4F and 3F, which are dedicated to the display of artifacts. The artifacts are mostly from the Sengoku period, including weapons, armor, and everyday items. They also rotate every few months, so the exhibits are always fresh and interesting. Unfortunately, these floors were no-photo zones, so there are no photos of the exhibits.
Coming out of the castle, we turned back to appreciate the castle from the outside and its surrounding square. On our way out, we chose to walk back so we could take in the scenery at a more leisurely pace.
For dinner, we went to a pre-ordered yakiniku tabehodai (all-you-can-eat grilled meat) restaurant.
When we were shopping for supplies at a nearby convenience store, I noticed a peculiar banner over the refrigerator section:
Time to rest and recharge for the next day!
Day 9: Expo 2025
First thing to note, while previous trips were all filled with joy and excitement, the Expo 2025 was the first (and so far the only) to bring disappointment and frustration, a stark contrast to the previous experiences.
The Expo 2025 introduced a booking and lottery system for granting access to some popular pavilions, which could have been a great idea to avoid overcrowding and long queues. However, the website was like running on potatoes, loading extremely slowly. To add salt to the wound, it even came up with an online queuing system, where you had to keep the web page open for hours, watching the queue number going down from some 70,000, only to start looking for pavilions to book. You can book any pavilion until 7 days before the ticket date, where bookings are randomly approved in a lottery system. Granted, the 4 of us were lucky enough to get precisely no bookings from the lottery, and we were for sure delighted to find it very fair for the 4 of us. Anyways, as the ticket was non-refundable, we proceeded to the Expo 2025 site and sought for available pavilions.
As many other sites in Osaka, the venue was built entirely on reclaimed land. Transportation to the Expo 2025 site was as accessible as it should be, with an extension of the Chuo Line that rides to Yumeshima Station. It was yet another drizzling day, but the rain did not stop tourists from crowding to the venue.
The site also split incoming visitors by their booking time, and we were glad to come slightly later than our booked time, when the designated queue was already short.
As one of us got stuck in the queue for a while, we took the time to browse through a nearby merchandise store.
Not gonna lie, the design of the Expo 2025 mascot is quite absurd. Totally beyond my aesthetics.
With the rain clearing up, we were able to start appreciating the site unencumbered. Notably, the largest wooden structure called The Ring caught our attention, with escalators leading up to the top. We saved it for later, and went on finding available pavilions that did not require bookings or lotteries.
The first pavilion we managed to enter was the Malaysia Pavilion, which was a large building surrounded by bamboo.
The next pavilion was the Earth at Night pavilion with a relatively short queue, backed by a similarly short exhibition.
We also paid a brief visit to the Turkey Pavilion, but didn’t enter deeply as it approached lunch time. There’s a Turkish food stall right outside the pavilion, and it was still raining lightly, so we decided to take the convenience of the stall. To our dismay, the stall only offered a limited selection of food, and they were rather ordinary. Despite the mediocre food, the Turkey Pavilion also held an ice cream stall, which was very stylish and affordable (at JP¥ 800).
After some random roaming, we discovered a large round ground surrounded by wooden pillars, with mist rising from the ground. It feels very magical indeed.
For the afternoon, we queued up for the China Pavilion which fortunately did not require a booking. The queue was long, and we were held in rain for an hour before reaching sheltered areas. In spite of that, we enjoyed the fantastic display the China Pavilion offered.
Coming out of the China Pavilion, we spent the rest of our visit to Expo on the outside.
For exmaple, I almost mistake this statue of Lapras for Chillet in Palworld. Guess Nintendo didn’t sue them out of nothing.
As the rain cleared for a while, we finally took the chance to visit The Ring and enjoy the view of Osaka from the top.
Coming out of Expo, we went to the dinner booked with a friend, who is already the head of a multi-national enterprise with global influence.
We had a great time catching up with each other and exchanging ideas. Following the dinner, we went to a Don Quijote from our friend’s suggestions, to shop for souvenirs and snacks before our return.
I bought some snacks and cosmetics for my family, including two boxes of Pocky and an Osaka-exclusive cup cake. It’s a tax-free store for anyone presenting a passport and a gross purchase of at least JP¥ 5,000, so I happily saved the consumption tax.
Day 10: Return to China
As my friends were returning to Shanghai while I would be returning to Shenzhen on my own, this last day left me on my own with an extra hour. After packing up my luggages and enjoying one last ramen in Osaka, I took a brief walk around the neighborhood.
As time went by, I took the Nankai Line from Namba Station to Kansai International Airport, a 50-minute ride, and proceeded with my return flight.
Anecdotally, I landed in Shenzhen safely, returning home on time, while my friends’ flight diverted to Nanjing due to heavy downpour in Shanghai, and only returned to Shanghai near midnight.
Thoughts
This trip to Japan surely brought an unforgettable experience and broadened my horizons. The culture and the people were all amazing, and food and dining were all delicious. Given Japan’s proximity to China, it definitely stands out as a great destination for short trips, and time permitting, I will for sure visit Japan again in the future.
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Physical Suica cards can only be recharged with cash and no bank cards, not even debit cards. ↩
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