Skiing in the Hakuba Valley
The Hakuba Valley is located deep in the Japanese Alps, approximately 3 hours from Tokyo.
As COVID took hold around the world, my trip to Japan was cut short. Arriving in Tokyo, I dropped my luggage at the airport and had approximately 8 hours to see as much as possible before catching my flight home to Australia.
Tokyo is the most populous city in the world, however, it also has an efficient transport system that allowed me to easily move around and see much of this vibrant albeit somewhat crazy city!
Tokyo is completely the opposite of what the rest of Japan seems to the world. It’s brash and full of colour, quirky with some seriously crazy people singing and dancing amongst the traffic. With robot restaurants, enormous dinosaur sculptures peeking from behind buildings and gaming arcades with endless claw machines full of plush toys ready for the next unsuspecting customer.
Tokyo train station is busy, there is no other way to describe it, however the suburban train system is easy to navigate. We visited the famous crossing at Shibuya – possibly not as busy as it might normally be but fun to watch and walk back and forth a few times!
Shinjuku is the skyscraper district with neon lights lighting the way to cool bars, nightclubs and crazy restaurants, it’s the entertainment district that doesn’t sleep.
Akihabara is said to be the centre of modern Japanese culture. It’s definitely the district for shopping, gaming and electronics, toys and trading cards, video games and Anime!
Up until this time Tokyo has been preparing to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and the ‘Welcome 2020’ signs were all about the city.
I’ll definitely return one day and I hope you’ve enjoyed my memories of Japan
Nicole x
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