The end

I planned to write so much more about my trip. Especially how I stayed in a temple with Buddhist monks and prayed with them in the morning. And about town full of hot springs. And about the capsule hotel. And ... I could just go on and on with my posts. But at the moment I'm trying to live in the present, so I have decided to leave some things only in my memories.

My time in Japan has come to an end. Japan was the nicest gift I could have gotten in this period of my life. I enjoyed the work, the culture, the weirdness, the food, the people. I met some very special people. Parts of my time in Japan were like the nicest dream.

Thanks for reading.

Atomic bomb dome, Hiroshima

Atomic bomb dome has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing, now serving as a bitter reminder about the sadness of war and nuclear devastation. The rest of the city was practically leveled with the ground.


At its peak, the power of the nuclear weapons stored in this world was as much as 1.4 million times the power of Hiroshima's atomic bomb. 90% of which was owned by the United States and Russia.

Book covers

When Japanese buy a book, they always get a book cover together with it. One reason is to keep it clean, and the other, a much more important reason is privacy. If they read a book on a train without a book cover, I think they almost feel like being naked.

Another similar thing they use is black covers for mobile phone screens so that it's impossible to see what's on the screen over somebody's shoulder.

This is my first book with the book cover. "Random walk" is the name of the bookshop where I bought it. And I won't reveal the title of the book :)

Himeji castle

Himeji castle is one of the biggest in Japan and still preserved in its original form from centuries ago. When I saw a photo of it in my guidebook, I was a bit confused. A castle? After that I had the following conversation with my friend from the lab.

I: "Why do they call it a castle, it doesn't look like a castle."

He: "Yes, it does."

I: "No, it doesn't."

He: "Yes, it does."

I: "No, it... OK, I get it now. That's how castles are supposed to look like in Japan."

Bullet trains

Japan is easy to travel in. Japanese trains are the fastest in the world. And they are so punctual that you could use them to set your watch. They call them bullet trains or shinkansen.

Kyoto gardens

There are so many gardens in Kyoto that it is impossible to count them. Each one different and each one perfect in its own way.

Kyoto geishas

I never imagined you actually see geishas wandering around the streets of Kyoto.

Kyoto temples

My two-week trip around Japan started in Kyoto, where I ended up spending six nights. Kyoto is an old capital of Japan, and it remains a cultural capital and main touristic attraction in Japan. Temples are one of the main attractions.

Tokyo University main campus

Beautiful December ginko trees.

Japan "became" normal

I worked in the lab in Tokyo for 6 weeks and by the end I started to feel comfortable, the daily life became a routine. Japan became normal. Meeting other travelers during my 2 week trip, I realized I didn't take photos anymore. I didn't find things strange anymore.

Just before I finished working in the lab in Tokyo, they had an academic visitor from the United States. We students took him for lunch. It was a really strange experience. He was like a person from another planet. And the strangest thing was that I belonged together with the Japanese.

After his visit, I got comments from several people from the lab. "How did you know how I felt?" "I can understand you, and you learned to understand what I think. But it's hard to communicate with him." "Tina, you really are much more like Japanese than him." I took the last comment as a compliment. But I'm not sure if I should have.