A Dojo on the Other Side of the World

“A workshop in Japan!” The words gave way to a buzz of excitement in the school hall. The Mei Quan Academy were holding a workshop for three-days in Japan.

Japan has been the one place that I have wanted to visit since I first started watching anime when I was just 12 years old. The number one place on my bucket list. I just had to go.

We flew into November and my parents and I were on soon our way to Japan. I had decided to give them a week in Japan as a little birthday gift as well. I had booked the hotels through Booking.com and after a long 12-hour flight from the UK, we were all the way across the world stepping off the plane and into Japan.

I was so excited to see it. There had been many times when I looked at manga drawings and Instagram pictures of the country and now, seeing it with my own eyes, it felt real and surreal all at the same time.

Walking around I tried to take in all the little streets and alleyways, the neat and tidy shops, the neon signs and cute shopping displays of perfect looking food. Manga drawings of cute and random characters, cute and cuddly plush toys, people dressed up in traditional and non-traditional clothing. It was a feast for the eyes.

Our first day, we were outside of Tokyo and traveled on the metro line which went round in a circle – very much like the Circle Line in London. We went to the train station and were pleasantly surprised that the employes spoke English very well and we’re so helpful. The man showed us the map, the train lines to take to get around Tokyo and pointed out lots of other places to visit and the different attractions. He explained about the ticket system which was very much like our Oyster Card system where we had to top up a card and then use it to tap in and out of stations.

We first visited Shibuya to see the famous crossing and my mum found the statue of a dog near the station. The story was that the dog called Hachiko was a guide dog for his blind master. When the master died in a tragic accident near Shibuya station the dog stayed near the station patiently waiting for his master to return. The statue was created as a commemorative plaque for Hachiko.

We spent a whole day walking around Shibuya. Its tall buildings made me feel small and as we walked around it felt like we were in a maze. We tried to take note of familiar named buildings and landmarks to make sure we didn’t get lost as we walked around.

The shops were small on the inside of each building with low ceilings so low that I felt like I could touch them if I reached up. Most of the time I spent was sightseeing in each shop as i looked at the cost of each item and tried to work out how much it was in GBP. I had tried to budget for the trip beforehand but when I was actually there standing in front of the different trinkets and gadgets, clothes and food the budget seemed to be a long-forgotten memory.