Best Experiences in Japan

A tea ceremony

Japan is famous for its tea-drinking culture, which is something that came there from China. Drinking tea in Japan is not just pouring tea into a cup, adding sugar and drinking it. No, no. In Japan, drinking tea is a like a real ceremony. They offer short workshops and presentations for visitors on how to prepare tea, along with the gestures and phrases used in the process. It all starts with mixing just the right amount of hot water and matcha (crushed green tea). Then, you have to eat the sugar, say a few words, bow and drink the tea in that order. It's like art! We recommend attending this tea ceremony in a temple, most of which can be found in the city of Kyoto.

Sleeping on the floor, on a tatami

Tatami is intertwined rice straw that's tightly vowen together. This type of flooring mat (like our parquet) is about 10 centimetres thick and is generally very warm. The Japanese have been using this to cover the floors in their living spaces for a long time. Tatami is still being used to this day, and as a tourist, you can experience sleeping on tatami in a traditional Japanese accommodation. Of course, you don't sleep directly on the floor. You place a relatively thin mattress on the tatami and then sleep on it. Some say they sleep way better there than in a regular bed, while others wake up feeling a bit sore in the morning. It's definitely worth a try, and you can see which group you'll belong to!

Bowing deer

The Japanese are generally known for being very polite, thanking you nicely for everything while giving a slight bow. Would you believe me if I told you that even the deer living in Nara's city park have learned to bow? Whether you believe it or not, I suggest you head to Nara, buy a pack of deer treats, and offer them to the first deer you meet in the park. You'll see that it's going to bow before it takes the treat.

Sunrise under Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is an icon of Japan. A volcano rising over 3,000 metres high, standing tall above the otherwise low landscape, with its perfectly conical shape topped with snow—that's the image you find everywhere: on postcards, magnets, and brochures. When we think of Japan, we often picture Mount Fuji. Because it's quite a high mountain with very unpredictable weather, it's not accessible to everyone. At least not its peak. But we can look at it from below. One of the most beautiful views of Fuji is at the Chureito Pagoda. We recommend getting there a little before sunrise to watch the sunrise, and see the colours changing on the pagoda and the mountain behind it. A magical sight!

Drinks and food vending machines

Japan is known for being incredibly practical and resourceful. They love making all sorts of gadgets that make everyday life easier. From very small things, such as towels and handbags, to a lot of bigger innovations. Vending machines for drinks and snacks are a great example of that. Imagine the situation: you're waiting for a bus, it's raining, and the wind is blowing. You're cold. In most countries around the world, you'd just have to tough it out. But in Japan, you'll find a vending machine for drinks waiting for you at the bus stop. In that situation, you'd probably want something warm, right? And in Japan, they have vending machines that are partly heated and partly chilled. So, if you are cold, you can choose from a warm lemonade, tea, or coffee, and sometimes you can even get soup! This way, you can warm up while waiting for the bus. If you're in the mood for something cold, you'll also find chilled fizzy drinks, juices, water, coffee, and more.

There are also some really specific vending machines that you can find around the country. One of our favourites was selling cupcakes in a can. And these cakes are really delicious! Others sell frozen food. Let's say you get hungry on a Sunday night and don't feel like going to the store, even though many are open 24 hours. You can just step outside to the vending machine and grab some frozen dumplings to heat up at home. Ah, life in Japan is really easy in that way.

Purikura – Japanese photography vending machine

Speaking of vending machines, there are also photography vending machines worth mentioning. We have that too, don't we? Only in most cases, these machines take an ordinary photo, for example, for a passport. Purikura machines in Japan do everything except passport photos. The main purpose of these machines is to edit, enhance, and beautify your photos. They do it a bit on their own and most of the time, they make the eyes rounder for Japanese people and enlarge them for Westerners, so we end up looking like cute little puppies! Then you can also jazz up the picture yourself by adding makeup, hair bows, backgrounds, text...whatever you want!

Robots

Japan is also well-known for its robots. Whether it's robots at a hotel reception desk, robots serving you food in a restaurant, or gigantic Gundam robots measuring around 15 metres tall! We recommend you have a look at one of these giant robots, which also put on a show a few times a day. This includes sound and light effects and some robot movements. The smaller robots, like those in cafés, can even have conversations with you.

There are really plenty of crazy experiences to have in Japan, but these are our favourites and the most interesting ones that we recommend to every traveller. You can hear more about our Japan trip on the travel series Popotniški snep.