One-day trip from Tokyo – Hakone
Hakone doesn’t need a big plan. About an hour and a half from Shinjuku, it’s the kind of day where the getting-there is half the point and the rest sort of falls into place once you’re up in the mountains.
Hakone doesn’t need a big plan. About an hour and a half from Shinjuku, it’s the kind of day where the getting-there is half the point and the rest sort of falls into place once you’re up in the mountains.
When I was packing my bags before moving to Japan, I basically tried to fit my entire bathroom cabinet into my suitcase. Toothpaste, shampoo, sunscreen, painkillers, you name it, I brought a full stock “just in case.” Looking back, I really didn’t need to. Japan is a country where you can find almost anything within a five-minute walk of your apartment, and overpacking just means dragging extra weight across the world for nothing.
One of the things that surprised me most when I first arrived in Japan was how late the school day actually ends. Back home, the final bell basically meant the day was over. Here, for a lot of students, the bell is just the start of round two.