Fluffy pastries, gorgeous landscapes, awesome people and one mega typhoon. That’s what it was like to stay in Japan for a whole month, for the third time.

November has already started, but I am still not done processing October.
If you remember from this post, October was my month-long trip to Japan.

Is it weird to say that a whole month in Japan was too short? 

This trip was my third time in Japan, and second time to go there with my husband. As more experienced visitors, we could enjoy Japan in a different way.
We barely visited any major tourists’ attractions. I think we just visited Japan.

We met up with our Japanese friends, who we’ve known for many years but get to see only when one of us crosses the world to the other side.

We visited their cities, seeing things through their eyes. We met their friends, and kids who were born in the six years we were apart.

We were in Tokyo when Typhoon Hagibis hit the coast. We learnt what Japanese people do when a typhoon is coming: they raid the convenience stores and empty the shelves from snacks and bento boxes. I had to go to three different stores to collect my supply.

We cancelled plans when floods swallowed the shinkansen, and came up with new ones.

Kabukichou in Tokyo, Osaka Castle, fields in Takayama, shimogamo shrine in Kyoto. Photos by Donald Dewulf.

We visited small shops that sold our favorite food, and shrines we never heard of and sweet little places like Enoshima and Kawagoe.

We hanged around. We played at arcades in Akihabara and I collected manga in Book Off. We explored little bakeries and admired Japan’s ability to create unrealistically fluffy pastries.

We went to a Moomin Cafe so I could greet my childhood friend Snufkin.

We went to wherever we could see wild animals. At night we dipped in an outdoor hot spring and stared at the river below us to spot boars.
We met monkeys in unexpected places and build one-sided relationships with the deer of Nara.

We ate sweet potato taiyaki and black sesame ice cream and vegan ramen.

Monkeys in Arashiyama (Kyoto) and deer in Nara.

We had time.

Kamikochi, Northern Japan Alps of Nagano Prefecture

Every now and then we asked each other, “what if next time we try spending 3 months in Japan? What if one day we do 6? What if… We move there?”

Japan is not a perfect place, but it is good to us. I can’t wait to go there for the fourth time!