DIDIER has just finished a two-week solo trip through Japan, taking in Tokyo, Hakone, the Nakasendo, Takayama, Hiroshima and Kyoto, among others. He agreed to answer a few of our questions about the trip, so that future travellers can get a better sense of what to expect in the land of the rising sun.
FANNY: Hello Didier, and thank you for taking the time. Could you start by telling us why you chose Japan?
DIDIER: Of course. I was looking for a country with a different culture, a different way of living, somewhere modern, rich in history and at the same time still holding on to its traditions and customs. My former colleagues also gave me books about Japan, so the timing was right.
FANNY: What were your first impressions on arriving? Did you feel any culture shock?
DIDIER: I felt fine from the start. No hesitation about going out to find a restaurant for my first dinner, and I should say that your welcome at the airport did a lot to settle me on my first steps in Japan, as did the guided day that followed. What stayed with me: the politeness, the organisation, the respect, the cleanliness. The discipline in transport, in the streets, in the way people walk and cross, the quiet inside the carriages. I had expected chaotic traffic in Tokyo, and it was nothing of the sort: everything runs like a metronome, no horns, no Uber Eats or scooters weaving through. Certainly no e-scooters. Watch out for the bicycles on the pavements, though. And one thing I had to adjust to was the toilets. The level of comfort was something else.
FANNY: You chose to travel alone. Did you ever feel unsafe, or run into particular difficulties?
DIDIER: At no point did I feel unsafe or hemmed in, and that was true from the first walk out to dinner. No apprehension during the day, on the hike, or late in the evening in the back streets of Tokyo, to give one example. Now and then the difficulty was finding my way through the busier train and metro stations. But it was never beyond me, because Japanese people are always ready to help. And there was the question of the challenge too, since it was my first time travelling solo.
FANNY: Of the places you went, do you have recommendations for future travellers?
DIDIER: I will not be original here, but for anyone who likes walking, the two days on the Nakasendo are worth doing, because of the Japanese countryside. The climb up Mount Misen is another walk I would recommend, for the view over the islands off Hiroshima. And I think you would want five days at a minimum for Tokyo.
FANNY: You told me you met some memorable people on the trip. How did that come about?
DIDIER: There was a stop at Ochiai-juku, on the Nakasendo, at a small café where they serve you a HOMEMADE soda and the charming owner puts on French music to welcome you. We talked, and I tried a little Japanese. A good memory, and a broad smile as I left. Still on the Nakasendo, an older Japanese man on a motorbike pulled over and started speaking to me in French. He told me he was fond of France and had been well looked after while studying at Vincennes. I am not making it up. Another evening I fancied okonomiyaki, so I found a restaurant, and then a Japanese man sat down next to me and we were off on another conversation. All of which is to say that the kindness, the curiosity and the courtesy of these people were remarkable.
FANNY: What were the high points of the trip?
DIDIER: The Sanja Matsuri festival in Tokyo, the castles at Matsumoto and Himeji, Shirakawago, the sheer scale of Todai-ji and Daisho-ji. Also a festival in Hiroshima called Manto Mitama, with traditional dance and costume, which I came across by chance, and Hiroshima itself, for its peace memorial and the Genbaku Dome.
FANNY: Many thanks, Didier, for your answers. Before we finish, is there anything you would like to add? I will go back. To walk, or to ride the Shimanami Kaido cycle route, for instance. The luggage forwarding was a real help on this trip too. Everything went smoothly with the bag service, which I was grateful for, and it was always on time.
