To do: Japan

For the past few weeks or so I’ve been making a list in my head of things I want to do before I leave Japan.  Some of these are hopefully in the pipeline, and I’ll undoubtedly add more as I go along, but here’s what I have so far, written down and available for the whole internet to see. Hopefully that means there’s more chance of me getting these done. And some of them are ones I have already done, nicely already ticked off, in the grand tradition of all the best to do lists.

Japan: To Do:

1. Try skiing/snowboarding somewhere in Japan. I have never tried skiing or snowboarding on actual snow.  I really enjoyed the one hour on a dry ski slope boarding I did way back at university. Japan seems as good a place as any to start, considering it’s supposed to be a little cheaper if you’re already here than going somewhere in Europe or America.
2. Sitting in a natural onsen in the snow.
3. Sitting in an onsen full stop: haven’t managed this one yet. Plans are afoot for Beppu in January, so…
4. Continuing the snow theme: going to Sapporo’s Yuki Matsuri. I have a very clear memory of stumbling across photographs in a book in a library of the Yuki Matsuri and being absolutely taken aback. It’s one of the reasons I returned to Japan. It’s difficult to get there as it takes place when there’s no national holidays or exams, but I’m going to try my best.
5. Have a drink at the New York Bar in the Park Hyatt Hotel. A little naff this one, I know, but I really love Lost in Translation.
6. Visit a Japanese theme park. Tokyo Disneyland or even the Hello Kitty one…
7. Visit at least one place on Honshu, Shikoku, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Okinawa.
8. Go to a maid café. Preferably a non-sleazy one.
9. Go to a love hotel. I don’t think there are non-sleazy ones.
10. Have a go at shodo. (Japanese calligraphy). I’m famously uncoordinated so I don’t think it’d be a viable long term hobby for me, but I’m really enjoying beginning to learn how to write kanji, so I think at least one go would be ace.
11. Learn to cook at least one Japanese dish really well.  Had fun learning how to make tempura with Ben’s Kyoto-sensei the other week but I don’t think tempura’s something I’ll be making regularly.
12. Go to more Tadao Ando buildings. Ben’s burgeoning obsession with this guy is beginning to rub off on me. There’s a pending post in my head about the Nariwa Museum which we went to on Saturday to explain some of this.
13. See Kinkaku-ji. I’ve been to Kyoto twice and still not seen it.
14. Watch the Saidaiji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri (also known as the Okayama Naked Man Festival). Nine thousand men in loincloths wrestling each other for sticks. In February.
15. Go to the I Love Yu crazy arty onsen on Naoshima.
16. Spend a night on Naoshima.
17. Learn enough Japanese to actually have a proper conversation with someone. I’m getting there… I can have 20%Japanese/80%English conversations!
18. Go to the Yakushima forest on Kyushu. It looks stunning in photographs.
19. Eat natto. Done. Not a fan. Maybe I’ll try it again in a few months.
20. Visit Shodoshima.
21. Visit Onomichi.
22. Ride a camel on a Tottori sand dune.
23. Spend a night in a monastery in Koya-san.
24. Sit on a beach in Okinawa and pretend I’m a yakuza hiding out from inter gang troubles.
25. Have a crazy night out in Tokyo.
26. Have a crazy night out in Osaka.
27. Have a crazy night out in Kyoto. (noticing a theme here?)
28. Have a crazy night out in Fukuoka.
29. Stay in a machiya in Kyoto. I tried to do this for New Year, when my dad and stepmum will be visiting, but all the ones in our budget had unsurprisingly already sold out.
30. Cycle/hike the Kibi Trail.
31. Read more Soseki.
32. Have another go at taiko, or even try to join a group.
33. Go to a gig in Japan. We nearly got tickets to Friendly Fires in Tokyo in a couple of weeks, but our train won’t really get us there in time to go. Mogwai are playing Osaka on Wednesday night, but I can’t face a day’s teaching after the night bus back… (I know. I is a wuss.)
34. Proper all-nighter (with snooze breaks) in a karaoke room.
35. Walk a hike in the Sandan-kyo gorge in Hiroshima. There’s just something about the description in the Lonely Planet Hiking In Japan book that grabs me.

I think that’s enough to be going on with for now. I’m pretty sure there’s more. Any suggestions? Fancy joining me on any of the above?