I’m riding the Shinkansen out of Tokyo for a long weekend in the countryside. It’s been more than 6 months since I did this journey and there is something very poignant about it.
I work in a Japanese office and have been very busy for months now, working weekends and evenings. My recent experience of Japan consists of rush hour trains, dour salarymen and working 12 hours a day in near silence.

Riding this train brings back memories of the day I first arrived in Japan. Touching down early in the morning, we took the Narita express straight to the centre of Tokyo for a breath of the big city. Then we shot off in the Shinkansen to a small city on the coast, Atami, to stay with my brother-in-law. This journey in the Hikari reminds me of those early days and all the things that I loved about Japan when I first came here.

I hope to fall in love with Japan again this weekend….

Or maybe I’ve just had too much 一番搾り

For other gaijins out there:
What is it that defines your Japanese experience, that reminds you of why you are in this country and brings back those memories of the early days?