Tokyo – Travels With Matt Blog

The First Konbini Run in Japan

Every trip to Japan begins with a small ritual.

It doesn’t involve a famous temple or a well-known landmark.

It starts at a konbini, convenience store.

The First Train Ride After Landing in Tokyo

There’s a moment at the start of every trip to Japan when it suddenly feels real.

For me, that moment doesn’t happen at the airport.

It happens at the train station.

What 20,000 Steps a Day Does to Your Mind in Japan

One thing I didn’t fully understand before traveling to Japan was just how much walking I would do.

You hear people say it all the time. Bring comfortable shoes. You’ll walk more than you think. But it doesn’t really register until you’re there, moving through the cities day after day, watching the step count climb higher than it ever does at home.

Twenty thousand steps becomes normal.

And strangely enough, it never really feels like a burden.

A City That Made Me Miss Japan (For a Moment)

I didn’t expect to miss Japan while standing in the middle of Dublin, but it was fun experience.

The Day I Stopped Trying to See Everything in Japan

There was a moment in Japan when I realized I wasn’t trying to see everything anymore.

A Meal I Didn’t Plan in Japan

Some of the best moments in Japan are the ones you don’t plan.

This night in Shinjuku was one of them.

The Space Between Destinations

When people talk about travel in Japan, they usually talk about destinations.

Tokyo. Osaka. Kyoto. A specific temple, a neighborhood, a restaurant worth waiting in line for. Those places matter — but the longer I spend in Japan, the more I realize that the parts that stay with me live in between.

What I Learned by Staying Longer in Japan

Most trips are built around highlights.

You arrive with a list, move quickly, and measure success by how much you managed to see before it was time to leave. That approach works, especially in a place like Japan where every city feels dense with experiences. But on my two-week trip in 2025, something different happened — not because I saw more, but because I stayed long enough for the country to stop feeling new.

I spent a full week in Osaka. Not hopping between cities. Not treating it as a base for day trips. Just staying. And that decision quietly changed everything.

A Neighborhood I Didn’t Plan to Love

Some places win you over immediately. Others do it quietly, without asking for attention. Yanaka-Ginza was the second kind.

I didn’t arrive there with expectations. It wasn’t high on any list, wasn’t framed as a must-see, wasn’t something I had been imagining before the trip. It was simply a stop along the way, a neighborhood I was passing through rather than aiming for. A tour to get away from Shibuya and the neon-light streets, a change of pace.

And maybe that’s why it stayed with me.

The First Night in Japan Still Feels Different

Every time I arrive in Japan, it’s in the afternoon or later. By the time the plane touches down, my body is already behind. I don’t sleep on flights — never have been able to — so I arrive carrying that familiar mix of exhaustion and adrenaline. The kind where your eyes feel heavy but your mind is wide open, taking everything in whether you want it to or not.

Jet lag hits fast, but I’ve learned not to fight it on that first night in Japan.

A Train Ride in Japan I Still Think About

There’s one train ride from my last trip to Japan that I find myself returning to more than any other. It wasn’t my first time on the Shinkansen, and it wasn’t even the longest journey I took. But something about that ride — moving from Osaka back to Tokyo — has stayed with me in a quiet, persistent way.

Japan Is the Place That Never Lets Me Go

Why Traveling to Japan Continues to Shape How I See the World

There are places you visit, places you enjoy, and places you remember fondly. And then there is Japan — the place that never really lets you leave.