I dropped everything for cherry blossoms.
The shinkansen had barely come to a stop when Yuuki already had his head poking out of his carrier, sniffing the Tokyo air. Honestly, I get it. There's something electric about this city, an energy you can't quite explain, you just feel it, all at once, the second you step onto the platform. I dropped my bag at the hotel in five minutes flat and rushed off to Asakusa before I'd even unpacked my suitcase. The huge red lantern of the Kaminarimon was right there, exactly the way I'd pictured it, and yet nothing had prepared me for seeing it up close. The lacquered wood smelled of incense mixed with the previous night's rain.
The real surprise was Nara. I swear, I thought the deer were a little overhyped by the photos. Not at all. One of them slipped its head into my shoulder bag while I was digging for my camera and trotted off with my notebook clamped between its teeth. I chased it for three minutes while everyone watched, amused. Yuuki didn't move an inch from his bag, eyes wide, too proud to admit he was impressed. Best not to keep your stuff in an open pocket around here.
On the last evening, I had dinner at a ryokan in Hakone, in a yukata, facing a kaiseki tray so beautiful I almost didn't dare touch it. Yuuki settled down across from me on the tatami, straight as a rod, and stared at my miso soup with an intensity that honestly made me feel guilty. The steam from the hot spring bath was still rising off my arms, the cherry trees outside were dropping their last petals into the dark, and I realized I'd spent the whole week running without ever really feeling like I was missing out on anything. Maybe that's what Japan in spring is: everything happens at exactly the right moment, even notebook-stealing deer.
My very own Japan!
The matcha lesson
I thought the tea ceremony would be a calm and solemn moment. Calm, yes. Solemn, not so much, because Yuuki decided to sniff the tea master's bowl of matcha with truly remarkable persistence. She didn't bat an eye, not even for a second. As for me, I nearly knocked the whole tray over trying to hold back a fit of giggles. The tea had a slightly bitter taste, almost earthy, and honestly it was... nothing like what I usually drink at home!
Yuuki in his element
Honestly, I'm not sure I was the real star of this little Akihabara shop. Yuuki settled onto a shelf between two giant plushies with such confidence that three different customers asked whether he was for sale. He looked at each of them with that mix of polite disdain and restrained curiosity he saves for moments when he knows he's being admired. In the end, I found the perfect figurine for my shelf back home, and he found the audience he'd been waiting for all along!
Kyoto from above
You'll never believe how different the city looks from the wooden stage of Kiyomizu-dera. Down below, everyone is rushing around, searching for something, checking their phones every few steps. Up there, you rest your hands on the ancient wood, you watch the forest roll down toward the rooftops, and something inside you quietly settles, without you ever really knowing what it was. Yuuki's tail was swinging slowly, his eyes half closed in the afternoon light. For once, the two of us were in exactly the same place, in every sense of the word.
Обязательно посетить ♡
