We spent two whole days traveling… Everyone was tired, but we made it to Tokyo!

Flights:

The longest flight was the eight-hour journey from Moscow to Beijing. In Beijing, we rested on benches and massage chairs. The flight to Tokyo was very easy and fast — we slept through the entire flight.

In Tokyo:

At Tokyo airport, we were greeted, given a router, meal money, and many other things. After that, we took the metro to the hotel. We arrived at our room — it’s fine. We had dinner at a restaurant. The food and drinks were delicious.

In the end, we returned to our accommodation, showered, and are now getting ready to sleep.

October 31, 2024 — Diary by Nastya.

Today was the most educational and memorable day of my life! Yes, the morning started off so-so because many hadn’t slept enough and felt like boiled sausages. But after we had breakfast and regained our strength, everything became great. After that, we went to our Japanese lesson and learned a lot — for example, basic words like hello, thank you, and sorry, and we also learned some kanji. We all listened with interest and really enjoyed it.

After the lesson, our journey began. Our team went to Sky Tree — a tower 634 meters high. The view from 350 meters was incredibly beautiful, breathtaking, and everyone had unforgettable emotions! We also went shopping there and bought souvenirs — affordable and excellent quality. And that was only before lunch!

Then we took the monorail to Odaiba Island. I filmed the entire journey. We walked a lot, took beautiful photos, and became a more friendly and united team throughout the day. Hurray! When we were already on our way home, our legs were giving out, but we were very happy and impressed with our first full day here.

We visited the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, located on Crane Hill. Inside the shrine is a statue of the Great Buddha, striking in its beauty and grandeur. Then we headed to Hase-dera Temple, known for its statue of the goddess Kannon. After that, we took a stroll through a Japanese-style garden, enjoying the peace and harmony of the surrounding nature. Near the temple, there are caves that amazed us with their beauty and mystery. Concluding our excursion, we visited Hase-dera Temple again and saw the statue of Kannon. This day left unforgettable impressions and allowed us to immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of Japanese culture and history.

Day 3 in Japan — Diary by Lev Vikhrev-san.

Today, as usual, we woke up at the hostel. Yesterday, a Japanese woman came into our room — we didn’t quite understand what she wanted, whether to clean or to check in with us, but Elena escorted her out.

In Japanese class, it was fun — we joked a lot with Sofia. She and Elena are our senseis. We learned to write our birthdays. Kirill is the youngest, and Zakhar is the sempai — the oldest.

After the lessons, we went to Yokohama. The morning rain didn’t scare us — we didn’t want to buy raincoats or umbrellas. In Yokohama, we visited the “Port of the Future” — Minato Mirai — and took photos with the ship Nippon Maru. This is a sailing ship. On holidays, it unfurls its white sails as a symbol of beauty and purity — the meaning of white is the same in our culture. Recently, the ship celebrated its 100th anniversary.

After that, we took a walk, ate some treats at the pier, went to the Red Bricks Factory and made our own ramen, and also learned about the history of ramen. We walked to the military warehouses, where during World War II, food and water were stored. The Japanese feared a repeat of the Leningrad blockade, so they brought supplies to these warehouses.

Nearby, we ate at a restaurant and ended our day with a visit to a tower 273 meters high, with an elevator speed of 750 m/s. Your ears get blocked on the way up! We thought the clouds would obstruct the view, but you could even see a bald Japanese man eating his dinner if you looked through the special viewing device.

And that’s how our day went. This day was truly amazing, and I really enjoyed it!

November 3, 2024 — Diary by Sonya.

Today was an eventful day. We left for the city of Nikko at 8:15 AM. The city is located 300 meters above sea level. There we visited the summer residence of the emperor and several temples. We also got to try traditional home-style cuisine.

Our guide, Karina, told us many new and interesting things, for example: the summer residence has 106 rooms. People deliberately left buildings unfinished or made something slightly imperfect — for example, leaving one tile missing — so that evil spirits could not enter. On one of the temples, there was a small demon that protected the building from evil spirits.

On the roads, nobles and the emperor traveled in special palanquins carried by servants, as horses and oxen damaged the roads. Only very rich people could occasionally ride horses on the roads. And with that, our journey came to an end.

Today was an unusual day: Japan celebrates for three days, and in the morning the metro was empty. In our Japanese lesson, we learned to write in both syllabaries — katakana and hiragana — and to read. Everyone succeeded! Sofia is an excellent teacher!

After the lesson, she accompanied us to the Science Museum: there were many floors with different themes. We split up, and each of us went our own way: boys to the left, girls to the right. Nastya took the most photos and even managed to nap on a soft sofa, while we ate.

After that was the zoo, divided into two peninsulas. We split up again, agreeing on a meeting place and time. Surprisingly, it was very interesting. The polar bear was somehow brownish, the seal had a tiger-like coloring, and the tiger looked skinny.

The day turned out to be eventful, even though it was the shortest of the trip. I really enjoyed figuring things out on my own using the zoo map and navigating the museum building.