The "One" defining moment...

metalmark666 · (#1 (**permalink**))

For those who have travelled to Japan; what was that "One" defining moment that stands out as being the one where you eventually lost your heart to Japan?
For me it was at the top of an island mountain off of Hiroshima looking out across the see and having loads of lush, green, smaller islands surrounding me. It was amazing to look and see all of this. (I may have been suffering from exhaustion from climbing up this mountain after a few beers the night before, but it was magic).

Please share your moments and pictures.

Polar · (#2 (**permalink**))

Meiji Jingu shrine

Day 2, I just decided to take a right from hotel and see where it led. It was about 7:30am

20 minutes later I come across what I think is a park

The crunch of the gravel beneath my feet and the Okami sountrack playing through my headphones I realize this is no park

I approach the temple, turn off the Zune and hear a drum, I watch as the priests address the ancestors and retire. No one was around save maybe 3 people and the groundskeepers.

I was flat out in awe. It hit me then that yes, I was in Japan and it wasn't a dream

Troo · (#3 (**permalink**))

A couple for me. The first was about an hour and a half after we stepped off the plane at Narita. We'd been awake for about 26 hours - the flight doesn't leave the UK until the afternoon, then it landed at NRT about 09:00 local time after 12 hours in the air. Then another hour or so getting through immigration, sitting on the train into Tokyo station, and off to a taxi rank to thrust the address of our hotel at a bewildered taxi driver.

It was the tail end of monsoon season. We were soaked through in under sixty seconds. And it was brilliant. And after we'd dropped our luggage at the hotel, we went out and wandered, and found a little diner on a back street, and it was raining even harder, and we were just so glad to find food and a place to sit, and the waitress was so lovely and helpful. In spite of our extreme weariness and being drenched, that was when we just fell in love with the place.

The second was walking around the gardens at ginkakuji. Following the route signs, as you do. We reach this one:

Coming the other way up the path is a little old Japanese gentleman, his hands behind his back, his head bowed. He pauses in front of this sign and looks at it, then he says, in English: "Hmm... One way."
He thinks about this, then continues onward, still moving against the flow of foot traffic.

Genius. Utter genius

samurai007 · (#4 (**permalink**))

My first and only time to Japan, I lived there for 2 years teaching English. I don't think I had just 1 defining moment, it was more an accumulation of things over my time there. The people were incredibly friendly, welcoming, and helpful. The sights, sounds, and tastes of the country were interesting and unique. Some of my first experiences when I arrived included hiking at Nachi Falls, attending the O-bon ceremony at Koya-san, and accidentally becoming the star of Sports Day at a neighboring town (I was just riding my bike around one Saturday, exploring the next town over for the first time, when I heard music and saw banners, so I went to investigate. The townspeople were so happy to see a foreigner in their town they literally pulled me off my bike, gave me a free lunch, and entered me in 2 events! I stayed there all day and had a great time!)

But there are so many great memories I have from my 2 years there... riding around Asuka by bike with 2 Japanese friends on a gorgeous autumn day, my long trips to Nagasaki and Nikko, wonderful yakiniku parties with the teachers from my schools, a hurricane party at a beach house on the coast, staying overnight at a Buddhist temple, sleeping on Shirahama beach with a half dozen other ALTs after a huge fireworks festival, exploring the back alleys of Osaka looking for manga shops and interesting restaurants... and that's just the tip of the iceberg! I did so much in those 2 years, I feel like they were busier and more memorable than most of the past 12 years combined, and I left part of my heart in Japan...

JohnBraden · (#5 (**permalink**))

The drive from Towada city to Lake Towada in Towada-Hachimantai Nat'l Park, Aomori-ken 1987. The drive was beautiful and finally reaching the caldera lake of the volcano was awesome. But I can't say it was THE defining moment. I just knew I loved that countryside....

(no photos, since back then there were no digital photographs available to the general public)