Editor’s note: it is kind of fun to read someone else’s take on the exact same trip I took, which is exactly what you’ll get here from Jackie, my mom. While you can read my guides to Tokyo here, and the Kansai region here, I hope you’ll all enjoy her experience as well, especially what it meant traveling to Japan as a senior. For more of Jackie’s writing, make sure to click here for her index page.

We had a wonderful two week trip to Japan, seeing gardens, temples, shrines, castles, museums, hot springs, a digital art show, and various districts of Tokyo and Kyoto.   We stayed in hotels near public transportation (in two cases within a block or two of the main train station; in the third place a block from two subway lines) so that we could utilize our time well and use most of our energy to see the various sites rather than getting to/from the trains.  

This article will be my main impressions of the trip and, likely, I will mention places which Jonathan has written about as well.  I also will give a few suggestions for seniors.

My overwhelming best impression of our recent trip to Japan was the cherry blossoms.  I had hoped that we would see cherry blossoms in the public gardens or around some of the temples or shrines, but the reality was so much better!  Yes, we saw them in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo (which had many different kinds) as well as the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. But we also saw them along the train tracks, near the temples and shrines, at Odawara and Osaka castles, and even in the hills.  They were white and various shades of pink.  Many looked like conventional flowering trees and some looked more like weeping willows!  Some places had various colors/species and others just had a single color/kind.  In one kind of cherry tree, we saw lots of birds hopping around, but did not see that on other kinds!  I am including just a very tiny sample of the many pictures I took.  I never got tired of looking at them or snapping pictures.

The Japanese people also are excited about cherry blossoms.  At Yoyogi Park, we saw many people with blue tarps (which look the same as the tarps people put on their roofs when their roofs leak).   People sat on the tarps near or under the cherry trees, playing games (cards, Monopoly) or eating, and clearly enjoying the beauty.  As an aside, cherry blossom is Sakura in Japanese, and one can buy various foods and drinks with this flavor, including ice cream and lattes and more.

In addition to the cherry trees, the gardens and grounds of the various temple, shrines, palaces, and pavilions were also beautiful and serene with lots of water, flowering plants, and shaped bushes. There were also flowers along sidewalks and near some buildings.  Nearly everything was very clean with almost no trash and no graffiti.  By the way, there were also very few trash cans, so sometimes we just had to take our trash with us.

Another surprising thing in Japan is that most of the restaurants are very small and do not seem to be parts of any chains.  They specialized in just one or two main dishes (with variations) such as ramen, udon, soba, Japanese fried chicken, sushi, Kobe beef, okonomiyaki (a thick pancake from Osaka), and more.  We were able to eat in these places while still catering to my dietary restrictions so that I could always find something on the menu.  Did you know, for instance, that most ramen is cooked in pork broth (which I don’t eat)?  I didn’t either, but we found out and ate in ramen places that cooked it in a soy or miso base.

The restaurants appear to be owned and operated by individuals with just a few workers (perhaps family members).  One of the most memorable dinners was a small restaurant (with good ratings).  We may have been the only patrons when we sat down and someone (I assume the owner/cook) helped to guide us through the menu to pick items to share family style that we would all enjoy.  The food was terrific, but his warmth as well as that of a woman (his wife?) was what made it so special. Some restaurants do not have English menus and some were cash only, so you might want to make sure before you enter.  The train stations had many restaurants, so we sometimes just went there for breakfast or dinner.

The exchange rate was in our favor while we were in Japan, so lunch or dinner was almost always less than $20/person and often closer to $10/person.  The only exceptions were a fancy Kobe beef lunch and a fancy sushi dinner.  

Traveling as a Senior in Japan

I was extremely surprised that we saw very few seniors on the trains and subways.  Perhaps this is due to a couple of factors.  (1) Very often no one gave up their seat for seniors.  We even saw a disabled man who was using a walking stick/cane who only got a seat when someone got off (we were standing at the time).  We often got seats after one or two stops because people got off or someone offered a seat, but don’t count on it.  (2) Getting to the tracks was also a challenge.  Sometimes we found an elevator or escalator, but often we didn’t and had to walk up or down full flights of stairs.

Although there was more mask-wearing than in the US, it was still a small percentage – perhaps 10%.

The train stations in Tokyo and Kyoto are very large, so we often had to walk a long distance to the tracks.  The Tokyo one was rather confusing too, and we had a challenging time meeting up with other members of our party since we had difficulty finding the connection between two different parts of the station.  There were crowds in the train stations, especially at rush hour, and along some streets.  

There are very few benches along the street and in some of the parks and temples and shrines.  For example, to get to the Meiji Jingu Shinto Shrine in Tokyo was a long walk with absolutely no benches or walls to rest on.

Some restaurants do not have tables and chairs; instead they have tables you stand at or tables where you sit on the floor.  

Drivers drive on the left side of the street, so be careful stepping off the curb.  Also, often there are bicycles on the sidewalks.  Some pedestrians walk on the left, but others do not.

All in all, we had a great trip to Japan and highly recommend visiting Japan, especially in spring.  

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