Day 04 - What's your favorite place that's not in any of the guidebooks/lists of places to visit?
Okay, I’m going to be truthful here. I did not spend huge amounts of time off the beaten path when I lived in Japan. I did travel a lot, but I mostly went to places that are famous and well traveled by others. My favorite place that’s not necessarily in all of the guidebooks was probably my friend Laura’s apartment. Or should I say apartments - she moved halfway through my time there. See, our lives in the Tokyo/Yokohama metro area were entirely ruled by train schedules. My last train to my station from Shinjuku was at about 11:15 pm, and the last one from Yokohama was at 11:30. So any time I went anywhere, I either had to leave by 10:30 or so to make sure I made it home or stay the night. I spent a lot of time sleeping on friend’s couches and floors, especially Laura’s couch. I would go into Yokohama on Saturday night and we would party it up, then head back to her place to crash. We’d get up in the morning, she would make me tea and breakfast, and we would either head out to whatever thing we had to do together that day or go our separate ways. Seriously, we spent nearly every weekend together there for a while.
My apartment was fairly sparse - I never really decorated because I always knew I would eventually leave, so I never truly made it a home. I did eventually get nice curtains and a rug as a gift from a friend and I bought a cheap bookcase and a little table, but my apartment never truly felt like a home. Laura’s apartments were always homey. She had pictures all over the wall, books everywhere. So when I think of her place, I feel almost like it was more of a home to me than my own. I have a lot of lovely memories in those apartments. Anyone who knows me knows that the idea of “home” is important - when I came back to Texas, I did it because Texas is my true home and I knew I needed to be here to really heal after losing my mother. It was lovely to have a place to go in Japan that felt like a home, even though it wasn’t mine.
Laura herself thoughtfully provided a picture of the apartment she had in Yokohama proper. So here you are: my favorite place that’s not in any guidebook you’ll ever see, but it was definitely a great place to go and just be.
My apartment was fairly sparse - I never really decorated because I always knew I would eventually leave, so I never truly made it a home. I did eventually get nice curtains and a rug as a gift from a friend and I bought a cheap bookcase and a little table, but my apartment never truly felt like a home. Laura’s apartments were always homey. She had pictures all over the wall, books everywhere. So when I think of her place, I feel almost like it was more of a home to me than my own. I have a lot of lovely memories in those apartments. Anyone who knows me knows that the idea of “home” is important - when I came back to Texas, I did it because Texas is my true home and I knew I needed to be here to really heal after losing my mother. It was lovely to have a place to go in Japan that felt like a home, even though it wasn’t mine.
Laura herself thoughtfully provided a picture of the apartment she had in Yokohama proper. So here you are: my favorite place that’s not in any guidebook you’ll ever see, but it was definitely a great place to go and just be.