Reminiscing About Japan
The train sounds are what I miss the most. As someone who adores slice of life anime, hearing those train sounds in real life and having them sound exactly like the anime was a surreal experience. I left Japan with a deeper love of anime due to their attention to detail for the small things in life; the train sounds, the way the art looks exactly like backroads in Japan, and the way they romanticize the little things people often overlook.
Fushimi Inari
This will forever be my favorite part of Japan. Not because it is a heavily visited tourist area but because it is everything I imagined my time in Japan would look like. Sadly, it is also the only time in Japan where my vision of the trip aligned with reality.
We woke up to dreary autumn skies, the rain slowly falling down our ryokan window. While some people may have been upset at day one in a foreign country being filled with rain, my heart raced. As we left the ryokan we were handed clear bubble umbrellas to use for the day. The streets leading to the train station were quiet, the soft sounds of rain running off of tree leaves into puddles scattered across the ground.
Navigating the trains was easier after a full night’s sleep and we made it to Fushimi Inari with little issue. Walking up to the shrine I found myself enamored with tiny side streets and gachapons lining them. Despite being early, there was still a fair amount of people walking around the entrance. Hiking through the tori gates was magical in itself with the drizzle of rain adding to the ambience. It felt like being in an anime with reflections of gates scattered across the puddles and snails coming out of hiding to enjoy the weather.
The real magic was making it to one of the look out areas. Most people stayed on the path and walked right past the shrine with the incense filling the air. Placing my yen on the kitsune’s head guarding the shrine fulfilled something in my heart. Standing off the beaten path watching tourists rush past the serene area not really taking everything in was weird. I wanted to savor every moment I could there.
It’s odd thinking about our trip now because it feels like a fever dream. I know I was there and yet it feels like it never happened. Like I spent time dreaming of visiting my bucket list location instead of actually going there. Honestly, the rest of the trip felt rushed and somehow unnecessary. My favorite day in Japan will always be that rainy day at Fushimi Inari.
