We took the 3 hour ferry to the closest part, Fukuoka and explored the city for the day before taking an overnight bus to Osaka. Once there, we visited the awesome Osaka castle and surrounding park, checked out the view from the Floating Garden Observatory, and went to the International Peace museum dedicated to WWII. I also took a day trip to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. I saw a bunch of historic temples, in particular the Sanjusangendo Temple. This long hall contains over 1,000 Buddhist statues, all almost exact smaller copies of the giant, central Buddhist statue.
After 3 days of culture, we moved on to Tokyo for some modern Japanese living. We stayed with my Korean friend Hena, who goes to school in Tokyo. She guided us to some of the best parts, starting with a championship Sumo match our first day. The whole tournament lasts for about 2 weeks but we only had time for a few hours. Next up was Harajuku street, where Tokyo's eccentric come to show there latest styles. Lots of interesting outfits to say the least. Another day we toured the Yebisu beer museum, saw Tokyo tower - modeled off of the Eiffel Tower, and went to an Izakaya bar. There we were able to try a bunch of Japanese dishes like Takoyaki (fried octopus balls), sting ray, and of course, sushi. I think I doubled the amount of sushi I've eaten in my life during one week in Japan. Another highlight was being in the most crowded places in the world. Tokyo has the busiest subway in the world, the busiest Starbucks in the world, and of course is the biggest city in the world - almost 10 times the population of Chicago. 7 busy days of touring Japan then back home to Busan after a great trip.
