I’ve done many things in the nearly two decades I’ve lived in Japan. I’ve hitchhiked from Hiroshima to Sapporo, sleeping in capsule hotels and 24-hour “saunas” (including one in Kyoto that was full of scary yakuza gangsters). I’ve crossed the Tsugaru Strait between Japan’s main island of Honshu and northernmost island of Hokkaido with sad enka music playing in my ears, and watched the sunrise from Mt. Fuji. Still, there are some things I’d like to do in the future. I think it’d be cool to visit Yakushima, the beautiful topical island that served as the inspiration for the forest in Princess Mononoke, or maybe Tanegashima, where Westerners first encountered Japanese some 500 years ago. I also want to catch a Hanshin Tigers vs. Yomiuri Giants game at Koshien stadium near Osaka with my son — I’m always worried they’ll tear down the stadium, Japan’s oldest, before I get a chance to go. I’d also like to take a dinner cruise on one of those awesome yakata-bune boats, traditional floating restaurants which cruise around Tokyo bay while you and your party eat and drink. The boats have been around for a long time, dating back to the Heian Period or so, and the idea of enjoying hot sake in a traditional setting like that really appeals to me. If you’re ever in Tokyo looking for something interesting to do, pencil in a yakata-bune cruise! (Many companies offer service in English, too).
A floating yakata-bune restaurant in Tokyo, though they have them in other cities too.
