The Great Japan Trip - Winter 2022-2023年 Edition

This year has been hard, emotionally and physically. I’ve lost friends due to trying to do the right thing, I’ve worked my arse off at both work and university. I lost my beloved Mamapuss, caught the Covid and have spent the last month dealing with severe health problems and, of all things, a guide dog hotel access issue which has put me off staying anywhere with Tate for quite some time.

Upside, I’ve been sober for over a week (which is huge for me), I’ve been going to the gym consistently for over a year, I’m finally debt-free and, my greatest achievement, I’ve paid for my upcoming trip to Japan completely, mainly by being super-frugal on costs...

Originally I was going to go in March but when whispers of the border reopening started, I confess my bipolar brain just went ‘sod it!’ and started planning. Yes, I was a little manic but that’s just my normal sometimes.

So I’m going to Japan!

The plan is to split my time between the Tokyo metropolitan area and Kyoto and the surrounding cities, with a side-trip to spending New Year in Ise. I’ll then return to Tokyo, do more tourist things and go to wherever I fancy before flying home. I do intend to go back later next year but until my dissertation and PhD stuff is sorted/confirmed, I really do want to focus on those to the exclusion.

I need a distinction, remember?

But, first, I need a break. This is why, while I do have an itinerary, I’m pretty much going to play it by ear, in terms of both how I feel and the weather/circumstances. I also have a surprising number of people to have coffee with, which is nice, including meeting old friends and some new ones too. This is my first trip during the Age of the Pandemic and my first time going so far in a very long time so, really, this trip is about chilling out and just acclimatising.

Also Suzume.

© 2022 Comix Wave.

The text doesn’t read well in English but it basically means: ‘Let’s visit all of Japan!’

I’m currently writing my essay for Japanese Literature (my last official module!), which is due the day I fly out to Japan. That wasn't my intention when I booked the flight but… serendipity… Getting back into an academic frame of mind has really made me excited about the next twelve months as there’s so much promise in it all, we well as opportunity.

I also had an idea for an actual paper which will give me something to do on the plane, as well as meaning I can start focusing on my long-term research interests, not just my short-term ones, as well as trying to get them submitted to journals and really cementing my name in academia, in the same way it is with manga adaption (I hit sixty volumes a little while ago with so many more coming next year!).

I miss writing, though, creatively. I’m finishing up a novel (Hexagon), with a view to writing a duology. But I also have a few other projects floating around and one of those is a secondary world fantasy series based on Japan, but not the history, rather the mythology and folklore.

As I take December to just soak in onsen (literally), visit jinja and experience New Year, it gives me this chance to close the door on a period of my life and start afresh with whatever rituals I feel will help the process.

I need to stop, and breathe, and eat 551 Horai butaman.

I need to visit Inari Fushimi Taisha, and Asakusa, and Meiji Jingu. But I also need to go to Mitaka, to the Ghibli Museum, and I’ve even booked a ticket to go to the Sailor Moon Museum in Roppongi. Because merch and, I suppose, this is a pilgrimage of a different kind, given Sailor Moon: Cosmos is coming out next year and it’s the thirtieth anniversary…

I look forward to 2023, to my next Master’s degree and beyond but now it’s time to just take a break and return in January.