Like most kids growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s, my childhood was largely comprised of Japanese pop culture. Watching Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, and Naruto in my grandma’s basement was a weekend ritual for me and my cousins, and I can say without a shred of doubt that it influenced my cultural interests growing up. Over the years, of course, my interest in the country spanned much wider ranges of interest, from the culture, tradition, scenery, and sprawling urban streets, Japan had so much more to offer.
I applied for the photojournalism internship at Japan Travel as part of completing a work placement unit for my journalism course at UAL. After two years of being a journalism student in one of the most journalism-intensive cities in the world (London), I found myself pretty fed up with journalism. My previous excitement for covering current affairs or even delving into more of a creative journalism route had dwindled. Travel journalism seemed like the only option that might actually be an enjoyable experience. The photojournalism aspect was also incredibly appealing. My interest over the course of my program had massively shifted towards visual storytelling—and that’s where the industry’s headed, too. There are little, if any, countries more photogenic than Japan, meaning there are little, if any, countries more suited to building a beginner’s portfolio in photography.
The internship itself is a dream opportunity for anyone looking to dip their toes into travel journalism. I should also say though, this is a job where what you get out from it depends on how much you put in. Put yourself out there, take risks, and definitely, definitely get out of your comfort zone. For some, travelling to a foreign country alone where you don’t speak the language is basically the maximum extent to which they’re willing to push their boundaries. What this internship inspires is to embrace yourself as the kind of person who’s willing to push it a lot further than that. Seeking out the unknown, interacting with locals, all the whilst documenting all of this through a camera lens and your keyboard is a difficult job, but so rewarding in terms of the practical life and job skills you will take away from it. Here is where you’ll pick up on certain skills that will differentiate you (on a personable level) from the plethora of competition you’ll face in any job industry. Make the most of it.
After my first week in Tokyo, I lost count of how many times I’d gotten lost on the metro. There were times where I’d thought I’d finally figured out my way around it, only to somehow find myself on the wrong platform, or on the wrong train because I was actually meant to get on a train that arrived just two minutes later (and this was all with the help of Google Maps, mind you). On the bullet train (or shinkansen), I made the mistake of booking an unreserved seat and had to stand for the entire two and a half hour long journey from Tokyo to Kyoto because all the unreserved carriages were completely full. But these are all the sort of mistakes that I could try and try to prepare myself for, yet simply couldn’t avoid. Why? Because when you a combine already overwhelming cities with an overwhelming venture into the unknown, it’s virtually impossible to keep up with micromanaging everything. Small details will slip by you, an unavoidable byproduct of coping with stress. And if I’m being entirely honest, I found myself stressed a lot of the time. Not to an extent where it was unbearable, but just to an extent where it happened to come along with the territory of taking on a new job, being alone, and absorbing an entirely different culture.
That said, there is no other country more well-equipped to cope with all these difficulties and make it all worth it. Coming from London, I could not have been more appreciative of the amount of tranquil parks, gardens, temples, and hikes that were all at my disposal. The parks in Tokyo are huge and extremely well-kept. The juxtaposition of the serene scenery up against the industrial architecture of the city plays a strange trick on the mind as you cross the portal from the entrance of the parks back to the city. It feels almost unnatural, yet so necessarily nonetheless.
Kyoto was a paradise in terms of getting back in touch with my with rural roots. I grew up on an acreage outside of the city, and spent most of my time ambling around the forests that made up my backyard. Hiking through some of the trails on the outskirts of Kyoto (such as Daimonji-yama) was an incredibly fulfilling experience that had me smiling cheek-to-cheek as I made my way through the trees. I felt like I’d be transferred to some a world out of a Final Fantasy RPG. To feel so in my element miles away from home realigned my perspective in a lot of ways I hadn’t even noticed had changed so much over the years.
A lot of people ask me what my favourite memory from the trip was. My default answer tends to be the day I explored the abandoned amusement park in Nara with some friends I’d met the hostel I was staying in Osaka. I say this one because it’s obvious why it was such a cool experience. Climbing up Dreamland’s abandoned roller coasters, which are steadily being reclaimed by nature, is a feat not many can attest to. My real favourite memory, however, is one a lot less exciting, though much more nostalgic in nature. The setting involves a Video Game Space Station Bar, a round of flaming ‘hadouken’ shots, vintage Nintendo games, and a midnight bike ride through the empty streets of Osaka in t-shirt weather with the humblest of company—friends I’d just met a couple hours before at a hostel. I can easily point to this night as one of the best nights of my life.
The hospitality I was met with in Japan was some of the most welcoming I’ve ever experienced. I was lucky enough to have found a home away from home at the very first hostel I stayed in. I now call the staff at Tokyo’s Star Inn some of my best friends, and this blog post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning them. I visited Tokyo again at the end of my trip, and during my last night at the hostel, the team put on an entirely vegan hot pot night for the whole of the inn, a level of generosity and deliciousness that was so heartwarming. The morning I left, Rina, Sohya, and Yoan all waved goodbye as I tugged along with my suitcase to catch the train to the airport. It felt like saying goodbye to my parents!
On the plane ride back to London, I had so much material gathered in my head to reflect over—I almost couldn’t believe the past six weeks had actually happened and weren’t a dream. I spent over a month in Japan, yet there was still so much I hadn’t done. I spent my journey home planning my journey back.
