Japan 2024 - Part 8: May 30-31

February 28, 2025 Michael Quan

Note: I wrote this blog post over the course of the second half of 2024 from June all the way to November where it amassed 155 pages in a Google document. This blog is being released in 8 different parts where each read has lots of content but is digestible without reader burnout: Pre-trip, May 17-19, May 20-21, May 22-23, May 24-25, May 26-27, May 28-29, May 30-31

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 30 Thursday

(For reference I am writing this section on Oct 20, 2024 - months after my last entry) Thursday would be my final full day of exploration in Tokyo and there were so many things that needed to get done such as picking up gifts for people and finding a few clothing/shoe stores that were on my list along with the Mario Karting on Tokyo Bay that I had booked for late afternoon.

I started off the morning visiting the Hands department store which was highly recommended by other members of the trip and also Loft Shinjuku. I had to be strategic with my gifts since I only had a medium check bag going home - I found these awesome wooden postcards at Hands and basically grabbed a bunch of them for everyone! I still want more but don’t know how to acquire them here in the US. Since I was near the Shinjuku station and had such a great experience eating Tonkatsu from the mall the day before, I decided to go for it again at a new place called Tonkatsu Wako Shinjuku Mylord and it did not disappoint.

The afternoon I needed to do some more shopping and pick up shoes from Spingle Move Cat Street as these sneakers are made in Hiroshima with kangaroo leather and can’t be purchased directly in the US. Ever since coming back to the US I’ve procured a few more second-hand, too! There is a famous sticker shop called B-Side Label that I stopped at to get some pokemon stickers for my water bottle and other gift stickers.

As I mentioned before, I enjoyed Mario Kart so much that I had to do it again and got a reservation at the Tokyo Bay location where I would get to drive over the rainbow bridge. This course was much longer and almost TOO long but the sustained speeds were higher and more thrilling versus the sight seeing Shibuya version. We even got to drive past Tokyo tower too which is shown in the picture below.

After karting it was late in the afternoon already but I could not leave Japan without going to a Pokemon center and the closest one was the Pokemon Center Tokyo DX location. I picked up chop sticks, an eye mask, and some bag charms, plus the limited edition carrying totes!

After all the shopping I was starving and needed to find a 24 hour ramen place near my hotel in Shinjuku and I was in luck with Ramen Zundou-ya. You had to order/pay for the food from a kiosk machine before sitting down which was a novel concept to me. I guess it's making its way here in the US now too. This final meal was the right food to end the trip with.

Around the corner from the Ramen shop was a Namco Arcade where I decided I needed to blow a bunch of the remaining cash Yen I had on hand before returning home. I played the claw machines and lost many times and decided to just buy a bunch of capsule gifts instead.

That pretty much wraps up the final full day of my trip before traveling home!

May 31 Friday

My trip was coming to an end and I slept in, packed up and took the Narita Express Train from Shinjuku to NRT airport which was a different airport than where I came in if you recall (Osaka). I really wish the train systems in the US were this efficient and fast from City Center to Airport. Here is an image of how tightly I packed my luggage till it was almost exploding along with my new passport holder!

The airplane gods were on my side as I was assigned a row at the front of a section with infinite legroom for the 12+ hr flight

For this leg of the trip I had to connect at LAX with a 3 hour layover to eventually hop on a 30 min flight back to SAN. Global entry was key to coming back in the US. I walked through customs with no hassle at all.

Looking back on this trip, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life and came at the very right time too. It’s made me more intentional and mindful about how I live and it's helped me continue to blossom relationships all around me - from the friends I met in Japan, other organizers from the US, to all the new people I meet in my everyday life. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future and am excited to live my life everyday!

Japan 2024 - Part 7: May 28-29

February 14, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 28 Tuesday

If there was one activity I booked in advance of coming to Japan it was actual Mario Kart-ing around the streets of Tokyo. This required me to spend the effort in the US to get an International Drivers Permit. The operating company was Street Kart Shibuya but they also have many other locations in Tokyo (more to come on that later). What attracted me to the Shibuya location was it was a shorter course in case I didn’t really enjoy the experience and you also got to kart through the world famous Shibuya crossing multiple times on the trip! There was light drizzle when I started my morning and I had concerns that karting wouldn’t be as fun or could even get canceled if it was wet out (both untrue!). When arriving at the location, I met plenty of other tourists from all countries who had this on their bucket list also. After signing my life away in waivers/insurance, etc we got to go pick a Onesie - I picked Pikachu! After getting dressed up, we were broken into smaller groups of 6 with a specific tour guide and given a position in the driving line. Watched a few safety and operational videos first, then got assigned a car and off we went! This was by far one of the greatest experiences I have had. Everything is just so raw about being in a tiny go kart and driving in an international city in a safe and controlled manner. Everyone who is on the street watching you drive by wishes they were in one of these too! Driving through Shibuya crossing has no words to it. The tour in total lasted about an hour or so and it never got old. I was so impressed that I wanted to try a different course at Tokyo Bay on Thursday (2 days later) and was able to secure a last minute booking. If you are going to do this, book far in advance though.

After Mario Karting it was almost time for lunch and I wanted to explore the Google office in Shibuya which was only a few blocks away. This office was in a brand new building and was 35 stories tall. Multiple eateries, game rooms, nap rooms, etc. Night and day from the office in San Diego! One of the cafe areas was on the top floor and overlooked the entire city. The rest of the crew that included Jenna, Emi, and Amalie joined me at Google for lunch too. It was wonderful to get to share this experience with them.

What better way to spend our time than shopping afterwards. First stop was roaming the streets of Omotesando of all the luxury stores. I hit up the Amiri, Moncler, and Loewe stores while I was there. I didn’t pick up any luxury goods this trip but I highly recommend doing so due to the weak yen and tax refund. You could probably save around a grand by grabbing a bag in Japan versus the states.

Next area was the hip spot for streetwear Jingumae. Any progressive looks from Japan come out of this area. There were many shops and second hand shops to look at. Since we were with the larger group I would need to return here another day to keep exploring but what I saw I liked.

The final shopping area we went to was Harajuku Takeshita Street where many of the Japan youth hang out at with lots of shops and cafes. The area that I found most fascinating were the capsule stores. The capsule machines are similar to the quarter machines at the front of the supermarket in the US,but here, there are thousands of them at once. I snagged a bunch of capsules while I was here for gifts!

We also needed to stop by a photobooth to take pictures where you can highly edit them and make them look super cool. To be honest the entire process was super confusing since nothing was in English and we didn’t know how to edit the photos after taking them - there is an entire separate booth just for the editing! Thanks to Emi we were able to acquire the digital versions later on.

After all the roaming and shopping, who knows how many steps we had taken already that afternoon and we were all wiped out (I just went back to reference my health data and it was almost 26,000 steps) We went back to Shinjuku for a quick recharge before starting the evening.

Jenna is an avid latin dancer and she was able to find a local bar Fiesta Latin Spot Bar that offered Bachata lessons and dancing near our hotels. We would actually end up here multiple nights! I showed up early to take the lessons since I explore every style of dance possible now these days. Emi also came a bit early and even though she claims she didn’t want to learn to dance, she totally did it! What I learned is that movement has no language barrier. The instructors didn’t speak very much English but I was able to communicate and follow along just fine and same with some of the other attendees. Once the open dance period started, it was quite the night - I was able to use the base steps while dancing with others but the freestyle was just as much fun.

May 29 Wednesday

Wednesday of the week I had pre-booked the 2 Digital Art museums by teamLabs - Planets which is the famous one and then Borderless which is a newer one. This was probably one of the most jam-packed days of the trip for me!

Let me tell you, getting to teamLabs Planets was a 1 hour trek from Shinjuku as it's located on one of the mini islands of the industrial area of Tokyo Bay. I arrived right on time for my ticketed entrance time slot. There are multiple interactive areas in sequence that you get to experience. Skip this section if you are going one day and don’t want to be spoiled.

First area: walking up an incline of running water. This one was just ok.

Second area: was a room that looked like gray moon craters but they were all foam so you got to walk through it and squish around. To be honest I wasn’t that impressed with this area either.

Third area: room with mirrors on the top and bottom and long strands of LED tubes. This was pretty impressive.

Fourth area: Room with knee high murky water with projections going all over it where it looks like the the water was moving and there were fish swimming below you.

Fifth area: Life size balloon room with mirror walls all around and rotating light colors. This one was more of a photo experience than anything else.

Sixth area: This room had 360 rotating projections with mirrored floors. Since I get dizzy pretty easily with spinning things, I didn’t want to stay in this room too long but I could see the allure. I have video but no photos of this.

Seventh area: This was out in the garden and was a bunch of chrome rocks. Pretty trippy!

Eighth and final area: Flower garden that raised and lowered above your head. Lots of mirrors all over still. Everyone had to sit down and then just enjoy the movement all around them.

That was a wrap on teamLabs Planets. Was it worth the experience? Yes. Would I go again on a future trip? Probably not. This is more a one and done experience in my books where the first time seeing everything is the most surprising.

I had a few hours to kill before the next teamLabs in Azabudai so I wanted to squeeze in visiting the Unicorn Gundam Statue Life-Sized which was only a few train stops away in Tokyo Bay. This was probably one of my favorite sights of the trip as I’m a casual Gundam fan.

Near the statue was the DiverCity Mall which had the main Gundam store in Tokyo. This place was insane with the amount of model kits they carried and had on display!

I probably spent about 2 hours in this mall roaming around seeing all the awesome Japanese stores before I needed to take transit over to teamLabs Borderless Digital Art Museum in Azabudai for my reservation time. This museum was newer and in a newer upscale outdoor shopping center. The concept of Borderless was there are no rooms or set route to take. You have to walk around and self discover new areas (which means it's also easy to miss items). I really enjoyed this experience much more than Planets earlier in the day and just immersed myself in all the unique areas that transpired as I kept turning various corners. Since there is no set order, here is my experience as it unrolled:

Walked into a large area with carpeted walls that had continuously changing projections on the wall so it was never the same when I was in there

Found a long narrow hallway with a new set of projections that led me to a central room with a large rock on one side of the wall that people were sitting on. So much was happening in this central room between the floor, ceiling, and walls. I had to sit down for a good 10 minutes just to take it all in (no photos, just videos)

Another long hallway with black and white animated characters walking in a parade

Mirror area with large black sticks - I don’t really know how to describe this one any other way

Circular garden room with disc plants to walk through

Multi textured art display area

Fire and fog room - This one had flame projections with fog machines that allowed the projections to display in 3d right in front of you

The bubble room - I believe this was the most famous one and also my favorite. It’s just a ton of crystal lit up spheres all over with mirrors to add extra illusion.

Room with led strips from floor to ceiling similar to teamLabs planets

Labrinth room with moving balls from ceiling to floor - This one is hard to explain

An interactive area where you get to design yout own image that gets scanned in and projection onto the wall. I made a fish that said “Spark Joy”

A room with suspended cubes in the area that had different patterns going through them that would change over time

The last area I visited was a room with many projectors lined up around the walls from front to back that created light illusions in the distance. It would cycle through a bunch of different preset programs. This was very fascinating to watch. If you see me in person ask me to show you videos of this.

I was at Borderless for almost 3 hours and would definitely return to this one again! Next stop was visiting Tokyo tower since it was nearby. You could go into the tower area that had restaurants and shops but I just did a quick look from the outside.

I rushed back to my hotel after Tokyo Tower in order to meet up with Jenna and Emi for dinner/bar hopping. Emi knew Tokyo really well and took us to this area called Omoide Yokocho that had many small restaurants lined up concentrated in 2 alleyways.

Shimonya was the spot we picked to eat at that specialized in Izakaya. You are super cramped together with everyone just due to the size of the place but this was a really enjoyable getting to order various food samplers and beverages (beer)

We continued to wander until the next spot that called our name Saitama ya. Luckily we got to sit at the only real table in the back. Everyone else was at the counter area. This was where I got to experience drinking Sake out of a box!

At the end of the night we went back to the Fiesta Latin Spot Bar again! This night it seemed like a more free for all style.

Japan 2024 - Part 6: May 26-27

February 7, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 26 Sunday

Sunday was the final day of the “official retreat”. This morning I opted to go to breakfast at the garden restaurant in the hotel versus the rooftop. After breakfast Maaike, Hiroko, Kelly and I got to explore the grounds of the hotel – it has a well-maintained garden that’s worth visiting even if you aren’t staying at the hotel. We did have to be mindful of time in order to make it to the Ito International Research Center for the seminar located on the Tokyo University campus.

After arriving at the University we sat through some more KonMari-specific topics that I won’t discuss here along with workshops from Melissa about how to run a KonMari Business that Enhances Kurasu. Melissa is such a great presenter as she can make dry topics exciting to want to learn and lays out every subject so it's easy to follow and apply to your own business. Lunch for this session was at the University Chuo Dining Hall which I can attest that is way better than most American university food. After lunch we took headshots and group photos which you may end up seeing pop up here or there on my website or other formats. When lunch was over, we all had to say goodbye to Maaike who’s flight was later that day. This was one of the saddest moments of the trip for me as it was the first goodbye of many (besides Aki). In the afternoon Helen would present on speaking opportunities. This is a subject that I had never really considered or wanted to do as part of my business but after hearing her talk and performing exercises, I would be open to it now for the right situation. The remainder of the afternoon I’m going to also not write about but if you were there you know exactly what we all got to experience together. At the end of the day both Marie provided a parting speech along with Tiffany who did a phenomenal job putting together this trip!

Dinner that night was on a Yakatabune boat in Tokyo Bay with a multi course Tempura dinner along with many other fixings and lots of Sake.

One of the most memorable moments of the trip was the latin dance party on the roof deck of the boat that Jenna led. It was fun to see everyone get loose for one final time and enjoy each other's company before everyone dispersed the next day.

It happened to be Kristin’s birthday also so we got to sing her Happy Birthday on the boat and I decided to continue the celebration with her at the hotel Bar Capri later that evening along with a few others!!

What a great way to end the retreat on a high note! My journey wasn’t over just yet though with another 5 days to explore Tokyo. I might have missed many names and interactions in this brief overview of the week but below, I want to just write a quick note about each individual person on the main portion of our trip. You’ll find this at the very end of the blog

May 27 Monday

Monday was the first day after the retreat and the first time I was able to sleep in all week, and by sleeping I mean waking up around 8 am vs 6 am. One of the trip goers Jenna was also spending extra time in Tokyo too, so we took time to coordinate and both were staying in Shinjuku. Before checking out of the hotel, we had our final breakfast at the Hotel New Otani Tower Restaurant. I was really going to miss the view from the top floor and left a lasting memory of the hotel. After checking out we met up with another Consultant (and now friend) Emi who was staying with family in town. Together we all navigated the train system with all of our luggage all the way to Shinjuku. I’m going to have to say that traveling with luggage on the train system is not the most convenient thing as there are not always elevators at every station and some require hand-carrying luggage up and down stairs such as this instance. In the future, I would plan on using luggage delivery service if switching hotels. The hotel I moved to was called Hotel Gracery right in the dead smack center of Shinjuku and is where the large Godzilla head is. Here are my first sights of Shinjuku after getting off the train. At nighttime all the lights come on and the area becomes vibrant.

Jenna and I had decided to check out multiple tourist spots this day since the majority of our time in Tokyo had been spent at the seminar. The first stop was to visit Asakusa. Asakusa is known as “old Tokyo” where it has a non-modern and non-commercialized “visual look” to it, however the place has totally been commercialized for tourism already. The main attraction of this area is Senso-Ji Temple. Although this temple was very well laid out, it was overrun by tourism and made it difficult to enjoy since we didn’t have the behind the scenes or personal guide experience for the first time on the trip.

The street leading up to temple Nakamise-dori Street Shops also was full of many shops lined up back to back with food stalls and mementos. I wasn’t really in the shopping mood this day so we both quickly walked through.

By this time it was already mid-afternoon and Jenna and I were starving. Since we had been eating extravagant meals the entire past week, there was never an opportunity to get something simple such as a bowl of ramen and luckily a few blocks away was a Ramen spot Gyumon Halal Ramen Asakusa that specialized in Wagyu ramen. You know I needed to take advantage of that! The Wagyu fat melted straight into the broth of the soup and made this the best ramen dish i’ve ever consumed in my life.

After a satisfying lunch the next place on our list to scope out on the way back to Shinjuku was Akihabara known for anime and electronics.

(Note, it’s Sept 1 now and the last time I worked on this was July 21 as I continue)

Akihabara really is its own neighborhood with lots of niche stores, arcades, etc. We actually went into a few of the stores that had a ton of toys and models but after a while they all started to blend into the same thing. Here is the only photo I got from that neighborhood.

Both Jenna and I were super wiped out after the full day of exploring so we went back to our respective hotels in Shinjuku and took a nice rest before exploring the area that evening.

The first stop of the evening was the local beer house across from the Hotel Gracery called Shinjuku Ale. The beers were not bad at all! Would definitely recommend this tiny spot for a pit stop but not a place to spend an entire evening.

Intuitive wandering of the area happened after this where I ran into an exotic coffee cart Samoyed Coffee Freaks. If you know me, you know I love good coffee and this place did not disappoint. They had so many varieties of Geisha coffee that my mind was literally blown. I tried a sample of a Panama Lamastus Reactor Fermented that had flavor notes of Sakura, Shiso, Dark Cherry, Soldum, and Blueberry. I also got to share my love of coffee with other visitors hanging out at the stand too!

Continued wandering led us inadvertently to Golden Gai which are mini alleys of TINY bars. Each bar seats maybe 6 people at most and all have different themes. I highly recommend visiting this area and getting lost in the mix. Lots of bars are at capacity when you walk by so its luck of the draw of which one you may end up at. We did a few laps before discovering the right bar with the right vibe for the night.

After a few drinks we were truly done for the night and it was time for some rest.

Japan 2024 - Part 5: May 24-25

January 31, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 24 Friday

This would be the earliest start of our trip where we would check out of the hotel and depart at 7 am for Ise Jingu Naiku. When we got to Naiku, it was strange that there were no tourists there yet but then we knew why when we were greeted by a special guest, Marie Kondo herself! Marie and her husband Takumi been at the shrine earlier in the morning and wanted to surprise the group and thank us for traveling all the way to be a part of this special experience.

Marie and Takumi said their parting ways and we got to explore the grounds where there was a nice river area to explore and be mindful. To be honest I was not good at paying attention to our tour guide during Ise who was a different person than Aki.

After seeing the main shrine (no photos were allowed) we got to see a Kagura Offering demonstration. Kagura was a dance to entertain the Gods featuring shrine maidens (Marie was once a shrine maiden). The performers and musicians were all dressed in colorful outfits and you could sense the dedication to the craft as it unfolded on stage. Sorry no photos or videos of this either. :(

After we exited the shrine we got to ride rickshaws down a road that went parallel with the Isuzu river to participate in a Goma ceremony. The purpose of a Goma ceremony was to destroy negative energy by burning items; in our ceremony we burned rice. The ceremony was led by one of the head priests of the Ise Shrines. We would get to scoop some dry rice and throw it into the burning pot where the priest would perform the ritual with each of us.

By time the ceremony was done it was around lunch time but at that point it seemed like we had been going all day already. This was probably the first real “free time” to explore we got all trip. Our goal was to find more meat sticks and beer in the surrounding town. Mission accomplished. A special note was there is a form of Udon called Ise Udon that is thicker than normal udon that is only available in this region that we got to try - It reminded me of the noodles in a thick chicken noodle soup.

Other stops along the way included coffee, fried oysters, and more beer. By the time I hopped on the bus, I was definitely not sober. The bus would drop us off at the train station where we would ride a local train to connect to a bullet train in order to get to Tokyo. From my recollection this trip was a few hours long and passed Mt Fuji. Our dinner was a bento box that was over the top. Even to-go food in Japan is well prepared.

After arriving at Tokyo station and transferring to a bus to the Hotel New Otani Tokyo The Main, we would part ways with Aki, the most wonderful tour guide.

The night was not over yet after checking into the hotel. Maaike, Hiroko, and Kelly went on an adventure to Shibuya crossing as there was a bar Mag’s Park Rooftop Bar Shibuya Crossing that overlooked the crossing! Shibuya scramble crossing is one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the world where up to 3000 people could be crossing at once. We took the train station close to our hotel that dropped us off right at Shibuya and the location we were going to was upstairs near the train station exit.

After viewing the crossing the final stop of the evening was to visit a Japanese arcade High-Tech Land Sega Shibuya near by where we played a Taiko drum game, DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), Initial D racing, and some Mario Kart! The Mario Kart video game was a precursor of what was ahead of me in the next week.

I don’t know how we lasted this long on Friday until around 11 pm after our 7 am start but we needed to seize every opportunity that we could have.

May 25 Saturday

Saturday would be the first day of the weekend seminar - All the polo shirts and real pants and nice sneakers I packed were for this day and the next. The morning started with a breakfast buffet on the top floor of the Hotel New Otani Tower Restaurant that overlooked Tokyo. This photo below was from a different day but you get the idea.

We all met in the lobby of the hotel and took taxi’s over to the event venue called BENE I’m not sure that anyone actually paid attention to where the venue was but it ended up being near Omotesando, another retreat friend Emi would point out later on. When we got to the venue, it had a very open and airy feeling to it similar to what the photos on Google show.

To start the morning Marie gave a speech to welcome everyone and thank them for being there. What surprised me the most was Marie did the entire speech in English! I really appreciated the effort that she put into it and it helped all of us feel more connected to her. For many of the past events she utilized a translator which still got the primary points across but there was always a delay in the reception of her words. In Japanese culture, many times people are afraid to make mistakes when speaking other languages so it just showed her bravery and dedication to us!

I’m going to skip over some of the seminar topics that I shouldn’t unleash out there but the next topic was that we got to learn about KonMari Japan (KMJ). KonMari as a brand has the Japan division and then international which includes the US and the rest of the world. We got to learn what they do differently and what similarities we shared as a program and operation.

After the catered lunch at the venue, we broke up into separate tables where KMJ Consultants would get to sit at our tables and we’d get to introduce ourselves to each other. Even though language could have been a barrier, many of them understood enough English to communicate effectively with us! I got to sit next to Yoko who was one of the kindest people I had the pleasure of being around. The entire group did a round of introductions of where we are from and a fun fact about us. I paid attention to the people who liked beer :) and this would pay off later.

Our next workshop activity was on Kurashi – Marie has a book called “Kurashi at Home”. Kurashi means “Way of Life” and during this activity we mapped out our entire day of how we intended on living from morning, afternoon, to evening. For me most of my day was already ideal but I did want to incorporate morning walks around 6:30 am every morning. I jotted this down as one of the active changes I would incorporate. The compromise for me would be one less hour of sleep. As I’m typing this I’ve been walking every morning for almost 40 days straight after returning from Japan. It’s all about making conscious choices and being intentional about them. Some days I wake up more tired than others but once my feet get going and I’m out the door, it's a very powerful moment for me to be in tune with myself and the surrounding world.

If you want to know how my normal weekday day is broken up in my current life this a rough Kurashi design:

6:30 AM - Wake up and morning walk for 1 - 3 miles with no headphones

7:30 AM - Sit down and enjoy a cup of home roasted coffee. I’m a home coffee roaster but that is another story

8:00 AM - Shower and get ready for the day

8:30 AM - Hop on my computer at home to start work at Google to work on products that help other people

10:30 AM - Drive into the office and continue to work

12:00 PM - Lunch, Frozen Yogurt machine :)

12:30 PM - Continue Work

3:00 PM - 15 min Pourover coffee or nap break based on how I’m feeling. We need to listen to our bodies and give it what it needs!

6:30 PM - Leave the office to drive to Dance. Dance is an activity that has been therapeutic for my mental well being the past few months. The community that I am a part of is one of the most friendly and welcoming places especially for a new dancer like me.

7:00 PM - Dance Class 1

8:30 PM - Dance Class 2

10:00 PM - Drive Home and reflect on the day and appreciate everything that happened - good, bad, or neutral

10:30 PM - Snack/Dinner - Possibly a TV episode during this time

11:00 PM - Wind down / Misc preparation for the next day

12:00 AM - Asleep around this time

On weekends I have organizing clients and other social activities so the schedule may vary but I still wake up at 6:30 AM for the morning walk!

After the Kurashi workshop, we did a calligraphy workshop where we got to practice multiple words with assistance from Yoko counterparts. I found it interesting that inthe first practice rounds, I tried to replicate the example exactly but then the demonstrator said to stroke the brush with emotion. My final product came out more aggressive than what you see below. Marie did this session with us and when she saw my work her comment was “Powerful” haha!

After the workshop we all go to take 1-1 photos with Marie and get signed Kurashi at Home books which you’ve seen already at the top of this blog post. Here are photos of me with Melissa and Takumi.

After photo time, the entire group took taxi’s over to Meiji Kinenkan for cocktail hour style dinner and drinks. This was a great bonding time where we were able to informally connect with KMJ Consultants and staff members. Importantly, I found the beer lovers Kujira, Yun, Rachel and we would meet up with them later on in the evening for beer time with some of the other adventurous Consultants at Craft Beer Server Land.

After we left the bar, there was some casual street roaming eventually leading us back to the hotel on foot. Roaming around on foot really lets you get to see the neighborhood in its true form without any destination in mind. This is one of the activities I have been practicing much more in recent months.

Japan 2024 - Part 4: May 22-23

January 24, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 22 Wednesday

Wednesday of the trip started with breakfast at the hotel once again. Breakfast I found was one of the best ways to connect with other trip members and this particular morning was an unexpected surprise with Maaike from the Netherlands. We might be located far apart in the world but we had many experiences that brought us to a common understanding!

Our first stop of the day was walking distance from our hotel, Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Instead of going straight to the temple area, our group met the Temple lecture hall/offices off on the side where one of the head monks would end up giving us a personalized tour.

He provided the history of the temple and led us to a private room full of thousands of small buddhas all around with us standing on a platform multiple stories up. We received 2 papers that we associated intentions or prayers with and got to drop them to the bottom of the Buddhas feet. This was such a surreal experience for me and further developed my appreciation and understanding of Buddhism. I learned from this monk that everything just IS - not good or bad and that we will never experience the same moment ever again in time. We got to stop next at the garden where we were able to look out and be mindful for quite some time. This was one of the top gardens that was meticulously maintained from the top of a hill down to the main pond area.

After our garden moment, we entered the chaos of the rest of the tourists that were there. We did get to go behind the scenes to the main area to perform a private prayer with the monk though. See image below for explanation.

Kiyomizu-dera Main Area — Main area of Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Finally we went to an observation area that overlooked Kyoto and said our parting ways with the monk.

After the temple, everyone was on their own to grab lunch on the Higashiyama streets enroute back to the hotel for a bus to pick us up for a daytrip to Nara. This is where Kristin (Modern Refresh) and I got to chat and ended up grabbing sandwiches and coffee together. I had met Kristin previously at a Container Store event in LA so we were familiar with each other but not much about our business and lives. Once back at the hotel, we all hopped on a bus for about an hour and a half bus ride to Nara park.

Before getting to Nara all I’ve heard about this is where you can feed deer. After arriving to Nara Deer Park, deer were literally everywhere and there were stands that you could purchase food to feed them. Aki (our tour guide) mentioned that you bow to the deer, they bow back, then you feed them. This happened in most cases except some of them were more aggressive and wanted to be fed. We had about an hour of roaming and deer feeding before our next stop at Todai-ji Temple. After a few rounds of feeding, I went on a walk with Kelly, Maaike, and Kristin to explore other areas of the park. This is where Kelly and I had a really nice bonding experience and got to learn about each other's businesses!

Maaike, Kristin, Michael, Kelly @ Nara Deer park

After our free roam time, we met at the entrance of Todai-ji Temple which houses the world's largest bronze Buddha at 15 meters tall. Although super busy, we got a private tour from the head monk who walked us on the private side paths to reach the temple where we would get to go on the upper level of the buddha that was normally not accessible to visitors, even getting to touch the statue itself! We got to do some ceremonial activities in front of the Buddha which added to the specialness of this experience that helped me get in touch further with my inner self. This was also where I procured my first memento of the trip - some buddhist wrist beads!

After the temple, we hopped back on the bus to travel back to our hotel in Kyoto where Dinner would be at the restaurant at the hotel CICON. We all sat at long tables and got to feast family style on a variety of European inspired dishes including Prosciutto, Oysters, Calamari, Beef, etc. I recall this is the first time of the trip that I got to learn about Jenna and her business. She and I had attended the same certification course in 2019 but somehow never really crossed paths until now. We would continue to build our friendship later on in the trip when we were on our own adventures outside of the main trip.

May 23 Thursday

Thursday was a super early start as we needed to check out of the hotel and pack an overnight bag to travel to Ise. Our main luggage would be transferred straight to the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo when we would arrive the next day. This would be our first public transit adventure as a main group taking a limited express train to Ise-Shima. My friend Melissa had the more creative backpack of the trip seen below.

Melissa's Backpack — Melissa’s creative backpack

I got to sit next to Melissa on the train and zone out for a few hours as this was my first real break in days. After our train arrived we would hop on a bus in Ise to have lunch at Ise Todaya Ryoan. The meal was a multicourse traditional Japanese dish and it all tasted as good as it looked. We later found out this was a Michelin Guide restaurant/hotel on our way out.

Ise Todaya Ryoan Lunch — Ise Todaya Ryoan

After lunch we would hop back on the bus to visit Netsuke Sculpture Museum for a Netsuke Demonstration with the master and his apprentice. Netsuke art are tiny wood carvings that are collectibles and can be hung on kimonos. The price for some of the more complex pieces were in the thousands of dollars! The master had been doing this artform his entire life and was passing this art form down - Takumi was able to arrange this special viewing as you would have not even known this workspace existed in the first place if you were driving by.

Netsuke Master at Sculpture Museum — Netsuke Master

Back on the bus again we would head to Futamiokitama Shrine located on the coast in Ise. There were many frog statues and themes around this shrine and this shrine is typically a place couples would go to pray for their marriage. This was the first shrine where I would get to purify our hands and before the prayer and offering. I didn’t get any photos of the shrine itself but here are the Meoto Iwa Wedded rocks that represent male and female entities bound together by rope of earthly and spiritual realms. This area reminded me of a California coastal trail with paved areas leading to all the attractions.

Futamiokitama Shrine Meoto Iwa Wedded Rocks — Futamiokitama Shrine - Meoto Iwa Wedded rocks

The journey was not over yet this day, as we would hop back on the bus again and head to Ise Jingu Geku. Ise Shrines consist of over 100 different shrines but Geku and Naiku are the main ones that we would visit. Going to Geku was fully in nature as it was located in the middle of a forest area - the area was large and not overcrowded by tourists. Here is the main shrine below that was the deity of food that we got to pray and provide an offering to. It was interesting to note that every shrine was represented by a different deity so normally you would get to pick and choose the ones that you wanted to visit based on what was happening in your life.

After visiting Geku, I think the entire group was worn out for the day and the bus ride to the Kashikojima Hojoen hotel was about an hour. After making a pit stop at a Lawsons where I grabbed a few cans of beer for road beverages we finally made it to the hotel close to sunset time. The hotel was super swanky and overlooked a bay to the south. I didn’t have much time to explore the grounds before we needed to be at dinner but here was the view from my room.

Going to dinner was super extravagant. The tables were all lined up in a large room for just our group. I got to sit next to Hiroko who is now located in NYC and previously Japan. Having her explain some of the dishes to me was very helpful! The grill dish in the upper right was abalone that was alive and then once the fire they lit went out, you were able to eat it. I was definitely spoiled by all the meals we had been eating. Some trip members did mention I was super adventurous for digging into all the dishes without hesitation, but why not!

Kashikojima Hojoen Dining Area — Kashikojima Hojoen Banquet Hall

Kashikojima Hojoen Meal — Kashikojima Hojoen Multicourse Meal

After dinner I would get to have my first Onsen (hotspring) experience at the hotel. Basically you dress up in a traditional outfit, the men and women are separated, you wash off prior, strip naked and just hang out in the hotspring. The mens onsen overlooked the bay and the moonlight was out. There were no other people in my onsen when I went. It was a very therapeutic moment for me during this trip!

Japan 2024 - Part 3: May 20-21

January 17, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 20 Monday

This day turned out to be one of the most fun adventure days of the trip before all of the scheduled activities with the main KonMari group. My stay at the Doubletree was ending so it was time to check out and drop my bags off at the Nohga Hotel Kyomizu Kyoto. As I had previously mentioned, I planned accordingly so swapping hotels was a 5 minute walk at most. After dropping my bags off, one of my oldest organizer friends Melissa was arriving in a few hours so there was some time to kill before roaming to Nishiki Market. Since Bree and I got along so well the previous day, she would join the adventure crew this day also. What I ended up doing was cross referencing the group itinerary and would hit anything major that we would not see as a group. This marketplace and other “shopping” ended up being the main items to see this day along with stuffing our stomachs with as much food and beverage as possible.

Of course the morning could have not started without a dose of caffeine. Being the coffee enthusiast I am, I needed to find the best roaster in Kyoto - SOT Coffee Roaster Kyoto. Fortunately for us this was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel. I selected a Ethiopia Tobutu Tuta G1 Experimental bean with Strawberry and Plum notes in the pourover serving method. This coffee was rated 95 by CoffeeReview which meant expectations were high. After the first sip, I was onboard.

Coffee Roaster Kyoto — SOT coffee roasters

One of the many enlightening conversations that Bree and I shared was about coffee roasting, quality, and brewing. I was able to make recommendations to help elevate her setup from a Nespresso machine in order to get quality on-par with this coffee shop everyday with minimal effort.

After arriving back at the hotel, guess what! Melissa had made it there. This was a landmark time since Melissa and I had been friends for about 5 years but we had never met in person. Plenty of video, phone, texts, but just not face-to-face. It’s hard to beat the real thing, especially in this case. Our backgrounds and the way we conduct our businesses are VERY different but we have the best mutual understanding and respect for each other.

Melissa, Bree, and I were ready to start our adventure towards the market! To preface how this day and many other future days of this trip went, my general strategy for travel is to have a general idea of where you want to end up but trust your intuition of where the adventure may take you. This strategy never let anyone down this entire trip.

The first “detour” to the market would be to stop at the Nintendo Kyoto store located on the top floor of a mall. To be honest the store wasn’t that impressive and had a lot of characters that I didn’t know. The best part of the adventure was getting a photo in front of a large Mario and the journey through the mall getting to see a Japanese toy store since Melissa was on the hunt for Legos. The Japanese toy store had infinite amounts of anime models and toys, but no legos.

After the Nintendo store, we were still headed towards the market, but intuition took us down a random side alley where the first thing we saw was a Micro Pig cafe that almost put us on another detour. After some deliberation and looking at the reservation, we decided to continue on and if we really wanted to do it we could come back later.

About 200 feet later the first actual stop was a mochi donut shop called Koe Donuts. We were hungry anyways after walking for maybe 45 minutes so it was time for the first of many pit stops.

After the Donut shop we finally made it to Nishiki market! This marketplace was a never ending long street of various food vendors. Some vendors sold on the main walkway and some you had to go inside to get service. The first thing that Bree and I wanted were Kobe Beef/Wagyu Sticks that we found near the area we entered at. They were delicious!

Wagyu Nishiki Kyoto — Scarfing down the Wagyu sticks

The next item acquired on this market journey was a custard filled Taiyaki

Taiyaki in Nishiki Market Kyoto — Taiyaki

As we continued to walk our impulsive stop was for draft beer where we got to go upstairs in the eatery to enjoy our beers in a quiet setting after roaming the busy marketplace. Sorry no pictures of this…too busy consuming.

As we had a slight buzz at this point as we were strolling through the market, it was time for some caffeine again. We saw this couple taking a silly looking video for social media on this staircase leading up to a cafe. Jokingly, I reenacted the video for fun but it actually led us into the cafe called 2D Tearoom Baw. The design of the inside was painted like a 2D room and I had a croffle (croissant waffle) and tea that was to die for.

As we continued….There was a place that was serving 100 yen sake out front. Why not, it became sake time. We all did a shot of sake out front and then strolled through the place where we got fried chicken and sushi too. This was probably the best detour of the day and became the birth of team Sake Bomb.

After multiple hours of roaming through the market that started to look the same after hundreds of stores we made it to the end. I can definitely say I was pretty wiped at this point and was ready to start roaming back to the hotel…however the Gion District Hanamikoji Street was along the way back. We did not have any group activities planned here besides a dinner. Hanamikoji street looked like it could have been a different century. Everything was “old” but “new” and well taken care of. For some reason there were also many signs saying “no photos” allowed which I later on learned it was meant for the side alley streets and this was also where many of the Geisha performing artists worked. I had read many articles such as this one stating that tourists were banned in this area on certain side streets for harassing the performers but all I ended up seeing were the no photo signs…I have no photos of this street because I didn’t want to do anything risky or violate any regulations. Along the way back to the hotel, there was another garden/temple that was encountered called Kenninji Temple.

A side note from the journey back to the hotel was I was leading the group down a bunch of side streets to get back to the hotel. I want to say everyone was pretty skeptical about where we were going, however we popped out a side alley that was literally right next to the hotel. I can say that this was the exact moment trust was fully earned in me leading groups in foreign countries.

After some R&R team Sake Bomb ventured to an Yakitori restaurant called Torisei. This palace was so charming and sat less than 15 people total where the cooks made everything right in front of you. I ordered one of the set meal dishes and ended up being delicious.

Toriesi Kyoto Yakitori — Torisei Yakitori

The night was not over as Melissa and I continued on to get some adult beverages at a bar called Sake&Beer BAR WindMill. This bar was soooo interesting as they had American classic rock music playing and TV screens of concert videos. There was also a large classic rock CD collection where you could request to play albums or songs. We tried a multi-flight taster of cold Sake where the bartender hand-selected what we got to try. They all ended up being delicious and this was the moment I became a real fan of cold sake rather than the cheap/hot stuff in America that’s used for Sake bombs.

This was the final stop of the night as it was time to stumble home and get ready for the first official day of the KonMari retreat on Tuesday.

May 21 Tuesday

I started this morning with breakfast at the hotel and it was the first time I had actually eaten breakfast on this trip so far. The breakfast selection was a variety of pastries and breads that were baked in=house along with British-style egg dishes. I recall having breakfast with Meera from the Los Angeles area. She was part of the previous bamboo forest day adventure but getting to chat with her was super awesome this particular time as she was newly certified and had so much drive and determination to hop right into her business.

Around 9 am we met with the group and got introduced to our tour guide for the week, Aki! I would later on come to realize how good of a guide Aki was as she had a wealth of knowledge about every single place we would visit and her command of the English language made my experience as streamlined as it could be. Nothing ever got lost in translation with her the entire trip and saying goodbye to her at the end of the week was the start of some of the hardest goodbyes.

After breakfast, we hopped on the bus to visit the Golden Temple called Kinkaku-ji. The temple had 3 different levels representing various architectural periods. The first floor was Shiden style with lots of wood pillars and white plaster walls - no gold on this level. The second level was Buke style which was what samurais lived in and covered in gold leaf. The third level has a Chinese Zen Hall style with a golden phoenix on top.

Some quick notes was this place was tourist crazy! You couldn’t walk anywhere to have a peaceful moment to take everything in. The temple is around a beautiful pond/garden area that is blocked off. Off to the side of the temple was a Ship-shaped pine tree along with the Abbot’s Quarters. On the path out of the temple, we were able to participate in incense and candle lighting - I really enjoyed this experience!

Golden Temple Incense — Incense lighting at Golden Temple

After the craziness of the temple, the next stop on the bus ride was a special lunch and garden viewing at Sennyu-ji Shariden Temple. In terms of crowds you could say this place was the exact opposite of the Golden Temple. There were barely any tourists at this place. We were the “special guests” of the day and were greeted by the staff where we would encounter the White Monk from Florida (Kenmei Foxworth). This temple traditionally hosts many famous people and foreign dignitaries and we got the same experience as many of them. We went into an area of the temple where tables were lined up for lunch. This was one of the most impactful lunches of my life as Kenmei mentioned to us as we consumed this traditional buddhist lunch to be mindful about the environment around us and food we were eating. We all ate in silence versus talking with each other and this is something I have incorporated into some of my current meals where I would have the TV or music on in the background.

Buddhist Temple Lunch — Sennyu-ji Shariden Temple Buddhist Lunch

After the lunch, Kenmei answered some questions about how he ended up becoming a monk and ended up at this school which you can watch his Ted Talk here. My biggest takeaway was learning about Esoteric Buddhism and how everything we do is interconnected to the community around us and to find purpose in our lives. We got to then tour the garden at the temple and have more mindful moments about what we were experiencing, seeing, hearing. This was also where I got my first fascination with stones and rock pebble patterns.

Kyoto Rock Garden — Sennyu-ji Shariden Rock Garden

The next stop on the journey was Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. This is the head Inari shrine and is the Shinto shrine with all the orange torii gates that line up in a row. The entrance was an uphill walk where we passed through multiple large torii gates where Aki said we needed to go on the sides and not the center and also bow each time we passed through. This place was BUSYYYYYYYYY. We got a quick history and then got to roam through the grounds on our own for about 30 minutes. Although this is one of the biggest tourist spots that people visit in Kyoto, this was a more of check the box spot as it was just hard to take it all in with how busy it was along with the limited amount of time we had here.

One of the highlights after the shrine was stopping by an ice cream shop along the shops back to the tour bus and was a much desired treat for everyone since it was HOT that day. Kaulani and I were one of the last people to get our ice creams! Since this is your first time meeting Kaulani, he is from Hawaii and is one of the funniest people that I encountered on the trip and also one of the few males in this space. At any given point there are only 5 or 6 males at a time that are certified over over 500+. If you look at my shirt you can tell I've been sweating for hours too in the photo.

Kyoto Ice Cream — Kaulani and Michael getting Ice Cream

The day was not over yet as our next stop was visiting Komyo-in Temple for some private activities that Takumi (Marie’s husband) had arranged for us to participate in. When I think back on my trip, this temple was one the top experiences for me. We divided up in groups and my first activity was a traditional japanese tea ceremony in a tatami floor room. We got to meet Yoshi who would prepare the matcha for each of us individually and we all sat on the floor and got to enjoy each other's company (mainly in silence) during the process.

The second activity that we would participate in was a Zazen meditation session led by the head monk of the temple. We all sat on the floor and focused on our breath and let emotions, thoughts, and sensations arise as we overlooked a beautiful zen garden. After a day of non-stop “go” my mind was able to slow down and the silence let me be mindful about my own life and many thoughts/events that led up to this moment of me being here at this very moment. Sorry no photos from this meditation as I was in the ZONE. We also got to meet the head gardener Makoto Kitazawa who has designed some famous gardens all over the world and he walked us through his thoughts and inspirations for when he creates a garden. This was one of the top gardens that I got to witness below.

Komyo-In Rock Garden — Zen Rock Garden @ Komyo-in Temple

Our final activity of the evening was dinner at Gion Kyoryori Hanasaki in the Gion district that we had visited the day prior. This was the first official dinner of the retreat and there were so many courses from this traditional japanese meal. The team really knocked it out of the park with this. This meal also had entertainment from a Geisha singer!

After dinner was where we discovered the Ren from Malaysia was the SELFIE MASTER which would hold true the entire rest of the trip. She is one of the most kind and warm souls that I have met.

Kyoto Groupie — Ren is the SELFIE group photo master!

The night was not over without a nightcap though. Our hotel had a rooftop bar CICON Rooftop Bar where some of us got some delicious Japanese Whisky!

Japan 2024 - Part 2: May 17-19

January 10, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

May 19 Friday

Days prior to the trip, I had been using the Timeshifter app which helps you avoid jetlag when traveling across timezones. A quick summary is you enter your flight information and then it tells you what hours to sleep, avoid sun, take caffeine, take melatonin. On the day of departure, I needed to wake up at 3 am per timeshifter for a 7 am flight. The San Diego airport is about a 15-20 minute ride share from where I live and I was already packed so I was ready to depart around 5 am with little hustle at all. My first flight was from San Diego to Vancouver with a 3 hour layover to eventually go to Osaka airport. My instructions were basically to sleep, avoid light, and take melatonin on all my flights there. I really have nothing else to add besides the 2 meals on Air Canada were Japanese-based (Beef rice bowl, Yakisoba breakfast) and a nice preview of what was to come.

May 18 Saturday

Although I was only in the air for about 13-15ish hours, we’ve jumped ahead into the future +16 hours from California time. After landing at Osaka Airport (KIX) slightly earlier than scheduled, I was in and out of Immigration in 2 minutes by sheer luck, my medium suitcase already popped out of the conveyor belt when I got to the baggage claim, and customs was also another 2 minute breeze as I had pre-filled out my immigration paperwork online before and received a QR code to just scan. From leaving the gate to the airport curb, it was around 5 pm and I estimate no more than 10-15 minutes total of being in the airport. The destination that I needed to get to was Kyoto which is about a 90 minute bus ride via the Airport Limousine Bus. I tried to get on the 5 pm bus but it was full already…darn…but ended up making it on the next one at 5:30 pm. On the bus ride I had some good interactions with a Canadian student who was studying abroad in Kyoto for the summer. I also messaged my friend Miho to meet up as she was in Kyoto the past 2 months learning valuable Japanese trade skills. Miho has been with me my entire organizing journey and I have always valued our connection and friendship!

After the airport bus ride to Kyoto station, my next adventure was trying to get a Taxi to the Double Tree Kyoto Higashiyama. I would be staying there until Monday since I was arriving earlier than the official retreat and had hotel points to burn. It was only a 3 minute walk from the main group hotel, too, which would make checking out and in on Monday much easier. During the bus ride, I read that GoTaxi is the number one Taxi app in Japan so I got it and preloaded my credit card. Getting a taxi was a breeze at the station and it was my first interaction with a Kyoto local. I pulled up Google Maps and had maps voice the location of the hotel. He was jotting down the address and then I said “Double Tree” and he knew exactly where to go. This was my first realization that Taxi drivers in Japan actually know where they are going unlike US rideshare drivers who rely heavily on navigation to get somewhere.

Everyone told me that Japanese hotel rooms were “tiny”. Well, guess what – they were wrong as my first room at the Double Tree was huge! There is a video in my story hi-lights on IG of the room if you want to view. After I dropped my stuff off, Miho (who was living a few blocks away) met me at my hotel and we hopped on the local metro to a local street fair near the imperial palace. This street fair was mainly meant for kids but had many street food stands. I got the Wagyu sticks and Fried Chicken! Overall it left quite an impression of Kyoto and Japan for me and I knew I could see myself exploring more areas. Miho was so kind for showing me around the local neighborhood and sharing the culture with me. I would have been a lost American tourist without her!

After the street fair was ending around 10 PM Miho and I decided to walk on the Kamo river trail to grab a drink at a Kawa Bar that overlooked the river. This was the first “warm” day in Kyoto and many people were out and about just hanging out on the river in both small and larger groups. The crazy thing was no one brought out loud annoying speakers and everyone was being respectful!

After our drink, we walked on the river path back to our respective locations and said our goodbyes for the night. I had an “infinite” day where I kept powering through and would hope that Time Shifter worked and jet lag would not exist. Falling asleep was pretty natural that night.

May 19 Sunday

Waking up in Kyoto was surreal this morning. It finally hit me that I was in Japan! This would be another free exploration day for me and I had made plans with Tiffany (the mastermind behind the retreat) to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo forest along with some other activities in the area. Some other retreat goers also arrived early and decided to partake on the adventure! These new friends were Bree from the Thousand Oaks, CA area who I had met briefly at another KonMari event in the past and Meera from Inland Empire, CA area who was a brand new consultant and getting her business off the ground.

The first order of business this morning was getting some caffeine in our bodies (especially for Bree and myself). We found this cafe called Gojo that was a minute from the main hotel that had a nice wall of books that was just calling our name to visit. Most drip coffee in japan is pour over and it was a good first caffeine hit for the trip.

Meera, Tiffany, Michael, and Bree at Gojo Coffee Tokyo

After the coffee start, we took a Taxi to Kyoto station in order to take the JR rail system to Arashiyama. This was my first experience at a larger train station compared to the single track from the night before but all signs were easy to follow to get us on the right train and platform. Having a Suica transit card loaded on my phone digital wallet made entering and exiting all train stations the entire trip a breeze. Once we got to Arashiyama there was another scenic bus that could be taken to the forest but that was sold out. The universe told us to take the 15 minute walk which led us to many more discoveries! On the path to the forest we encountered Tenryu-ji Zen Temple and decided to detour and scope it out. This was the first of the temples we visited and had a wonderful indoor area and also an outdoor garden area to explore. I remember sitting down on the inside of the temple and watching the garden in admiration of the history and care that was put into the grounds.

While walking the well maintained garden area, we got a nice preview of the bamboo forest and the exit of the temple garden area led directly to the entrance of the bamboo forest! This was probably the first extremely crowded attraction that we encountered. It was like Disneyland and super overcrowded. Taking a decent photo took a lot of patience as crowds were heading both directions down the path. Overall between the temple and the forest, definitely still worth a visit!

After the bamboo forest we were all hungry and wanted lunch. Tiffany found this restaurant in the main Arashiyama area called Yudofu Takemura that specialized in Tofu dishes. We literally had many variations of tofu where I can’t even remember the preparation methods/styles. The lunch was multi-course and every dish looked and tasted much different than the previous one. Here’s a photo though that shows the care the Japanese put into each dish. There were many more extravagant meals to come later in the trip too.

The next item on the agenda after lunch was to visit Arashiyama Monkey Park. In order to get there we got to walk across the wooden Togetsukyo Bridge with nice views of the mountains. Around this time it was very windy and wet which made crossing the bridge a fun adventure where my umbrella kept flipping inside out.

At the base of the Monkey Park, an American family was coming down and we asked if going in was worth the time. They said yes but it was a long and difficult hike to get up to the area with the monkeys. We were also in a time crunch to reach the next activity before it closed but ended up deciding to go into the park and hike the half mile 300 foot elevation gain to the top (as tracked by my watch). Once reaching the top, there were monkeys all over the place! If you wanted to feed them you had to go inside a small building and feed them from the inside with specific food they were selling. The food choices were sliced apple bites or peanuts…I picked the apples and then went to down on the feeding. There is a nice video on my IG story highlights of me feeding multiple monkeys.

After the monkeys we took a cab to the next stop, Pug Cafe Living Room Kyoto. The concept was you get to sit down with non-alcoholic beverages and feed rescue pugs. I had never been in an animal cafe before but since I enjoyed the monkeys I was fully on board with this. The staff gave us rice cracker items that many of the dogs liked, but if you wanted their full attention, you could buy an add on that contained more wet food and also included a special trip to visit the puppy room. We did this. The pugs went crazy! Video is also on my stories of this moment.

Meera, Tiffany, Bree, Michael with the Pug Cafe puppies

We hung out with the puppies at the end but they were wild and went to the bathroom all over the place until we decided we had enough! We stayed at the pug cafe until they closed around 5:30 PM. We took a taxi back to the main retreat hotel and it was almost dinner time. Bree, myself and another new newly arrived retreat attendee Leesa from Australia decided to get sushi. My entire on-my-own eating strategy was to select places that weren’t too popular on Google maps reviews and not located on main tourist streets. The place I ended up picking was Sushi-Kappo Yamabiko and it was difficult to find and only held maybe 15 people inside at most. We sat at the bar and I got the multi course meal and it was probably the best sushi I’ve ever had.

After dinner, Bree and I continued on an adventure to find more adult beverages. We stumbled into a beer bar next door called Shalara Craft Beer where I got a flight of japanese beers and Bree grabbed sake.

After the beer bar, we walked by other bars along the river while scouting out other places to grab dinner the following night. After passing on a few bars that didn’t match our vibe, we found a speakeasy called Bar Alchemist where the front door was hidden by a shelf of liquor from the outside. Once inside, they had an extensive list of cocktails and I got one that contained absinthe and was still tasty even though I don’t like sweet beverages. Bree also got what she was on the hunt for all night (vodka)!

After the speakeasy, we walked back to our respective hotels and called it a night around 11 pm in order to be well rested for the next day's adventure!

Japan 2024 - Part 1: Pre-Trip

January 3, 2025 Michael Quan

Here is the link to view the all parts (released/unreleased)

This portion of the blog is meant to give you a preview of what is to come!

Preface

Japan had always been on my list of countries to visit since 2019 and when the KonMari team announced that a retreat was in the works back in January 2024, I knew it was was my calling to finally make this journey happen and it would be even more special since it would be with a group of like-minded people. The agenda had not been released until March but my intentions were to sign up regardless of timeline, agenda or monetary blockers.

The save the date email was announced in February and consisted of a Japan trip (May 20-24) and Seminar (May 25-26). My calendar at this time already had a conflict with a close friend’s bachelor party in Mexico City but I knew the right thing for myself was to cancel on the bachelor party with the understanding that this is a once in a lifetime trip that I could not skip. I am still excited to attend his wedding this October as he and his fiance are special people to me!

Registration went live on March 6 with limited spots and I registered that same evening (without even looking at the agenda!) I trusted the KonMari team to ensure this would be a high quality and special event hitting the multiple cities and stops around the country. Everything was priced into the retreat except airfare and airport transportation making my life easy logistically. The only item of consideration for me was if I wanted to share a room or have my own for an additional fee. I had done plenty of work traveling at my previous dayjob and never had to share a room and coordinate sleep and grooming schedules so I went with the familiar option.

The trip had come at a perfect time also, as I have been undergoing some major life changes with focus on personal growth and being the best version of myself. Things always work out as they need to when you let the universe be your guide while trusting your own intuition. It may give you some tough times but will also reward you at the right moments when you least expect it. I typically haven’t believed in a higher power that much in the past but more to come on that later on in the blog.

Pre- Trip Logistics

It was probably a good idea to look for flights in late March about 2 months ahead of the trip. This was the first time I busted out the agenda to see where I needed to fly into and leave from. The trip started in Kyoto and would end in Tokyo which is serviced by 2 different airports. 2 one way trips it was going to be! Unfortunately in San Diego, there is only a single non-stop to Tokyo each day from JAL so that would not work. Other considerations were if I wanted to spend more time in each city ahead of the trip and then on the tail end of the trip - the answer was Yes! I decided to fly in on May 17 and arrive May 18 (2 full days ahead. of the trip) through Air Canada SAN->YVR->KIX and spend an extra 5 days in Tokyo since there JV would be no group exploration in the city with the seminar occupying all day Saturday and Sunday. I selected to depart on May 31 through United NRT->LAX->SAN (originally May 30 but plans had changed).

With the main bookings already completed, I waited till early May to figure out my “own time” hotel situations. For Kyoto I wanted to be near the group hotel to easily transfer to the group hotel when the retreat started - I booked the Double Tree Hilton Kyoto Higashiyama with my remaining Hilton points from my aerospace travel days. For Tokyo I wanted to be in Shinjuku, the “happening” area of town at night time and centrally located. I booked Hotel Gracery (Godzilla Head hotel) with Chase points as it was centrally located and super close to the main Shinjuku train station, providing easy access to the rest of Tokyo. There were so many hotels to select from in Tokyo that my decision was primarily based on a combination of value and location and this place fit my needs perfectly.

I also needed to acquire an International Driver Permit for an activity I had planned on my own (you’ll have to wait and see what it was). This was super easy to grab by visiting a local AAA office and showing them my drivers license along with some passport photos.

The week before the trip provided a good time to review the agenda to learn more about where we were actually going as a group, so I could figure out what I wanted to explore on my own (or whoever else was around to adventure). I had met with a close friend the previous week to get her list of recommendations, as she had spent multiple weeks in Japan earlier in the year. There was lots of cross-over with the main group in Kyoto also but luckily there was still plenty to do along with creating my own adventure! I will provide a summary agenda below before diving deep into each day of the trip.

I also didn’t start packing until the week of the trip but wanted to take just a medium size suitcase and a backpack. I knew there would be an opportunity to do laundry (or would find a way at least) mid trip but wanted to ensure I had enough items to get me through multiple days at a time. Here is what I ended up bringing:

7 Athletic T-Shirts that looked “normal” (5 Alo Conquer Reform - Green, Grey, Espresso, Black, 2 Alo Idol - Blue, Light Brown, 1 Alo Triumph - Black)
2 Polos for the seminar day (Lululemon Evolution Green, Lululemon Propel Black)
2 Tanks (Lululemon License to Train in Purple, Lululemon Metal Vent Tech in Black)
7 Socks (4 ankle, 1 athletic, 2 dress socks)
7 Underwear (All Lululemon In Motion various colors - don’t care)
1 Longseeve Pullover (Alo Conquer Reform Black)
1 Hoodie (Lululemon At Ease PinkGray)
1 Puffer (Patagonia Nanopuff Red)
2 Nice Jackets (Lululemon City Excursion in Green and Black)
4 Shorts (Lululemon Commission Woven Air in Purple, Light Blue, Grey, Black)
2 Athletic shorts (Alo Conquer Revitalize in Grey and Bone)
3 Joggers (Alo Co-Op in Red and Purple Musk, Lululemon Surge in Grey)
2 Pants (Lululemon Commission Slim in Red and Grey)
3 Shoes (Adidas Superstar 82 White, Adidas Ultraboost Mighty Ducks Jade/Purple, Rainbow Sandals Red)
2 Sunglasses (Blenders in Grey and Black)
Toiletry bag (Toothbrush, Deodorant, Face moisturizer, Hair cream, Razor, Vitamins/Medicine, Nail Clipper, Earplugs, Bandaids)
Umbrella and Disposable ponchos
Luggage Scale
Travel Pillow (TRTL standard - give it a try!)
Electronics (Personal phone, Work phone, Airpods Pro, Pixel Buds Pro, iPad, Battery packs, phone chargers, watch charger, selfie stick)
Stationary (Folio, notepad, pens)
Packable overnight bag
Water bottle, energy bars
Passport, International Drivers Permit, Printed Agenda and Logistic information

Agenda Summary

Agenda has been populated with actual events (could have been different than the plan)

May 18 Saturday - Arrival

Arrive and transport to Double Tree Kyoto Higashiyama
Kyoto Street Fair near Imperial Palace
Drinks at Kawa Bar

May 19 Sunday - Day Trip

May 20 Monday - Adventure in Kyoto

Transfer hotels to Nohga Hotel Kyomizu Kyoto (group hotel)
SOT Coffee Roaster Kyoto
Nintendo Kyoto
Nishiki Market - Lots of mini adventures happened in this marketplace
Gion District Hanamikoji Street
Kenninji Temple
Torisei Yakitori Restaurant
Sake&Beer BAR WindMill

May 21 Tuesday - First Official Retreat Day

Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple
Sennyu-ji Shariden Temple - Special Lunch and Garden
Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
Komyo-in Temple - Private tour

Zazen meditation session
Tea Ceremony
Garden Visit

Gion Kyoryori Hanasaki Dinner
CICON Rooftop Bar - Unofficial activity

May 22 Wednesday - Second Retreat Day

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Private/Personalized tour with monk

Higashiyama Streets Shopping/Lunch
Day trip to Nara
Nara Deer Park
Todai-ji Temple

Private tour with head monk

CICON Hotel Dinner

May 23 Thursday - Third Retreat Day

Check out of hotel and travel to Ise-Shima
Ise Todaya Ryoan Lunch
Netsuke Sculpture Museum - Netsuke Demonstration
Futamiokitama Shrine
Ise Shrine: Ise Jingu Geku (Outer)
Check into Kashikojima Hojoen Hotel
Extravagant Hotel Dinner
Onsen

May 24 Friday - Fourth Retreat Day

Ise Shrine: Ise Jingu Naiku (Inner)

Special Guests
Greeting with priest
Kagura Offering Demonstration
Goma ceremony by Archarya

Lunch Adventure around Ise
Travel to Tokyo Station via Nagoya Bullet Train

Eki-Ben dinner on train

Check into Hotel New Otani Tokyo The Main
Shibuya Adventure - Unofficial activity

May 25 Saturday - Weekend Seminar Day 1 @ BENE

Breakfast at the top floor of the Hotel New Otani Tower Restaurant
Welcome Speech by Marie
KonMari specific topics
Intro to KonMari Japan + meet and greet
Kurashi Workshop
Calligraphy Workshop
Group Dinner KMI and KMJ at Meiji Kinenkan
International Relations Beer Hall with KMJ at Craft Beer Server Land Akasaka-mitsuke - Unofficial Activity

May 26 Sunday - Weekend Seminar Day 2 @ Ito International Research Center

Breakfast at Hotel New Otani Garden Lounge
Explore Hotel New Otani Japanese Garden - Unofficial Activty
KonMari specific topics
Kurasu: How to Run a KonMari Business that Enhances Kurasu by Melissa
Lunch @ Chuo Dining Hall
Using Speaking Opportunities by Helen
Table Talks
Closing speeches
Yakatabune Dinner
Kristin’s Birthday Celebration at Bar Capri - Unofficial Activity

May 27 Monday - Tokyo Adventure Day 1

Breakfast at the top floor of the Hotel New Otani Tower Restaurant
Check out of hotel and move to Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku
Visit Senso-Ji Temple in Asakusa
Nakamise-dori Street Shops
Wagyu Ramen Lunch at Gyumon Halal Ramen Asakusa
Visit Akihabara (Anime and Electronics area)
Beers at Shinjuku Ale
Exotic Coffee at Samoyed Coffee Freaks cart
Drinks at Golden Gai

May 28 Tuesday - Tokyo Adventure Day 2

Mario Kart Driving at Street Kart Shibuya
Exploration and Lunch at Google Shibuya 35th floor
Luxury Window Shopping at Omotesando
Streetware Browsing at Jingumae
Harijuku Takeshita Street Browsing
Bachata Lessons and Dancing at Fiesta Latin Spot Bar

May 29 Wednesday - Tokyo Adventure Day 3

teamLabs Planets Digital Art Museum in Tokyo Bay
Unicorn Gundam Statue Life-Sized
DiverCity Mall Shopping - Gundam Store
teamLabs Borderless Digital Art Museum in Azabudai
Tokyo Tower visit from the bottom
Omoide Yokocho Bar/Restaurant Hopping

Latin Dance night at Fiesta Latin Spot Bar

May 30 Thursday - Tokyo Adventure Day 4

Morning Shopping

Lunch at Tonkatsu Wako Shinjuku Mylord
Afternoon Shopping

Spingle Move Cat Street
B-Side Label Stickers

Mario Kart Driving at Street Kart Tokyo Bay
Pokemon Center Tokyo DX Shopping
Dinner at Ramen Zundou-ya
Namco Arcade

May 31 Friday - Departure Day

Take Narita Express Train from Shinjuku to NRT
Fly home to the US via LAX->SAN
Home

May 30 Thursday

May 31 Friday

May 28 Tuesday

May 29 Wednesday

May 26 Sunday

May 27 Monday

May 24 Friday

May 25 Saturday

May 22 Wednesday

May 23 Thursday

May 20 Monday

May 21 Tuesday

May 19 Friday

May 18 Saturday

May 19 Sunday

Preface

Pre- Trip Logistics

Agenda Summary

Fulfilling Your Future

Contact

As Featured In…