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 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.
