One of my desires was to go on vacation to Japan (again). The last time my husband and I were in Japan, he suffered from a back injury. Two years later, his back is totally fine. 😅 But his neck is still recovering. I wasn’t sure if we were going on the trip until we got on the plane. But we did it! We made it to Japan and are having a lot of fun!
So far, it’s been hot like a good Midwestern summer day (70-80F)! On previous trips, we visited a bit later in November, when it was ten degrees cooler. (Yes, this is our third trip to Japan. We love it.) Even though we’re traveling a month earlier, I packed fall clothes. Think pants and long sleeves. Luckily, I brought a few dresses, which I have been wearing every day. (The stores are also selling fall/winter clothes, so I couldn’t really find shorts or short sleeves.)
What’s been fun about this trip is that we’re staying in different hotels in different areas, so we get to explore new spots.
First Stop–Tokyo
Tokyo’s always fun. For a big city, it’s super clean and safe. I love to go to Jins to get new glasses. They can look at my lenses and have a new pair ready in hours. It’s super cool.
We did a few things we love, like visiting Meiji Jingu, but we also tried some new things like TeamLab Borderless and the Odaiba Retro Museum. It was great!
What’s been enjoyable is hunting for my husband’s book in bookstores. His previous book was translated into Japanese, and we’ve found it at a few stores. How cool is that?!
Second Stop–Kyoto
We love Kyoto and spent most of our time here. Because the trees aren’t quite turning, it hasn’t been as busy as it is in November, which has been super nice.
We love visiting the temples like Saiho-ji, Otagi Nenbutsu-ji (Buddha Temple), and Enkouji. But we also found some new ones. Chilling at the temple and gazing at the beautiful nature is the best. We also love checking out different cafes. My husband’s obsessed with matcha, and I enjoy trying different herbal teas.
Many bookstores have amazing English sections filled with Japanese books translated into English. (Yes, we visited quite a few bookstores.) It’s been fun buying and reading them as they’re set in places we’ve traveled.
On the Writing Front
I met with my WFWA mentor, who read my query package, which included my query letter, synopsis, and first 30 pages. She gave me great feedback that I can’t wait to implement, but so far on the trip, I haven’t done much writing. Taking a break has been great, though.
What this means… As we’re nearing the end of the year, agents go on vacation and publishing slows down. My goal is to finish my manuscript and start querying by January 1st! January is a really good time to query. I can easily finish by then.
Is it later than I wanted? Yes. But I’m letting go of the timeline. I thought I’d do more writing on the trip, but the jet lag always gets me. I don’t drink caffeine, so it takes me a while to adjust. I’m planning to get back to it when we return unless some divine inspiration strikes.
Conclusion
As you read this, I’m on the train to our next stop. Although the trip is almost over, we’ve been having a great time! I’ll write more in the next post.
Book Talk
I’d previously read Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama and really enjoyed it. But I was sold on reading Matcha on Monday because my husband loves to drink matcha, not just on Mondays.
Matcha on Monday follows some of the same characters from the previous book, but it also introduces some new ones. Each chapter is a month in Japan, almost like it’s a short story, but every story is woven together. They were so good. One of them made me cry!
Plus, the stories are set in Tokyo and Kyoto, so it was super cool learning more about the places we’re traveling in the book. Michiko Aoyama’s books are such cute, cozy reads.
Sending you matcha love,
Liza