Dreams of Japan

I plan to do sooo much while I'm in Japan, just as anyone would! I'll be there to connect with my coworkers, students, and community but I also definitely want to take time to travel. This is an initial checklist of things I want to do and see. By the way, these are in no particular order!

Take a ferry to Beppu and experience its famous onsen (hot springs)

Visit Nanrakuen Garden in Uwajima (because it reminds me of the secret garden from Howl's Moving Castle)

Feed a giant Japanese Rhino Beetle

Go to a maid cafe

… And a cat cafe

See the outside of Aokigahara (Suicide Forest)

Witness a traditional Japanese wedding

Climb Fuji-san

Spend at least a day at Tokyo Disneyland

Go through the Studio Ghibli Museum

Stroll around Akihabara

Go shopping in Tokyo (and buy something from Spank!)

Snowboard for the first time (there are places to go in Ehime)

See a J-pop concert (specifically Kyary Pamyu Pamyu)

Hold a Marimo moss ball

Learn a Japanese martial art

Visit all 4 of Japan's main islands

Stay at a capsule hotel

Learn conversational Japanese/Pass the N2 JLPT

See the life-size Gundam

Be in a tea ceremony

Eat conveyor belt sushi

Participate in a festival

See a real geisha

Relax in a zen garden

Get a kimono

See a national sumo match

Take pictures in a Purikura booth

Visit an Inari shrine

Cherry blossom viewing (hanami)/yozakura (evening hanami)

Meet Tama the stationmaster cat

Pose with Yayoi Kusama's giant pumpkin

Water a bonsai tree

That's all I have for now but I already know that this list will continue to grow! Aside from these things, I also plan on visiting the many popular shrines, mountains, parks, etc around Yawatahama such as the Hachiman Shrine, the lighthouse at the tip of the Sadamisaki Peninsula, Mt. Gongen and all of the "Places of Interest" in my Ehime post, plus other notable sightseeing spots in my area (if my budget allows >.<;). I want to document it with a photograph every time I check something off this list or, at the very least, repost all of this after I've completed my first year to show everyone what I will have accomplished! If you have any suggestions of things you think I might like to do in Japan, please comment and let me know. I would really appreciate it~