Tokyo, Japan: Land of the Rising Sun

What’s on your list to travel? What is keeping you from going there? Is it money? Is it time? You’d be surprised, sometimes all it takes is making a few changes to help you achieve those dreams.

Cassy and I dreamed of flying to Japan.  After 4 years of building our essential oil business, the price and timing was right to travel there. Our first distributor in Japan signed up in 2012 and we have a growing team growing there, so it was about time we went. It was our first time in Japan, so it was great to have friends and family show us around. We primarily stayed in the Tokyo area for one week.

A Holan & Cassy Japan Adventure!

Having fun while traveling, making friends, and eating AWESOME food!

Making new friends and reconnecting with old ones makes traveling worthwhile. It doesn’t matter wherein the world we travel to, it’s the people not the destination that matters. With that said Japan is a great place to meet with friends. The food is AMAZING. It’s convenient to meet. All the Japanese food was better than Hawaii. The prices were typically 1,000 Yen to 1,500 Yen per meal. Some people may consider it pricey, but considering that you don’t have to tip, it ‘s a great deal. A lot of restaurants serve all you can eat rice and cabbage (with Katsu – breaded pork or chicken). In one restaurant, we grinded fresh sesame seeds in the Katsu Sauce. Some restaurants had 500 yen meals. On our last day we ate Udon for 480 yen. The sushi is fresh and it cost less too! Japan is the place to be if you love sushi! You haven’t had good sushi until you’ve gone to Japan.

This sushi less than 3,000 Yen for the two of us at Katsumidori Granduo in Kamata Station.

 Exploring Tokyo and a New Culture 

Cassy is at Sensō-ji, Tokyo’s Oldest Temple in Asakusa

Here is a list of places we visited. We had a lot of fun visiting each place

  • Tokyo
    • Omotesando/Aoyama , Minato – doTERRA Office  
    • Jingumae, Harajuku, Shibuya – Crepes, Kiddyland Takashita Dori
    • Shibuya Station, Shibuya – 109, Disney Store, Hachiko Dog Statue
    • Odaiba – Gundam Front, Rainbow Bridge, Ferris Wheel
    • Akihabara, Chiyoda – Chuo dori, Sega, Yodabashi
    • Asakusa, Taito – Temple, SkyTree
    • Tokyo Station, Marunouchi, Chiyoda – Character Street
    • Ikebukuro, Toshima – Seibu, Kitkat Store
  • Chiba
    • Urayasu- Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Sea
  • Kanagawa
    • Odawara, Cafe, where Cassy taught a class

What I love about Tokyo is that each part has its own personality. From a fashion district to a district dedicated to electronics and anime, you can find almost anything. It’s amazing how many different districts you can past in a short 15 minute walk. The subway will take you almost every where so there is no need to drive. 

Omotesando, Shibuya, and Harajuku

Omotesando is often compared to Manhattan’s 5th avenue or Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive. It is one of the foremost   architectural showcase’ streets in the world, featuring a multitude of fashion flagship stores within a short distance of each other. These include the Louis Vuitton store (Jun Aoki, 2002) Prada building (Herzog & de Meuron, 2003), Tod’s (Toyo Ito, 2004), Dior (SANAA, 2004), Omotesandō Hills (Tadao Ando, 2005) and Gyre (MVRDV, 2007), amongst others. It is known for it’s trees on the road. doTERRA’s office is right by one of the exits. We walked through Omotesando to go to Harajuku. 

Harajuku is known for it’s street fashion. Takeshita-dori (stree) has a lot of shops. You can find crepes but these are no ordinary crepes, these are crepes that are wrapped in a cone, so you can eat it on the go. We got to also visit Kiddieland, home to SnoopyTown and other character focused stores. 

Shibuya is the fashion district. I’m no fashionista and Japan’s Uniqlo is good enough for me. Right outside Shibuya station is where you will see the famous 5-way cross street pedestrian scramble, Hachiko the dog’s statue, and buildings dedicated to fashion. It is also home to the 3-Story Disney Store 

Akihabara – Electric TownAkihabara  or Akiba is the electric town. Yodabashi a store right outside of the station is abuilding dedicated to electronics, Akihabara – Electric Town[/caption] computers, home appliances, and hobbies. Hobby stores are abundant, you will see figurines of many popular anime characters. There are video game arcades and lots of opportunities to purchase gachapon, or a toy found in a capsule from a coin vending machine. They had a lot of merchandise for One Piece, my favorite anime. 

Asakusa – Home to Tokyo’s Oldest Temple Asakusa was part of our highlights of the trip. It wasn’t in our plans but a friend recommended that we visit. The temple was a great landmark to take pictures in. There were a lot of shops around the temple that sold souvenirs or snacks we couldn’t find elsewhere. 

Tokyo Station The US has Iron man. Japan has Gundam RX-78-2[/caption] You can buy a lot of souvenirs at the Tokyo Station. They are the same price as the stores elsewhere. The Tokyo Station is a neat place and has a lot of places to eat. This is home to Character Street, where you can find SnoopyTown, a Studio Ghibli theme Store, and more. 

Odaiba Odaiba is a great place to visit. They have the rainbow bridge, the giant ferris wheel, and the famous 1:1 Size Gundam Mobile Suit which is as tall as the building. There are a lot of fun things to see and do in Odaiba. One of our relatives lives here. If you want to take a picture with Japan land marks or love visiting fun places, Odaiba is for you. 

KitKat Store, Ikebukuro It was a challenge finding the KitKat Store in Ikebukuro. We originally thought it was a store, but it was a small boutique in a department store. Fortunately, we didn’t have to leave the station. Unfortunately, the department store was huge. Unless you are already in Ikebukuro, we don’t recommend going out of the way to come here. They have some exclusive flavors like Maple Strawberry but you will find more of a variety of KitKats at the Train Station or Airport.   

doTERRA Office in Aoyama, Tokyo

Our Corporate Office in Japan 

It’s nice to work with a company with offices all over the world. We visited the our corporate office in Japan. It was in the AO Building, right outside one of the Omotesando Station exits. It was a great honor meeting the team in Japan and seeing the operations. Cassy had the privilege of teaching a class in their seminar room. We ordered a few Japan exclusive products and had lunch with the Vice President there. Japan is a great place to travel to. We are making this a regular destination. As our Japan team grows, we will continue to support them there. 

There are many travel opportunities when you build an international essential oil business. We’ve helped a lot of like minded people grow their essential oil business overseas. 

-Holan

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