In September, when we arrived in Tokyo, it was 95 degrees F and humid as hell. We left in 50 degree temps and rain.

We had given ourselves up to three months to spend in Japan. Or, more importantly, Japan would have given us up to three months. While we had booked our flights timed to-the-day for a three-month stay, we had planned to leave whenever we felt it was time to go. So two months it was. We had rented a landing-pad apartment in Chicago that was ready for us, and we had grown tired — after a year and a half of travel — of feeling like tourists all the time.

That said, in Japan, the tourist crowds were not bad in the places that we chose to visit. We saw very few American tourists, but lots of Chinese and Australian (easy for them to get to Japan with the time-zone advantage), filled in with some Germans and Israelis. We have become sensitive to the over-tourism issue and avoided areas that we heard to be overrun. While we had originally planned on going to Osaka and Kyoto, we changed our plans when we kept hearing from Japanese people how crowded and over-touristed they felt them to be. So we found alternatives. Kanazawa was a nice substitute for Kyoto.

Tokyo is huge and has many different neighborhoods. We had spent most of our nights at a walk-up apartment in Yoyogi Park, which is a great residential area with lots of small restaurants, grocery stores, parks, and easy access to the trains. When we returned for our last few days in Tokyo, we wanted to stay in a big hotel with a massive view. That we got – plus more – in Shinjuku. Shinjuku was the opposite of Yoyogi Park. Touristy, seedy, with a little grime that was uncharacteristic of the Japan we had thus far experienced. That atmosphere, combined with the changing seasons and a little rain, made for some great street photography.

The two months we spent in Japan were amazing. Our experience there could not have been any more strikingly different from the months we spent on a boat in the Bahamas. Crystal clear water and white sand are amazing, but we had missed the chaos of urban culture. Japan did not disappoint.

We will probably return to Japan some day. There is still so much to experience. It was one of our best trips.

Where to next, my darling?