*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO800*

So, last year I went on a summer vacation to Las Vegas for the Magic (the Gathering trading card game) Convention in Las Vegas with some friends that I failed to adequately document, so there was no blog post about it. We had a great time there, and had planned on doing it again in 2026. Our plans fell through, so instead, My girlfriend and I decided to plan a trip to Japan instead! I plan to document our Journey here by day, just as I had done in the past. This was my first non-tour-group experience to Japan since I was in college too many years ago. I booked our flights using Kayak which linked me to eDreams as the option with the best rates. This would be my first time using ANA, and it certainly will not be the last. This was their Airbus A380. Meals, service, and economy seats were all top notch. The only downside was that in-cabin Wifi costs extra.

*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/125s, f/2, ISO3200*

This is my girlfriend, Jei! Before this photo; we had been on a nearly 9-hour flight, were processed through customs and immigration which involved standing in several lines for a few hours, navigating the trains from the airport to Ryogoku (1.5 hours) using the Japan Travel by Navitime phone app, and skipping the last transfer which was “only a 3-minute ride, how bad could it be to just walk it?” (it turned out to be a half-hour walk with our luggage in-tow). It’s amazing she still had the will to smile! Thankfully that quote was not my famous last words. This was an art gate installment into the Edo museum near our hotel.

We checked into the hotel and went up to our VERY tiny 118sqft hotel room complete with a double-bed that was tall enough to slide our luggage under, a bathroom, and a desk with a tiny refrigerator. One of our goals on this trip was to eat a different type of meal each day, so I looked up well-rated dinner options nearby and found Tonkatsu Hasegawa using Japan’s equivalent of Yelp + Opentable: Tabelog.

In Japan, ratings between 3.5-4 out of 5 are the best restaurants because locals will rarely ever use a perfect 5 for even their favorite places. 5s are often given by tourists, so higher scores are usually tourist selections. The issue with Tonkatsu Hasegawa is it often requires reservations because they fill up. Thankfully they offered takeout, so I ordered a Katsudon, and Jei had a Tonkatsu Curry.

*Fujifilm X100VI 23mm f/2: 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO3200*

Sadly, I did not document Jei’s Tonkatsu Curry dinner, but I shall get better about this in future posts. This concludes day 1 in Tokyo, Japan with Jei.

May 2026 Japan Trip Day 1