“You know what I’ve been missing?” I thought the other day. “Just running around Tokyo with Charlotte, taking photos, reels, or whatever other content I can use for my socials.”
Yeah, that still sounds kind of pathetic to some millennial ears, but as a writer and autism spokesperson, I regularly need to submit a photo of myself somewhere. I manage the publication of my English translations myself, so I also have to promote those, and social media is the best place for that. Long story short: I need content.
– “But I could just do that, right?” I thought back to myself. “I could just buy Charlotte a ticket and fly her over!”
Now, I don’t have a money tree, so I can’t just keep flying all my friends and acquaintances over whenever I feel like it. But here’s how I looked at it: A photoshoot for headshots can easily cost 450 euros. I know, because that’s what I usually charge myself. This time, though, I’d be the one in front of the camera, and Charlotte would be holding the makeup brush and camera, after I’d set up all the settings. Anyway, one shoot is worth about 450 euros. Three shoots? That’s 1,350… And wouldn’t you know, that’s roughly the price of a plane ticket! So, for the cost of three shoots, I could fly Charlotte over. Free vacation for her, and a bunch of fresh content for me.
Before anyone thinks I’m totally exploiting Charlotte: She’s a close friend, first and foremost. You can’t do paid work for a Japanese client – meaning me – without a visa (but of course, I can still invite a friend/business associate), and besides the photoshoots, we traveled around, ate snacks, and had a great time. She stayed with me, and we made content for her too. She thought it was a pretty sweet deal, and honestly, I just missed her.
Naritasan
She came for a week. Thursday morning, I picked her up from Narita Airport, and to keep things simple, I booked a hotel for us in Narita City for that first day. I’d heard about the Naritasan temple complex from several friends, so we decided to check it out. There’s a separate travel blog coming on that later, but wow, I can already tell you it’s definitely worth a visit. That Thursday, we immediately set out to scout locations, and the next day, we went all out with kimonos and everything. It was 36 degrees, and at one point, sweat was literally dripping off my face, but luckily, those Japanese fans are super stylish too.
I don't speak Italian but I can if you like
Friday afternoon, we took the train from Narita to my place. It was over a 2-hour ride, but I used the time to put together my first reel. Oh no, actually my second one—I’d already posted the first one from my hotel room the day before. Charlotte had brought the Italian version of my book, which had been sent by the Italians to my publisher in the Netherlands. I hadn’t seen the book in person before, so that was awesome! Of course, I tried to read a bit of it, but I don’t know…
Pedal boat party
Saturday afternoon, we visited Sagamiko: an idyllic lake with pedal boats and a large dam, just a 20-minute train ride from my place. I had been there three times before, but Charlotte had never been. For the occasion, I bought a somewhat over-the-top dress: a poofy princess gown that I scored on Vinted for €80, to be delivered to Riemer. Riemer then handed the dress over to Charlotte, who brought it in her suitcase. François (who was with us to help out that day) asked the pedal boat guy if it was okay to take pictures, and since Sagamiko is usually pretty deserted, it wasn’t a problem at all. I plopped down into a pedal boat, ready to shoot.
Even though they had originally forecast cold temperatures and rain for the whole week, it was once again 36 degrees. The dress was sticking to me from all sides, so by the time we arrived at family restaurant Gusto for a plate of pasta after sunset, Charlotte helped me out of the dress in the bathroom. The dress was quite the spectacle, but I was happy to go back to my old self again.
We had decided to take it easy on Sunday. Charlotte wanted to go to the thrift store, and I’m never going to say no to that. We walked to the Off-House near my place, where Charlotte stocked up on a pile of new clothes, a gorgeous kimono (okay, that’s also clothing), and some cute kawaii goodies. Sadly, the plush ice cream from Baskin Robbins had to stay behind—it wouldn’t fit in the suitcase anymore.
Fujisan
Monday and Tuesday, we had a little trip planned: we were going to Mt. Fuji. Well, not actually climbing it or anything—we’ll leave that to others. No, we were headed to a hotel in Fujiyoshida with a view of the magnificent mountain. At least… that was the idea. When we arrived, it was completely cloudy, and Fujisan was nowhere to be seen. So, we grabbed a Starbucks at the FujiQ theme park instead.
FujiQ Highland was just one train stop away from our hotel, and I remembered you could enter for free if you get an access-only ticket. You have to pay separately for the rides, but we weren’t interested in those anyway. Charlotte wanted to take photos in the Naruto village, and I just wanted to drink iced tea and eat a scone. “I miss just sitting in a Starbucks with you,” Charlotte had said over the phone weeks earlier. Now here we were, in Japan, at the foot of Mt. Fuji, sitting in a Starbucks. Brainstorming and catching up.
We walked to the famous street where you can take stunning photos of Mt. Fuji—if you can actually see it, that is. This time, we saw nothing, but that didn’t stop a group of Chinese tourists (you know, the ones led by a guide holding a flag on a stick) from standing right in the middle of the street to take photos. Much to the frustration of the traffic officer stationed at the intersection to prevent exactly this. We decided to leave and come back at a quieter time. There was still no sign of Fuji, but… we had brought our own Fuji with us anyway.
That evening, we grabbed some snacks from the convenience store and relaxed at the hotel. The rooms had a smart TV, so after logging out the clueless tourist who had been using it before me, I signed into my own YouTube account. We watched a documentary about the filming locations of Harry Potter, followed by a vlog from Life in Japan. To stay on theme, we watched the episode where Ruth climbs Mt. Fuji with two friends. Meanwhile, we stuck to eating Pino ice cream in the hotel bed.
And yes, I did log out that same night.
On Tuesday, our last day in Fujiyoshida and also Charlotte’s last day before heading home, we rented bikes. Our hotel offered them, and it seemed like the perfect way to get from Lake Kawaguchiko to the Off-House (thrift store) and Houtou Fudou restaurant. That restaurant had been on my wishlist for a while, mainly because of its unique design.
We had enjoyed great weather throughout the trip, but on this last day, it started to rain. We took shelter from the heaviest downpour under the awning of a 7/11, then rode on to the lake. It was beautiful, but not exactly ideal for filming a reel with the four heavy books in my backpack. So, we decided to head straight to Off-House. There, we came across a pair of Dutch clogs that Charlotte, like a modern-day Cinderella, fit into perfectly. I bought a few hand towels (the clogs were €15, so I happily left those behind), and then it was lunchtime.
We biked to Houtou Fudou. I’d been to another location of this chain before, but that one was in a normal building. This one, however, was like a white igloo, an artwork, a…
It turned out to be a cavernous echo chamber. Sensory overload in 3-2-1, but the food made up for it. Still, we didn’t stay for long. We biked back via FujiQ Highland, where we got a bit lost with our bikes. We came across a gate that said “no entry,” so I had already pulled out my phone to find an alternative route on Google Maps. But a security guard waved us through, so we rode under the Fujiyama roller coaster until we reached the back entrance of FujiQ. There, we grabbed another free entry ticket for a quick visit to Starbucks.
Afterward, we biked back to the hotel, returned our bikes, picked up our luggage, and decided to kill some time at the mall above the station. About fifteen minutes before our train was set to leave, I spotted a screen. “Live feed from our Mt. Fuji view rooftop!” it said. The clouds had cleared just enough, and the tip of Mt. Fuji peeked out above them! We raced to the rooftop, so Charlotte could finally catch a glimpse of the mountain.
The next morning, I took Charlotte to the station. From there, she caught the train to the airport and flew back to the Netherlands. The time flew by insanely fast. For the next two days, I was completely wiped out, and now I get a bit stressed every time I think about the mountain of content I still need to process. (Also for this blog, because I’m typing this first, and still need to sort through all the photos – but if you’re reading this, I’ve managed to get it done.) Well, I guess I have enough content for half a year now. What a brilliant concept. Let’s do this again in six months!
Related posts
Toeps and Olga are checking the park
Two weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I met up with Olga (my part-time marketing assistant) at Shinjuku Gyoen, the national park in the bustling heart of Tokyo. It was still early but already pretty warm. Summers in Tokyo often hit 36 degrees, and on top of that, the air is humid, making everything feel even stickier. Luckily, there was a breeze that morning, which helped with the heat but also served as a test for the microphone we wanted to try out.
Coughing Out Loud
“I’ve never had COVID,” I said earlier this year to a friend who canceled our plans because she was down with it for the third or fourth time. “That seems unlikely,” she said. “You’re probably just someone who doesn’t show symptoms.” Although I wanted to believe that, I wasn’t so sure: “I’m still one of the few who wears a mask…” Living in Japan certainly helps with that; here, it’s quite normal. But even in the Netherlands, I wore a mask on the train; my visits are always short, and, as I reasoned, getting sick would just be a waste of my time.
Two
Two big things are happening this week. One, the physical version of the English translation of my new book comes out tomorrow. The digital version came out last week, but because of Amazon’s annoying procedures, the paper edition had to wait another week. I also haven’t received an author’s copy or proof yet, because they don’t send those to Japan. Instead, I had Riemer look at it, and film it, and I made final adjustments based on that. For tomorrow’s festive photos, I just printed a color copy at the convenience store. 50 yen and some advanced origami magic, and it’s just like the real thing.
The end of a Starbucks
François and I were standing in line for the Starbucks in the shopping center of Keio-Hachioji station, when a poster caught his eye. One of those posters with big red and yellow letters, and something in Japanese that translated as “clearance sale.” I had seen the poster before, but since my brain still doesn’t automatically translate Japanese, I hadn’t given it a second thought, and assumed it was just another advertising poster. But François’s Japanese is better, so he asked the barista, “Clearance sale?” – “Yes,” said the barista, “everything closes on March 31. We’re leaving too, the whole building is vacating.”
Buongiorno and konnichiwa
It’s-a me, Toeps, business manager. This blog is a selection of the things I have done in recent months. Because a lot has happened, and a lot is still going to happen! What exactly, you ask? Well…
Narita, more than just an airport
When I was still living in Zaandam, I once saw a poster of the famous Inntel Hotel in Zaandam (which looks like a stack of traditional Zaanse houses), with the I amsterdam logo underneath. Look, I get the idea: tourists only know Amsterdam, so let’s just call everything that. The famous Muiderslot castle became Amsterdam Castle Muiderslot, an outlet in Halfweg was branded as Amsterdam The Style Outlets, and of course, our airport is called Amsterdam International Airport Schiphol – even though it’s located in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer.
Bye bye balcony Fuji
When I moved to Japan, I spent the first month and a half living in my office. Now, that sounds worse than it actually was, because my office is simply the tiny apartment I bought back when we were all stuck at home during COVID lockdowns and border closures. To meet the requirements of my business manager visa, I quickly needed to find a separate living space (home offices aren’t allowed), and I found one on the 10th floor of the same building. A bat had to be chased out first, then it needed a couple of weeks of ventilation, but after that, it slowly but surely became my home.
Visitors #1: The fam
But by now, everything seems back to normal. The number of tourists in Tokyo is larger than ever (which is actually pretty advantageous for someone who sells a book about her move to Japan, haha), and so, besides Charlotte, my father, stepmother, brother, sister-in-law, and niece also came to Japan. And Riemer. And Maan again, this time for an Artist-In-Residence.
Visitors #2: Riemer
In my previous post, I shared how my family came to Japan and how I flew from Osaka to Narita to pick up Riemer — because he was coming too! We had deliberately planned it so Riemer would overlap with my family for a few days, allowing us to go to Disneyland together.