Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is spectacular. If you are into castles, this one’s worth visiting. You’ll envision samurai battles and ninja assaults as you tour the castle and grounds. I recommend Himeji to everyone. It’s an easy day trip from Kyoto or Osaka (about 45 minutes via Shinkansen from those cities).

Featured in numerous movies and TV shows including Akira Kurosawa’s films Ran and Kagemusha, the Bond film, You Only Live Twice, and the original James Clavell Shogun TV miniseries, Himeji is beautiful upon approach. Also, the nearby Mt. Shosha was used to film parts of The Last Samurai. You can visit there as well if you want a longer adventure.

Himeji Castle is considered one of Japan's three most famous castles, along with Matsumoto Castle (in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture) and Kumamoto Castle (in Kumamoto City, Kyushuu Prefecture). Kumamoto oysters are famous worldwide. If you eat oysters you’ve probably had some from Kumamoto. Fitting these two castles into an itinerary is more challenging because many visitors won’t make it to Nagano or Kyushuu on one of their first trips to Japan. Himeji is much more easily accessible.

Himeji Castle has English-guided tours which are about an hour and forty-five minutes long. There’s a lot to explore here and it gets crowded on weekends, so plan to go on a weekday if possible. The tour has an extra fee in addition to the regular admission fee and you can’t reserve in advance.

The official Himeji Castle website in English

7-Eleven

I’ve written about Japanese convenience stores before. In Japan, convenience stores aren’t just convenient, they’re legendary. —At least to the rest of the world. What other country do people travel to with the excitement and anticipation of going to a convenience store? No one says “I’m going to Rome. Can’t wait to hit up the 7-Eleven.” But it’s a fairly common comment with people traveling to Japan. The only commonality between Japanese konbini and American convenience stores is possibly one familiar name: 7-Eleven.

Founded in Texas in the 70s, 7-Eleven has been a Japanese-owned company since 2005. In Japan, konbini are everywhere. Japan is all about convenience. —Convenience and quality.

If you’ve ever been to a konbini in Japan, you already know they’re infinitely better than the ones in America. The corporation that owns 7-Eleven has also realized this and decided to do something about it.

Japanese-style 7-Elevens are coming to America, with new fresh food options as a primary change to expect. Soon, you may not need to travel to Japan for a convenient and delicious onigiri fix.

Shokunin

Shokunin are artisans who obsessively pursue their craft with deep and unyielding dedication. 

Often working in obscurity, shokunin don’t seek fame or notoriety. However, they can become famous depending on their craft of choice. A famous example of a shokunin is Jiro from “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”. His lifelong commitment to perfecting the art of sushi was recognized, and, by nature of being featured in that film, he is known worldwide.

Shokunin work not just for themselves, but also for the betterment of Japanese society by keeping older arts and crafts alive. In this way, they are caretakers of tradition. A shokunin will pass their knowledge on to an apprentice. Usually their son. These lineages pass down and use techniques over hundreds of years while continuing to refine their skills and evolve.

While it’s more common for males to follow this path and become shokunin, there are female shokunin as well.

Take a look at the incredible detail of Chiemi Ogura's work. She’s a woven bamboo craft artist living in Kyoto.

Eiko Tanaka is a woodworker and lacquerware artist. Every step of the process including finding the wood, making the tools, carving her masterpieces, and applying the lacquer requires extraordinary skill and artistry.

The range of crafts being pursued by shokunin includes sword making, pottery/ceramics, ramen (and other noodles), sushi (Jiro Dreams of Sushi), Tea ceremony, kimono weaving, knife making, woodworking, kintsugi, lacquer work, bamboo work, and many more. Some Shokunin may specialize in just one aspect of a craft. For example, they may only be in charge of making the handle of a katana while another shokunin forges the blade and a third sharpens the blade.

There is a quiet intensity in focusing one’s intentions specifically on such a specialized task. People speak of the zen-like demeanor of people who’ve dedicated their lives to these pursuits.

The work shokunin do is so important to Japan, that some shokunin have been declared Living National Treasures.

The spirit of shokunin thrives in Japan and anyone can decide to dedicate their life to perfecting a particular craft.

A few examples of regular people doing this who have achieved world-wide acknowledgment:

Juugo is a legendary soba joint in Kyoto. It was started by Ishibashi-san after he quit his job in women’s fashion to dedicate himself to perfecting soba. Juugo has reached worldwide acclaim after being discovered by the Noma team and subsequently being featured on the Kyoto episode of “Somebody Feed Phil”. You can see Ishibashi-san’s intense focus on soba reflected in the sparseness of his shop and the straightforward simplicity of his soba. He wants to emphasize the texture, the firmness, and the flavor. To ensure the quality of the soba he creates, Ishibashi-san grows his own buckwheat (even tilling the fields himself).

This level of obsession and unrelenting focus on every detail also shows itself at a place I’ve written about numerous times: Bear Pond Espresso. Tanaka-san roasts the coffee beans to meet his exacting standards and has developed a physically demanding tamping technique. He presses the grinds so hard into the portafilter that the thumb he uses for this has become bigger and flatter than the one on his other hand.

Every detail of Bear Pond Espresso has been designed and curated to create a sanctuary for having/drinking/experiencing a perfect espresso. You see his signature everywhere. The white La Marzocco espresso machine with “love” written in a perfect shade of deep red but allowed to run and drip referencing the way the “Angel stain” has drops of espresso running down the sides of the cup. The simple tables. The exposed wood walls and bench. There is a simplicity to this place that puts the spotlight on the coffee. 

I’m not calling Ishibashi-san and Tanaka-san shokunin. That’s above my pay grade. I’m just highlighting their shokunin spirit and dedication to perfecting a very specific craft.

It’s complicated who gets called a shokunin and even Japanese people don’t always agree on this topic.

Achieving a level of shokunin requires decades of intense practice. This is usually achieved through apprenticeships which are very specific and demanding. You don’t go to the next level until you have mastered the foundational aspects.

The apprentice must be singularly focused on the basics and the minutia that add up over time and enable the artisan to properly engage in their craft. Perhaps even become a master. They would probably argue that one can never master their craft, such is their dedication to detail.

Apprentice sushi chefs can spend a year just learning how to make the rice correctly. Many apprenticeships last 10 years. There are no shortcuts. 

At Bear Pond Espresso, Tanaka-san’s apprentice who now runs the shop is still not allowed to make Tanaka-san’s famous “Angel Stain” espresso. I’m not sure how many years he’s been apprenticing, but it’s been at least 5 years. That just shows the reverence for these crafts, and the dedication needed to succeed at them. 

Shokunin are now even rarer, and their arts and crafts are in danger of becoming obsolete because today’s generation doesn’t want to spend the time it takes apprenticing to carry on these traditions.

I think the reverence for shokunin, traditional arts & crafts, and cooking techniques contributes to why even normal moments in Japan feel elevated. The shokunin spirit and dedication to mastering one’s craft permeate into Japanese culture with incredible results.