Japan. A country so rich in culture. So delightfully strange, foreign. And yet, over several years, several visits, a comforting sense of familiarity that once was only reserved for Taiwan. There’s a really complicated friendship between Taiwan and Japan, one that seems to fade away with the generations, but from a global, geopolitical perspective, perhaps more complex now than ever. 

As a travel destination, it more than lives up to the hype. Japan is like an endless treasure trove of different sights sounds and tastes. Tokyo’s energy is unique, something that the other great cities of the world don’t quite capture in the same way. It’s not more than any other city, just different in such an interesting way. Kyoto’s serenity is quite possibly unmatched. Okinawa feels like a cousin to Hawaii with many cross cultural parallels. Japan is one of those places that takes in each traveler, making them feel at home, even for a moment, and yet, so foreign. It invites you in, and then before you know it you’re downloading Duolingo and booking another trip to Japan.