Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2020. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    • Travel Guides
    • Flight Deals
    • Travel Deals
    • Ways to Save
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Disney Vacations
    • Festivals + Events
    • Airlines + Airports
    • Buses + Trains
    • Ground Transportation
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Culture + Design
  3. Visual Arts
  4. An Instagram Star Goes on a Journey in Japan

An Instagram Star Goes on a Journey in Japan

By Jacqueline Gifford
August 22, 2016
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Patrick Janelle
Patrick Janelle always thought of Japan as a place of the future: flashing lights, massive intersections, in-your-face technology. Now, having been there, he sees it more as a destination of contrasts. “There’s a quietness there that I appreciated, and a deep respect for heritage,” says Janelle, who spent nine days in Japan, splitting his time among Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto on one of Travel + Leisure’s editor-curated trips, bookable with the high-end outfitter Black Tomato. Among his favorite experiences: a stay at the luxe Aman Tokyo, a sushi-making class near Tsukiji Market, and visits to Kyoto’s historic temples. “The temples are a total feast for the eyes. I went to Ryoan-ji just before closing, and wandered around the gardens by myself, which was incredible.”

Click here for more info on Travel + Leisure Journeys, editor-vetted trips to destinations such as Myanmar, Italy, Oman, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Start Slideshow

1 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Daily Routine

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Tokyo’s chic business district, Ginza, is home to the luxurious Aman Tokyo hotel and Palace Hotel Tokyo—I stayed at both on my Travel + Leisure Journey. What struck me was how the businessmen and women move courteously and quietly down wide sidewalks and across broad intersections, always waiting patiently for the signal to turn green.

1 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

On Trend

Credit: Patrick Janelle

In Kyoto, I loved the two-story Bungalow bar, which serves beer on tap from the local Kyoto Brewing Company and features a short list of natural wines. The small menu is packed with flavorful, modern dishes that take a “farm-to-table” approach, spotlighting stellar Japanese produce that gives California ingreidents a run for their money.

2 of 16

3 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Chef-In-Training

Credit: Patrick Janelle

As part of my itinerary with Black Tomato, the travel company that set up my itinerary, I spent a morning enjoying a sushi-making class at a restaurant adjacent to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. I learned the art of forming and flipping the rice correctly, to make the perfect foundation for the fresh tuna, salmon, and roe.

3 of 16

Advertisement

4 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Fish for Breakfast

Credit: Patrick Janelle

On a guided morning tour of Tsukiji Market, I saw every type of fish imaginable, to be consumed at restaurants all around the city later that day. At this stall, I watched a man skillfully cut and wrap fresh eel around skewers (kushi).

4 of 16

5 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Design Star

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Tokyo’s Harajuku district is known as the area where young people display outrageous street style. The Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku complex, which was designed by Hiroshi Nakamura, stood out because of these dizzying mirrors leading into the shopping center.

5 of 16

6 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cleansing Ritual

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Visitors to Meijii Shrine engage in the ritual of water purification before entering the temple grounds. Using a bamboo cup, the user pours water on both hands, thereby cleansing the body, and sips the water, cleansing the spirit, before spitting the water back into the moat surrounding the edifice.

6 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Café Culture

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Path was one of my best finds in Tokyo. Located in western Shibuya, the café is filled with cool young locals on their lunch breaks. The small menu includes salads and traditional Dutch pancakes, a nice break from my sushi-heavy diet.

7 of 16

8 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Team Sport

Credit: Patrick Janelle

My Black Tomato guide explained that sumo wrestlers carry out all of their daily activities together—eating, sleeping, practicing—in one of nearly 50 “stables” scattered around Tokyo. We visited Musashigawa stable, which isn’t typically open to the public, during a morning practice.

8 of 16

9 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Capital Spirits

Credit: Patrick Janelle

The entrances to many Shinto shrines, including Meiji, one of Tokyo’s most iconic sites, are lined with empty sake barrels. Brewers donate their sake to be used in various rituals and ceremonies, and the barrels are then displayed as a sign of respect.

9 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Serene Havens

Credit: Patrick Janelle

The many Buddhist temples in and around Kyoto are absolutely beautiful. A majority, like the Eikando Temple, were built by nobility and powerful samurai as sprawling private grounds for both entertaining and personal spiritual retreats.

10 of 16

11 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Quiet Reflections

Credit: Patrick Janelle

The district of Arashiyama (which translates to “Storm Mountain”), on the outskirts of Kyoto, is known for its bamboo forests. Walking along the Katsura River just as it started to rain, I caught the last moments of the evening light. The only other people on the trail were this couple.

11 of 16

12 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Hotel in the Sky

Credit: Patrick Janelle

The stunning lobby of the Aman Tokyo is a cavernous space on that feels both opulent and monastic. One night while under the grips of deep jet lag, I grabbed a glass of wine at the bar and spent some time with my laptop while taking in panoramic views of Tokyo deep in sleep.

12 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

At the Gates

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Seeing the vermilion gates, or torii, of the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto was on my bucket list. Inari is the Shinto deity of business, among other things, and the thousands of torii that mark the shrine’s entrance were donated by worshippers as a gift of thanks.

13 of 16

14 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Landmark Status

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Originally built for the private use of a Shogun, the Silver Pavilion, Ginkaku-ji, is set amid particularly stunning and well-manicured gardens, which are tended to by Buddhist monks.

14 of 16

15 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Self-Portrait

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Instagram sensation Patrick Janelle in Japan.

15 of 16

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 16

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Coffee Talk 

Credit: Patrick Janelle

Kyoto is known more for its nature and manicured Buddhist temples than cafes and coffee shops, but with enough searching, I was able to find a few gems, like % Arabica, which is located close to the Gion District. Head barista Junichi Yamaguchi is making a name for himself as a master barista, and everything about his shop—from the coffee roasting and brewing coffee to the store design—is spot on.

16 of 16

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Jacqueline Gifford

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 16 Daily Routine
2 of 16 On Trend
3 of 16 Chef-In-Training
4 of 16 Fish for Breakfast
5 of 16 Design Star
6 of 16 Cleansing Ritual
7 of 16 Café Culture
8 of 16 Team Sport
9 of 16 Capital Spirits
10 of 16 Serene Havens
11 of 16 Quiet Reflections
12 of 16 Hotel in the Sky
13 of 16 At the Gates
14 of 16 Landmark Status
15 of 16 Self-Portrait
16 of 16 Coffee Talk 

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

An Instagram Star Goes on a Journey in Japan
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.