Just before New Year I went on a trip to Tokyo for a few days. I had not been to Tokyo for a long time, and the last time I only passed through for an international flight. While I only spent a few days there, my trip ended up being an interesting mix of new and nostalgic experiences.

The first day we did not arrive until after three in the afternoon. We immediately went to our hotel. After that we headed over to Odaiba. The last time I went to Odaiba was about 15 years ago when I came on a trip to Japan with my high school class. It was nostalgic to go back there again, some of my memories of the area were familiar, particularly the miniature statue of liberty by the bayside, and the mall next to it. I also had some first-time experiences. I went to Team Lab Tokyo. I had heard so much about it, so I was very curious. It is a unique art experience you feel through your body’s senses such as sight, touch, hearing and so on. There are rooms where you walk through knee-high water, and others where you can jump against the walls. It is a hard experience to explain in words and it is best to go and check it out yourself.

The next day my high school memories continued. We went to Disneyland. Some areas had not changed at all, while others had become entirely new areas. The entrance, castle, and so on were the same as I remembered them. But I was excited to go on the rides I had never experienced; Monsters Inc., Big Hero 6, Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast. Monsters Inc. is one of my favorite animated movies, so I was very interested in checking out the ride. Some rides I went on again for the nostalgic experience, though they sometimes surprised me. The Star Wars ride for example had the same queue area, however once the ride started, characters from the newer trilogy of Star Wars movies appeared in the video. I had no idea they had redone the ride experience and changed it from the original trilogy to the most recent one. It is a strange feeling that places can change so much yet also still be the same in so many ways.

The last full day I experienced different kinds of nostalgic memories. We spent several hours of the day in Yokohama. I went there with some of my friends about 7 years ago. We revisited the China town, Yamashita Park, and the Red Brick Warehouses. Later that night, I had plans to meet a friend of mine who lived in the same town as me for many years. Before that, however, I had a very sudden meeting with another old friend who I had also not seen for about 7 years. I had no idea he was in Japan, but an acquaintance of ours saw my posts on social media and told me he was currently in Tokyo. I did not think I had enough time to meet up, so I did not reach out, then suddenly when we were thinking of leaving Yokohama to head over to Shibuya, he sent me a message. I had to organize a very spontaneous and short meeting with him. It is amazing that even if you do not meet or talk much with someone for many years, you can meet them again and it will feel the same as it used to. I have experienced this a few times in the past few years now. But while it may be a little strange, it is a nice feeling when you know someone is a friend forever.