First stop: the Imperial Palace gardens—where we immediately noticed the pine trees looking way more put-together than we did after a long flight. Apparently, these trees symbolize long life in Japan, which makes sense because they’ve clearly had the time to perfect their haircuts. They’re pruned in layers to look like bonsai…basically the tree equivalent of a luxury spa day.

Then came the cherry blossoms. The light pink ones are the most common, which is wild considering there are over 300 varieties—200 of them right here in Tokyo. I can’t even pick a paint color for a room, and Japan has 300 shades of “pink but make it poetic.” There’s even a mountain cherry blossom tree with brown leaves, just to keep things interesting.

Next, we visited Meiji Jingu Shrine, tucked inside a peaceful forest that felt like stepping into a completely different world. The shrine was built 106 years ago to honor Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Shinto is all about respecting nature, which feels very on-brand considering how gorgeous everything is here. There’s also a specific prayer routine: bow twice, clap twice, bow again. I was just hoping I didn’t accidentally invent a new version and offend someone.

Fun history moment: Japan closed itself off from the world for 200 years starting in the 1600s—no visitors in or out. Honestly, after a long travel day, I get it. Then in 1853, Matthew Perry from the U.S. showed up by ship and was basically like, “Hey…so we’re opening this up now,” and Japan was like, “Well, okay then.”

Also, they traditionally write top to bottom and right to left, which explains why everything looks elegant and mysterious to me while I stand there trying to figure out which way is up.

Then came Rikugien Garden, straight out of a postcard. The star of the show? A 70-year-old weeping cherry blossom tree that only blooms for ONE WEEK a year. And somehow, we showed up at peak bloom. I’d like to say it was careful planning, but let’s be honest—it was pure luck. There was also a 300-year-old pine tree with so many twists and turns it felt like it had lived several dramatic lifetimes.

A few observations about Tokyo:

• It is immaculately clean. Like, “did someone vacuum the streets?” clean.
• There are basically no public trash cans, so you carry your trash home like a responsible adult. Revolutionary.
• Public transportation is silent. No chatting. No phone calls. Just quiet…which feels illegal coming from where we’re from.
• By the end of the day, we had walked 15,640 steps, ridden the subway three times, hopped on five trains, and burned approximately all remaining energy reserves. We are now officially exhausted, slightly delirious, and very ready for sleep.

Tokyo: 1

Us: Barely surviving, but impressed.