When my then-husband accepted military orders to Japan for his next duty station, I was nervously excited. At the time, my first child was barely over a year old, and I hated the thought of living so far away from our friends and family in the United States.
Despite never having used a passport before, I overcame my fears and embraced the idea of living in a foreign country for a few years.
In 2005, my family of three packed up and moved from Pensacola, Florida to Sasebo, Japan on the island of Kyushu. For three amazing years, I immersed myself in Japanese culture and experienced as much as I could of this beautiful country I was fortunate to call home.
I had so many unique adventures in Japan that I still look back on fondly today. Our family lived in a traditional Japanese house for a few months before moving into U.S. Navy housing. I visited shrines, temples, and castles. I shopped for pottery, sang karaoke, and stayed in ryokans — traditional Japanese inns with futons instead of beds. I took a Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto and explored the highlights of Tokyo, in addition to visiting other nearby countries like Thailand and South Korea. I even had a baby there, giving birth to my daughter in a Japanese ladies’ clinic.
In 2008 our family moved to Virginia. Today, I still miss many aspects of living abroad, including these favorite aspects of calling Japan home.
Onsens provided a great way to relax
Japanese onsens are hot springs where guests strip naked and relax in public baths. I found an inexpensive onsen that was a fifteen minute walk from our house on base and became such a regular there that the employees started recognizing me. I was always the only American amidst Japanese women and children, and although we didn’t speak each other’s languages, I appreciated their nods of approval when I properly followed the strict onsen etiquette, such as showering before entering the hot springs and keeping my hair out of the water.
Courtesy of Heather Sweeney
Our family even took a road trip to Kurokawa, a Japanese town known for its onsens. We soaked in hot springs running through caves and another outdoor bath overlooking a babbling brook with waterfalls. Onsens were my favorite form of self-care while living abroad and I still miss them today.
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The cherry blossom celebrations are a sight to behold
Cherry blossoms, or sakura, aren’t just pretty trees in Japan. They’re a celebration. Only in full bloom once a year for about a week, people scrutinize weather forecasts to plan festivals and parties to admire the abundant pink flowers.
Courtesy of Heather Sweeney
Every cherry blossom season I snapped photos at local parks and attended flower viewing parties. At night, I strolled through a park near the military base to enjoy lanterns lighting up the blossoms and watch the delicate flowers fall from the trees like pink snow flurries when their brief life ended.
Each spring I visit a park in Virginia that hosts a cherry blossom festival, but the trees just aren’t as beautiful as the Japanese sakura and the celebrations in their honor.
Nothing compares to the food
One of the first Japanese words I learned was oishii, which means delicious. I used that word a lot.
I savored sushi with melt-in-your-mouth salmon and tuna and crunched on shrimp tempura and tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlets) every chance I could get. I discovered new-to-me dishes like yakitori (chicken skewers) and shabu shabu (hot pots). I sipped on noodle soups like ramen and udon, and I devoured side dishes like miso soup, edamame, and seaweed salad.
Courtesy of Heather Sweeney
My list of favorite restaurants in Japan was long, some including the traditional practice of sitting on the floor made of tatami mats and many that showed pictures of food on the menus for diners to point to their orders. But the one I returned to again and again was the popular restaurant where diners grabbed plates of sushi from a conveyor belt. It was all oishii to me.
I still love sushi and eat it regularly, but I’ve never tasted anything as delicious as the sushi in Japan.
I haven’t been to Japan in over fifteen years, but I hope to visit again one day. And when I do, I know I’ll return during cherry blossom season, go to my beloved onsen, and eat as much food as I can.
