The Whirlwind Started with “I’m Going to the World Aquatics Championships!”
My best friend’s child from Sweden made it onto the Swedish national team, which caused a huge commotion! So, naturally, our family decided to go to Fukuoka to cheer them on, leading to a lot of discussions and planning. The first immediate hurdle was securing tickets for the World Aquatics Championships. They couldn’t buy tickets from Sweden because SMS authentication wasn’t working for them, and purchases were only possible through Loppi Ticket in Japan. So, I offered to buy them on their behalf, but then faced new issues: a purchase limit of 6 tickets (we needed 7 for their family of four and our three…), and we even stumbled with the lottery purchase system. On top of that, since we were arriving in Fukuoka just in the nick of time for the preliminaries, we needed to get the tickets to them beforehand. I tried sending them via airmail through the post office, but was told it would take quite a few days, even for air delivery, due to COVID-19. So, I sent them by EMS, and they only received them almost a week later, just before their departure for Japan – talk about nerve-wracking!
Then, we thought it would be great to stay in the same place. But when I tried to find the lodging they’d booked, I couldn’t find it on any Japanese websites… Huh? It turns out that what looked like a private rental (minpaku) wasn’t listed on major Japanese travel sites. That was another struggle!
Where Should We Go Sightseeing?
We went sightseeing with my best friend’s family, their child who was there as an athlete, and even their American coach. For the kids who aren’t used to English, it seemed like three days that left them mentally exhausted by the end of each day. But you can only get better at English by practicing, so these opportunities are really invaluable.
I remembered that many of my Swedish friends somehow love aquariums, so I suggested Marine World Uminonakamichi and Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, thinking it would be interesting. They liked both ideas, so off we went!
They were super keen to get to the aquarium, so we let them go ahead. Later, when I heard their story, it seems they took a bus. I was amazed they managed to navigate what could be considered the most challenging option – a bus – without speaking any Japanese at all. Turns out, they had a pretty tough time, just as I expected, haha!
Reunion in Tokyo
They were competing in two events, and we rushed to cheer for one of them over the weekend. They stayed on to support the remaining event. Afterwards, before heading back to Sweden the following weekend, they decided to stop over in Tokyo and visit our place. It was like a training camp for the kids, lol!
We went to Tokyo Skytree, a place I had never even been up myself. They were utterly astonished by Tokyo’s overwhelming vastness, with buildings stretching out beyond the horizon.
The places they absolutely insisted on visiting were Shibuya Crossing and Nakamise-dori in Asakusa. It’s funny how they love these really “touristy” spots that some Japanese might find a bit much. And those yellow hats they wear, which are normal in Sweden, really stand out here – they look like kindergarten hats, haha!
At a Nakamise shop they entered, saying they wanted to buy soy sauce dishes, they picked up plates featuring Mount Fuji and sumo wrestlers – very “Japan-esque.” It made me wonder if people in Scandinavia feel the same way when they see us buying things like iittala or Arabia products there.
And one more thing I recommended was teamLab. It looked like they really enjoyed it, which was great. I thought it would be quite surprising and moving for someone experiencing it for the first time.
Gluten-Free is Seriously Difficult in Japan
And for our farewell dinner, we had Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ). Actually, even when we were together in Fukuoka, meals were incredibly challenging because they needed to eat gluten-free. It’s not enough to just say “no wheat flour,” because surprisingly many foods contain wheat, with soy sauce being a prime example. Since many Japanese dishes are flavored with soy sauce, it was really tough that all of those were off-limits. So, there were a few times during their stay when they couldn’t touch most of the food, and I felt so bad seeing them rely on the bananas and nut bars they had brought. But they understood it was unavoidable and always prepared their own safe foods.
My wife, noticing this, made sure to buy gluten-free soy sauce in advance for their reunion in Tokyo, and they used it with their sushi at Kura Sushi and even with the Yakiniku. Apparently, they use gluten-free soy sauce in Sweden too, but they hadn’t brought any this time. So, they were incredibly touched by my wife’s thoughtfulness, and it seems the gluten-free soy sauce we provided was really delicious, which made them even happier!
Even though there was a lot of frantic commotion and challenges, it was truly wonderful to spend such a fun time with my best friends. It had been over 10 years (the kids were toddlers back then!), but it didn’t feel like any time had passed at all. It was a few days that really made me appreciate having such good friends living abroad.
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