VIP for one night

I always thought that Japanese people were a living portrait of discretion and seriousness. Well, I changed my point of view after being in Nikko last autumn!

After 12 days spent in Japan, Nikko was the last destination of my honeymoon. My husband and I had made a very bad calculation of the time needed to get there from Kyoto. So, we ended up at Nikko train station at 3 PM, knowing that we had to leave the city the morning after. The hotel in which we were staying was on a high hill and we had to climb for 2 km with heavy rucksacks. Tired as hell, we were able to leave the hotel to visit the city only at 7 PM. Consider that and the last bus to get back to the hotel from city centre was at 8 PM, you have the complete picture of the situation.

The owner of the hotel in which we were staying was very nice. Though it was late, he told us that we definitely had to go to see the park as it was exceptionally open that night, so that we could admire the beautiful trees and the lake. He offered to accompany us by car for 20 minutes. So, we decided to go. At least our trip to Nikko won’t be completely useless.

The man chatted with us all along the way. Then, he left us at the entrance of the park. My husband and I saw that he couldn’t take three steps in a row that someone stopped him to say hello. I swear I had the impression of being in my village in southern Italy. Where everyone knows each other.

My husband and I leave him and enter the park. It was stunning

A natural explosion of red and yellow fireworks reflected in a crystal lake. I was so seduced by that place that I completely ignored my husband and started taking pictures.

Every leaf, every tree, every drop of water. Every corner was so beautiful that deserved a dedicated picture.

I was all focused on my camera when I heard a kind of familiar voice

I turned my head. The man was standing next to me, talking with a couple of old, intrigued ladies who were looking at us. The man smiled at me and offered to take a few pictures of my husband and me. It was so kind of him! Thrilled by the proposal, my husband came and hugged me.

While taking the pictures, the man kept on talking with the old ladies and three more people joined the small group. They were all looking at us with curious eyes. I started feeling my dress sticking on my skin, the back of my head that was sweating. I just wanted to get back to the hotel and take all those eyes off me.

After taking the last picture, the man invited us to get back to the hotel. He said a few more words of things to the little crowd who bowed to us and we slowly got back to the car.

As soon as he sat, he literally burst out laughing

“Did you see all those people looking at you?”. He looked at us with sparkling eyes. “I told them that you were a couple of very famous actors in Europe and that you were here for a photo shooting”. He was laughing like crazy. What a prankster!

My husband and I looked at each other like “No way…”. Everything was clear now! We didn’t know if we were more amazed by the situation or more surprised to see that a Japanese man could be so spontaneous with a couple of clients that he barely knew!

And yes, so now in Japan there is a little crowd who is convinced that I am a star in Europe! It is a pity that the man didn’t tell us before! It would have been so funny to pretend to be a capricious diva!

This is why travelling is so important to me. In five minutes one of my old prejudices literally collapsed in front of my eyes! If life is full of surprises, travelling is the way to let life surprise you!

And you, did you ever have a similar experience? Send me a message and let me know!