Last week, I wrote an article encouraging travel to Thailand. However, there is a country I hold much closer to my heart: Japan! Let me qualify this — Thailand is a great place if you are traveling alone, but Japan is the place to go if you can bring a good buddy.

Why am I so obsessed with travel? As someone who has traveled extensively, I am a big proponent of traveling abroad. More than that, I want to make sure you have a good time doing it in a country you enjoy. And so I will devote this week to sharing some memories and thoughts that will hopefully encourage you all to experience the coolness that is Japan.

Japan operates on a logic completely different from anything else you’ve ever experienced — and delightfully so. This is a nation whose quirky tastes are neatly packaged and distributed by advanced technology, vending machines, and friendly-looking depictions of cute animals. You’ll be pleased to know that real-life Japan and Japanese people are surprisingly well-characterized by their anime — I thought I was in an anime when I heard them say “Sugoi!” (Amazing!). For the real anime lovers, or if your hotel burns to the ground and everywhere else is booked (as I experienced), sleep for $12 in an anime cafe in your own private cushioned booth with a computer, internet and a whole lot of anime.

With whatever time you have, try to spend a good week in Tokyo. If Tokyo is all you see, more power to you. The city packs in Japan’s greatest cultural punch, and its amazing transportation will serve it to you like fish on a sushi boat. There is also universal consensus that Japan has one of the most attractive populace in the world, in that the average person tends be good-looking. Tokyo is where this is most apparent, especially in the district of Shibuya. Dress-code for ladies in Shibuya goes as following: Japanese girls wear during the day what American girls wear at night, and at night Japanese girls wear what American girls sleep in.

I need to devote a whole paragraph to the black references in Japan. Now I want to make clear that the Japanese aren’t necessarily being insulting or racist in their references to black people; it’s more that they are unaware of the political connotations, which one can really only pick up by living in the United States. That being said, when I found out that my black friend was in Tokyo, coincidentally filming a documentary about being black in Japan, we promptly agreed that capturing the following finds were essential to his production:

1) The Sounds of Blackness: a pretty legit record shop

2) Harlem: the dance studio self-described as “The Sanctuary of Black Music”

3) Black Nikka: a whiskey

4) Blacky: hyper tanning studio of Japan (my personal favorite)

My travel buddy and I also made sure to buy ourselves a pair of “Black Man” underwear, which are super-scandalous, super-tight briefs with a “crotch pocket” for your stuff. The packaging shows a close-up of a non-black male’s crotch in the underwear, with the words “BLACK MAN” prominently displayed above.

And then there’s Club Ageha, Asia’s largest dance club. The whole experience feels like being in a movie. You drop off at Shin-Kiba, this subway stop in the middle of factories and docks. You walk for 20 minutes into ever increasing darkness and anonymity. Then you come across this giant warehouse — and realize it’s your destination. You enter, and in slow motion you soak everything in: enormous dance floor, thousands of people, and a stunningly gorgeous clientele. You’ll be committed to dance until 5am when the subways open back up.

I admit that Japan is not all rose-colored tuna sashimi and smiling Picachus. As a foreigner, you will probably experience the country’s reputation for xenophobia. You may walk into a nearly-empty restaurant or bar, only to be stopped with a gesture resembling either an X or a crucifix, and told that the establishment is “full.” For women living in the country, the glass ceiling in Japan is so low there’s barely room to stand up.

However, the setbacks in Japan only leave you disgruntled momentarily, and you are right back enjoying the wonderment of it all. So if any of you have recently broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, leaving you discontented and wondering what true love is really like, then spend a week in Japan and find out.

Want to see Ziv in his BLACKMANs and hear more about Japan?