Meet Japan Expert Jon DeHart
Growing up in the 1980s, Japanese pop-culture exerted a subtle, yet profound influence on my life, like a soft gravitational pull. I still recall spotting a box under a table in my Grandparents’ living room on Christmas day, 1989, holding a piece of then coveted, cutting-edge tech: an 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. As I immersed myself in the virtual worlds of Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, I sensed the real, faraway land of Japan, where Nintendo was conjured, to be imbued with magic and mystery. Mario and Luigi were joined in my imagination by bullet trains zipping by Mt. Fuji and ninjas climbing castle walls.
As I matured, my interest in Japan grew alongside my curiosity about the wider world beyond my Midwestern hometown. At age 11, I won my elementary school’s geography bee –– a small feat no doubt helped by the influence of my adventurous, travel-loving dad, a retired world history and geography teacher who owned a hefty collection of National Geographic back-issues that I incessantly pored over as a kid. Hat tip to my dad also for taking my mom, brother and I on a series of epic cross-country road trips during his summer breaks, which instilled a deep love of travel in me from a young age.
By the time I reached college, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do with my life, but I did know that I wanted it to involve roving distant lands and researching and writing about them. I took classes on international relations, history and politics of the Middle East, and even made my first overseas jaunt to a series of stellar European museums with a Near Eastern archaeology class when I was 19. Gawping at Babylonian antiquities and exploring London, Paris, Berlin, and Rome dramatically expanded my horizons, but I returned from Europe with the feeling that I wanted something a bit more… different.
During this time, I heard many friends and acquaintances share their own tales about Asia, which to my younger self carried a strong whiff of adventure. A professor who previously worked as a diplomat in the Philippines where he negotiated the release of hostages from terrorists. A classmate whose dad did business in Thailand, where I learned that golden temples proliferated. A dormmate who was mesmerized by Tokyo, where he stopped en route to meet extended family in Taiwan. The more I heard and the deeper I dug, the more Asia –– utterly foreign to me then, which was its greatest appeal –– wove its subtle spell. I had little idea where it would lead, but following inspiration, I chose to major in Asian Studies and took Japanese classes to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
Jon DeHart with his host family in their kitchen in winter of 2004
And so, in the winter of 2004, I took the plunge. I boarded a plane and flew to Tokyo to live with a host family of five and study the language for 10 weeks. As fate would have it, I watched Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation in a theater only a few weeks before I found myself wandering down some of the same neon-lit boulevards where I’d just seen Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson carouse on screen. A potent mix for an impressionable 21-year-old.
In Tokyo, my host family’s hospitality, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and curiosity about the US drew me in. The meals around their dining table were a crash course on etiquette –– not to mention, chopsticks mastery. Bathing involved a series of rituals and protocols that I duly mastered. I took jaunts to see Kamakura’s Great Buddha, to the cluster of pristine lakes that surround the base of Mt. Fuji, and to Nikko, where I experienced my first onsen (hot-spring) bath, surrounded by falling snow in the mountains. And most importantly, my Japanese improved to the point where I could at least hold a solid, basic conversation. In hindsight, those few months feel like a dream, which however nascent, proved to be a major turning point in my life.
As graduation approached, I applied for only one job: to teach English in the Japanese countryside. Thankfully, I got it. So I made the move to Japan in the summer of 2004 to work for a year teaching junior high school students in a small city in rural Mie Prefecture. This then led to a teaching job in Tokyo, where I lived for a bit less than two years. During this time, I deepened my appreciation for Japan’s unique perspective on life and the world, learning much more about Buddhism and Shinto, and devouring its cinema, literature and more.
After a few years between Cincinnati and Shanghai, I felt a strong pull to return to Japan, which I finally did in the fall of 2012. I’ve lived in Tokyo ever since.
Since returning, I’ve worked as a writer focused mainly on travel, culture and society in Asia, with Japan never far from view. As a journalist, I’ve written about topics ranging from Japanese mountain monks and the politics of Asian pop music to Mongolian horsemanship, Vietnamese street food and India’s staggering holy festival, the Kumbh Mela. As an author, I’ve written two first-edition Japan guidebooks (Moon Japan and Moon Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima), which I continue to update, for Moon Travel Guides. A snapshot of my writing work can be seen here.
Over the past decade, my writing work, as well as my own curiosity, have taken me much deeper into Tokyo, a mammoth, confounding megalopolis if there ever was one. Beyond the capital, I’ve explored Hokkaido’s wintery wonderland, submerged myself in remote hot-spring pools in Tohoku, trekked in the Japan Alps, roamed cobblestone backstreets from Kyoto to Kanazawa, eaten my way through Osaka’s deep-fried food scene, island hopped through the Inland Sea, slept in mountaintop Buddhist temples, joined dancing throngs at raucous summertime festivals in Shikoku, and cycled down streets of crushed coral in the antipodes of Okinawa. Yet, I feel there’s always more to discover.
Jon DeHart - Japan Expert
Jon is the author of the Japan guidebook series for Moon Travel Guides. He has lived in Tokyo for more than a decade. He’ll be your on-the- ground expert as you are in the travel planning stages and while you are in-country.
My Favorite Things About Japan
- Seeking out the country’s variety, from pockets of old-school charm in frenetic cities to subcultures that buck the norm, to sacred mountains and insouciant, rustic islands.
- Enjoying the food, from smoky alleys of yakitori joints to haute feasts.
- Getting to know the people –– their thoughtfulness, their legendary hospitality, and the candor and humor that emerge after a few drinks.
- Traditional festivals, or matsuri, which showcase Japan’s lighter, fun-loving side.
- The country’s love of the seasons, from hanami (flower-blossom viewing) parties and picnics in spring and heaving dance festivities throughout the sweltering summer months to koyo (viewing the turning leaves in autumn).
- Its tranquility, from temples, shrines and pilgrimage routes to tea ceremony, Zen gardens, ‘forest bathing’, and onsen (hot-spring) getaways.
- Its love of quality and mastery. This is seen in the shokunin (craftsman) spirit and the pervasive spirit of kaizen (continuous improvement).
Some of our Favorite Japan Tours
We’ve got some great Japan tours we’ve developed over the years. These are some of our favorites. And, while many tour operators have similar routes, it’s really the inner-workings and attention to detail that truly matter and make our Japan tours stand out.
Eclectic Japan
This Japan itinerary highlights the best of the country including Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima. Many companies attempt this route, only a few do it superbly! You can also do this trip in reverse if you are starting in Tokyo.
The Golden Route
This Japan tour takes you on the classic route that we’ve filled with hidden delights.