JAPAN

GET SOME HOPE FOR HUMANITY

Japan is one of my favorite countries on this planet. There is an incredible kindness and hospitality that you’ll find wherever you go. You’ll also find no trash. Tokyo has 35,000,000 people and very few trashcans in the city…and no trash. It says so much about the people and the “we’re all in this together” mindset. If only the rest of the world felt this way, we’d all be better off.

Your word for this day is Omoiyari. Frequently translated as altruistic sympathy, empathy in action, or anticipatory consideration.

Rather than just a passive feeling of pity, Omoiyari requires actively imagining what another person is experiencing and altering your own behavior to support or comfort them. It forms the psychological foundation for why Japanese culture prioritizes collective well-being over individual desire.

Spread some Omoiyari in the world.

TOKYO

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES

• Get a “Red Stamp Book” at your first temple or in a tourist shop before you visit your first temple. As you visit temples throughout Japan, you can get a red stamp that is the “logo” of the temple and some Japanese writing on each page. It makes an awesome souvenir! 

• Get some Hawaiian Sugarloaf Pineapple at a local farmer’s market. It is so tasty!

• Visit Hanalei Bay. Walk out on the pier and soak in the beautiful view or catch some tasty waves on a longboard.

• Take a helicopter tour or catamaran tour of the island.

• Hike Waimea Canyon via the Pihea Trail

• Go tubing through old sugar plantation canals.

• Zipline above Kauai.

• Hike the Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail for some beautiful coastline views.

• Visit Spouting Horn for sunset.

• Give a shelter dog a day at the beach through the Kauai Humane Society.

• Princeville Night Market happens every second Sunday from 4-8pm.

FOOD

• Ku’ulei’s Gourmet in Hanapepe (Instagram) <map>

• Living Foods <map>

• Duke’s beachfront dining - great stop for lunch on the way to the airport <map>

• Hualani’s at the Timbers Kauai Resort

• Find a local farmer’s market

• Sueoka’s Snack Shop in Old Koloa Town for malasadas (They’re only available on Fridays from 3 PM to 5 PM!) <map>

• Lappert’s Hawaii - Ice Cream

• Get shave ice at Wailua in Kapa’a. <map>

• Fresh Bite Kauai food truck in Hanalei

• Porky’s Hawaiian BBQ <map>

• 1 Kitchen at the 1 Hotel at Princeville

• Tidepools at the Grand Hyatt Kauai

• Eating House by Roy Yamaguchi <map>

• Merriman’s Restaurant farm to table dinner at The Shops at Kukuiula <map>

SHOPPING

• The Shops at Kukuiula (SoHa Living, Mālie Organics, <map>

• Heather Brown Art <map>

• Costco - stock up on Hawaiian snacks and treats. Great price on my favorite granola bars and Ani’s sweet bread! ) <map>

• Kauai Made - find pretty much everything that’s made on Kauai

• Sueoka’s Snack Shop for malasadas (They’re only available on Fridays from 3 PM to 5 PM!) <map>

• Warehouse 3540 (hip, local goods) <map>

• AlohaXchange (great local surf shop) <map>

• Target for snacks and Targeting in Hawaii

OAHU