When you travel, don’t you find yourself walking a lot because there are so many new things to see? I tend to walk around and explore quite a bit when I travel. Seeing a new city for the first time is refreshing, and just walking around can be an enjoyable experience. However, since you’re in a new place, you might be more tense, and it’s easier to get tired.
Personally, I have the impression that there are quite a few benches or places to sit overseas. In Japan, however, there are very few benches or places to sit in town, so be careful! No matter how much you walk, you won’t find benches. Therefore, it’s better not to look for benches!
There are benches in parks, so if you want to find a bench, looking for a park might be a good idea. However, Japanese people might not typically look for a park to rest.
What do Japanese people do when they get tired from walking? Generally, they go to a café. If you walk around a big city, you’ll find cafés everywhere. However, on weekends, many cafés in big cities are full. You can get a coffee for around 300 yen, and water is free. In the summer, it’s cool with air conditioning, and in the winter, it’s warm with heating.
The price is reasonable, and the space is very comfortable, so everyone uses them. Starbucks is also very popular in Japan, and it’s always crowded, both on weekdays and weekends.
If you’re tired from walking and the cafés are full, try going to a station building or a department store if there’s one nearby. Usually, the top floor is the restaurant area, and you can often find a seat in the café outside of lunch hours. Even if you don’t go into a store, there are usually benches on the floor where you can sit.
The price at a café in a station building or department store might be a bit higher, around 500 to 1000 yen, but being able to sit down is priceless!
So, if you’re tired in Japan, instead of looking for a bench, look for a café, station building, or department store!