In my last post, I talked about my rest break in Nagoya. Now it was finally time to head north and meet my homestay family.
Finding a host family in Japan is incredibly difficult nowadays. Most people go through agencies or pay placement services, but I decided to do things the hard way. I found an old website from almost 20 years ago and started cold emailing and calling as many families as I could. Most never replied. A few did. Honestly, it felt like throwing darts in the dark and hoping one landed.
Thankfully, this one worked out.
The walk to the house was supposed to be easy. Around three and a half hours. The problem was the heat. That day was brutal. At one point I had to take my towel out of my bag just to use it as shade while walking.
By the time I arrived, I was nervous.
The plan was to stay with the family for five days, but what if we didn’t get along? What if things got awkward? What if they were vegetarians?
Okay, that last one was a joke… mostly.
Right away I met Sayaka, my host mom, who spoke perfect English and had actually done a homestay in America herself. I’m pretty sure my first impression was terrible because I talked nonstop for about three hours straight. When you spend long stretches barely speaking English and suddenly get the chance to again — especially with ADHD — it feels like reuniting with a long-lost friend.
I also met Maple, the family dog.
Dinner that night was eggplant and beef with salad.
Later, we picked up her son, who was on Golden Week vacation. Golden Week in Japan is basically a cluster of holidays that can turn into an entire week off from work or school. For example, if holidays land near a weekend, people will often take a couple extra days off to connect everything together into one long break. This year it was Wednesday and the following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off. So people took off Thursday and Friday to get the full week off.
For me, the timing was perfect. I figured staying with a host family during Golden Week would help me avoid some of the insanely expensive hotels and crowded travel days.
At least… that was the plan. (foreshadowing to future blog)
When we picked up her son, he mostly spoke Japanese, so I did my best to ask a few questions. The language gap was still a little too wide for me, but we found common ground through video games and music.
That evening, my host mom invited me to a local kendo class where the host dad was a teacher. I was excited because kendo was something I’d seen a lot in anime and Japanese dramas. Usually my personality is very “golden retriever energy.” I say yes to everything. But for some reason, when I sat down and watched the class, I became incredibly shy.
I was actually hoping the host dad wouldn’t ask me to join.
Which made no sense.
Of course, he eventually did ask… and I declined.
To this day, I still don’t know why.
I love trying new things, so why did I suddenly freeze up here?
After class, though, he still showed me the basics: the footwork, how to hold the sword, and the different strike targets. It was an amazing experience, but later that night I laid in bed annoyed at myself for not participating.
The next morning, breakfast was definitely outside my comfort zone: yogurt, fruit, and a nut-and-oat mix.
But I decided to trust the process.
I mixed everything together, added some honey, and took a bite.
It was magical.
I genuinely don’t know how else to describe it. The granola wasn’t overly nutty, the yogurt was incredible, and somehow the whole thing just worked perfectly. I even made a second bowl with banana slices.
That breakfast became a recurring theme of the trip.
Later, my host mom took me shopping for summer clothes because Japan was about to become a humid furnace. I also burn ridiculously easily, so covering my neck and arms was becoming a necessity.
We also stopped at a grocery store where I discovered something I’d never seen before. At the front entrance, you grab a store cellphone and scan your groceries as you shop. Then, when you get to self-checkout, the phone transfers your total automatically.
It was honestly super efficient.
At the same time, I immediately thought: “This system would last about three days in America before every phone disappeared.”
That evening, my host mom went out for a girls’ night, and I met up with a girl from a language exchange app who wanted to practice English.
She told me she had never met a non-Japanese person before, which immediately made me feel like I was representing my entire country.
No pressure.
We went to Torikizoku, a chain restaurant where everything on the menu costs the same price (390yen) — skewers, side dishes, even drinks. The conversation bounced between English and Japanese with the usual first-meeting questions, but overall it went quite well. However in Japanese there is no L so trying to differentiate right and light… feels impossible. She said she didn’t hear a difference between them.
When I got back home, the host dad had just returned from work. His schedule is irregular, so he doesn’t always get the normal holidays off like everyone else.
I also talked with the son for a while before suddenly realizing something:
We were speaking almost entirely in English.
This whole time he’d been holding back.
He absolutely knew English.
I had been fooled.
He later told me he was doing it to help improve my Japanese, but at that point I had started doubting whether the host dad — or even the dog — secretly knew English. I went to bed skeptical.
The next morning: another magical yogurt bowl.
At this point I was emotionally attached to breakfast.
One of my host mom’s friends came over for lunch, which I loved because meeting new people is one of my favorite parts of traveling. We drank fresh matcha tea and tried a tray of beautifully decorated sweets she brought over.
They tasted even better than they looked.
Now I need you to understand something.
What I’m about to say is not an exaggeration.
I want you to look at this picture of dinner.
This may have been the greatest meal I’ve ever eaten.
It looked simple, but everything worked perfectly together. The real star, though, was the peanut sauce. That sauce was life-changing. Once I settle down somewhere long term, I’m absolutely asking my host mom for the recipe and learning how to make it myself.
During dinner, I mentioned wanting to go horse racing because it seemed like such a uniquely Japanese experience. Plus, after trying pachinko and boat racing, horse racing would complete the gambling trifecta.
Then things got even better.
The nearby racetrack was hosting a special collaboration event for Uma Musume, a franchise based on real-life racehorses reimagined as anime girls. I’d watched the movie and played the game a little, so I thought it was pretty cool already.
But then, right there at the dinner table, my host dad called his childhood friends and organized a meetup.
Suddenly I wasn’t just going horse racing.
I was going horse racing with friends!
Zzz…
The next morning — yes, another magical yogurt bowl — was race day.
This was also my first time hanging out with the host dad alone. He spoke only Japanese (suspicious), so the car ride was basically me testing the limits of what we could communicate to each other.
When we arrived, I immediately spotted Oguri Cap, one of Japan’s most famous racehorses and also a character in Uma Musume. Not to mention this was also Oguri Cap’s HOME TRACK, Kasamatsu.
Then we met up with his friends.
One of them was laid back.
The other one…
Imagine every loud, chaotic older man you’ve ever seen in a comedy anime. Zero concept of personal space. Constant jokes. Loud energy. Slightly inappropriate. Absolutely hilarious.
He was incredible.
Even though he spoke fast Japanese, I somehow understood enough to survive. We gambled together, drank beer, ate pork skewers, and had an amazing time.
I lost every bet, of course.
But honestly, I didn’t care.
I loved the experience.
When we got home, there was another surprise waiting for me.
My host mom volunteers with a community that video calls students who don’t attend school for various reasons, helping them stay connected socially. She invited one of the students over to meet me.
I was excited but also nervous because I didn’t want to come across as overwhelming or intimidating.
Thankfully, it went really well.
Whenever I got stuck speaking Japanese, my host mom translated for me. At one point I even taught him how to play Hangman using hiragana, which is somehow much harder than regular Hangman.
Before leaving, he gave me a gift: a glowing gyoza keychain.
That night, my host mom made pork steak for dinner.
Another unbelievable meal.
At this point I didn’t even need to tell you what breakfast was anymore.
You already know.
The morning and afternoon were mostly spent working on previous blog posts. As you can probably tell, these posts are coming out a little late. Balancing travel, writing, editing, and reliable Wi-Fi is harder than I expected.
Later, we walked to a nearby park with Maple. There was a massive tower there that visitors could climb for a panoramic view. Apparently local firefighters compete to see who can reach the top the fastest while wearing full gear.
The record?
Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
Absolutely not.
I refuse to believe that. Dude must be super human.
When we got home, my host mom made okonomiyaki, a savory pancake made with cabbage, egg, and pork, topped with sauce, mayo, and seaweed flakes.
Then came the regional food lore.
In Osaka and many other places, okonomiyaki is made normally. But in Hiroshima, they add soba noodles.
I haven’t tried the Hiroshima version yet, but considering I love noodles, it honestly might win.
That evening we went back to kendo practice.
This time, I refused to chicken out again.
I didn’t join the full class, but I did some one-on-one training with Genji Sensei. I finally got to practice striking and moving properly, and the footwork was way harder than it looked.
By the end of class, though, I felt much more comfortable and even talked with the parents and kids.
Progress.
The next day, I met another language exchange friend for lunch. Since it was still Golden Week, basically everywhere was crowded, but she found a teishoku restaurant she wanted to try.
The interior looked super elegant, and we sat beside a huge window overlooking the street.
The food was amazing.
The only problem was the portions were way too small.
The conversation was very dry due to her being shy and my Japanese still needing some more work.
Afterward we visited Noritake Garden. Apparently Noritake is famous for ceramics and tableware because the connected shop was filled with plates and cups.
We also stopped at their café for dessert, which was surprisingly affordable for how good it was.
Later we wandered through a mall, and that’s when things became way less awkward.
We found an arcade and played Mario Kart together.
Instantly the nervous atmosphere disappeared.
That moment reminded me that communication isn’t just language. Sometimes all it takes is doing something fun together.
As my Japanese slowly improves, I’m realizing that every new word makes conversations easier. Little by little, the gap gets smaller.
Another successful hangout with a language exchange friend, time for dinner.
Dinner was chicken taco soup with tortilla chips.
I considered staying another day with the host family, but the weather forecast had changed and the rain was gone, meaning it was time to continue traveling.
Honestly, I wish homestays were easier to find because they create such a deep sense of comfort and cultural immersion. Before coming to Japan, my dream was to chain together homestays across the country, but it’s much harder than I expected.
I feel incredibly lucky that I got to spend time with this family in Nagoya, and I genuinely hope I’ll see them again someday.
I know the posts have been delayed lately, but I’m trying to figure out a better system for creating content consistently. I want to start making short-form videos while also keeping up weekly blog posts.
Thank you for following along this far.
And remember — my Instagram stories and highlights are updated daily: @nomadokai
If you’d like to support the trip, there’s also a Ko-fi donation button on the website.
Thank you so much.