Munya Chawawa’s guide to Kyoto:
The comedian and satirist Munya Chawawa, who found social media superstardom on Instagram with his skits and musical parodies mocking politicians and public figures, recently travelled to Japan. He explains why he fell in love with the country, and shares the best moments, and the places he loved the most.
Where is your favourite destination and why?
Japan. Arriving there felt like entering another dimension, just in terms of the country playing by its own rules and people deciding what kind of a world they want to live in.
Like entering a society built on respect. For example, I got a coffee from somewhere and I ended up carrying the cup for about four hours because there were no bins on the street. I guess it’s because they want people to take their rubbish home, which is amazing. Obviously carrying the dregs of a cappuccino around Japan wasn’t on the bucket list.
Or how the smokers were forced to accumulate under a designated lamp post of shame to discourage people from smoking.. Also incredible. Or even when you’re crossing the road — in London you just accept you’re going to have four different people’s breath funnelling down your collar at a zebra crossing, but in Japan everyone left exact measurements of space between each other.
The fashion was also amazing and everyone was super-polite. All of the Uber drivers collected you in little tuxedos with white silk gloves — it was so cute. A sign of having pride in the job that you do. I just loved seeing how they were kind of playing by their own rules. It really shook me out of my Western stupor.
When was the last time you were in Japan?
I went last May with a friend who’s also in the industry, and who I work with. He loves manga and anime, so it was like going to Disneyland, but with more cartoon-on-cartoon violence.
Where is the best place to stay?
A discreet little ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese hotel, just outside Kyoto. I feel torn saying exactly where it is because I know within five minutes I’ll see someone on TikTok setting up a tripod and crying in front of it. So I’m just going to be selfish with it.
Is there a hidden gem you are willing to share?
OK, I’ll tell you — the ryokan was called Seryo. There were no distractions — not even the noise of traffic. I love being in London, but it can feel like you’re on a constant Ferris wheel of chaos. There’s always events to go to, always foxes orgying outside your bedroom window, and I just felt like the mountains of Japan would provide a little bit of a retreat.
I spent the mornings here and then the afternoons exploring. At the ryokan I felt like I was in a capsule where time was frozen. There were no clocks — technology was not prohibited, but it was encouraged to take a break from it. And so you just knew what time of day it was based on the mist on the mountains.
Hotel Japanese Ryokan Seryo
Supplied
As soon as you get there, you have to take off your Western shoes — your trainers — and you put on some traditional slippers and an outfit, like a robe. I just love this idea of not being catered for as a tourist, but rather being welcomed into someone else’s world.
What was your favourite meal there?
At the ryokan they would do a multiple-course breakfast, which was my favourite. I’d go down with my taste buds primed for Cheerios, and then they would serve you several bowls of meat, with these crazy roots that looked like something out of like an alien movie. There were about 12 small dishes and I still only know what four them were.
A meal at Hotel Japanese Ryokan Seryo
Supplied
Once you’re an adult, you think you’ve tasted everything there is to taste, but honestly, there was stuff there that I just couldn’t recreate if I tried. In the city or when we were in Tokyo, we tried a lot of ramen. All of the ramen spots are amazing, but you have to find all of the nooks and crannies where there are no tourists. That’s where it’s the most banging.
What would you do if you only had 24 hours there?
My perfect 24 hours there would be eating ramen, visiting temples and chilling in a hot tub. Repeat.
What is the one unmissable thing you recommend?
If you can go to the Ohara region, near the ryokan, then visit all the temples there: Sanzen-in, Jikkō-in, Hōsen-in, Raigō-in.
You’ll find that not many tourists want to venture to climb and go and see them, so when we visited at the weekend, we would find ourselves one-on-one with these gigantic gold Buddhas in the middle of these forests. They were dead silent, bar squirrels skipping around you in a circle. It truly felt like being on set for some incredible magical movie.
Where do you like to let your hair down?
One night I tried to go out by myself to the clubbing district in Kyoto, but then when I arrived, every ounce of social anxiety I had harboured throughout my life decided to pounce on me. So I didn’t step foot in any clubs. However, I did do the nerd equivalent, which was to visit all of the arcades and the nerdy anime and manga shops, which were in Akihabara in Tokyo.
Akihabara electric town, Tokyo, Japan
Getty Images
The one thing you would bring home as a souvenir?
This incredible museum was exhibiting Takashi Murakami’s artwork — he’s the guy who does those super-bright flowers that look like they could be on a Super Mario level; he’s my favourite artist. So I ended up bringing back four full-size flower cushions.
AFP via Getty Images
It was the most I’ve been stopped in the airport, weirdly. Apparently a guy can’t bring fluffy flower cushions across the border anymore. I had compressed them in my suitcase — I went into MMA fighter mode and just pounded them into the tiniest space possible and hoped they wouldn’t be permanently disfigured when I pulled them out.
Take an enormous suitcase because Japan will catch you with its numerous trinkets. And if you hate wearing slippers that have been worn by 100 other people, maybe take a comfortable pair of socks, because most of the temples don’t allow you to walk in without them. And don’t pack the ones with a hole in, otherwise half of the world will see your big toe poking out. So either have a pedicure or bring a decent pair.
Song that reminds you of the place?
Unfortunately, when I went to Japan, it was the time that Drake and Kendrick Lamar were having their beef. So sadly, despite seeing all of these amazing sights and beautiful things and meeting all these beautiful people, the song that most reminds me of Japan is BBL Drizzy.
Did you have an emergency incident while you were there?
Everything runs so smoothly and everything’s on time. So no. I think the only emergency we had was being surprised when the bullet train arrived on time, and trying to ask people whether this was the delayed train from before, or whether there is actually a place on Earth where trains operate according to schedule.
Building you would like to live in?
The temple made of gold: Kinkaku-ji. That just feels like a flex. You can’t even go inside it. It makes a pretty terrific Instagram carousel. As a 5ft 7in man, I honestly was competing just to lift my phone above the crowds to take pictures. So I think if you lived there you’d feel like a Kardashian for sure.
Wandering into the empty forest in Ohara and being a few feet away from this gargantuan gold Buddha, with just a few incense sticks burning peacefully next to us. Just being able to sit there and take in the silence and listen to nature and the water running. And not to feel rushed or as though I needed to be anywhere. It reminded me that the world is beautiful, it’s here to be explored. We make our whole worlds our phone, but actually the real world is happening outside us all the time. So I just remember having that reflection and basking in that.
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