This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Snowthefirst on 2024-05-21 21:24:58+00:00.

---

Over at r/JapanTravelTips, I asked for advice for how to deal jet-lag for an upcoming trip to Tokyo, from May 12 to the 19th. Now that this trip has ended, I will give my thoughts on how it all went down, to reflect on both the good times and the mistakes. Yet I wouldn't have traded these experiences for anything.

My hotel was the Anshin Oyado Ekimae, in Shinjuku. This is my first experience with a capsule hotel so I can't say how it compares with others. But I found my bed comfortable enough, and had no issues sleeping. Another draw of this particular hotel is the amenities: had free breakfast curry every morning, which I didn't get tired of eating for the week I was there. The evenings also had free alcoholic drinks, although I didn't particularly partake in those. The bath facilities were well-stocked, and included a spa bath and a sauna. So while I spent most of my day exploring, I did enjoy going back to the hotel during the nights to unwind. Another plus of the hotel is the proximity to Shinjuku Station, making it a good hub for going around Tokyo.

My budget for this trip was 70,000 yen, effectively 10k yen per day. I managed to do everything I wanted and still ate good meals and bought souvenirs for everyone back home. I will say upfront that I reserved events ahead of time when I could, to ease the budget for the week itself.

I flew out on Sunday the 12th, to arrive on Monday the 13th in the evening. For that evening, I checked into my hotel and settled other affairs that would make the trip easier. Those included getting a Suica card, which I snagged when I arrived at Shinjuku Station, and getting the Tokyo Starter Kit. The Starter Kit was immensely useful, as with a three day train pass and a single day bus pass, I could take transportation costs out of the budget for most of the week for an upfront cost of 3,000 yen. This first evening had my first error- getting lost in Shinjuku Station. Although it seems that this is normal, and I got the hang of it eventually.

May 14th was purely dedicated to Shibuya. I hit all the expected tourist spots, and while that is predictable, I loved to experience it for myself. Perhaps the most impactful moment is seeing the mural dedicated to the atomic bomb in Shibuya Mark City, something I hadn't even known about until I had done research for this trip. When I got tired from walking, I visited the rooftop of Miyashita Park, to sit down and enjoy the fresh air. The end of the evening was dedicated to Shibuya Sky. Being able to see the vast expanse of Tokyo was breathtaking, for sure.

May 15th began with me branching out to explore more of Shinjuku, with a general focus on Kabuchiko. Kabuchiko is known as a more adult-oriented area, so I can say you can go there if that is what you want from your trip. One little personal anecdote: one thing I wanted to try was Melon Pan, because I had heard so much about it. I then find out that Melon Pan is basically identical to a Mexican sweetbread known as a "Concha". The second half of the day was dedicated to TeamLab Borderless. Words really fail to describe the kind of experience it was, it's really the kind of thing you need to see for your self.

May 16 was focused on Akihabara, which will be light on details because I mainly poked my head into various anime shops. The most noteworthy visit is to Kanda Shrine, and enjoying the ambience there. May 17th was a day with the most ambitions- but also the most errors. I tried to see if I could squeeze Yokohama and Odaiba in the same day, and as a result didn't get to enjoy either as much. Although the Cup Noodles Museum was definitely a highlight. My biggest error, however, was going to Tokyo Joyopolis in Odabia. A lack of Japanese knowledge meant that I couldn't participate in a lot of events there. That is definitely on me.

May 18 was my last full day in Tokyo, so I decided to hit a lot of places I liked a second time, focusing on Shibuya and Kabukicho. But I also hit Takeshita Street in Harajuku, to see it with my own eyes and go souvenir shopping there. The crepes there are definitely tasty, although the area is definitely crowded. May 19th was the day I returned home, so not much to say there.

For a first trip, I would say it went fairly well. If there are two big lessons I took away from this, it is to first make sure to explore an area to the fullest instead of trying to cram it all in one day, and also to either learn Japanese or avoid events that require the language. But like I said, I wouldn't trade the mistakes for anything either- just the experience felt like it was worth it. Can't wait to get another chance to return to Tokyo to hit areas I missed!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/NormalRun1446 on 2024-05-21 01:43:13+00:00.

---

I spent a lengthy amount of time in Japan this past year, 2 months in September and I just got home from another two months March-May. I spent quite a bit of time in lesser-known areas and wanted to share some of my favorite spots if you are looking to experience Japan with fewer tourists. 

Some quick details about me:

• -I (18F) stayed mainly in hostels, with a $60-70 budget a day. I think I stayed in four or five hotels the entire trip.
• -I speak an intermediate level of Japanese and can read the majority of menus, signs, etc.. without problem. This really came in handy when reading because when you get FAR in the countryside, there sometimes is no service AND no English translations/no English speakers.
• -I visited 27 prefectures over a collective 108 days in Japan with the two trips.

Overall favorite prefectures:

• -Hokkaido: so much nature, incredible skiing, not touristy, SO much snow even into April. I bet this would be amazing to escape the July heat!
• -Aomori: there isn’t much to do in the city of Aomori, but taking a road trip an hour outside gets you to a lot of really amazing places (Takayama Inari Shrine, tsuru no maishashi bridge, Cape Tappi)
• -Fukuoka: I loved this place so much because I visited during full bloom of cherry blossoms. Truly a stunning sight.
• -Fukui: arguably my #1 favourite. I think I noticed one other foreigner during my entire time there, and the attractions there are so unmatched. This prefecture is dinosaur-themed, with huge statues of dinosaurs outside Fukui station, since it has the most dino bones than any other part of Japan.

Favorite foods:

• -Soup curry, Hokkaido (it will change your life if you’ve never had it)
• -The Full Full Hakata (a bakery in Fukuoka, truly the best in the country imo)
• -Okonomiyaki (of course, I loved the ones in Osaka)

Unique indoor attractions only in Japan that are totally worth it:

• -Art aquarium in Ginza, Tokyo
• -Nebuta Museum Wa Rasse, Aomori
• -Observation decks were my FAVORITE! Tokyo Skytree, JR T38 in Sapporo, and Fukuoka tower were my top 3.

Places that you CANNOT MISS if you want to see real Japan (a bit of a long list):

• -Echizen Daibutsu, Fukui: it houses the largest inside statue of Buddha in Japan, and it took my breath away. The temple grounds are beautiful and you can get a bird’s eye view of Fukui from the pagoda.
• -Lake Toya, Hokkaido: renting a car for this IS WORTH IT! It is a two hour drive from Sapporo. Toya is a volcanic caldera lake and the sights were, literally, some of the best I’ve seen in Japan. There is tons to do around the lake, and my day trip consisted of hiking, waterfalls, ropeway, Hokkaido milk gelato.
• -Mount Aso, Kumamoto: I did this with public transportation from Kumamoto city, but renting a car would save both time and a headache. Aso is an active volcano and while the hike to get up close to the volcano is closed (due to activity), you can get pretty close enough to it. Close enough to breathe in the volcano fumes and uncontrollably cough, along with everyone else there, for the next thirty minutes. Several hiking trails around it are open though, and a few lakes, and it is very pretty. I was there from about 10am-3pm and did three hikes, pet some horses, and got ice cream.
• -Matsushima Bay, Miyagi: Known as one of the top 3 views in all of Japan, it is 260 small islands off the coast of Miyagi. I did the Oku-Matsushima trail, which is a 10km hike that takes you all around the area through bamboo forests, a cemetery, wetlands, unique rock formations, beaches, etc.. at the end it takes you up the mountain to get an incredible view of the bay. Such a cool hike and I literally did not see a single person during my time there.
• -Michinoku coastal trail, Aomori: there is tons of info online, but if you have specific questions feel free to ask. It was a gorgeous hike along the ocean.
• -Sakurajima, Kagoshima: an island right off Kagoshima with an active volcano.
• Toyama: typically an over-looked destination, it has a ton of fun things to do that make a perfect day trip. Glass museum, castle, temples and I was there during a festival.

Lastly, just a few places I do NOT recommend:

• -Okayama: just, no. Personally, I found the town to be quite depressing and the locals to not be very nice. Okay for a day trip but there is literally nothing to see in the city other than the castle and the garden. Plus, the castle wasn’t anything special.
• -Kyoto in the spring. I absolutely loved it in the fall, but the amount of tourists in the spring literally destroyed the experience for me (there was an astonishing amount of disrespectful foreigners). Please consider visiting less popular destinations that still have the same charm as Kyoto during March/April.
• -Tokyo DisneySea: It is significantly smaller than Disneyland but in my opinion not as fun. Sure, it's the only DisneySea in the world, but there really wasn’t anything crazy special about it. If you’re a die-hard Disney fan, then 100% sure, but I am a “go once for the experience” type girl.

I hope this inspires any Japan travelers to get to know the lesser-known destinations :) the golden route is beautiful but I would take these destinations over Osaka and Kyoto any day! (obviously you can't miss Tokyo).

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Im_The_One on 2024-05-20 13:07:39+00:00.

---

I've tried to do a fair amount of research and come up with an itinerary that I think works well based on locations for everything. It's 4 of us in July (25-30 years old). Would love any recommendations or if anyone thinks we have too much planned on any days or if anything might not work.

We're all pretty easy going, love to experience new cultures, and won't say no to trying many new things. Really want to have a focus on food being a big part of the trip, but only have 2 reservations. The rest of the places listed in the itinerary are not set in stone, but just placed to check out if it works out. Only thing we don't really care about is the clubbing/partying scene.

• In Osaka, we'll be staying in the Namba district with one Day trip to Kyoto.
• In Tokyo, we'll be staying in Asakusa.

---

Day 1: Friday

17:00 - Get to Osaka

18:00 - Find hotel in Namba area.

Evening: Explore Dotomburi district for dinner/bars/drinks

---

Day 2: Saturday

Coffee: Barista Map Coffee Roasters

11:30 - Lunch: Marubushi Tsukemen

Midday:

• Rent bikes and bike around Osaka Castle/site see
• Shinsekai district (shopping)

20:15 - Omakase reservation (1 Michelin star)

We don't have a ton planned this day so if anyone has additonal recommendations, I would love to hear them

---

Day 3: Sunday (Kyoto Day Trip)

6:00 AM - Train Osaka - Kyoto

7:00 AM - Inari Shrine/Gates - hike/explore (3 mile loop)

10:00 AM - Coffee: Kurasu

1:00 PM - Lunch (open to recommendations)

3:00 PM - Monkey Palace Optional - depending on how much time we spend at Inari shrine

5:00 PM - Explore Gion (Gesha district)

8:45 PM - Dinner: Teppan Tavern Tenamonya

11:00 PM - Train Kyoto - Osaka

---

Day 4: Monday

8:30 AM - Coffee/breakfast in Namba

9:30 AM - Check out of hotel

10:30 AM - Train from Osaka to Tokyo

1:00 PM - Check into airbnb in Asakusa

1:30 PM - Lunch: Asakusa Midori Sushi

Afternoon: explore Asakusa

• Asakusa shrine
• Senso-ji temple
• Kanimarion gate
• Kappabashi st (kitchenware shopping)

Evening: Golden Gai District

• Drinks: ARAKU (or whatever we see)
• Dinner: Harebare Pecori Shinjuku (Izakaya)

---

Day 5: Tuesday

Morning: Ginza District

• Breakfast: Open to recommendations
• Coffee: Glitch (Ginza)
• Ginza High Street (shopping)
• Lunch: Kagari noodle shop in Ginza

Afternoon:

• Explore Nakegamuro neighborhood
• Kyu Asakura house

Evening: Toshima City

• Aloha Whiskey (Japanese whiskey bar)
• Dinner: Yakinikumafia Ikebukuro (Japanese bbq)

---

Day 6: Wednesday

Morning: Shibuya District

• Coffee: Koffee Mameya
• Shibuya district Shopping
• Hachiko memorial statue
• Lunch: Gyukatsu Motomura or Kikanbo ramen

Afternoon:

• Mori Art museum and Observation Deck

14:30 - Train to Yokohama

6:00 PM - Baystars vs. Swallows in Yokohama Stadium

Evening: Asakusa bars

---

Day 7: Thursday

Mt. Fuji Day Trip

---

Day 8: Friday

Breakfast/Coffee: Asakusa

15:30 - Leave Tokyo

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Zandorph25 on 2024-05-19 06:57:57+00:00.

---

Hi all and thanks in advance for any help.

We’re travelling to Japan in July and something we were keen to do was the Shinami Kaido 70km cycling route. I had been reading about the different bike rental options and decided to see if I could get the Giant road bikes, partly because we’re both keen cyclists so it would be similar to our bikes at home, and partly because we’re planning on doing the route of a morning/early afternoon so needed something a bit faster.

I’ve been waiting patiently for the giant store in onomichi to allow reservations from mid July and now that they finally have done, every time I select the option to pick up in onomichi and drop off in imabari on the website it says no bikes available, but if I choose pick up in onomichi and drop in onomichi there’s plenty of availability. I’ve extended the booking length as I know they only offer end route drop offs for rental over two days and we were just going to pay for two days but drop it off early - but still nothing!

Has anyone else experience this and know whether if I just reserve a bike for two days from onomichi I can negotiate to drop off at imabari when I get there? There’s no contact email, there’s a phone number but I’m currently working my way through the low levels of duolingo so not sure I’m quite ready for that yet.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Fenrir1993GER on 2024-05-18 12:07:57+00:00.

---

Hello, this is a trip report of my recent road trip during golden week 2024 (April 27 - May 2, 2024). I am living in Nagoya, Japan and last year got an electric car which I can charge for free, so I thought it might be fun to take a longer road trip this year, and challenged myself to drive to and around Kyushu and back. Golden week is one of the main travel seasons, so I planned the timeframe by checking the traffic jam forecast, trying to avoid the peaks. This paid out and like a miracle, I didn't experience one single traffic jam during my time. Kyushu and Shikoku are beautiful places, so I'd like to share my experience.

6 Day Itinerary (April 27, 2024 - May 2, 2024)

Day 1 (Saturday): Nagoya, Awajishima, Naruto Whirlpools, Matsuyama

The first day started by getting up at 4:30 in the morning. Since it was the first day of the Golden Week, there was a major traffic jam forecasted for the highway from Nagoya to Osaka starting from 6am in the morning. With that in mind, I decided to start driving at 5:00 and it workout out just fine without any delay until I arrived in Kobe. Once there, I charged my car even though it still had 50% battery, but wanted to be on the safe side, because there are no dealers I can charge for free on Awajishima. While charging, I took a stroll through Rokko Island and the beach there. After like 40min I was done and continued to my first goal, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge connecting Kobe and Awajishima, the second largest suspension bridge in the world. Once I crossed it, I took a break at the nearby service area, enjoying some coffee and the view of the bridge, the sea, and Kobe in the background. Until there it took me about 2.5 hours.

After that, I continued my road trip for another hour and drove through Awajishima, until I reached the southern end of the island and crossed the Onaruto Bridge, connecting Awajishima with Shikoku, after eating lunch (Japanese Curry) at the service area right before the bridge. There I reached my second destination of the day, the Onaruto Bridge and the Naruto Whirlpools. After enjoying the view of the bridge, I got to the pathway underneath it. You need tickets for it, and I bought them online in advance, so I checked in with my smartphone. Once inside, you can walk along a about 300 meters long pathway underneath the bridge until you reach the main observation room. From there, you can look down onto the whirlpools. On the website you can check the times for the whirlpools which is critical. There are strong timezones and weak ones, so I advice to check beforehand. Luckily I was able to get there for the peak time, able to witness especially strong currents.

When I was done there, I made my way to the final goal of the day, Matsuyama. This I only planned in because after thinking about it carefully, driving all the way to Kagoshima in one day would take 12 hours by car, and that would be just too stressful and I would not be able to do sightseeing on the way. After around 8 hours of driving in total, I arrived in Matsuyama at around 19:00 in the evening. Once there, the main purpose was to rest at the hotel, so all I did was having a look at the beautiful illuminated Matsuyama Castle before calling it a day and resting at the hotel, APA Hotel Matsuyama-Jou Mae, which I cannot recommend because it was rather old and dirty, but for one simple night it was enough. But driving in Shikoku was a dream. The scenery is beautiful, the highway is big and has 2-3 lanes, and there are only few cars, so you can drive fast without any worries.

Day 2 (Sunday): Matsuyama, Ferry, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima

Day 2 was the most exhausting one, because this was mainly driving without much sightseeing. In the morning, I continued my road trip, starting from Matsuyama and heading towards Misaki Port which took me about two hours. The way there was beautiful, because you drive along cliffs with the sea right next to you, giving you beautiful views of the scenery around. When I arrived, I had around 30 minutes before the ferry would take me to Oita, so I took the time to look around and enjoy some coffee at the cafe nearby. Once the ferry arrived I parked my car inside and enjoyed the trip with the ship which takes you to Saganoseki Port in Oita. After arrival I drove to the nearby dealer to charge my car before taking the probably worst part of the trip, the "highway" from Oita to Miyazaki.

Why was this the worst part? Because even though it is declared as "highway", it is far from that. On the map, it looked like it was close to the sea, but it was not. Also, it says "highway", but if you are expecting several lanes, you are mistaking. It was only one lane per direction, and a rather narrow one as well. On top of that, since there are many, many mountains, most of the time you are driving through badly illuminated tunnels. Because my car is one of the larger kinds, it was rather stressful. What made it even worse, there are no service areas until Miyazaki, so I did not have anything to drink, eat, or a toilet for about 3 hours.

After I finally was out of that hell, I charged my car one more time at the dealer in Miyazaki, before heading to the final goal of the day: Kagoshima. Since my Japanese girlfriend did not want to join from day one, she took the plane on this day, so she would arrive in the evening. And like a miracle, we arrived at Kagoshima airport at exactly the same time. With that, we headed to a dinner with her friends from there, before then going to her parent's house, where we would stay 2 nights.

Day 3 (Monday): Moai Statues, Udo Jingu in Miyazaki Prefecture

If you like sceneries/nature, then you will love Miyazaki. It has mountains, the sea, beaches, and anything else you need. On this day we first had lunch and bought some souvenirs at the Michi no Eki in Miyakonojo. Afterwards we went to the Udo Jingu, which is a temple inside a cliff. From there you can enjoy beautiful scenery of the mountains, the sea, and the temple itself. There are also rocks with a rope on top of it in the sea. You can throw stones at them, and if you manage to land inside the round rope, it is said that you will have fortune. After the temple we went to the nearby Moai statues, which are beautiful to look at on top of the mountain with the sea in the background. Apparently those are the only officially approved Moai statues aside from the original ones. In the evening, we had Yakiniku at the parent's house.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Kumamoto, Nagasaki

At 7am in the morning, we said good-bye to her parents and went on to Kumamoto, where I charged the car real quick and had a little shopping trip in the nearby mall. After that we went on straight to Nagasaki, which took us overall about 2 hours. At the hotel, they had a charging spot, so I was able to charge the car until the next morning, and we used the hotel bus to then go to Nagasaki station. After we arrived, we did some sightseeing at the nearby Chinatown and then head over to Dejima for some historical education, although I am personally are not too much into museums etc. After that we went to the beautiful Ouratenshudo church. On the way back to the hotel, we bought some Nagasaki castella. Our hotel was on the top of Isa Mountain, so we did not need to go to the observation deck, it was our hotel. The hotel also had an infinity pool, so we went inside the pool and relaxed while enjoying the view of the beautiful Nagasaki port.

Day 5 (Wednesday): Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka Ferry to Osaka

The checkout of the hotel was at 12:00, which is late for Japanese hotels. Since it was a beautiful place, we decided to enjoy every single minute before finally checking out and then driving on north to Kita-Kyushu. On the way there, we stopped at a service area where they sold Sasebo Burger, which are apparently famous because of the U.S. military base nearby. It was the first time I have seen an American burger, and even though it was tasteful, I felt my man boobs and hips growing with each bite I took. Afterwards we went to Kita-Kyushu and strolled around Majiko Port, which has a lot of older European style buildings. It also has an observation tower which you can go up for only 300 Yen! We went up, had a look at the port, the sea, and the nearby bridge connecting Kitakyushu (Kyushu) with Shimonoseki (Honshu). At the nearby plaza you can do some shopping and there is some kind of museum inside the old customs building as well, which was more interesting than expected. Once it was time to board, we went to the port where our ferry would start, the "Ferry Fukuoka" from the Meimon Taiyo Ferry. This ferry connects Kitakyushu and Osaka. There are 2 rides a day, one at 17:00 and one at 19:50. We took the later one so that we arrive in Osaka at like 8:30 in the morning.

The Ferry Fukuoka is a new ship, so everything was still new, good-looking and generally beautiful. We went on board at like 19:00. There are charging terminals for EV cars which you can use for free if you register in advance, which I did. Thanks to that, my car was fully charged when we arrived in Osaka. There is also a restaurant you can use, and you can go eat dinner right after you boarded. The ticket for dinner and breakfast together costs 2,400 Yen, and it is a buffet like restaurant, where you pick what you want. There are also different rooms. If you really want to save money, y...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cuvvh4/trip_report_golden_week_2024_road_trip_from/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/stubbynubb on 2024-05-17 12:24:07+00:00.

---

This sub has been a huge help in my itinerary preparation and general whatever questions so I thought why not return the favor.. 3 months later. Welp, better late than never!

This trip report will be done chronologically, detailing our mistakes as we went (especially on day 1). And I'll probably be sprinkling in some tips and learnings here and there.

Travel dates

February 18 to 22 – Kyoto

February 22 to 27 – Tokyo

Day 1

After landing at Narita airport, we were able to breeze through the immigration and customs lines, mainly because of the Japan web QR codes and maybe also partly because we had a morning flight.

First things that I wanted to get in order ASAP were:

1. Cash - Took us a while to find an ATM in the airport, but did find one in the lower floor and withdrew just a tad over 20k JPY (a mistake).
2. Yamato Transport - After getting cash, I wanted to buy and load my Suica card first but it turns out there aren't any nearby the arrival area. Since Yamato is inside the airport, I just decided to do that first. Paid 5260 JPY in total for 2 luggages sent to our Kyoto hotel. Not sure if it's a measurement error or a done deliberately, but the Tokyo (NRT) to Kyoto fee was much more expensive than our Kyoto to Tokyo luggage fee.
3. Suica - Finally found a JR East office that sells the 10 year Suica cards. Bought two, one for me and my partner. Initial load was 1500 JPY, so I deposited 500 each so each card ended up costing 2000 JPY.

After sorting all that out, I topped up our Suica cards at a 7-Eleven store. But since I did a rookie mistake of only withdrawing 20k JPY, I was only able to load 5k for each card. I call this a mistake because the foreign exchange and withdraw transaction fees where I'm from are WILD so I should, as much as possible, minimize the amount of withdrawals that I do.

Next task was to buy tickets for the Narita Express bound for Tokyo station. It wasn't difficult to get one, but turns out that I selected the unreserved seats option when I got my ticket. All of the seats in the NEX are supposedly reserved os I'm not sure why that was even an option. Luckily, I asked a guard about my ticket, at that time just making 1000% sure we're in the right place. He found out that I had an unreserved ticket so he taught me how to change to a reserved one in the kiosk near the tracks. So big thanks to that guy.

Slept the entire way from NRT to Tokyo station. Tokyo station wasn’t as bad as I expected. After just following the signs leading to Tokaido Sanyo shinkansen, managed to find ourselves in the right floor and right gate. I tried to redeem our reserved tickets, but somehow couldn’t get it to work. Turns out that this is not an isolated issue and people on Reddit are also complaining about this. Apparently all you need to do is just let the gate machine scan your QR code and then it spits out a ticket for you. The conductor asked me to insert my 2 tickets from the NEX too, probably to ‘end’ the trip.

While waiting for our 1 PM train, we bought some ekibens and water. Got pork cutlet and unagi. Around 12:50 we decided to go up and wait for the train there. Turns out the train was the one waiting for us. Apparently you can already board a shinkansen 20 minutes before departure.. when the clock struck 1 PM, the train immediately left the station.

Ate and then slept for quite a bit at the train. We had premium or business class style seats, so it was pretty comfortable. I wasn’t really feeling well, so I had a hard time resting. Asked my partner to wake me up if she sees Mt. Fuji, but Fuji-san was shy that day.

Arrived at the specified time, as usual when it comes to Japanese standards. Looked for signs leading to the Subway and Karasuma line, as that will be our next train going to the hotel. Managed to find it quite easily. Metros and subways are really just about following instructions, turns out. Shocker. As we arrived at the exit gate leading to the subways, we didn’t know what to do again so asked for help from the gate conductors. They just took our ticket and scanned our qr codes and then let us pass.

Found the entrance gate to the Karasuma line and tapped our Suicas. We were able to go inside without any problems. Couple minutes later, we arrived at Shijo station and tried to exit when for some reason it wouldn’t accept our cards. Obviously I have no idea again what happened here. A concerned citizen pointed us to the fare change booth, but it only ended up recharging my card another 1k yen. After a couple more failures, just decided to call for help using the help desk/kiosk thing. The attendant asked me to scan my card and then he opened the gate.

We stayed at THE GENERAL KYOTO Shijo Shinmachi for our Kyoto leg, which was pretty close from the station. After taking a little rest, we went to Nishiki market even though most of the stalls are already closed. We weren't very hungry due to sleep deprivation so we just bought strawberry daifukus. Wanted to check the good coffee place nearby (WEEKENDERS) even though I had an inkling it was already closed, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were still open and accepting orders at 1 minute before their closing time. The coffee was amazing, of course. We left shortly after finishing our cups and headed to a nearby Lawson to top up our cards again, withdraw additional cash, and buy some snacks.

Day 2 - Temple hopping, Pontocho

Started our day at 9:30 AM. First stop was Shijo station, just to have my partner's Suica card fixed. The station staff was really efficient and was able to fix the card in no time, probably because they get idiots like us everyday.

Unfortunately, it rained the moment we got out of the station, which lasted the entire day. We had our minds set to our itinerary, so we had a quick Daiso run for some face towels and umbrella.

After our first ever Japan bus ride, which turned out to be the wrong bus, we were finally able to ride the correct bus for Kiyomizudera. We hiked to the top with a shit ton of people and elementary school kids who were on a field trip. We didn’t really mind the crowd – explored, took some photos, and paid 400 JPY to enter the temple premises.

After circling the entire perimeter of the temple, we went down to the next temple in our itinerary, Kodaiji. Bought a snoopy ice cream on the way down and this pickled cucumber on stick which we found absolutely disgusting, to say the least.

To reach Kodaiji, we passed through Gion street, which had lots of cute distractions everywhere. Entered a ring making store, but didn’t buy anything. Saw the second Ghibli merch store and got some souvenirs this time.

Reached Kodaiji but decided not to go inside anyway lol. We went to Maruyama Park instead and enjoyed spending time petting and taking pictures of the most obese cats we've ever seen in our lives.

We had more temples that we were supposed to visit in our itinerary, but at this point with the rain and all we just decided to fuck it and skip them. Went to Ichizawa Shinzaburo Hanpu, an old canvas bag shop that only has this one store in Kyoto. A bit pricey, but it's even more expensive on their online store so I took my sweetest time to find one that I really liked before I pulled the trigger.

At this point, we haven't had a proper meal ever since we set foot in Japan. So we took a bus to the nearest Ichiran and got the ramen bowl with soft-boiled egg add-on. It was good, but nothing life changing. As we were in the area, we walked to WEEKENDERS (again), and ordered pourover and iced latte. Everything was amazing.

On the way to Pontocho, we passed by our first Donki and ate our first famichiki. That thing is insanely good and one of my biggest regrets is not eating more of it. Strolled by Pontocho alley, didn't eat at any of the restaurants.

We didn't have any winter clothes at all, so we went to UNIQLO and GU for some heattechs and outerwears. Before ending our day, we paid another visit to 7-Eleven for snacks/dinner. I think it was probably around this time that I fell in love with the salmon onigiri.

Our Yamato transport luggages arrived in the afternoon that day, so were only able to collect it when we returned to the hotel at night.

Day 3 - Fushimi Inari, Higashiyama

Arrived at the starting area of the Fushimi Inari hike 30 minutes past 12. Was wearing my newly bought long coat today and a pair of loafers. Definitely the exact opposite of clothes you’d want to wear for this kind of activity. Still, we managed to finish the entire Fushimi Inari loop, but not without sweating loads.

At the end of the hike, we went inside this cozy coffee shop by the river (Vermillion Cafe). Ordered hot coffee and bread. Place was nice but was more amazed with the Japanese cashier's fluent English. Didn’t stay for long, and then continued on our way and stumbled upon this chonky tuxedo cat. Or it could’ve been the other way around…

Anyway, after those events, we finally arrived at the end road. Plenty of food stalls everywhere, so we tried some takoyaki, chicken skewers, and karaage. Probably liked the takoyaki the most, but then again, none of them were life changing good.

After Inari, we were kind of at a loss on what to do next. We weren’t really hungry because of all the snacks, and the supposed next stop on our itinerary is already closed because of our late start. So I figured to go to Arab...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cu3tjn/10_days_in_kyoto_and_tokyo_february_2024_trip/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/mikemjets on 2024-05-16 22:07:58+00:00.

---

Have painstakingly planned a trip to Tokyo, and was able to fit all of my top things into the first 3 full days i am there. Now i'm not sure what to do the 4th day. Would like this day to be more relaxed compared to the other three, but still would like a suggestion on a cool area to end up in or some suggestions on what to do. Here is what i have so far

Saturday, (Tokyo Day #1)

• Arrive in Tokyo in mid afternoon - try to stay up until 10 pm at least to deal with jet lag
• we are staying in Shinjuku area and don't plan to leave the area first day
  • Tokyu Kabukicho Tower: arcades, nightlife,
  • Omoide Yokocho (West side of Shinjuku Station): traditional alley (food/drink)
  • Golden Gai: narrow alley of bars/food

Sunday(Tokyo Day #2)

• 9:30 - Senso Ji Temple
• 10:30 - Walk around Nakemesi Dori street
• Asakusa (~3 hours) just vibe here with no concrete plans. Options include:
  • Ride Rickshaw
  • Hoppy Street (bar district)
  • Tokyo Sky tree
  • Asahai beer tower (cool view bar)
• 2:40 - Board Tokyo Cruise Himiko boat to Odiaba
• 4:00 - Arrive in Odiaba, just vibe and walk around for a hour or so
  • Would have been interested in The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation or Joyopolis but don't think we'll have time
• 5:30 - Teamlabs Planet’s
• 7:00- Dinner in Roppongi Area
  • Tokyo Tower Red (closes at 10): VR Games

Monday (Tokyo Day #3)

• 10:30 - Tokyo Metropolitan building observation deck
• 11:30 - Walk around Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (cherry blossoms)
  • There are three gardens here, only interested in japanese one
• 1:00 - Lunch
• 2:00 - Meji Shrine
• 3:00 - Walk down Takeshita street
• 4:00-6:00 - Stay in Shibuya area
  • Walk Miyashita Park
  • Nintendo world
  • Shibuya scramble (Starbucks for elevated view)
  • Hachiko dog statue
  • Pepper Parlor robot cafe
• 6:00 - Reservation for shibuya sky sunset
• 7:00 - Dinner/night out in Shibuya

Tuesday (Tokyo Day #4)

• Morning activity??? (open to suggestions here as well), or just sleep in
• 12:00-4:30 - Lunch and Ueno park
  • Walk around Ameyoko shopping district
  • Walk around giant park (2.8 miles total)
  • Go to Zoo (just to see Panda’s rest of zoo has bad reviews)
  • Museums- Japan national museum or others
  • Ueno Toshogu Shrine
• 4:30 - Walk around Akihabara
• 6:00 - Tokyo Giants game (probably only stay a few innings)
• 8:00 - Dinner/nightlife

Wednesday, (Tokyo Day #5)

• This is where i need help. Some ideas i have are Art aquarium museum Ginza, watch sumo practice at sumo stable, Harajuku, and teamlabs Borderless.

Thanks for your help!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/bdguy355 on 2024-05-15 20:59:16+00:00.

---

My family and I were walking around the Gilco sign, looking for a place to eat. We saw this guy holding a sign in the street for a restaurant with food that looked pretty good.

It was pretty late, we were all tired, and we just wanted to some place to eat. So we asked the guy about the restaurant, and we ushered us into a building where my family of 6 squeezed into a tiny elevator into a dingy little restaurant.

We were sat down and they asked if we wanted Japanese or English menus. I asked for English, which looking back was a huge mistake. We ordered just a couple of items, but solely through a QR code on the table, no servers came to us. When we just asked for water, they told us to order through the QR code, where were charged ¥200 for each water. We assumed it was gonna be bottled water for that price, but it wasn’t.

We finish up our meal, and I calculated it to be around ¥6,000. When we went up to pay, they charged us ¥10,580. I was confused because that’s not what the prices were based off the menu. The guy goes on about “taxes” and says we need to pay the ¥10,580. I’m tired, confused, and just end up paying the guy the money, and we leave. On our way out, my dad makes a joke to the guy, and he laughs, then says in perfect English “I don’t speak any English.”

I know it’s kinda my fault for being a tourist, but I’m just annoyed at how we got scammed an extra ¥4,580.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/0---------------0 on 2024-05-15 13:50:21+00:00.

---

The Council for the Promotion of the Proper Use of Mt. Fuji has introduced restrictions to ensure the safety of those climbing Mount Fuji from 2024 onwards. Only climbers who have reservations at the mountain huts can now climb Mount Fuji at night. Please review the following information if you are planning to climb Mount Fuji:

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/korok1eaf on 2024-05-15 09:32:19+00:00.

---

Hi, currently in Kanazawa for a few days - what are your recommendations for things to do at night - any good music scenes , shows, bars? Dessert places?

It looks like most of the things on the tourist list close early.

Thanks

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ConfidentLeg7645 on 2024-05-14 20:40:29+00:00.

---

LONG POST WARNING

Hello everyone,

My partner (24F) and I (25M) returned home from our 3-week Japan trip last week and due to us using this sub a lot during our planning I thought it would be helpful for other current planners to upload a trip report. 

Our main interests are Japanese traditions and history, street style/culture, and food so keep reading if these interests are mutual. Read to the bottom to see how much we spent plus some tips and disappointments.

Prelude

We were caught up in the madness at Dubai airport during our layover. Long story short; Airport (and the rest of Dubai) flooded and caused all the flights to be cancelled. What was meant to be a 5-hour layover turned into a torturous 36 hour wait. No staff to be seen, crowds of people arguing, fighting, and crying. We queued for 12 hours to get a new boarding pass for the next flight to Japan. We were meant to fly to Haneda but settled for Narita as we needed to get out of that place as soon as possible but still ended up missing our first day in Tokyo (should have had 5 days). We can’t complain too much as some of the people I spoke to on r/emirates were in the airport for up to 5 days before getting a flight back to their departure destination. Oh, and our baggage was missing with us only receiving our checked in bags on day 19. Cheers Emirates.

Day 1 

Arrived in Shinjuku around midnight. We went straight to Don Quiojte to buy some replacement cosmetics and clothes. The combination of no good-quality sleep for 48 hours and the stimulating nature of the store was very intense! We then started to walk back towards the hostel and passed a Ichiran, so dropped in for some 2am ramen. Not the best ramen I’ve ever had but was still very good for the price.

Steps: 21,643 (includes some airport steps)

Day 2

Woke up and ate the free breakfast at the hostel (this turned out to be a really good money saver for the whole trip as we are not huge eaters in the morning anyway, but it was good to get something light in us before a long day walking). We then walked through the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden – saw some late blooming cheery blossoms and overall, it was a really beautiful botanical garden.

The next stop was Meji Shrine and a walk through Yoyogi park. The shrine was cool to see, especially as it was our first one in Japan. Saw a middle-aged man wearing denim hotpants so short that his balls were hanging out?!?!

Walked to Shibuya to see the scramble. This was cool but also felt it was a bit underwhelming at ground level but the view from Shibuya station walkway was wicked. Lunch was at a conveyor belt sushi place on the top floor of this department store right next to the scramble. This would be higher than average quality sushi in Europe, so it blew our minds that it was available on the top floor of a department store and for so cheap.

Shimokitazawa – We picked up some bargains at  2nd street and I treated myself some Japanese jeans from a small Demin shop called Bears. The guy in the shop was super helpful and friendly and even tailored the trousers to exactly my size.

In the evening, we first had a poke around Golden Gai and then headed towards Shibuya and stopped in a cool bar where the owner was mixing vinyl while he mixed your drinks (think it was called Q Bar).

We had previously bought tickets to a gig at Circus for one of my fav rappers who I’d been wanting to see for a while. Also really enjoyed seeing the local Japanese warm up acts. Stayed until 5am and then go the train straight to the Tsukiji outer fish market. Was there way too early and had to wait roughly an hour for thing to open. Went to chill by a bench for a bit and by the time we went back to the market it was rammed! Went to bed around 8:30am.

Steps: 32,159

Day 3

We woke up at 2:30pm, got ready, and headed to the Bunkyo civic centre for the free observation deck. We heard it wasn’t meant to be the best Tokyo skyline view but for a free attraction we thought it was very good! Jimbocho book town was also very cool to see. We had a peak into a couple adult movie/magazine stores where I don’t think the owner appreciated our presence as western tourists.

In the evening, we first went for Ramen at Motenashi Kuraki in Asakusa Bashi. Honestly probably the best Ramen I’ve had to date. I ordered the Black Pepper Shio special, and it blew my mind. Even though the staff didn’t speak English they were very accommodating for my partner who doesn’t eat meat (pescetarian but will brave a meaty broth).

We then had a stroll around Akihabara and played some dance mat games in the arcades before heading back for an earlyish night.

Steps: 28,680 

Day 4

I couldn’t sleep so got up around 3am and did some admin stuff to try and get our bags back to us ASAP. Chatted to people in the hostel for a few hours.

We arrived at Senso-ji for around 8am. Wasn’t too busy at this time and the temple was impressive. Went for a coffee down the road and had a chill for about an hour before heading into Asakusa. Got admission to the Drum museum which was wicked. Only 400 yen each and had the whole place to ourselves to smack some big fucking drums and make as much noise as we wanted.

We then started to head towards Ueno but made a slight detour to Kappabashi Dougu street to peruse the Japanese chef knives and other cookware. Grabbed lunch from a 7/11 and went and sat in Ueno park which was super busy. There was some food market event on which loads of food stalls had set up. There was also a stage with some J-pop performers and people dressed as ninjas dancing in the crowd. Weird to say the least. By mid-afternoon we were pretty tired so headed back to the hostel for a nap.

In the evening, we headed down to Harajuku and stopped by Big Love records. My partner is really into vinyl, so this was definitely a highlight for her. She picked up Wu Tang 36 chambers in case you were wondering. We then went for food at Afuri as my partner wanted to try the Vegan ramen to which she said it was ok but nothing special. My cold dipping noodle dish was very tasty, however.  We then stumbled across this vinyl listening bar called Bar Music on the 5th floor of this pokey building on the outskirts of Shibuya for a few drinks before bed. There was such a good vibe in there and the cocktails were super good for the price. If you’re looking for a romantic spot, then this is the place to go.

Steps: 31,818

Day 5

Today we headed to Kyoto on the shinkansen around midday after a slow morning chilling in and around the hostel and catching up on some sleep. Checked in to the hostel and had a walk around downtown Kyoto, stopping at 2nd Street to buy some more clothes.

In the evening, we headed to Kodai-Ji to see the shrine lit up at night. We couldn’t believe how few people were there as it was stunning and truly magical place to be at night. It also has a bamboo grove (much better than Arashiyama, see below). The bar for Kyoto shrines/temples had been set very high. 

Walked down Pontocho alley and stopped at a yakitori restaurant which was just ok. We knew it was going to be average when we looked around the restaurant and it was just western tourists dining.

Steps: 25,255

Day 6

First thing in the morning we rented bikes and cycled across the city to Arashiyama. Parked the bikes at the train station and walked up through Arashiyama. We were expecting it to be busy but there were so many people it was almost impossible to move. Had a look around the bamboo grove and was slightly underwhelmed after our visit to Kodai-Ji so we took the tram and then bus up to Kosan-Ji. This was very much worth the 45-minute journey as there was only one other group there and the temple nestled between the trees overlooking the river was breath-taking. On the whole, Arashiyama was way too packed during peak times to enjoy and with everything else Kyoto has to offer we wouldn’t say it was a must see.

We then picked up the bikes from the train station and cycled back across Kyoto taking the long route to explore and get lost. Once we dropped off the bikes, we went for another explore and this time went into WeGo for more clothes shopping. At this point we’d pretty much matched the amount of clothing that we had packed in our checked-in luggage that was still stuck in Dubai.

After a nap we walked towards the metro and stopped at a Katsu restaurant as we wanted to try something different, and it was pretty good. For the price of 1300 yen each we got so much food/sake and left stuffed. 

Fushimi Inari in the evening. Like Kodai-Ji, we would recommend visiting Fushimi Inari at night. Firstly, to help avoid the crowds (we got there around 9pm and there was hardly anybody there) and secondly as seeing it lit up at night is a nice change. It was however slightly creepy at night, especially as it was lightly raining. My partner started to get a bit scared once we saw the signs to be careful of the wild boar and monkeys haha. We didn’t make it to the top of Mt Inari as the rain started to get heavy but still very much enjoyed walking through the hundreds of tori gates, stopping off at the shrines and soaking up the history.

Steps: 23,686

Day 7

Today was a late start as even after 8 hours sleep the 25k plus steps a day was starting to catch up with us.

We took the metro to Shimogamo Shrine in north Kyoto. It was very peaceful and quiet how...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cs2l1g/japan_honshu_3_week_spring_trip_report_a_perfect/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/illi28 on 2024-05-14 17:19:01+00:00.

---

Hi! Planning our trip to Japan at the end of the month. Looking for some suggestions of what to check out near or in Asakusa for 1 day! So far this is what we have on the itinerary for that day:

Tsukiji Market

Coffee Break: Glitch 8 min walk

ASAKUSA:

• Kaminarimon / Sensō-ji Temple
• Nakamise street

Try Kobe Beef near Temple

Lunch: Tonkatsu or curry, TBD

Hoppy Street (Hoppy Dori)

Tokyo Skytree 6:00 PM (reserved)

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/MolluskMolecule on 2024-05-11 08:35:49+00:00.

---

Okay so awhile back I had read about a shrine and really wanted to go. I could have sworn I bookmarked etc. anyway I didn’t unfortunately.

I am currently in Kyoto and I have googled everything I can remember about it.

It’s an old shrine I believe in the mountains. The toriis are made of stone. It’s in a pine forest. The person who posted about it had mentioned possibly a story about it being haunted? That part I’m unclear on. The shrine though looked eerie.

Anyway if anyone thinks they know what this shrine is called let me know!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/NotTara on 2024-05-10 17:29:42+00:00.

---

Currently in Osaka with a friend who’s in recovery and for whom travel was much more of a trigger than either of us realized. He started drinking about 24 hours ago and it’s escalating (as I once prior saw it escalate to a detox hospitalization/and he is drinking what I think is quite a lot).

He insists he can handle this/manage himself for five more days until our flights back, I don’t see how this would be possible. He agreed to take a flight back to the US tomorrow but the only one I can find from Osaka has a three hour layover and he doesn’t think he will make it on the second flight. Alternative is to take 3 hour train to Tokyo (I could get him to Tokyo) and then get him on a direct flight there.

Advice? Support? I’m very worried for his safely while also trying to care for my mental health. I hoped to get him back to the US ASAP because of additional resources there/potential difficulty getting emergency detox treatment here - but now I am worried whether he will make it there.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/AutoModerator on 2024-04-25 00:00:42+00:00.

---

Are you traveling to Japan this month? Want to hang out with other Redditors while you navigate the country? Then this is the thread for you!

Please post any and all meetup requests here. Be sure to include:

• Your basic itinerary
• Dates of travel and cities you're planning to visit
• Your age and gender identity
• Your home country (and any other languages you might speak)
• OPTIONAL: Share some of your hobbies or interests!

We have a discord server you can use to coordinate meetups and other activities. You can join the official r/JapanTravel Discord here! There are also monthly meetup/planning channels so react accordingly, you can create threads for specific dates/locations if you so desire.

In the past, people have used LINE to coordinate and plan meetups.

NOTE: Please only post meetup requests for this month. If you are traveling in the future, please reserve all meetup requests for the thread that corresponds with the month of your first date of arrival in Japan. This thread is automatically posted 7 days before the start of the month.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Staplersarefun on 2024-05-08 16:29:03+00:00.

---

My family and I travelled from Toronto, Canada to Japan and Korea during April 10th to April 24th. We spent 5 days in Tokyo, 2 days in Osaka, 2 days in Kyoto, 3 days in Seoul and a final night in Tokyo before flying back to Toronto. My kids are 4/5F(her birthday was while we were there) and 3M. Wife and I are 38F and 37M respectively.

April 10th/11th:

-Our flight was in an Air Canada 787 that was absolutely packed. I would not recommend a flight this long in economy with kids. Save up for premium economy or business class for your own sanity.

-Taxi from Haneda to hotel was worth every cent. We checked into the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel. Highly recommended and it was perfect for us. It is a 5 minute walk to Shibuya scramble and station.

-Went out for a quick walk before getting to bed. Shibuya scramble is wild at night. We had MOS burger for dinner and the tried acclaimed shrimp burger... it was okay. We definitely didn't look for any more MOS burger locations for the rest of the trip.

April 12th

-First day was tough with jetlag; I woke up at 4 AM, along with my 3 year old son.

-Tried family mart egg sandwich and tuna and mayo onigiri... the eggs sandwhiches live up to the hype (particularly Family Marts) and for me, it was the start of a daily addicition with the onigiri. Quick note for the jetlagged- Combinis do not restock sandwhiches and other food until 6AM.

-Went to Sensoji. It was absolutely stunning, especially with the Cherry blossoms in bloom. Kids loved the fish in the gardens, though not much else. We tried the viral fruit candy and it was definitely worth the hype. There were a lot of influencers and content creators clogging up the central alley in front of Sensoji.

-We then took the Tobu train to Tokyo Skytree, pretty cool and a nice place to catch your breath and enjoy some views. Kids were way too tired for the aquarium. There was a food court in the basement of the Sky Tree building with some absolutely killer udon and banana ice cream.

-train back to hotel to rest.

-went to Rappongi Hills and Mohri gardens for an evening stroll, we walked down Sakurazaka to see the cherry blossoms. On Sakurazaka, there was a pretty cool little park for the kids to play for a few minutes.

-had shake shack and taxi back to hotel.

April 13th

Trip to Mt Fuji

-Went from Shibuya to Shinjuku by local train.

-Tried to take the bus to Fuji, but it booked for three hours - and we would have lost some prime Fuji viewing time.

-We took the express train to Otsuki. Extremely busy and no reserved seats available. Absolutely sucked riding on the floor for a few hours. There was a wait to see the Chureito Pagoda that was nearly 2 hours in uncovered heat and dust. Met some cool people in line though. Kids had fun looking at the lizards running around.

-took the train back to Tokyo with the same issues; this time the train was even more packed and there wasn't even space on the floor between the cars to sit for much of it. Would plan this out better, but it was the middle of Cherry Blossom season, plus it was an exceptionally clear day, so we didn't have too many options.

April 14th

-Went to TeamLabs Borderless. The whole family absolutely loved it and it was a great way to start the morning. My only piece of advice would be to ensure you are wearing either shorts or pants that can roll up above your knees. My kids especially loved the water part and the large balls, where my son in particular loved tossing the balls around.

We then went over to Shinjuku to the rest of the day with my wife's family at Shinjuku Goeyn Park who happen to live in Tokyo. Some obervations about the park:

• Extremely busy
• very beautiful with Cherry Blossoms
• Nice day and was very warm
• no drinking in the park and we ended up with a few bottles of Kirin that we had to carry back to the hotel

April 15th

Trip to Tokyo Disneyland

-Moved hotels to Grand Nikko Mahaima hotel next to Tokyo Disneyland.

-Nice hotel with beautiful lobby and free shuttle bus to Maihama Station that connects to the entrance of Tokyo Disney.

-Tokyo Disney was pretty busy, most rides had a wait time of 10-30 minutes.

-Paid for DPA on the Beauty of the Beast ride that was incredible. Absolute Must see Attraction. My daughter is still talking about it and the "real magic" she saw.

-I wouldn't recommend Tokyo Disneyland to anyone under the age of 20. My kids didn't really care about the characters or rides, and my daughter in particular was very sad that she didn't get to meet Elsa or any of the newer Disney princesses. I would suggest skipping Tokyo Disneyland and heading to Tokyo Disney Sea instead if you have younger kids.

-Sent baggage from Hotel Lobbey to our hotel in Osaka via Sagawa. I later found out that they wrapped the luggage in plastic, which was a nice little surprise.

April 16th

Heading out to Osaka

-Took train from Maihama to Shin Tokyo.

-Shin Tokyo to Shin Osaka took around 2 1-2 hours via Shinkansen.

-Dont buy extra tickets for young kids, as there's plenty of seating typically on this route and it isn't really required.

-Ended up spending way too much at the E-cute in Shin Tokyo, which is something similar to a Mercato Centrale or St Lawrence market in Toronto.

-Checked in to Hotel Keihan. Pretty nice, but rooms are small and the check in process was automated. It was about a 10 minute walk from Namba Station.

-Went to Dotanburi and the Namba shopping area. Bought some stuff from Gu and Uniqlo - about 40% cheaper than Canada.

-Onitsuka store was very over priced and the Mizuno store was sold out of what I wanted.

-Wife bought some skin care items from a pharmacy.

-Kids absolutely hated how packed the area around Dotunburi was, but were fine after some McDonalds. Wife and I had some Takoyaki and various other street foods for dinner.

April 17th

Trip to Osaka Castle

-had Komeda coffee for breakfast. It was okay about 6.5/10. Good coffee continues to elude me in Japan.

-took taxi to Osaka Castle

-buy ticket in advance, the line up for general admission was 30 minutes in uncovered heat.

-Castle was fairly interesting, kids found it a bit boring and the souvenir shop was fairly priced. My son was not allowed to try on the Samurai helmet and sword, which I found fairly irritating. No explanation was provided as to why.

-took train to Nara park to feed deer

-some deer were extremely friendly, but a couple were very aggressive and bit my wife around her hip. A couple of the more "wild" ones became aggressive with my daughter and wife. I had to lure them away with an entire packet of crackers. Despite the aggression from a few of the deers, it was a great experience and I would recommend every one check out Nara park. The pagoda and temples were all under constructions at the time I was there.

-There was a little alley next to the train station and we ended up going to Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu. Incredible food andreally great service. I saw this restaurant in Tokyo with absolutely gigantic lines, so it was a breath of fresh air to be able to just walk in somewhere with out booking in advance or waiting in line.

-rapid express train back to Osaka Namba followed by a junk food party with the kids (by this point in the trip, they had become obsessed with Family Mart).

-tried using laundry at the hotel. It was a combo washer and dryer. It took two hours and cost 600 yen; ultimately did not dry my clothes and I had to hang everything up in the room.

April 18th

Off to Kyoto

-took the rapid express train from Namba station to Kyoto station

-checked in Tennen Onsen Renka no Yu Onyado Nono Kyoto Shichijo. Kids absolutely loved the fact there were PJs and you had to take your shoes off.

-The whole family desperately needed a rest day and the onsen was welcome. Felt amazing after some time there and the kids also enjoyed it. There was unlimited ice cream in the cool down room, which was a huge hit.

-Went to Isetan for a cake to celebrate my daughter's birthday. The Isetan in Kyoto station was the only place where I felt I was being scammed in all of Japan. They were trying to charge me double the listed price for 4 pieces of cake. It might have been a mistake, but I had to type out the correct pricing on Google translate about 4 times before they agreed.

April 19th

-Went to Yasaka Pagoda and then to Kiyomizu Dera. Crowds weren't that bad and it was extremely beautiful. By this time in our trip, the cherry blossoms had more or less disappeared.

-We were quite bored of Japanese food by now and I found a Turkish doner stand in Nagakyo market. Kids has Wendys.

-There was also a Shoei design studio near this market and if you are interested in buying a motorcycle helmet, this store is a definite visit. Also went by the Grand Seiko boutique in my search for a limited edition SLGA007 Lake Suwa, but they didn't have it. Second choice was a SLGH005 White Birch, which they did have but weren't willing to give me a 5% discount that other retailers were willing to give me.

-back to hotel to enjoy more of the onsen. Kids became obssessed with the onsen and are still talking about it.

-went to Kyoto Tower Sando for dinner where we tried a few different places.

April 20th

Flight to Seoul

-Took the train from Kyoto Station to Shin Osaka, from Shin Osaka directly to Kansei International. Different rapid express limited ticket required and but we had to run from ...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cn8ulm/trip_report_tokyo_osaka_kyoto_and_seoul_with_two/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/TacyTheQueen on 2024-05-08 08:06:16+00:00.

---

Wanted to share what I did in Kyoto when renting a kimono as I think I managed to squeeze a lot in one day after researching various forums! Hope its useful for anyone planning the same.

9am: Rent kimono - this is key to get your pick of the kimonos and to have the whole day to explore. The whole process can take up to an hour. I paid extra for the hair styling and think it's worth it. My kimono Rental was 5mins from Yasaka shrine (booked on Klook).

10am-1:30pm: Yasaka Shrine, Sannenzaka (pedestrian street with cute shops and restaurants, grab some food/coffee etc), Kiyomizu temple (this is huge, and lots of walking, views are gorgeous and you get to try many temple activities), Seikan-ji Temple (the route to this through the forest looks amazing, temple itself is so so but has a great view).

1:30pm-4pm: Head to Fushimi Inari (grab a cab to get there quicker and get a bit of rest). I took one from the bottom of Seikan-Ji temple as it's on a road, saved me the walk back the same route as well. I climbed most of the steps just not the very mountain top as I was tired and already found a good viewing spot (so stopped around 20mins away). It was truly magical and actually it was not crowded at all at this time. I know all advice says to come in the morning but I have limited days in Kyoto so wanted to make the most of it. Those who can't walk a milion steps I'd say leave this part for the next day as it was tired but nothing worse than what I've done around Europe.

5pm - return kimono (I had enough time to take the train/bus but was tired so did a quick taxi back, either way it would have worked fine). Bonus point if you buy a hair accessory in Sannenzaka, just add it in to your already finished hairstyle and you get to prolong the magic!

Might be much for some but honestly I faired relatively well and even got a lot of steps in! If you think you'll struggle with the shoes (I was fine) bring your own as backup! I normally don't use taxis but my priority was to not tire myself out with the trains and walking to/from stations, and focus on the 'main event'. They always were only a minute wait and cost less than 5,000 total. Also even though it's busy I could easily take pictures in all the places and didn't have to wait long at all.

Overall a 10/10 experience for me and now I'm ready for a beer at an izakaya 😅

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Global-Ratio2442 on 2024-05-08 01:54:23.

---

EDIT Made a typo, trip was from MARCH 31 - April 13 :)

I've combed through hundreds of trip reports and itineraries for trip inspiration, so hopefully my trip report could come in handy for a few people! Happy reading!

Background and notes:

First trip to Japan with my boyfriend and our first international trip as a couple. Japan has been a top destination for both of us. I'm an avid planner who has lots of anxiety about things not going right, and I typically like to plan fully packed days while my boyfriends is more go with the flow and likes to take his time to relax and enjoy the sights. I tried my best to find a happy medium for the both of us and overall, we had an amazing trip! We both packed one smaller suitcase + one empty check-in & duffle bag and we came back with 5 suitcases (thank u donki for coming in clutch with the suitcases)

A lot of the things on our trip might seem like places that are touristy and overdone but we're tourists! and it's our first time here so we didn't mind waiting in line or going to really crowded places to experience things once. (Although some places were super overcrowded and it did get a liiiittle overwhelming sometimes).

Also we were kinda sad thinking we would miss the cherry blossoms because the prior predictions stated that they were going to be done and over by end of March, but luck was on our side and we were right at the height of cherry blossom season! I've never experienced something like this and seeing all the trees covered in them is something I'd never forget.

Day 1 (May 31)

• Travel day, landed in NRT around 2:30pm. The flight was uncomfortable and mediocre but once you get through customs and get into the bustling airport nothing matters, the trip was starting!
• Couldn't resist getting a gachapon and stopping by the Lawson's that was in the airport terminal for a little teaser for what's to come.
• We had originally planned to take the bus to the city but the bus would have taken about 2hr30min to get to our hotel compared to around 1hr20min by subway. After the long flight, we'd much rather get to the city as soon as possible. (Protip! Download Suica on your phone and load the card so that you don't have to wait in a long line to buy a subway ticket! We thought the Keisei Narita Skyaccess was a special line and we wouldn't be able to use our Suica cards and we ended up waiting in line but the kind worker told us we could just head on in)
• Checked in at the Hotel Celestine Tokyo Shiba, settled and rested up for a bit.
• Headed to Ginza for a dinner reservation at Ginza Chikamitsu which is known for specializing in a Yakiniku course meal. It was pretty pricey but definitely worth it. The meat quality and service was amazing. They even gave us a pack of mints at the end lol.
• Did some damage at Uniqlo & GU, with the Yen prices right now with the addition of tax free shopping I might have went a little crazy, bought around 15 pieces of clothing for less than 200 dollars which is still insane to me.

Day 2 (April 1)

• First full day, jet lag didn't hit us too hard and we woke up around 7AM to get ready and head to Tsukiji fish market.
• Tsukiji Market Takeaways:
  • 10000% get the tamago if you think you'd enjoy sweet egg. My bf and I tried to share everything on this trip so that we can eat as much as we can but this is the one thing I would not share LOL.
  • UniTora - We got lucky with the line, only had to wait about 20ish? minutes. Uni was good, but honestly get the bowls with a variety of different fish because just uni + rice can get a little boring.
  • Definitely head over as early as you can, it got super crowded around 10AM
  • I know most people say Tsukiji is overrated but my bf and I liked this market the most compared to Nishiki(Kyoto) and Kuromon(Osaka).
• Took the bus to head over to our reservation in Small Worlds. Highly recommend, you can spend a couple hours here just looking at all the exhibits and finding small and amusing things, it's great to see all the hard work and detail that goes into everything.
• Visited the Gundam in Odaiba afterwards, sad that the one in Yokohama closed right before our trip but this didn't disappoint! The size was still massive and there were cherry blossoms blooming nearby. Spent a few hours in DiverCity Tokyo Plaza mall afterwards and did some more damage shopping.
• Tsujihan for our next meal around 4pm, made the journey to the Akasaka Arks Hills Branch and no line! The restaurant was less than half full the entire time we were there. If Tsujihan is on your list this branch is your best bet for no line.

Day 3 (April 2) - Tokyo Disney Sea Day

• Woke up at 6am, took a taxi over to Disney Sea because from where we were staying it would have taken over an hour (with like 3 different subway transfers) to get there and we'd rather just pay for convenience.
• Got there around 8am, waited an hour in line as the park opened at 9am (they didn't open early this day). The morning crowds were insane! Never seen such lines at the Disneyland in California.
• Disney Sea Takeaways:
  • Use the Disney Resort App and make sure to take advantage of the free 40th Anniversary Pass. If you have the budget to buy the Premier passes, I'd suggest that too. If you do end up buying passes to almost all the rides then you might be done with the park pretty quickly, we didn't end up spending the entire day there. Left around 6PM - skipped out on the night show cause we were cold and tired.
  • The only line we waited in was for Aquatopia and 2000 Leagues Under the Sea.
  • Bring a jacket! It gets super cold at night, I'm thankful we didn't get sick from how cold we were towards the end of the trip.
  • Food + Snacks are super affordable, we got to try almost all the popcorn because they were like $2. But honestly, the food wasn't as good as everybody hyped it up to be.
    • Some of our favorites were the Gyoza Bun, Shrimp Bun, Matcha White Chocolate Popcorn, and the curry set from the restaurant at the Arabian Coast.
  • All the rides feel super short? Especially Journey to the Center of the Earth. If I waited in that 2+ hr line I would have felt scammed.
  • Overall, the park was super cute and enjoyable. Great first experience, not sure if I'd find the need to come again.
• Took a taxi to Asakusa to try out Nabezo cause we were craving hotpot after a cold night. Got turned away because they were full for the night and we didn't have reservations. I don't know how but we somehow braved a 1hr30min line for Gyukatsu Motomura that was right next door. Great dinner and we made friends in the line with a sweet older couple from Europe. Was the food as good as everybody hyped it up to be? Yes. Would I wait in a long line again? Maybe?

Day 4 (April 3)

• Woke up around 9AM was able to take our time to get ready to head out to Ginza. It was rainy this day but not enough to deter our plans.
• I really wanted to try out Ginza Godaime Hanayama Udon. I'm a sucker for flat noodles and I love udon so this was a priority for me. Didn't make it to first seating as a line had already formed when we got there and we had to wait around an hour but by the time we got in the line was insane behind us! Get there as early as you can to avoid the lines. Food was amazing and I loved the texture of the noodles and the tempura was great as well. Loved both the dipping sauces for the noodles too.
• After our meal we headed to Asakusa for more eating and exploring! Even with the rain Asakusa was crowded. Bf and I honestly really enjoyed Asakusa; the temples and shops were so fun for us to explore.
• Best bite at Asakusa were the little kinako dango skewers that they served with a small cup of (amazing) matcha. I still dream about this. We tried the Creme Brulee Sweet Potato and Imo Pipi and it was good, but not amazing.
• For dinner we headed to Manten Sushi Marunouchi for their famous affordable omakase. As a couple who enjoys omakase in the states, where the price is $$$$, we wanted to see how a cheaper Japanese omakase would fair in terms of taste and quality.
• Honestly, pretty good, but it wasn't anything mind blowing. If you're someone who hasn't had a lot of exposure to omakase I would say this is worth going to as you're definitely getting your money's worth and the quality is still really good. Also our sushi chefs spoke a good amount of english and were great! Super enjoyable and entertaining when handing our food.

Day 5 (April 4) - Kyoto Travel Day!

• This was the day I was most anxious about, I had little to no idea about how the Shinkansen worked and I knew Tokyo Station was going to be crazy. We got to the station around an hour before our departure time and at first it was really overwhelming as we had no idea where to go and where our train was. We had to ask a worker and they kindly guided us towards where we needed to be.
• Once we figured out where to go we were set, bought a few ekiben and snacks for the ride. Not sure if we just chose the wrong kinds but honestly the ekibens were mid..and cold, probably would have been better to eat onigiris or buy food elsewhere.
• After arriving, we checked into our Hotel, Hotel Intergate, located off the main street of Kyoto but still close enough to Nishiki Market and other hot spots.
• Speaking of Nishiki Market, that was our next destination. We were overall underwhelmed wit...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cmqma1/trip_report_14_days_tokyo_kyoto_osaka_from_may/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/pipted on 2024-05-07 23:23:05.

---

Here's a report from our two week family trip a couple of weeks ago. My girls are aged 8 and 11, and are into cute stuff and animals.

Day 0 (10th April):

• Arrived at Narita terminal 1, 6:30pm. Glad we knew which train to catch and the timetable, as the direct line to Asakusa Station (Keisei Sky Access) only goes roughly every 35mins. Took 30 mins to queue for Pasmo Passports, and despite short queues elsewhere, we had to run for our 8:05pm train!
• Hotel: Mimaru Tokyo Asakusa Station, right next to the station exit. The Mimaru chain is great for kids. Great service, big rooms, lots of beds, a dining area and kitchenette. Asakusa is a lovely, fairly quiet place to be based, and has beautiful early morning walk options along the river and to Senso-ji if you're jetlagged.

Day 1:

• Senso-ji early before the crowds. Beautiful temples and gardens, with cherry blossoms a bonus; a great start to Japanese culture before Hello Kitty and Pokemon took over! Next we stumbled upon the huge 24 hour Don Quixote nearby. Great for necessities and souvenirs alike.
• Sunshine City mall was next as we didn't want too much walking after not much sleep. I didn't know there was a Sanrio cafe there - luckily we were able to walk straight in! The Pokemon centre and Sylvanian Families stores kept the kids happy for a long time.
• Back to the hotel for a rest / nap, then Nakamise Dori (stalls near Senso-ji) and Kura Sushi for dinner. We finished at an arcade which we returned to every night as it was the only thing that kept our kids awake and fighting off jetlag!

Day 2:

• Teamlabs Borderless booked for 10am. No queues and straight in at 9:50am. There were a few people in there already, but it only felt crowded an hour later. Truly beautiful, well loved by the whole family.
• Harajuku next for Takeshita street. It was raining, so we picked up two of the famous big clear umbrellas. Sadly these were too big for our suitcases and a hassle to carry around - I suggest you plan ahead and buy a small umbrella or poncho instead. (Tiny umbrellas are cute and cheap at Don Quijote.) Plenty of interesting sights and stores condensed into a small space on Takeshita street, but nothing that you can't see elsewhere in Tokyo, so can be skipped if you don't like crowds!
• Ometosando: my kids had heard good things about Kiddyland toy store, but they were too tired to even walk all the way to the top floor, so back to the hotel for an afternoon rest.
• Katsukitchi (Asakusa) for dinner - best katsu we've ever had, lovely service, really highly recommended. We went back three more times!

Day 3:

• Odaiba. Here's where the Navitime app failed: it didn't recognise the monorail to Odaiba. Google maps recognises it as just another train. It's just as easy to catch as a regular train too, but provides excellent views.
• Poo museum at DiverCity mall first. Hard to access because the mall opens an hour after the museum. We hadn't booked but were able to walk straight in. The poo museum is tiny and seems mostly set up for social media photos, but the kids had a lot of laughs.
• Sega Joyopolis: I'm glad we didn't pay for the full unlimited passes, as my kids didn't like most of the rides. Instead we paid for entry and just paid for a couple of rides.
• Takoyaki food court nearby – literally only sells takoyaki – even some of the drinks have octopus in them! Bit of a mistake as our kids don’t like octopus, haha.
• Ferry back to our hotel in Asakusa.
• Rickshaw tour of Asakusa in the evening – expensive but a highlight for the kids.

Day 4:

• Kappabashi Street to shop for knives and book a workshop for Ganso Shokuhin Sample-Ya (see day 10).
• Samurai Ninja Museum: not in the itinerary, just saw it walking past. The kids didn't want to dress up and didn't find the tour very interesting, but my husband and I learned a lot.
• Skytree mall: bigger than expected; spent most of the day between the shops and aquarium. Sumida Aquarium is small but beautiful.
• Skytree is worth a visit, but there's not much to do up there and it's very crowded. I've heard the upper floor is less crowded, but it was booked out when I booked online a few weeks before. On the day they were selling walk up tickets including the upper floor, but it wasn't possible to upgrade our ticket, unfortunately.

Day 5:

• Travel from Tokyo to Osaka. Booked with Smartex a few days before using my Mastercard, then linked to our IC cards. We couldn’t figure out how to pick up tickets at first, but it was easy: Scan IC cards at the Shinkansen gate and a ticket will print out with your booked details. We sent our luggage by takkyubin the day before, but needn't have bothered as there was ample room for luggage in the Green Car.
• Hotel: Mimaru Osaka Namba Station: a game-themed hotel (board games, card games etc) with games to borrow and many integrated into the hotel itself. Fabulous. Our Japanese room had a tatami floor, with two regular beds and three comfortable futons. My only complaint was that we had been spoiled in Asakusa being next to the station and in a quieter place; Namba station was an eight-minute walk through a bustling district (with an Akihabara feel to it; lots of gaming and anime and technology), which didn't suit our family quite as well when returning from a tiring day.
• Dotonbori: the big signs were cool, but it's not that impressive by day. Rode the weird Don Quijote ferris wheel - surprisingly high, my kids found it quite scary!
• Teamlabs Botanical Gardens: also highly recommended! The kids loved the freedom to race around and interact with the glowing artworks.

Day 6:

• Harvest Hill first, to visit the Sylvanian Families village. My girls adore these cute Japanese animal dolls, and visiting their life-sized houses was a dream come true. Harvest Hill also has animals, boats, flowers, small rides and beautiful scenery. We couldn't find the bus from the nearest train station, but taxis were easy, and the bus back to the station was easy to find as it was a remote area with just one bus stop! Just tag on and off with your IC card.
• Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. We had high expectations as it's ranked at number six in the world, and it blew even those expectations out of the water! Incredible.
• Tempozan Ferris Wheel: long queue for people wanting a glass floor; we didn’t, so we skipped the queue and walked straight on. Amazing views to Universal Studios!
• Picked up takeaway pizzas from [A] Pizza as the kids were tired.

Day 7:

• Universal Studios Japan. Arrived at 8:10am. I'd read that it opens at 8, but not today! We had early entry tickets, but all queues were let in at around 8:40. The benefit of the early entry ticket is that the queue is MUCH shorter. We also paid for the 7 ride express pass: expensive but worth it as we could do all the best rides in one day with almost no queues. Truly magical for our young fans of Harry Potter, Super Mario and Minions.

Day 8:

• Nara: Still tired from Universal Studios, and the temples are spread far apart, so we stuck to the deer feeding near the station. We'd read the warnings, but inevitably, my eight-year-old got spooked and ran. Before we could help her, she'd been bitten hard on the back. After one more (carefully controlled) attempt, we headed back to the hotel.
• Osaka castle: The kids wanted to relax and play arcade games, so I headed out alone. Beautiful castle and grounds, worth a visit even with kids (there's a playground in the southwestern corner of the park with a view of the castle). Long queue to catch the elevator, but no queue for those happy to walk up. Every floor has museum displays, so you can rest on every floor if you're tired!
• I'm not much into social media, but on the way out through the park I tried one of the 'viral' ten yen cheese breads - yuck, why was it sweet?! Some things look great online but that doesn’t match reality, haha.

Day 9:

• Kyoto day trip. We planned just two stops that were easily accessible by train.
• Fushimi Inari Taisha first, because my kids love foxes. Lots of fox shrines (and souvenirs!) The red torii gates were crowded as expected, so we took a side path to the right a short way up the hill. This took us through the forest, past more shrines, with almost no people! It took us 50 minutes to reach the peak.
• Gion, up the Ninenzaka path. It was crowded and the kids were tired, so we didn't stay long! We'll do Kyoto properly when the kids are older.

Day 10:

• Travel to Tokyo. A week earlier I had accidentally booked today's Shinkansen in the wrong direction, but luckily the refund process with Smartex is easy and cheap! We found a huge discount (30% off green car) called Hayatoku 3 Family, available for groups of 2 or more on weekends on the Nozomi train when booked at least 3 days in advance.
• Ganso Shokuhin Sample-Ya, Kappabashi street: Sample food making workshop. Very highly recommended! The staff at the counter don’t speak much English, but the teachers do. Our teacher Koyama was really lovely and the whole experience was delightful.
• Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay: our hotel for Disney. It's the most convenient of all the unofficial Disney hotels, being across the road from the station, and had several restaurants, stores and an indoor pool. Half the rooms have views of the Disney fireworks - sadly not ours! But they can be seen from th...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cmn4hm/trip_report_mid_april_two_weeks_in_tokyo_osaka/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/thedevilsivy on 2024-05-07 07:25:43.

---

Got time off work all of a sudden that had to be taken during GW and my partner REALLY wanted to do Japan. I was game - I’ve been to Japan twice before, so it didn’t bother me that we’d have to be flexible and potentially miss/skip stuff.

How I booked/planned ⤵️

Exactly 3 weeks out, I booked flights to Haneda (used points, but they were about $900 from the East Coast). I booked all our lodging within the airline ticket 24 hour cancellation window. I wanted to be able to call off the trip and go somewhere else if I couldn’t lock down good lodging.

I booked 4 nights in Osaka at the Moxy in Shin Umeda using Marriott points. While the location wasn’t the most convenient of all time, it was a nice hotel and still in an okay area. I did request a room upgrade using my Platinum Elite benefits and they were not able to fulfill the request. May not have been a GW thing but I blame GW.

I wanted to do an overnight to Yakushima or Miyajima but both were too booked up. I switched gears and scored the very last room at the very last temple stay available in Koyasan. I paid $331 for what ended up being a gigantic room in a highly rated temple 5 minutes walk from Kongobuji (main attraction of Koyasan). Having looked up their non-Golden Week rates, I believe I paid a premium of ~$100 over the normal price. Really glad it worked out this way as Koyasan was very tranquil and uncrowded.

Surprisingly, the Art Islands were not totally booked out. I was able to book the exact hotel I wanted in Uno port for the exact dates I wanted. The price was about $40/night higher than normal. The only option left was a dorm room, which I expected to be a capsule, but it turned out their “dorm” rooms are all private rooms! The downside was a communal shower, but I never even used it because the stay came with free entry every day to the incredible seaside hot spring spa next door!

For the last night in Tokyo before flying out, I got a capsule at the exact hostel I wanted. I would have booked a private room if one was available, but for a stay totaling only 10 hours, the capsule was fine.

My partner reserved all our shinkansen tickets 1 week in advance using Smart Ex, and also reserved our seats on the train to Koyasan (not shinkansen, but reservation only). We actually ended up changing several of our reservations during the trip without any issues. For example, for the shinkansen ride from Okayama to Tokyo, we moved up our departure time twice the day of and booked an oversized luggage compartment at the last minute. I don’t believe any shinkansens we took allowed unreserved seats during GW so there was never any risk of having to stand.

I got scared off by posts about taking the shinkansen out of Tokyo on April 27, so I chose to fly to Osaka instead. Our transit ended up being nice and relaxed that way, plus I could take advantage of JAL domestic one-way flights being only 7.5k AA miles. I booked the flights 2 weeks in advance without any issues.

My partner booked ebike rentals and museum tickets for Naoshima and Teshima 3 weeks in advance. The only ticket we couldn’t get was Art House Project Kinza which is extremely difficult to get under ordinary circumstances anyway. It turned out our booking didn’t actually go through for Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima, and we didn’t realize it until the day of! It was obviously fully sold out during GW so I panicked but my partner kept refreshing the booking page throughout the day and several last-minute tickets popped up from cancellations.

In terms of meals, I didn’t bother with more than 1-2 restaurant reservations. We did fancy kaiseki meals, two different fancy wagyu experiences, and a high end sushi omakase in Japan less than a year ago. That doesn’t mean I winged it though. I planned every single meal in advance, and built our itinerary around restaurant opening times so we could always beat the queue. I also mapped out backup restaurants in case places were unexpectedly closed for GW, which did happen twice. Honestly not a bad idea to do so no matter when you travel, since Japanese businesses randomly close all the time.

Fully detailed itinerary below ⤵️

Day 1 (Saturday): Arrived HND. Left almost 3 hours between international arrival and domestic departure to Osaka. This ended up being way overkill but I didn’t know what kind of crowds to expect during GW.

Arrived at Itami late evening. Went out to see Massimiliano Pagliara’s DJ set at Compufunk Records until almost 3.

Day 2 (Sunday): Mostly a shopping day other than a quick stop at Namba Yasaka shrine. Hit the Tojiro knife store, Graf and Meetdish for fancy homewares, Indigena for all things vintage Snoopy, and Lara Vintage for vintage European womenswear where I scored some incredible pieces.

Got lunch at Oretachino-curry since the seafood izakaya I wanted to visit turned out to be closed for GW.

Got coffee at Glitch (the GOAT) and okonomiyaki & yakisoba for dinner at Ajinoya Honten.

I got a heavenly dry head spa treatment at I Refre Shinsaibashi while my partner window shopped in Denden town. Wanted Rikuro cheesecake afterward but it was mobbed and sold out so got consolation Mister Donut.

Day 3 (Monday): Successfully obtained Rikuro cheesecake in the shinkansen station on the way to Himeji!

Siphon coffee at the most charming shop in Himeji called Hamamoto Coffee (3.61 on Tabelog). No queue.

Visited Himeji Castle (busy but not uncomfortably so) & Kokoen Gardens (not busy) in the morning and Mt. Shosha/Engyoji (practically empty) in the afternoon. Got lunch at Ramen Koba in between. No queue.

Did more shopping after getting back to Osaka at Moyi Store (pottery), And Wander (gorpcore), Snowpeak (camping), and Mr. Kanso (tinned fish).

Horumonyaki for dinner at Yakiniku Susumu. No queue.

Day 4 (Tuesday): Woke up unnecessarily early to go to Kizu Market for breakfast at Maruyoshi Sushi. No queue.

Had really good tea and wagashi in even better pottery at Wad Omotenashi. No queue.

Hours of vintage clothing shopping at ACORN, Post Acorn, Kindal, NATS, and Village. If I came to Osaka again I’d definitely stay in Kitahorie or Minamisemba!

Got lunch at Udon Kyutaro (3.83 on Tabelog, no queue) and coffee at Aoma Coffee.

Walked through Kuromon Market then went tax-free shopping at Shinsaibashi Parco for random stuff like Miffy merch at Kiddyland, Hario coffee gear at Hands, and SK-II (IYKYK). Also did a ton of skincare shopping at Matsu Kiyo.

Dinner at Dotonbori Kani Doraku. Admittedly a tourist trap, but super tasty - glad I had a reservation as the wait was bananas. Got dessert at Cheese Tart Pablo. Short queue despite being in an incredibly crowded shopping street.

Day 5 (Wednesday): Traveled to Koyasan. Walked around and saw all the main shrines, had lunch at Hanabishi since the tofu shop I wanted to visit was closed for GW. Onsen at our temple stay before the shojin ryori dinner.

Did the obligatory and stunning night walk through Okunoin cemetery. We passed by the guided tour from Ekoin and were so glad we decided against it. It was way more magical being on our own in the misty dark night.

Day 6 (Thursday): Morning prayers and breakfast set meal at the temple, then looong travel to Uno for the Art Islands leg of the trip. Lunch at 551 Horai when changing trains in Osaka 🤤

Got kakigori at Omachido on reaching Uno, then took the ferry to Naoshima. Walked to the Lee Ufan and Benesse Art Museums and ate fresh locally farmed flounder at Yuunagi. No queues.

Closed out the night in the seaside rotenburo under the stars at Setouchi Onsen Tamanoyu.

Day 7 (Friday): Grabbed breakfast at the Marunaka grocery store, took the ferry to Teshima, and picked up our e-bike rentals from Setouchi Karen.

Hit Teshima Art Museum, Les Archives du Coeur, La Foret des Murmures, Needle Factory, and the Teshima Yokoo House. Got lunch at Shima along the way. No queue.

More kakigori at Omachido after getting the ferry back to Uno. Long queue! For dinner we had a very nice 14-course yakitori omakase at Sumi Habaki (Michelin Bib Gourmand). This was a reservation we had our hotel make for us a couple weeks in advance.

Hit the onsen again. It was a touch busy. More families with little kids than I’m used to seeing. GW problems.

Day 8 (Saturday): Grabbed breakfast at Marunaka again, took the ferry to Naoshima where there was an open-air marché going on right at the ferry terminal. Got a bunch of cute pottery and then took photos of the iconic red Kusama pumpkin.

Picked up e-bike rentals at Ougiya, booked it to Honmura lounge to get the best chance of a convenient entry time for Minamidera.

Saw Go’o Shrine, Kadoya, Gokaisho, Ishibashu, Chichu Art Museum, where we also had lunch at the cafe, Minamidera, Haisha, Tadao Ando Museum, Hiroshi Sugimoto Time Corridors, the yellow pumpkin, and Valley Gallery.

Ferried back to Uno, then headed to Tokyo, with a stop in Okayama where we got ramen at Fujiya. No queue.

Was so tired on reaching my hostel UNPLAN Kagurazaka that I just ate a Manneken waffle and passed out.

Day 9 (Sunday): Walked around Kagurazaka-dori and visited Tokyo Daijingu shrine.

Half the reason I stayed in Kagurazaka was so I could get breakfast at Pain des Philosophes (3.86 on Tabelog). Bread made with koshihikari koji and tangzhong 🔥 I only arrived 10 minutes before open and there was a substantial queue already.

Then immediately queued again at Tsujihan for their ...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1cm4b3l/i_booked_a_trip_to_japan_during_golden_week_3/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/RidwaanT on 2024-05-04 22:20:18.

---

Arrested for Car accident in Tokyo

I have a few friends travelling in Japan and I just got the call that they had a "minor" accident where a motorcyclist was hit off the bike but seemed to be fine enough to walk.

The police detained all of them for questioning but is holding the driver for 48 hours until they meet a prosecutor. I can't find any similar cases online so I'm coming here to ask, aside from contacting the consulate what can I do from outside his cell to help? They also said he wouldn't be allowed visitation.

Lastly what are the chances of being released after the 48 hours?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/FlowerSz6 on 2024-05-04 21:53:53.

---

So far I have the following list:

• travel adapter
• power bank (im thinking of bringing 2 tbh)
• will either get sim or portable wifi
• jr pass is worth for my trip
• welcome suica
• luggage scale
• packing cubes
• some kind of keychain alarm that i can use in case something happens (i know its unlikely but better be safe)
• face masks
• coin purse
• maybe a money belt if i feel funky
• printed tickets of things i have pre booked

Any recommendations, something ive missed? (Once more i try to post something here, lets see if it goes through.)

Edit: you guys are so helpful, thank you so much i cant keep up with it haha.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/BizCard55 on 2024-05-04 07:03:41.

---

skydeck is now officially closed to the public and no longer available. 52nd floor indoor one is still open.

it was "unavailable" for the longest time but checking the website it's officially closed. we'll see if their operational policy will allow it again but it also might be an insurance thing.

"[NOTICE] Closure of the Sky Deck

Due to a change in our operational policy, we regret to inform you that the Rooftop Sky Deck will no longer be open to the general public.

Thank you for your patronage over the years."

this is indeed sad news since it had one of the best views of Tokyo, unobstructed by glass. i haven't been to Shibuya Sky but i had the best time in 2020 with my 60-600m - no tripods or monopods allowed but you have the best unobstructed view of Tokyo Tower and various high-rises.

you could also just see Shibuya 109, the Tokyo Empire State Building (NTT Docomo Yoyogi), Odaiba, Tokyo Gov Metro Bldg, Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, and Mt Fuji.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/mirdyll on 2024-05-02 06:43:00.

---

Thank you for all the posts here that helped to plan and execute this itinerary!

Background:

This was my (29M) second time traveling to Japan. I have a friend from high school currently living in Tokyo for a year who inspired another trip around cherry blossom season. My GF who was visiting family in China at this time was able to join me in Tokyo for a few days.

My first trip in January 2020 was with a larger group and consisted of a week in Tokyo and a week with JR pass going north to Aomori, Hakodate and Sapporo.

I don't speak Japanese and did not utter anything besides: hai, sumimasen, konnichiwa, gomenasai, arigato gozaimasu, daijoubu desu and ohio gozaimasu. Around 75% of the itinerary was thoroughly planned in advance, with 25% room to improvise. I took a large suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack. My friend helped me with the bag logistics.

I planned to include multiple running sessions and many anime pilgrimage spots. Some of these may not be as interesting to that many people, but I hope this trip report can help and inspire future travelers.

Day 1 Tokyo

• Landed at Haneda in the pm and figured out how to use PASMO on apple wallet. This was much more convenient than a physical card that I was topping up with cash last time around. Took the subway and got to our Hotel in Ikebukoro around 6pm. My GF was expected to land in the evening.
• Met my friend near the station with the plan of catching nearby cherry blossom. We first walked up to Shakuji River and then to Asukayama Park. It went dark quickly at this time, but the tree-line all along the river and in the park was at peak. My mind was already blown. The park had chill locals picnicking, but there wasn't a single tourist around.
• Walked back to Ikebukoro by the time my GF got there.

Day 2 Tokyo

• Planned to wake up early and go for a run before GF gets set for the day. I was so struck by the scenery from the night before that I decided to see it in daytime. Ended up doing a 10k up and back to the same river and park. It was even better.
• Headed out with the GF around 9am, grabbed coffee and breakfast on the way.
• Suga shrine. (subway) Iconic spot from Kimi no nawa. Someone took a picture of us reenacting Taki & Mitsuha at the top of the stairs.
• Meiji Jingu. (walked)
• Shibuya. (walked) We had shabu-shabu for lunch on a high floor of one of the tall buildings there with nice view of the crossing.
• Meguro. (subway) Unbelievable cherry blossoms. There was crowd concentrated near Naka-Meguro station, but surprisingly not that many people walking along the river.
• Ginza. (subway) We hit the 12 story UNIQLO before dinner at an elevated Teppanyaki. I preferred Wagyu, GF preferred Kobe. It should have been closed, but we were also able to see the Asahi-inari shrine depicted in Weathering with you.
• Tokyo Tower. (subway) Made a reservation in advance for the top deck tour at one of the latest spot (9pm ish). We got a cute photo of us as a free souvenir.

Day 3 Tokyo

• Picked up breakfast and coffee then sat in Minami-Ikebukuro park.
• Mejiro Garden. (walked) We didn't want to go far before lunch, so picked out this garden to walk to. It was nice and scenic.
• I took my large suitcase and dropped it at my friends house (few stops from Ikebukoro). Then did a short run back. Stopped at Don Quijote and bought a pair of throw away walking shoes for 2k yen. (This was one of the smartest decisions I have made) Also took this time to set up my 7 day JR pass, which would activate 2 days later and I got a separate ticket for a train next morning.
• GF picked out a ramen place for lunch near Kanda. (subway)
• Sumida Hokusai museum. (subway) My friend also joined us here. This was a sad miss for me last time, so I was super eager to go. It does not disappoint.
• Tokyo Dome. (subway) Saw Giants vs Carps. The atmosphere was electric all throughout and the giants came back from 3-4 with a 7-run 6th inning. Snacked on takoyaki and everyone got a free baseball shirt.
• Shinjuku / Kabukicho. (subway) We had tentative plans to get some drinks here but they both bailed citing fatigue. I ended up walking around solo and stopped by Hanazono Shrine and Golden Gai. Caught a street sumo performance before heading back to Ikebukoro.

Day 4 Shirakawa-Go & Takayama

• Caught the shinkansen around 8am heading to Toyama (which I reserved the day before) bringing my carry-on and backpack. GF flew back to China.
• Realized I will have to take the local train from Toyama to Takayama. This was one of the only transit points I didn't precisely plan ahead and the only time I got slightly nervous about making a connection on time, as I had a bus from Takayama to Shirakawa-go reserved at 1:20pm.
• The local train turned out to be amazing. Incredible scenery on both sides: mountains, valleys, rivers, cherry blossoms viewed from a handsome quaint little train car.
• Arrived in Takayama and had around 40minutes before my bus. Made the call here to fast walk to my hotel and drop my luggage. There was an old lady at reception and it was too early for check-in. As I tried to explain that I just want to leave my bags but she gave me the room keys and signaled that check-in is ok now. I made it back to the station for my bus with a few minutes to spare.
• Shirakawa-go. Had the bus reserved back to Takayama at 17:20 so had around 3 hours here which felt like just the right amount. First stop was a store where I knew I can pick up the Higurashi map. I ended up getting a Higurashi t-shirt as well. Got the matcha pudding from the famous pudding house then walked around all the Higurashi spots which pretty much covered the entire town.
• Back to Takayama for the evening. The town was buzzing as the spring festival was happening the next 2 days. Cherry blossoms in full bloom along the river.
• Contemplated eating out somewhere, but ultimately went back to the hotel. I asked the lady at the reception about food and she ended up making me ramen by herself. She was so nice!

Day 5 Takayama & Kyoto

• Woke up early and went for a run. Hit most of the Hyouka spots and went up to the castle ruins.
• The town was full of festival floats being prepared for the evening. Unfortunately, I knew I wont be able to stay for the night festival, but I caught the am performance of the singing showcase.
• Planned to go to Bagpipe (Western style tea house famous from Hyouka) at 9:30 for opening. I checked out the town museum nearby and got there at 9:28. It was already open and I was sat at the last available table. Had a beautifully served iced coffee and a slice of cheesecake. The interior is exactly like in the anime, and they have some sketchbooks available to read.
• Spent a couple more hours strolling around Takayama. Got some Hyouka merch, had a Hida beef skewer and was enjoying the festival vibes.
• Picked up my bags and with my JR pass now active, took the Hida ltd express to Nagoya and the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
• My friend from Tokyo was joining me here for the next few days. We had a hostel booked near Higashiyama for the night. I got there around 5pm, dropped my bags and headed back out.
• We wanted to see the Botanical garden which was supposed to be open until late, but it was unexpectedly closed that day. We ended up just walking along Kamogawa River towards the north of the city. This turned out to be amazing. It was an idillic spring Sunday evening, with again, lots of cherry blossoms and barely any tourists.
• My friend had dinner plans with his former teacher so we got back to Kawaramachi around 9. I walked back to the hostel touching Kiyamachi and Hanamikoji street.

Day 6 Kyoto, Uji & Osaka

• Woke up early again and went for a run through the Heian-jingu garden and the Imperial Palace garden. The hostel served a flawless buffet style breakfast.
• Arashiyama. (train) Saw some wild monkeys wondering next to Horinji Temple. There was an expected crowd at the bamboo forest around 10-11am, but it was still wonderful to see.
• Uji (train) Had lunch at a small curry shop. I picked up some Uji matcha and we hiked up to the Daikichiyama Observataion Deck. (Iconic from Hibike! Euphonium) Hunted a couple more Hibike spots on and around Ujibashi bridge.
• Kiyomizu-dera. (train back to kyoto) This was the most crowded spot on my entire trip with an abundance of people in kimonos in front of the cherry blossom trees.
• Walked back to the hostel through Ninenzaka and Maruyama Park.
• Picked up the luggage and took the train to Osaka. I have booked the Conrad Osaka for a night through Amex FHR, which was absolutely insane. Reception is on the 40th floor and the moment you step out the elevator you feel taken aback. Stunning views of the entire city. Had dinner at the fancy hotel restaurant and crashed.

Day 7 Osaka & Kyoto

• I decided to check out the hotel gym instead of a run this morning. It also had insane views, and I could do some cycling warm-up for next day. We had a big buffet breakfast at the hotel.
• National Bunraku Theater. (subway) Booked the 11am show in advance. Absolutely worth it even if you don't speak any Japanese. The standard of performance is extremely high. I got an english audio guide which was following the narrative and...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1ci702e/trip_report_13_days_mid_april_tokyo_to_nagasaki/

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/MalteseMalteser on 2024-04-30 22:40:02.

---

Hi all, first time posting in this sub but found some of the advice really helpful planning for our trip, so thought I'd post our trip report.

A bit about us: Two late 20's Brits, husband and wife team. Mixed levels of fitness - we lift weights in the gym 5 days a week, and my wife additionally plays rugby with training/games 2-3 times a week (I coach). We both work 9-5 deskjobs. Interests include food, videogames, anime and history.

The trip: 10th April: Flew business class with JAL from LHR to HND. Flying business class was a bucket list thing for us, and we'd saved up a lot of money during Covid even with a marriage and a house move. Overall it was a great experience, but I'm a light sleeper and couldn't sleep a wink on the plane. Watched season 1 of SpyxFamily which became the anime of the trip, as we'd watch Seasons 2 and 3 before getting to bed most nights.

11th April: Landed at 7:40am at HND and set up our Ubigi eSims. My advice would be to set it up before you fly, as connecting to the Wifi at HND was a bit troublesome. On the whole, though, Ubigi was great - decent connection throughout and only lost connection in some tunnels, or in a couple of spots in Akihabara.

Got Suica cards at Terminal 3 and dropped luggage off at our hotel (Hotel Gracery Shinjuku). Was cool being in the Godzilla hotel on the Godzilla floor - room was pretty big and you get some good views from the 30th floor. Loved the iconography on the walls of various kaiju's in the Godzilla franchise (King Ghidorah, Rodan etc.), the iconography on the lift doors, and there's a panorama in the hotel lobby, too.

Went for a walk around Shinjuku and Shinjuku Gyoen garden whilst we waited to check in and were lucky enough to see the various cherry/plum (I think?) blossoms in the park. We had planned the trip knowing we were missing the blossom season, so to see some in full bloom was great. We'd grabbed some onigiri from a 7-11 and had a picnic on a bench under the trees. Grabbed Shinkansen tickets for a couple of days time in the Green Car from Shinjuku station, which was hassle-free. Checked into hotel, then went to find some food. Booked online at Teppanyaki Hama which was literally down the street, and what an experience that was. Only 12 seats in total at the restaurant, and we were treated to the chef cooking right in front of us a variety of 9 courses from roe, to oyster, lobster, snail and the best grilled veg I've had. Cost about £216 from memory, but it set the tone of the trip really well.

12th April: woke up early and got to Meiji Jingu for about 7am. We enjoyed how quiet it was, with only a handful of tourists at this time. We then went to a Family Mart and came back to Meiji Jingu (with the intention to eat breakfast in the park) at 8:30am, but all the tourists had arrived by then and we could see no food/drink signs so we moved on to Yoyogi Park which was also lovely.

Next we did Harajuku and I visited the Asics store there. Was disappointed at how touristy the area seemed even at 10/11am. At this time, it started to rain and, with not much appealing to us, we moved on to Shibuya. Did Shibuya scramble a few times for the fun of it, then grabbed lunch at Ichiran. Decent ramen, better than the chain ramen we get in the UK (I'm looking at you, Wagamama's) but not the best of the trip. Explored Shibuya and saw the Pokemon Centre there with Mewtwo, and then the One Piece and Jump stores too. We went to Sushiro for dinner. Ate about 15 plates between us for roughly £26 with drinks. First ever conveyor belt sushi experience and had to wait about 30 mins for a seat. Was pretty cool. Rounded off the day wandering Golden Gai and Kabukicho near the hotel.

13th April: had planned to explore Nakano Broadway and Ikebukuro this day but...

I was ill all day and after being up and down during the night, spent all day in bed. My wife was fine, so I either overate, felt jetlagged, stressed from overplanning, ate something my wife didn't (likely sea urchin at Sushiro), or a bit of everything. My wife went to Gotokuji temple in the afternoon and explored some of the neighbourhoods to find an Airbnb which a Youtuber she follows, owns. My illness put me off of seafood for most of the trip, which is unfortunate as I love seafood, but the smell of it just put me off on this trip.

14th April: took the 6:33am Shinkansen to Kyoto. This was awesome, and watching the Japanese countryside go by with the mountains in the background was something I'll never forget - it's so much more picturesque than from UK trains. We were lucky to see Mt. Fuji from the train as well, as we knew she was usually shy, but that morning she looked majestic.

Popped by the hotel so they knew we were in the neighbourhood (Yoin Hotel Kyoto Gion). Hotel was a bit disappointing. Largest hotel room of the trip (save for the ryokan) but it was only 4/5 storeys high so had a lot of noise from the road below from loud tourists at 1am.

We explored Gion district. Visited Chion-in which was brilliant, saw different delegations of monks and even a bit of their ceremonies when we were there. Also did Yasaka Shrine, Yasaka Pagoda, and Kiyomizu-dera (too crowded by the time we did it), and grabbed some lunch at Smile Burger. Smile burger was great, a small burger joint which did simple burgers that tasted good for a great price. We then took a break at Ryozen Kannon temple. Ate dinner in our room with some of the ekiben boxes I didn't eat for brekfast as I still felt iffy.

15th April: originally planned to do Fushimi Inari this day but instead took a trip to Nara as I wasn't feeling a 5am wakeup after being unwell. Nara was lovely, but again loads of tourists by 8am. Fed the deer, and loved how the vendors all charged the same and how part of the money goes towards conservation. We went to Kofuku-ji and then grabbed breakfast at a conbini next to the famous TikTok mocchi making place, then sat at Sarusawa-ike watching the Terrapins to eat. It was so peaceful here, away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist parts. Then visited Todaiji Temple and explored Nara park. Then, we hopped on a train to visit the old Imperial Palace of Nara with the intention of seeing all Imperial Palaces in the cities on our trip. Admittedly not much at the site but it was cool seeing the old buildings and some of the conservation work being done. Then, on a whim, we went to Uji at 3:30pm and again, it was away from the hustle and bustle of tourists. I dislike green tea and matcha, but my wife likes it so thought it'd be good to try. We found a cafe overlooking the river and got there at last orders. Admittedly, I didn't like anything on the menu but that's just my taste and dislike of matcha. We left Uji and found a Wagyu steak yakiniku place in Kyoto called Douraku Kyotorokkakudoriten. Had a whole board of Wagyu fillet, tongue, cheek, rib etc. for about £89 and we got to cook it ourselves. This was a treat, and I've never tasted beef so good - it literally melted in our mouths. We left very satisfied after getting a side order of rice and bimbap, too.

16th April: Tackled Fushimi Inari this day as I was getting my groove back. Got to the foot of Fushimi Inari at 7:30am and it was already packed with wannabe influencers - I could tell this was going to be fun...my wife and I like hillwalking and occasionally walk Bennau Brycheniog or the Lake District, so we can hike at a good pace. We passed many people getting irate over the number of people getting in their shots (what did you expect?) and even one woman walking in a dress and stilettos with her partner carrying a tripod!! Madness. The crowds did thin considerably once we hit the part where the path splits in two, and we got all the way to the top in 55 mins. We bought a tori gate from one of the stalls neat the top after waiting around for 25 mins for it to open, and we had our names and date painted on it in kanji. Certainly take some time to see the various shrines in the small paths off the main track, as they're so picturesque and peaceful. Shoutout to Pocari Sweat, which kept me fuelled this entire time whilst recovering from the lurgies.

We walked down the mountain pass at the back, past a small bamboo grove, and here I jumped with glee as I heard a school bell go which had exactly the same tone and tune as the one from the 'Izekai Quartet' anime. From here, we did Tofuku-ji as it was on the way back into town along the path. What was really nice was seeing the backstreets of Japanese society, so tranquil and well-kept (like it was straight out of an anime). We then grabbed some lunch at a Korean hotpot place in Kyoto station, and did Kyoto tower on a whim. I suffer from vertigo and 'call of the void' (where I want to jump off of high places just to know what the sensation is like) and they were pretty bad at the top of Kyoto Tower as I felt like the tower was shaking in the wind. Still, the views were great and I'm glad I did it. They had a stand/vending machines of 'Sound Euphonium!' merch, which is an anime I love as a former brass band player, so got some photos next to Kumiko and Reina. We then went on an hours detour just so my wife could find another Pokelid and ended up in a park watching the Shinkansen go by. We grabbed dinner in an udon place called Udon Shiogama round the corner from the hotel which did curry udon. My goodness it tasted so good! The rich, spicy sauce went so well with the juicy udon I can sti...

---

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1ch366o/malts_trip_review_across_the_golden_route/