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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Snoo46145 on 2024-05-30 19:35:55+00:00.

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I’m going to Japan for 2 weeks and I keep reading people saying to cut Osaka out. Should I go somewhere else? Below is my basic itinerary…I’m not really into WW2 stuff so, don’t want to do Hiroshima. What I’m doing in each city is still being figured out, want feedback on which cities in general.

Day 1-5: Tokyo - 5 nights

• Visit Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa.
• Explore the streets of Shibuya and cross the famous Shibuya Crossing.
• Spend an afternoon in Yanaka
• Go to Odaiba.
• Enjoy the nightlife in Shinjuku

Day 6-7: Hakone - 2 nights

• Relax in an onsen (hot spring) while enjoying the beautiful scenery of Hakone.
• Take a cruise on Lake Ashi for stunning views of Mount Fuji.
• Visit the Hakone Open-Air Museum
• Explore the volcanic landscape of Owakudani and try some black eggs, boiled in the hot springs.
• Ride the Hakone Ropeway for panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.

Day 8-9: Osaka - 2 nights

• Explore Osaka Castle and its surrounding park.
• Shop and dine in the Dotonbori district,
• Visit the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
• Take a day trip to Universal Studios Japan for a fun-filled experience.
• Sample Osaka's street food, including takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (savory pancakes).

Day 10-14: Kyoto - 5 nights

• Visit Fushimi Inari Shrine and hike through thru torii gates.
• Explore the streets of Gion
• Wander though the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and visit the nearby Tenryu-ji Temple.
• Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) and its garden.
• Take a day trip to Nara

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Secure_Drawer_4829 on 2024-05-31 18:02:55+00:00.

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Hello everyone! Loved reading your trip reports before my trip, so wanted to contribute back to this supportive community!

About me: 26F, I travelled solo between May 13th and May 27th. I hit Tokyo (5 nights), Kyoto (4 nights), Osaka (3 nights), and Yokohama (1 night). I don't drink, so this report will have no mention of clubs, bars, dancing, etc. I tended to wake up early, walk over 20k steps, and wrap it up at 10PM. I'm from Toronto, and a visible minority.

Notably, I carried around a sketchbook, and drew in it around Japan! This was a great conversation starter and I had some pleasant interactions because people saw me drawing and were curious.

Plane ride + arrival

• Took AA to Chicago, JAL to Haneda.
• JAL was a comfortable economy flight. Unfortunately my screen froze :( So had to entertain myself.
• You may have heard that JAL gives free ice cream and snacks and miso soup, etc. But if you get a special meal, they refuse you all of those. I managed to ask for some but they drew the line at ice cream...sad.
• I slept on the plane (thank you, melatonin from stranger) so did not feel jet lagged upon arrival, but ended up with no appetite for almost 4 days. Couldn't eat at most of the places on my list as I felt sick thinking about eating them, all throughout my trip unfortunately.
• Getting a Welcome Suica from Haneda Terminal 3 was extremely easy. I took the Keikyuu line immediately after. Even with my luggage (normal sized carry on, backpack, cross body bag) and a train full of people, it was easy. (I'm used to subways in Toronto).

Tokyo

• Itinerary:
  • 14th: Relax at hotel, walk around, eat.
  • 15th: Shinjiku, Shibuya.
  • 16th: Tsukiji fish market, Asakusa, Akihabara
  • 17th: Kamakura day trip
  • 19th: Ginza, Roppongi, leftover Tokyo Explore
• The subways feel exactly like the subways in Toronto, same noise level (light chatter)
• I generally followed the rule of walking on the left side, but still found it difficult to anticipate which way people would walk (and my goodness, the BIKES, they do whatever the heck they want!). After talking to two Japanese friends, they didn't seem to be aware of any unspoken rule to walk on the left. Maybe Toronto is just more anal about walking on the right.
• Following Google maps to a T, especially entrances and exits, made navigating the subway a breeze. I personally found Shinjuku station easy to navigate, but got lost at Shinagawa twice (due to Shinkansen vs. normal lines)! Fortunately the two times I had an issue with my Suica, I asked an attendant for help, gave them my card, and they sorted it within minutes.
• I felt like people in Tokyo were very kind and responsive to me. Had some pleasant interactions with Japanese people here and there (ex. someone complimented my earrings!). Met another traveler and we went for dinner together.
• It's difficult to describe why, and you may disagree, but: Tokyo felt surprisingly a lot like Toronto. I felt right at home in Tokyo.
• I'm very used to Japanese culture, language, food, etc. so didn't experience heavy culture shocks. I learned a wee bit of Japanese before coming (can hold super, duper simple broken conversations) so most of my interactions with service workers were in Japanese. As a result, I can't comment on how prevalent I found English. It's not necessary to use Japanese; this is simply how I conducted my trip, for fun.
• I stayed in Asakusa right outside Kuramae station and would highly recommend it. Super convenient, Sensoji was a 15 minute walk away, there were 2 convenience stores outside my hotel, it was amazing.
• Sensoji was so amazing I went there thrice! (Once in the day, once at night, once during the Sanja Matsuri festival).
• The fish market was my least favourite part of my entire trip. Everywhere in Tokyo was kind but everyone at the fish market felt cold, and I could feel like they were very impatient with tourists. It wasn't very lively when I went. To be honest, it brought down my mood heavily before Akihabara helped bring it back up. I bought bonito flakes here though.
• Ginza and Roppongi were kind of boring to me. Asakusa and Shibuya were tied for first place! Akihabara closely second. Shibuya had a very youthful vibe and a contagious energy.
• The Kamakura day trip was one of the highlights of my trip. I sat by the ocean for an hour. When I went to Hokokuji temple and went to the tea house (recommended), two Japanese coworkers saw me drawing and we talked in Japanese (I studied a wee bit before coming). They drove me to Hase Dera after and wished me well! Hase Dera was BEAUTIFUL, highly recommend.
• I did a taiyaki making experience at Gurako in Asakusa and highly recommend it. It was so fun and I learned how to make taiyaki. I bought a taiyaki fry pan and made some at home!
• Tokyo had way less DBZ merch than I'd hoped... :(
• Unpopular opinion: I preferred Kura to Sushiro.

Kyoto

• Itinerary:
  • May 19th: Shinkansen to Kyoto, explore
  • May 20th: Arashiyama, Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street, Adashino Nenbutsu-ji, Otagi Nenbutsuji, Monkey Park
  • May 21st: Fushimi inari, kimono rental, Gion, Kiyomizu-dera, Yasaka Pagoda
  • May 22nd: Uji
• Incredibly easy to buy a reserved shinkansen ticket on the spot with my credit card. Just use the machines, they're very clear.
• Somehow got on the wrong shinkansen despite being at the right platform and double checking with an attendant. I think the problem was my train was ex. at 11:15AM but the train on the platform was 11:10AM and going somewhere else, and I didn't check the time. Easy solution: got off at the next stop and took the train behind it, which was the correct train! Double check the time!
• Kyoto people did not feel colder at first, but I felt the difference when I went to Osaka.
• I started my walk just outside the bridge near the monkey park, and walked all the way to Otagi Nenbutsuji through the preserved street. This whole walk only took like an hour, hour and a half one way. Completely doable in one day and I didn't feel rushed at all. I highly recommend Otagi and Adashino, there was barely a crowd and I was alone many times!
• Monkey park is a hike in and of itself...a very long one...please buy water at the bottom!
• I thought I would absolutely love Kyoto but I found it a bit boring? I got templed out quickly (though I did do the goshuincho, got 5!). Walking around Arashiyama was nice and I actually managed to touch 2 mini bamboo groves before the "main" one? They were all pretty.
• I do not recommend the philosophers walk. It's just like...a path, next to a river.
• Shockingly I preferred the Kamo River to the Katsura river. The Kamo river felt livelier, being surrounded by the shopping street and street performers.
• Uji was quieter and more boring than I hoped it would be. I did have amazing matcha there of course. But I walked all the spots that the tourist map recommended and it was just okay, just a nice and peaceful walk. Very pretty though. I waited until I got back to Kyoto to have dinner.
• I think I speed-ran Fushimi inari? I got to the "top" of the trail in less than an hour. I was on the main trail but when I got to the "top" there were no further paths. Two groups of tourists also seemed confused. I ended up going back down but the walk that I did do was very impressive and beautiful despite it being busy.
• HIGHLY RECOMMEND RENTING A KIMONO! I felt so beautiful and it was so comfy! I walked throughout Gion and Kiyomizu-dera and Yasaka Pagoda and it was all just so beautiful. This was the most packed part of the trip, people absolutely mashed together.

Osaka

• Itinerary:
  • May 23rd: Local train to Osaka, dinner with friend
  • May 24th: Meet with other friend
  • May 25th: Nara day trip, mount Wakakusa
• I never expected this, but...Osaka was my favourite part of the four places I visited (it helped that I had two friends to visit here but I'm referring specifically to "vibes/feel" of the city). Dotonbori was pleasant to walk along, with the water. The streets were lively. People seemed happier and more fun. I enjoyed walking everywhere here, felt like I absorbed the upbeat energy of everyone around me.
• Nara was AMAZING! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I thought it would be just deer, too, but the walk around is beautiful! I highly, highly, highly recommend climbing Mount Wakakusa (I began at I believe the South Entrance?) The views from the top of that gentle mountain hike were unreal. There are 3 "legs" to the mountain, each higher than the previous, all with breath-taking views and with lazy deer relaxing after a day of eating tourist biscuits. Met and chatted with a family at the top of the mountain. Mount Wakakusa was one of the highlights of my entire Japan trip.

Yokohama

• Itinerary:
  • May 26th: Shinkansen to Yokohama, meet friend
  • May 27th: Flight back home (except not really because I was denied boarding due to an overbooked flight despite checking in 2 hours in advance and online the night before, so they put me in the fancy Haneda hotel with free dinner, breakfast, and onsen and spa access, and gave me a travel credit...I'm not complaining!)
• Yokohama was very beautiful! The sea air was incredibly fresh. I spent ages walking around, staring right into the strong wind, closing my eyes, smelling that intoxicating sea smell.
• Visited China town and it was nice. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it but it was good, had good food.
• The amusement park is so cute. I ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ExactAbroad17 on 2024-05-31 08:58:19+00:00.

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Hello reddit community,

We have just returned from a fantastic 16-day trip to Japan. Here is our experience, I hope it helps some of you with planning your trip!

Places visited

·      Osaka

·      Nara

·      Hiroshima

·      Miyajima

·      Himeji

·      Kanazawa

·      Takayama

·      Tokyo

About us

Myself (36yr F), husband (39yr M), and our kids (10 yr old daughter & 7yr old son) from Melbourne, Australia.

Likes

beautiful nature, exploring new areas, shopping, anime (husband), Pokemon (kids & husband), Japanese food and culture. We went to Japan 10 years ago and visited Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara, & Hakone, so this time we wanted to return to some of our favourite places and experience some new ones. I know this is an unpopular opinion but Kyoto was actually our least favourite place of our last trip, so we opted to skip Kyoto for this one.

May weather

We specifically chose to travel in May as we wanted to avoid the crazy crowds in the peak times and have mild weather. The weather while we were there was average 21-28 degrees celsius, perfect t-shirt and shorts weather. In 16 days we had only 3 days with rain (2 days of off and on drizzle in Takayama, and 1 day of torrential rain in Osaka).

Packing

We wanted to pack light (no suitcases, because there are so many stairs and finding lifts is time consuming and involves a lot more steps). We took 4 x backpacks (1 each) and 2 x hiking back packs (for all our clothes).  Packed clothes for 5 days. I packed 2 x jumpers and 2 x pants each, but 1 each would have been fine. 1 pair of good runners each. kids took 1 teddy each. 3 of our hotels we had washing machines in our rooms, and the others had a laundry room with coin machines. I did washing 3 times. Clothing wise, Japanese people dress very conservatively, so we took that into consideration when packing. Especially because I live in activewear normally. I saw no one wearing activewear at all!

Flights

We flew from in and out of Osaka from Melbourne, which we got on sale for $575 AUD return each person

Transport

We travelled exclusively on public transport. Mostly trains, Shinkansen between major citites, trams and some buses. We found public transport to be easy to navigate, well signed in english also, and frequent. My husband broke his foot badly 1 year ago and still has issues with it, and with 2 kids in tow we always opted for getting on a train to get us closer to where we needed to be, even if it meant transferring train lines a few times. The IC cards come in super handy for this!!. We saved so many steps each day by doing this, and saved a lot of complaints from the kids about tired legs!

IC cards - My husband and I both downloaded Suica cards in our Apple wallets on our iPhone, its super easy to do and super easy to top up. Had no problems topping up with AMEX or Mastercard that was in our apple wallet. The only issue we had with the digital cards is that you chew through so much phone battery taking pictures and videos and using google maps there were many days we were stressed about our phones dying. So make sure you always take a power bank with you just in case.

Kids IC cards - You cant get digital kids IC cards, and our kids don't have their own phones either so I picked up 2 x kids ICOCA IC cards from the JR ticket office at Umeda station (osaka). Just make sure you have their passports with you. The kids fares are half the price of adults, so its worthwhile getting them for how much you use the trains. You can top up the cards at almost all ticket machines (cash only).

Transport passes - We purchased the JR West Kansai-Hiroshima area pass in advance online as this worked out cheaper for our itinerary than individual tickets. I picked up the pass from the JR ticket office at Kansai Airport station. Also purchased a 1 day Osaka-metro pass (820 yen for an adult) only on one day for moving around osaka alot. You can get them from any osaka-metro station ticket machine.

Shinkansen Tickets - I only booked our first shinkansen (Osaka - Hiroshima) in advance, online through JR west website, which i picked up at the airport station when we arrived. We booked most of the others either on the spot (No issues getting a seat), or through the Smart Ex app ( Tokyo - Osaka) We booked that one in the morning of the day we were travelling, and i'm glad we did as the train was almost full when we got on (5:47pm time).

Language

I know a little bit of Japanese ( from what i remember from learning Japanese in high school). My husband and the kids played on duolingo for a few months before hand. Most people in Osaka, Tokyo, and touristy places spoke a fair bit of english. But we tried to speak some Japanese where we could. We downloaded Google translate, and DeepL. The translation on DeepL was much better and a more accurate than google translate. The translate camera function is fantastic for shopping for food and working out how to use the washing machines etc. The Japanese people were always so happy when our kids spoke some japanese to them.

Advance bookings

Hotels - Some through booking .com and others direct to the hotel. We found the prices were mostly better when booking direct to the hotel

Universal Studios - 2 months before hand. we bought express passes and studio passes. i tried to purchase through the USJ website but had no luck with it accepting our credit cards. we tried AMEX, Visa, and Mastercard. gave up and purchased through Klook. Yes you can now select times for timed entries on Klook.

DisneySea - 1 month before. purchased through Disney site. nil issues.

TeamLab Planets - 2 months before, through official website

Sumo - We tried to get tickets to the sumo tournament for when we were in tokyo. We jumped online when the tickets were released, but the website crashed. After many many refreshes, when we finally got onto the site 1.5 hrs later, they were sold out for the days we could go :(

Food - Restaurants

We love good food, but don't fancy waiting in line for an hour to have an instagram hyped food. We made no bookings for restaurants, and just stopped when we saw something that looked good. It often involved a lot of walking as its difficult to get a spot for 4 people in some tiny restaurants. Street food was great! We used uber eats a few times from the hotel which was great for fussy kids, super quick and was reliable both times. the food was great too! Breakfast was mostly combini, yoghurt, smoothies, waffles. We found that department stores had great food halls (usually basement level) for takeaway with everything from sushi, salads, fried chicken, dumplings etc. A good option for groups with different tastes, affordable and a nice change from the combini food. Coffee almost everywhere was terrible.

HOTELS

OSAKA - May 14 - APA Umeda-Eki tower. A pretty standard business hotel, small. location was ok, close enough to walk from umeda station. In hindsight, I should have just booked a room at the airport hotel. kids were absolutely exhausted from the 2am wake up in Melbourne with no sleep on the plane (too excited), our daughter was in tears at the airport from exhaustion. our son finally fell asleep on the train which meant i had to carry him (25kgs) and luggage through the station and to the hotel. we got to the hotel around 10pm. (approx $220 AUD 1 x night)

HIROSHIMA - May 15-16 - FAV HOTEL Hiroshima heiwa odori - Amazing! apartment style, great location, breakfast included. 2 x Queen beds in the room, washing machine and dryer. Would 100% stay here again if in Hiroshima. (approx $530 AUD 2 x nights)

KANAZAWA - May 17-18 - Tsukuyomi Chuodori . A Japanese style vacation rental house. location was ok, a short bus ride to the main area, or you could walk. very quiet residential area, actually had the best sleep here out of entire trip, although it was bright at 5:00am as there is only shoji screens for window coverings. very steep staircase to the top floor, probably not suitable for very young kids or older people. (approx $330 AUD 2 x nights)

TAKAYAMA - May 19-20 - FAV LUX Hida Takayama - great location. amazing apartment style 2 x queen beds + 2 x single bunk beds on top. Would 100% stay here again (approx $560 AUD 2 x nights)

TOKYO - May 21 - 25 - Mimaru Asakusa Station - location is 10/10!! literally next to the subway line, food, shopping on the door step, sensoji temple like 200mtrs away. Apartment style 1 x queen bed and 2 x single bunks. This may also be an unpopular opinion but you don't need to be near the Yamanote line in Tokyo. it was so easy to transfer to anywhere you want to go in Tokyo, the stations and different subway lines are so well signed and colour coded. I have stayed in Shinjuku and Tokyo station area before, and I would definitely stay in Asakusa again over those areas. (approx $1650 AUD 4 x nights)

OSAKA - May 26-30 - Randor suites Namba - Location was great! right next to a subway line, literally 3 doors down. Or a 950mtr walk to shinsaibashi. Was a whole apartment, huge for Japan. We shared this with my Sister in-law and her 2 boys (aged 10 and 12) who joined us in Tokyo for the last half of the trip. (approx $1450 AUD 4 x nights (our share about $800 AUD for 4 x nights)

BUDGET

We didn’t really set a specific budget as we had been saving for a while. All up in total, with absolutely everything ...flights, ti...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/NullandVoidUsername on 2024-05-29 22:47:49+00:00.

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I'm trying to finalise part of my trip to Japan in November and I can't decide whether I should spend a night in Matsuyama or whether I should simply stay in Hiroshima for 2 nights.

Currently, my itinerary looks like this. Your feedback would be much appreciated.

Day 13 - 22nd Nov - (Shimanami Kaido)

Day 14 - 23rd Nov (Shimanami kaido and Matsuyama)

• Take the ferry back to Omishima Sakari Port in the morning.

• Cycle the rest of the journey to Imabari

• Drop the bikes off in Imabari

• Catch the train along the coast to Matsuyama.

• Check-in at the hotel

• Explore Matsuyama

Day 15 - 24th Nov - (Matsuyama, Hiroshima and Miyajima island)

• Take the Bus to Matsuyama tourist port terminal in order to catch the ferry to Hiroshima.

• Explore Hiroshima

• Get the ferry to Miyajima.

• Check in at a hotel (1 night).

Day 16 - 25th Nov - (Miyajima, Himeji and Osaka)

• Miyashima/Hiroshima

• Take an early morning hike up the island before Explore the rest of the island.

• Check out the hotel

• Travel back to Hiroshima and get the train to Himeji.

• Explore Himeji castle and the surrounding area.

• Travel back to the station and get the Train to Osaka.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/LittleNoodle1991 on 2024-05-29 04:47:19+00:00.

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Is it OK for a tourist to go up to a shinto temple, put money in the money box, ring the bell, do two bows, two claps and a bow or is it seemed as weird by locals (I'm obv not of Shinto religion).

Also, I saw a couple online that made a picture with them standing in the middle of a Tori gate. They got blasted for it. Is it rude to make pictures of the Tori gate or just with you on it? How can I make pictures in a respectful manner (if possible at all)? Can I make pictures of the shinto temple?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/amberale7 on 2024-05-28 16:02:55+00:00.

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I visited USJ recently for the first time. I went on a Saturday (crazy I know!), but it was the only time that worked with my schedule.

I purchased the Express Pass 7 Variety for 19,800 Yen or about $126 USD. This was in addition to the 8,800 Yen or about $56 USD just to get into the park. Expensive, but absolutely worth it. I’m actually amazed at how much I was able to get in throughout the day, which wouldn’t have been remotely possible without it. I also hate waiting in lines and am fairly impatient when it comes to them. If it’s an option for you, definitely splurge. If not, definitely do not go on a weekend (I’ve heard Tuesday and Wednesday are best) and try to take advantage of single rider queues.

Below is the timeline of my day with some lessons learned, tips, ratings, commentary, etc. Hopefully somebody finds it helpful/interesting!

6:50 am - Arrived at park entrance for an “8:30 opening”. The line was to the kiosks at this point.

7:00 am - They started letting in people with early entry

7:30 am - They started letting everybody else into the park (1 hour before the posted opening, which is typical). I made it through the bag check and into the park in about 10 minutes.

7:40 am - I headed for the Demon Slayer ride since this wasn’t included in my express pass. I tried to get timed entry to Super Nintendo World while walking, but they weren’t available yet. I got to the lockers for Demon Slayer and found out you needed a 100 yen coin. I had read this, but totally forgot and of course didn’t have one! I went to the Demon Slayer merchandise store and they were able to give me change, but this delayed me by ~ 5 minutes.

7:55 am - Demon Slayer (Single Rider). 8.5/10. I thought I had read they didn’t have single rider for Demon Slayer so this was a nice surprise. The sign had a 70 minute single rider wait time posted, but I was through the queue and finished with the ride in 50 minutes. I have never seen Demon Slayer (my nephew loves it and I so wish he had been with me!), but it was really neat and well done. I did feel a little sick after due the VR nature, but I am really sensitive with motion sickness.

8:45 am - Grabbed my stuff from the lockers and tried again for a SNW timed entry (I had left my phone in the locker since I didn’t have pockets). By this time the earliest entry available was 1pm. Since I already had entry with my express pass at 12:40 pm, I passed. Ideally I was hoping for a 9:30 am or so entry so I could experience it with less crowds, but oh well!

9:00 am - Walked over to Jaws, but the single rider queue was closed so I decided to use my express pass for Hollywood Dream instead. On the way to Hollywood Dream I walked past the Mario Cafe and decided to stop for one of the pancake sandwiches first. I waited about 5-10 minutes in line and ordered the Luigi No Bake Cheescake sandwich. It was SO cute and honestly really delicious. This was 900 Yen or about $6 USD.

9:30 am - Hollywood Dream (Express Pass). 9/10. I got right through and waited no more than 5 minutes. Really fun roller coaster and definitely had my adrenaline going after this!

9:45 am - Wandered past Jaws again, but still no single rider queue so I decided to walk through NYC and SF and then into the Minion area.

10:15 am - Minion Crazy Ride (Express pass). 8/10. This one was probably about a 10 minute wait. Cute and fun ride, but definitely had some motion sickness again. I’ve also never seen Minions, but they are adorable! Kinda want to watch it now Lol

10:35 am - Checked the app for a SNW time entry again and was able to secure one for 8pm just in case I didn’t get to everything during my express pass timed entry and wanted to go back at the end of the night.

10:45 am - Flying Dinosaur (Express Pass). 10/10. Essentially walked on other than the ticket checks throughout the line, lockers, and metal detectors. Amazing roller coaster, but for me, honestly REALLY scary and out of my comfort zone (especially the part going backwards and underground). But I like getting out of my comfort zone and so worth it for the adrenaline :)

11:10 am - Jaws Ride (Single Rider). 7/10. Decided to head to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for lunch, but I checked Jaws on my way and the single rider queue was finally open! I think it had just opened because I was the first in line and literally walked on the first boat, zero wait!

11:35 am - Lunch at Three Broomsticks. I waited in line for probably about 15 minutes. Really cool theming in this restaurant! I ordered the Vegetable Irish Stew, a coffee, and of course a Butter Beer! This came out to around $20 USD. The food was fairly average, but not bad by any means and I was grateful for a plant based option. Loved the Butter Beer and the coffee was much needed pick me up!

12:30 pm - Arrived at Super Nintendo World for my 12:40 timed entry with my express pass. I got in 10 minutes early without a problem and went straight to Kinopio’s Cafe to get a timed entry slot. There is a QR code you scan and then make the reservation using Email or Line. However, it requires use of your location and for some reason it was not working on my phone! I tried for probably 5 minutes before asking a staff member. They tried to change a setting on my phone, but it still didn’t work. Fortunately, they were able to make the reservation for me on their IPad. I just had to give them my email and name. I got timed entry for 3:30 pm (!) so nearly 3 hours later. This was fine for me as I planned to spending significant time in Super Nintendo World and had already eaten, but something to be aware of!

1:00 pm - Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge (Express Pass). 9/10. This one was the longest wait of the day using the express pass. At the point when you get the Mario cap you join the regular queue. It was probably about a 20 minute wait from that point. Walking through Bowser’s castle was incredibly cool. The theming and attention to detail is literally amazing!! In hindsight I wish I would have let the people behind me pass and walked slower through the castle. The ride was also a ton of fun and really well done! Childhood dreams come true (I’m a huge Mario fan)!

1:30 pm - Decided to buy the power up band before riding Yoshi’s Adventure. I should have done this before riding Mario Kart, but I didn’t want to miss my timed entry (I doubt they are that strict, but in the moment I didn’t want to take the chance). I got Kinopio/Toad :) The band was 4900 Yen or about $32 USD. This is well circulated knowledge, but don’t buy the band from the first couple of stands. You can buy them once you get further inside with short to no queues.

1:40 pm - Yoshi’s Adventure (Express Pass). 7/10. I think I waited about 10 minutes for this. I know this ride gets a lot of flack, but for what it is, I really enjoyed it. I loved just sitting back and taking all that is SNW in. I had a smile on my face the whole time. However, I probably wouldn’t wait for it if I didn’t have an Express Pass.

2:00 pm - Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge again (Single Rider). The wait time was only 30 minutes. This time, with a bit of experience, I ended up winning! Woot, woot :) Just as fun the 2nd time around and if I had more time I would have went again. Something to note, with the single rider queue you miss almost the entirety of Bowser’s Castle before the ride.

2:40 pm - Wandered around the land a bit collecting coins, taking it all in, and played the Thwomp Panel Panic (10 minute wait) and Koopa Troopa POWer Punch (20 minute wait) mini games.

3:30 pm - Finally time for my timed entry at Kinopio’s Cafe. Even with the timed entry I still had to wait in line for 20+ minutes to order and be seated. I ordered the “? Block Tiramisu” and a coffee which came out to around $9 USD I think. The tiramisu was absolutely adorable, but was pretty average taste wise. The cafe itself is also super cute and the staff were incredibly friendly. The waitress insisted on taking my picture and was such a joy. This was a much needed rest for my feet!

4:30 pm - Piranha Plant Nap Mishap (10 minute wait) and Goomba Crazy Prank (30 minute wait) mini games.

5:15 pm - Now with my keys in hand, I head over to the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown to get back Peach’s rightful Golden Mushroom (< 5 minute wait). This was so fun!! I already think the power up band was worth it, but this sealed the deal on that question.

5:30 pm - Slot Machine Game (10 minute wait). I was always really good at this one on the video games so I loved getting the chance to try in real life and I nailed it! 4x Mushrooms, woot woot! What fun!

6:00 pm - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Express Pass). 9.5/10. Wait time was 10-15 minutes, but the theming before the ride here was incredible, on par with Mario Kart and (surprise!) I’ve never seen Harry Potter either Lol Although, subtle brag, I have met Dan Radcliffe and have his autograph.. nicest human ever :) If you are a Harry Potter fan, I’m sure you would lose your mind with this pre-show and ride. The ride itself was mind blowing, my favorite VR ride of the day, although once again this one made me a bit sick.

6:30 pm - Fight of the Hippogriff (Express Pass). 3/10. ~10 minute wait. At this point in the day I was exhausted, and to be honest, I could have skipped this ride. I had read it was underwhelming, but ...

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I always enjoy reading trip reports so I thought I would go ahead and share a report on my Golden Week trip with my parents. 

Warning, long post!

This trip was from May 2nd to 15th. Some background, I (late 20's) am a foreign resident living in Hokkaido. I have also lived in Tokyo before so I am pretty comfortable with navigating the city and transit system, and speak intermediate Japanese. I have briefly visited Kyoto and Osaka but this was my first time in Hiroshima. This was my parents' (both 60) first time in Japan, and as it was probably one of few trips they will make to Japan, we decided to try and hit a lot of major sites for the first half before spending time in Hokkaido. 

Obviously Golden Week isn't the most ideal time to travel in Japan, but as a resident, this was the best time I could travel without having to take too much time off work. My parents like travelling, but this was their first time in Asia and anywhere where English isn't widely spoken. They enjoyed their time here, but I am pretty sure if I weren't living here, it wouldn't have been a destination they would have travelled to on their own. I planned most of the trip myself. Parents weren’t too interested in pop-culture (anime, music, etc) so I was able to save time by cutting out a lot of the more touristy anime spots. They were pretty down for anything else, and Dad knew he wanted to see a baseball game and visit Hiroshima, so we made sure to make those two happen.

May 2nd-Arrival in Tokyo

(Hotel Sotetsu Fresa Inn Tokyo Tamachi-Two double bed rooms)

Parents flew from Vancouver to Narita and landed shortly before 3:00pm. I flew JetStar from Hokkaido and was set to land shortly after 3:00. I figured I would have time to get my bag and get from terminal 3 to 1 to meet them before they got through customs and baggage. However, my flight was a bit delayed and landed closer to 3:30. Not a big deal, but surprisingly my parents got through customs and baggage and were waiting for me before I even got my bag. We took the train directly to Mita Station in Minato, which was only a 10 minute walk to our hotel. It was around 6:00 by the time we checked in and got settled, and the parents didn't sleep on the plane, so we decided on dinner at the hotel restaurant before grabbing some conbini snacks and heading to bed by 9:00.

May 3rd (Constitution Memorial Day)-Tokyo

Taking advantage of their jetlag, we were up and ready to go at 7:00 am, but first dropped off our suitcases to be shipped to our Kyoto hotel. We had each brought a mid-size suitcase and backpack, so we shipped our suitcases and kept two days worth of stuff in our backpacks. It was a bit of a pain to have to rearrange all the bags so soon after arriving, but I wanted to send the bags earlier, as I was worried about delays due to Golden Week. It was very easy to do at the hotel, and so worth it to not have to haul bags all over.

We grabbed a conbini breakfast before heading to Asakusa and Sensoji. There were a fair amount of people there at around 8:00, but not crowded yet. Almost all of the shops were still closed but my parents really enjoyed seeing their first temple. After grabbing a goshuin paper (I forgot my goshuincho at home, I was so cheesed) we took a walk to the Sumida river and had coffee with a beautiful view of the Skytree. After that, we made our way back through Sensoji, towards Kappabashi Street. It was after 10:00 so all of the shops in front of the temple were open and crowds were in full swing. My parents didn’t mind the crowds too much but they were really happy we arrived early and had the chance to see things with less people. Mom was on the lookout for kitchen knives, hence the stop in Kappabashi. There were only a few shops open due to the holiday, but it was fine. 

We headed back to the Minato area for one of our few food reservations, the Harry Potter cafe. (Booked through the official site a few weeks in advance.) I really wanted to drag my parents to a silly themed cafe, but I knew anything like the Kirby or Pokemon cafe would be totally lost on them, so I compromised with the Harry Potter cafe. I’ve been to enough themed cafes to know that you pay a lot for the experience and atmosphere and the quality of the food is secondary. That said, the food here was my least favourite of all the themed cafes I have been to in Japan. The decorations and restaurant were cool, but unless you’re a diehard fan, I would skip this one.

After lunch, we headed to Tokyo Tower. We didn’t go up, but we took a look at the shops, saw the Children’s Day carp streamers, and stopped at the beer garden. We were leaving to go have a break at the hotel when we saw a sign for the Japantique Show and decided to stop in. (Free admission) It was cool but everything was way out of our budgets, by like, thousands of dollars. After that, we bussed back to our hotel for a rest. We stopped for dinner at a Yakiniku Like near the station, which is a great option for budget yakiniku in my opinion, before heading to Ginza to window shop and look at more things we couldn’t afford. I also had to point out the Kabukiza theatre to mom and dad, as I am a big Kabuki fan. We didn’t have time for a show this trip but I definitely recommend seeing even just a single act if it’s something you might be interested in. Headed back to the hotel and was in bed by 9:00.

May 4th (Greenery Day)-Tokyo

Another early morning, we took the train and arrived at Harajuku station around 8:00 a.m. We had breakfast at Sarutahiko Coffee, above the station. After that we wandered towards Meiji Jingu. It was already warming up (high of 29 this day) so it was nice being under all the trees. As we passed the entrance to the garden, they were just about ready to open, so we decided to wait and go in. It was still too early for most of the flowers to bloom, but it was still a really nice spot. After the garden we made our way to the main shrine, followed by the Meiji Jingu Museum. They were having an exhibit on dresses of the Meiji era, particularly focused on Empress Shoken, so I thought it would be an interesting stop. There wasn’t much information in English, and the exhibit was pretty small, but seeing the dresses was cool. 

I dragged mom and dad through Takeshita Street. It was very crowded, but my parents still got a kick out of seeing the stores and fashion, although they rolled their eyes everytime I offered to buy us matching platform shoes for some reason. After a stop in Uniqlo, we headed to Shinjuku for lunch. We stopped at a random izakaya near the station that I unfortunately forgot the name of. We snapped some pictures of Godzilla and the 3D cat billboard before heading to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Happy surprise that it was free admission for Greenery Day. There were a lot of people there, but it is a large park, so it wasn’t too crowded. Like the Meiji garden, most of the flowers weren’t in bloom yet, but it was still really pretty and nice to just be able to rest under the trees in the shade for a while. 

After the garden, we head back towards Shibuya. We wandered around the scramble and main streets for a bit. I had a ticket to enter a pop up store at 5:15, so mom and dad had to wait outside while I got my goods. I got out with enough time for us to get to the Shibuya Sky building in time for our 6:20 entry. I would have liked to have gotten 6:00 tickets to see more of the sunset, but I was just happy to have gotten any tickets during dusk. It was still an incredible view, and it was a clear day so we could see Fuji in the distance. Mom and Dad were a bit overwhelmed by crowds at this point, so we headed back to the hotel and had dinner at a soba chain near the station, opposed to trying to find something in Shibuya. Mom and Dad were in bed before 9:00.

This was definitely the most crowded day we experienced during the trip. My parents said that while they don’t feel the need to ever go back to Shibuya or Shinjuku, they were happy that they had had the experience of seeing them, and don’t regret going, even with the crowds. I had originally planned Shibuya, then Shinjuku in the evening so we weren’t doubling back, but the garden closes late afternoon and it worked out with the evening Shibuya Sky tickets. 

May 5th (Children’s Day)- Tokyo/Kyoto

(Hotel Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto Kiyomizu Gojo-Connecting Twin Rooms)

Checked out of the hotel early and made our way to Tokyo Station. We had breakfast at a cafe in the basement, before dropping our backpacks in a locker and taking a walk around the Imperial Palace grounds. After we got our bags back, we grabbed some ekibens for lunch and caught the 10:30 shinkansen to Kyoto. 

Because of the holiday and wanting us to be sitting on the Fuji side, these were the only shinkansen tickets I booked in advance. I booked through the JR west site, just under a month before. I had no problem using my Canadian mastercard to pay, and at that time there were still lots of seats available. It all worked out too as we had amazing weather and got a beautiful view of Fuji. 

After arriving in Kyoto, we picked up my parents JR Kansai-Hiroshima passes. I am not eligible for one as a foreign resident, but they were definitely worth it for my parents, and if I planned better, we could have gotten more value out of them.

After dropping our stuff off at our hotel, we went to Kingaku-ji. The crowds weren’t as bad as I was...

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Before I start, here are the pictures -

("Japan 2" because I took out group shots and condensed slightly from my private album)

I've respected the requests for no photos everywhere I've gone (and it happens a lot) so some things are missing from here - I've included a couple of links to sites with pictures of things I couldn't photograph in my breakdown.

I've been wanting to try a solo trip for a little while and originally planned to do this all myself. In the end I chickened out and booked onto a group tour for some of it, but made sure I had a chunk of time on my own too. In the end I needn't have worried about going alone - all the airport and hotel staff speak perfect English, restaurant/shop staff sometimes less so but it's less important there, all navigation signs are translated to English (at least for the cities I visited), Google maps works great (when taking the metro make sure to check which exit it recommends), Google translate has a feature to use your camera and translate any text it sees which works very well most of the time (the tour company booked and collected my JR pass for me so I can't comment on that, although I'm sure it would've also been fine) - although the group were all lovely and made the trip much more fun!

Food isn't really a priority for me when travelling so I can't tell you where I ate most of the time, often it was just the nearest ramen place with a not terrible score on Google. I did make sure to try all of the local stuff as I went (Kobe/Wagyu beef, curry, yakitori, kushikatsu, ramen, donburi, sushi, takoyaki, taiyaki, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, tonkatsu, shabu shabu, tempura, gyoza, souffle pancakes, dango).

Flight - opted to go direct as I've never done a transfer before, but could've saved a little bit of cash by stopping over in China for a few hours. The flight was at 9am (London Heathrow, British Airways, economy), 14 hours long and landed at 7am Japanese time (Haneda), so I decided to stay up through the night to make sure I definitely manage to fall asleep on the plane, which I of course did not.

Saturday 13th April - Tokyo Landed at 7am local time. From what I've read my experience is not the norm and you should plan to be there a while, but from the plane touching down, me getting through customs/passport control, exchanging some currency, buying a SIM and travel card through to stepping on the train... a little under an hour? Wont go into it too much but make sure you get a SIM and travel card at the airport, it'll be a lot harder in the city. I got the "Welcome Suica" which is designed for tourists, there's no fee to purchase the card but you can't refund whatever's left at the end - HOWEVER there's a Seven-Eleven (corner shop type thing, they're everywhere in Japan) at the airport (both before and after security) where you can pay with funds from your IC card, so you can make sure you don't waste much (I had about 8 yen left on mine). Went to the hotel (one of the APA hotels in Shinjuku), too early to check in but dropped my bag off. First stop was the Ichiyo Sakura festival - a lot smaller than it is billed as online, I think it's been scaled back a lot post-pandemic, there's no longer a parade, just a little stage in a park with a few hundred attendees and a variety of performances of Japanese stuff - still quite cool, but I was sleep deprived and needed to keep moving so didn't stay too long. I wanted to hunt for cherry blossoms as I knew it was almost the end of the season and they'd die off very quickly, and I'd also seen Tokyo Skytree in the distance, so those were my priorities, and I eventually found myself in Sumida Park. The pink blossoms were very wilted, but the white ones come out a bit later and were in full bloom. Had my first vending machine experience en-route (may sound like a dumb tourist for recommending a western brand but the grape fanta is amazing and I wish they would release it everywhere). Then it was time to check in to the hotel, intended to just have a nap but slept through til 5am.

Sunday 14th April - Tokyo Started at the Samurai Ninja museum. This is 100% tourist nonsense but well worth doing in my opinion, starts with a chance to dress up in samurai outfits (the website says something about the outfits not "looking good" on people over 5'9 but I'm 6'1 and I think it's fine, would be more concerned about width than height) and take photos, then the guided tour (mandatory, included in the price, in English) which I thought was quite interesting (although I got all the same information again on the walking tours I did so not essential), then a chance to throw rubber shuriken (throwing stars) into a foam wall. Afterwards had a bit of free time so wandered in no particular direction, found my first temple - this was the only one I ended up doing that isn't on all the tourist lists so while it wasn't as spectacular as any of the others I did it was the only one that was actually quiet, so really glad I experienced it. Found my way to Senso-ji temple, but knew I was coming back here with the group so didn't linger. Had some candied fruit on a stick on the way. In the afternoon I'd booked teamLab Borderless - you have to book this in advance and I'd highly recommend. I think it's the sort of place you know whether you'll enjoy it just from the pictures. You may have read that it's busy and full of screaming kids, which was true of the big room in the middle but it's easy to immerse yourself in the side rooms which have much better stuff in anyway. There's another teamLab in Tokyo which is similar and I'm sure is also good, but I didn't feel the need to do both. After, had dinner with someone from the group who also arrived early and then wandered around Shibuya for a bit - looked around a pachinko parlour but didn't partake as they were closing in 30 minutes.

Monday 15th April - Tokyo There was a sumo exhibition fight at Yasukini shrine that I spent almost the whole day at! This is a free annual event. Afterwards, had a little walk round near the Imperial Palace (sadly the main gardens are closed on Mondays) then went to grab my suitcase and meet the tour group.

Tuesday 16th April - Kamakura Day trip to Kamakura. Started at Engaku-ji temple where I bought my Goshuincho (at most temples/shrines you can pay a small fee for someone to hand-write a prayer in calligraphy which is unique to that location called a Goshuin, and they'll only do it in a specific type of book called a Goshuincho - it's the last photo in my album). I found it very strange that they were building another building on the site, you'd never be allowed to mess with a historical site like that in England. Then the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine. Struggling to come up with much to say about it but it was very pretty? And afterwards the great Buddha statue. We tried to watch the sunset on the beach but it was too cloudy, then headed back to Tokyo.

Wednesday 17th April - Kyoto Bullet train to Kyoto, dropped bags at hotel. Hired kimonos and wandered around the Gion district taking photos for a few hours, before we had booked a matcha tea ceremony (we were told not to worry about cultural appropriation, Japanese people think it's funny seeing western people dressed in them, which did seem to be the case). After lunch we saw the Miyako Odori (each of the geisha districts in Kyoto performs a show/dance for the public once a year, this is the Gion show and is only on in April) - I obviously couldn't take pictures, but there's a snippet up here -

Thursday 18th April - Kyoto Began at the Fushini Inari shrine (the one with thousands of torii gates). You can hike up to the top and back down in under an hour, but there's lots of little side paths to wander down - we budgeted for 3 hours and still didn't see everything. There's a free audio guide online in multiple languages which is quite good. Quickly visited Sanjusangen-do temple (the one with 1001 statues of the deity Kannon) afterwards which I would highly recommend, my favourite of all the temples I saw. Couldn't take photos of the inside, but here it is - . In the afternoon we did a free walking tour (Kyoto Localised - obviously tips are expected, please do). I thought the guide was very good and made it entertaining as well as informative, a lot of the time tour guides can be very dry. In the evening, a sushi making class, and then rushed to Kodai-ji temple to see the illuminations before they closed.

Friday 19th April - Kyoto (Arashiyama) Got up early to get to the bamboo forest before it got too crowded. Have no idea why it's so famous - I saw several bamboo forests on the trip (including at Fushini Inari), it's not particularly big and you can only go on the paths - but there is at least some other stuff in the area worth seeing. Hiked up to the top of the hill, then down to the river to sit with our feet in for a while. Had a really strange encounter with some schoolgirls who wanted a picture with us, then went to Tenryu-ji temple. We took the scenic railway (romancecar) back to Kyoto - this is great, try to sit on the right hand side if you can. Rushed up the hill to catch the sunset from Kiyomizu temple. There's a swanky hotel nearby with a rooftop bar that has a gorgeous view of Ky...

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With plenty of delays and 12 reports later, we've arrived at the final report of my one year Japan adventures. I've returned from Japan exactly a year ago and I can't believe how fast the time went by. Feels like just yesterday when I stood at the airport, flying out to Japan, excited to spend a year there. I wonder if I ever get over it!

I will probably make one more post after this, a sort of retrospective where I go over my favourite places, foods, activities, regrets and what I would have done differently, but for the main travelling part - this is the last one! It'll cover my final few travels up to north Japan, including cities like Kakunodate, Morioka, Kitakami, Hakodate and my fourth (!) visit to Sapporo. Fair warning: I will probably be very sappy and sentimental in this report since there were a few goodbyes to be had in May 2023. Without further ado, let's finish this.

Prior reports can be found here:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12

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Tokyo

My mother and I checked out of the hotel we stayed at in Ueno, leaving our suitcases there because there were still a few hours left before my mom's flight. Since it was my mother's last day in Japan, I asked her if she wanted to eat anything special as her final meal and... she picked McDonald's. Don't judge me - I asked her several times but she said she had tried a lot of food and was good with just having McDonald's. So we went over there, ate some burgers before a final round in Ueno park and then we picked up her luggage and went onto the Skyliner to Narita. My mother got herself a Starbucks coffee and we talked a bit about her trip and if she was satisfied and she loved every second of it despite having been sick for a few days in the first week - which she never mentioned to me up until this point, tch. Either way, it was time to say goodbye to my mom and I took the train back into Tokyo. Now, this was when it finally hit me that this was "it". I only had 1 1/2 months left and there was no travel companion to look forward to anymore. There were still a few friends I've made on Discord coming to Japan on their own, separate travels and I would meet up with them for karaoke but aside that - my final countdown began. It felt really, really weird.

I spent the rest of the day in Akihabara, window shopping, then having a meal at my favourite Chinese restaurant before I had to take a somewhat longer trip from Tokyo to Hino, which was 1 1/2 hours out of central Tokyo and where my Airbnb was located. I only stayed there for 2 days and one of those I spent on taking care of laundry and just relaxing a bit after travelling about with my mother for 2 weeks. The area was quite nice, although a power outage in the entire city block took out my ability to take a shower for almost the entire day so some of my plans were foiled. On the second day, I met up with one of the aforementioned Discord friends. The weather was quite bad with heavy rain so we only window shopped around Ueno and then met up with another set of friends for a big karaoke session! This would also be my last karaoke session in Japan for the time being (still one of my favourite activities to do in Japan, especially if your with a group of dorks).

Morioka

I initially planned to travel from Tokyo to Morioka, checking out a few places nearby and then go further north in one go for the sakura but it was way too early to actually go to Hokkaido for them. Since Tokyo's hotel and airbnb prices were also getting more and more expensive in this period, I had to make some Frankenstein-esque itinerary. Which is why I'd go to Morioka, visit the spots I wanted to visit and then went back to Tokyo for a week before then venturing to Hokkaido... the last weeks were kind of messy in terms of planning, to be honest.

Either way, I hopped on the shinkansen and took a trip to Morioka, without any real plans aside wanting to take sidetrips to Kakunodate and Kitakami from there. As far as Morioka itself goes, there are some pretty sakura spots throughout the city, even if a lot of petals were starting to fall already. But it made for some pretty paths at least. I missed out on checking out the Hachimangu shrine, which I somewhat regret. Morioka is famous for their three different types of noodle dishes; wanko soba, reimen and jajamen. I've only tried out jajamen because I love the "original" Chinese dish a whole lot and found a small place with a very nice owner who told me how to eat the dish and what to do after finishing the noodles. Typically, you crack a raw egg into your plate and pour hot water in, mixing the remaining miso and raw egg in for an egg soup. It's incredibly delicious and I would've loved to go for another round but the place was closed throughout the remainder of my stay :(.

Now, Kitakami was of particular interest for me because from pictures I've seen online, the sakura "tunnel" there looked incredible. Unfortunately by the time I got there, a lot of sakura had already fallen off in that area. There were still some other sakura trees around the area and a few food stalls. I was a bit disappointed to not have caught the main attraction but it was still worth for like a half day. Had some gyudon at a very small place run by an older lady before heading back.

The next day, I'd go for a bit of a longer trip to Kakunodate. Another town famous for its sakura and the old samurai and merchant districts. The weather was once again rather shabby, but the town was still really beautiful! One thing I really started to appreciate was when there would be random sakura trees in between others up in the mountains/hills, which was the case here. The trees around the river were the highlight, though, even in this weather. It must look even better when the sun is out and you're here at peak bloom! But it's also definitely a well known spot and I was surprised that it was this busy last year already, even though borders weren't open for that long yet. Something that always goes down well in somewhat cold, rainy weather is a hot bowl of soba or udon. This was a thick duck broth and tastes absolutely fantastic, one of my favourite soba meals in Japan (here's the Google maps location). Something else to note: the shinkansen ride from Morioka to Kakunodate has incredible scenery. It's sort of like a sightseeing spot in itself to be honest. There was a point where I could see sakura trees for what felt like a solid minute of riding on the train there.

But that was all for this part of northern Japan. I only spent like 3 days up here but would say it's worth checking it out if you are planning a trip up north and want to see something on your way to Hokkaido, for example. With that being over, I headed back to Tokyo for a few days - remember, it was all a bit weirdly planned out here...

Tokyo, again

Back in Tokyo, I once again found myself in Kunitachi, where my extremely nice Airbnb host picked me up from the station to take me to the place itself - and I couldn't have thanked her enough because it was still pouring rain that week. I spent the next few days just wandering around the neighbourhood, doing "regular life" stuff like laundry and recharging my travel battery. But I also took advantage of the weather when it stopped raining for a day or two and headed to Showa Kinen Park!

Showa Kinen Park is a huge park in west Tokyo, with a large variety of flowers and plants all over the park grounds. I spent four hours here and I am not sure I even saw everything properly. It's very popular in Spring for its tulips, which are plenty colourful. There's also [s...

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About me: 26F American Solo Traveler. This was my first time traveling to Japan but the 40th country I had been to. I grew up in countries that had great public transport and trains (re: not America) so I found navigating fairly straightforward, if you aren’t used to taking public transport definitely give yourself more time that Google Maps estimates it will take.

Tokyo Day 0: Hotel: Hotel Gracery Shinjuku

Arrived at Narita at 3:30pm and blew through customs because I had the Visit Japan Web code. Arrived at my hotel in Shinjuku at around 6pm. Basically just wandered around trying to stay awake. Managed to stay up until around 9. Bought dinner and breakfast for the next day at 7/11.

20k steps

Tokyo Day 1: Day Trip to Mt Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes

Woke up at 4am in the morning. Took advantage of the jet lag and headed to Meiji Jingu. The place was empty; it was an incredible experience.

After spending an hour or so around the temple and in the park I walked around Harijuku. Later in the trip I went back to Takeshita Street during business hours but honestly I think it’s a much better experience when it’s not absolutely packed, but I just went to look around not to buy anything.

My first full day in Tokyo was also the only day that it was supposed to be sunny with clear views of Mt Fuji. The buses were sold out until 1pm when I went to buy a ticket at 7ish so I took the trains from Shinjuku to Lake Kawaguchi which took a little over two hours. Walked around part of the Lake.

Quick aside, a theme of my trip was my absolute refusal to stand in queues unnecessarily.

So when I saw there was a 2hr + line to take the Panoramic ropeway to see Mt Fuji I decided against it. I got a little lost going up to find a scenic viewpoint of the lake but found a trailhead that hikes up to Kawaguchiko Tenjozan Park. This is where the panoramic ropeway also drops off but the hike is free and so much less crowded. Honestly, if you’re capable of hiking and enjoy hiking, this I highly recommend it. Beautiful views of Mt Fuji, shady walk, multiple places to stop and sit down in the hike up. I fell asleep on the bus back to Shinjuku and arrived around 5:30. Spent the next couple of hours in Hands and picked up some K-skincare in Shin-Obuko. At this point I was too tired to get food and just went back to the hotel.

I used this link to check the weather around Fuji so I could guarantee visibility:

28k steps & 12.5 miles walked.

Tokyo Day 2: Shibuya

Woke up at 5am and headed to Shibuya at around 6. The Shibuya Crossing/Scramble isn’t much of a scramble at 6am, to the point that I crossed it serval times without realizing it. Walked around the Mega Don Quijote just to kill time until things opened. Tried the 7/11 pancakes and they because a staple of my diet in Japan. After aimlessly wandering around the streets for a few hours I sat by the Hachiko Statue and people watched. Once everything opened I spent quite a bit of time exploring the department stores in Shibuya then in Shinjuku that evening.

Went back to Harajuku to see it crowded around 1pm and it was overwhelming.

28k steps & 13 miles walked

Tokyo Day 3 Hotel: Tokyu Stay Shinjuku

Today was the day I used my 24hr metro pass, so I went a little crazy. Started the morning at 6am and went to Nezu Shrine then to Hie Shrine. Both shrines have a row of torii’s to walk through, like Fushimi Inari-Taisha on a smaller scale.

Got to the Imperial Palace/East Gardens right as they opened. I didn’t realize you couldn’t go into the palace grounds without a tour - I found this out by walking around the outside of the palace grounds. Beautiful walk but my feet were killing me at this point.

Next stop was Ginza. More exploring department stores that make me feel poor then got lunch in a department store. My feet were so sore I didn’t get to fully explore Ginza. Also I had to be back in Shinjuku at 3 to pickup my bag and check into my second hotel.

The highlight of the day was going to the Muscle Girls Bar. Got two buff ladies to lift me in the air for the equivalent of $13USD. Plus the bar is all you can drink if you’re interested in going. I cannot recommend this place enough, the again you’re basically paying super buff ladies to pretend to be interested in whatever you say for 1.5hrs so what’s not to love.

Tokyo Day 4: Asakusa, Ginza, Shinjuku

Went to Senso-Ji around 8am when things were starting to open up. Explored around the Senso-Ji Temple, Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori Street. At this point it was pouring rain so I went back to Ginza this time for Ginza Natsuno (fancy chop sticks store), bought some stationary at Itoya Ginza, walked around Kyukyodo (300 year old paper/stationary store). At 3pm I ate at Ichiran Ramen, mainly because it was the first time I’d seen it without a line. It was decent but it wouldn’t have been worth standing in line for an hour plus in my opinion. Lastly went to Golden Gia in the evening then walked through Hanazono Shrine on the way back to my hotel. 32.5k steps

Tokyo Day 6

Today was basically garden/park day. I went to the Snoopy Museum and afterwards walked around Tsuruma Park. Back in Shinjuku, walked around Shinjuku National Garden (half price entry if you have a student id!). Admittedly, there weren’t a ton of people in the parks because it was another rainy day, which made the experience really peaceful.

20k steps

Japan Day 6: Niigata City

Admittedly, Niigata is a bit off the beaten path. I went because a friend of mine is an ALT out there. I had an amazing time overall and highly recommend a visit to Niigata city/prefecture but do want to note, this is the first time in Japan that I felt like I was being stared at.

highlights of the day include: Sado observatory and walking around the beach, exploring Furumachi Geisha District, then Hakusan Park and Shrine. The shrine sells Thomas the Tank engine and Hello Kitty Omamori.

The train station had Ponshukan, sake vending machines, 10/10 highly recommend. Especially if you’re a lightweight like me.

32k steps

Japan Day 7: Niigata Prefecture

For this day, I rented a car and drove around the area. Only $20 for an international drivers license and around $30 for a rental car. I’ve spent a substantial amount of time driving on the left hand side of the road so I was comfortable driving in Japan. I do want to note that I was not in a very populous area and wouldn’t recommend getting a car in the more populous cities. Places I went that were beautiful with almost no one around: Bijin Bayashi Forest, Kiyotsu Gorge, & Hoshitouge Terraced Rice Field. The drive was about five hours in the car but I took the long way back to the city by driving up the coast/stopping on the beach and seeing Sado Island in the distance. This was the best day of the trip for me.

17k

Japan Day 8: Kyoto Hotel Forza Kyoto Shijo Kawaramachi

Left Niigata at 9:30 and arrived in Kyoto at 2. After checking into my hotel I walked around Nishiki Market. Took the bus to Kinkaku-Ji Temple & Gardens (the Golden pavilion) at this point it was about 5:30 and the sunset made the temple glow. Lastly, took the bus to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Since it was around 7pm there was almost no one around so that made the experience much more enjoyable than what I’ve read about here. Since it was getting dark I wasn’t able to go to the monkey park. 21k steps

Japan Day 9: Kyoto

Arrived at Fushimi Inari-Taisha at 6am. Almost nobody was there and it was basically empty past the entrance. I was able to get tons of great pictures. I hiked to the top but it’s definitely not necessary, from top to bottom it took me about 1.5 hours but it could be done faster. Walked the Philosopher’s Path. Temples visited: Tofuku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Nanzen-ji, Eikan-dō, Hōnen-in, and Otoyo Shrine. At this point it was around 1pm and I was officially ‘Temples Out’ so I took the train to Osaka. From there. I went to Osaka Castle then walked around Dotonbori.

42k steps

Japan Day 10: Day Trip to Nara and Uji Another rain day, it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. First stop in Nara was Nara Park got to see the deer go absolutely crazy on people with cookies then walked to Todai-Ji Temple to see the 1300 y/o Buddha. After exploring Nara beyond the park for a few hours I took the train to Uji. Highlight of the trip to Uji was the matcha ice cream. Back in Kyoto I walked around Gion before stopping at a hole in the wall ramen place.

33k steps

Japan Day 11: Return to Tokyo: Hotel: Tokyu Stay Tsukiji

SUMO

Also lost my credit card that evening. Mildly inconvenient but not the end of the world. Had to file a police report but we had some google translate issues because the cop kept asking me ‘how many died’. Really hard to freak out about losing a card when the cops put things in perspective like that.

18k steps

Japan Day 12: Tokyo Chill Day This was the day I did all my shopping. Highlight was achieving my dream of buying a Bao Bao bag.

33k

Japan Day 13: Trip to Nikko Hotel: Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel

Took the train to Nikko and did the following:

• Taiyu-in
• tosho-gu
• Kanmangafuchi Abyss
• Shin-kyō— sacred Bridge Grabbed dinner at a Kobini and had some great pudding from the Nikko Pudding store.

The hotel I stayed at has a free shuttle from their Lake Chuzenji Hotel to ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Makeitmakesense1222 on 2024-05-27 13:50:01+00:00.

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Wheelchair assistance at train stations Tokyo and Kyoto

I had a bad accident on an ebike today where I need stitches and possibly surgery. I can’t walk even a little. I have no idea how I’m going to manage to get home. I will take taxis but need a wheelchair to take me through Kyoto station to shinkhansen and same in Tokyo station. Like right from the taxi. Similar to airport assistance. How can I do this?

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Used-Eagle3558 on 2024-05-26 10:19:41+00:00.

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So this is my rough itinerary for my first time in Tokyo. I think this is doable but would love some advice. Day 1. Land in Tokyo. Pick up suica and pocket WiFi. Make my way over to my hotel in Shinjuku. Grab a train over to Sunshine City for a spot of shopping. Back to shinjuku for donki. Day 2. Godzilla store Shinjuku Tokyo Character Street Nakano Broadway. Akhiabra Day 3. Day trip to Mount Takao Day 4. Ueno Park. Sensoji Temple. Tokyo Skytree. Sumida aquarium. Day 5. Kamakura in the morning Enoshima in the afternoon. Day 6. Toho Studios (I know there's nothing there for tourists aside from the Godzilla statue but I'm a massive Godzilla nerd) Gotokuji Temple Chofu Tokyo Tower

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/OB-1-K-NO-B on 2024-05-25 18:15:28+00:00.

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Hey everyone!

I love japanese maples and during my trip to Japan i would like to visit some ancient japanese maples.

I found out that the 800 year old momiji near Kyoto was cut down in june 2023. :( Stood for over 800 years and I miss it for a year...

For now I found

1. a 600 year old momiji in Saizen-ji, Saitama prefecture, north of Tokio, and
2. the famous Nakakamado weeping maple tree in Fukushima, which is a national treasure.

Does anyone know any other ancient momiji?

Or perhaps is there any online database of such national treasures, which I could search myself?

Thank you!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/tceeha on 2024-05-26 06:39:46+00:00.

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Day 1, Arrive at KIX

• Picked up JR West Setouchi Area Pass
• Dinner in Namba
• Light shopping in Namba
• 1 bag sent to Hiroshima, 1 bag stayed behind at hotel in Osaka

Day 2, Train to Imabari, Bike Shimanami Kaido

• Shinkansen to Okayama, transferred to Limited Express Yosan Line
• Rented bikes at Giant in Imabari
• Bike rode to Ōmishima
• Stayed overnight in Ōmishima

Day 3, Bike to Ōmishima

• Early bike ride around Ōmishima island
• Breakfast at hotel
• Biked to Sakari Port, ferry to Okunoshima and back
• Finished biking Shimanami Kaido in Onomichi
• Returned bikes, rinsed off at public showers
• Took Onomichi Ropeway
• Walked back down the hillside to station
• Local train to Fukuyama, Shinkansen to Hiroshima
• Dinner in Hiroshima

Day 4, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Miyajima

• Shipped bag back to Osaka
• Walked around Hiroshima Peace Park
• Early entry into Hiroshima Peace Museum
• Brush shopped at Hiroshima Kumano Fude Shop
• Train to Miyajimaguchi, ferry to Miyajima
• Lunch, deposited bags at ryokan
• Hiked to the top of Mt. Misen by Daisho-in
• Ropeway down
• Dinner at ryokan
• Walked around at night

Day 5, Miyajima to Osaka

• Itsukushima Shrine, 5 story pagoda, walked around before daytrippers arrive
• Breakfast at ryokan
• Ferry/train back to Hiroshima Station
• Shinkansen to Osaka
• Shopping in Osaka
• Checked into hotel

Day 6

• Free day in Osaka
• We opted for shopping, considered doing Himeji via Hello Kitty Shinkansen

Day 7

• Pokemon Cafe in Osaka
• PM departure from Osaka

Shimanami Kaido notes: I thought the train was low stress and had cool views. Many people opt to start in Onomichi instead of Imabari and then take the bus when they are done. I was not able to reserve a Giant road bike online but there was walk-in availability in Imabari. I bike regularly so the ride was quite easy and I was able to do an extra loop the morning of Day 2.

Hiroshima/Miyajima notes: There's a ferry from Hiroshima Peace Park, but I didn't think the time savings were worth it since it runs less frequently. We did the early entry tickets for the Peace Museum and it was definitely worth it for a calm, no wait experience. The only thing I would have shifted would be to eat lunch before getting to Miyajima. Took us about 90 minutes to get up to Mt. Misen, it was hot and I would definitely bring tons of water/Pocari sweat. I really enjoyed staying overnight and seeing the island light up at night and being to see island quiet in the early morning.

JR Pass notes: Without our pass, it would have cost 30,440 yen. If you remove the train to Imabari and instead take the bus from Fukuyama, you can probably get away with the 5 day Kansai Hiroshima pass. We also did not bother taking the JR train to and from KIX but you can do the Haruka. We also considered a day trip to Himeji would have further improved our value but took it easy.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/donkeykong411 on 2024-05-25 05:50:27+00:00.

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Hi All!

We are a group of 3 who are traveling around Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka in early June. We want to hit all the big tourist attractions and markets because it is our first time. I am a bit scared I might have overloaded the schedule. Please let me know if you have any feedback/advice/recommendations from the draft itinerary that I made. Thank you in advance!

Edit: I’m updating my itinerary based on your guys suggestions with strikethroughs. Ty for all the advice ❤️

Day 1 - Arrival

• Arrive at Haneda airport and rest at hotel
• Dinner at ~~McDonalds~~/7-11/nearby restaurant

Day 2 - Mt Fuji and Hakone

• Tour from 7-6 PM to see Shiraito Waterfall, Lake Kawaguchi, Oishi Park, and Arakurayama Sengen Park

Day 3 - Tokyo

• Meiji Jingu
• Takeshita Street
• Shibuya Sky at 2:20 PM
• Shibuya Crossing
• ~~Shinjuku~~
• ~~Omoide Yokocho Alley~~

Day 4 - Kyoto

• Travel to Kyoto
• Check in Hotel
• Nishiki Market
• Kimono Rental
• Kiyomizu-dera & Kyoto Old Town
• ~~Fushimi Inari Taisha~~
• Pontocho Alley

Day 5 - Kyoto

• Tour from 9-4 which includes Hozugawa River Boat Ride and exploring Arashiyama (Tenryu-Ji Temple, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama)
• Fushimi Inari Taisha
• ~~Nishiki Market~~

Day 6 - Osaka

• Travel to Osaka
• Check in Hotel
• Cafe Hopping
• Osaka Castle
• ~~Cat cafe MoCHA (Mocha) Osaka Shinsaibashi~~
• Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street
• Dotonbori

Day 7 - Osaka

• Kuromon Market
• Todai-Ji Temple (Giant Buddha)
• ~~Todaiji Nigatsudo~~
• Nara Park
• Manyo 萬葉植物園 (Botanical Garden)
• ~~Kasuga-taisha (1300 years old Shrine/9 min walk)~~

Day 8 - 14: Travel to Korea

Day 15 - Tokyo

• Plane ride back to Tokyo and land at 11 PM

Day 16 - Tokyo

• Tsukiji Outer Market
• teamLab Planets
• Shopping in Ginza
• Shopping & eating at Tokyo Station
• ~~Teamlab borderless at the end of the day (optional/still debating)~~
• ~~Zōjōji Temple at night for candle festival (optional/still debating)~~

Day 17 - Tokyo

• ~~Kimono rental~~
• Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori, Denboin Street, Sensō-ji
• ~~Return Kimonos~~
• ~~Ueno Park for Taiwan Festival (optional/still debating)~~
• Ameyoko Shopping District
• Akihabara
• Explore Haneda airport
• Flight home at 8 PM

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/NormalRun1446 on 2024-05-25 01:53:55+00:00.

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I posted a few days ago about some prefectures and activities I recommend other than the Golden Route for some less busy destinations. I have a ton more so I thought I’d share with you more suggestions since I spent 108 days in Japan. The majority of these are for nature-lovers!

For clarification this time, since a ton of people were offended I chose the words “non-touristy,” or “almost no foreigners,” even though I, myself, am a foreigner, here is some background: I went into this trip wanting to stay away from the big cities. I absolutely hate crowds, I (18F) am half Japanese, and the main intention of this trip was to improve my Japanese to reach fluency (I am currently advanced N3 for those who know the JLPT rank) as well as learn about my culture and possibly reconnect with distant relatives who still live there. I found less busy areas are where all my “dream trip” boxes were checked. Onto the list:

Hokkaido, all these are pretty well-known, and highly recommend:

Mount Moiwa: I hiked this in late March. There was a ton of snow, I was wearing running shoes, adopted a stick as a walking pole, and slipped like 100 times. I felt underprepared with all these locals walking down with their spiked shoes and hiking poles. However, it was an incredible view at the top! Roundtrip it was 4.5ish miles.

Noboribetsu and Jigokudani: If you’ve seen pictures of Jigokudani, be prepared to have your mind blown when you see it in person. It is incredible. Sadly, the surrounding hiking trails were closed in April (I assume because of snow) so plan accordingly. 

Mount Usu: There is a ropeway to the top and a little hiking trail that takes you around the perimeter at the top as well. It was a great view and a good addition to my 1 day Hokkaido road trip.

Tohoku area:

Takayama Inari Shrine, Aomori: Very briefly mentioned in my last post, this is a stunning shrine tucked away in the forest of Aomori. It is about 1.5 hour drive from the city, and I believe it is not really possible to get there by public transport. It wasn’t too big, so definitely pair it with other attractions nearby if you do decide to go. It was very pretty during cherry blossom season, and it was me and only a handful of others at 10am.

Tsuru no Miahashi bridge, Aomori: How cool can a bridge be? I asked that question too, and wow am I glad I went. I paired this with Takayama Inari Shrine+Cape Tappi and it made for a solid road trip day (although a lot of driving). I highly suggest visiting this in the spring, where the weather is nice and sunny but Mount Iwaki in the background still has snow. It makes for a stunning sight! They recently renovated the bridge and is now completely open again. 

Yamadera, Yamagata: This is definitely a well-known destination if you’ve researched Yamagata, and for good reason. Yamagata is a stunning prefecture with SO MUCH green (I lived in the desert, so it pleases my heart to see waterfalls and trees). For Yamadera, it is about 1000 steps to the top of the mountain, and along the way there are many temples. You’ll get to see cherry blossoms at the top in the spring as well. The town itself has many charming restaurants and dessert places, and the local people are so nice. 

Sendai Dai Kannon: One of the most well-known attractions in Sendai, you cannot miss this! It is one of those things that I didn’t realize the size of until I was standing next to it. It is MASSIVE. You can go inside for 500 yen, go up the elevator, and descend 12 floors filled with mini statues. Definitely a good activity!

Kyushu:

Ikinomatsubarakaigan Forest Park, Fukuoka: this is a lovely forest park that isn’t crazy special, but it has a beautiful shrine facing the ocean. For my fellow solo traveler, this is a great place to people watch, journal, have a picnic etc.. to get away from the busy city centre of Fukuoka. 

Heiwadai Park, Miyazaki: this has the 1940 Peace Tower located in the centre and is a lovely park. The tower is VERY tall and my very first thought is that it looks like it came out of a Lara Croft movie (I can’t be the only one who thought that, right?)

Udo-Jingu shrine, Miyazaki: definitely a top 10 destination for me! Buses run VERY infrequently so make sure you check the timetables. There was so much to explore, and I highly recommend going up the hiking trails to reach more secluded ocean-side shrines. The shops sell delicious mango flavoured desserts as well!

Nanzoin, Fukuoka: if you are going to Fukuoka, I’m sure this is on your list, but JUST IN CASE. You have to go there! The giant reclining Buddha is 1)so big and 2) just such a cool sight. 

Kansai:

Kuruma-Dera, Kyoto: I have very fond memories of this one. A super beautiful hike that takes you through tons of temples, shrines, beautiful lookout points. It was perfect during a spring day. 

Minoh falls, Osaka: if you want some nature and hiking just 30 min from Osaka station, I recommend Minoh falls! Its a short hiking trail that leads to a massive waterfall. 

Chubu:

Tojinbo, Fukui: rugged seaside cliffs formed by volcanic activity. To this day it was one of my favourite places. Walk or take a bus to Oshima bridge, and explore O island. This is a super secluded island in the fall, and when I was there, I didn’t see a single other person. It has shrines, temples, and beautiful views. 

Kanazawa: no specific spot, but the entire city has so much to do and I highly recommend the classics: the castle, Kenrokuen, etc..

Mount Oyama, Toyama: a challenging (for me, anyway) hike in the Tateyama mountains. It was an insane view at the top as I ate my onigiri. 

That is all I can think of for now. I had a thrill of a time visiting 27 of the 47 prefectures!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/JFKtoSeatac on 2024-05-24 21:48:14+00:00.

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Here is my trip report from my mid-May Japan trip. We went to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with a pit stop in Nara. It was a great time and the weather was perfect—only two days of rain, and the humidity was not yet at full speed.

Day 1 - flew direct into Haneda from the west coast of the US. Having done the flight to Japan and other parts of Asia from the east coast, flying from the west coast is a dream, especially with no connecting flights. Also, if you can fly into Haneda do it, since it’s a quick monorail ride into the city, versus Narita which is in a different prefecture and is a longer ride. We stayed at the JR Kyushu Blossom in Shinjuku and I would absolutely recommend this if you are looking for a good hotel that is above economy level but not a bank-busting luxury hotel. It was about $400 USD a night. Having lived in NYC for a long time I make a lot of comparisons there since both Tokyo and NYC are expensive, and I cannot imagine a hotel in a comparable location in NYC as the JR Kyushu for that price. For dinner we stumbled on this chicken ramen place that was amazing. They do a beautiful chicken shio that was very memorable.

Day 2 - We walked from the hotel down to the Meji Shrine and explored that, and then strolled from there through the Yoyogi neighborhood and around Shibuya including Harajuku and Takeshita Street. Particularly memorable was the Tower Records which was so vast. That night we did this Airbnb experience that I would highly recommend. We often do these types of tours when we are exploring a new country, and frankly they are often hit or miss, but this one was a hit and I would definitely recommend it if you want an intro to nighttime eating and drinking culture in Tokyo. The host was a real character and probably needs his own TV show or YouTube channel. The tour was in Ueno which was not an area we had on our radar for nightlife, and really fell in love with the areas around the train tracks that were full of life and so many interesting places to eat and drink, with a real lively atmosphere that reminded me of places in Europe or SE Asia due to the sidewalk cafes and people outside eating, drinking and smoking. On the tour we went to an izakaya  (Japanese pub) and sampled the types of food and you drink you would get there, and there was way more food and booze than I expected included in the tour cost. We then went to a little bar and had cocktails, and finished up at a ramen place that was also doing a variation of the chicken broth.

Day 3- Back to Ueno for the Tokyo National Museum, which was great although it’s more of a complex than one museum. We only did the main Japan building, but there are actually several buildings related to various aspects of Japanese/Asian art and history. My tolerance for museums is limited so I wanted to hit the main exhibit and get out. This area of Ueno around Ueno Park is the museum/zoo district and there are lots of other attractions there. We then went to Sensoji Temple which was probably the most tourist-dense place we went to in Tokyo. I was generally put off by all the tourists and wanted to speed through this, but the shrine itself is of course impressive. There are some good food options in the area, including the usual temple street food stalls but also some streets directly to the west with lots of good options. If you find a place doing the sweet potato brûlée, give that a try if you have a sweet tooth. You can then make your way to the Kappabashi Hondori shopping district where you will find endless blocks of shopping for kitchen and restaurant supplies including beautiful knife shops and stores selling the plastic display food that you will see in front of many restaurants. That night we did another Airbnb Experience, this time in Shinjuku. The host was meh so I won’t link to it, but it did give us a nice close up view of the Kabukicho area—the host had a suspiciously detailed knowledge of the more seedy parts of that area, and it was good to understand the deal with all of the maid bars, massage places, and the places that cater to women. We then went to the Golden Gai, and after we left the tour stayed around there and went to a couple bars. I was tempted to eat at the ramen place there but couldn’t stomach the line (to be continued on that). That whole east/north side of Shinjuku station is wild and lives up to all the expectations. If you want the neon urban jungle experience, this is it. Kabukicho is particularly visually stimulating I could have spent hours just walking around staring like an idiot. We ended the night with a light night meal of curry katsu at Coco Ichibanya. This is a chain but I thought it was good, especially after a long night of drinking.

Day 4 - We did Teamlab Borderless in Roppongi. There is lots written about this elsewhere so I won’t go into it much, but I would highly recommend, totally mind blowing. For Americans who were sad to leave their weed at home, this is the closest you’ll get! We then explored Azabudai Hills which is a fancy complex where Teamlabs is located. We had lunch at Soba-Mae Yamado which was very good (get the salmon belly). That night we went to Shibuya for some nightlife. First stop was JBS Bar, which is a jazz cafe aka jazz kissa. I went here bout 15 years ago and became obsessed with this category of jazz listening bars, which is certainly the OG version of those vinyl listening bars that are common throughout Japan and now in most big cities around the world. JBS is known for its particularly ornery owner (check out the Google Reviews), but more importantly its amazing collection of jazz and blues vinyl, and his great hi fi setup. These bars aren’t for everyone, and if you aren’t into the music you won’t like it. JBS in particular has a no talking rule. After that we went to The SG Club which is fancy cocktail bar that has a faux 1930s vibe and very over the top drinks. Also not for everyone, but if you like craft cocktails this might be for you.

Day 5 - I went to a sushi lunch at Kyubey in the Shinjuku Park Hotel (not their original Ginza location). My wife does not like sushi so this was a solo lunch. I had decided not to go to the trouble of making reservations in advance of our trip, so this one was a recommendation from the hotel concierge. I’m sure sushi experts (including those on this website) could recommend better places, but I thought the service, quality, and pacing of the experience was perfect. My wife had heard lots about the Tokyo Neapolitan pizza scene, and she did lunch at Pizza Marumo in Ebisu, which she enjoyed. It was raining that afternoon so we went up to Sunshine City in Ikebukero, which was basically a dated version of the other shopping complexes around the city (I think it was the first). Then we went to a cat cafe, which was great since we were already missing our pets. More jazz cafes that night, Paper Moon in Ikebukero and Samurai in Shinjuku. I could not resist going back to the fish ramen place in Golden Gai and waited about 40 minutes to get in. It was fine, but maybe not worth the wait. Some people rave about it but it was not my favorite. 

Day 6 - We took the Shinkansen to Kyoto which was a great experience. Make sure to stop by the Ekiben store in Tokyo Station if you are passing through there so you can pick up some bento for the train ride. The Shinkansen is a marvel (and renders the Acela in the US laughable by comparison). We sent our luggage via Yamato luggage transfer, and I cannot recommend this service enough. There are posts on this sub about it. We had AirTabs on our luggage so we could track, but honestly that’s absolutely unnecessary because they never lose anything. Once we got into Kyoto and checked into our Airbnb, we explored the river area including Pontocho Alley. I’ll put a plug in for Beer Bar Miyama 162 which is a weird little craft beer bar that had a friendly staff and was playing punk music. For dinner we went to one of the many yakiniku (grilled meat) places where you can grill various cuts of wagyu beef.

Day 7 - We explored Fushimi Inari and climbed the mountain there, and then went to Chion-in temple. That took much of the day, and then we had a late lunch in the Daimaru basement which has a really good food court. For the temples, sounds obvious but I would get there early. We got to Fushimi Inari at like 8 something and it was not crowded at all. I’m personally more of slow morning with coffee kind of person, which I think is fine for much of Japan, but for places in Kyoto that are super touristed you need to be there early. 

Day 8 - We went to Nijo Castle, the castle built by the first Tokugawa Shogun, which is worth checking out if you are interested in that era of Japanese history. We then went to Omura House for the omurice which was great, and a good option if you want to have good omurice but not deal with the madness of Kichi Kichi. That night we went to Gion and stood in a long line for the Gion Duck Noodles...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/therunningdogmom on 2024-05-24 03:09:27+00:00.

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Hello folks, I will be leaving for Japan in a few days. I would like your input on my itinerary. If it looks too crazy, let me know. If there's more I can add, let me know. It will be our first time travelling to Japan (two people). Thank you!

TOKYO (5 Days)

Day 1: Arrival * Arrive in NRT airport early afternoon * Take train to accommodation in Ueno * Ameya Yokocho market/Ueno Marui for dinner

Day 2: * DisneySea Adventure

Day 3: * Shibuya * Shinjuku * Ginza

Day 4:  * Tsukiji Outer Market * Akihabara

Day 5: Day Trip to Mount Fuji depending on weather * Train to Mount Fuji area. Visit Lake Kawaguchi or Chureito Pagoda?

KYOYO (4 DAYS)

Day 6: Arrival in Kyoto * Nishiki Market * Imperial palace * Pontocho Alley

Day 7: * Fushimi Inari Shrine * Kiyomizu-dera

Day 8: * Arashiyama Bamboo Grove * Iwantayama Monkey Park nearby * Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavilion).

Day 9: * Gion * Starbucks in Ninenzaka * Kodai-ji Temple

OSAKA (5 Days including Hiroshima)

Day 10: Arrival in Osaka * Namba * Shinsaibashi * Amerikamura * Dotonbori

Day 11: * Osaka Castle * Umeda Sky Building

Day 12: Day Trip to Hiroshima * Visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park * Atomic Bomb Dome * Hiroshima Castle.

Day 13: * Sumiyoshi Taisha * Tennoji * Shinsekai

Day 14: *  Universal Studios Japan

Back in Tokyo (last 2 DAYS)

Day 15: * Visit Yokohama Sea Paradise for 10am * Yokohama Chinatown * Head to reservation at Shibuya Sky in the late evening

Day 16: Departure Day in the late evening *  Last-minute shopping in the Ueno area or nearby shopping streets.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/anonymouslyanonanona on 2024-05-24 09:29:03+00:00.

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I’m sorry if this is the wrong sub but I don’t know what to do.

I am traveling with a friend and her bf to Japan for a month. I knew slightly that my friend had schizophrenia but she never elaborated what that entails because she refuses to tell anyone about it. I’ve never seen her have an episode, and for the years I’ve known her, she’s seemed 100% okay. She never mentioned if she’s had an episode recently, never mentioned what induces an episode, nothing. All I knew was that she had this. So when we were planning out this trip for months, she seemed 100% on board with everything and nothing seemed uncomfortable for her.

We’re not necessarily even doing anything adventurous, but I think she’s having a schizophrenic episode for two reasons:

• traveling is stress inducing by itself
• her and her bf have been fighting this entire trip because ever since shes came here, shes been uptight about following cultural etiquette and not liking everything her bf does and acts because it’s offensive to Japanese people or something (its small things even like how his posture is)? I’ve tried to explain to her that we are probably being more respectful than the average gaijin, and that people make mistakes traveling abroad due to cultural differences, but she is extremely keen on trying to appear as respectful as possible.

She seemed okay (except for the fighting parts) for the first week but now we are in a diff prefecture, and I think she has gotten worse. We went to visit our best friends in Japan (just her and me, not her bf cause they were fighting) and she was just a total complete opposite person. Barely talking, no eye contact. I try to play it off to them as “shes just nervous about cultural differences here”, and just carried on normally. But then she went to the bathroom and was gone for 30 mins. I tried searching for her and she was nowhere to be found, and it made me nervous, and I was explaining to our Japanese friends that we may need to ask the police for help. I got her bf involved over text and he told me that she even left her passport even though I asked if she had it before we left and she said yes. She came back but she was speaking in nonsense. I don’t know what to do because I’ve never dealt with schizophrenia.

Also, I want to be a friend, but ultimately, this trip was my dream trip, and the constant fighting and now suddenly becoming a psychiatrist is freaking me out and makes me want to cut the trip short and leave myself... The only way I was able to go on a trip like this is because the government recognized my dad’s death from cancer being military-related, so I received financial compensation as a dependent. I come from a poor family so traveling like this is out of the question usually. I don’t think it’s fair to me to induce all of this fighting and now suddenly caring for someone who didn’t bother to tell me her history of schizophrenia and what that entails for her. I try to ask her what to do to help her but its just staring and nonsense. I don’t get angry with her cause I know that it’s not her fault but like, what do I do… Her bf says she refuses to take medication cause she wants to “explore this part of her” (I’ve been learning all of this today, didnt know ANY of this prior to the trip). I also know that Japan doesn’t have any mental health care either.

Ideally, I think it’s best that they just both leave to go back to our homecountry because it’s obvious that her bf is fed up with her and she would most likely be mentally better in a place that is familiar and comfortable to her. It might be selfish thinking on my part, but I did not sign up for this prior to the trip… But I also know it might be impossible to convince her while shes in this state of mind.

Anyone have experience with dealing with schizophrenia while abroad? Please help I’m struggling with knowing what to do.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/_demerara on 2024-05-22 18:31:51+00:00.

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Hey all, I'm a 27M travelling solo to Japan on May 28th - June 14th and was wondering if I could get an itinerary check!

I intend to travel by train for all journeys.

Tuesday 28th: Arrive Tokyo 11am - travel to Shinjuku hotel. (explore the area, Shinjuku Gyoen, get dinner)

Wednesday 29th: Tokyo (Tokyo National Museum, Asakusa, Senso-ji Temple, Omakase for dinner, Listening bar in evening)

Thursday 30th: Tokyo (Harmonica Yokocho, Yoyogi Park, Yakults baseball game)

Friday 31st: Tokyo (Tsukiji Market, Mori Art Museum, organised bar crawl in evening)

Saturday 1st: Tokyo (Yayoi Kusama Museum)

Sunday 2nd: Tokyo > Hakone (Hakone-Yumoto, Hakone Open Air Museum, arrive to Rykotan in afternoon)

Monday 3rd: Hakone > Kyoto (Hakone Sightseeing Cruise from Togendai-ko to Hakonemachi-ko, Motohakone for Fuji view, train to Kyoto)

Tuesday 4th: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market,  Kyoto Railway Museum)

Wednesday 5th: Kyoto (Nara day trip)

Thursday 6th: Kyoto (Sento Palace, Kyoto Imperial Palace)

Friday 7th: Kyoto > Osaka (see Dotonbori in evening)

Saturday 8th: Osaka (Osaka castle, Osaka Aquarium, Osaka Museum of Housing and Living)

Sunday 9th: Osaka (tbc, maybe super nintendo world but maybe too busy)

Monday 10th: Osaka > Himeji castle > Hiroshima (Atomic Bomb Dome, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum & Memorial park)

Tuesday 11th: Hiroshima (Miyajima day trip)

Wednesday 12th: Hiroshima > Tokyo travel (fly or shinkansen?). (Listening bar in the evening).

Thursday 13th: Tokyo (Record shopping, Shibuya Sky 17:00)

Friday 14th: FLY 9am from Haneda T3

My main interests for this trip are whisky bars, listening/jazz bars, photography & modern art and general Japanese culture (temples etc). Any recommendations are very welcomed for the itinerary, I'm also looking to go for somewhere to go for highly rated omakase whilst in Tokyo that won't be too expensive.

I am considering going down to Fukuoka for a ight on the 12th then heading back to Tokyo but I am not sure, any advice on this is welcomed. I was told it would be good to go to somewhere further south than hiroshima/miyajima if possible!

Thanks so much!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Dumbidiot1323 on 2024-05-20 17:15:19+00:00.

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Welcome to another report of my one year stay in Japan from mid 2022 to mid 2023! If everything goes according to plan, I'll post the final part on May 27, which would be exactly one year after I returned from Japan! With that being said, after spending a month with a couple of friends in February 2023, enjoying the snow in Hokkaido and early sakura around the Izu peninsula, it was time to face one of the busiest seasons in Japan - proper sakura season in March/April. My mother would join me in late March on her first trip to Japan ever and she was hellbent on seeing some sakura and me being the tour guide. This came with the benefit of her paying for all expenses during our travels, which was very nice of her!

You can find the other reports down below.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11

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Tokyo

Picking up where I left off in the previous report, I decided to show everyone what a "typical" Airbnb I'd stay in during my time in Japan looked like. When my friends left, I booked a very cheap Airbnb in Kunitachi, which is in west Tokyo, about 40 minutes away from Shinjuku on the Chuo line. As I mentioned in some of my earlier reports, I quite enjoyed staying out of central Tokyo and exploring areas that I'd otherwise never go to on a normal vacation. This place had a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. Looks pretty barebones but it was more than enough to satisfy my needs and the internet in Airbnbs was usually very good.

Since it was the beginning of March, I decided to go back to Yushima Tenjin to check the status of the plum blossoms there and they were beautiful at the time. One train stop away from Kunitachi is Kokubunji, which I went to because I saw a couple interesting spots on Google maps to check out. One of which was the small Tonogayato Garden, which was alright for a short visit. More interestingly, there's a small path called Otaka no michi, which looks very cute and goes along a few shrines and another small garden along the way.

Having seen Kawazu sakura a two weeks prior, I checked where I could find early blooming sakura in Tokyo and was happy to find that near my next Airbnb's location (Ojima in the east of Tokyo), a park close to Arakawa river had a few trees so of course I made my way there and it was the perfect time to see them too. One of the many reasons why I enjoy staying in eastern Tokyo is that the further I went out, the more relaxed I felt. It's so far removed from the central and west, where you have tens of thousands of people converging in several spots while here, there is just a wide open park, families and friends just hanging out in what felt like a more accurate represenation of what the average Tokyoite did in their daily lives. I think I went here a few times every evening because it put me at ease and I miss spending time there. And as always, plenty of small mom and pop shops serving all kinds of food, like this wonton soup with a side of fried rice.

Another garden I visited was Kiyosumi! It's in Koto, so again a bit out of the way but definitely worth a visit if you somehow find yourself in the area or just want to see something new if it's your Xth visit to Japan. Bonus pic from when I walked back "home"; sunsets in Tokyo in those side streets with rivers running through the city are particularly great.

The week leading up to my mom's arrival was spent with me visiting a bunch of parks in Tokyo to see how the sakura were going considering my mother wanted to see them. This was a tad stressful because it was supposed to rain for a few days before my mother arrived and in 2023, sakura season started super early so I was scared the rain and wind might kill em off before she even got there. That being said, Shinjuku Gyoen, Yoyogi park, the Kanda river, Chidorigafuchi and Ueno park were going strong! I switched Airbnbs one more time before my mom arrived, staying in Asaka - in Saitama. I had a couple more sakura trees right next door, which was great.

And then, the day had come! My mom arrived at around 7pm, I picked her up from Narita airport and let me tell you, it was an incredibly weird feeling riding back into that airport. Around 10 months earlier, I flew in and it was practically deserted due to the pandemic but now it was back to somewhat normal and I was hit with a weird sort of nostalgia! My mom was surprisingly fit and didn't seem jetlagged at all, demanding me to show her around Ueno park at like 10pm still. We got her her own Suica, her first konbini visit and then just went to the hotel and slept.

My mother had a couple of things she absolutely wanted to see and aside that, I was basically a tour guide who just showed her around spots I decided on on the day. The first thing my mom wanted to see was TeamLabs. Not something I personally had much interest in and the experience was pretty meh overall to be honest but she enjoyed it. Following that we headed to Tokyo station and went to Sushiro because my mom wanted to try Sushi and was keen on trying the "conveyor belt" one she saw on social media. Since it was nearby, we then walked to Chidorigafuchi and the Imperial Palace Gardens, giving my mom her first proper sakura experience. We spent quite a while walking around and it soon got dark so we took a train towards Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower looks great at night, especially with some sakura in front of it. We finished the day with a CoCo ichi meal before walking around the pond near Ueno park.

The following day, my mother wanted to check out Akiba to my surprise. She's not into anime or video games at all but she thoroughly enjoyed seeing just how many figures and plushies of everything exists. A visit to nearby Kanda shrine was of course obligatory. Gotta love the ema people put up there due to its close proximity to Akiba. Before going to Sky Tree in the evening, we went to Hamarikyu Gardens, which are way nicer looking in sakura season than in February, when I went there with my friend. Now, Sky Tree was an experience. Having been there just a few weeks earlier with my friends and there being no lines whatsoever, this time around, things were different. We had to wait for around an hour to get tickets and the observation decks were packed. If it was that bad in 2023, I can't imagine how it is now.

On the third day, the jetlag or just general fatigue hit my mother and she slept past noon so we had a more relaxed day without as much walking as the two before. Took a train to Kichijoji in hopes to show my mom Inokashira park with its famous sakura around the pond and we were not disappointed! My mom wanted to shop and since I am the least knowledgeable person when it comes to this, I simply took her to Ikebukuro's Sunshine City and hoped she'd find stuff there and she actually did buy a bunch of "fluffy" dresses!

The final day in Tokyo was a bit more packed again in terms of things to do. First on the agenda was a visit at Cafe Reissue, which my mom of course saw on Instagram. Since you can't reserve, they take your name and give you a time to come back at, which meant we had about an hour and a half to do something else. This was when we headed to Shibuya Sky. I had never been there because I didn't really want to spend 2000 yen on another observation deck but this one is actually good. In my opinion, if you could only pick ONE observation deck in Tokyo, this should be it. Nice, open views in a far better location than Sky Tree for example. Afterwads we headed back to the cafe and got our latte/hot chocolate art. I'm a bit of a hot chocolate snob so I'd say the drink itself was alright, the art is pretty nice and...

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

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

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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!

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

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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).

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

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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.

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Day 1: Friday

17:00 - Get to Osaka

18:00 - Find hotel in Namba area.

Evening: Explore Dotomburi district for dinner/bars/drinks

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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

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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

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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)

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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)

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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

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Day 7: Thursday

Mt. Fuji Day Trip

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Day 8: Friday

Breakfast/Coffee: Asakusa

15:30 - Leave Tokyo

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

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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.