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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/itzsommer on 2024-06-08 12:38:30+00:00.

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My friend and I are just back from a 11 day trip to Japan, first time for us both. We wanted to collect goshuin but I think we both surprised ourselves on being able to fill them! Our trip included Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kinosakionsen, with day trips in Hiroshima and Nara. There are at least 2 goshuin from each of those areas pictured here.

You’ll notice that they’re not all in order of when I visited each, as a few were slips that I glued in, and visited other shrines before I had a chance to glue. This got a laugh from a very nice priest in Kinosaki!

From right to left:

⛩️Meiji Shrine, Tokyo - bought book here and it came with the stamp

⛩️Shinagawa Shrine, Tokyo

⛩️Namiyoke Shrine, Tsukiji, Tokyo

⛩️Kanda Shrine, Tokyo

🏮Sensoji Temple, Tokyo

🏮Kiyomizu temple, Kyoto - home of Zuigudo hall, where you walk through an underground hallway in complete darkness symbolizing the womb of Buddha’s mother.

⛩️Himuro Shrine, Nara - the ice shrine 🧊 when you get a goshuin here, the shrine worker blesses it by striking a flint over the stamp.

🏮Tofuku Temple, Nara

⛩️Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto

⛩️Kasuga Shrine, Nara Park 🦌- the famous bowing deer are all over this one, don’t use up all your deer treats down in the main park! These deer are much more polite than the ones that hang out by the food/ deer snack vendors.

⛩️Namba Jingu, Osaka - peaceful shrine in downtown Osaka, with beautiful orchids.

⛩️Osaka Tenmangu, Osaka

⛩️Namba Yasuka Shrine, Osaka - featuring the giant Lion’s head. It’s bigger in person!

⛩️Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine, Hiroshima castle

⛩️Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima island, Hiroshima - come for the famous floating Tori gate, stay for the amazing island vibes. Also there’s more deer here!

⛩️Tsuyu-no-Tenjinja Shrine, Osaka - dedicated to two young lovers who did a Romeo and Juliet. A tiny shrine dedicated to love and relationships, and a beautiful goshuin.

🏮Onsenji Temple, Kinosaki Onsen - the main temple dedicated to healing those who use the town’s mythical onsen. Halfway up Mt. Daishi accessible by hike or rope way.

🏮Onsenji Temple, Mt Daishi peak, Kinosaki Onsen - a small satellite temple on the mountain peak has slip goshuin. The staff at the main temple will date it for you if you ask.

🏮Onsenji Yakushido Temple, Kinosaki Onsen - there is a fountain where you can drink the holy Onsen water. A VERY nice priest works here and he loves to see where you’ve visited! He spent extra time making sure the calligraphy was just right.

⛩️Hie-Jinga Shrine, Tokyo

⛩️Fushimi Shrine, Kyoto - so crowded! They only give out slips, and they’re larger than most so I had to trim the edges to get it to fit in my book.

⛩️Ueno Toshugo, Ueno Park, Tokyo - home of the famous copper lanterns

⛩️Gojoten Shrine, Ueno Park, Tokyo

AMA if you have any questions about locations or acquiring goshuin in general!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Odd_Pea_104 on 2024-06-06 17:41:53+00:00.

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We were in Japan for 30 days and had a few big ticket restaurants we wanted to visit. On our second day in Tokyo we went to Shima, near Ginza, known for their Wagyu beef. We had booked in advance, budgeted $500-$600 and brought cash -- it was meant to be one of our ballout experiences for our honeymoon. The steak was roughly $180 for 150g (but their shtick is to weigh it in front of you and it's always much over the listed weight).

At the time, the Canadian dollar was an easy exchange -- you could just drop two zeros from the Yen and that was approximately what it was in Canadian. 3000 Yen = 30 CAD with quick math.

Here's the kicker -- I am a career server. I have some decent (but modest) wine knowledge including several accredited courses. I am mostly familiar with American wine and Italian wine. My husband let me pick the wine and I was interested in a Châteauneuf-du-Pape for $150 or a Bordeaux for $130. He was encouraging me to splurge on the Châteauneuf-du-Pape... it's our honeymoon afterall! I opted for the Bordeaux thinking it would be better with the meat; a 2014 Château Haut-Brion. The host kept coming over to us saying things like "very special wine." I was confused because I was like, lady, we already bought it... you don't need to sell it to us. It was incredible and I took a picture of the label, thinking this is really good for $130. Too good for $130, as it turns out.

We were seated at the bar where all the action happens, watching the old master sitting on a stool as he grills on his rotating skewer. It was pure magic. The man seated next to me was from Upper Eastside New York, joined by his family. His young children ordered more expensive steaks than we did. He too had a Bordeaux, albeit more modest than ours, I would come to learn.

The experience and service was incredible. When people say Wagyu melts in your mouth, you never truly understand until you've had it. 11/10

At the end of the meal I went to the washroom while my husband got the bill. I came back and I could see a look of sheer terror on his face. The host had brought him the wine list and he was looking at the price of wine we ordered.

We had missed a zero. What I thought was $130 was in fact, $1300.

Thank God we didn't order the $1500 wine.

The host realized our mistake, all the staff realized our mistake, my buddy next to me now shied away from me as I said in a hail Mary "we missed a zero!" As if this rich newyorkan was gonna help us out. My husband desperately asked if credit card was ok, she said yes. She took the card and processed it, returning it to us and showing she had deducted $300 from the bill. Our food was almost entirely comped.

Embarrassed and horrified, we quickly left. A chef stopped us on our way and handed us an entire cheesecake, to which I said "we didn't order this!" He forced it into my hands.

Once outside, my husband and I made a pact to not be upset. We couldn't afford it, but we wouldn't let it ruin the rest of our barely started trip. We left and bought a pack of smokes at the nearest konbini. I don't smoke.

When I returned to work a month later I told my sommelier about my blunder. He asked what wine cost you that much?! Welp, apparently I got a steal of a deal for that bottle. Because you can't get that house and vintage for anywhere near that price in Canada. Guess I've gotta brush up on my wine knowledge.

We are returning to Tokyo this fall and my dream is to go back to Shima for dinner and bring the receipt to show them the kindness they showed us by taking off $300 when it was clearly our mistake. But also to gift them some Canadian ice wine or something.

Edit: spelling

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Odd_Pea_104 on 2024-06-06 02:48:15+00:00.

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My husband and I honeymooned in Japan for 30 days in April 2023. We planned to spend the first 5 days in Tokyo and the last 5 days. The trip was mostly centred around food and I had a few bucket list places I wanted to go to, Den being my #1.

From my research, I learned they only take reservations between 12pm-5pm Tokyo time, precisely two months before the date you wish to book. I figured we have two windows and ten days to try to book, so it shouldn't be that difficult. I was wrong.

I called maybe close to 100 times for the first few days I was trying to book and never got through. I missed the first window, so I sent an email stating that my husband and I work in restaurants and were celebrating our honeymoon, hoping to appeal to their sentiment. They promptly responded the next day and added us to a waitlist. I had read that some people had gotten in from the waitlist but it was rare.

Fast forward nearly a month when I could start calling for our second window (what would be the last five days of our trip). I downloaded a redial app and called close to 800 times in two days, but never got through. Finally, at around 4:50pm Tokyo time, on my last day to try, they answered the phone. I was in shock and I'm pretty sure I asked if she was real...

What I hadn't realized was the restaurant had been closed for three days for a Japanese holiday. Which made my relentless calling pointless, however it worked in my favour because on the day I got through, they were booking for three days, rather than one. I told her I would take any day, any time. She had one spot left on our final night in Japan. It was meant to be.

WAS IT WORTH IT? Oh my god, yes. I am a career server and my husband is a chef. This was a master class in service. She had asked me several questions on the phone, where are we from (Canada), why were we coming to Japan (honeymoon), what did we do for work, our ages, etc. I remember telling my husband "no wonder why no one can get through on the phone! We just chatted for twenty minutes!" What I didn't realize is they made notes of all that information and clearly debriefed all staff before service. We were greeted by a Canadian who was staging in the kitchen, who spoke specifically to my husband about cooking. And we were surprised by a handwritten happy honeymoon card that brought me to tears. We shared special sake with a gentleman celebrating his birthday. They ran down the street after us when we left to gift us some beautiful "napkins". It was like dining in their living room with some of the most incredible, unpretentious but perfect service.

And the food, of course, was delicious. I honestly felt like the salad was the best part and how dare that be true! It still makes me mad to this day. Everything was so fresh, seasonal, local... special.

One interesting thing to note was that I had made a joke about how difficult it was to make reservations. And they assured me that now we had been and were in the system it would be easier for future reservations. I guess you just have to prove yourself first 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tips for making a reservation:

• download a redial app and set an alarm to start calling at noon Tokyo time, exactly two months before your desired date
• they are closed on Sundays and major holidays, if the date you're hoping to book falls on a Sunday two months before, call on the Monday.
• last resort: email to be put on a waitlist

Edit: spelling

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Status-Inevitable925 on 2024-06-05 12:12:30+00:00.

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Just got back from 2 weeks in Japan and thought I'd write a trip report because I found them really useful whilst organising. I (F28) went with my boyfriend (M30) and we had an amazing time. We definitely packed more into the first half of the trip and could have made more of our last 5 days and time in Tokyo but we didn't want to end the holiday exhausted.

Some things it may be useful to know-

Travel

The only travel we prebooked was the Shinkansen to Tokyo so we could definitely get seats on the Fuji side (always D&E). We picked up ICOCA cards at Miyajimaguchi with no issue and they work all over - if you arrive in Tokyo you'll need a different card and I think there's issues getting them. IC cards work on all trains but for Shinkansens and Limited Express trains you need to buy a ticket - we did it at the machines in the station with no issues.

We just used googlemaps to figure out how to get around and it worked fine - it tells you what sort of train it's suggesting so you know if you'll need tickets. One thing though - my googlemaps would often act as though it was offline even though I had data but if you save it for offline, you shouldn't have an issue.

Food

We mainly ate at Izakayas in the evenings which are essentially small plates restaurants. We'd ordered drinks and a few dishes and then order some more with a second round of drinks. There's usually rice on the menu that you're meant to order at the end of the meal to soak up the alcohol but we filled ourselves up without it.

At most ramen restaurants and some others there's a machine which you put cash into and select what you want (usually pictures to help). The machine prints out tickets and you give these to a member of staff who'll then show you where to sit.

We generally just walked around and looked for a place that looked busy and was mainly filled with Japanese people - all the food we ate was really good so it worked. Apparently, Japanese people tend to rate things lower than you'd expect so places with 3.5 on google would still be really good (and possibly better than places rated higher because it probably means that it's a more local place).

Souvenirs

I collected stamps as we travelled and I'm really pleased I did. All train stations are supposed to have one and then a lot of tourist attractions do to - they're generally near the ticket office / barriers but you often needed to ask a member of staff (especially at the smaller places). Staff all seemed to be prepared for the question and happy to help. I didn't buy my notebook until we were in Japan which means I missed out on the one in the airport.

You can also collect Goshuin in temples where they'll stamp and do calligraphy unique to that temple. You can buy special books at the temples which unfold so you can see all them all at once. I got one but the second one I saw was 800 yen and I panicked that it would end up being expensive so didn't bother - in reality I think most were under 500 yen. I think it would have been a really unique souvenir to have.

Onto the report -

Day 1 - Hiroshima > Miyajima

We landed in Hiroshima at around 10:30am from Seoul so no jetlag. We got the bus into the city (bought tickets from a machine with cash) and left our bags in a locked in the bus station. We grabbed a couple bits in Uniqlo then went to Okonomimura for Okonomiyaki - we just went up the lift to a random floor and chose a random spot - it was really good!

Then we went to the Peace Park and museum - it was a Saturday and the museum was really busy so we didn't spend as much time there as we probably would have liked but it was a really good museum and the park is nice to wander round. We walked up to the Atomic Bomb dome. This probably took a couple of hours but we could have taken longer.

Then went to the Pokemon centre (essentially just a Pokemon shop) and for some reason picked up our bags. We walked to Osaka castle and looked at it from the outside - probably not necessary but was nice to see our first castle.

We caught the ferry to Miyajima from near the atomic bomb dome at around 4:30pm - it's more expensive than doing it via public transport but more convenient.

We got to Miyajima and checked into our Ryokan. I didn't realise that you needed to book dinner a day in advance so we had to go out and find a restaurant that stayed open after 5pm - a lot harder than you'd expect! But we found somewhere and the food was really nice so we were happy. If I was doing it again though I'd make sure to get dinner at the Ryokan because it seemed to do good food.

Being on the island at night was really nice and peaceful - we sat looking at the Torii gate at the sunset and it got dark. We both agreed that if we'd just come to Miyajima on a day trip and experienced all the crowds we probably wouldn't have enjoyed it that much but it was one of the highlights of the trip.

Day 2 - Miyajima > Onomichi

We had breakfast at the Ryokan - it was a traditional Japanese breakfast and there were so many different components it was great! We climbed Mount Misen and the views were incredible. If you go up the cable car, make sure to walk to the other look out point because it's higher and I assume gets a much better view. The walk took us about 2 hours. After the walk, we stopped at Daishoin temple.

We picked up our bags from the Ryokan, grabbed some street food for lunch and said goodbye to Miyajima. We got the ferry to Miyajimaguchi, picked up ICOCA cards and got trains to Onomichi - I think they're actually on the same line but we hadn't figured out the trains yet (and I wanted a stamp) so we went to Hiroshima station first.

We were staying in a hostel just under Senkoji temple so we walked up the hill, dumped our bags and went up to look at the temple. It seems like a lot of places in Onomichi also closed early (although it was a Sunday) but we managed to find a ramen place that was open and it was amazing.

Day 3-4 - Shimanami Kaido

We decided to do the cycle across two days because I was worried about how I'd get on. In the end we did 60km on the first day and 40 on the second - I was pretty tired by the end of each day but not enough for it to not be enjoyable. All the hills on the actual route were very manageable - to get onto the bridges you normally needed to do just under 1km of very steady incline. We did some detours which had some harder hills - I got off to walk twice but never for very long. I'd say I'd definitely be at the lower end of fitness in terms of people who decide to do a 2 day cycle on holiday.

We got our bikes through Shimanami bike rental - I reserved them in advance on their website. I've seen some people complain about the quality of the bikes but I think they were decent. My boyfriend's gears weren't working at first so he went back and the were very apologetic and gave him a new bike when they couldn't fix it easily. The saddles were uncomfortable but everything else was fine.

We used the map we were given for navigation and it was super easy. We randomly chose the detours without thinking too much so we missed most of the things people usually say you should detour for but we had an amazing time and I think doing it over 2 days so we could detour was definitely worth it.

Can't find a version of the map we used to give proper details but we did the recommended route and a sections marked as orange. I really recommend stopping at Kousanji which has a temple and sculptures. We grabbed lunch nearby (there were a lot less restaurants / cafes on route than I was expecting) and then went round Takaneshima Island which wasn't marked as a route but we thought we'd explore. We saw barely anyone and it was nice to cycle round - some tougher hills but not too bad.

We stayed just over the bridge on Ikata island - if I'd been more organised, I'd have booked somewhere on Oshima but there was nowhere convenient when I booked and we didn't end up exploring that island at all because I was too tired by the end of the first day and didn't want to commit to too much at the beginning of the second day. There was only one place open for dinner but we had some great Okonomiyaki.

We started the second day by going to Hirakiyama park which I'd definitely recommend - although this was definitely the toughest climb it was still manageable with only a few minutes walking from me. We had the whole place to ourselves and the views were amazing.

We went off the main recommended route to go to Yoshiumi rose park because they were still blooming - it was really nice to wander round and the cycle there was really good as well. There was one steep hill but it was mostly fine. We stopped just before the last bridge for a seafood bbq where you selected what you wanted and then bbqed it yourself - it was a nice experience and we managed not to make ourselves ill. Then it was over the last long bridge and then a longish cycle on the roads into Imabari to return the bikes.

We thought we'd grab some more food in Imabari but nothing seemed to open until at least 17:30 so we got the bus to Fukuyama (we bought tickets in advanced at the counter but you could pay the driver in cash when you got off) then the train to Himeji. We were pretty tired so we just got some ramen and went to sleep but Himeji seemed like a nice city.

Day 5 - Himeji > Kyoto

We left our bags in lockers at the station and went to the castle. It was ni...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/foodaussie on 2024-06-05 02:19:28+00:00.

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Hi all,

I got so much great assistance from this board so I wanted to give back to the community. I (34F) travelled to Japan solo in May with a week on the ground (9 days including travel) from Australia, so no jet lag. I packed in a lot - I have a family with young kids at home and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so wanted to make the most of it. For those not travelling solo the itinerary is likely less realistic, but worked great for me. I spent approximately 400,000yen for the 7 days including flights and accommodation, and approximately 100,000 of that was on souvenirs and gifts. I walked at least 30,000 steps each day (with the exception of day 1 which was around 25k + a 17km bike ride).

Day 1 - Arrive 5:30am Haneda, Tokyo (Fri)

• Flew into T1, but arrived a little early and had zero lines through immigration etc so decided to travel by free shuttle bus to T3 to pick up a Welcome Suica. This ended up being so worth it and making life easy.
• Train to Higashi-Ginza, drop off bags. Explore Tsukiji. I recommend Tsukiji Uogashi building for food rather than the markets themselves, significantly cheaper, you can take your meal to the rooftop.
• Coffee from Turret Coffee - a standout for coffee (latte) lovers).
• eBike tour by Compass bikes - I am not a huge fan of tours but this was great way to see a lot in a few hours and I really loved Fukagawa Fudou-dō temple which had a walkway inside that felt like it was designed by TeamLabs (no photos allowed unfortunately)
• Back to Higashi-Ginza, picked up my bags and went to check in to my hotel, Dormy Inn Ueno, which was perfectly located (I loved staying in this area).
• On to the Sumo Tournament for which I had purchased tickets through buysumotickets. I think my whole section had as they were all foreigners, haha! I loved this, a really different experience.
• Explored Ameyokocho before calling it a night.

Day 2 - Tokyo (Sat)

• Up bright and early at 3am. Went to the sento, still couldn't sleep after so took the first train of the day to Asakusa. Explored Senso-ji without crowds. Back to Ueno station where I purchased tickets for the shinkansen the next day. It looks like the line gets busy so this was a good idea to do early.
• Explored Ueno park, Nippori, Ueno by foot.
• Back to hotel to get ready for the day, and out around 8:30am.
• Train to Yoyohi where I got a coffee at Dimlight Espresso then walked through Yoyogi park/Meiji shrine area towards Takeshita St. By now it was around 10:30am and most shops online looked like they didn't open until 11am but most did seem open. I bought some socks at Tabio and then a Harajuku special crepe from Godiva on Meiji-Dori Ave (so good!).
• Walked up Cat St which I loved and was much less busy than the rest of Harajuku and Shibuya. Got some sweets from Number Sugar. On to Shibuya via Miyashita Park. Shopped throughout Shibuya, but it honestly wasn't my favourite as there was just so much choice and so many people. It didn't feel unique to me (ie could have been in any country).
• Train to Akihabara, which was also very busy but felt more unique. I loved Yellow Submarine where I got some board games that are made in Japan but had English instructions, and did some other light shopping for my boys.
• Back to my hotel to rest and eat some gyoza I got on my way from the train station, before heading out for a 7pm localised tour of Shinjuku. Again this was good, but I think limiting doing tours works best for me as I can't take the slow pace, haha!!

Day 3 - Matsumoto, Kiso, Tsumago

• I took the shinkansen to Nagano in gran class which was truly amazing and worth the additional cost. I had the carriage to myself so a personal attendant, meal, slippers included and comfy reclining chair. Then took a train from Nagano to Matsumoto.
• Explored Matsumoto Castle then did a tour at Ishii miso (this was OK, but a bit more of an explanation rather than tour) and visited the Art Museum (this was good for a quick visit even for someone with passing art interest).
• On to Kiso for lunch and to explore, loved the foot bath. Train to Nagiso, where I walked the Nakasendo to my minshuku in Tsumago, Daikichi. Tsumago was just lovely, the people living there are just a wonderful community. Daikichi was incredible. Had a wonderful dinner and breakfast and highly recommend this sort of accommodation.

Day 4 - Tsumago, Magome, Osaka

• Left at 7.30am after breakfast as the weather was not great and more rain was planned as the day progressed. Loved the tea house on the way to Magome. Got in to Magome around 10am, grabbed a coffee from Hillbilly coffee and walked to Chuodo Magome to get a bus as it was a better schedule than the bus from Magome to Nakatsugawa. I don't recommend this as it was a roadhouse with only locals and felt a bit awkward haha. But, it all worked well and was actually a really comfortable trip to Nagoya.
• I decided to take the slower Kintetsu Ltd Express from Nagoya to Osaka-Namba, as it was direct, and I could book a premium seat again which was a great place to rest on a rainy day. The premium seat on the Hinotori was incredible comfy (perhaps more so than the shinkansen?) and had a seat warmer function.
• Explored Kuromon market, Sennichimae Doguyasuji for kitchenware, Ota St, DenDen Town, Dotonbori. Took two trains to my hotel in Kyoto, Hotel Aru. Again this was a fab hotel in a really great location, and the room was much nicer and newer than the Dormy Inn (although no sento).
• Did some washing and crashed.

Day 5 - Kyoto in the rain

• There was a Typhoon in the Philippines today which brought with it significant rain. I had originally planned Nara but with flooding and rain inundation warnings thought I would stick close to my hotel instead.
• Walked to Sentido for a coffee, then on to Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. This wasn't in my original itinerary but I really enjoyed it and the audio guide was really well done (and all free!). Another coffee in School Bus Coffee Stop.
• Spent the rest of the day exploring the undercover shopping streets, department stores, Nishiki markets. Loved the Daimaru basement food court, the staff here were especially polite with every single one bowing and greeting me as I walked past.
• Back to my hotel to dry off my feet after they had been wet for the past 14 hrs. The rain had finally eased off so I then headed out at night to explore Yasaka shrine and Gion. I saw a Maiko (who unfortunately looked quite distressed, clearly still getting harassed by tourists!).

Day 6 - Kyoto

• Today I made up for lost time and fit in a LOT. More than I would like realistically, I would have loved more time in Uji and Nara, I would definitely like to spend more time in that region if/when I return to Japan.
• Train to Fushimi Inari, at 5:30am it was still quiet, at 6:30am it was already getting busy. I made the call at the halfway lookout point that I could probably squeeze Nara in if I left then, and tbh Fushimi Inari wasn't a standout for me.
• Grabbed some breakfast at the konbini while I waited for a train to Nara. I loved Nara. Not so much the deer, or Todai-ji (both were good) but the forest beyond and places like Todaiji Nigatsudo, Kasuga Taisha. I loved taking paths where there were no other tourists.
• On to Uji - bought several bags of matcha and sencha, some matcha treats, explored Byodo-in and had a matcha parfait at Tsuen overlooking the river. I would have loved to stay here longer but had a tour booking for 2pm on the other side of Kyoto (but an easy trip due to being on the same line)
• 2pm tour at Matsui sake, a tiny sake house in Kyoto. The tour was great and I loved their anime branding and innovative tasting system.
• The weather today was SO amazing and I really loved this area (Sakyo ward) so hired a bike from emusica edmachiyanagi and travelled north along Kamo River, exploring some temples along the way, having something to eat by the river. Rode to Circus Coffee which had the most lovely staff and I loved the branding. Explored some shopping streets, then on to Philosophers Path and returned the bike around 7:30pm.
• Got a massage at ボディケアボディ 三条河原町店 which was so cheap and so good. Had a 40 min wait so I went to Donki and bought a suitcase for all my extra shopping (had travelled carry-on only). After my massage I packed and crashed.

Day 7 - Kyoto, Inuyama

• Got up and took the train to Kiyomizu (could have walked but my legs were sore!), then walked up to Kiyomizu-dera. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I was disappointed with Fushimi Inari but it was simply spectacular.
• Explored Higashiyama then enjoyed a zen meditation session at Ryosoku-in. This was a great experience!
• Back to my hotel to change and check out then lunch at Roan Kikunoi, my Michelin restaurant (**) for the trip and a wonderful meal and experience.
• Went and grabbed my bags from the hotel, taxi to train station, shinkansen to Nagoya and train to Inuyama.
• Inuyama was a gorgeous little town. Nagoya has a lot less foreign visitors, and there were few signs, train announcements etc in English. I actually didn't see a non-Asian person my whole time in Nagoya (including in the airport the next day). The castle here was gorgeous and I loved the town, a great slower pace to end my trip.

Day 8 - Chubu airport

• There is a train without changes to chubu airport from Inuyama. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated my remaining yen so was 200...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/sangtoms on 2024-06-04 09:27:34+00:00.

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Flights: £600

Hotels: £500-£600

Food, transport and shopping: £500-£600

Interests: architecture, photography, food, cute shops/cafe

First time in Japan and it's something I dreamed about since I began studying the language at a young age. I finally managed to go after years of waiting for the right time! I realised that the "right" time wouldn't come so I booked the tickets 2 months in advance and off I went! Link to my plan that I made 2 months ago.

Hotel reviews

• Forest Hongo by unito ❤️ - Very friendly staff and cleaner who I exchanged conversations with. Free laundry, ironing and microwave on 1 floor. A bit far from station but I enjoyed the walks. Quick and easy check in and check out.
• APA Hotel Midosuji Honmachiekimae Higashi ❤️ - High level of service from staff, very big and comfy bed, convenient location, family mart and 7-eleven 1 min away, fav hotel, express check out (enter your card in the box).
• Hotel Excellence Kyoto Ekimae 😞 - Very meh compared to other hotels, non-existent staff, room was right next to the noisy main road. Luckily it was only for 1 night.
• First Cabin Capsule Hotel (Kansai Airport) £40/night - Separated by gender, very clean and spacious rooms. Very convenient as it's located in the airport with lots of amenities. Hard to sleep if you're a light-sleeper like me but good to experience capsule hotels at least once.

Tokyo 🌆 (4 days)

As I was very sleep deprived and jet-lagged after a 16 hr flight, I didn't enjoy Tokyo as much as I thought I would. I'm not neurodivergent but even I was very overstimulated from all the constant sounds from shops/adverts and colours from the buildings. The stations were a bit stressful to get around with all the crowds but google maps was SO useful by stating which section of the train to get on and which exits were the best. I did really enjoy Harajuku and Shibuya because of the cute shops. Akihabara was a let down but maybe more because I'm not the right audience for all the "toy" shops. Another fascinating thing was that nobody jaywalks, unless it's night time in a quiet street.

Teamlabs Borderless ❤️ exceeded my expectations and I liked how calm and chic the Azubadai Hills area was in general! Definitely go early because the noisy tourists and kids running around can affect how immersed you feel. Loved the Shinjuku area as the streets were more spacious and there were lots of nice shops to go to. Asakusa area was fun to visit with the Sensoji Shrine and stalls. I highly recommend the Kura Sushi chain if you want to try conveyor belt sushi.

Did not expect to see a man peeing in Omoide Yokocho at around 5pm in broad day light but now I know how it got it's nickname as Piss Alley.. apart from that, the streets were very small with lots of nice lanterns and tiny bars which were nice to look at at night but as it was full, we couldn't go into any.

Osaka 🍡 (5 days)

Loved my time here as a foodie and lover of street lights. The massive billboards with the food displays was lovely to see all lit up at night. Places I recommend are Okaru for okonomiyaki, any food stalls with a queue for takoyaki, Kushikatsu Daruma for skewers. I also visited the Pokemon centre, Ghibli store and Nintendo stores, fulfilling my childhood dreams. There are so many cute gacha machines around which made my inner child so so happy.

Dotonbori and Shinsekai ❤️ at night was really gorgeous with the lit up billboards. I really felt the city come to life at night. We also saw Hozenji Temple which was very relaxing amongst the busy streets. Osaka Castle and Namba Yasaka Shrine were also worth visiting! I also visited Cat Cafe Mikazuki and the owner was very sweet, explaining everything in her best English until she realised 日本語でおk

Kyoto ⛩️ (2 days)

I regret not staying here for longer. Walking around the quiet streets of hilly Arashiyama is something I'll never forget. There's a really nice 7-eleven I found with space to sit down and eat. I wish more konbini's had this too. As it rained on the first day, I didn't get up to much except Nishiki Market where they had lots of food and souvenir shops! I managed to squeeze a lot in the next day. The Kyoto City Bus made sightseeing so easy.

Got up early to see the Golden Temple which was an architectural masterpiece. I loved taking photos. Despite lots of school trip crowds and some rude chinese tourists, there were areas that were very zen and peaceful. After that I saw the Ryoanji Rock Garden, which was very calming. After being so overstimulated in Tokyo, I needed this break so much.

Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama 20 min up-hill hike was hard but worth it when I saw the cute baby monkeys. Lots of families seemed to enjoy this place and it just brightened my day. There were rules we had to follow and people were quite sensible and respectful when going near them or feeding them.

The highlight was Togetsukyo Bridge ❤️ which was so serene and beautiful. I loved walking down the main road with all the cute souvenir shops and food stalls. I had a lovely dango here too and admired all the people walking in their beautiful kimonos. For the first time in this trip, I didn't feel annoyed by all the tourists because I could see how excited they were, sharing this experience in Japan, just like me.

After that I managed to pop by Gion in the afternoon to see the Hokan-ji Temple which was nice but a bit underwhelming as the streets were very small and crammed with people trying to get the same photos.

Thoughts and tips:

-Using an e-sim from Airalo was very quick to install and saved a lot of hassle. I also used a digital Suica on my iphone to pay for transport which was very quick and easy. At the end of my journey, my suica refused to accept money which was annoying but I managed to buy tickets at the machines. I used Monzo for all payments at the konbini but cash was required for shrines and restaurants/bars so always have cash in hand- at least £50-80. I didn't have any fees when getting cash from 7-eleven ATMs.

-Don Quihote had some cool stuff but it was so overwhelming with hundreds of people in there. I liked Loft and other shopping centres around the cities more. I luckily went to Japan with only 1/4-1/2 of my luggage full so all my souvenirs fit! There are elevators in stations so didn't have a problem with carrying luggage around.

-Please don't be the cringey tourist that says "arigato" to strangers as it's too informal. Use "arigato gozaimasu" as that is the standard way. Also if you're a man, please don't go on the women-only carriages or sit on the women-only seats on the JR trains as women can get very uncomfy. I saw male tourists doing these things.

-Coin lockers were SO useful and there are plenty around stations. There are no bins in Japan so I would try and eat things at the konbini and throw it away there or take it back to my hotel. The only people on trains who were talking really loudly were- you guessed it- tourists.. Most locals were very quiet on public transport as there are signs everywhere to not be a nuisance to others. Women carriages were very useful during busy times.

-Being able to speak Japanese made things so much easier as people relaxed around me and were very friendly. I didn't feel as anxious being alone in a country on the other side of the world. The level of English isn't great so knowing basic phrases ~~is a must~~ would make your experience a lot more enjoyable.

-The quality of service in Japan is high. Shop attendants will greet you every time, the bus driver announces every time the bus is about to move so you don't fall, the hotels give free amenities.

-I appreciated how well-dressed everyone was, especially in Shinjuku and Harajuku area where they really showed their individuality through their fashion. People in general were dressed better than in London, even the middle-aged men were rocking suits. Not a single hoodie and tracksuit in sight (unless it was styled up).

-I loved how useful and cheap the Yamato takkyubin service was. My hotel didn't have it but they directed me to the nearest Family-Mart 2 min away and they sent it to my hotel in Osaka. I was nervous leaving my luggage but when I saw it the next day, I was so relieved! Will definitely use this again especially as it was only £11.

-As the yen was weak against the pound, I ended up buying a lot of stuff and was surprised at how cheap konbini food was for the quality. I got the katsu sando at least once every day for a bit. It was so good!! Lawson's karaage-kun was also delicious!! I also got a bit obsessed with the Wonda Cafe au lait. As a solo traveller, the konbini was a life-saver for eating out. Most of the time I met my friends for dinner but a lot of places have seats for solo diners on the bar area.

This trip was everything I wanted for a holiday and I'm already planning my next trip. Next time, I'll definitely spend longer than 10 days and spend more time in nature or less touristy areas. Some places: Kamakura to see the trams by the beach, Nikko and Wakayama for waterfalls, see Mount Fuji, private onsen somewhere.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Maniac222 on 2024-06-02 19:40:41+00:00.

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Hey we (37m and 35f) had a trip with my parents who are 65 and 69years old. We are from Germany. Had planned this trip since pre covid and right now planning a trip for 2025 :) Not the biggest foodies, so not so much to say here. We used the railpass to get around. We wanted to see the autumn leaves 🍂 in Kyoto and experience some of the Christmas flair in Japan, we visited some Christmas markets too.

flights

• Hannover to Paris to Tokyo for around 1000€ (with the update to more leg room, emergency exit seats) I can highly recommend this, because not only for the leg room, it is super nice that you don’t have to stand up if someone wants to leave your row)
• had a night flight from Paris to Tokyo. So we started at 22:00 in Paris and arrived at 20:00 in Tokyo after finding the hotel etc we stayed awake till midnight and basically had no jet lag the other days

Tokyo (7nights)

• Hotel: sequence SUIDOBASHI with breakfast 10/10
• to hotel is near the Tokyo dome and in the middle of the Yamamoto line (but not part of the circle) but with good access to a subway and a JR line (both max 5min walktime)
• breakfastswas awesome, you had a choice of 5 menus and they were all fantastic! Because of the Tokyo dome there are many bars etc in the surrounding very nice location at all.

Highlight activities in Tokyo

• teamlab Planets(booked in advance) super stylish art display. Went in the morning not to crowded 9/10
• Tokyo skytree: even though it was nov 23rd there was a small Xmas market in front of it(pretty cool) The Skytree itself what to say it is super high and big and well managed but pretty expensive too I would say you could skip this one 5/10
• Asakusa Shrine: went on a Sunday and it was super crowded and we arrived at around 16-17 o’clock and some of the vendors were closing their stalls. But the temple/shrine itself is beautiful and I nice place for souvenir shopping 7/10
• shibuya sky what a awesome place we went after sunset (booked in advance but didn’t get tickets for the sunset timeslots). We had the champagne couch option (you have a 50min timeslot with snacks a blanket and champagne) awesome so look at the city und have a wonderful evening 10/10!
• Seirinkan one food spot I have to mention! We went to this pizza place they only serve Margarita and one other pizza style. We had to ask to hotel to make a reservation but it was awesome 10/10!
• Yokohama Went there by train (45min ride) visited the Cup noodle museum, very cool, visited the giant robot at the harbour, went to chinatown (very big, but if u want to eat in a restaurant you should make a reservation!) and visited the yokohama xmas market. Awsome day! 10/10
• A couple of things to the xmas markets they are pretty much like a german christmas market with a japanese twist. Very long lines for food etc. so you cant get drunk there. We waited like 20min for our Glühwein. They do have own cups for the specific xmas market but they do sell out, so be quick!
• DisneySea It looks fantastic and the rides are quit nice, we went on a Thursday but the waittime was pretty long Indiana Jones ride was 90min i think, we didn't understand the reservation system via app so we had to wait for everything. Popcorn is like 20-30min waittime :( . Merch is super expensive there like 50€/$ to 100€/$ for a t-shirt, the show at the evening was awsome so all in all it was a 7/10
• We visited a cafe where u can show them a picture of your pet and they make "latte art" of that picture (you can film it etc.) you have to arrive early in the morning and you get a ticket in the queline (we had to wait 60min) you get an email and then you have to be there in 10-15min i think (1,5h time slot)

Kyoto(5nights)

• Hotel The OneFive Kyoto Shijono breakfast 8/10
• Very big rooms, There was no breakfast option there, but they do have a group room in the second floor where u can eat etc. , free coffee/tea there and in the lobby too, a bus stop right in front of the hotel was nice too, because:
• the only way to get around in Kyoto is by bus in our experience, the buses arrive not always on time and are pretty crowded (dont forget it was peak autumn leave season!). As much as i liked Kyoto the buses where the worst public transportation "system" in all of our visited cities :(

Highlight activities in Kyoto

• the romantic train was already booked, so we did a river boat tour and the scenery was epic. Cant describe how beautiful it was. After the tour (2h) you are right at the foot of Arashiyama for the bamboo grove and the monkey park 10/10!
• Day trip to Nara. So many deers. You can feed them they bow :). They are not very agressive, pretty chill. A lot of temples there too. One with a giant buddha statue in it. Highly reccommend! 10/10
• Fushimi Inari, very crowded at the beginning if u hike up a little bit it gets better, very nice view on top. My parents managed the hike quit easily 9/10
• a lot of temples, combined with the autumn color are just beatiful. Like the golden temple
• Kyoto train station, super modern, a lot of places where u can eat a giant LED staircase, so go when it is dark :), next to the station is the kyoto tower and under the tower are even more places to eat
• Sake tasting experience: Booked in advance for like 85€, you got a tour through the brewery and after that a tasting with like 10 sakes. I personally didn't like the sake, but the girls loved it and we meet some people form australia and portugal, cool event 8/10

Osaka(4nights)

• Hotel : Hotel Sobial Namba Daikokucho with breakfast 5/10
• We didnt like the hotel sadly :(, breakfast was ok, but the rooms are super tiny u cant even open our suitcase there was no public are. only the lobby with like 3 or 4 seats but because of the traffic of the people it got pretty cold because the door was open all the time. At the evening we like to sit down, drink a beer or two and watch our vid/photos of the day. But this was simply not possible there. At least a subway station is right in front of the hotel

Highlight activities in Osaka

• USJ We booked it in advance and got a express pass for Harry Potter and Nintendoland. We all loved the atmosphere there, the rides where awsome (jaws!, mario card, flight of the dinosaurs) a lot of people with merch or costumes there. 10/10
• Osaka Castle was not very impressive, by the time the fall color where gone so maybe in peak auztumn color or cherry blossum it would look nicer.... 5/10
• Day trip Himeji Castle: What a fantastic castle, it has 7 stories so you have to climb a little bit. Most of the time without your shoes so if you dont like to go barefoot be aware! 9/10

Hiroshima(3nights)

• Hotel: The Knot with breakfast 10/10
• Italian breakfast (you can only chance the style of egg you got, but for 3 days...everything fine :) ), they do have a sky bar and you get some knot coins for free, which you can exchange for drinks at the bar.
• maybe two days are enough for hiroshima, we used the 3rd day for shopping

Highlight activities in Hiroshima

• PeacePark: What to say just sad and impressive at the same time...must visit if you are in hiroshima. So no rating here!
• Miyajima island: The island is impresive. You can hike to the top of Mt. Misen (620m). They said it would take 2-3h we needed 5h or so...and there are a lot(!) of stairs my parents struggled a little bit. There is also a ropeway which gets you like 90% to the top... a lot of dears at the foot of the montain. the Torii gate is impressive too! 10/10

Shimoda, izu peninsula (2nights)

• Hotel Shimoda Tokyu Hotel, no breakfast 7/10
• pretty old hotel, breakfast was too expensive, not many customers, on top of a hill, so you need a taxi or shuttle bus to get there. The hotel offers a shuttle bus from 9 to 17:oo o'clock

Highlight activities in Shimoda

• visited Mt. Omuro only to see that the lift was closed that day (and the bus only arrives every hour :D ) 0/10,
• so we went to a nearby city to the beach, lovly beaches there! 8/10
• Saphir Odoriko train back to tokyo. Booked in advance (150€). Best train ride of my life. So scenic. Awsome seats, superb service. One of the highlights of the trip 10/10

Tokyo(2nights)

• Hotel: the b Ginza, with breakfast 9/10
• very modern, free pancakes, free coffee, latte art for free, breakfast was "ok", big rooms

We did a lot of souvenir shopping the last 1,5 days so, not much to say here :D

I hope u liked this trip report. As said in the beginning we plan to go back in april or may 2025 for the Osaka expo. We missed a lot of daytrips from tokyo (Hakone, Kamakura) and didnt visit Hokaido or Okinawa, maybe next time :)

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/TheJakeanator272 on 2024-06-02 23:57:07+00:00.

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Looks like I’m flying to Korea now!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/bot692021 on 2024-06-03 00:10:32+00:00.

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For context, my peanut allergy is at a severity where ingesting a singular peanut or peanut products would trigger an anaphylactic reaction, but I'm not allergic to the point where I can't have someone eating peanuts next to me. As a result, I tend to be fairly careful when I eat out and always carry 2 Epi-Pens with me.

Preparing for the Trip:

If possible, try to book with Japan Airlines (JAL) or All Nippon Airways (ANA) since both airlines are great when it comes to people with peanut allergies. My understanding is that JAL completely stopped serving peanuts aboard their planes back in 2014. Even though ANA hasn't completely eliminated peanuts from their menu, they offer allergen free meals that you can request as long as you give them a call at least 48 hours before departure. From having personally experienced the latter, it is quite a painless process and the flight attendants are very attentive to ensure that your entire meal is allergen free. On my outbound ANA flight from the US, they even offered me a tablet where I was able to double check the ingredient list of each item that was served to me. Alternatively, you could pack your own meal(s) instead to have even more confidence the meal is free of peanuts. All of that said, I still kept both Epi-Pens on my person for the duration of the flight.

While I knew that Japanese cuisine did not use much peanuts to begin with, I still wanted to be extra careful by learning how to say that I was allergic to peanuts in Japanese and some related phrases that would help clarify if it was alright for me to eat something. I was also learning other tourist survival phrases at the time so it took me about a month, but I think that you could probably learn just those phrases in a week. I printed out little notes stating that I was deathly allergic to peanuts, but I completely forgot to bring them so I saved a screen shot on my phone that I could show to the staff in the event that my Japanese did not suffice. If you don't already carry an Epi-Pen(s), I strongly recommend getting 1 or ideally 2 so that you can bring them with you on your trip.

Questions I had before the trip that others may have as well:

1. Can you bring Epi-Pens to Japan?
   • Yes
2. How many Epi-Pens can I bring to Japan?
   • I personally brought 2 Epi-Pens with me, but this question is a little hard to answer since the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan says "Up to 1 month supply"
3. Do I need to fill out a Yunyu Kakunin-sho (import certificate)?
   • No
4. Do I need to declare my Epi-Pens at customs?
   • No
5. Will customs/security need to examine my Epi-Pens?
   • No, customs barely looked at my bag (carry on only) and on my flight out from Japan security gave me no issues for carrying Epi-Pens with me.
6. Who can I contact if I have more questions?
   • If you are flying into Tokyo you can email [yakkan@mhlw.go.jp](mailto:yakkan@mhlw.go.jp)

Resources:

• JAL Elimination of peanuts from their meals
• ANA Allergen free meals
• Learn how to say "I'm allergic to _____" in Japanese
• Post on peanut allergy card
• Peanut allergy card by u/CauliflowerFew7729
• Embassy of Japan in the United States of America
• Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan

While in Japan:

Most restaurants and bars will likely still have a English menu if you ask for it even if it isn't a restaurant in particularly touristy part of town. Worse case, you can use the camera function in the Google translate app to translate the menu. You should be able to take a guess at whether something likely contains peanuts if you have some familiarity with Japanese cuisine.

Traditional sit down restaurants:

I told my server at essentially every sit down location that I ate at that I was allergic to peanuts and asked if the specific dish that I was planning to order contained peanuts. Generally what would happen is the server would tell me to wait one moment, ask the kitchen staff, and then tell me that everything was alright. Sometimes staff will also come back and ask if you're also allergic to other common allergens like soybeans and sesame which I thought was nice of them. At times it felt kind of funny doing so since I couldn't imagine why a dish would have peanuts, but I wanted to be extra safe as I was worried about cross contamination or different preparation methods; I'll address this a little later for a case in Osaka.

Tablet/ticket vending machine restaurants/food stalls/street food:

When it came to sit down restaurants where you had to order from a vending machine or tablet, I would normally catch one of the staff's attention to tell them that I was allergic to peanuts and ask if an item was alright to order. I would do the same when it came to street foods, snack shops, cafes, etc. However, things can vary a little here since the vendors who are normally making the foods themselves can confidently tell you, but when it came to foods the vendor didn't make themselves and just being sold at stalls there was less confidence. For the most part, if it seemed like they weren't confident that something didn't contain peanuts, they would just tell me no you shouldn't eat that. That said, if they seemed unconfident after I said my part I already mentally made the executive decision to not eat the item; trust your gut here.

Snacks and other packaged foods:

I'm not really someone that snacks too much, but Japan has so many snacks that looked interesting. For that I used the Google Translate camera function to live translate packaging on items to make sure they didn't contain peanuts. I noticed that for most if not all packaging, there was a section where they would list the 7 major allergens if the item contained 1 or more of them.

Bars:

Bars in my opinion were the second biggest concern as they'll normally give you a bowl of dry snacks that may include nuts shortly after you sit down. I completely avoided them and I suggest you doing the same if your allergy is as severe as mine.

Yokohama's Chinatown:

While I only spent an afternoon in Yokohama's Chinatown, that was by far the area where I was the most hesitant to try any food. It was fun to check out, but I was very concerned about trying out most of the food since I knew that peanuts are much more common in Chinese cuisine. Even though I did eventually get lunch at a restaurant there, it was a little nerve wracking since it didn't seem that Japanese was the employees first language and I had to used Google translate to ensure my meal didn't contain peanuts.

Osaka:

Osaka was the only city where I was turned away from restaurants due to my peanut allergy, but the staff were very apologetic about it. It was only 2 restaurants that I was turned away from during my 2 week trip. It really surprised me since they were both Udon restaurants. It seems I wasn't aware that certain Udon dishes were prepared with peanuts or could have the potential for cross contamination with peanuts. The first location in Osaka station was very bizarre since I had flagged down one of the staff asking about peanuts before ordering at the vending machine and they told me I was good to order a beef Udon bowl. However, after I paid and queued in line to get my order, the person who I believe was the chef came up to me telling me there were peanuts, took my ticket I got from the vending machine, and gave me a refund. I ended up leaving very confused, which took me to another Udon place that also turned me away.

I ended up going to a Yakisoba place after being turned away from the two Udon places. This was the only time where I felt that my Japanese just completely failed to communicate that I was allergic to peanuts and had to resort to the screenshot on my phone stating that I was deathly allergic to peanuts. After the server took my order, I believe I heard him sigh and mutter difficult under his breath in Japanese. Do take this with a grain of salt as I had only been learning tourist survival phrases in Japanese for about a month so I could have very easily misheard.

Closing Thoughts:

Although travelling with a severe allergy to a country where you don't speak or read the language can be scary, I don't think that a peanut allergy will stop you from enjoying most of the delicious food Japan has to offer. Most places are extremely accommodating and are happy to check with the kitchen to ensure you don't have an allergic reaction. While I did have some places that gave me a bit of concern, those were the exception and not the norm. For reference, I was eating out 2-3 times a day for 2 weeks not including snacks/food stalls/bars and felt safe doing so 99% of the time. As always though, I kept both Epi-Pens on my person at all times. I hope this is helpful to anyone else who may be travelling to Japan with a peanut allergy - safe travels!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/nxa74 on 2024-06-01 13:12:20+00:00.

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Visited Japan in March 2024 for 3 weeks (March 5 to March 28).

Tokyo (March 5 to March 12):

Ramen - Top 3 on the trip were Nakiryu, Kikanbo & Kagari. The chicken broth ramen at Kagari is so uniquely thick & creamy - I don't know how else to describe it without sounding like a porno - and also perfectly paired with an array of seasonal vegetables. The tantanramen at Nakiryu is bomb & Kikanbo if you want a cleansing spicier broth. Wait times for all but the queue system at Nakiryu was the best - you get a time slot from a machine outside and can then leave / return for your time.

Yokocho - Favorite nighlife in Tokyo was in the narrow alleyways called Yokocho where you eat skewers & drink beer. Different Yokocho is different neighborhoods and each one has its own vibe / food specialities. Visited Golden Gai, Harmonica, Omoide, Nonbei, Ebisu. Harmonica yokocho had the most local feel because its in Kichijoji, a bit outside the city centre. Golden Gai had a friendly vibe for foreigners / easy to meet people as a solo traveler because you are crammed in these super small bars. Ebisu is not a narrow alleyway in traditional sense, but is lively indoor complex full of small bars and eateries. Omoide & Nonbei were the most touristic / my least favorite, but still worth a visit.

Hiking - Day trip to Mt Takao. Very easy to get to via train from Tokyo & a popular day trip hike for locals. Was a nice change of pace to burn off the all the delicious Japanese food!

Uniqlo - Flagship store in Tokyo. Bring some extra luggage space and go hard on the monochrome.

Kawaguchiko (March 12 to March 14):

Ide Shuzo Sake Brewey - Cool sake brewery tour - need to reserve in advance. Get tastings along the way and there is a small area to sit and taste more sake afterwards. Not the most impressive sake brewery compared to others I saw later in the trip, but a nice way to spend a couple hours in Kawaguchiko.

Hiking - you can hike from the Panorama railway to Mt. Mitsutoge. In March, however, it was still quite snowy on the ground and I did not bring hiking shoes. Did some of it but not the whole route - would plan ahead and bring hiking boots if you can plan to do this in winter / early spring.

Ice cream - at Oishi park, there is a shop serving ice cream. GET IT. They have some rad flavors including Muscat - flavors of the grape grown in Japan.

Koshu (March 15) - on the way from Kawaguchiko to Matsumoto, I made a day trip to Koshu, which is a wine region in Japan. As wineries are clustered in the same area, was able to visit 5 wineries on foot and do tastings in a couple hours before catching train to Matsumoto. Visited Soryu, Chateau Mercian, Katsunuma, Ikeda, Marufuji. Can't say Koshu is my favorite wine grape, but it was a fun day excursion to understand the Japan wine scene.

Matsumoto (March 15 to March 17) - Small town, didn't know what to expect but loved it. Famous for being the birthplace of artist Yayoi Kasuma and there is a museum where you can see her works. Sake Pub is a must visit - they have a huge sake list and the owner is extremely friendly / gives you guidance on what types of sake to try. Also dug the craft beer scene - Matsumoto Brewing & Bacca Brewing - the latter which is owned by a Brewer who previously worked in California.

Takayama (March 17 to March 19):

Hida Beef - Eat it raw in sushi form, eat it cooked, eat it everywhere. Kobe beef - which I tried later on - definitely my favorite but Hida is no slouch.

Morning Market - Check out the Miyagawa morning market right along the river. Grab some takoyaki from a food stall, a beer from the local brewery stand and chill by the river.

Sake Brewery Tour - Takayama has a huge concentration of sake breweries. When I was there, I unexpectedly got to see the Shizukumiyamatsuri - which is their local sake festival - it takes place in mid-March every year. Grab a map of all the sake breweries in town and do a crawl. Hirase sake brewery is one of the oldest and the best tasting experience - for a small fee you get to try a bunch of their sakes.

Gero (March 19 to March 20) - Stayed one night in Gero - an onsen town - which is a short train from Takayama. Super relaxing & authentic ryoko experience albeit a bit pricey. After some onsen time, I don't think I have ever slept better in my life - that volcanic water really soothes the muscles.

Kyoto (March 21 to March 24):

Kaiseki meal - In the geisha district, do a long course kaiseki meal and splurge. Admittedly, not my favorite meal on the trip- others were less expensive and tastier - but it is a cool experience. You sit counter side and see the chef bring out dish after dish of creatively designed food. Book in advance.

Drank - Kyoto Beer Lab is a cool place to meet expats & travelers in Kyoto. Great beers and a friendly vibe. They also a running club each month where they end at the Brewery for some post-workout suds. Sampling matcha tea at a traditional teahouse is also a must. Not a huge matcha person myself, but gotta respect the attention and craft the Japanese put into its production.

Osaka (March 24 to March 27):

Tuna - Go to the Kurumon market. Eat the sushi particularly the fatty tuna - it's incredible, the best I've ever had. There is one stand in particular where you will see they prepare the sushi for you, cutting it raw and/or searing it on request - prices there are more expensive than average in the market, but the taste is exquisite.

Kobe - Day trip to Kobe, very easy to access by short train ride from Osaka. We had one mission - eat Kobe beef - and boy did we succeed. The meal is expensive and will put you back 100+ euros, but kobe beef is in its own league. Kobe is also the #1 sake producing region in Japan. Can do a walking tour / sampling of the local sake breweries.

Hiroshima / Miyajima (March 27 to March 28):

Day trip in Miyajima island. It was insanely crowded and I thought the IG trap of the underwater gate is overrated. Still, it is worth a visit for a meal to get some of those HUGE oysters. The deer are also funny - they have absolutely no fear and come right up to you trying to steal your food.

Hiroshima was worth a visit for the obvious historical context. Found the museum extremely interesting. For food, the local specialty is okonomiyaki. Can't say I am a huge fan - it feels more like a bunch of stuff just mushed up together. Good sloppy drunk food, but not my favorite sober meal. Still, eating it tableside at one of the indoor night malls filled with Oki stands is a fun experience.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Hazzat on 2024-06-01 09:39:04+00:00.

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Tokyo is the ultimate city in the world for music, and if you are not checking out what's going on in the unbelievable number of livehouse music venues right under your feet, you're missing out on some of the most unique-to-Tokyo, exciting, and rich cultural experiences around. Get involved to meet new people, and enjoy night after night of original creativity and talent that you can only experience in this city.

I have already written a guide about how music venues work here and how to get involved in this exciting and ever-evolving scene. I also post upcoming shows that I think are worth checking out on Instagram gigsintokyo.

For anyone ready for a musical adventure, these are the venues that I keep coming back to time and again:

Shimokitazawa

• Basement Bar and Three are the two top venues in Tokyo and a seriously important foundation of Japanese music as a whole. Situated right next door to each other, the managers and organisers here truly care about quality, community, and giving a space to lesser-known acts with incredible potential. There are small acts, big acts, and an impressive alumni of majors who once passed through here. Any day of the week you can show up to see something unique and amazing, and if you make a few trips, it won't be long before you're part of the family. So much Japanese music is born and nurtured here, and you can be the first to see it. Check them out.

• Live Haus is a newer venue founded by the former manager of Three that also offers a wide range of quality acts and rich creativity. Many nights of the week it also operates as a small nightclub, with DJs spinning their niche from 11:30pm-5am. Alternative/EDM crossover party SUPERFUZZ on the first Friday or Saturday of every month is not to be missed.

• Spread is the go-to spot for artists looking to experiment. Lots of events dedicated to electronic music, experimental rock, hardcore grunge, ambient... It shouldn't all work together, but somehow it does. Head here to be surprised and amazed.

Shibuya

• TOKIO TOKYO is one of the newest venues around, and have been using that position to try new things. The event organisers here absolutely love music and the artists they put on, and are always working hard to create unique and memorable events with stunning performers. They also regularly host an event called 'FREE!!!' where the ticket is free once you buy two drinks (¥600 x 2), which is a great entry point if it's your first time at a livehouse. Located right in the middle of Shibuya just across from the PARCO, it's an actual hidden gem that any tourist would be lucky to discover.

• WWW and WWW X are sizeable venues that sit on the comfortable borderline between super-indie livehouses and large concert halls. You'll find a lot of breakout acts on their way to stardom, and indies taking their first big step to bigger stages. These venues are notable also because once in a while, they will fire up their pop-up nightclub WWWβ, which hosts outstanding acts and DJs. The New Years party is pretty lit too.

• clubasia may be best-known as a nightclub, but they put on a lot of live acts too, with a clear vision to gather together artists and audiences who will move the subculture forwards with parties unlike any you have seen. Most outstanding of these events is 'bedroom', an era-defining crossover night run by post-punk band and nightlife pioneers bed. The next one is on the night of July 12th.

Shinjuku

• Space is another one of those important crossover spaces, where DJs meet bands, and the people who are actually too cool to be seen in downtown Shinjuku get their cultural kicks. I've never had a bad night here.

• Marz’s almost-monthly New Action! event is an amazing mix of live music, DJs, and VJ talent with a tight community that feels like no other.

• Loft's regular organiser Haruki is always putting on excellent rock events, including a lot of late-night ones. You haven't lived until you've been to a gig that starts at midnight.

Koenji

• Sound Studio DOM is, as the name suggestions, a rehearsal studio by day, but once in a while will turn into an event space where I've experienced some of the most underground, unique, and creative events ever. You will feel like you've found 'deep Tokyo' when you're in this crowd.

• SUB Store is a small music bar and record store, and a bastion of Koenji punk spirit. They put on a big variety of intimate music shows and DJ nights where it's very easy to meet and get to know people.

• HIGH is the name to know if you like shoegaze. Their monthly Total Feedback event looks to gather the defining acts of Japanese shoegaze right now.

• TKA4 is an abandoned building turned into an arts space that holds concerts, exhibitons, and more.

Other locations

• Hatagaya Forestlimit is the first stop for any organiser or artist who wants to do something totally new and experimental. This tiny concrete box that hosts both DJs and live events, and a tight community of pioneering art lovers and creators. In my opinion, the best nightclub in Tokyo.

• Shindaita Fever is another large venue where you will see successful acts crossing over with indies taking their first big steps. Some overseas fan favourites like tricot and MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS often play here.

• Nishi-Eifuku Jam punches far above its weight, with regular top-quality lineups despite being in a slightly far-out location. Generally leans more pop.

• Sakuradai Pool is a converted garage/workshop that's still full of machinery and feels very 'underground'. Lots of unique experiments taking place here.

• Ochiai Soup is the go-to place for experimental and noise music.

• Chofu Rathole is as the name suggests. Tiny space with lots of punk and hardcore.

• Club Heavy Sick is so rock n' roll that I had to go home and change into a leather jacket because I felt so out of place wearing anything else.

Hope that helps, happy to answer any questions :)

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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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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Dumbidiot1323 on 2024-05-27 21:31:03+00:00.

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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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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/dontcallmeheather on 2024-05-27 16:28:39+00:00.

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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.