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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Pokepal23 on 2024-06-14 23:28:48+00:00.
Hello everyone! I read a lot of trip reports before I left for my trip to Japan so wanted to give back.
About us: We went as a group of 3 people total (all 21M). We all just graduated college and wanted to take a grad trip. We traveled from May 9th to May 23rd (I got really busy after the trip so was only able to write it up now). We aren't huge drinkers so we didn't really visit any bars or clubs.
Day 0 - Arrival (8,872 Steps) May 9-10th
We arrived at Narita around 2pm JST. Customs took about an hour, and then getting the Passmo passport took another 30 minutes. After this, we went straight to our hotel in Shin-Okubo (right next to Shinjuku). We were pretty tired so we just walked around a bit and went to the Shinjuku Metro Government building for a (FREE!) observatory view of the city. For dinner, we went to Yoshinoya and were in bed by 10pm.
Day 1 - Tokyo (34,696 steps) May 11th
This was our first full day in Tokyo. We started the day off early and went to the Outer Tsukiji Fish Market. We wandered around for a while (there were a lot of tourists here!) and ate some dango and tamogoyaki. There was less fish here than I was expecting. Of the food streets we went to on the trip, this was definitely my least favorite. Afterwards, we went to the Hama Rikyu Gardens which were a ten minute walk away. The gardens are super pretty and very peaceful. We also got some tea and dango here at a tea house in the middle of the park.
Next, we went to the Ginza area for some shopping. In particular, we went to the Uniqlo Flagship, Muji Flagship, and the GU flagship. We are very cheap shoppers, so we didn't really hit the luxury stores (which is most of Ginza). In between our shopping, we got lunch at Orca Teppanyaki. We made the reservations before we went to Japan. The food was a bit pricey but was good. We also went to the Asakusabashi Matsuri after lunch. This was super underwhelming and I would not recommend going. There were a total of 10 stalls and not many people. After finishing our shopping, we went to the Ginza 6 mall which has a really nice rooftop garden and views of Ginza.
We got back to our hotel around 7pm and relaxed for a bit. Then, we went to Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku. It was definitely overpriced because of all the tourists. After getting a couple of drinks here, we wandered around the Kabukicho and Golden Gai areas. They were all full of tourists, but it is a super pretty area at night. We were still a little jet lagged so we retired at 11pm and went to bed.
Day 2 - Tokyo (22,775 steps) May 12th
Today, we started a bit later because of the jet lag. We started the day at Meiji Jingu and walked around the shrine and surrounding park. It was very pretty and I highly recommend going just to chill in the park.
Afterwards, we headed to Odaiba. We went to go see the big Gundam at Diver City and walked around the mall. We also went to the Aqua City mall and had lunch at the ramen theme park. Finally, we went to the Tokyo Decks retro shopping street. This was super cool and we definitely could have spent more time here. However, we had a reservation at Team Lab Planets. Team Labs was really cool and I am glad we went. It was a lot shorter than I was expecting (it only took us 1.5 hours to go through it all) but the exhibits are all very interesting.
We came back to our hotel to chill for a bit and then explored the area around us (Shin-Okubo). There is a large Korea town around the station and I recommend staying in the area as it is quieter than Shinjuku. We got dinner at Torikizoku (a chain Izakaya) which was really good (honestly my favorite meal of the trip) before going to bed.
Day 3 - Tokyo -> Osaka (25,593 steps) May 13th
Today, we started early to go to Osaka. We took the local train to Shinagawa and then took the Shinkansen to Osaka. We also grabbed our Eki-bens at the station before the trip. You can find them pretty easily in the stations. Honestly, they are not that good (because they are cold) and I would recommend just getting some Kombini food instead.
We had planned to do Nara today, but it was raining, so we went straight to our hotel to check our bags in. We decided to stay in the Dotonbori area because it was the cheapest. After we dropped our bags off, it was still raining so we went to Round 1 Osaka (the biggest in the country). The arcades in Japan are super fun and pretty cheap (if you don't go for the prize games). After spending a good amount of money to win a figure, we played a bunch of rhythm games. We came back to this Round 1 everyday during our time in Osaka because we liked the arcades so much.
After spending a bit too much time and money, we checked into our hotel properly and walked around the Dotonbori area. We ate some Takoyaki and listened to the street performers. We also went to Don Quixote which was packed with tourists. Afterwards, we wandered down some of the backstreets (which were basically empty) to find some Okonomiyaki. We ended up eating at Bonkuraya which was decent. We ended the night by going back to Round1 and playing some more games.
Day 4 - Osaka and Nara (28,149 steps) May 14th
Since we were unable to go to Nara yesterday, we decided to go today. We took the special deer train (which was pure luck). We went to go see the mochi pounding at Nakatanidou but missed the scheduled show. They are approximately every hour so plan accordingly. We did eat the mochi though which was pretty good.
Afterwards, we wandered around Nara park and saw Kofukuji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and the Daibutsu. The temples were all super interesting and I definitely recommend going to Nara if its your first time in Japan. However, it is also packed with tourists and school kids. We also fed the deer who were more aggressive than I was expecting. If you don't want them to attack you, try to feed the ones without antlers (the females) as they are less aggressive.
After Nara, we came back to Osaka in the evening. We walked down Shinsaibashi and went to some of the stores. In particular, the cheese tarts at Pablo were really tasty. Afterwards, we went to America Mura and got some more Takoyaki. I really loved the vibes of the America Mura area and wished that we went a bit earlier in the day (as most things closed by the time we went). We ended up getting some burgers and fries at Rich Garden which was good. We ended the day by going back to Round1 to do the SpoCha and play some more rhythm games.
Day 5 - Osaka (31,777 steps) May 15th
Today, we started off by doing a hike outside of the city. We found out about it on another trip report (which I can't find anymore, but you can find the route by googling "The Takedao Abandoned Railway Hike"). It starts at Namaze station and takes you to Takedao station by walking on an abandoned rail line. It was super pretty and we didn't see many people on the trail. I highly recommend it and it was our favorite activity of the trip by far. As well, at the end of the trail at Takedao station, there is a nice onsen (called Azare) which we soaked in.
After soaking in the onsen, we came back to Osaka station and explored the area. In particular, we went to Nintendo Osaka, Pokemon Center Osaka, One Piece Osaka, pop-up Square Enix Store, Capcom Store which are all on one floor of a mall. The stores are really nice, but I recommend going to the ones in Shibuya (as they are tax free while Osaka is not). Afterwards, we went to Osaka Castle and walked around the park.
We then came back to the Dotonbori area and wandered around again. We ended up getting dinner at Chuka-soba Fuji Namba which was the best ramen of the trip. We ended the night off by grabbing some Strong-Zeros and chilling on the roof of our hotel.
Day 6 - Osaka -> Kyoto (29,000 steps) May 16th
We woke up early today to go to Kyoto. From the Dotonbori area, it takes about an hour to get to Kyoto. Our hotel in Kyoto did not let us drop off our bags, so we ended up using the coin lockers in the nearby station (which worked perfectly). After we arrived, we walked to Kiyomizudera. The temple is nice, but the whole area is packed with tourists and school kids. On the way back, we walked through Sanenzaka and Ninenzaka. We stopped by the Starbucks Machiya (which was way nicer than I was expecting) and chilled for a bit. We also went to Yasaka shrine which was a little less busy.
After exploring this area, we checked into our hotel and dropped our bags off from the coin locker. Next, we decided to walk to Ippudo Tea Store as one of my friends is really into tea. They had a wide selection (which I didn't understand anything about), and he grabbed some for himself. We then went to explore the Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was already closed (but the surrounding park is nice).
At night, we explored Pontocho alley, but didn't really find anything we wanted to eat so we decided to try Coco Ichiban. The curry was alright but just tasted like garam masala. If you are good with spice, I recommend getting at least level 4 or 5.
Day 7 - Kyoto (38,046 steps) May 17th
We woke up extra early today to do Fushimi Inari. We arrived at 7:30AM and it was not too busy. We hiked the entire thing which took about 2 hours total. When we were coming back, the whole place was packed. If you want to go, I recommend going early. The shrine is also open 24/7 though, so I think a night hike could also be cool. Although ...
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