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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Kartheia on 2024-11-07 15:56:09+00:00.
In appreciation of all of advice I gathered here prior to our trip, I feel obligated to document stand-out locations/activities during our 2 week trip in October.
For context, my husband [29M] and I [28F] are not huge city people, but definitely nerds that love tech, cars, and anime/manga. I always try and hunt down some nature-y spots whenever we go on vacation, and Japan was definitely a winner for both the hobbies and nature checkboxes.
While my understanding of simple spoken Japanese isn't awful, I can only speak very broken basics. It was fun to use what I did know all the same, and received plenty of excitement and appreciation for the attempts.
Day 1 - Flew in to Haneda: The airport was easy to navigate, and, although the customs line was long, it moved very quickly. Be sure to complete the customs questions via the Visit Japan site for your QR.
We purchased Pasmo cards (Suica were sold out) from the manned desk next to the Keikyu line entrance and then headed to Shinjuku via Shinagawa for our first night's hotel. Regrettably, this was right around rush hour (5:30P) and the trains were packed. Future trips I will absolutely pay more attention to flight arrival/departure times to avoid rush hour congestion.
As Western Union was running a no-fee promo, I sent $1,000USD in advance to be picked up in yen, which I did at a shop just by Shinjuku station with no fuss. I just provided my passport and confirmation number that was sent via email.
WPÜ HOTEL in Shinjuku was very tourist friendly, with staff we met speaking native-level English and willing to chat and give advice. Room was small but clean. Pretty standard for Tokyo from what we saw.
Day 2 - Travel to Kamikochi via Matsumoto: Before checking out of our hotel, we forwarded large luggage to our Kyoto hotel at the front desk (super simple and worth it, ~$30 for our two large suitcases), keeping only backpacks with the necessities for a couple of days. We ended up getting a late start this day, as the 9A and 10A ltd express trains on the Chuo line to Matsumoto were full. We purchased seats on the 11A train, and wandered around Shinjuku a bit longer. Note that, if you're interested in Matsumoto or Kamikochi, we chose Shinjuku as our landing point for the first night specifically to take the Chuo line up to Matsumoto. There are also expressway buses direct to Kamikochi if you prefer.
When we arrived in Matsumoto, we headed to Matsumoto-jo by foot. Although we did not go inside the castle, the grounds are beautiful. If you're a fan of Koi, there were many in the surrounding ponds. After stopping in a few shops, we headed back to the station to take a train to Shin-Shimashima and bus from there to Kamikochi. This was a combination ticket purchased at the Matsumoto station.
We arrived in Kamikochi and checked in at the Konashidaira campground for a stay in one of their "cabins". This was a townhome style 3-unit building. In our unit, there was a small sink/toilet, kitchen, and tatami room with futons that the camp office gave us sheets for.
Day 3 - Explore Kamikochi and travel to Nakatsugawa: I absolutely advise anyone interested in Kamikochi spend the night at either the campground or a hotel, as it's so gorgeous and quiet in the mornings before the day visitors arrive. Wandering around the trails and marshes of this little mountain town was probably the highlight of our entire trip. I can only imagine how gorgeous the red maples would have been if we arrived just a few weeks later. They were just starting to turn during our visit. We also saw over a dozen Japanese Macaques (aka "snow monkeys") jumping around in trees and fishing in the river. The onsen hotel offered free footbaths outside of their public onsen. We tried our darnedest, but our weak american feet could not handle more than a toe dip of that heat.
Once we'd had our fill of trekking, we took the same bus/train combination ride down in to Matsumoto, then a train to Nakatsugawa. We didn't spend much time in Nakatsugawa, as our activity planned the next morning was the Magome-Tsumago Nakasendo hike, but we enjoyed an awesome yakiniku meal for dinner between the station and our accommodation.
Our accommodation was an old residence that was recently ikea-renovated for vacation rental by the owners of the cafe next door. This was one of the most affordable, but very large, spots we stayed.
Day 4 - Hike the Nakasendo and travel to Kyoto: The next morning, we locked our backpacks in lockers at the Nakatsugawa station and hopped on a bus to Magome-juku.
If you're unfamiliar, the Nakasendo trail connected Kyoto and Tokyo (Edo) during the Edo period. Parts of it are very scenic, and the Magome -> Tsumago stretch (roughly 8km) is one of the most commonly hiked. Magome and Tsumago are both pretty historic post towns, and it was fun to explore both along with other small establishments in between. Note that several travel sites suggest this is a "gentle" hike. In many areas, I'd agree; but there is quite a bit of elevation change throughout the trip as well as relatively precarious rocky stairs. Be sure to wear some trusted footwear and prepare for a decent bit of up and down to tucker you out.
The trail intersects with modern roads in several places. Along one of these intersections, we stopped at a little restaurant named Juri a few km out from Magome for some yummy goheimochi (grilled soy/miso mochi found in Gifu and neighboring prefectures in the Chubu region). Then, closer to Tsumago, we encountered a beautiful old tea house offering a spot to sit and free green tea.
When we arrived in Tsumago, we explored a bit before deciding it wasn't worth waiting half an hour for the bus in to Nagiso (the nearest town with a train station). We opted to continue on the Nakasendo trail another ~4km, which also wove its way into Nagiso.
After taking a train down into Nakatsugawa to collect backpacks, then Nagoya, and our first shinkansen to Kyoto, we settled in to Hotel ARU Kyoto Sanjo Kiyamachi-dori where our luggage was waiting for us. This was a great hotel that was spacious for the city, clean, and had a decent size tub to soak in the room. Location was also great, with food/necessities all around and right across the river from two differing direction stations.
We finished the night with a yummy hotpot and gyoza dinner at Nikunabe Chiba just down the street from our hotel. It was fun, yummy, and very hospitable.
Day 5 - Day trip to Nara: Unfortunately, I discovered that my previous day's runny nose had evolved into a full-blown respiratory cold the next morning. My husband, who knows not a word of Japanese, volunteered to go pick up some OTC cold meds and masks around the corner. Masks were acquired at Lawson, who advised him to go to the drug store when it opened - even for OTC meds. The pharmacist attending the drug store pulled out an english translated questionnaire sheet asking several questions of him when hubby tried to buy the cold meds. He must have answered incorrectly, as he was unceremoniously ejected from the store. I waddled my way in (masked) shortly after, asking for cold medicine recommendations in broken Japanese, and walked out 2 minutes later with my haul and no questionnaire pulled out for me, which I considered a big win haha.
We'd slated this day for Nara, and cold be darned, I wanted to visit Nara. So, off we went to Nara park via train. We took it easy, feeding some deer that didn't believe us when told we were out of crackers. There are quite a few hangry pocket nibblers, beware. We saw Todai-ji and several other spectacles before calling it a day and heading back to the hotel earlier than planned. I was quite drained by the cold - regrettably.
Day 6 - Koto Lesson, Nijo-jo, Gion: Thankfully, taking it easy the night before paid off and I was feeling about 90% myself the next day. We started the day by taking a Koto lesson from Harumi-sensei at Soushunan. This was super fun, an absolute highlight of the trip. After about an hour of lesson, and performing 3 simple songs with her accompaniment, we settled in for tea while Harumi-sensei gave a beautiful private performance. She then sat with us to tell us stories of the old house we were in, owned by her grandparents.
After saying goodbye, we headed to Nijo-jo. This was the first castle we were able to go inside of, which was very neat. It was interesting to walk through the castle's wood floors and hear an kind of pretty singsongy chirp with every step. Signage explained this was due to the construction of the floor. The nails in the floor sliding around as steps were taken. The english signage was quite detailed explaining how the various rooms would have been used in their hayday. We did not enter the inner-most castle, but toured the gardens and grounds surrounding it. Overall, certainly worth the visit.
After a famichiki-pancake sandwich lunch (husband's addiction during the trip...) we headed to Maruyama park and explored the surrounding temples/shrines. Kodai-ji was very neat to tour, along with the relocated old houses and bamboo forest behind it. We then wandered around the very walkable streets just south of Kodai-ji (Ninen Zaka, Sannen Zaka) before grabbing an early-ish dinner at Smile Burger and taking the train down to Fushimi-Inari Taisha.
I had read that it's very pretty to visit Fushimi-Inari ...
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