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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/reddithrowaway233 on 2025-02-16 20:02:15+00:00.
Context:
- 22 - was a graduation trip before I start work
- Partially with some friends, partially solo.
- First time in Japan
- From USA but ethnically Indian. Took some Japanese in college which helped a lot
- Vegetarian, but friends weren't, so separated for meals pretty often.
- What I brought: 1 carry-on and backpack. Overcoat, bunch of clothes, snow boots (needed for some places in the Alps), Asics Gel Kayano 14, meds, laptop.
- Pretty much planned the entire trip through Google Sheets (can share if needed), including vegetarian restaurants in all the cities.
Day 1: Landed in NRT
- Flight was delayed by like 6 hours so got through immigration in 45 minutes and went straight to my hotel (near Ikebukuro) and slept
Day 2: Tokyo
- Didn't plan this day at all so just did what I felt and went where I wanted to.
- Woke up hella early, got a protein shake from 7/11, checked out the area around my hotel, and went to a coffee shop in Shimokitazawa as soon as they opened.
- Walked around and checked out some thrift stores (didn't find anything too exciting) and got lunch.
- Went to Shibuya to see the Scramble and this anime I liked had a popup in the bookstore so got some posters.
- Went to Ginza to buy a gift that needed to be pre-ordered 2 weeks in advance and checked out some stores in the area (but didn't buy anything else)
- Got dinner and went back
- Random thoughts: The train from Ikebukuro to Shinjuku was packed like sardines with people shoving in which kinda took me aback.
Day 3: Matsumoto & Nagano
- Took a 9:30 AM bus to Matsumoto. It was lightly snowing when I got there which was exciting
- Got lunch and walked to the castle. It was so pretty. I paid 700 yen to go inside the grounds and in the castle. You had to take your shoes off so my feet were numb by the end of it. I enjoyed the inside but not sure if I'd go back in again.
- Had to kill a few hours in Matsumoto so went to a small shrine and got a goshuin book. Waited till the light show, which I thought was pretty cool, but it did feel weird seeing so many animations to a historical temple. If I had to re-do it, I probably wouldn't have waited the 3 hours to see it, and then have to wait another 45 minutes to get the train to Nagano, but that's your call to make.
- Took a short train to Nagano and checked into my hotel
Day 4: Nagano and Snow Monkeys!
- Bought the snow monkey pass at the station and took the first bus from Nagano to the monkey park (was planning on taking the second but made it in time for the first)
- I sat in the front and got off first and started walking up. It was a pretty long walk and not crowded at all early on. Seeing the monkeys was surreal. Def recommend
- Took the from the monkey park to Shibu Onsen and walked around. Such a pretty area but everything seemed pretty old and run down in Shibu, so I'm kinda glad I didn't stay there. Walked to Yudanaka, stopped at Obuse for sightseeing, and then went to Nagano
- Went to Zenko-ji, which was awesome, but I didn't pay to go all the way in. Got some lunch/ice cream there too. Definitely recommend the oyaki there.
Day 5: Togakushi Shrine
- Took the 9:30 am bus or so to Togakushi. The route was hella beautiful. Once I got to the middle shrine, there was like a 1.5 hour hike to the gates, and then further to the upper shrine. The snow was hella deep and my pants got kinda soaked. The cedar trees were breathtaking though so I definitely recommend it.
- Took the Shinkansen to Kanazawa. Got dinner and spent the night there
- Random Advice: They'll have a foreign help section in a lot of major stations and they'll always recommend the reserved seats, but I went with the unreserved seats since I'm a cheap fuck and noticed it was much less crowded and was able to get a set of 3 seats to myself.
Day 6: Kanazawa (Shirakawa-go day trip)
- I booked my bus trip about a week in advance since I knew it would sell out quick. I took the second bus in the morning and had about 4 hours there.
- I climbed to the viewpoint, walked around and checked out some of the houses, open-air museum, went to a shrine and temple, and got lunch. Definitely felt like 4 hours was too much and I ended up roaming around for a while till my bus got back.
- Honestly was super exhausted, so kind of just walked around the Higashi Chaya area and chilled in my hotel till dinner. This was mostly the last of my further-away day trips. The weather in Kanazawa is kinda ass and the annoying thing about it is the station is 20 minutes away from a lot of the hotels which are like 20 minutes away from the sights, but it's a small city so can't complain too much ig.
- Went to a random super tiny bar in chuo mishokugai and it was me and this Japanese couple there and I got to practice my Japanese with them. Probably the most immersive experience I had and they were so friendly which was awesome. I was worried before I entered since there was just a small Japanese menu outside and there were only like 6 seats inside and I didn't know how they felt about foreigners (I had to translate the name using lens and there were like 2 google reviews in Japanese), but I'm so glad I went.
Day 7: Kanazawa
- Checked out early and spent the day doing all the popular things in Kanazawa
- Went to Higashi Chaya to get the gold leaf ice cream and do some shopping, then walked around Kenrokuen, the DT Suzuki museum, and then the Nagamachi Samurai District.
- Took the afternoon Shinkansen to Osaka
Day 8 - 10: Osaka
- I'm kinda getting bored typing all this so gonna condense some more.
- Got a bit sick one day so took that day to rest and do my laundry
- Mainly did the popular stuff here: Dotonbori, Namba, Amemura, Osaka Castle
- Day trip to Nara: went to Todai-ji (absolutely magnificent), Kasuga-taisha Shrine, Kofuki-ji, and spent hella time feeding and petting the deer
- Random Advice: Don't wear your fancy Moncler puffer to Nara, a poor lady got hers ripped up :(
- Went to Kyoto in the afternoon and checked out Sanjusangendo Temple before checking in
Day 11: Kyoto
- Got to Kiyomizudera around 8 am. Not crowded at all. Crowds started coming in around 9am-ish. Would def do this as early as possible (probably earlier than me in Spring/Fall(
- Walked around Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka and took some photos of the Yasaka Pagoda. Then chilled in the fancy Starbies for a bit
- Went to Chion-in, Yasaka Shrine, and Heian Jingu before grabbing a very late lunch
- Walked around a park and along the river
Day 12: Arashiyama
- Probably my busiest day. Got there around 9:30 am and it wasn't super crowded but more crowded than anywhere else I'd been (besides Tokyo)
- Places I saw in order: Bamboo Forest, Tenryu-ji. Jojakko-ji, Gio-ji, Saga Torimoto Preserved Street, Otagi Nenbutsuji, Daikaku-ji, super late lunch, and Togetsukyo bridge
- Was bored so went to Fushimi Inari around 9:30 pm. I could hear boars making sound while walking up and was kinda scared but still went all the way to the top. Halfway has a very nice view and then the top is pretty cool too. Honestly, would've loved to do this during the morning as well, since I hardly saw any cats :(
Day 13: Kyoto
- Spent the morning just walking around Kyoto and exploring the city
- In the afternoon, I went to Kinkaku-ji since the sun was out. It was so crowded but so worth it, but it def wouldn't have been as nice without the sun, especially since it's so out of the way.
- Went to Kitano Tennmangu Shrine
- Random advice: Northern Kyoto is pretty far and not super accessible and there is sooooo much traffic after like 2:30 or 3 pm so I had to skip Ryoan-ji, which was one of the temples I wanted to see most since I got there pretty late. Plan this day accordingly. Also a lot of places like Ryoan-ji close at 4:30 during Winter as opposed to 5:00, so check the websites and not Google.
Day 14: Kyoto to Tokyo
- Went to Ryoan-ji late in the morning after checking out of my hotel since I HAD to see it. I'm so happy I did, it felt kinda cathartic
- Spent wayyy too much on matcha at the Marukyu Koyamaen store
- Took the train to Tokyo. Again, went unreserved since I'm cheap and ended up getting the E seat, but it got hella cloudy the closer we went to Tokyo and didn't see Fuji :(
- Went clubbing on a Sunday like a degen
Day 15 - 19: Tokyo
- Not really much to say here, did a lot of the standard Tokyo Stuff
- Visited Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ebisu, Akihabara, Asakusa, Teamlabs Borderless, Pokemon Store
- Did a lot of shopping and spent way too much money on drip, plushies, and gifts
- Wish I spent more time in Tokyo def feel like I barely scratched the surface of the city
- Bought hella snacks at the duty free in NRT before flying back. Would recommend buying stuff here since I believe it's the same price as everywhere else and you don't have to worry about packing it. My favorite snacks were the Matcha Millifeuiele or however you say it and the Matcha mochi with whipped cream inside. My family loved the peach/banana kitkats and Royce chocolates.
Overall thoughts:
- Sorry for yapping so much I'm sure y'all seen a lot of the same advice so gonna try to share sum unique stuff
- You can buy hella cheap suitcases at Akky in Akihabara and they're kinda shit but cheaper than paying like $35 one way for a checked bag if you're not flying direct like I did. This helped a lot since I didn't want to carry a large bag a...
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