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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/HugeRichard11 on 2024-02-12 02:26:46.

Original Title: Trip Report - Month in 2023 w/ lots of Pictures and Videos - Tokyo(Asakusa, Chiyo, Ueno, Akihabara, Odaiba, Yokohama, Shibuya, Shimokitazawa), Kyoto, Osaka, Kawaguchiko, Nara, Himeji, Kobe, Costco, and Anime!

A late entry for this trip report as it actually was for last year, but I am planning on going on my next trip to Japan soon. So wanted to write about the places I’ve been and maybe I’ll figure out the places I’ve planned to go to in my next trip. Included pictures of attractions, maps, guides, views, etc.

Album for all these pictures if you don’t want to view them individually:

I broke down the Tokyo portion into different parts as it is just simply massive. Random fact is there are 23 cities comprised in essentially forming Tokyo. Each of those cities have their own charm and adventure that it truly is a place that you won’t ever get bored in for a long time.

Tokyo

Asakusa

This was the first place I stayed at and it was pretty amazing. Really has a great combination of old school traditional with a blend of the modern city. Insane amount of good restaurants many are mom-and-pop kinds which a few did not take credit cards. Good spot nearby other places like Tokyo Skytree, Ueno, and Akihabara. But not exactly central that it might not be a good base location if you travel further away often. My hotel has a restaurant recommendation map. Area like most of Tokyo cities is very crowded.

• Sumida River – I walked along this river path which seems to go on forever. Quite a nice place to go along for a stroll and it looks like they do a lot of nice landscaping for it.
• Senso-ji Temple – Probably one of the most popular temples to visit it’s very crowded which I experienced regularly since my hotel was right next to it. Still a great place to get the traditional temple shrine experience in Tokyo. You have to huff in that incense. Throw a coin in the donation box, make your prayer, then buy some charms or luck drawings.
  • There is a spot nearby south of the temple where you can take a picture of the whole temple for free called, Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center. Also has a year event map.
  • On the weekends there were food stalls available to the left of the temple. It has both the best juicy fried chicken and meat skewers I’ve ever tasted. I tried stalls at other tourist places I found these stalls and they really do not come close to this one.
• Marathon – Randomly one day I found all the roads blocked and a marathon going on. Stayed to watch for a bit while people waved to the camera, but it was an insane amount of people it literally never ended.
• Tokyo Skytree – It is close by Asakusa essentially a bit of a walk across the bridge to it. You can actually see where I took the first picture is between those two bridges. There’s two different elevation floor levels you can purchase. The slightly more expensive option is you pay to go at the very top which you have to walk up a spiral. The other is you stop at a floor a bit below that. Both are good options, but I decide why not go to the top. Was a cloudy day so the further out I saw was very foggy looked very apocalypse.
  • Kirby Café (Menu) – This is actually apart of the same building for the Skytree. The entrance is located outside on the 4th floor. I was able to easily get a solo reservation by checking the page the previous day since people cancel I assume daily. Food is good, but you obviously don’t come here for the food rather the theme presentation.
• WaterBus (Map Route) – This is a good option to take the water bus down the river to either Hamarikyu Gardens or Odaiba. Kind of expensive so would only do it once. Where you sit doesn’t matter since the best thing is going up on the top access and looking out into the river.
• Asakusa Kagetsudō Bakery (Google Maps) – Left of Senso-ji there is this bakery that sells Melon Pan sweet buns which are really good. They fill them with whatever ice cream you choose or can eat them as is. I got both a vanilla and matcha which were great. The vanilla and sweet bun were unsurprisingly extremely sweet.

Skipped: Didn’t skip too much as there isn’t much else, I wanted to check out besides maybe the Sumida Aquarium, but that would’ve been bundled with the Skytree or Kirby since it’s in the same building so more of a time constraint.

Next Trip Plan: Asahi Group Head Office Building, this is the HQ for Asahi Beer it has a rooftop bar with a nice views and drinks. Across the river with the iconic golden “foam cloud” on top of its building.

Chiyo

• The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace (Map) – Nice open area and garden grounds with some historical strategic defensive landscaping and buildings that made it interesting. Majority of the Castle was burned down here, so not much landmarks to visit it really is mainly a nice big area for a stroll with a few historical parts.
• Imperial Palace – The above gardens are a part of the Palace ground which is free to visit, but the Palace itself requires a guided free tour to visit the grounds. So I took a picture near the Seimon Ishibashi bridge which is iconic.
• Ginza – Nearby area well known for shopping, I stopped by and saw on certain months for the weekend afternoons they close the roads which is nice to walk around. Random Godzilla.
• Hamarikyu Gardens (Map) – Interesting historical garden which has quite a variety to it. After entering the bottom right entrance there is a very large flower field which often has some people taking pictures in. A couple rows of cherry blossoms with some free cat food on a rock! There are historic teahouses here along with a restaurant that sells tea and deserts in the middle of the pond, but I didn’t try it. Has an interesting contrast between historic and modern with the skyscrapers in the background.

Skipped: Imperial Palace Tour, I read reviews it’s not worth it since the tour is long walking around and is limited to looking at the exterior of government buildings since the Imperial Family still actually lives there.

Next Trip Plan: Tsukiji Outer Market, though keep hearing mixed opinions on it. Tokyo Tower / Zojo-ji Temple, bit unsure of what else there is besides taking a pic of the tower but still want to I guess. Mori Art Museum / Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, for the view I heard is pretty good.

Ueno

• Ueno Park (Map) – This park isn’t very large or has much nature spots. It basically consists of a large pond, a ton of museums, and the zoo.
• Ueno Zoo (Map) – The zoo is decently busy and you do see the animals pretty much guaranteed, but the reason and why many point out is the space the animals have seems rather small. You can see on the map the elephant enclosure where I was is just a square. Didn’t take any pictures of anything else besides the Panda since had to wait in line a bit to see it and I believe is the only worthwhile thing to see.

Skipped: Museums, overall I personally have become not as interested in going to museums overseas. Really don’t see a reason to visit them when traveling as I can go to the dozens back home. However, if I would go to one it would be the National Museum of Nature and Science, as it does look cool with the animal focus probably great place with kids.

Akihabara

• Akihabara Electric Town – I heard Akihabara is more towards recent anime shows and I do find that correct, but will say there is merch of very popular older shows occasionally in the reseller kind of shops if you look around. The area dedicated to anime isn’t very large from what I gathered as it’s mainly the radius around Akihabara Station for a few blocks to say Suehirocho Station. This is where you get the iconic feel that this place is about anime after that it goes back to normal Japan neighborhoods. It was decently busy since many of the buildings contain multiple floors of different businesses selling different kinds of anime merch on each floor, which helps keep it feeling anime focused while concentrated in an area....

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