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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/childishgames on 2024-02-15 01:53:52.
Just got back from 9 nights in Japan. I flew in and out of Tokyo (HND) and hit the following cities in the following order:
Tokyo > Hakone > Kyoto > Osaka > Tokyo
Pre Japan: I was in Los Angeles (flew in from NYC) for 6 nights for a work all-hands event. I stayed in LA for one extra day to do light tourism. During this trip I did a lot of networking (exhausting) and also went out to team dinners/happy-hours/bar hopping late night (also exhausting) almost every day of the trip. Being in Los Angeles cut down on my flight length and cost, which made it more feasible for me to get to Japan.
- Tokyo ( 3 nights )
- Day 1: I arrived on my 32nd birthday, and part of taking this trip was a gift to myself and an attempt to avoid the pressure of making birthday plans at home. My flight was delayed 3 hours, but I knew that the night before, which allowed me to wake up at 9am instead of 6am. It also meant I arrived in Japan closer to 6pm instead of 3pm. Knowing I was going to be tired, I stayed at one of the more expensive hotels on my trip (still only $220 USD / night). The hotel was Hotel Century Southern tower, and I highly recommend. It was very nice and not too expensive. It was a high-rise hotel in Shinjuku with great views. Since I was absolutely dead from jetlag + the previous week, all I did was walk around the area around my hotel to get my bearings straight and get food at a local Japanese BBQ spot. I did forget to get money out of the ATM and had difficulty finding a spot to eat and order, but it was my first day. After dinner I stopped at 7/11 and picked up a few goodies and drinks to stock in my hotel room. I went to bed by 10pm
- Day 2: Following a good night of sleep, I woke up early and took my sweaty LA clothes to do laundry nearby. All the instructions were in japanese and I tried to use google translate, but struggled. A japanese local who didn't speak english helped me out (we communicated mostly with body language) - and the detergent was out of order so he went back to his apartment to grab some and gave it to me for free. While my laundry was running I took a lap around the area and just enjoyed walking through quiet residential alleys and streets. A lot of charming sights, cool views of trains walking by, nice little flower gardens. Clean streets, etc. I came back to my hotel to finish my laundry and left the house dressed for cold weather and rain. I wore Uniqlo heat tech leggings and undershirt, a rain jacket, and a fleece northface, and Goretex boots that I bought in case we had rain/cold (this all cam in handy later). I went out to Shibuya to go shopping for clothes. Right before the rain started I stoped in Family Mart for an umbrella. I popped into a bunch of stores, then went to a fantastic conveyor belt sushi spot in a mall. I talked to a Korean girl next to me, and she recommended I try Okonomyaki in Kyoto/Osaka. When I left the mall, to my surprise it was snowing, which apparently only happens like once or twice a year in Tokyo. With my Umbrella + snow gear, I was well prepped. I spent 4 hours walking around shopping, and bought 2-3 items from cool vintage stores. I tried to get cool stuff that isn't necessarily found in the US. By this time it was pitch dark outside and the snow was coming down HARD. I came back to my hotel and instead of going out like I initially planned, I decided to just get food at the hotel restaurant because the snow was pouring, there was lightning, there was heavy wind, and I didn't want to wear myself out. The snow kept going all night and apparently it was one of the biggest snowstorms they've had in 10 years.
- Day 3: After another early night to bed, I went to Asakusa to see the Senso Ji shrine. This was recommended to me by my hotel restaurant waiter the previous night. I didn't quite get there as early as I would've liked and there were lots of tourists, but it was still cool to see. I had to trudge through some slush, but by late in the day the snow was basically all gone. After the shrine, I walked to the Tokyo Skytree which had pretty amazing panoramic views of the city. On my way back to the hotel I was a bit of an idiot and messed up my navigation back home on the train, but I never took the wrong train or went in the wrong direction. Just got confused by the entrances. Someone at a vintage shop in Shibuya the previous day had recommended a ramen spot that he called the best in the city (Shiina Ramen). It opened at 6pm. They used a ticketing system and there was basically no wait and it was not expensive. Very good. Before I went there, I was so hungry that I went to an izakaya and got a few glasses of Sake + a few orders of dumplings. Afterwards I headed to Golden Gai (a few blocks of narrow alleyways and cool divey bars that fit 8 or so people). Lots of places had cover fees. It was basically all tourists - mostly Australians who were in Japan for ski trips. I noticed that most people were just kinda walking around looking for a place to go and not actually stopping inside. I spent an hour or two alone drinking 1-2 beers and looking for a spot to go. I met a few people that weren't really my vibe, and I was close to going home. Then I found a cool spot and several groups of 2-3 australians came in and we all got drunk together and had a really good time. Then a couple of cute girls came in and joined the group (sitting across the long table from me). I was almost about to call it a night and go home but ended up talking to the girl (she used to live in the same NYC neighborhood I live in) and we bounced to a Karaoke Bar. We stayed out until 3am and we ended up having a kiss at the end of the night, exchanged IG, planned to link in Osaka (but our timelines never matched up bc we were in different cities). I kinda have a travel crush and would like to see here again, but she lives far away. I got back to the hotel late.
- Hakone (1 night)
- Day 4: After a night out and having a few days to adjust to jetlag, I thought it made sense to plan a relaxing day away for recovery. I took a train a few hours to get to Hakone and stayed at a mid-budget Ryokan (Motoyo Kansuiro) and found it to be incredibly beautiful, situated right on the river, great interior design, etc. Hotel check-in was at 3pm and the dinner was 6pm. This didn't give me any time to do anything in Hakone except stay in the Ryokan, and that was perfectly fine with me. I thought initially that Mt. Hood was going to be really easy to get to, but that would've been a whole other day trip. Either way, the traditional Ryokan experience was fantastic. I went down by the river and kicked my feet into the flowing river and just relaxed for an hour and watched the sunset. Then I enjoyed traditional japanese dinner served to me in my room. I put on the Yukata. It was great. Afterwards I headed to the Onsen nervously, but I was the only male in the Ryokan and had it all to myself. Even though it was like 4 degrees Celcius, the Onsen heated my body so much that I had to get out every few minutes and just relax in the freezing cold. But it didn't feel cold at all because my body temperature was elevated. It was great.
- Kyoto (2 nights)
- Day 5: I woke up in Hakone early, got served my breakfast, took one last plunge in the Onsen, then checked out of the hotel, nearly forgetting my carry-on luggage. I took romancecar back on stop to Odawara, then Shinkasen to Kyoto. Mid trip I was seconds away from missing the transfer to a parallel train at one point, but managed to get on the right train in time. I got to my hotel at around 4pm which gave me just enough time to go outside, walk around the area by my hotel, walk around Gion, go to a random temple, and find an izakaya for dinner. The food was very solid and it ended up filling with lots of tourists - but a healthy mix of locals and tourists. The people I met at the bar weren't really my vibe - wanted to talk about politics that I didn't really agree with - but it was good to talk and meet with some people. I found out the next day that Kyoto nightlife is not very good, but I think going to a lively izakaya is the move in Kyoto if you want to drink and meet people. The bar scene is pretty whack (although I didn't have much time to truly navigate it)
- Day 6: I woke up relatively early to get to Fushimi Inari, but again - not early enough to beat the crowds. I hiked to the top. This may sound controvercial to say, but I sort of found that once you've seen one temple in Tokyo/Osaka, you've kind of seen them all. But Fushimi Inari is a bit different - and I really enjoyed the hike to the top. The view wasn't anything crazy, but it was good to break a sweat and walking through the gates is pretty neat. I stopped at a fantastic French/Japanese fusion spot after. Then I walked along the river and sat down for a bit. When I came back I walked around what I thought was Nishiki Market but instead was just a massive outdoor mall with cover. I was honestly extremely impressed with the shopping. Some of the best military supply, vintage clothing, and general shopping i've seen in a while, and not the quality I expected from a commercial tourist area. I ended up buying some expensive sneakers at Graphpaper, then got a fish massage (cool experience, not too expensive) before heading home. Since it was Friday night I walked around looking for bars. Ended up meeting 2 really cute english speaking ex-pats living in japan and went to a bar with them after...
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