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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/yuukireira on 2025-09-22 09:53:09+00:00.

This trip was during November - December 2024. As I started planning my upcoming Dec-Jan 2026 trip, I remembered my forgotten trip report draft.

Locations

Route: Tokyo 8 days -> Kyoto 6 days -> Kurashiki 2 days -> Hiroshima 2 days -> Tokyo 3 days

Day trips: Kamakura, FujiQ, Uji, Okayama, Nijigen no Mori (Awaji), Miyajima

Good parts

• I saw a kpop idol in Ginza (Straykids Hyunjin). I’ve never seen a celebrity in public randomly before so hot tip: if you see a huge crowd forming around a place, be nosy and find out what they’re there for. You never know who you’ll see!
  • Random encounters during my trip: saw and talked to SHO the “I like sushi” guy with the gold Mercedes Benz, I also saw Akidearest (youtuber) walk past me at Sunshine city Pokemon center. Then we saw her chilling on the sidewalk on the way to the train station so I decided to greet her
• We decided to do any stamp rally we came across to – it made the visits to different places/train stations even more exciting
• I was able to snipe some tickets to a Michelin 2-starred restaurant, Florilège. This was a dining experience that I’d never forget. The dishes looked so beautiful.
  • If you’re trying to book popular restaurants like this through TableCheck, you literally have to secure your tickets within 30 seconds of release. I used Safari for the autofill.
• To-ji Temple night illumination viewing during fall foliage – for some reason, we started a line and just waited an hour or so before the 6pm opening. The stunning illumination was well worth the wait. We got a short moment of time when the place wasn’t filled with people, and we were able to get perfect shots without being shoulder to shoulder with someone for the view.
• Kurashiki was the perfect follow-up to Kyoto. Just walking around near our accommodation to unwind, we went for ages without seeing a single person. This was the kind of calm that we needed in the middle of our trip. For dinner, we went to the closest izakaya open (a 15min walk lol). Though the owner and daughter were surprised to see 2 foreigners walk-in at 9:40pm, they were still quite friendly and welcoming to us. They even tried to include us in their conversation with the other 2 customers there. Definitely a core memory for me.
• So much TWICE merch! Sunk too much yen into claw machines with laburis, bought a few tickets for Twice ichibankuji, got a ticket to the JYP Japan Popup store and experience trading photocards and postcards with other people outside the store.
  • My partner bought 20 tickets for a Naruto ichibankuji to get the top prizes and the final prize. He was so happy, but can’t say the same for the guy behind us lol. He walked away begrudgingly after realising my bf just cleared out the whole batch and he would have to buy from a new set.

Would revisit

• Immersive Fort – I 100% recommend if you’re also trying to learn Japanese like me. It was such a unique experience to be immersed in different themes/stories.
  • Tales of Edo Oiran is an absolute must and worth the additional cost to entrance fee. For me, the highlight was when I was able to go with the Oiran (main character) during one of the times that they’d split us into groups, and it was just me, this other Japanese guy, and her in this small room. We even acted and showed how concerned we were for her. I was such a happy little kid inside. My partner on the other hand didn’t enjoy it as much as I did as I had to translate what they were saying most times.
  • My partner was a big fan of Tokyo revengers at the time so we of course opted for the Tokyo Revengers: Immersive Escape. I love how the cast were not afraid to talk to us and help us solve the puzzles despite being foreigners.
  • I regret not going to the Alice in borderland and the Sherlock one, thus I must revisit on my next Japan trip.
• FujiQ – Despite having skill issue and somehow missing the stop leading to 6 hour delay in arriving here, it was still worth the trek to go here. We rode Eeejanaika 3 times in a row, spun around despite the freezing weather in Tentekomai Sky roller, rode the flight simulation ride with Attack on Titan theme, rode the tea cups with no one else around but me and my partner + spinning really fast, and ended the day with watching the sunset on the ferris wheel then grabbed some grilled fish on the way out. Worth the hassle, and I would visit again (but probably not for a day trip from Tokyo).
• Nijigen no mori – this was a bit of a hassle to get to for a day trip from Kyoto, though definitely not as bad as the Tokyo to FujiQ experience. What we enjoyed right away was how much quieter it was compared to other theme parks. My bf really enjoyed the Naruto park, while I had so much fun with the Godzilla zipline. Regretted starting Monster Hunter the field after sundown so we weren’t able to go around the park and properly enjoy the Field Exploration part. The park gets so dark as there’s only a few streetlamps.. We also stupidly missed the bus back to the station (we waited at the wrong stop) so we had to wait in the dark + freezing cold weather for a long time. Despite the mishaps, we’re still keen to revisit when they have new attractions.
• Miyajima to hike Mt. Misen – we were so excited to go up to the lookout at Mt. Misen, but not long into the trail (like 5 mins), we realised that the clothes we wore were definitely not for hiking + we were freezing. I would love to revisit Miyajima again and go around the island more leisurely.

Good finds

• ICHIBAN at Shinbashi, Minato – 150 yen per plate‼ how good. I also enjoyed how I was able to practice ordering in Japanese for each plate I had, rather than just grabbing off the conveyor belt. My partner and I really liked it that we went a second time. However, for some reason the chef puts so much wasabi in the tuna sashimi… so we just avoided ordering tuna and tried pretty much all of the other ones on the menu.
• I came across that milk shop in Akihabara station (found out shortly after that it’s lowkey famous) – I got some pasteurised milk, it was good
• Hakuhinkan Toy Park for the mini RC track – this was such a fun 200 yen spend for me. Definitely recommend to stop by if you’re at Ginza.
• This random restaurant at Uji that does a really good katsudon even though their main menu is soba. I will always think about you.
• The cheese karaage kun at Lawson was so good I bought one pretty much everyday
• Stellar garden sky lounge at The Prince Park Tower Tokyo - This was such a good last minute find by my BF. Although we didn't get a window table, we still thoroughly enjoyed the glittering Tokyo Tower while sipping [expensive] cocktails.

 Meh parts

• I loved Kamakura, but don’t even bother going to that really famous train rail part near Kamakurakokomae station. It was way too crowded…
• teamLab Borderless – I’m just not a big fan of attractions with way too many people in a small area. Plus it got a bit too repetitive
  • I did enjoy the part where we were able to draw something and you could see your artwork swimming around after
• Age3 at Ginza – we bought 4 different flavours, tried and it was just meh
• I was honestly pretty disappointed with the Kyoto part of my trip. Bus after bus kept arriving, each unloading big waves of tourists into the same small spots… That one street in Arashiyama that was so packed with people you could barely even see the road…With Tokyo, you expect the crowds and chaos, and I’m totally fine with that. But Kyoto… you go there expecting a bit of peace and tradition. The sheer volume of tourists really took away from the experience for me. I think part of it is also that I keep subconsciously comparing it to my first visit ten years ago, which felt so much more authentic and calm.

Main tip: It’s completely okay to not have a detailed itinerary and just aim for 1 or 2 non-negotiable spots to visit. Exploring makes the trip so much better. However, please do learn from our mistakes (6 hour delay…) and plan your day trips travel better 🤡