I recently returned from my holiday honeymoon trip to Japan and I thought I’d write a report for anyone else who might be planning a trip in late December-early January. For the record, I would have loved to visit at a less peak-travel time, but my job won’t allow it and others are probably in the same boat, or they’d just like to spend the holidays in Japan. This was my first trip to Japan and we did Tokyo (briefly), Kyoto, and skiing in Niseko. This sub had me pretty worried about crowds in Kyoto and on public transit, but aside from our flights being delayed to and from Hokkaido, we didn’t have any issues and had a lovely time. Kyoto especially was a dream.
**Day 1: Arrival in Tokyo**. We arrived at Narita Airport on December 24 around 5pm. Customs took maybe 15 minutes and I forgot to do that pre-arrival check in QR code thing. Tip for customs/flying: book a seat by the front of the plane and use the restroom if you need to before you land, so you can head straight off the plane and into the customs line. International flights into Japan carry so many people that this could make a real difference in your wait time. Picked up our **pocket wifi** (Japan Wireless), which worked flawlessly. I have a new iPhone which was “locked” so an eSim wasn’t an option for us. We took the Narita Express (discounted round trip ticket) to our hotel, the Tokyo Metropolitan Marunouchi, which was right next to the Tokyo train station and very convenient. Just stumbling into our room after a long travel day was perfect. There were a lot of great fast-casual restaurants nearby- we went to an udon place near the Yaesu exit called Kamatake Udon Yaesu–it was best udon I’ve ever had.
**Day 2: Tokyo (Christmas Day)** The hotel’s breakfast buffet was great with western and english options. They had a gym so we did a little yoga – that 13 hour flight messed me up lol. We walked around the imperial palace and shopped in Ginza. Ginza had some crowds but nothing crazy. Imperial palace was not crowded at all. Dinner at Sushi nomidori (reservation on tablecheck) and bar hopped in Ginza. I found out the giant raw prawn was not for me (the texture was off imo) but it was mostly very good. We had several cool small bars almost to ourselves afterwards, including a neat vinyl records bar called Ginza Feel.
**Day 3: Tokyo → Kyoto**. Hotel breakfast again, yoga, took another walk around/window shopping, grabbed a beer and snack, then took the Shinkasen to Kyoto. Train was full. We reserved tickets around 5 months in advance through the company Shinkasen Ticket, which mailed the tickets to our hotel so they were ready for us at check-in. They were able to reserve us a seat on the Mt Fuji side, and it was clear day with great views. I would recommend reserving in advance for travel around New Years, rather than landing and hoping to reserve using your JR pass. A lot of Japanese people travel for New Years, so the trains may be full if you wait to reserve. We skipped the JR pass because it wasn’t worth it on this particular trip- we only took the Shinkasen once and took the non-JR Kaisen line in Kyoto often. We both got **IC cards** (Icoca) in advance on our phones and used that for trains/metro rides and a few meals and vending machines.
We arrived in Kyoto around 4 and took a cab to our ryokan in Gion, Shiarume Ryokan. We stayed in the new Baian house there it was a 11/10, highly recommend. Very nice suite, private garden, private onsen bath, incredible food, free drinks in the room and happy hour every day. The owner, Tomoko, and her staff go above and beyond and the amenities are amazing. I’m already looking forward to my next Japan trip just to stay here. We had a kaiseki dinner there and then just relaxed in the room that night.
**Day 4: Kyoto- Philosopher’s Path + Northern Higashiyama Temples**. We slept in a bit, had breakfast at the ryokan, and then walked the philosopher’s path and several of the temples in the area. We started with Nazenji, which was our favorite, around 11 am. If you walk up beyond the main shrine in the woods, there are two additional temples with almost no one there. One of the monks was praying and blowing a horn which was cool to see. We continued on to Eikando, which had lots of cool inner-temple art, and then the philosopher’s path itself, which was almost empty in the early afternoon. Maybe we got lucky because it was midweek, but I expected more crowds for sure. The path had a colony of cats being fed by some locals which was a highlight for me as a cat lover lol. We finished with Ginkakuji/Silver Temple around 2-3pm, which did have the most crowds of the day but nothing crazy, and then took a cab back to the ryokan to save our aching feet a bit. We didn’t bike this day, but the area was very bikeable and every temple seemed to have bike parking.
We relaxed in the onsen and then got dinner at Kyoto Gion Okaru which a famous shop among locals for katsu curry udon. Don’t let the relatively low reviews fool you- it’s a locals spot and japanese people are apparently much harsher in their food reviews, so anything over a 3.5 on Google is probably very good. It was fantastic and inexpensive, and we did not have to wait. We got cocktails after at Gion Finlandia Bar- highly recommend the fresh fruit yuzu cocktails there and honestly at every bar.
**Day 5: Kyoto – Fushimi Inari, biking to Kinkakuji.** Up early to get to Fushimi Inari by 7:15. This is easy to do if your hotel is walking distance from the Keihan line. Ours was conveniently located just a 5 min walk to Gion Shijo and Gion Sanjo. Sanjo is much quieter so we tended to use that station. We used our Icoca pass on our phones for all Kyoto train travel, and google maps to tell us where to go/which train to take. The shrine was not crowded but there were a few people. The more you climb, the fewer there are. Being there for sunrise was gorgeous, although it felt a bit more touristy than I thought it would- there are vending machines every 100 meters or so and other modern amenities that take away from the atmosphere somewhat.
We got back to our ryokan in time for the late 9:30 breakfast, which was a perfect brunch. After that we relaxed in our room a bit, and then went out to rent bikes. Although we were there in December, it was very possible to bike – that afternoon it was sunny and 50 degrees out. We rented bikes from a shop just north of Sanjo station run by a nice family. We got pedal assist ebikes for $2000 yen each (full day rental), which didn’t go very fast but cruised along with minimal effort. We biked north along the Kamo river canal and worked our way northwest towards Ginkakuji/Golden Pavilion. This was honestly so fun and a must do in Kyoto. We loved exploring all the side streets and we stumbled upon a Buddhist temple complex called Sokokuji Monzencho that was almost empty. Ginkakuji had free bike parking and a traffic cop to direct us there. The temple itself was cool to see but the most crowded site we visited in Kyoto. We still enjoyed it though. We biked back around the Imperial Palace (it’s a walled complex and you can’t go inside, so probably skip this), returned our bikes, and got an early dinner at Gyoza Chao Chao. We were able to sit right away because it had just opened but it filled up quickly. It was a very good and fun meal with beers and friendly staff, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth waiting more than a few minutes for. I saw that some people wait for an hour and that seems OTT.
**Day 6: Kyoto- Kiyomizudera and Uji.** We expected more crowds heading into New Years weekend (this was friday), so we got up early for Kiyomizudera (arrived at 7:30) and had breakfast after. It was cool but I preferred other temples like Nazenji tbh. I would imagine it’s more impressive in fall foliage and sakura season. Later that afternoon we took a trip to Uji because I love tea and thought it would be less touristed. There were few western tourists there but many Japanese and Chinese ones, so it didn’t feel quite as peaceful as I’d hoped. It was still a fun time sampling tea, visiting the temple, walking along the river, and buying some matcha sweets.
Later that night we had drinks at Prost, Bar Liquor Museum (nicest bartender with big pours of whiskey), and a tempura fixed course meal at Tenshu. The place was little touristy (right on Gion’s main drag) but the meal was great and lot of food. They had a tank of live shrimp that that they fry up and give to you, so it was cool experience.
**Day 7: Kyoto- Kurama-Dera.** I was torn between Nara and Kurama Dera for a day trip on our last day (a saturday), and ultimately chose Kurama because I thought it would be less crowded. I still want to visit Nara on a return trip for sure, but we LOVED Kurama Dera and were very happy with our choice. It was so serene and felt isolated in nature in a way none of the other temples did. The hike over to Kibune is relatively easy and fun too. That night we went to a local curry shop for dinner and went to bed early for our trip to Hokkaido the next day.
**Day 8: Kyoto → Hokkaido (New Years Eve).** Woke up tragically early (4:30 am) for a 9:30 flight because KIX is not close to Kyoto and I wanted to have plenty of time. In hindsight I would book a later one. I reserved Haruka Express in advance with Shinkasen Ticket (the first train at 5:45am), but the train wasn’t crowded so I recommend just buying those tickets the day of. At KIX, which wasn’t crowded, JAL informed us that due to snow in Sapporo, our flight “might turn around and land back in Osaka instead.” This was a stressful surprise but we did make it there safely after a 1.5 hour delay. This left just 10 minutes to catch our bus (the Whiteliner) to Niseko, but we made it. Our ryokan, Zaborin, picked us up at Hirafu Welcome Center. Zaborin was $$$$ and overall a little less friendly than Shiraume, but still an amazing experience and worth it for the incredible outdoor private onsen overlooking the snowy landscape. We felt like we were the only ones in the hotel even though it was full. Kaiseki meals are included for breakfast and dinner everyday and they were excellent, if a bit smaller than the Kyoto ones. The New Year’s Eve meal featured lots of crab per local tradition, and they gave us soba noodles and champagne before midnight. Junhei the sommelier is a total legend and made our trip so fun- lots of free wine pairings with different courses.
**Days 9-11: Skiing at Niseko.** This was a very cool experience and a lot of fun, but didn’t quite feel like Japan because the ski village is very Westernized. The slopeside ramen was cool though. Gear rentals were fine–I definitely missed my own ski boots but didn’t want to schlep them around or worry about shipping them. The mountain layout also leaves something to be desired imo but each ski area has its pros and cons.
**Day 12: Niseko → Tokyo:** We bussed back to the Sapporo Airport to find it a total mess. So many travelers after New Years, many of whom had their travel plans disrupted because of the horrible collision at Haneda airport after the earthquake. The JAL check in line took 3 hours because of this, and we would have missed our flight if it hadn’t also been delayed 3 hours. I was surprised that there was no more efficient way to check in, but they didn’t allow us to check in online or on the kiosks, and it seemed that most travelers could not use the kiosks. I would honestly hesitate to fly domestically in Japan again because of this, although I know we were there at a peak time after a national disaster, so ymmv.
We made it Haneda and then took the Airport Limousine Bus, which was very easy to reschedule after our flight got delayed. It dropped us off right at the Park Hyatt hotel, where we stayed for one night before going home the next afternoon. My only regret the whole trip is not having 1 more day in Tokyo- we didn’t really have enough time to explore Shinjuku/Shibuya before taking the Narita Express back. (**Day 13**). I would also say the Park Hyatt was nice but probably not worth the money, although they did give us free champagne for our honey moon which was nice of them! I know the hotel is going to be renovated next year though.
An amazing trip overall!! Just posting so those traveling over the holidays won’t feel discouraged by the crowds and some additional planning it might take.
