I just returned from my latest trip to Japan. Similar to the [last time I went to Japan in November 2022](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/z5ycum/trip_report_14_days_in_osaka_hiroshima_nara_kyoto/), here’s another long writeup of my experience.
**BACKGROUND**
* This was my fourth time overall in Japan, and once again I traveled to Japan alone. My primary focuses when traveling are photography and trying out local food.
* I did not get a JR Pass because of the price hike last year. Even with how many trains I needed to take for this itinerary, it did not add up to be enough to be worth it. Plus almost every one of my trains were shinkansen or limited express requiring reservations, so the convenience value of the JR Pass was basically zero anyway.
* I got an eSIM from Airalo, which was much better than getting a pocket WiFi. I used the 10 GB plan for 15 days and it was enough.
* I brought a large suitcase on this trip, but did not take it to all of my stops since my itinerary involved lots of one night stays. I shipped it from Sapporo to Kanazawa, then again from Kanazawa to Tokyo. In between those, when I was staying at hotels for only one night at a time, I just had a duffel bag. My suitcase carried all the clothes I didn’t need and all the souvenirs I bought.
* Like all my trips, I had an itinerary all written out but had lots of flexibility. I didn’t make any restaurant reservations this time around because of how much intercity traveling I had to do.
**REPORT**
*2/9 SAPPORO*
* Landed at New Chitose at 7:45am. I took a bus that stopped a block away from my hotel, Hotel Tokyu Stay Sapporo Odori. At this point it was 10am, and I dropped off all my luggage and headed back out to explore the city.
* First thing I did was visit the Sapporo Beer Museum. The museum itself wasn’t all that interesting, but the tasting set from the beer hall was a nice start to the trip. I tried going to the restaurant here but they were full.
* Headed back downtown to get lunch. I tried going to Soup Curry Garaku, but they weren’t accepting walk-ins. Down the street was Soup Curry King, and after a short wait in line I was seated. I ordered the pork curry which was a great filling meal to begin my trip with.
* After lunch I headed to Odori Park for the Sapporo Snow Festival. At this point the snow was really coming down and I was still adjusting to the temperature, so I couldn’t take many photos without my hands freezing up. I walked a few circles around the park to see what I could. I decided to come back to the park later at night. I headed to Sapporo Government Building but it is under renovation. Then I saw the Clock Tower. Finally I went to a Rokkatei shop and picked up a few cookies there. At this point it was snowing hard so I decided to take a break at the hotel.
* I rested in my hotel for two hours before heading out to the Snow Festival to see it at night. The snow stopped and it wasn’t windy so it was a lot more comfortable walking around. I checked out a few more sculptures and food stalls, and also went up to the top of Sapporo TV Tower.
* I wanted to get jingisukan for dinner. I considered going to one of the many Daruma branches but as I walked in that direction there was a restaurant across from my hotel, Hiratsuka, that had minimal wait so I just settled on that. I ordered a set with different cuts, plus green onion rice with egg, and a ridiculously really large lemon sour.
*2/10 SAPPORO*
* First thing in the morning I went to Hill of the Buddha. Spent about an hour at the park to see the Buddha statue and the moai statues, then got on a bus back to downtown.
* I went to Kani Honke near Sapporo Station for lunch. I got there just as it opened so I didn’t have to wait even without a reservation. I ordered a variety of snow crab and king crab dishes including sashimi.
* After lunch, I walked around at Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Shrine. I walked back toward the train station after and took a bus to Sapporo Fushimi Inari. Not as impressive as the one in Kyoto, but still interesting to see in the snow. It’s a hill, so walking to the top was a pain with the ice. It’s interesting that they have so many signs here telling people not to take photos, but there’s absolutely no enforcement for it so everyone does anyway.
* From that shrine, I walked over to the Mt. Moiwa Ropeway. The plan was to see sunset from the observatory. However just as I ascended the mountain and sunset was approaching, it began snowing and clouded the famous view from the top. Since there wasn’t anything to see from the observatory at that point, I just bought some stuff from the gift shop. I headed back down the ropeway, and once below the snow clouds the view of the city was visible but it was difficult to photograph in a crowded cable car.
* I went to Ramen Alley for dinner, and checked out the ice sculptures in Susukino along the way. I initially considered Haruka but it closed its line as soon as I got there. I decided to go for Teshikaga. The only issue here was that the lines here were really unorganized because of how crowded every shop was, and I ended up lined up for a different ramen shop. After an hour of waiting in the wrong line, I shifted over to the correct line and waited another 30 minutes. Food was worth it though! I got the miso ramen and some zangi (fried chicken).
*2/11 ASAHIKAWA AND OTARU*
* The snow was coming down hard in Sapporo this day but I had planned on doing day trips this day, and it wasn’t snowing outside of Sapporo. I took a train to Asahikawa at 8am. Once in Asahikawa I took a bus to the Asahiyama Zoo. The line for the bus was pretty crazy and I didn’t get to the zoo until about 10:45am.
* Got to the zoo in time to see the 11am penguin march. It’s really cute! But it happens really quickly, and it’s a struggle against other tourists trying to give themselves the best view. The rest of the zoo is pretty interesting too so I’d recommend staying to see at least a few other animals. I had lunch in the cafeteria area and then went to see the polar bears, wolves, tigers, and red pandas. After a few hours at the zoo I headed back to Asahikawa Station and got onto the train around 3pm back to Sapporo.
* I then headed to Otaru. First thing I did there was the local branch of Popura Farm to try “Santa Claus’ beard” i.e. ice cream served on top of melon. Was expensive but pretty good!
* Next I walked down to the Otaru Canal to see the Snow Light Path Festival. There isn’t as much to see here compared to the Sapporo Snow Festival obviously, but it’s really pretty when lit up at night, and not nearly as crowded. Definitely worth checking out if you can overlap your trip to see both festivals.
* Final stop of the night was dinner at Naruto. They are most famous for their fried chicken so I got that, as well as some sushi and grilled squid.
*2/12 SAPPORO TO NOBORIBETSU*
* This morning was also the Super Bowl back home! I had to follow it on my phone as I went around in the morning. I began by visiting Ohiso in Nijo Market and getting kaisendon and a grilled mackerel. After, I walked around in the market to try to buy some last minute famous Sapporo foods including a small box of fresh melon chunks. Then I went back to my hotel to finish packing and continue watching the game. At checkout, I had the hotel ship my luggage to Kanazawa.
* Around 11:45am I decided to get another meal, so I stopped by another jingisukan restaurant near my hotel called Matsuo. The jingisukan here was done differently than the one I had previously because they added sauce to the vegetables rather than just let them grill with the meat. Throughout all of this I was watching with my hopes up of a 49er victory in the Super Bowl.
* I had a reservation for Ryotei Hanayura in Noboribetsu, and they have a shuttle for customers arriving from Sapporo that meets at Sapporo TV Tower. It was still a bit early, plus the Super Bowl went into overtime, so I sat in Odori Park with my eyes glued to my phone. The game ended with a Niners loss, and, very appropriately, a bunch of snow from the tree branch above me fell on me as we lost.
* Got on my shuttle bus depressed about the outcome of the game, intent on boiling in my misery once I got to the onsen. Around sunset I walked over to Jigokudani, and then checked out some local shops before heading back to the hotel. I spent the rest of the night in the hotel, from eating the kaiseki meal to using the private onsen.
*2/13 NOBORIBETSU TO HAKODATE*
* I woke up early so I tried out the public onsen in the hotel with no one else around, then went to the breakfast buffet. Before I checked out of my room I used the private onsen once more as I finished packing.
* Next stop was Lake Toya. From Toya Station I took a bus to the lake. By the lake, I went to a popular but cozy restaurant called Boyotei and ordered a Hamburg steak. After lunch I walked over to the lake. I walked back to the bus stop after and took the bus back down to the JR station to take the train to Hakodate.
* I got to Hakodate just after sunset. I dropped off my stuff at the JR Inn Hakodate just next to the station, then caught a bus to try to go to Goryokaku Tower. I thought that the tower would still be open because the star shaped park had an illumination event that was advertised as ending at 7pm daily. However I got to the tower at 6:15pm and the signs said it had closed at 6pm. Seems kinda ridiculous that the illumination event goes on until 7pm when you can’t even get into the tower with the viewpoint past 6pm. So I headed to the ropeway up to Mt. Hakodate. View from up top was amazing, though a little cloudy.
* I finished off my day by taking the tram back to the JR station and eating at Shinano across the street. Hakodate is famous for their shio ramen so I ordered that along with gyoza.
*2/14 HAKODATE TO TOKYO*
* Started the day at Hakodate Morning Market. First I went to a stall that allowed you to catch your own squid from a tank, then the chef chops it up into sashimi for you. Then I went to Ikkatei Tabiji to try the famous dancing squid bowl. It’s pretty amusing, and I guess worth buying it one time for the novelty, but wasn’t as good as other seafood donburi I’ve had.
* Following this I walked toward Motomachi, and checked out Hakodate Meijikan and Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse. I walked up Hachiman-Zaka Slope and saw some of the historic buildings here. The only one that was closed was the Orthodox Church. After checking out the buildings I walked back down the slope to the warehouses and stopped by Pastry Snaffle’s and bought some treats.
* I got lunch at the Lucky Pierrot branch next to the bay, across from the warehouses. I only ordered their famous Chinese chicken burger but in retrospect I should have also ordered their omurice or curry rice because I didn’t eat much for the next couple hours.
* I went back to Goryokaku Tower so I could finally go up to get the view, then took a bus back to the JR station and got all my stuff from my hotel, ready to take the shinkansen down to Tokyo.
* I took a train to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, then transferred to the shinkansen to Tokyo. What made this ride bad was even though I had a window seat, I was seated by a Thai family with a toddler and a baby. The baby would not stop crying the entire ride, so I couldn’t sleep during the ride. The toddler was out of control, constantly running out of her seat around the train, forcing her father to get out of his seat to chase her when she was bothering other passengers. Whenever the toddler wasn’t running around, she was in her father’s lap in the seat next to me, and she would occasionally kick me or hit me with her toys.
* My hotel for the night was the Century Southern Tower, and since it was just for one night I booked a nice room with a panoramic view. Since I couldn’t sleep at all on that train ride, I was really exhausted by the time I got to Tokyo. I just gave up on my plans for that night and grabbed a bunch of food and drinks at 7-11 and crashed in my hotel room for the night and enjoyed the view.
*2/15 KANAZAWA*
* The next morning I took the shinkansen to Kanazawa. It was still morning when I got to the city so I couldn’t check in to my hotel (The Hotel Sanraku Kanazawa) yet but I dropped off my duffel bag along with the suitcase which had arrived from Sapporo. Down the street from my hotel was Kourin Sushi which only had a short wait for it. I ordered a sushi set and added on a piece of uni and nodoguro.
* Next I walked over to Higashi Chaya District. I tried out the gold leaf ice cream at Hakuichi. The gold leaf doesn’t really add anything to it, it’s just for show. It started raining around this time so I went into Shima Teahouse and had tea. After walking through this district I walked back toward my hotel, passing through the Kazuemachi Chaya District on the way.
* After taking a break, I went out for dinner. I wanted to try hanton rice since it’s a Kanazawa specialty. Every site online said to try it at Grill Otsuka. However when I got there, they had a sign on their door that they were closed that day on top of their regular weekly closure. Disappointed, I looked for another option nearby and found it at a restaurant called Guernica.
* I could still eat but needed a break first, so I walked through the Nagamachi District. Not much to see at night, but it was a peaceful walk since no one else was around. Afterward I walked over to Miyuki for oden. It took about 20 minutes of waiting. There were so many options on the menu and didn’t really have any preferences so I asked my waiter to give me his recommendations, and I just went ahead and got things he suggested. I added on a few pork skewers.
*2/16 KANAZAWA, SHIRAKAWAGO, AND TAKAYAMA*
* The hotel had an awesome breakfast buffet. Not only did it have typical buffet food and Japanese offerings, but they had lots of Kanazawa specialties including hanton rice, curry rice, oden, and grilled nodoguro.
* Before checking out of my hotel, I walked through Kanazawa Castle Park and Kenrokuen. I ended up on the other side of the park, and was near Nagamachi again so I decided to walk through it again. I didn’t have time to really go to the open houses though. I caught a bus back to the hotel and checked out and shipped my luggage to Tokyo.
* I walked from my hotel through Omicho Market, and then to Kanazawa Station for my bus to Shirakawago. I booked a bus at 11:10am from Nohi Bus and it was completely packed. When we got to Shirakawago I left my luggage at a store behind the bus station, since the bus station’s coin lockers were all full. Shirakawago was quite a sight, even if the temperature had been warming up lately and a lot of the rooftop snow had melted. Tried a variety of snacks at different vendors, including Hida beef skewers, Hida beef franks, beef buns, churros, and gohei mochi. This place was also probably the most chaotic one I went to with the sheer volume of tourists here. I think it would have been nicer to see at night with the house lights on but my schedule couldn’t fit that.
* I had booked the 3:45pm bus from Shirakawago to Takayama. Once again this bus was completely packed. My hotel, Takayama Ouan, was down the street from the station.
* My initial plan for dinner was to go to Maruaki. However when I got there, they already had three sheets filled on their waiting list and the hostess said they weren’t taking any more parties for the night. So I walked a few blocks to Suzuya. I had to wait outside for about 40 minutes but it was worth the wait – this was the best meal I had on my trip. I ordered two Hida beef dishes – the hoba miso and sukiyaki. Definitely oriented toward tourists but the service was exceptionally helpful and friendly, and the waiter was very energetic. I walked back to the hotel afterward and passed out from all the food. The hotel makes free ramen for all its guests around 9pm each night which I originally planned on attending but I ended up knocked out in my room.
*2/17 TAKAYAMA TO MATSUMOTO*
* Because of how early I fell asleep the previous night, I woke up around 5am the next morning. The hotel has private onsen rooms on the top floor, so I went up there in the morning to grab a private room without having to wait in line. The rooms are all partially open air facing east, so I watched sunrise from there.
* After getting breakfast and checking out of my hotel, I left my stuff at the JR station and bought a round trip ticket to Hida. The ride between Takayama and Hida is scenic. I went there to get a view from the overpass above Hida-Furukawa Station, made famous a few years ago by Your Name. I didn’t have much else planned in Hida but since I had to wait for the return train, I wandered into town, saw the canal, then returned to the station for the train back to Takayama.
* Back in Takayama, I went to Menya Shirakawa for to get Takayama ramen for lunch. I was in line for about an hour. From here I continued to the Sanmachi district. I did some souvenir shopping here. Along the way I ate lots more Hida beef skewers and dango, and also tried the beef sushi from Kotte Ushi. I also walked through Takayama Jinya. The last thing I did in town was walk to Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan to see the festival float exhibition hall. The ticket to see the hall also includes another museum with miniature models of buildings in Nikko, which I visited in 2022.
* I had to go to Matsumoto and the last bus out from Takayama leaves at 4:50pm. Since it is first come first serve, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I got to the bus stop at 4pm to beat the crowds. Turns out that I didn’t need to do that since there were probably only ten people total on that bus. The bus got to Matsumoto around 7:30pm, and then I took a local bus to my hotel, the Matsumoto Hotel Kagetsu.
* I wanted to visit Matsumoto because I wanted to see their winter illuminations at the castle. I booked my trip before a schedule was released, but I made an assumption based on past years’ schedules. After I booked my trip the event was slated to end on 2/14. I kept my plans anyway. Once I arrived in Matsumoto, at the front desk of my hotel there was a sign stating that the event was continuing until the 18th. I dropped off my stuff in my room, walked over to the castle (only 5 minutes away) and spent the next hour watching the displays, relieved that I got to see it after all.
* It was 9pm and I still had to get dinner. I walked back towards the city center and ate at a small shop called Banrai and was seated at the counter next to a local old man. This place had lots of local foods on like basashi. I went with just the basashi and 6 yakitori skewers. I also wanted to order sanzokuyaki (local version of fried chicken) but the old man sitting next to me kindly offered me half of his since it was too big for him so I didn’t have to order it myself. He also showed me which condiments to mix together to dip the basashi in.
*2/18 MATSUMOTO, NAGANO, AND YAMANOUCHI*
* Got breakfast in the hotel, and then headed to Matsumoto Castle again to see it during the day. After checking out of the hotel I walked toward the station, passing through Nawate Shopping Street. Nothing was open at the time but I saw all of the frog statues. I continued to the JR station but unfortunately missed the train to Nagano by two minutes, so I had to wait an hour for the next one.
* Once in Nagano, I bought round trip tickets to get to Togakushi Shrine. The bus takes an hour to get to the middle shrine (Chusha), so I got there around 1:40pm. Since I got here later than expected, I had a time limit because I needed to catch the 3:20pm bus back to Nagano Station in time to take the Nagano Dentetsu to Yamanouchi by 6:30pm for dinner at the ryokan. I could only realistically get to Zuishinmon Gate and then have to turn back around, and wouldn’t be able to make it all the way to Okusha. I made it to Zuishinmon where the cedar trees began. Then I had to rush back toward the bus stop. I did make it back to Chusha just as the bus made it to the stop, and I was the last one able to board the bus and had to stand the whole way back downhill to Nagano.
* Once back in Nagano, I headed over to the Nagano Dentetsu and went to Yudanaka Station. Unfortunately I still had to get to the hotel which was a 30 minutes walk from Yudanaka, and I also didn’t want to wait around for the very infrequent bus. I got a taxi that got me to the hotel in time to be able to get dinner there that night.
* My hotel that evening was Sakaeya. I had kaiseki dinner shortly after arriving in the hotel since I hadn’t eaten all day. Since this hotel was in Shibu Onsen, I was given access to the nine public onsen in the area. I planned on going to all nine and collecting a stamp from each one. I was able to get to three of them before 10pm. I went back to my hotel room and just used the private onsen until I went to sleep.
*2/19 YAMANOUCHI, NAGANO, AND TOKYO*
* I woke up early the next morning and tried out the remaining six public onsen before my hotel breakfast was ready. After breakfast I used the private onsen in my room one last time and then checked out. Then I waited for a bus to the snow monkey park.
* Once at the parking lot of the snow monkey park, I walked down the trail to the main hot spring area. It hadn’t snowed in a few days so the snow here was slushy and brown. It takes about 30 minutes along the trail to get to the area where all the monkeys are. I got there around the time they fed the monkeys, so they all gathered near the hot spring, but only a few of them actually jumped into the water while the rest sat at the perimeter. It was still pretty fun to see. After spending some time photographing the monkeys, I headed back out so I could catch the bus back to Shibu Onsen.
* I got back to Shibu Onsen around 2:30pm and got lunch at a small noodle shop called Yariya and ordered some soba and fried chicken. The shop had lots of toys, figurines, and posters for decorations. After lunch I still had some time to kill before the next bus to Yudanaka so I went back to my hotel to get my luggage and sat in their lobby for about half an hour. Then I was finally able to head back to Yudanaka and take the Dentetsu back to Nagano.
* I had to get to Tokyo that night but still had plenty of time to get there, so once back in Nagano I hopped onto a bus to Zenkoji. It was already late in the day so there weren’t many visitors at this point and all the shops were closing up, so I was able to walk around the temple with barely anyone else around. Shortly after, I returned to Nagano Station so I could take the shinkansen back to Tokyo.
* This time in Tokyo I stayed at Royal Park Hotel Iconic Tokyo Shiodome. It began raining once I got there, and I was pretty tired from waking up early this day and all the walking, so I again just grabbed conbini food and ate in my hotel room and decided I would just sleep in.
*2/20 KAWAZU*
* I slept in until about 10am this day. When I woke up I checked the weather report and it said this would be the only clear day left on my trip, with the remaining days having rain. The original plan was to just explore parts of Tokyo I hadn’t done before, but since it was going to be the only day left on my trip with sun, I decided to make this the day to go to Kawazu instead.
* First I went to Yokohama to transfer to the limited express train. But while waiting for that train I went to the restaurant avenue in Yokohama Porta next to the station. I had tsukemen at Sharin. The JR Odoriko train to Kawazu takes quite a while, but it’s quite scenic. It’s got views of the ocean all the way until you get to Kawazu. I got to Kawazu a little before 3pm. Seeing the huge crowds of tourists already there, I didn’t want to take any chances with not getting a seat back so before I went out to explore Kawazu I bought my return ticket at the station.
* Cherry blossoms in Kawazu were in full bloom and was pretty amazing. I walked up and down the river and also checked out lots of the food stalls. I tried the pink colored taiyaki, as well as lots of meat skewers and other treats. The stalls began shutting down around 4:30pm so that was my signal to head back to the station.
* I took the same train back from Kawazu around 5pm back to Yokohama, and then transferred to another train to get back to Shiodome. I got back close to 8pm. Two weeks of travel was finally wearing me down and I was exhausted, so once again I picked up some things from the conbini on my way back to the hotel. The hotel bar has a pretty good view so I stopped by for a drink before turning in for the night.
*2/21 YOKOHAMA*
* I began my day with some cheap noodles at Shimbashi Station, then got on the train to Yokohama. It rained the entire day and the rain clouds made it hard to see the top of Landmark Tower so I decided not to go to the top of the tower.
* First I rode on the Yokohama Air Cabin. My first stop was the Cup Noodle Museum. There were hundreds of schoolchildren already there lined up to do the activities so I opted not to try making my own cup noodles. I checked out the rest of the museum which is more about Momofuku Ando than about noodles themselves. I went to the fourth floor dining area which offered different types of noodles from around the world. Interestingly, no actual cup noodles served.
* From here I walked to the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse. The Yokohama Strawberry Festival was happening here so I decided to try some strawberry treats. You have to pay a small fee to enter the main area but there are lots of vendors here with different kinds of strawberry desserts.
* I continued through Yamashita Park to the Gundam Factory. I didn’t have the ticket for the platform so I just had access to the main ground area. I got in just in time to watch one show, and stuck around for a few additional shows. In between each show I got some food from the cafe and checked out the shop. I bought the exclusive master grade model here.
* Next I went to Chinatown. It was still raining outside which made it difficult to try out the different street vendors. I really needed to rest my feet so I went into one of the restaurants that advertised all you can eat dim sum dishes for under 3,000 yen. I think the waitresses here were pleasantly surprised that I was Chinese and able to order food in Chinese. Ironically it seems like Chinatown is the one place in all of Japan that you don’t find any Chinese tourists.
* I walked back toward Yokohama Station, but I wanted to stop by the Ferris wheel in Cosmo World first. There were still rain clouds, so it was hard to see much, but I liked looking out at the city lights from here. My final activity in Yokohama was taking the Air Cabin once again, this time at night. The cable car goes above Kisha-michi Promenade so you get the same view, and it’s below the rain clouds so you still see lots of the city lights in the rain. The cable car stops at a JR station and I was able to easily get back to Shimbashi afterward.
* Once back in Tokyo, I felt like getting yakitori for dinner. I picked a small shop called Siri in an alley near my hotel. I ordered the ten piece yakitori set here. The waitress saw my bag from Gundam Factory and asked me about it – I told her I bought a gunpla from Yokohama and she was fascinated that tourists were also interested in gunpla. I also had my camera out so she asked me about my travels and what places I thought were most scenic and what my favorite foods were.
*2/22 TOKYO*
* It was still raining this day. I started the day in Nakameguro and got coffee at Onibus Coffee. This shop is famous because trains pass by its second floor seating area. I headed over to Shinjuku next and got lunch at Fuunji. It had just opened for the day so the line wasn’t long. I got tsukemen again here. Next I walked over to Artnia Square Enix Cafe. I bought some merchandise here including a plushie and some music boxes.
* I decided to make a reservation to the Eorzea Cafe at 3pm. I’m a big FFXIV fan and went to the location in Osaka on my previous trip, so this time I thought it’d be fun to try the one in Tokyo. I took the train to Akihabara and made it to my reservation. This shop was bigger than the one in Osaka, but it doesn’t have as much merchandise because it shares its shop space with other cafes. I ordered a few drinks here, plus some buns and spaghetti.
* I went back to my hotel to drop off stuff, but I ended up taking a nap instead. I got up in time to do one more thing so I went to check out Tokyo City View at the Mori Art Museum. I last went to this observation area in 2010, and I always liked the view from here the most out of the various vistas I’ve been to. It was raining so you couldn’t see too far out but it was still a great view.
* I was again pretty tired and I had to do lots of packing, so again I bought some conbini food for dinner. I think it was a nice change from my previous trip where I went to multiple expensive restaurants. This time I had some instant udon and some instant yakisoba. I just consumed all of that while organizing my luggage and packing.
*2/23 TOKYO*
* My flight was at 5pm, so I could only do things in Tokyo until 2pm. After checking out of the hotel I went to Toyosu Market. I didn’t go super early like other tourists did, so I couldn’t go to Sushi Dai, but there were plenty of other good options. Tourists were lined up at a bunch of other stores already. I chose to go to a place around the corner from Sushi Dai called Sei. Still had great reviews and didn’t have to wait at all, and I got the 12 piece omakase set. After Toyosu Market, I checked out the new Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai next door. It just opened this past month so there are still lots of Tokyo locals who are checking it out. There are lots of food vendors here, and the buildings are designed like Edo era buildings. I got matcha ice cream and some meat skewers.
* After checking out that market, I headed over to the Unicorn Gundam. I wanted to buy the exclusive master grade model from here but they were sold out at the store. I didn’t have enough time to go visit the bigger gundam store at the 7th floor of the mall, so that will have to wait until next time.
* I returned to Shimbashi around 1pm. I had enough time for one more stop so I went to Cafe de l’Ambre for coffee. I ordered two drinks here – the house blend coffee, and the “Queen Amber” which is their sweet cold coffee served in a champagne glass. It was a nice way to cap off my time in Tokyo.
* I got my luggage from the hotel, then went down to the station to take the train to Narita. I had been told this train ride would only take about 1:15 to get to the airport, but when I got to the station they said the next train wouldn’t be until 2:50pm, and would get me to Narita around 4pm. At 2:30pm a train arrived at my platform, also stating that it was a rapid train for Narita. I chose to board this train instead of listening to Google which was a mistake. The train did go to Narita, but the reason it wasn’t showing up on Google was because it was a different line and would make a lot more stops. I didn’t get to Narita until 4:25pm. I had to run through the terminal until I got to the ANA desk and check in to my flight. The ANA staff were very accommodating even though I showed up so late – they hand delivered my suitcase to the plane, and another attendant put me through the fast lines at security and immigration. Overall I got to my gate within 5 minutes (peak Japanese efficiency) and even got there before my boarding group was called. When I got on board my flight, I found out I was actually on the Pokemon plane too!
**CONCLUSION**
It was interesting to see these cities in Japan. Even though I visited Japan three times in the past, I had only visited the typical tourist trail of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto with a handful of day trips to the smaller nearby towns. Hokkaido was absolutely amazing, both in terms of food and the scenery. Kanazawa and Nagano were a lot more peaceful than the other places I’ve visited.
I found it interesting how limited IC cards actually are. I was always under the impression that they had much more range. I still had my IC card from my last trip to Osaka and it worked fine in Sapporo and Hakodate. But it didn’t work for local transportation in Gifu or Nagano. Kanazawa had its own IC card but I didn’t purchase it.
The middle portion of the trip was hectic with having to switch hotels every night for seven nights. But at the same time I think spending just one night in each of those towns was the right amount. I think with luggage forwarding it went pretty well. If I had more time on this trip I would have added more time in Sapporo or Kanazawa but with having gone to Japan so many times now, I can see myself returning those places again anyway.
by kahyuen