Trip Report! Typical First-Timer Loop

Edited to fix the spacing issues and help readability! `<br>`

Finally getting around to writing a trip report from our Japan adventure in October 2023!`<br>`

Summary:My husband (33M) and I (32F) spent two weeks here, traveling the typical first-timer loop. We spent 5 days in Tokyo, 2 days in Hakone, 4 days in Kyoto, and 2 days in Osaka. While we are fairly experienced travelers, we decided to hire a travel agent from Japan Travel to help us plan our trip. We tend to travel at a moderate pace, not overly relaxed but also not interested in waking up early every single day.`<br>`

General Advice:- Others have said this on this sub, but it’s worth repeating: plan for at least a one hour commute wherever you are going, even if it looks like it’s close on Google Maps! We were not prepared for the scale of the Tokyo until we experienced it in person.`<br>`

\- Luggage delivery is worth the cost! It was easy to arrange through our hotel.`<br>`

\- I felt like the Tokyo part of our journey was well paced, but things got a little to chaotic for us in Kyoto/Osaka. It’s possible to do everything, but we were exhausted at this part of the trip. One more day in Kyoto would’ve been great.`<br>`

\- This was my mistake, but I did not pack appropriate clothes for the weather we experienced on this trip. Because it was the end of October/early November, I packed sweaters, pants, etc. It was HOT (average 75 degrees fahrenheit through our trip). More shorts, dresses, skirts would’ve been great and a light jacket would’ve been fine for cooler temps at night.`<br>`

Day 0 – Arrival in Tokyo`<br>`

Our flight from Toronto to Tokyo was delayed by 3ish hours, so we arrived at roughly 8pm at Haneda. From deplaning to departing the airport, we probably spent 1 ½ to 2 hours in the airport – customs, waiting for luggage to be delivered, filling out the forms for luggage, etc. Our travel agent had arranged transportation from the airport to our hotel, which was clutch considering our exhaustion after travel. We walked to a nearby 7Eleven for dinner and went to sleep.`<br>`

Day 1 – Tsujiki Market, Tokyo Skytree, Akihabara`<br>`

We woke up at 6:10am (jetlag!), had breakfast at the hotel and then took the subway to Tsujiki Market for a market tour and sushi making experience. Our tour guide was fine, gave us a great overview of the market and we got to stop for a few snacks. I expected to buy fish at the market, but we did not. We then took the subway as a group to the sushi school and had a class with a chef. This was very fun and lowkey. The sushi we made was very basic but delicious. We enjoyed this tour and would recommend something similar for others.`<br>`

The sushi class ended around 12:30 and we took the subway over to our next planned activity, Tokyo Skytree. We made a stop in Ginza, which was along our route, so that we could pick up a Pasmo. We were scheduled to to to the top of TST at 2:00pm, and we arrived there right on the dot. Lines to go up were pretty fast, but it was packed once we got to the top floors. We got an overpriced matcha at the cafe on the Tembo Deck and admired the view for a bit, then went to the Tembo Galleria. Lines to go down were extremely long (probably waited 40 minutes). TST is cool to see, but I believe there are better observation decks. If you go, I definitely do not think it is worth it to go to the Galleria – stick with the lower deck.`<br>`

We returned to the hotel for a quick break, then headed out to Akihabara (roughly 20 minute walk from our hotel). We had dinner at Roast Beef Ohno in Akihabara, then went to Gigo to play some games. They have every arcade game imaginable and it was so cool to see the local gamers mastering their games. I am not a big gamer, but this was a super fun experience. Akihabara seemed a little slower and less crowded than I expected, possibly because we were there on a Monday, but I still think this is a must-see neighborhood.`<br>`

Day 2 – Asakusa, Ginza, and our first big mistake. `<br>`

This was our first of a few very avoidable mistakes made on this trip. We expected to go to the Ghibli Museum today and planned to get the Totoro Cream Puffs, so we headed to that area around 9:45am. Arrived at the metro stop nearest to the cream puffs at around 11, walked up and discovered the cafe was closed. Womp!We then headed to Gotojuki Temple. We spent roughly an hour here. It was very quiet and traditional and the lucky cats were fun to see. We are cat people and I would consider this an Instagram-worthy spot, but I would not go out of my way for it again.We sat down to look for a lunch spot before our Ghibli Museum time and realized that our Museum tickets were for the following day! We were glad that we didn’t go all the way to the museum, only to be turned away. We hopped back on the metro and went to Asakusa.`<br>`

When we arrived in Asakusa, we were in search of lunch. We landed in this little ramen bar near Senso-ji. We were eating a little late for the Japanese crowd, but the chef was very kind to accommodate us. The ramen was extremely delicious! After lunch, we went into Senso-ji Temple (roughly 3pm). It was very pretty and very crowded. We drew fortunes, explored the buildings and gardens, then headed down the shopping street. From there we walked over to Kappabashi Street. There were a few shops that I wanted to visit, but a Japanese knife was at the top of my list. Kama Asa was recommended to me as the place to go, and I am paying that recommendation forward. The shop was extremely professional with a wide variety of knives. The clerks were very helpful and multi-lingual. I found a versatile knife for myself and a knife for a chef friend. There were a few others shops I wanted to visit but it was near closing time and my husband was losing steam. We walked to the big chef head, which was exactly like it sounds. Then we went to Mister Donut for a pick-me-up and headed back to our hotel.`<br>`

For dinner, we took the subway over to Ginza. We didn’t have much of a plan here, we walked by a couple of dinner places and ended up at one of those “grill your own” places. We ordered beef, seafood, and veggies and had an excellent dinner. We were too tired to grab a nightcap, so returned to the hotel.`<br>`

Day 3 – Ghibli Museum`<br>`

Trying this again! Our travel planner had recommended that we take a day trip to Nikko on this day, but we obviously couldn’t make that happen with our Ghibli mistake. That said, I would not recommend trying to do that day trip to anyone who only has five days in Tokyo. There is so much to do and see that it doesn’t seem worth it to spend all that time on a train.Anyway, we headed out and went to the Totoro Cream Puff Factory. I have read lots of opinions on this place, but to me it was worth the trip. It was adorable and not crowded at all. We had the option of buying small cream puffs for take away or we could wait 15 minutes to sit in the cafe. We decided to wait and were so glad that we did. We had a lovely little table in the corner and enjoyed some matcha and two cream puffs (chocolate and chestnut). They were adorable and delicious.We headed to the Ghibli Museum after, roughly 45 mins by train and then a 20 minute walk through a beautiful serene park. We stopped for lunch at a small noodle shop near the museum (delish!) then lined up for our 2pm call time at the museum. It was absolutely beautiful and I loved seeing the short film. I did expect the exhibits to be a bit more focused on the movies and animation, but it was more like an art museum. Like the films, everything was a feast for the eyes. A great stop for Ghibli fans and art lovers.`<br>`

After the museum, we took the metro to Shibuya. This was the first station we had visited that had a JR Pass office, so we decided to find the office before heading out to explore. This station is absolutely bonkers during normal times due to the amount of people, but the insanity was exacerbated by the construction that was occurring. It took us 40 minutes to find the office.After the debacle, we were both like “I need a drink”. We decided to go to the Family Mart that has the whiskey bar. This place was extremely charming and the whiskey selection was excellent. We enjoyed some konbini and chatted with a few other travelers who were at the bar. I loved this experience, it was very silly and fun.`<br>`

We left the bar and started wandering around for dinner. Everywhere had lines, so we just started waiting. It turned out that we were at Gyukatsua Motomura, which I have seen many times on Tiktok (this was a great surprise). We waited for 45 minutes, but really enjoyed the experience once we sat down. We ended our day after dinner, which was around 10pm.`<br>`

Day 4 – Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku`<br>`

We left our hotel and headed over to Harajuku. We got there a little too early for the shops to be open, at around 10:45am. We primarily explored Takeshita Street, which was a little bit like a beach boardwalk in my opinion. We are not big shoppers, so we didn’t spend a lot of time here. I hoped to see cool street fashion and interesting foods, but I think we were too early. From here we went to Shibuya for a lunch reservation at Sushi Tokyo Ten, which was arranged for us by our travel agent. We had an omakase lunch here that was incredible! This was our first omakase experience in Japan and it really blew us away. Highly recommend! After lunch, we needed to walk off all the food so we went to the Meiji shrine. Google Maps routed us the long way, but it allowed us to see a great deal of the park that surrounded the shrine. It was extremely peaceful, with sprawling forests and lovely meadows. This shrine was quite lovely. `<br>`

Then we headed to Shinjuku where our travel planner had scheduled an izakaya food tour. This was one of our favorite experiences! We made five different stops for food tastings, along with a few stops at well-known sights, like the Golden Gai and the Godzilla statue. Our tour ended around 9 and we headed back to the Golden Gai for a few drinks. It was so fun to explore the small different bars and experience the different vibes. We went to two or three places and then headed back to the hotel at around midnight.`<br>`

Day 5 – Tokyo to Hakone`<br>`

We woke up, had breakfast, checked out of our hotel, and headed to Tokyo Station to catch the Shinkansen to Hakone. As others have noted, Tokyo Station was A LOT and confusing to navigate. We arrived a Odawara Station and changed trains to head to Hakone. Once in Hakone, we walked to our ryokan, which was a 15 minute walk or so from the station. We could not check in early so we dropped our bags and headed back out, intending to go to the Hakone Open Air Museum. Hakone transportation is not nearly as well marked as Tokyo and we had a hard time figuring out the bus system. Different people were giving us conflicting information. We decided to take the train to the museum because we could understand that system, even though it was slower. This was a good choice as well because I needed a nap and this gave me 40 minutes of rest time, ha.`<br>`

We arrived at the museum, which was gorgeous! There were amazing, beautiful sculptures, many of which were interactive and encouraged some playtime. There was also a very large Picasso exhibit for Cubist lovers in the world. Finally, there was a hot spring foot soak area which was extremely relaxing. I highly recommend this museum!`<br>`

We returned to the ryokan and checked into our room. We were so excited to be in a traditional ryokan! We put on the yakuta that was left in our room and relaxed for a while, then headed downstairs for our dinner reservation. This was very traditional and extremely delicious!After dinner, we made a reservation in the private, outdoor onsen. The bath overlooked the town and the moon was full and beautiful. This was so relaxing, especially after the hustle of Tokyo and the stress of the travel day. We went to bed after enjoying our time in the onsen.`<br>`

Day 6 – Hakone Loop`<br>`

Up at 7:30am to make our 8:30am breakfast reservation in our ryokan. This was a traditional Japanese breakfast and it was as delicious as the dinner. After a fabulous meal, we headed out to attempt the Hakone Bus system again. Luckily, there was an attendant specifically located at the bus who helped us. We boarded the bus and headed to the first stop on the loop, the Lake Ashi pirate cruise. I highly recommend the first-class tickets on the pirate ship – it’s not that much more expensive, is much less crowded, and the views are much better! We set sail across the lake and enjoyed the sunny day. Unfortunately the only cloud in the sky was completely surrounding Mt. Fuji, so no luck on views there.`<br>`

After arriving in Togendai, we decided to walk into the little town area to get some lunch. There was a small noodle shop with a short wait (and an amazing waiting system that updated us on our status via phone). This was quite tasty! Post lunch, we jumped onto the Hakone Ropeway. If you are coming from this direction, try to get seats on the back left side (for the best views of Fuji). Unfortunately, that pesky cloud was still in the way so we only saw the tip-top of Fuji. We stopped in Owakundi for the volcanic eggs that are so famous. This was charming, but maybe not worth it. You can only buy packs of four eggs and they are literally just hard-boiled eggs, no taste difference. We befriended two Australians while in line and split our order with them so we wouldn’t be stuck with two random eggs. Make friends in line and you can do the same!At the end of the Ropeway, we transferred to the cable car (aka the funicular as I know it) and headed down to Gora. This was like typical public transportation, no special views or anything here. In Gora, we stopped at a cafe for a pancake snack (yum!), then stumbled upon the Hakone Gardens. This was a beautiful place with a spectacular rose garden! It was quite enjoyable to walk around here. We then headed back to the Ryokan.`<br>`

Another traditional Japanese dinner at the Ryokan tonight! We greatly enjoyed everything. After dinner, we relaxed on the balcony in our room and then headed to bed.`<br>`

Day 7 – Hakone to Kyoto`<br>`

Up at 6:45am for our 7:30am breakfast reservation at the Ryokan restaurant. It was our last meal here, sad! We greatly enjoyed our stay. We left the ryokan at 9am and made our way to Odawara Station via subway, then headed to the Shinkansen for our 10:07am train to Kyoto.We arrived in Kyoto around 12:15pm. We had our big bags shipped to our hotel, but we had smaller bags that we stowed in the luggage lockers at Kyoto Station. From there, we went to the 10th floor of the train station to Ramen Alley. There were more than 10 ramen shops here and it was hard to choose which one to try! We decided that we’d have a great experience no matter what, so we picked a place. It was delicious!After lunch, we took the subway to Fushimi Inari. As others have said, it was packed. This was a nice visit and I wish we had the time to walk up to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, we had scheduled a tea ceremony at 4pm back in Gion, so we had to leave after about 90 mins at the temple. If you only care about getting photos of the gates, 90 mins is fine. If you want to walk the entire trail, I recommend 3-4 hours here.`<br>`

We headed to Gion for our tea ceremony, which our travel planner had arranged. This was not what we were expecting at all, but we enjoyed it overall. First, we were not expecting to wear kimono, but we were whisked away into the dressing rooms as soon as we arrived. It was very overwhelming (like the scene in Mulan when she has to go to the matchmaker, lol). The tea ceremony was untraditional, with our hostess explaining every step of the process and its roots in tradition and history. We really enjoyed the details we learned here and our hostess was adorable. This was a good experience.`<br>`

After the tea ceremony, we did a little shopping, including getting a custom-made ring at Glanta. For dinner, we checked out a rotating sushi bar in Cupola Sanjo, which was delicious! They had rolls that we had never seen, like with corn and okra. Loved it! After dinner, we made our way back to Kyoto Station to pick up our bags, then checked into our hotel. Unfortunately, our bags had not made it from Hakone yet! Luckily, this hotel had a washing machine so we could have clean clothes for the following day.`<br>`

Day 8 – Arashiyama`<br>`

Another early morning because our travel planner had arranged for us to have a guide on this day. We met our guide at our hotel lobby around 8am and started by taking the train to our first stop for the day, the Hozugawa River Cruise. She helped us buy our tickets and then we set off on the boat (she was going to meet us at the end). I’m sure you have seen the river cruises on Tiktok. It was lovely to sail through this peaceful area. I hoped that we would see some fall foliage but we were a bit too early (end of October). This is also apparently gorgeous during Sakura season. This was inexpensive and a nice way to spend the morning. We got off the boat in Arishiyama and returned to our guide. We crossed the Moonrise Bridge and had lunch, then we made a quick stop at the Kimono Forest, where our guide shared with us the meaning of different prints (interesting!). Then we went to the bamboo forest. Others have commented that this is too small to be worth it, but I am not sure if I agree with those opinions. It was not nearly as crowded and much larger than I was expecting. We also saw a Japanese graveyard here and our guide shared information about Japanese burial traditions.`<br>`

After finishing up here, we went to Kinkakuji Temple. This was probably my favorite temple from the trip, I thought the site was absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. My hot tip is to visit at golden hour, when the sun is reflecting off of the pond. Our guide also explained some of the worship traditions of Buddhists.At this point, it was getting dark and the temple was about to close. Our guide helped us navigate the bus to go to Gion, where she showed us a few streets and told us a bit about geisha culture. After walking around a bit with her, we said goodbye. We found a lovely yakitori spot for dinner in Gion, then headed back to the hotel to crash. This was a long day!`<br>`

I have seen lots of recommendations for private guides and before this experience, I questioned the value of hiring one. The pros are that you learn more details about the culture and have a sounding board to ask questions. The culture-sharing experience that we had was amazing. Another pro is that you don’t have to think about anything – you just tell the guide what you want and they take care of the details. The cons were having to be socially “on” and on the go for the entire day. We were the most exhausted after this day because we didn’t take any time to just chill over a cup of coffee, and we were constantly conversing with someone we didn’t know. Finally, while we liked not having to worry about navigation and opening/closing times of stops, we felt like we could’ve been a little more efficient if we were by ourselves. It took us an embarrassingly long time to realize that we needed to give our guide direct feedback on what we wanted.`<br>`

Day 9 – Kyoto`<br>`

Our travel planner suggested that we spend the day in Nara, but after all of the running around from the previous day we decided to stay in Kyoto and hit the spots that we hadn’t seen yet. We had a later start and began our day at Kiyomizu Dera. This was extremely beautiful but we were at the point where we were getting temple fatigue. We stayed here for about an hour (we did not go to the waterfall, as there was a small fee and we were not that interested).We then headed to Nishiki Market for some lunch. We ended up in a small area with many food stands and had a smorgasbord – eel, shrimp, scallops, steak, etc. This was one of our favorite meals of the trip! I would’ve eaten more, but I was very full after the 5-6 dishes we bought. We then walked around and did some shopping. We should have been more strategic on this day about what we wanted to buy, but hindsight is 20/20.`<br>`

We returned to our hotel to freshen up and then went to my most anticipated dinner – Gion Manma, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Gion. This tiny restaurant is tucked away in a little alley and is run by a husband and wife team. Every dish was very traditional and locally influenced, prepared, and served with care. We absolutely loved this experience and would highly recommend.`<br>`

We attempted to go out for drinks at a bar afterward, but it was Halloween night and surprisingly busy! Our travel planner had given us some incorrect info about Halloween. She told us that this was mostly a big deal in Tokyo, but Kyoto did not seem to acknowledge the day. That was NOT aligned with our experience at all – we saw many Halloween decorations throughout Kyoto, many people in costume, and all of the bars we passed on that evening were extremely busy (it was a Tuesday night FWIW).`<br>`

Day 10 – Kyoto (Food day!)`<br>`

Another day planned in Kyoto, today focused on food. Our travel planner booked a ramen-making class with the Ramen Factory, so we took the bus there from our hotel at around lunchtime. We had mixed feelings about the Ramen Factory – the class was fun and the instructors were great (and we appreciated that they accommodated us being 15 minutes late, oops!). However, the class was extremely basic as far as recipe and technique. I am a pretty regular cook at home and have experience in professional kitchens, so I was hoping to get a little deeper insight into some of those details. All in all, this class is perfect for someone who doesn’t cook often or has never made ramen at home – but I would recommend a different class if you are a more knowledgeable cook.`<br>`

After the ramen class, we headed to the south part of the city to the sake museum where our travel planner had booked a sake tasting experience (Kyoto Insider Sake Experience). This tour started at the museum, where our guide educated us on the history of sake, some details about the traditional and modern brewing processes, and the different types of sake. We also got a chance to taste three different sakes at the museum – any guest of the museum can do the tasting, it is not just reserved for those on a tour like we were on. After the museum, we walked a few blocks away to the tour company’s tasting room, where we tried 8 more kinds of sake. This tour was very academic, with lots of details shared about the brewing method, tasting notes, etc. I greatly enjoyed this tour!`<br>`

This was our last night in Kyoto and we still had not seen the Yasaka Pagoda, which seemed like a missed opportunity. We took the metro to that area and saw it. It was fine, lol. We were ready for dinner and my husband was not that interested in seeing another pagoda, so we didn’t spend a lot of time here. We had a hard time finding dinner near here for some reason, maybe we were on the wrong side? We walked probably 20 minutes away before finding a place to eat, which happened to be Mushoshin Ramen! I had the best bowl of ramen of the trip here, a black sesame ramen. An absolutely excellent meal!`<br>`

Day 11 – Kyoto to Osaka`<br>`

We planned to head to Osaka today. We took the train, dropped our extra bags at the hotel, and then headed to the Suntory Whisky House. For us, this was the biggest miss from our travel planner. We expected a guided tasting and distillery tour, but it was more equivalent to a chain restaurant (like Buffalo Wild Wings for those in the U.S.). Yes, the food was fine and they did have whisky tastings, but it was an extremely lame experience. We took the train down to Shinsekai. This was also not the move for us. There are lots of kitschy games, akin to a beach boardwalk, and some questionable-looking restaurants. We liked seeing the artistic buildings here, but expected more vibrant and cultural shopping and dining. Perhaps the time of day was the problem (we were here around 2 pm).`<br>`

After that, we headed up to Osaka Castle. We just decided to walk the grounds, but it was truly lovely. We enjoyed this area and experienced golden hour here.In the evening, we went over to Dotonbori, which I was looking forward to. We saw the Glico man and then visited several of the food stalls. We got the Ten Yen cheese coin (10 out of 10), some takoyaki, gyoza, steak, melon pan, dango, and that TikTok famous spiralized potato. This was a wild, vibrant area, very touristy, but a must-visit. We also visited the Don Quixote here to get souvenirs.`<br>`

Day 12 – Hiroshima`<br>`

I won’t lie, I was not at all interested in going to Hiroshima – but my husband wanted to visit so we did. We got on the train and learned that we DEFINITELY should’ve reserved a seat. We stowed away in the vestibule, but it ended up being fine. We arrived in Hiroshima and picked up on the tourist bus outside of the station. We headed directly to the Atomic Dome. It was not too crowded, but was devastating to see. There were many educational signs around which let visitors learn about the war and the atomic bomb itself. As we learned more, we gained a deeper appreciation for this site. There was also a man there who claimed to be an in-utero survivor of the atomic bomb. Whether or not what he says is truthful (I have not fact-checked him and don’t have any opinions), he was interesting to speak with. We got a quick lunch at 7Eleven, then went to the memorial. I unexpectedly got very emotional here. The art and the photos of the bomb’s aftermath were extremely moving. I had not wanted to make the trip here because I was afraid there would be many obnoxious “America-first” types of tourists – but am extremely glad to report that I was wrong and am so happy we made this visit. It was a very interesting and moving experience.`<br>`

After the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, we went to Shukkeien Garden, a roughly 30-minute walk from the memorial (the bus supposedly takes you there, but we waited for a while and no bus came). The garden was fascinating, apparently built to replicate a wide variety of geological sites. We walked the paths here for about an hour, then returned to the train station. We got a little snack and returned to Osaka.`<br>`

Sadly, this was our last night in Japan! After freshening up at the hotel, we went to Kuromon Market and had dinner at a rotating sushi bar. Then we stumbled on a dessert bar, which was perfect because my husband wanted something sweet. We had a very luxurious dessert and a couple of cocktails, then returned to the hotel.`<br>`

Day 13 – Osaka to Tokyo to the US`<br>`

Shew, what a day this was. Our original plan was to fly from Osaka to Tokyo, then catch our plane back to the US. However, this fell through (my fault). So, we made good use of our Japan Rail Pass and hopped on the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. I was concerned because we were NOT able to book seats that had storage and I did not want to go against polite norms. Thankfully, our bags (large, backpacking-style luggage) did fit into the overhead compartment of the Shinkansen. I include this just in case anyone here has the same concern. Once arriving in Tokyo, we were able to take public transit straight to the airport (Haneda). We had our last meal in the country (ramen in the airport – not that bad!), and then headed back to the US. What a trip! Hope this was helpful to any fellow travelers – can’t wait to go back!`<br>`

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by miles_away1012