Hello all, I wanted to write a trip report since I received so many tips and recommendations from previous posters. My itinerary was very loose, I highlighted and bookmarked things I wanted to see ahead of time and spent about 15 minutes every morning routing out things I felt like doing that day. I was solo for the majority of the days and met up with friends about 20% of the time.
– Flight to hotel: Flew into Narita using Zipair, it was as expected bare bones with a seat to get to Japan. It was surprisingly empty and people were able to lay down in empty rows. I arrived at 8:30PM and had no issue getting through security. I was able to withdraw money from the ATMs at the airport and pick up a 28-day Passmo card and loaded it with cash at the kiosks. I was a little slow and caught one of the last or next to last Keisei Skyliners out of Narita and to my hotel in Asakusa. There will be plenty of people at the entrance of the train stations to help you, you only need to show your google maps destination on your phone.
## Tokyo(Asakusa home base)
– Stayed at a business hotel in Asakusa, it was small and got the job done. A little cramped with a small suitcase. The Asakusa area itself as others have pointed out is quieter and less busy compared to the other major cities in Tokyo.
– Highlights in the Asakusa area were Senso-ji temple, Tokyo Skytree, Sumida River.
– Ueno park was 30 minutes from where I was staying and I spent a whole day there while also vising the Tokyo National Museum.
– Meiji-Jingu was my favorite shrine I visited while in Japan. I went shopping after the visit in Shibuya for most of the day and had dinner at an Izakaya in Shinjuku at night with friends.
– We went to an arcade after dinner, it was a good time even if we didn’t win anything at the claw machine.
– Team labs planets was a great time. I was not planning on visiting it based on recommendations on the sub but different people like different things. I booked my tickets using their website 2 hours in advance the same day.
## Yokohama
– I had an event to participate in during the day in Yokohama and decided to stay here for 1 night in case the event ran long.
– It is definitely worth making a day trip here. I mostly visited the areas surrounding Chinatown. Yamashita park, Gundam Factory, Minatomirai, and the views from the harbor were beautiful.
– I would have liked to spend a full day here but did not plan for it sadly.
## Kamakura – Day Trip
– I had checked out of my Yokohama hotel that morning and planned to take the Shinkansen in the evening to arrive in Kyoto. I went to Shin-Yokohama station to buy a non-reserved shinkansen ticket. I also was able to store my luggage in a large coin locker with no issue and proceeded to take the train to Kamakura.
– This was a day trip with a small group of friends. We had a Japanese friend plan the itinerary so I do not recall the exact details. Overall it was a nice slow and tranquil day after spending a lot of time in the city and walking around.
– We went to two temples, Hasedera and Kotoku-in, both are worth visiting and have a small entrance fee. Although small compared to the other temples I had been to, they were dense and packed with a lot of beauty and culture. There is also the Kamakura Music Box Museum located near the shrines.
– The day ended walking through a shopping district buying food and looking at souvenirs before we split.
– I arrived back at Shin-Yokohama at around 6:30 PM and took the shinkansen to Kyoto.
## Kyoto
– The plan was to pit-stop here for 1 day and 2 nights to experience a ryokan. The one I had chosen used a private reservation system for the onsen. The customer service was very attentive and made effort to make conversation in English with me.
– The ryokan served breakfast and there was an opt-in for dinner. Both meals from the ryokan were amazing it was the main reason I decided to book one in the first place.
– I got tickets for the GEAR /Non-Verbal theatre and it was a highlight of Kyoto for me. It starts off slow but picks up the pace after the first 5-10 minutes. The venue is small and there is some crowd interaction if you pick the seats closer to the stage. If you enjoy plays/musicals I would recommend it.
– Like other tourist I visited Fushimi Inari Taisha, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, and Philosophers Path. Fushimi Inari was worth visiting just for the fun of walking all the way up. Aryashiyama I went during peak hours and that was a bad idea.
– I would have like to added another full day in Kyoto to take things slower and see more.
## Osaka
– I started off by going to Osaka Castle and Osaka Museum of History. There is a lot to see outside of Osaka Castle even if you do not go inside. The Osaka Museum was more interesting than I thought it would be. There is a lot of history to Osaka.
– I visited Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. A lot of fish in tanks here, some fish I had never seen before, worth going if you like aquariums. We finished the night at Dotonbori.
– Highlight of Osaka was going down to Sennan Marble Beach. There was an oyster food festival/market happening during the weekends and we made the trip to go out there. The oyster event was only for a limited time, it may be ending soon or already over.
– FFXIV cafe was an okay visit. If you want some of the souvenirs they offer it is worth the trip for that.
– Took a small day trip to Nara and feeding the deer was a good time.
## Key Takeaways / Notes
– You get used to the train system very fast with google maps. Even if you mess up another train will appear in 5-15 minutes.
– Food was good everywhere and do not worry about getting food not speaking Japanese as long as you can point at the menu and be polite.
– There are a lot of smaller parks, shrines, restaurants I went to that I did not add to the main post. But they were very enjoyable and important parts to the trip. If walking a lot is not an issue for you I would walk the 15 minutes instead of taking the train for 5. I am a not obese but overweight, if you can average 10k steps a day in your daily life you will be fine getting around.
– Outside of the business hotel, I booked in advance and was able to book 4-star hotels at about 50-60$ USD a night. I combined some one-time coupons and booking 60 days in advance deals. Normally these hotels would be at least $150 a night in the U.S.
– I used T-Mobile international data plan as my phone does not support e-sim. It was no issue 90% of the time, it did slow down at times.
– Definitely bring some cash, I was able to get through my whole trip with 40k yen in cash used and the rest in card.
– Small coin purse/wallet recommended but you can use a backpack compartment instead.
by kilibrium