Flew out from Toronto to Tokyo on November 2nd, flew back on November 26th.
To say this was a packed trip would be an understatement, but we planned it to be that way. We don’t do “sitting still” all that well on vacation and this was our first trip over so we wanted to experience as much as possible.
Overall had a fantastic experience, when we go again we will spend less time doing touristy things in Tokyo, slow it down, and do more small town things.
Day 0-Arrived 9pm local time at Narita, long customs line, barely got the last train out of the terminal. Got to Tokyo station then to Hammamatschuo station area
Day 1-Minato city area. Stayed at Hotel Tavinos Hamamatsucho. Good enough hotel, great location. Saw Miyazaki/Ghibli statue. Walked to Imperial palace, wasn’t open. Walked to Pokemon center. Walked back to Minato area. Nap. Saw Tokyo tower, Zozoji temple, shrine of 100 steps (Atago Jinju) and Karaoke all around the Minato area, did this last half as a guided tour through Airbnb experiences. Absolute blast.
Day 2-Coffee and pooted around Hamamatscucho area. Got on monorail to Haneda. Flight down to Kagoshima. Checked into hotel at JR Kyushu Kagoshima. Fantastic hotel, great location. Did the Ferris wheel and arcade at Taito Station in the mall by the Kagoshima station.
Day 3- Set out early to Kagoshima Port, hopped on Sakurajima ferry (very easy, grab a street car from station, walk 10 minutes or so). Ferry was fantastic views and easy. Tsukiyomi shrine for views. Walked down to visitors center. Did the foot bath for a bit and saw the Geo park. Hopped on the bus to tour the island. Got up closer to Sakurajima, stopped for photos. Started to drizzle so we headed back to ferry. Had ice cream with sweet potatoes and ash at ferry port, at Minato Cafe excellent coffee, food looked excellent as well but we had eaten earlier at Lawson. Hopped back on ferry and toured the Kagoshima aquarium upon arrival, went from aquarium to tour the various side streets near Tenmonkan park and Chuo park. Had dinner at Aji No Tonkatsu Maruichi, owner was fantastic. Headed back to hotel and crashed out after getting JR Passes for the next day(jet lag hit)
Day 4-checked out of hotel and bullet train to Kumamoto. Walked from station to Kumamoto castle. Had lunch at Aeon mall near Kumamoto castle, place was called RHC and was PHENOMENAL. Very healthy more western style but the coffee and food was fantastic. Walked over after lunch to tour Kumamoto castle. Hopped on bus back to station to grab bags and go to ferry at Kumamoto>Shimabara port. Ferry to Shimabara. At Shimabara port walked to Shimabara Toyota rent a car and got our car rental. Stunning drive to Unzen. Stopped at hotel for the night (Unzenonsen Azumaen). Private onsen room with a view. Food was fantastic (kaiseki dinner) service was phenomenal. Our favorite place of the trip by far. The price was higher but the value was absolutely there.
Day 5-Drove up to the Unzen cable car. Words can’t describe the views up at the peak of the Unzen area. Came back down to Unzen and
saw Unzen Jigoku, the Unzensan Manmyo Temple, the visitors center and lunch at Bunnoji. Took a little trip down to Obamacho. Had a foot bath at Hot foot 105. Walked around Obamacho, had great gelato and back to the hotel after a bit. Beautiful scenery, amazing people, great vibes and a fantastic scenic drive.
Day 6-Headed out to Izahaya to return the car at Izahaya. Train from Izahaya to Nagasaki. Stayed at Candeo Nagasaki right at Chinatown, absolutely excellent stay at a good value. Walked to Oura church area. Fantastic views all around. Walked back to Chinatown and taxi to Atomic Bomb museum. Walked the museum and grounds, very well done museum and beautiful area. Walked back to hotel and had hamburg steak and curry at a local restaurant (will find the name). Excellent food and service. Back to hotel for bed since it’s later out.
Day 7- Travel day to Fukuoka. Stayed at HafH Fukuoka. Do NOT recommend. Good location but the bed is SO uncomfortable. Did Canal City, Hakata station Christmas decorations.
Day 8-made our way to Ohori park, stunning area, had coffee nearby. Walked over to bus and bus to Fukuoka tower. Very enjoyable little tower with seaside views, mountains, and cityscape. Walked down to beach after and had Italian at a restaurant called Mamma Mia. Pretty decent! Walked back to Ohori, train from Ohori to Hakata. Food tour later on in the day. Had Hakata style ramen and Okonomiyaki at a street food stall guided with an Airbnb Experience.
Day 9- left Fukuoka early. Train to Hiroshima. Hiroshima station dropped off bags and walked to Atom Bomb dome. Perused the park and took it all in for a bit. Walked over to Hiroshima castle. Back on the train after that, stopped over at Himeji. Himeji castle was beautiful. Walked around the grounds and were lucky there was a 30th anniversary celebration. Really neat to see the traditional celebration happen on the grounds. Only a brief stop and it was getting dark so we made it back to the station and onwards to Kyoto. Stay was at Sakura adult terrace. Nice location, great lobby, room was pretty cramped, still very enjoyable stay (especially compared to our place in Fukuoka).
Day 10- slower day, pooted around the mall, got the IC card finally at the Kyoto station, had lunch. Made our way out to Kiyomizu dera. Enjoyed the first half, had a panic attack with the crowds in the upper half. Cut through a beautiful cemetery on the way out, and had Coco’s Curry heading back to hotel.
Day 11- Day trip to Nara. Really really enjoyed Nara. Straight to Todaiji temple, absolutely awe inspiring area. Walked all around the temple area for a while and found a small Okonomiyaki spot. Omitsu Okonomiyaki. Fantastic gem. Walked through the nearby Mochiidono shopping street. Headed back to the station and onto Kyoto.
Day 12-Got started to Osaka for day trip. Umeda area was really cool. Saw Pokemon center. Walked over to Osaka Castle and did the tour, pretty busy but the views were really wild. Walked over to Dotonbori as it got darker.
Day 13-Walked to top of Fushimi inari, had spectacular views. Did laundry. Saw Tofukuji lit up at night.
Day 14- travel day to Nagano/Yudanaka. Beautiful views through the mist and rain all through the Japanese alps. Went via Kanazawa randomly, but it added to the overall beauty of the train journey. Main goal was to get checked at Hotel Yudanaka
Day 15- Yudanaka honpon purin for breakfast and late start bus to Jigokaedani park. Unbelievable experience to get up close and personal with the monkeys. Stuck around there for quite a while and had lunch at Enza cafe. The food was phenomenal. Bus back to Yudanaka. Did the whole public onsen experience, was odd but neat. Dinner out later at night.
Day 16- Yudanaka to APA Ueno Tokyo. Mostly a travel day but walked around Ueno park and saw a couple of the shrines.
Day 17- Last minute decision to take bullet train out to Fuji. Rented bikes for ¥100 for the day and went down to Niihama park on bike. Walked along the seawall, tons of beautiful views of both Fuji and the sea. Got on a bus to head to Shiraito falls. Gobsmacked by the outstanding beauty of the falls and Fuji views. Bus back to Fuji, walked around Fuji a while then back on the train to Ueno.
Day 18-Walked from Ueno to Skytree. Really enjoyed the views and sights. Stopped by Sensoji temple noped out of there before it was too busy (was 9am and it was still busy). Got to top of Skytree view and it was nice, nuts how big of a city Tokyo is. Had Kura sushi near the Skytree which was fun. Skytree walked back to Ueno. Visited Don Quixote in Ameyoko. Had dinner at Everyone’s Cafe in Ueno park. Pooofy pancakes.
Day 19-Day 19: Tokyo! Shibuya/Shinjuku. Lots of fall color. Woke up and walked to Cafe Lapin. Took the subway to Yoyogi Park. Visited Neko Neko Inn and a local art shop. Around the park and ended up at another cafe for lunch called Verve Cafe and had the best Nitro Lattes! The sandwiches were also good. Walked around the rose garden. Had to stop and see cats at the mocha cat cafe in Shibuya. Went to Shibuya crossing, saw hachi statue, and stopped by shibuya sky but was too crowded so we left. Headed to Shinjuku to go to the observatory at the government building but still too crowded so we left and went to Chuo Park and saw the Christmas decorations. Walked to the sumitomo building and enjoyed all the Christmas decorations. Walked to shinjuku station area to see the giant cat billboard. Caught a quick train to akihabara browsed a few stores for anime stuff, but didn’t find much we wanted. Still enjoyed the experience.
Day 20-Tokyo/Roppongi-Azabu Juban. Train ride out to Azabu Juban near Roppongi for sailor moon scavenger hunt. Had excellent coffee and breakfast at Verve Coffee roasters. Walked around and found the station from sailor moon. Found the park from sailor moon, and the statue and shrine as well! Found a beautiful hidden park (Arisugawa-no-miya) in the hills of Roppongi. Like a forest in the middle of Tokyo. Lunch out near the park and had curry. Walked over to Shibuya. Made it to Daikanyamacho neighborhood within Shibuya, was adorable but not quite what we were looking for (very gentrified and no parks or anything interesting), moved on. Got to Meguro sky park and it was stunning out, walked around for a bit. Walked over to dinner at a vegan restaurant nearby. Got out of the Meguro area and came back to Asakusa/Sumida area for night views and played at the park.
Day 21-Tokyo Ikebukuro-Day 21,.Woke up and headed to ikebukuro. Saw a Frank Lloyd Wright building. Had coffee at a zen garden Bozu’n (only open a couple days a month!) Lunch at a Hawaiian Mexican place, Aloha Amigo! Found the sunshine city mall. Train to Ochanomizu, music instrument souvenirs for family.
Day 22-Went out to Shimokitazawa. Had breakfast at Brooklyn roasters. Went to Vintage Vanguard. Walked around and did some thrift shopping. Pretty tired at this point went back to hotel to start packing.
Day 23- Went to Ueno zoo after checking out of hotel. Saw the panda twins. Saw the temple in Ueno park. Headed to airport.
Day 24-plane time, landed back home Sunday 11/26/2023.
by toddsleivonski