Just returned from a 10 day first time trip that was a bit more ambitious than most of the itineraries on here but I struggled to cut anything out because it’s all so incredibly interesting and fascinating. We planned this trip back in December so I spent about 3 months researching but still felt a bit overwhelmed once we got there.
We based out of hotels in Kabukicho in Tokyo and near the Kamo river/Shichijō Station in Kyoto which is about a 15 minute walk from Kyoto station. Averaged just under 25,000 steps/10 miles a day. Used Apple Maps for navigation and SmartEx for the Shinkansen. Used iOS Suica for tickets/vending machines with only minor issues (took us a bit to figure out to touch the top of the phone to the scanner for the most consistency). For $10/month we upgraded our Verizon plan and got unlimited talk/text and 10GB data which lasted the entire trip. Lots of wifi available everywhere.
**3/23 – Tokyo** \- Landed at HND (13.5 hour flight from DTW) around 5pm and took the limo bus to Kabukicho. Checked into a junior suite at Hotel Kabuki which is a love hotel but had great reviews and was a fantastic experience. Room was large and very high quality plus had a professional karaoke system. It was right off Central Road/Godzilla Road and a short walk to Shinjuku station. Ichiran ramen for dinner and then crashed hard. I know Ichiran gets mixed reviews on here but we enjoyed the novelty of it and they have spicy options. Only waited about 30 minutes in line at the Shinjuku one open 24/7.
**3/24** \- Woke up early and visited Suitengu shrine and had onigiri at 7/11. Trained to Tsukiji Market and had A5 wagyu skewers at Ihachi and strawberry tanghulu. Explored Ginza and had Chukasoba Ginza Hachigou for lunch (formerly Michelin-starred, now Bib Gourmand). Reservations are available the Saturday morning before and get snatched up in less than a minute. One of the best meals of the entire trip and only had 6 seats. Shopped at Character Street in Tokyo Station before heading to teamLab Borderless in Roppongi. Trained to Shibuya afterwards for Shibuya Sky and Miyashita Park. Tonkatsu for dinner in Kabukicho.
**3/25 – DisneySea/Disneyland -** It was unfortunately very rainy and lines for rides were long. We used the fastpass system for some of the rides and had lunch at Magellan’s. We are not Disney adults but have been to both US parks and Paris. We visited Disneyland just to see the castle, get an It’s A Small World popcorn bucket, and to get the green alien mochi which weren’t being sold at DisneySea like they had been in the past. It was interesting how quiet the parks are compared to the US. After one of the boat shows there were only a small handful of people clapping which caught us off-guard. Definitely skippable but still enjoyable which is how we felt about the Paris one too.
**3/26** \- Grabbed coffee at Blue Bottle outside Shinkuku station (great little American-style coffee shop which we ended up going to the next morning too) and then trained to Ueno Park to visit Tokyo National Museum in the morning. Lunch near Ueno Station. We got an eel rice box (expensive but delicious), edamame, soba noodles, and tuna sashimi. Asakusa for Senso-ji and Kappabashi in the afternoon. Bought some santoku knives at Tsubaya cutlery (highly recommended, spoke great english and were very helpful). Visited Harajuku and then Shibuya again at night to visit the Pokemon and Nintendo stores.
**3/27 – Kyoto** \- Did some last minute shopping around Shinjuku and then took the Shinkansen in a green car to Kyoto. Checked into Wander Kyoto Nanajo. Location was a 10-15 minute walk to Kyoto station and a 3 minute walk to the Shichijō station which got us to Gion in about the same amount of time. Hotel was quiet and had a 7/11 across the street which we used for breakfast.
We visited Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka/Kiyomizu-dera around sunset and it was packed. This was the biggest crowd we saw anywhere all trip. After sunset we walked up to Gion and had tempura and udon across the street from Maruyama park.
**3/28 – Day Trip to Nara+Osaka -** This was the most walking we did on the trip, over 30,000 steps. We visited Fushimi Inari around 8am and crowds were thin. Climbed to the top of Mt. Inari. Grabbed ice coffee near Fushimi Inari station and took the train to Nara. Walked past the mochi pounding and tried a fresh one (the azuki beans were not our favorite and were in lots of sweets throughout the trip). Went to Nara park and fed the deer. Walked up to Toda-ji temple to see the Buddha statue. I saw a picture from someone that went that week and it was absolutely packed but aside from waiting in a 10 minute line for tickets it wasn’t bad at all for us. It’s crazy how crowd experiences can vary so much but an early morning wakeup gives you the best chance to avoid them. We finished the night in Osaka. Walked up to the castle then spent the rest of the night in Dotonburi. Had Kobe Beef on a stick for $7 which would have been at least 10x more here in the US. Also tried takoyaki (great) and dango (not fans).
**3/29 – Day Trip to Hiroshima -** This was a very long day but worth it. We took the Shinkansen (ordinary car which we enjoyed a lot less than green) to Hiroshima and the train+ferry to Miyajima. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the island was incredibly beautiful. Had grilled oysters and scallops for lunch. Visited the temple and torii and found the giant rice scoop which is kind of hidden. The boat ride to the Peace Park was sold out so we took the ferry and train instead. Visited the museum (very crowded) and park as the sun set. One interesting thing we found is that the hypocenter has a small monument on a side street behind the dome. Visited the Okonomimura for dinner. We went up 2 floors from the street and found one with an English menu. One of the best and most filling dinners of the trip. We ate it right off the grill. Caught the second to last Shinkansen back to Kyoto.
**3/30 -** Arashiyama bamboo forest, Tenryu-ji garden, and monkey park in the morning. Nothing was very busy. We enjoyed the Fushimi Inari secret bamboo forest more than Arashiyama. Ryoan-ji and Kinkaku-ji in the afternoon which required a taxi. Both were also less busy than expected on a Saturday. Nishiki market via taxi in the afternoon where I tried tako tamago and loved it. Sushi Hayashi (1 Michelin star sushi both kyoto and edo-style.) for dinner which was incredible. Grabbed a drink in Pontocho before heading back to the hotel.
**3/31** **-** Waited a couple hours in line for pancakes at Panel Cafe. This was the only “instagram thing” we did on the trip and I’m glad we avoided crazy lines the rest of the trip. Did the Maikoya kimono rental and geisha tea ceremony in the afternoon which was fantastic. Musoshin Ramen for dinner in Gion which has a very creamy vegetable broth. Walked up Hanamikoji street after dinner and spotted two maikos and a geiko (and saw people taking illegal pictures which is why they’re enforcing the private street ban now…). Grabbed a shochu drink in Pontocho and a craft beer at Craft House Kyoto by our hotel to finish off our last night of the trip.
**4/1 -** Took some pictures along the Kamo river with the cherry blossoms and then hit Don Quijote for last minute souvenirs (plum wine, kit-kats, and nail clippers). Took the Shinkansen to Shinagawa station and the monorail to Haneda. I see lots of itineraries about heading back to Tokyo for a night before a flight but this worked fine for us. Took a 10.5 hour flight to MSP which was actually a lot more tolerable than the longer flight over.
Thoughts and comments:
* Cherry blossoms were a bit behind schedule so some places had none when we visited (like Osaka Castle) but we saw some great ones in Miyajima and at the end of our trip in Kyoto they were all over the place. The weeping cherries in Maruyama Park were in full bloom and incredible.
* Lots of culture shock especially related to dining. Our previous dining experiences have been in the US and EU where dinners are long sit-down affairs. In Japan restaurants are generally tiny and get people in and out quickly. Lines form quickly around lunch and dinner time and it’s hard to stop in the middle of an itinerary or public transit to find one. Street food was also a way different experience. It was hard to get over the fact that meat and seafood was just laying out for hours but we had no food safety issues with it.
* We caught some colds/allergies during the trip and the pharmacies were difficult to navigate. Lots of cold medications have multiple different meds in them. Some even have a combination of sedatives/caffeine.
* We spent about $600 in cash mostly in Kyoto. ATMs were easy to find and 7/11 let you get 10 x ¥1000 bills.
* I would absolutely visit Japan again. Once you get the hang of things it’s so easy to pop around cities and find great sights and food.
by tonytroz