**Trip Date**: March 21-April 8
**Interests**: Coffee, Tea, Food, Anime, Gardens, Castles, Museums, Sakura
**Priorities**: trying good coffee, eating good food, minimizing waiting in lines, buying some chef knives, one piece, pokemon, Sakura.
**Route**: Tokyo > Nagoya > Kyoto > Yasugi > Hiroshima > Yufuin > Osaka > Hakone > Tokyo
**Expenses (rounded to nearest $10)**:
* Transportation within Japan: $1300
* Luggage Forwarding: $80 (2 carryon sized luggages 3 times)
* eSim: Ubigi – $26 for 2 10gb plans
**General tips to newer travelers or first timers to Japan:**
* Get an IC card regardless of JR pass or not, physical or Apple pay, either work. There were some people who said IC cards were unnecessary, but we traveled using the booths for the first day, and after getting our Pasmo (for me) and loading a Suica onto my wife’s iPhone, traveling was immensely easier. No need to spend time calculating how much fare to pay, just tap in and tap out and it’s auto calculated.
* Make sure your card/phone actually scans/beeps when you enter/exit stations. If you accidentally enter or exit without scanning, your card will have an error, and you will need to speak to an attendant to fix it. They will ask you for your last entry/exit station.
* Ubigi eSim: while I rarely had service outages, I never got the advertised 5g speeds and was stuck on 4g the whole time. Apparently this is a US Pixel specific issue (I have Pixel 7Pro). My wife has an iPhone 13 and she had 5g the whole time, but she had to change some privacy settings in order to use her web browser (apps worked fine). We both got the 10gb/30day plan and I had 800MB of data left while my wife had 2.8GB. I did all the navigation but I wasn’t watching videos or using social media unless on wifi.
* Prioritize what you want to do. Sometimes you may end up spending more time at a location than you expect, or maybe there is a longer wait for something, or maybe you just missed the subway/got on the wrong train.
* Google maps is wonderful for train/metro/subway, and a little more confusing when it comes to buses. My wife and I rarely used public transit before this trip so our time in Kyoto was very stressful because google maps would not match up with the bus lines perfectly and the colors/”platforms” were sometimes incorrect. Don’t pack the first 2-3 days of your trip with tons of locations to travel to because you’ll be using these days to learn the transit system.
* Learn some Japanese and Japanese culture/etiquette. There were definitely areas where we felt like some business owners and residents were weary of tourists. But knowing simple things like where to wait, how to say how many seats you need, or just simply being mindful of those around you will go a long way.
* Don’t be “those tourists”! You’re visiting someone else’s home. You should respect the rules of the house even if you were raised differently. I read plenty of reviews on google for places that were negative because “no one spoke english”. If you see people lined up for something, you should assume that it’s because they are waiting to get into the place/train/bus you are trying to get to. I could go on and on, but rude/ignorant tourists were by far the worst part of our trip.
* If you want to avoid the crowds, you will have to go early (or late) to popular tourist spots. The downside to going early is that a lot of the shops are not open yet.
* For those that are lactose intolerant, some places advertise oat milk/oat lattes. My wife had 2 incidents (out of 20+) where she believes they were using oat FLAVORED milk. If you’re really sensitive to dairy, just stick to black, or bring your own non dairy creamer, or use lactaid every time.
* Google translate works best when you understand how the Japanese language structure works. I have completed Pimsleur Japanese 1 and 2, I have been doing DuoLingo for almost a year, and I watch anime regularly, so I was able to start understanding how to word things better when using the translate functions. Sometimes I would type something into translate and they would give me a confused look, and then I would reword my questions using different words/sentence structures and then it clicked for them.
* Cards or cash? I see this asked often and I see a varying degree of answers. My personal experience is that I was able to use cards at a lot more establishments than I was expecting, especially since I went to more rural areas. I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum card and they were allowed at probably around 90% of the businesses I visited. If you have a physical IC card, you need cash to reload it. For 18 days, I brought 300000 Yen (Chase bank’s currency exchange was not bad) and I used about 135,000 Yen, over half of which was used to reload my IC card.
—
This was a re-do of our canceled 10 year anniversary trip that was planned for 2020. I was really bummed because that trip was timed PERFECTLY with the sakura blooms. I had hopes for this year as well, because all the reports up until the week before our trip were forecasting late March blooms again. Unfortunately, we missed the blooms and were, instead, given rain and strong winds for the first half of the trip. I booked our Ryokan stays first based on availability and pricing which is why the route may not look optimal to seasoned travelers. My initial concept was to book Ryokans as “rest days” in between the more active days of the trip and to also use the longer train/bus rides as down time. I wanted to end with Osaka/Tokyo as I had plans to purchase some chef knives and do some shopping and wanted to get a feel on the prices during my initial stay in Tokyo to see if I should buy in Osaka or not.
—
**Days 1-3: Tokyo**
***Notable Coffee:***
* *Glitch – 8/10:*this is made for people who prefer light/medium roasts with fruity and floral notes and enjoy drinking coffee black. My wife and I prefer darker roasts in the chocolate/nutty family with some milk. So while we didn’t particularly enjoy our brews, we definitely appreciated the time and effort they take to make you a special cup of coffee. It can take a while if you come at the wrong time because they walk everyone through their coffee process so if you have a bunch of people lined up in front of you who like to ask questions and don’t know what they want, it will be a while.
* *Fuglen – 10/10:* apparently this is a tourist hotspot and is especially popular with Chinese/Taiwanese tourists. There is a guy who seems to regularly sit in the front in a military outfit (he was there both times we went). The coffee jelly was AMAZING (best I had). This was the first time my wife could have non dairy milk (oat) with her coffee and she loved it. It was in the top 5 coffee spots in Japan for us. The waffle was good, but we didn’t get it the second time we visited.
* *Kielo Coffee – 9/10:* Another spot with non dairy milk and it was really tasty. The vibes were nice as well – chill and relaxed.
***Notable Food:***
* *Himuro Ueno – 8/10:* our first meal in Japan after landing. They went a bit heavy on the beansprouts for my wife’s miso ramen. Gyoza was excellent. Eggs were amazing (theme for the trip)
* *Tonkatsu Hasegawa – 10/10:* I believe you need reservations to dine here, but I saw a couple people walk up and try to get seats (not sure if they were successful or not). Best Tonkatsu we’ve ever had. We never ate katsu for the rest of the trip because we were certain it would not live up to this place.
* *銀座すし和* – 9/10: our first sushi spot in Japan. It is underground and there is only 1 person running the whole thing. He speaks no english and there is no english menu. It takes about 10-15 minutes for him to finish 1 person’s order. We both ordered the medium sized meal (for 1.5 people) and everything tasted fresh.
* *Boulangerie Jean Francois – 10/10:* we made the mistake of stumbling across this bakery at the basement level of Ginza 6. I say mistake because we loved their baked goods so much that we compared every other baked goods to this place. Their cinnamon rolls, butter croissant, regular croissant, and curry bread were the best we had.
* *Yasubee – 8/10:* Known for their Tsukemen, but they have ramen options as well. I was confused because they price the small, medium, and large serving sizes all the same. I got the large size (maybe it was XL?) Tsukemen and my wife got a medium ramen. They go HARD with their noodles… I only finished about 80% of my meal and I actually had to sit for 45 minutes after my meal at a starbucks because I was in such a massive food coma. Amazing noodle texture, and the eggs.. Holy moly people weren’t kidding about the eggs in Japan.
***Touristy Spots:***
* *Square Enix cafe – 7/10:* our only cafe experience and it will probably be our last. I know it’s not as well done as, say the Kirby cafe, but as much as I LOVED Final Fantasy 7, this was just not worth the price. The drinks were very tasty, but you don’t get a lot of it (ice takes up most of the space). I’m glad I experienced it, but themed cafes are just not my thing.
* *Sensoji Temple -* pretty cool temple grounds with cool gates. Lots of vendors all around the temple area. Easy to get to and worth a stop if you’re in the area.
* *Nakamise Dori -* right next to Sensoji Temple, so you might as well walk around there after. Tons of food and souvenir vendors but you’re probably better off buying things at Don Quijote price-wise.
* *Gundam Factory -* they decommissioned the moving Gundam at the end of March, so I’m glad I got to see it before they did.
* *Cup Noodle Museum (Yokohama) -* if you aren’t doing the ramen making workshop or the cup building workshop, you can probably walk through the whole place in 30-45 minutes. The lines for the instant noodle kitchen was insane when we went. We only bought admission tickets to look around.
* *Akihabara -* just wow. I didn’t think I could get sensory overload, but I did. The malls here are either super tight and tall, or super wide and tall and LOADED with signs. Not only that, but there are simply SO many people walking everywhere. It makes Vegas look like child’s play. When taking videos, try not to point your cameras at the cafe girls. They all looked away/turned around when they saw people with cameras shooting the streets.
* *Tsukiji Market -* cool to walk around, hard to figure out what you want to eat and where to get it. Lots of people are trying to buy things and if you don’t assert yourself at some of the shops, you’ll never get help. Stopped by a couple knife stores and the prices weren’t great. Had some “onigiri” from a random shop outside of the market and it was really delicious.
**Other thoughts:**
This was our first international flight over 5 hours so I wanted to make our arrival as frictionless as possible. We got Ubigi esims for my Pixel 7pro (US unlocked) and her iPhone 13 (US Unlocked) so we wouldn’t have to pick up a pocket wifi. I opted to forgo JR pass, as the calculator said we would barely be saving money and I read that the JR Ticket lines at the airports are always packed and slow moving (for obvious reasons). And I opted to use the Keisei Skyliner and book a hotel in Ueno to avoid needing to transfer stations.
We arrived at Narita Airport around 5pm. When we landed, immigration only had two lines: 1 for Japanese residents and 1 for tourists. Everyone in the tourist line had to line up and do the same things regardless of if you had a QR code or filled out the hardcopy paperwork. Everyone had to scan their face and fingers. I noticed that the customs agents seemed to work quicker for people who had QR codes (maybe due to illegible or incorrectly filled out paperwork).
We headed straight for the ticketing booths on the B1F and I headed for the Skyliner Ticket booth. The Keisei information booth was much longer. The JR Line was even worse. I waited about 10 minutes before getting to the front of the line and purchased our Skyliner tickets to Ueno. They had no Pasmo Passports or any IC cards at the booth. The lady told me I had to pick one up at Ueno station. We boarded the Skyliner and arrived at Ueno station around 7pm. Information booth was closed and the JR office had no IC cards.
I had to shift gears a bit for one of the days because I was planning to visit Shinjuku National Garden and Yoyogi park for the Sakura. Unfortunately, we had wind and rain instead, and no blossoms in sight. So we opted to explore more of the Taito city area and take it easy. I am not a rain person so my spirits were quite low, but we got umbrellas and trudged on!
—-
**Day 4-6: Nagoya and Kyoto**
***Notable Coffee:***
* *Kitaoji Roastery Lab – 8/5/10:* run more like a roastery than a cafe, but they know how to make a good latte. We were the only ones there and we got to see them roast 2 batches of beans while enjoying our lattes and iced coffees.
* *% Arabica – 10/10:* this was maybe our favorite coffee spot in all of Japan. Perfectly steamed milk and beans that are strong enough to burst through the creamy milk in perfect harmony. They are opening another 2nd location right across the street in April that looks to serve food as well. I’m note sure if the new location will be replacing the original location or not.
***Notable Food:***
* *Funaokayama Shimizu – 10/10:* our first kaiseki dining experience and it did not disappoint. Reservations only, as the place only seats 6. Chef Shimizu doesn’t talk much besides explaining the dishes he was presenting to us with the help of google translate. Top 3 meals for us in Japan. Everything was done so well and the flavors were immaculate. My wife’s favorite dessert was this orange juice jelly that he built inside of an actual orange. Located in a residential neighborhood, so it’s a little disconcerting to get there if you’re walking from the closest bus/metro stop.
* *Charcoal-grilled eel Togawa sakae – 10/10:* we actually wanted to eat at Atsuta Houraiken in Nagoya, but there was a 3 hour wait when we arrived at 11am, so we found this place nearby. They were fully booked for lunch already but were willing to make takeout boxes for us. We took these to the nearby Parco mall to eat. I was curious to see my wife’s reaction as she is not a huge unagi fan, but this unagi bowl changed her mind. They pack it with extra eel sauce and some onion/salt packets for the egg. Not cheap, but so so good.
* *Yamamoto Menzou – 10/10:* We typically aren’t udon people because the texture of the udon in the US isn’t very good. It’s usually too mealy, or thick, or the broth is too bland. But this place? Amazing. They seem to require reservations but we came at a down time and they were able to seat us right away. We had the spicy udon and spicy miso udon with burdock and chicken tempura. This was one of the only places that used white meat chicken that we tried in Japan and it was cooked perfectly. I wish I had ordered more. The burdock tempura was interesting. It was very firm and crunchy like a carrot. The texture of the udon noodles here were to die for: wonderfully chewy while somehow feeling like an al dente noodle. Was a perfect compliment to the broth.
* *Ramen Tanaka Kyu Shoten – 8/10:* everything here was pretty delicious, but it is definitely overpriced. This was the first place we dined at that we felt like we were paying tourist prices. Eggs were more yellow vs the orange we were used to seeing, but still cooked perfectly. Gyoza was okay and the karaage chicken was good.
* *Pizzeria Da Yuki – 10/10:* neapolitan style pizza has become our go-to in recent years and this place knocks it out of the park. They just changed locations about 150 meters away from the previous location. The menu is extensive and their dough has the perfect amount of chew and bubbling. We definitely felt underdressed here.
**Touristy Spots:**
* *Nijo Castle:* very cool castle with large grounds and gardens to walk through. Several Sakura trees, so I bet it’d be awesome to walk through when in bloom. Admission includes the ability to walk through the castle. We were planning to skip this in favor of west Kyoto (Arashiyama areas) but the rains changed our minds and we’re glad we got to see this castle.
* *Kiyomizu Dera:* Very cool to walk around without hordes of people. We arrived around 7am and there were maybe 10-20 other people at the time we went.
Kodaiji Temple: cool stairway to the main entrance. Again, no one around here early so you can take some cool photos.
* *Sannenzaka:* there were already people lined up to take photos here despite the gloomy weather. We couldn’t see the temple through the fog and clouds. No shops were open.
* *Ninenzaka:* cool to walk through while it was empty, but sad that we couldn’t explore the shops. Pick your poison I suppose.
* *Philosopher’s path:* was really looking forward to walking here with the trees in bloom but it was still a nice walk. We saw some fat neko here.
* *Kinkaku-ji:* Cool golden temple with a nice garden and short “hike”.
* *Fushimi Inari:* we got here around 5:00pm and there was still a decent crowd, probably because it had stopped raining and the sun was starting to peek through. We ended up taking a random path out of the hallway of tori gates because we saw several people go that way, and we ended up hiking up the backside of the trail. It was very cool to see the forest of bamboo, and we met a friendly neko that gave me a headbutt of affection, so that was the only reprieve of taking a very difficult (for us) hike up to the top. At one point, we were confused about where to go and this kind old man pointed us in the right direction. We went back down the normal path and it was significantly easier… so do with that information what you will. Definitely less people at the top, but not an insignificant amount of people either.
* *Takumi-no Yakata:* very cool place to learn how to brew teas. For 1000 yen, you can pick a tea to learn how to brew and drink and also pick a tea snack. This is where I learned I don’t like gyokuro tea. For whatever reason, it hits the umami centers of my tongue really hard, so it tastes almost like broth to me instead of tea. Wife learned how to whisk matcha so now I don’t have to whisk it up every morning for her haha. They are able to communicate effectively in English and Chinese here.
* *Nakamura Tokichi Honten:* if you want to try this place, I recommend stopping by here first before you explore Uji. There is a kiosk you put your name and party size into and it prints out a ticket for you to track where you are in line. When we got there around 11:30am it was a 3 hour wait. We explored Uji in the meantime and came back with an estimated 30 minute wait left (total time was about 3 hr 15 mins). I wasn’t impressed, but I also didn’t get the parfait. I got the mochi, jelly, and icecream dessert along with matcha latte and my wife got a traditional matcha.
**Other thoughts:**
Overall, we liked Kyoto the city, but we encountered so many awful tourists here. For example, there were some American teens who were crossing the rope boundary at Kinkaku-ji to grab yen on the ground to toss into the statue bowls for good luck and constantly yelling at each other to miss their tosses. We also had unpleasant experiences on the buses where tourists would cut the lines that Japanese residents were waiting in to get into packed buses and then proceed to act like ass hats (super loud nonstop conversations, watching tiktok on their phones at full volume, etc). We skipped west Kyoto because we were tired of wandering around in the rain, and spent a half day out in the rain at Uji instead. We were thinking that mud+rain would make everything less enjoyable in Arashiyama. We discovered how much we love warabi mochi, and I am so so sad we didn’t buy more Hojicha warabi mochi here.
—
**Day 7: Yasugi**
* **Ryokan – Saginoyuso 8.5/10:** Amazing stay here and they are very accommodating. Mainly booked this because I wanted to visit the Adachi Museum. My wife has several tattoos so I wanted to book Ryokans with private onsen in the room to avoid any discomfort. It’s so nice to be able to soak in the comfort of your private quarters instead of having to walk down several hallways to get to a private one you can book. Kaiseki meals were amazing. Dinner is served in your room, and breakfast is served in a communal dining/banquet area.
* **Adachi Museum – 10/10:** amazing garden with some cool art and sculptures. We sat and had coffee in one of the tea rooms, but you can probably skip it and find a bench to sit on in various areas of the museum. The views from the tea room were amazing, but at 1500 yen per drink (free refills) for pretty bad coffee, I don’t know that it’s worth it on top of the price of admission.
**Other Thoughts:**
We really wanted to visit Himeji castle, but after our hike, we were wiped and just wanted to get to the Ryokan and chill. Really cool view of Mount Daisen from the train on the way to Yasugi. There wasn’t much else to do in Yasugi, and this Ryokan is literally across the street from the museum. I think I would try and stay in Matsue if we visit again. Pretty rural area in the mountains, but almost no tourists here aside from the tour groups stopping by the museum. If you stop at Okayama station, make sure to pick up the wasabi flavored nori snacks. We didn’t find those anywhere else and they were one of our favorite snacks of the trip!
—
**Day 8-9: Hiroshima**
**Notable Coffee:**
* *Obscura Coffee Roasters Hondori – 10/10:* one of the few places that have dark roast beans in their main rotation. This was one of the only places we actually bought beans from. Loved the vibe and ambiance in this location (they have another location closer to the peace park). Our second favorite coffee place after %Arabica.
**Notable Food:**
* *Kome Kome Shokudo – 10/10:* my wife picked this place out as she was wanting karaage. It was the best Karaage we had all trip. Skip the sizzling steak plate and just get the karaage chicken. I also tried the minced tuna don and it was okay. Their specialty is the karaage chicken and it was by far the best we had in Japan. Perfectly crispy outside with juicy chicken on the inside. They cut out all the gristle which we loved. They also have takeout option for their chicken.
**Touristy Spots:**
* *Miyajima Island:* I initially ruled this out because my wife gets motion sick and the ferry ride from Hiroshima is about an hour long. But I found that if you take the train to Miyajimaguchi Station, the ferry ride from there is only 10 minutes and apparently the ferry is bigger as well so it’s less rocky. My wife was fine for both ferry rides and we got to “enjoy” the hike up Mt. Misen and the street food. We took the Daishoin path up and it took us just over 90 minutes which is what the suggested time is for the hike. We didn’t have tickets to take the ropeway down, but there are signs indicating that you can pay for the ride down after you get to the base of the ropeway. Just know that if you take the ropeway up, you still have to hike for a bit to get to the top of Mt. Misen. We saw a woman in a nice dress and fur jacket and leather boots walking up from the Gondola and we were thinking “she does NOT know what she signed up for dressed like that…”
* *Peace Memorial Museum:* very sobering experience. It takes a while to get through because there are so many people in there that you get bottle necked sometimes. If you’re in Hiroshima, there’s no reason not to visit. The park and dome are right
**Other Thoughts**
The oysters weren’t my cup of tea. I tried them deep fried in a ball and grilled with Yuzu miso sauce. I think they taste too much like the water they were farmed in? Not sure how else to describe it. They don’t taste like the ocean like the oysters I’m used to, but they taste like… what you would expect brackish lake water to taste like? We also didn’t do too much in Hiroshima because there was super strong winds on top of rain, so we mainly just explored the areas next to our hotel.
—
**Day 10-11: Yufuin**
* **Ryokan – Yufuin Yasuha 8/10:** special blue colored water (aoyu) that makes your skin silky smooth. The private bath in our room was not as smooth as the other ryokans we stayed at so it was slightly less comfortable if you’re going in naked. You can’t control the amount of spring water that goes into the bath, only the amount of cold water, so make sure not to leave it on too long or else you’re stuck with a lukewarm bath unless you ask the staff to resupply your bath. The welcome mochi and cold towel were amazing after sweating on the bus. Kaiseki dinner was good but one of my beef slices was super chewy. Meals are served in a communal area with partitions and sliding doors separating diners.
* **Ryokan – Ryunohige 10/10:** This was by far the best ryokan experience we had but it should be because it was also the most expensive haha. There are only 10-15 rooms in the whole Ryokan I think and every room is isolated from each other. Dinner area is in a communal area with separate, closed off rooms. Our favorite server in all of Japan was here. This was our 2nd favorite kaiseki meal after Shimizu’s and it introduced me to hojicha gelato (soooo good!). The breakfast was not as good as Saginoyuso’s breakfast though. The views here from the outdoor onsen were amazing, and Mt. Yufuin peeked through the clouds during my last soak before checkout.
**Notable Coffee:**
* *Ordinary Day Coffee – 9.5/10:* Really chill place to get coffee after walking around Yufuin all day. I didn’t confirm, but it seemed to be run by a husband and wife. They use manual press espresso extraction and the flavor was excellent.
**Touristy Spots:**
There is one main road that has all the stores, shops, restaurants with a few more off the side streets. When you’re at Yufuin Station, it’s easy to see where to go. On this street, some of our favorite food were: sweet potato, fries with chili salt, chicken tempura, Warabi Mochi, and Mochi dango. Yufuin Cider is a must try as well.
* *Comico Art Museum:* pretty expensive for what it is. I was fine with it because Takashi Murakami is one of my favorite artists and his art was one of the main exhibits.
* *Kinrin Lake:* smallish lake at the end of the path with a few cafes/restaurants around it.
* *Flower Village:* cool if you like Ghibli, smells like a poorly maintained petting zoo. Stores are very small and cramped. Random assortment of caged animals you can feed and several animal cafes
* *Oita River:* there’s a long path where you can walk along the Oita river. This is where we finally saw Sakura in full bloom on some of the trees.
* *YUFUIN strawberry farm:* you need reservations to access this location and I didn’t find out about it until the day we were walking around so I couldn’t get in. But if the strawberries in the dango that I ate in the Yufuin area were any indication of the quality, you should definitely try to get a reservation here.
**Other Thoughts:**
We decided to fly from Oita Airport to Osaka instead of taking the train as the airfare was actually cheaper than a train ride. We asked the host at Ryunohige about when we should get to the airport, and he said we could take the 10am express bus from Yufuin station to the airport and we would be fine for our 12pm flight. I was a bit anxious because I’m used to needing to get to the airport at least 2 hours early. But we trusted him and it took us less than 5 minutes to get from the bus to our gate. We should have spent more time outside of the gate because that’s where all the food and shops were but we rushed through and then just ended up sitting at the gate for 45 minutes with not much to do. They board people in a very efficient way, with window seats going first in general boarding. Took maybe 15 minutes to board the entire plane. Highly recommend flying in and out of here. So many people with dogs in Yufuin! It seemed like mainly Korean tourists and Japanese residents in the Ryokans we stayed at.
—
**Day 12-14: Osaka**
**Notable Coffee:**
* *Lilo Coffee Kissa – 8/10:* very cool vibes in this shop with 2 floors. They have all the brew methods you can ask for for their beans. Coffee jelly is good (but not as good as Fuglen). Mainly light/medium roasts with fruity/floral notes here though.
* *Cafe Ciao Presso – 6/10:* coffee wasn’t great, but the views from the 17th floor and the fact that it’s not jam packed with tourists was really nice. They have some “panino” sandwiches which weren’t bad.
**Notable Food:**
* *Mizutaki Iroha – 9/10:* the best sukiyaki we’ve had. It is definitely a bit on the sweeter side – but it might be possible for you to request for them to add less sugar. They cook the meat for you and then leave you with a tray of veggies to cook afterwards. Beef was SUPER tender. It is very pricey though. I don’t think I would come back, as there were other sukiyaki places for half the price. But if price isn’t an issue for you, definitely give it a try. Lots of autographs and pictures on the wall so I assume a lot of celebrities dine here.
* *Sumibiyaki Unagi no Nedoko – 10/10:* hard to compare this with Togawa sakae because we had a dine-in experience, but it was amazing. We had reservations for dinner and I believe they are required as we saw several people turned away. This was also not a cheap dinner, but unlike Mizutaki Iroha, this was worth every penny. I would dine here again in a heartbeat. We both ordered the eel bowl set and the hostess gave us instructions on how to eat the meal to best appreciate it.
* *Mugito Mensuke – 10/10:* we got here 45 minutes before opening on a rainy day on a Wednesday and were the first in line. We both got the Guinea Fowl ramen, and while we didn’t care for the actual Guinea Fowl meat, every other component of the ramen was top notch. This was our favorite ramen experience for sure. The chashu bowl is also a must get, as they cook the chashu while mixing it in a bowl using a hand torch. The eggs here were the best eggs we had all trip.
* *Sakamoto Sushi – 10/10:* I actually had to wake up twice at 5am (PST) to reserve a table at this location because they open reservations on tablecheck on the 20th of every month and I miscalculated which day that would be in the US. But it was so worth it. Chef Sakamoto was our favorite chef all trip and was so accommodating and interactive. We actually met up with my cousin and her husband on this leg of the trip and the 4 of us got the prime seats right in front of Chef Sakamoto. He and his wife know some English but rely on google translate. Very affordable omakase and I would go to Osaka again just to dine here.
**Touristy Spots:**
* *Wada Knife Sharpening Class -* highly recommended for anyone who is a home chef or interested in knives. The class includes a knife for you to take home and a trip to the knife museum and Yuji is amazing at explaining the history and all the intricacies of bladesmithing in Japan. There are two sharpening masters at the shop who help guide you in the knife sharpening process and at the end of the class, you can pick out a handle and you set your knife in the handle yourself (with assistance).
* *Dotonbori -* go at least once to experience the sheer amount of people and food stalls. We didn’t end up eating anything here though as the prices seemed a little high compared to the areas immediately outside of it. We also didn’t want to wait in the lines.
* *Shinsaibashi -* So. Many. Stores. Also, people seem to not give a damn here. I saw an old lady just sitting at the end of the strip on the floor with her shoes and socks off next to her 8 shopping bags. Lots of cool looking places to eat as well.
* *Shinsekai* – we only came during the day but it seems like it would be similar to Dotonbori.
* *Expo ’70 Commemorative Park* – pretty cool park that I think would be awesome to visit when the Sakura bloom. There’s a neat museum in the park (need to pay for it) that details the creation of the park. Reminiscent of large regional parks we have in California, with a lot more things to do. Shopping and small amusement park at the south entrance to the park. 90% of the visitors looked to be locals.
**Other Thoughts**
We came to Osaka to eat and shop for knives. Nara was supposed to be a part of the trip too but we were just so over the rain and we got our deer fix on Miyajima Island. We definitely spent a pretty penny here (knives are expensive haha). Overall, the vibe is definitely younger here and a lot more people are smoking everywhere. It was also the first time we noticed trash on the streets. For shopping, I would recommend Umeda over Shinsaibashi. Namba walk also had a ton of food in the underground area. There were several bento style shops that had massive lines of people with baskets overflowing with food which I assumed were discounted due to the time (around 7pm). We grabbed a box of tuna sushi for about 800Y from one of the stands and it was excellent quality.
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**Day 15: Hakone**
* **Ryokan Mizunoto – 7/10:** a lot of families at this Ryokan. Definitely a different vibe compared to the other 3 Ryokans we stayed at previously. There are several private baths you can “reserve”. Kaiseki meals here were good and they give you the option of grilled or hotpot for the meats portion of the meal at dinner and we chose grilled. There were also free snacks/foods at various times: dango, meat buns, ramen.
**Touristy Spots:**
* *Owakudani -* The souvenir and egg store were flooded with people when we went. Really annoying when groups of people would just stand at the entrance/exit for no reason just loitering. Eggs come in sets of 4 for 500 yen. They taste like normal eggs but have a black shell. They come with a packet of salt.
* *Open Air Museum -* It was okay.
**Other Thoughts:**
It was very gloomy when we went so there weren’t any good views of anything. We didn’t end up doing the loop because we weren’t going to go on the ship and the gloom and fog didn’t offer any views. Overall we weren’t impressed with Hakone compared to Yufuin. I’m sure a lot of the charm was lost because of the weather, but there are just way too many obnoxious tourists here too. We were stuck on the ropeway ride and subsequent railcars with a group of really obnoxious people.
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**Day 16-19: Tokyo**
**Notable Coffee:**
* *The Roastery – 8/10:* the baked goods here were some of the best we had in Japan. Donut and cinnamon rolls were amazing. Coffee and lattes were decent but not super remarkable compared to our favorite coffee shops in Japan.
* *Koffee Mameya Kakeru – 9/10:* this was a very interesting experience. They offer an omakase coffee experience where they serve you coffee 4-5 different ways based on your course selection. Our barista informed us that it would take up to 2 hours. We didn’t have the time to spend here so we just opted for some a la carte options. If you are into the science of coffee, and want to experience all the different preparations of coffee, including alcoholic drinks, I don’t know where else you can go to have this experience. Baristas were fairly fluent in English.
* *Little Nap Coffee Stand – 9/10:* great place to stop by next to Yoyogi park. Excellent coffee stand. Don’t sit in the outside bar area though – the bathroom vents to that counter.
**Notable Food:**
* *Harajuku Gyozaro – 6/10:* Very skippable. Pretty much only tourists ate here. Gyoza was very forgettable. I guess a lot of people like this place because they serve beer, but the food itself was very meh.
* *Sobahouse – 5/10:* this was a big disappointment for us considering its Michelin star rating. They have a bunch of rules about how to dine there to help facilitate moving as many people as possible through the restaurant as they have limited seating. We were 14th in line for dinner and their ticket machine showed that 80% of the menu was sold out. No eggs available. Chashu bowl was easily the worst I had in Japan. Chashu was tough and chewy and lacked flavor, and the rice wasn’t cooked well. Broth was very interesting – deep seafood flavors with a punch of clam (as advertised). But I wouldn’t come here again. Very good price point though!
* *Shewolf Diner – 9/10:* We were craving fries and this restaurant was attached to our hotel so we came here after the disappointing sobahouse dinner to get our fry fix. Really really tasty fries. Highly recommend the truffle if you’re into truffle.
* *Sushi Mogana Okachimachi – 9/10:* One of the best tempura we had in Japan, along with very good quality sushi. You order from your phone after scanning a QR code.
* *Nogata Ramen – 9/10:* wanted to eat near the Meguro River Cherry Blossoms Promenade and wandered into this place. Their broth is extra garlicky and oily, so ask for less if you need to. They offer pickled beansprouts that have a little kick to them and they were super tasty. The egg was excellent. Chashu don was very tasty with a good char taste. Skip the gyoza.
* *Bifuteki Kawamura – 9/10:* Not sure how much of it is marketing but they give you a full explanation about what is allowed to be called Kobe beef or not. Really good dining experience here, but also the most expensive of our trip. The garlic fried rice was bursting with flavor. We had the standard kobe beef course and it was definitely some of the best steak I’ve ever had. I can’t help but wonder if there aren’t cheaper alternatives though.
**Touristy Spots:**
* *Shinjuku Gyoen -* a must visit during sakura season.
* *Yoyogi Park -* if you don’t want to pay a (nominal) admission fee, you can come to this park for free
* *Meguro River Cherry Blossom Promenade -* very nice walk. Not very crowded after 8pm. Probably get better pictures during the day though.
* *Cat Street -* nice area to walk around that isn’t super crowded. Lots of shopping and food stalls. I wish I tried the lobster rolls.
* *Shibuya Scramble -* Nice to see from Shibuya Station walkway
* *Kappabashi Street -* Tons of shops here. I wish we had more time to explore. Picked up some knife sharpening stones and a knife here.
**Other Thoughts:**
This was mainly the shopping portion of the trip. The mega donquijote in Shibuya was wild. 7 floors of merchandise. Tax free on the top floor. I only was able to last through 2.5 floors and I was just too tired and overwhelmed to keep going haha. It was at the end of the day so I would probably start earlier there next time. We visited multiple one piece stores and pokemon centers throughout Japan, and we noticed that 90ish% of the things can be gotten at any of the stores. There was a custom shirt making station in the Shibuya Pokemon center that I didn’t see in the Ibekuro, Osaka, Nagoya or Osaka ones. Claw machines games were a money sink. I was surprised at how much of a premium Kirby souvenirs demanded compared to all the other anime/game souvenirs. We saw massive lines at Narita for China Air but everything else was smooth sailing. We flew ANA and it took us about 20 minutes to pickup our forwarded luggage, check our bag, and get through security. They have showers and a room that you can rent. And it seemed like all the stores and restaurants in the airport were priced the same as outside of the airport, which was a big surprise coming from American airports. So you can save some of your souvenir shopping and dine in the airport without fear of being price gouged.
by dubear