I (25M) was going to do this trip back in 2021 (BASc Grad Trip) but ended up getting delayed due to COVID. Finally was able to do it these past few weeks as a MASc Grad Trip instead with a nurse friend of mine (24M).
Honestly I had zero complaints for the whole trip, a lot of things fell in place and worked out a lot better than we originally thought they would. In terms of weather, our one day trip to Mt Fuji was clear skies (the only hiccup being icy roads so we could only get as high as the 4th station). For rain, it only ever rained on days we were traveling between cities. This worked out nicely since those were treated more as shopping/exploring days rather than outdoor activities. We never really had any issues getting around from place to place (thx Google Maps) and the train system only took a day or two to really get used to. We also arrived in Shinjuku when the cherry blossoms just started to enter full bloom which was wonderful (this continued into Kyoto and Osaka).
In terms of hotels, they weren’t bad. The one we stayed at in Shinjuku probably being the worst (fairly small, and very noisy at night). The rest had zero issues other than the one in Kyoto where we probably went through 10 room keys due to the keys continually not working. We also probably could’ve found something cheaper for Kyoto but in terms of options we had (booked through travel agent) this was one of the cheapest choices. Overall was a very nice hotel to be at location wise for us. Osaka was one of the best hotels and also one of the cheapest which was interesting.
Cost wise, the whole trip ran around $6200 CAD ($4500 USD) for the two weeks after all expenses were accounted for. Some things we couldn’t avoid (plane rides being March 30th to April 12th were needed due to my buddies time off) and for first time travelers to Japan we wanted at least a comfortable hotel to stay at (looked into Airbnbs but decided to pass on them). Could have cut costs in souvenirs and food, but ultimately I’d say you are better off spending a little bit more and truly enjoy yourself than try to save $500.
***Costs (all in CAD per person roughly):***
Plane – $2000
Hotels – $1400
Shinjuku – E Hotel Higashi Shinjuku (3 nights – 639.37 CAD)
Kyoto – Hotel M’s Est Shijo – Karasuma (4 nights – 1,114.52 CAD)
Osaka – Hotel Keihan Tenmabashi Ekimae (2 nights – 312.78 CAD)
Tokyo Mitsui Garden Hotel Otemachi Tokyo (3 nights – 735.00 CAD)
Day Trip – $200
Trains, Attractions, Souvenirs, Food – $2550
Trains \~ $400
Souvenirs \~ $1000
Food, Drinks, etc \~ $900
Attractions \~ $250
\*These are estimated with Trains and Souvenirs being most accurate.
***Trip Summary***
**March 30 (Sat):**
• Took a plane from Toronto to Narita airport (14 hour flight) leaving at noon and arriving the next day.
**March 31 (Sun): Arrival**
• Landed in Narita around 4pm local time, spent about 2 hours getting through customs and collecting luggage. Spent some time after this roaming around the airport a bit and figuring out how to get on the Narita Express to Shinjuku.
• Arrived in Shinjuku around 8pm and checked in hotel by 8:30pm (15min walk from station, but all the neon lights had us distracted). Hit a McDonalds across the street from hotel (got the Samurai Burger) and went to sleep shortly after.
**April 1 (Mon): Shinjuku/Shibuya**
• Started day off at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (arrived there at 9am, garden opened at 9:30am) and explored around the park. Was able to get nice pictures of and with the cherry blossoms before crowds got too big. The cherry blossoms at this point were in full bloom everywhere, and it was honestly stunning to actually see. We enjoyed some matcha ice cream toward the end of our visit.
• Headed toward Shibuya after this to visit Shibuya crossing and different stores (One Piece, Pokemon Center, Jump Store, Nintendo). Got Omurice from a restaurant/café near the Pokemon Center.
• In the evening, we headed back to Shinjuku to see more of the area before it got too dark. Saw the Godzilla head, the famous KFC from JJK (those who have watched the anime understand), and just general walking around the area since we couldn’t the night we arrived. Visited a couple shrines once it became dark out which was really cool to see them illuminated and empty. Might’ve also sat at the Cat sign near the station for a good 10 minutes.
**April 2 (Tues): Mt Fuji Day Trip**
• Did a tour for Mt Fuji/Hakone for the day. Started off by visiting Mt Fuji (couldn’t go up to 5th station due to icy road conditions, managed to get to the 4th though). Was a near perfect day with almost no clouds. This was followed by a lunch at a hotel/restaurant (food was ok) with a drum show. Then went to Lake Ashi for a boat ride (was a quick ride, got off at first stop) to the Hakone ropeways. Was slightly pressed for time at the ropeways (guide ended up giving us an additional 20 minutes) so once on top of Mt Hakone we ran to Hakone Mototsumiya Shrine (view of Mt Fuji and surrounding areas from here was breathtaking). After this we headed back to Shinjuku (experienced some trouble with other tourists figuring out the Shinkansen from Odawara Station so that set us back an hour almost).
• Got standing bar sushi once back in Shinjuku, was a fun experience. Spent some more time walking around Shinjuku then called it a night.
**April 3 (Wed): Travel to Kyoto**
• Got breakfast at a “Mom and Pop” shop near our hotel. Was probably some of the best food we had all trip. Then spent the morning making our way to Kyoto from Shinagawa Station (why we didn’t just go to Tokyo station you are asking? I couldn’t tell you but ultimately we had zero issues with leaving from here, probably ended up being easier). Arrived at our hotel by 1pm and dropped off our luggage to explore around.
• First visited the Pokemon Center in Kyoto since it was down the street from our hotel (if you haven’t caught on by now, this will be a re-occurring trend) and hit a Starbucks for some Matcha Latte’s and small snack.
• Went back to hotel to check in and then headed out to Nishiki Market to get food/souvenirs. Went back to hotel by 8pm-ish and called it a day.
**April 4 (Thurs): Kyoto – Fushimi Inari & Kiyomizu-dera**
• Early morning waking up at 5:30am and got to Fushimi Inari by 6:30am taking local transit. Spent about 3 hours from the time we arrived at Inari station to the time we left. Crowds were nearly non-existent when we arrived and got to peacefully walk up and down the mountain with little traffic. We were able to get some quality photos which was nice. Waited around at Fushimi Toyokawa Inari Shrine Hongu for a local shop to open to buy some souvenirs (didn’t open till 9am I believe) but was worth the wait! The owners of the shop were very kind and friendly.
• Headed to Kiyomizu-dera at 10am and explored around the main street at different shops (Ghibli store, etc). Got an early lunch at a ramen shop before heading out to the main temple. This was a slightly funny experience because we were there 10 minutes before they opened, and the one employee apologized for us having to wait. This was followed up by the other employee making fun of him for apologizing while they were walking away from us (or at least that’s what it sounded like). Food didn’t disappoint. We then headed to the main temple and did most of what it had to offer.
• On our way back to the hotel, we visited the tatami-floored Starbucks. Most seats were taken but we happened to find an open spot to sit and rest our feet while enjoying some beverages. Also visited Hōkan-ji Temple which was fairly busy with people trying to get that “perfect picture”. We avoided the Gion area because of the tourism/the changes the city is making to tourism there. Thought it would be best avoided and plus we already had a long day at this point.
• After a quick break at our hotel, we visited a few other stores (Nintendo Kyoto, Don Quijote, and other department stores). One part of the trip for me was finding a Seiko watch as part of a Graduation gift for myself which I ended up buying one in Kyoto. Had slight buyers remorse when I found a SEIKO × JR WEST 25TH ANNIVERSARY JR 500 KODAMA in Osaka for about 500 CAD but in the end I am happy with the piece I got. Called it an early night after this (this was also a common trend of the trip, waking up 5/6am and going to sleep around 8/9pm).
**April 5 (Fri): Kyoto – Arashiyama**
• Arrived at the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove by 7:15am to walk the grove and surround parks. It was surprisingly busy but not overcrowded by any means. The walk was relatively short through the grove but we then did the Arashiyama Park Kameyama Area and followed that by walking down Katsura River to the Togetsukyo Bridge.
• We then went to Tenryu-Ji Temple for 8:30am to do the garden and main building. The gardens were wonderful, with a fair number of cherry blossoms and other flowers. The main building was also quite nice and provided some great photo spots.
• After this, we went to the Monkeypark across the bridge we visited early. We got there around 10:30am and spent the next hour or so going up and seeing the monkeys.
• At noon we headed back into Kyoto for lunch and then visited Kyoto Tower. It was fairly cool to see the different temples and shrines at the top of the tower, and the city as a whole. After this we went back to Kyoto Station to climb (I might’ve made my friend climb it all instead of taking escalators) the grand staircase there. Sadly, maintenance was being done on the lights on the staircase so we couldn’t get to view the illuminated staircase. After this we went and explored other shopping centers and bought a Seiko watch I found the previous day. I wanted to think on it, so ended up going back to the store this day and purchased it. We called it the day shortly after this.
**April 6 (Sat): Nara “Half” Day Trip**
• To add some background to this, we were originally going to visit Nara in one of our two days in Osaka. However, when we did Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu-dera in one day, it didn’t make sense for us to push Nara off until later in the trip (it was also projected to rain that later date, so we decided to push it forward). The only thing it cost us was Nijo Castle.
• We left Kyoto Station for Nara at 7:30am. Got to feed the deer and explore some of the surrounding area before it got busy. We arrived at Todai-ji temple for 9am and 2 hours going through the temple and surrounding grounds. Stopped for some green tea at one of the shops atop a climb next to another temple. Was nice to sit down and relax. At around 11/11:30am we were making our way back to the station to get back to Nara but first stopped to grab lunch at a local restaurant.
• Once back at Kyoto Station, we went in a line to roll a dice to have the chance to win some desserts (new dessert chain in Kyoto was having a giveaway, so we thought why not). The host was very energetic, reminded me of those Japanese game shows with the over the top host narrating everything. I ended up winning one of the larger desserts (they moved the die so I won it), but overall was a fun experience and nice break from the busy days. We did some more shopping after this (bought a Gundam that barely didn’t fit in my suitcase) and grabbed dinner. We then went back to Kyoto Station to see Kyoto Tower lit up and attempted to see the illuminated stairs (this was when we found out they were down for maintenance). After that we called it a night.
**April 7 (Sun): Travel to Osaka**
• Travelling to Osaka was somewhat of a nightmare. We resorted to dragging our luggage ourselves between hotels. This would’ve been fine if not for the wheels on my main luggage nearly falling off (lost my first wheel of two in this part of the trip). Add to that, the line we took from Gion-Shijo to Temmabashi was very crowded. The thought process here was we could stay on a single train line instead of hopping between 3 different trains would make this trip easier. Ultimately it might have but it was still a pain.
• Once in Osaka, we dropped luggage off at the hotel and went to grab a bite to eat. The B1 and B2 levels of malls/department stores honestly had some good food options so we ended up doing that this morning. Got Omurice with a side of Karage and it was exactly what I needed after this morning. After this, we went and did Osaka Castle from noon till 3pm. After this we went back to our hotel to check in.
• We then went to the complex that housed the Pokemon Café and old shops (Jump Shop, Godzilla, Capcom, etc). It was at this point when we were heading out to go to Dotonbori I checked if there were any reservations open for the Pokemon Café the next day and there were several open. I selected a 10:10am spot which my friend was ecstatic for.
• Arrived at Dotonbori at around 7pm at night and explored the main strip and surrounding area. Got a few different foods to snack on and went to go see the main neon signs and different statues on buildings. Overall happy experience with Dotonbori, with the exception of one food stall. Bought two items which cost 1000 yen and handed them a 5000 yen bill (needed to break change), and the guy tried to scam me by only handing 3000 yen back. It could have been an honest mistake, but by the time I left the stall it all felt kinda shady.
**April 8 (Mon): Osaka**
• Started day off by making our way down to Dotonbori for the Pokemon Café. We explored down near the waterway since we were there early. The Pokemon Café itself was alright, the food at best was just “ok”. For the price you can get way better but you are paying for the experience. Definitely something you just do once and then never again (unless you want to get Café exclusive merchandise). The Pikachu dance show at the end was kinda cool/fun (meant for kids though).
• After this, we made our way to the Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN just after noon. Spent around 2 or so hours inside the aquarium itself, with a stop at the food center within it for a quick bite (getting a hotdog that is maybe 18 inches to 2 feet long was an experience). Honestly, the aquarium was a lot of fun, and they had a wide variety of different species within it. The setup of some enclosures though was a lot more open than what I have experienced in Canada/USA. At times I felt like I could just reach my hands in and lift up a penguin if I wanted to (Note: I would never actually do that). They listed feeding times for a lot of the different enclosures and got to see them feed the seals which was really awesome.
• After this we traveled to Osaka Station and hit the Pokemon Center there (as well as a few other shops). This was then followed up by Ajisen Ramen (we have it here locally where I live, so we wanted to compare) and then back to the hotel after.
**April 9 (Tues): Travel to Tokyo & Tokyo Skytree & Akihabara**
• Travelling to Tokyo was slightly less nightmare-ish than to Osaka. Transit was fairly simply (one train ride to Shin-Osaka Station, and then shinkansen to Tokyo Station with our hotel being a 10 minute walk away), however during this I lost a second wheel on my luggage. To add some clarity though, when I say lost a wheel I am referring to the rubber portion on the wheel itself (however without it though, the wheel didn’t really roll hence me saying “lost”). We arrived in Tokyo just after noon. We deposited luggage off at the hotel and explored Tokyo Station a bit (Pokemon Store, Ghibli Store, etc).
• After checking into our hotel, we headed toward Tokyo Skytree to visit some more stores (Ghibli, Jump Shop, Pokemon Center, etc). Found a Quintessential Quintuplets pop up Café there which was interesting, but ultimately settled on getting food from a café that had fluffy pancakes. While here, I found an opening for the Kirby Café for the next day at noon, so I booked that.
• After getting a bite, we made our way to Akihabara for the evening to explore the surrounding areas. We hit up the Yodobashi Camera and walked up and down the main strips near the station. We didn’t spend too much time here, but honestly we both sort of just wanted to see the main strips with the neon signs.
**April 10 (Wed): Asakusa & Tokyo National Museum**
• Started morning off by going to Asakusa at 9am. Walked down the main strip to the temple and spent some time walking around the local area (adjacent streets to main strip).
• We then made our way back to Tokyo Skytree for the Kirby Café at noon. The Kirby Café was honestly a big step up in terms of quality of food compared to the Pokemon Café. Prices were similar but the food tasted a lot better. The service was wonderful and the staff very friendly (unless you were trying to sneak into the Café to get photos, in which they were fairly quick to boot you out).
• Following the Kirby Café, we made our way to Tokyo National Museum and went through each of the buildings there. Was fairly cool to see the different art pieces, sculptures, and swords from different periods of Japanese history. They also had pieces from other Asian countries, as well as Egypt and India.
• After this, we went back to Shibuya since we needed to visit a Mega Don Quijote, as well as explore Shibuya at night (previously had done it during the day). While there, we grabbed sushi from a conveyer belt sushi restaurant. Had to wait about 30-40 minutes but honestly it was some of the best sushi I have ever had. After we were done eating and exploring, we went back to our hotel and called it a night.
**April 11 (Thurs): TeamLab Planets & Kokyo Gaien National Garden**
• Had tickets to do TeamLab Planets at 10:30am, so we went out that way for around 9am to explore some of the surrounding area before making our way to TeamLabs. Got to visit the Gundam and Statue of Liberty they have in Odaiba and walk around some of the parks near them. After this we went to TeamLabs and waited to enter.
• Teamlabs itself was a lot of fun, and line to get in wasn’t that bad (it moved quick). Each exhibit was fairly unique from each other, and you were allowed to move at your own pace (with exception of one which was timed). Took us about an hour by the time we entered to when we left.
• After Teamlabs we headed to Ginza to check out the largest Uniqlo store and another Pokemon Center. While there we also grabbed a quick bite to eat.
• Following this, we went to the Imperial Palace area near Tokyo Station. Had spent around an hour and a half exploring The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace and Kokyo Gaien National Garden. These were just alright, cool to see some of the buildings/structures but sadly didn’t compare to other places visited.
• Ended the day off by visiting Sunshrine City Mall to visit the Pokemon Center, Go Lab, and another Jump Shop. We also explored some of the main streets in the area. After this we went back to the hotel to pack for a flight back the next day.
**April 12 (Fri): Travel Day Back to Toronto**
• Thankfully hadn’t lost another wheel this day but we slowly made our way back to Narita Airport. Just took things slow since our flight didn’t leave until 6pm. Spent some time at Tokyo Station (took a later train to Narita) and then got a bite to eat at the airport before getting on our flight. Did some last minute shopping in the duty free area (bought a bottle of Sake, a Gundam, and some small snacks before the flight). Arrived back in Toronto the same day (which was weird) on a flight that took about 12 hours. Flight was originally delayed about 30 minutes due to issues with the plane, but the plane landed early due to a medical emergency on board (was a fairly rushed landing).
***Some Thoughts***
**Travel:**
• Planes rides to and from honestly weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great either. The plane food definitely did a number on our stomachs though.
• Trains in Japan are way easier than they originally seemed/thought when I looked up online. Google maps is a savior and got us through this trip. The only hiccup was sometimes trains would stop at a station before the one you wanted to get to and would shut down for maintenance or something (experienced this once travelling between Kyoto and Osaka and was confused since google maps said this train was good to go on).
• Shinkansen tickets were fairly easy to buy and were very pleasant to ride. Only complaint was it felt like our ears popped more on the train than they did on the airplane.
**Tourist Attractions:**
• Going early was one of the best decisions we made, and our sleep schedules sort of helped with doing this. The early morning for Fushimi Inari and a few other sites allowed us to get through them more peacefully and got to truly enjoy our time making our way through the different sites without worrying about being in people’s way/going at our own pace.
• Some sites (like Kiyomizu-dera) we found were better to go to later in the day when there are crowds. Sure, the crowds sometimes suck, but a lot of places didn’t open until 10 or 11am so going early would ruin part of this experience.
**Food:**
• The food here honestly was really great. I have no major complaints; a lot of places were fairly accommodating. The only thing I realized while on the trip was that food isn’t as “cheap” as people make it seem. Sure, there are some places where I got a solid meal for like 800 yen (ramen bowl with duck), but other places you could easily be spending 1500-2000 yen on a meal. At the end of the day though, almost every meal we had was great and would do it all again.
**English Speakers:**
• Now, when you travel to another country where there first language isn’t English, you can’t expect people to fully understand every word you are saying. I found it fairly interesting though how going from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka, the number of people who spoke English dropped dramatically (especially between Kyoto and Osaka). It could have just been the areas/places we visited, but for the most part it felt like we were on our own in Osaka. We did our best to learn some common phrases and were patient with figuring something out if we were stuck and had to ask someone for help. At the end of the day though, patience was key.
**Behaviors of Tourists:**
• For the most part, we didn’t really notice any “bad” tourists while there. There were some where it was maybe questionable behavior, but for the most part no out right disrespectful. Maybe one of the worst things I saw was a girl “screaming” making an intro to a TikTok or Instagram video while in Arashiyama at like 8am in the morning near either a temple or residential area.
• The other thing observed was people’s “disappointment” or “anger” toward staff from either the Pokemon Café, Kirby Café, or restaurants with long waiting queues. For the most part, each café visibly had open tables so looking in from the outside I can see why some people question why they can’t just sit down and order (ultimately I think its because the table is reserved for someone else who is coming in 10-40 minutes and no one else can be seated there for that reason). You shouldn’t blame the staff for your own lack of research about needing a reservation to go to the café though. Yes it’s frustrating because it feels near impossible to get in, but ultimately it’s a fairly popular attraction to do for both locals and foreigners alike so you sort of have to live with not being able to get in.
• TLDR: Just be respectful, and don’t do something you wouldn’t do back at home. But also, make sure to read up on common courtesies/how things work where you travel to.
**Planning Days:**
• I’d say it is definitely worth trying to plan out what you want to do each day, but I found during our trip were sort of made changes last minute or additions to what we wanted to be doing throughout the trip. Ultimately I feel like it was almost better to try and make a fluid schedule you can move things around than try to jam pack every hour of the day with something.
So ya, overall super fun trip and I very much would like to return again one day. For those who read to the end I hope any info I shared is helpful and good luck with any future travel planning!
by tkara99