Start: Narita Airport, April 3rd, 2024
3 people, including me.
Only had a rough itinerary, we didn’t have much time to plan. Sakura timing was a shot into the blue but we got lucky.
**Renting and driving a car in Japan – easier than expected!**
We were a little nervous about renting a car in Japan and driving in a country we’ve never visited before. But it turned out to be super easy and straightforward. We were welcomed with kindness and got picked up by the car rental agency at the terminal.
There was no surcharge for registering additional drivers. **International driver’s license** issued by Austria was accepted without a translation in Japanese thanks to a bilateral agreement. International driver’s license issued by Germany was only accepted with an additional translation on paper in Japanese (expensive). Definitely make sure you have these documents ready before renting the car.
We used Google Maps and mobile data through an eSIM for **navigation**.
The car’s built-in navigation system was in Japanese, so we couldn’t use it. Tip: in Japan, you can use landline phone numbers to navigate, instead of an address. Google Maps was very reliable, the most important direction signs are also in latin alphabet.
Regarding **tolls**: you can rent a toll card (“*ETC card*”) from the rental agency for just 300 JPY for the entire trip. Highly recommended, you can just drive through the “ETC” gates at any expressway and it registers the toll to be collected.
1400 km, of which ~1100 km on toll roads (expressways) ended up in a total of 28,900 JPY (~ 180 € / USD)
Gas is currently really cheap, we got regular gas for as low as 165 JPY per liter at some places. Fueling the car at self service stations is also the same as in every other countries, have your phone ready to translate the screen. Fuel types are color-coded, so almost impossible to mistake.
Being 3 people, even including tolls and gas, the rental car was still cheaper than 3 rail passes together, and since we had accomodations quite far off the grid, it allowed us more flexibility.
Left-driving traffic did take a few hours to get used to, but Japanese drivers are VERY patient and other drivers would always let us merge when we had troubles switching lanes at intersections etc.
Even **parking** is pretty straightforward. Almost all accomodations, restaurants and stores offer (limited) parking space. In the cities, you can’t just park anywhere, you have dedicated pay parking lots that turned out to be super easy to use: you drive onto your prefered numbered parking space, then an automatic barrier will come up in front or under the car after ~ 3 min., and you can just walk away. When you come back, you type in your parking space number at the machine and pay the amount. Usually they have rates for 30 min., 1h and 24h maximum charge for parking. In Tokyo, we paid 900 JPY for 24h of parking, which we considered a great deal compared to European cities.
The only challenging city for driving and parking was **Kyoto**. Narrow roads, slow traffic, hardly any space and many tourists and cars at the main attractions. But whenever we were stuck backing out of a full parking lot, someone came rushing to our car to help us back out safely into traffic. I’ve never encountered such attentiveness for others in any other country.
The **expressways** are great and save you a lot of time. The speed limits are not always obvious, especially because to our surprise, hardly anyone sticks to them, so we decided to just flow with the left lane traffic to be safe.
There are plenty of tidy rest areas on the expressways offering food, coffee and WiFi.
**April 3/4/5: Narita to Fujoyoshida – Restaurant experience instead of Mt. Fuji**
Having picked up our little Nissan, we drove straight from Narita to Fujiyoshida. Our accomodation was not directly in the city but on the very outskirts, which turned out to be perfect, because after a long noisy flight we found ourselves in a peaceful Tatami room facing the rainy forest and a sakura tree in bloom. They use heavy blankets and rice pillows for the beds and I slept like a baby on these.
The weather was rainy and not a sign of Mt. Fuji, so we tried some local restaurants and had fantastic **Hōtō** noodles, a speciality from Yamanashi area. We were extremely hungry and ordered 4 pots for 3 people, and they came back twice to confirm our order. When the food arrived, we realized why they double checked, because one pot is already big enough to be shared by two non-competetitive eaters.
We also learned our first lesson: In busy areas, especially during Sakura time, you should definitely make a reservation, expect lines and also expect restaurants to take the last order/guests 30-60 minutes before the actual closing time. They also might be randomly closed on Sundays during Sakura. Opening hours/days on Google Maps are hardly reliable. We also realized that reviews in Japan are rather strict. Anything that had “just” 4-star reviews was perfectly fine to eat- 5-star reviewed places were often packed.
My 2 companions are vegans, and there are hardly any Japanese restaurants that offer specifially vegan dishes. But no matter where we went, they were super helpful and always tried their hardest to find a **vegan** solution for them. We also realized though, that fish isn’t always considered as non-vegan, so there’s that.
Despite the rain, it was very nice to wander around the city, Fujikawaguchiko lake, and we visited Fujiomurosengen Shrine. The cherry blossoms were still closed at this time.
We also explored some of the nearby towns and found beautiful little shrines everywhere and even stumbled upon a spring celebration ceremony at one of them.
**April 5/6: Halfway stop at the shore to Nara and a waterfall**
We booked an Airbnb halfway to Nara at a small town at the shore.
On the way to the south, we stopped at **Shiraito waterfall** a wonderful waterfall located at the bottom of Mt. Fuji. 500 JPY for parking, otherwise no admission fee and definitely worth to spend 1-2 hours visiting. On clear days, you have [Mt. Fuji as a backdrop](https://imgur.com/a/q7TfV8g).
Again we had a wonderful Ryokan located off the beaten path in a small village near the sea. Cherry blossom was in full bloom there and people were incredibly friendly. I highly recommend you to check out some of the little towns in Gamagori, Hamamatsu or south Aichi area.
**April 6/7/8: Nara Park**
Full cherry blossom in Nara! We had an accomodation close to Nara Park. Around 8-8:30 am the park started filling with visitors and remained full until sunset.
For me personally, it was too busy, nevertheless it’s a unique experiece to be allowed this close to wild deer and the Park is home to absolutely magnificient ancient temples. My favorite one to visit was Nigatsu-do temple, which is located at the very top of the western park side and is not as full as the large Todai-ji temple. And obviously the famous Sakura pavillon in the park.
Nara offers a great variety of restaurants. My friends found a specifically vegan restaurant for their dinner, I had the best sushi of my life here, at a place called Sushi Ichi.
Regarding our narrow total time frame, 2 days in Nara were perfectly fine to spend without being too rushed.
**April 8/9/10: Kyoto**
Arriving at our hostel, located at the very northwest end of Kyoto, we realized how much we underestimated the size of Kyoto. We were at least a 45-50 min. drive away from the main attractions. A car is not really helpful in Kyoto. I caught a cold and spent the first day in Kyoto in bed. My friends went to bamboo forest and even in late afternoon, they said it was too crowded. I wish someone would’ve told us that there was a lesser known little bamboo forest just 10 minutes drive away from our hostel.
The second day was rest and recovery day due to pouring rain. Did some grocery shopping and meal prepping.
On our last day in Kyoto, we woke up to clear blue skies and sunshine – the first time since our arrival in Japan. With the time being still early, we headed to Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine and even hiked up all the way to Mt. Inari. Surprisingly, it was not as crowded as expected, but on the way down around 9:30 am, the place started to get incredibly full.
Around noon, we sat down for ramen at Fukakusa Ramen Toriton.
As much as we would’ve loved to stay in Kyoto, getting a new chance to see Mt. Fuji had a higher priority, so with a tear in our eyes, we made our way to Fujiyoshida.
We were not disappointed when we got our first clear view of Mt. Fuji from the highway. It’s absolutely impressive, majestic and looks beautiful with the snow covered top.
Maybe it’s personal preference, but I don’t regret sacrificing a Kyoto day for Mt. Fuji. To get the Kyoto experience, 2 days are not enough either way, so I think 3-4 days would’ve been the actual minimum.
We managed to see Mt. Fuji in evening light from Shiraito waterfall.
**April 10/11/12: Lake Saiko, Mt. Fuji, Aokigahara Forest**
This time we had an accomodation in Saikonishi at lake Saiko. Beautiful peaceful area from where you can still see Mt. Fuji a little.
In the morning, we managed to get some wonderful shots with Sakura near Oishi Park and then went to the famous Chureito Pagoda.
Similar to Kyoto, getting up early pays off. At Chureito Pagoda, we paid 1,000 JPY for parking but it was almost directly at the entrance. They have a 5-min slot system, so only a certain amount can visit the platform for 5 min and then the next group can go up etc. Everything is very well organized and it wasn’t too busy in the morning.
Sakura at the pagoda was still not in full bloom, so we noticed how even within one area, there can be trees that already have leaves next to trees that haven’t even reached early bloom.
We noticed how lucky we were to be able to see Sakura having such a small time window that we had chosen many months prior!
As the place got crowded, we decided to spend a chill day exploring the other lakes. Motosu and Shoji Lake didn’t turn out that spectacular, we figured they are rather special in autumn, when the skies get clear and the lake water is calm.
We also noticed that even on sunny days, the sky was always a little veiled and the air rather hazy.
Finally, we closed the day by strolling through peaceful Aokigahara Forest and wandered to the lava cave and bat cave. This forest is absolutely beautiful, with moss covered lava rocks and wonderful old trees surrounding the walking path. Distances are longer than they appear on the map, so consider bringing a lamp if you plan for longer exploration.
**April 12/13/14: Tokyo**
After a chill morning having snacks at the Fujikawaguchiko lake, we made our way to Tokyo. And it was not easy. The transition from a peaceful lake and forest area to driving 1h on the expressway through grey veiled industrial landscapes was so harsh that we seriously considered turning around for a while. From the expressway, Tokyo looks everything but exciting.
Once we arrived at our accomodation in Katsushika district though, we were welcomed by a lovely Japanese family and felt at home immediately! The little neighborhoods off central Tokyo are absolutely quiet and not busy.
We had hardly any plan for Tokyo and no clue about transportation, so we took a train to Tokyo central station, the most busy train station I have ever encountered in my entire life. Getting out of the train station, another contrast: Central Tokyo is actually pretty quiet. If you compare it to NYC, it’s maybe 5-10% of the perceived noise.
I went to a fancy Izakaya sushi restaurant and had a fantastic prime dining experience, for just 4,000 JPY – no chance to get such a wonderful dinner including drinks at a Western restaurant for this price.
We switched from train to metro and bought a **24h metro ticket** for just 600 JPY. It’s valid for the entire Tokyo Metro network, excluding Toei subway lines, and will get you across most of Tokyo. We figured it to be very intuitive and easy to navigate. It takes a little longer than the train but it’s cheaper and more fun to use.
Google Maps is actually very precise and great to navigate through public transport connections, especially the metro. No additional app was needed.
We were surprised though, that public transport itself has no onboard WiFi. The stations have free WiFi but it’s not really great and you have to re-login all the time.
We spent the evening strolling around **Shinjuku district**. Great place for some street photography. The bars were not what we were looking for, but it was fun to see as a visitor.
The next day we split up and I performed the busiest sightseeing trip of my life with just walking big distances and metro hopping: Starting at Tokyo Tower with lunchtime at Prince Shiba park and the Zojo-ji-temple.
Then I headed to **Akihabara** to do some shopping and get my Japanese Casio watch fixed at a Japanese Casio repair shop (a strange life goal of mine that I didn’t know of).
Next stop was the **Asakusa district** where I visited the famous Asakusa shrine. It was very crowded but somehow still an enjoyable experience.
For sunset, I visited **Bunkyo Civic Center** to catch a wonderful view over Tokyo. You can get up to the 26th floor directly from the metro station underground and you have a 360° view around the city. It’s not too popular, so there are not many visitors, even during sunset.
As a closing experience, I went to **Shibuya Crossing**. Some people say “it’s just a big crossing, I don’t get the fuzz about it”, but I personally found it to be a totally cool and surreal experience just to see such an enormous amount of people crossing a huge street from all directions, framed by neon signs. You feel like this is the place you see in photos and it doesn’t look like that in reality, but it actually does and the feeling to stand there is super cool. Also, it was a Saturday evening, so probably the busiest time of the week too.
Hungry and a little bit overwhelmed and burnt out, I wanted to tick off the last part on my Japan bucket list of trying Kobe beef, but obviously, all the good places were full, so in my hungry blindness I ended up in some Western themed “**Steak House**” where I was served undercooked normal beef tenderloin that was everything but tender. But hey, falling for just one tourist trap in my entire stay was not that bad, I paid the bill and at least I was full. 3.5; not great, not terrible.
I came home with a monstrous amount of experiences to process but I felt happy that I’ve been able to see so much of Tokyo within just one day, even if this is definitely a way too stressful itinerary for 1 day.
The next morning, I was so close to re-booking my flight to gain another 2 days in Tokyo, but looking at a shitload of work at home, I decided to stick to my plan and after a last morning walk in peaceful Katsushika, I left Japan, getting a last view onto hazy Mt. Fuji from the airplane window, with a tear in my eye and a bigger wish to come back than I’ve ever experienced before during travelling.
My two companions are now on their way to Okinawa for a chill week of snorkelling and chilling at the beaches.
For a first time experience, I am quite content with how things went, even though I would’ve loved to have more time at certain places. I want to re-visit Japan for sure, maybe in fall or winter, and next time I want to make sure to have more than 11 days at hand.
People in Japan are very friendly, and despite the language barrier we had no issues at all communicating what we needed. People pay attention and respect to each other and we were surprised how well maintained a city as large as Tokyo can be. Eating out can sometimes be a little bit of a challenge, but you always have your neighborhood 7-Eleven saving you with a sandwich and Onigiri as a last resort.
**TL;DR:**
– Renting and driving a car is straightforward and easy in Japan. Gas is cheap, expressway tolls are expensive.
– In Kyoto, I recommend public transport, bicycle or walking instead of driving.
– Parking even in cities is not a big deal either.
– Mt. Fuji is definitely worth visiting and it’s worth waiting for good weather.
– Weather in April can be a gamble with lots of rain and cold temperatures. Even on sunny days, skies are rather hazy.
– Kyoto and Tokyo are, not surprisingly, more time-consuming than you expect. 3-4 days minimum for Kyoto, 4 days minimum for Tokyo.
– Restaurant opening hours are not always reliable, make sure to be there 1 hour before closing at latest.
– Staying at a traditional Ryokan is an absolute must.
– Japanese people are kind, respectful, friendly and helpful. It’s good to know the most basic things in Japanese and to always carry cash.
– Small towns off the beaten path can hold the most beautiful and unique experiences.
– Public WiFi is a lot less common in Japan than expected. Nara has free city WiFi, in Tokyo it varies greatly.
by mark01254