A big thank you to all the help I got on this sub while planning! Keep in mind that this is just one experience, your mileage may vary with any of the suggestions made.
**INFO ON US:** Mid 30s, this was my third trip to Japan (previously 2017 & 2018), my husband’s first, and I picked the Kyushu spots because his only request was somewhere ‘off the beaten path’. Kyushu is amazing! This was by-far my best trip, although to be fair it was also our honeymoon.
The post went long so I split it into two parts, the first being the Kyushu leg and the second being the Tokyo one.
**THINGS I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY:**
* We spent 6 days in Kyushu and 7 days in Tokyo, I would have preferred to add two extra days to Yakushima and one day to Kagoshima and spent less time in Tokyo. I love Tokyo and am glad we went but it felt very overwhelming and expensive after our experiences in the South.
* Flown directly to Tokyo and then flown Tokyo to Fukuoka instead of having a layover in Hawaii. The extra five hours of flying really killed us, and made both flights feel longer. I incorrectly thought Hawaii was ‘on the way’ because my grasp of geography is tenuous at best.
* Utilized coin lockers at train stations. A few days we lugged our backpacks/shopping bags around only to realize at the end of the day that we could have easily ditched them.
* This may be controversial, but researched and had more alternative options pinned for restaurants. The days I put ‘find something good in X area!’ were our most disappointing food choices.
* Not been afraid of buses. My last trips I had significant issues with navigating them (couldn’t find the bus stop, got on the wrong bus, bus came at weird times) but this trip it was incredibly easy, especially with the IC card. I planned some activities around avoiding the bus which was unnecessary.
* Picked a 10AM time slot for the Ghibli Museum, when I came at 12 it was packed
* This is going to seem very obvious, but moved around less in Tokyo. I got stuck with an AirBNB reservation that I didn’t cancel quickly enough, but oh boy were we tried of our luggage by the end.
**GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS YOU MAY HAVE HEARD BEFORE:**
* The IC card made riding trains and buses incredibly easy and no matter where you get your card it will work anywhere in Japan that IC cards are accepted.
* While many places take card now it’s important to still have backup cash available
* The Charles Schwab checking account travel card has no foreign transaction fees and reimburses ATM fees at the end of the month. I also got lucky and ordered about $500 worth of yen from my bank while the rates were really good. For us $1500 USD each was enough for food, transportation, and souvenirs
* Google maps worked well everywhere except a few rural areas. You do, however, have to be mindful of what floor a store is on!
* On prior trips AirBNBs were cheaper/more convenient than hotels but this time I found the reverse to be true.
* Out motto before leaving was ‘take half the clothes and twice the money’. We had a backpack and smaller rolling bag each, the roller bag was about half-full of clothing. We brought 6 days worth of clothes and did laundry twice, I brought detergent slips to use.
* I planned by putting pins on Google Maps on everything I heard might be cool/was recommended/I found reading other trip reports and from there created my itinerary based on proximity. I also labeled the pins with different icons (one for food, one for stores, one for shrines etc). I was glad to have a ton of options as it allowed us a lot of alternatives depending on our mood. The itinerary had one or two ‘must do’ items each day and the rest we decided impulsively
* It was really helpful to know basic Japanese and I have a slight suspicion we got seated a couple times because I knew how to correctly indicate there were two in our party. I had taken a language course online, it was mostly helpful for numbers and simple interactions but still worth the time I put in.
* Google Lens seems to have improved and would now translate hand-written menus, although mysteriously my husband would often get better results than me
* Almost everyone we interacted with spoke enough English for us to reach understanding, when we couldn’t we used Google Translate. A lot of people seemed to have Google Translate already downloaded on their phones.
**DAY 0: Fukuoka**
We arrived in the evening and breezed through customs and immigration, I think maybe it took 15 minutes total? Definitely use the QR code, we got to skip the only longer line because of it. After picking up our Namoca cards (the local IC card) and our pocket wifi we opted to take a cab to the hotel as my husband contracted food poisoning at the Hawaii airport and was feeling as well as you’d expect after spending 10 hours in an airplane bathroom.
We stayed at the **Nishitetsu Grand Hotel.** Really great location and service but the rooms were a bit outdated and we could not control the air conditioning. This would become a theme at many of our hotels! Most were set at something like 75 degrees so we baked at night. This hotel at least had a notice on the thermostat, the rest just had controls that did nothing or would only let us turn off the air temporarily before automatically turning it back on.
When we checked in I inquired about forwarding our luggage to Kagoshima and the receptionist suggested we send it two days early, which was a bummer as it meant we had to take two days worth of clothing in our backpacks. Not a huge deal, but something to keep in mind if you’re planning on forwarding luggage.
For dinner we went to **Torikizoku**, a very cheap yakitori chain. There was a small wait and the food isn’t spectacular, but it’s inexpensive and easy after a very long flight and you don’t feel bad only ordering a few items. After dinner we withdrew money from the 7-11 ATM, grabbed snacks, and called it a night.
**DAY 1: Fukuoka**
Despite staying up until 9pm we woke up at 430am. We both felt too excited to sleep anymore and decided to just get up and get breakfast tonkotsu ramen at the 24-hour **Ichiran** flagship store. We leisurely meandered along the river stopping to take pictures of small shrines and temples, the streets of Fukuoka are very peaceful first thing in the morning. Ichiran was unexpectedly busy, with a line forming by the time we left. It ended up being our least-favorite ramen of the trip but is by no means bad, just very heavy.
After returning to the hotel to rest for a bit I started what would become my daily tradition of tracking down a coffee shop for caffeine. I was surprised to find that many did not open until 9 or 10. This morning I went to **Manu Coffee,** and my attempts to use my Japanese reading skills were thwarted by the barista very nicely flipping their menu over to the English side. It’s a cool shop with eclectic décor and one of the best coffees I had in Japan, I wish I had picked up some beans.
At 10AM we had an Airbnb tour of Hakata Temples and Shrines, which I highly recommend if you’re in Fukuoka. The tour is run by a retired couple who do this for fun, it was just the four of us going to various locations. They were knowledgeable, funny, and generally a great hang. We learned a lot and it was nice to have insight into temples and shrines for the remainder of our trip. If you only go to one temple in Fukuoka I recommend **Tochoji Temple** for the giant wooden Buddha. It was here I acquired my goshuincho and got my first stamp!
After the tour we went back to the hotel to forward our luggage (an incredibly easy process, we showed them the next hotel address and paid, they took care of the rest) before going to **Canal City Hakata** for shopping and the fountain show. The mall has neat architecture and the show was charming but I wouldn’t go out of the way for it. I’ll say that after shopping in Tokyo I appreciate how uncrowded and calm it felt!
Finally we had dinner at **Tempura Hirao** and drinks at **Citadel**. The food at Hirao was good but not amazing, although our rating might be biased from how tired we were. The portions were GIANT, the price affordable, but the best thing was discovering that we liked shiokara (salted squid). It’s appearance was a bit off-putting, slimy and grey, but it tasted amazing with lots of yuzu flavor.
Citadel was the real standout of the evening. They had a large selection of homemade liquor including truly bizarre flavors like Bolognese. The one picture I took that night shows a flight of Orange Gin, Lavender Gin, and Oolong Tea Gin; and they have things other than gin, that’s just my favorite liquor. I’m not sure if the bartender is always this friendly or just wanted to practice her English but we spent over an hour chatting and laughing with her before calling it a night. Sit at the bar if you can!
Step Count: 29,611
**DAY 2: Dazaifu and Kurume**
We managed to sleep until 6am and spent a relaxed morning enjoying children’s television, another staple of our trip. We often caught one that had various Rube Goldberg machines, there was another with puppets and stop motion animation that we enjoyed. My favorite from the trip was a segment that explained menstrual cycles, it’s nice that it’s destigmatized!
After packing and heading out I introduced my husband to the joys of warm vending machine drinks and the ease and convenience of the Japanese rail system as we navigated to Dazaifu for the day.
Our first stop was **Kazamidori (風見鶏)** for coffee and tea. It’s a neat little store with beautiful china cups and antique furniture. My husband, who is a British by birth and and an avid tea drinker, rated this the best cup of tea of the trip.
Now adequately caffeinated we shopped on the main street, including a stop at a very cute Ghibli store, before making our way to **Tenmangu Shrine**. Despite being a weekday the main shrine was busy so we wandered up to **Tenkaiinari Shrine**, which took us on a really lovely walk through the forest. We paid our respects, I got my goshuin stamp from Tenmangu, and we headed to the **Kyushu National Museum**.
When buying our museum tickets I thought we could either get a ticket to the special exhibition OR regular exhibitions but not both on one ticket so we picked the special exhibition. This was wrong, and luckily we got kind of lost after finishing the special exhibition and discovered we could access both.
The special exhibition was on the works of [Nagasawa Rosetsu](https://www.kyuhaku.jp/en/exhibition/exhibition_s71.html) and to be honest we weren’t that excited and mostly went because it’s a style we hadn’t seen before, but it is pretty spectacular in person and I don’t think online images can do the artwork justice. The regular exhibitions were also neat, especially the artifacts from before the 1500s, but we went through them rather quickly as I started to get shooting pain in my feet with every step.
After a short train and bus ride we got to our hotel for the night, **Green Rich Hotel Kurume.** I had originally booked a different hotel but swapped to this one after realizing we would have had a “Small Double Bed” and while we enjoy cuddling we are also starfish sleepers. Green Rich Hotel was an unexpected delight, with a giant room that had a surprise massage chair. I’m not sure how or why we got a massage chair, I didn’t see anything about that amenity when I booked the room, but it was very needed after so much walking. It’s a modern hotel with hot-spring public bath, although we have tattoos and when we asked if we could use it we were told no. Despite this I’d still recommend the hotel.
Kurume doesn’t seem to get a lot of international tourists and we were asked by many people why we picked it. Simple answer: RAMEN. About 7 years ago I watched a video about **Kurume Ramen Seiyoken** and it had been a goal ever since. After utilizing the massage chair we opted to take a bus to the restaurant and I am happy to report it was the best ramen of our trip. The tonkotsu ramen was thick and creamy without being heavy or greasy and the fried rice was superb. The staff was friendly and helpful as well, I continue to think back fondly of that ramen. Honestly Kurume seemed like a nice town, I probably could have added a day there too.
Step Count: 20,347
**DAY 3: Kagoshima**
We had seen a ton of barbershops the night before and spent the morning unsuccessfully trying to track down a haircut for my husband. Almost a disproportionate amount of barbers? It seems wild that Kurume can support that many. Unfortunately the ones that were open didn’t have availability until much later in the day so we headed to the train station to book our shinkansen ticket. We did a bit of shopping at the station and I bought one of my favorite items of the trip, a shirt with the Kurume city mascot on it. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being delighted by the use of mascots in Japan.
The next available train was in an hour so we split up, me to find coffee and him to try KFC. **シャンブル** is a small café that looks like a grandparents dining room and smells faintly of cigarettes. I was the only customer and had a very basic conversation in Japanese with the friendly older woman working, who I think is one of the owners. The coffee was excellent and cheap, I was proud of myself for knowing enough Japanese to converse, it was a delightful encounter.
The train ride was uneventful although I got unreserved seat tickets because they were cheaper, which eventually became standing-room only. About 30 minutes into the hour ride we gave up our seats to an elderly couple and stood the rest of the way, my feet were very displeased that I did not reserve seats.
I was pretty shocked by how different Kagoshima felt from other places I have been in Japan. I’ve done the Kyoto-Nara-Osaka-Hiroshima-Tokyo route, and even been to Shirakawa-go, but Kagoshima just had a different vibe to it. Before leaving the station we purchased the CUTE, a one-day pass that allows unlimited travel on some buses, streetcars and ferries in Kagoshima City and Sakurajima. It ended up not being worth it as we only used it once and the other bus we took was not covered by the pass, but it only cost 1200 yen so I’m not super upset about it. If nothing else it makes a nice souvenir.
We rode the tram to our hotel, **Hotel Gate Kagoshima**, to drop off our backpacks. Our luggage was there waiting for us, huzzah! It was one of our smallest rooms and it must have recently been renovated because our room looked nothing like the pictures. We’re split on our opinions of it; I really liked the décor and didn’t mind that our room was basically just a giant raised bed with a small space in front that led to the bathroom, my husband claims to have nearly died climbing into it at night and gave it the lowest rating of our hotels. The location was convenient and the staff was helpful, I wouldn’t mind staying here again.
We were too early to check in but they were happy to hold our bags so we ventured out for lunch. I was craving yakiniku and in my experience these places are far more affordable for lunch so we picked **Gyu do!** based on proximity and rating. Really excellent meat, a brand of black Wagyu beef raised on the restaurant’s own farm and dry-aged, it was a bit pricey but understandably so. After lunch while walking through the **Tenmonkan arcade** my husband spotted a boat racing gambling spot he wanted to check out, I have no interest in gambling and dropped him off to acquire more coffee.
The first place I went was full, and I suspect they were telling me I could wait but when I didn’t understand they just did the ‘X’ finger sign. **Ashitanotizu** was completely empty but the staff was nice and I could tell it was probably a fun place at night, I think it turns into a jazz bar with live music. The waitress, like most people in Kyushu who we spoke to for any length of time, wanted to know what brought us there. She said they were starting to see more international tourists but mostly it’s domestic tourists who come to Kagoshima. I also go that vibe, but always felt any curiosity was friendly.
Meanwhile my husband was having quite the adventure at the boat races. The only Westerner in a sea of older Japanese gentlemen it took him several tries and the assistance of many people to figure out how to put in the bets. Perhaps unsurprisingly this was the place where the fewest people spoke English, but many people tried very hard to communicate and explain things. He eventually figured it out and had a grand time, it seemed like people enjoyed the novelty of having a tourist there.
We both slightly lost track of time and ended up asking our hotel to book a cab to go to **Sengan-en,** a garden and home built by a samurai family in the 17th century. The gardens close at 5pm and had we left earlier we could have used our pass but c’est la vie. Our cab driver was exceptionally amicable and communicated through a translation device that worked impressively well. He talked about living in Kagoshima, recommended some restaurants, and expressed his sadness that Akira Toriyama had passed.
We only had a little over an hour at Sengan-en but I’m glad we made the trek, it was a highlight. The weather was beautiful and we were both enchanted by the gardens. One benefit to going later is that it was pretty empty so we wandered alone, taking pictures of Sakurajima (the nearby active volcano) and pretending that we lived there. On the way back we accidentally took a bus not covered by our pass, but the fare was cheap and easily paid with coins.
Last-minute I had booked us a bar hopping tour after seeing it featured on Instagram, which started at 6pm. It was less polished than the tour we had in Fukuoka, and we later found out we were actually the first people to book this specific tour, but I’d still recommend it. The guide was very nice, we learned a lot about shochu and went to places we definitely wouldn’t have tried without a guide, and eventually we inebriatedly befriended a random Japanese couple who came with us the rest of the night. We definitely drank more than is advisable, especially with an early morning ferry ride ahead of us, but our guide kindly stayed late and we all got ramen before turning in. I’m still friends with both our guide and the couple on Instagram, maybe one day they’ll take us up on our offer to come visit!
Step Count: 25,408
**DAY 4: Yakushima**
We most definitely regretted our choices the next morning as we had to be at the ferry terminal at 700am. I had booked the high-speed ferry in the interest of time, and despite our hangovers we found it to be a smooth ride so we were able to get a bit more sleep before arriving at the Miyanoura Port.
When booking a rental car I had briefly panicked as we were arriving on Sunday and it seems that a lot of the rental car places are closed OR it might have been that no cars were available. Luckily I was able to book one through **Budget Rent a Car**, which was off-site from the port so they sent a van to pick us up. It was only about a 5 minute drive, their staff was friendly and helpful, and their office is decorated with hidden kodama in cedar sculptures which was very endearing. It was really easy (kind of alarmingly so) for my husband to get the international license, just a AAA form and passport photos and he was good to go. We loved our little red Kei car and even with fairly substantial driving didn’t need to fill up until right before returning the car.
Yakushima is magical and was our favorite place of the entire journey. It’s known for rain but we were blessed with sunny warm weather our entire trip. After picking up the car we first went to our hotel, **Umi-no Cottage Tida.** It’s a small place, run by a husband and wife, with four two-story cottages that have amazing views of both the ocean and mountains. Each cottage has a partially open air bath with it’s own ocean view. There’s also a friendly orange cat! We had four twin beds in our cottage so we slept separately, but I think that may have helped us sleep more soundly. The only downsides are it’s about an hour from Miyanoura, so staying here without renting a car is probably doable but difficult, and there aren’t a ton of other dinner options if you don’t eat at the hotel.
When we checked in we saw they had passionfruit juice for sale and mentioned to the owner that we hadn’t had passionfruit before so she cut some open for us to eat immediately, 10/10 some of the best fruit I’ve ever had in my life. It was a small and thoughtful gesture that was emblematic of our experiences on the island.
We still had time to kill before we could officially check into the room so we drove to a grocery store, A-Coop, for supplies and snacks. **The Pizza Bus** happened to be outside, which sounded delicious in our still hungover state. Their bacon and potato pizza was good but could have used more salt, I think a more traditional pizza might have been better as the crust was excellent.
After grabbing our pizza we attempted to navigate to a nearby small park by the ocean we found on Google, **尾之間港**. It’s not really a park per se, there’s no picnic tables or bathroom, but there is a small shrine and the water was beautiful. On our drive GPS had us go down some VERY narrow streets, to the point where we had to tuck in the side mirrors so as not to scrape them. It was stressful! We did our best to avoid similar roads going forward.
After our picnic we impulsively decided to stop at a nearby beach, **Harutahama Beach (春田浜海水浴場)**, to explore tide pools and then made a brief stop at **Torokki Waterfall,** which is a short hike from the main road. The placard informed us that it’s one of only two waterfall in Japan that fall directly into the sea. I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to see it, but if you’re passing by it’s easily accessible and beautiful.
At this point our room was ready so we headed back to the cottage. I had reserved dinner at the hotel the first night so we spent the rest of the evening doing laundry, taking a long bath, and napping. The kaiseki dinner itself was spectacular, one of the best meals of the trip. We ate delicious food while watching the ocean at sunset, and our dessert came with a sparkler and a congratulations on our wedding. It was a very special memory that we’ll always cherish.
Step Count: 10,441
**DAY 5: Yakushima**
In the morning we ate what was easily the best breakfast of our vacation (I still dream of those vegetables) and were asked our plans for the day. Our initial idea to drive around the island was thwarted by the road being closed for repairs, but we decided to drive as far north as we could before turning around.
We first stopped at **Ohko Waterfall**, a giant beautiful waterfall that I *would* recommend going out of your way for. As we drove further along the road we encountered dozens of wild monkeys and deer, all hanging out together for some reason. On the ferry we had watched a video of monkeys riding the deer but we didn’t get lucky enough for that experience. We saw 0 cars and spent some time just stopped, watching the baby monkeys play from the safety of our car. The deer were slightly perturbed by our presence but the monkeys could not have cared less.
We turned around at the bridge and headed counter-clockwise, first stopping at **Hiro Bakery** for snacks. Really cute bakery with lots of variety, we fell in love with these cheese-bacon bread wraps that we tried to get more of the next day but they weren’t selling them. Had I known that was our only chance we would have bought out the remainder. There aren’t any bathrooms or seats at Hiro so we went to a grocery store down the road for drinks and feasted in the car.
After the bakery we drove to **Hanii Kiln**, a small pottery shop in the middle of nowhere. Google wanted us to park on the side of a road and walk through a forest, but as we didn’t fancy bushwhacking we went back to where I had seen a sign earlier and followed that instead. We were still worried we had taken a wrong turn and were driving up the long driveway to some strangers home, but it was correct. The shop is run out of the artists home, he was very welcoming and spoke some English. Looking back I wish I had asked him more questions and spoken to him about his pieces more, but I was feeling oddly shy and a bit pressed for time. We bought a number of items, my favorite being a whale incense holder, that all made it home in one piece! It’s completely a testament to how well he wrapped them. I had heard he has a dog but we tragically did not see the dog.
We waved goodbye and headed to **Yakusugi Land**, a nature preserve with giant ancient cedar trees, for some hiking. The drive was a bit harrowing at times but nothing too intense. You just had to be mindful of the corners as it’s one lane in many places and there are giant tour buses.
At the preserve there’s a nice free informational section above the bathrooms and the trails are well-maintained. You have the option to do a number of different hikes depending on length, the shortest being 30 minutes and the longest 210, we picked the 80 minute course. Gorgeous scenery, we only ran into a couple other hikers. I’d rate us both as moderately in shape and the course wasn’t difficult for us. The photos we took don’t come close to doing justice to how beautiful it was.
After our hike and spending too much money in the gift shop we drove to **牛床詣所**, a very tiny Shinto shrine in the middle of the forest, and **Yaku-jinja,** a larger shrine where I got another goshuin stamp. Both are near Miyanoura and worth a visit. At this point it was about 4pm and my husband was feeling pretty bushed so we decided to forgo waiting for restaurants to open in Miyanoura and began driving the hour back to our hotel.
After some more laundry and another bath we picked **BAR しらはま** for dinner, which is labeled on Google as an izakaya but had a very minimal food menu that was half pasta dishes. Although the food options were limited it was still a really fun and memorable night as the one other customer, an older gentleman, encouraged us to sing karaoke with him. We all alternated, my husband and I sang some duets together, and after singing several Disney songs the hostess compared me to Belle which may be one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. It was a Monday night and we left pretty early, but I could see this place being especially fun on a busier night.
Step Count: 14,968
**DAY 6: Kirishima**
After another spectacular breakfast at our hotel we sadly said goodbye to our hosts and headed to drop off the car rental. The cottages were very spacious and had well-equipped kitchens, we definitely wished we had more time especially since we did not manage to make it to the ocean onsens or Shiratani Unsui Gorge. We’re already talking about our next trip and would really love to return to Yakushima.
We had time for a brief stop at Hiro Bakery again, which tragically did not have our beloved cheese bacon wraps, before dropping off the car. At the ferry terminal we learned that the slower car ferry had been canceled due to weather but ours was still scheduled to leave. Something to keep in mind when booking your transportation! I had booked our tickets several months in advance but it appeared some people were just buying tickets the same day, although this may be unavailable during busier seasons. It also says on the ticket that check in ends 20 minutes before departure but I saw people checking in later then that too, not that you’d want to be late.
At the ferry terminal in Kagoshima we purchased a ticket for the airport bus. The Kagoshima airport is pretty far outside the city, I think it took us about an hour to get there, but it was a really beautiful drive with a lot of trees blooming on the hillsides. We had booked another rental car at the airport through **Nissan Rent A Car**. It’s offsite so you have to go to a desk to request transport, but after we figured that part out it was easy. This was a much fancier hybrid Kei car with Bluetooth capability and navigation that we first thought but was unnecessary but would later save us.
Since we had some time to kill before check-in we did a 7-11 run for snacks and drinks and then headed to **Kagoshima Shrine**. It’s a lovely shrine next to a school, during our visit we were serenaded by a band practice. We also got to meet a shrine horse and feed him carrots! Uncrowded and very peaceful, if you visit I recommend walking through the torii gates up to the Inari Shrine where there is a picturesque small shrine in a cave.
Our hotel was **Anraku Onsen Shumine (安楽温泉 朱峰)**, which was a thirteen minute drive or 30 minute bus ride from the airport. After asking for advice here about renting a car we decided to so we could see more of the area. I had picked this ryokan somewhat at random; I knew I wanted to stay near the airport since we were flying to Tokyo the next day and we also wanted to stay at a ryokan during our trip. This place is small with both western and tatami rooms. We had picked a tatami room to have that experience and were a bit dismayed to learn that since Covid you now had to put down your own futon, but with some googling we figured it out.
Where this hotel really shines is the onsen and the food. They had three baths inside and an outdoor onsen facing the mountains, and I honestly could have added an extra day here just to spend more time in it. The inside baths had three different temperatures, the coldest one being a lying down bath with headrest, but my favorite was the outdoor one. I lost track of time watching the trees and listening birds. My husband is not a bath-guy and even he loved the onsen, especially the water. At dinner we discovered that there were two other couples staying at the ryokan but I only ran into someone once, otherwise I had the onsen to myself.
The food was very traditional and excellent, I let them know about my allergies when I checked in and they were able to accommodate them. I’d rate the meals at our Yakushima hotel more highly but I’d still happily go to this ryokan again, the fish especially was excellent.
STEP COUNT: 10,581
**DAY 7: Kirishima & Tokyo (Kichijoji)**
After a full Japanese breakfast and a last dip in the onsen we checked out of the hotel. The couple running it very sweetly went into the road to make sure no cars were coming while we backed out and insisted on carrying our luggage despite my husbands protests. Our flight wasn’t until 3pm so we decided to drive to **Kirishima Jingu**. We were surprised at how busy it was for a weekday morning until we discovered they were having a [rice planting festival](https://kirishimajingu.or.jp/news/%e5%be%a1%e7%94%b0%e6%a4%8d%e7%a5%ad/). We couldn’t really follow what was happening but there were people dressed as cows, some wearing masks, and lots of Shinto priests chanting. It was a really neat event to stumble upon and even though it felt busy it was spacious enough to not feel crowded. I got my goshuin stamp and we wandered the grounds for a bit, the **Yama Shrine** was particularly beautiful.
Feeling refreshed and lighter we decided to seek out tea and coffee. Google suggested Cafe Cocorotte so we struck out in that direction. Things were going smoothly…until they weren’t. Suddenly we were on streets that did not exist on Google, we kept arriving at dead ends, and the area appeared to be a neighborhood? Even our attempts to escape were thwarted as these tiny, one-lane roads were mazelike and would often start one direction before taking a sharp turn the other way. After another dead end brought us to a large red building with “TOY STORE” in giant English letters on the outside I briefly wondered if we were being Spirited Away. Luckily the car GPS seemed to understand the area better so we put in a random gas station and had it direct us. There were still definitely roads that did not exist on their map either, but it was enough to get us out of there.
Giving up on tea we headed to **Ryusuien** (川魚料理＆手打ち蕎麦 流水苑), a soba noodle shop where the owner has their own hatchery for rainbow trout, carp, and I think salmon? It was actually right across the border in Miyazaki. The waitress was friendly and made conversation with us, I ordered soba while my husband got udon and we split a grilled fish. The noodles were tasty but less memorable than the fish. My husband was still craving tea and asked if they had any black tea, and despite it not being on the menu they found a tea bag for him. We ate quickly and drove to the airport.
Kagoshima airport is small but we were worried about security so we skipped the hot spring footbaths, but I think it only took us maybe 10 minutes to get to the gate. We flew on JetStar, a budget airline that gets the job done and has decent legroom. The flight took about two hours and we landed in Narita.
While waiting in line to get Skyliner tickets I saw GoogleMaps had a link to where you could purchase the tickets online. I bought it and was briefly confused how to get through the gates as the ticket had our seat number but no QR code or anything, a friendly gate attendant explained that if you buy the online ticket you use your IC card to scan and then show the ticket on your phone to an attendant if asked.
After a few train changes, which went very smoothly, we arrived at our hotel **Kichijōji Tōkyū REI Hotel**. Very conveniently located right by the train station, the room was modern and functional if a bit small. We could not adjust the temperature of the room but the window opened which made it more tolerable. They had tea and coffee in the lobby on the 4th floor.
I really loved Kichijoji the last time I was in Japan in 2018 and remember it being quiet and laid-back. The area felt very different this time, the new train station is large and the streets were brimming with people. Not a ton of western tourists but still very busy.
For dinner we ventured to **Harmonica Yokocho**, an area full of narrow alleys that used to be an underground flea market but now has a ton of small bars and izakayas. We went to a few places, with **Harmonica Kitchen and Bar** being our favorite, but we didn’t really vibe with the area generally. I think it may have suffered in comparison to how quiet and calm our last few days had been, if I could do it again I would have had us get dinner at a restaurant and then a nightcap in Harmonica Yokocho.
STEP COUNT: 16,636
by Junekri