I read a lot of trip reports before going and planned out my trip pretty far in advance, using excel and everything. Thought I’d share my trip report here as well now that I’m back, it was amazing! Went with one other person, I flew from JFK to NRT, was in Japan for around 14 days.
*Long post, I wrote about my overall itinerary and what we did in each city.
SUICA – downloaded and setup digital apple wallet suica beforehand. Refilled a few times during the trip easily on my phone in 2 seconds.
NRT/ Tokyo – arrived at the airport and saw a long line at the machines for the keisei skyliner. Got in line for the keisei clerk (not the tourist info center), waited around 5 mins, then told him I’m going ueno, got the tickets and was on my way.
eSIM – I used Ubigi, read good reviews about it on Reddit. I spent around 17 USD for 10gb. I bought it once more because I was sending lots of videos. My friend used Airalo, both seemed fine but mine worked much better in some areas, especially Kawaguchiko. I would recommend you get Ubigi, quick easy setup.
Shinkansen – bought tickets beforehand in the US using the smartEX app and an AMEX card.
We never had to use any fare machines in Japan or wait in any lines in stations. Digital suica worked for everything we needed.
Tokyo – 3 nights
Stayed in Ueno for the first 3 nights. Convenient from NRT. Ameyoko was amazing, one of my favorite areas for sure. Great street food and not too many tourists. Our first dinner was at Halal Wagyu Yakiniku Panga in Ueno. Probably one of the best meals I had in Japan, the wagyu was insane.
We checked out Asakusa, Shibuya, Ginza, Akihabara, and Tsukiji market. Had omakase in Tsukiji and in Shibuya. Really recommend the Shibuya omakase, price was great for the quality and location (7700 ¥). The place was called Yamashita.
Also did the Akihabara Street Kart, everywhere we went locals smiled and took pictures of us, don’t think they have as much of an issue with it as redditors do, it was really well managed. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone considering it, the street kart in Tokyo at night was probably the best activity I’ve done in my life, it was surreal. Also did teamLab Planets which was amazing too, definitely recommend.
Kawaguchiko – 2 nights
Sent my large checked bag from my Tokyo hotel to my Kyoto hotel to avoid bringing it to Kawaguchiko (they used Yamato, it was great. I recommend it).
Kawaguchiko was amazing, definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We took the Fuji limited excursion from Shinjuku direct to Kawaguchiko station. We stayed at the Highland Resort and Spa (highly recommend), great for the price, it’s essentially part of the Fuji Q park, and has an amazing onsen as part of the hotel too. We rented a car from Toyota rent a car for two days (highly recommend if you stay in Kawaguchiko). Process was simple and quick. Initially I was bummed the first day because it was cloudy and most of the stuff in Kawaguchiko relies on views of Fuji, it cleared up the second day though luckily. The clouds actually made us find other cool things to do, we drive to the Wind and Ice caves and did a hike in the forest between them (which we later realized is the suicide forest). Was a nice hike and the caves were definitely a cool experience.
Also drove to the churreito pagoda and hiked up to the summit of it (Arakurayama summit). It was a nice view from the top. We rode the Fujiyama coaster (pretty intense), you can get tickets for individual rides which is nice. We also went to Oishi park (awesome views), and the infamous Lawson spot. They didn’t have the screen up when we went, there were some tourist but everyone was respectful from what I saw and only crossed at the crossing light.
We then took a Sekitori highway bus to Mishima station then took the shinkansen from there to Kyoto.
Kyoto – 4 nights
Our plane was to go to Nara on our last day but we changed and went the first day because it was sunny the first day. We saw Todai Ji, kasugataisha, the deer park, and the mochi pounders (was hard to get a view of them). We then hiked up Mount Wakakusa for sunset. Probably the best sunset I ever saw in my life, lots of deer at the top and great view of Nara, came down from the front via some steps which was much quicker. Highly recommend everyone going to Nara to go up Mt Wakakusa for sunset, definitely a highlight. We then took the train back to Kyoto from Kintestu Nara.
In Kyoto we did the typical recommended things, Banboo forest and Fushimi Inari on seperate days. We started around 10am for both of them and it wasn’t crowded at all despite what so many people say. Was a little rainy that might be why. After the bamboo forest we went north to the other shrine, was a nice walk with few tourists. Then we went to the Monkey park, also a nice experience and good views of Kyoto. % Arabica coffee was great, Macchs house was also good but a very long wait, I highly recommend Kyoto Engine Ramen. On our last morning we took the Hankyu Railway to Osaka.
Osaka – 2 nights
Definitely get the Osaka ePass + metro pass. We got the 2 day and it was worth it. We went to Osaka castle, did the boat ride in the most. Went to Tsutenkaku for sunset and went down the tower slider. Umeda sky building was also nice. We did a boat cruise at sunset in dotonbori as well. The food there was amazing, I recommend chibo for okonomiyaki. Round 1 arcade in Osaka is awesome. Took Shinkansen back to Tokyo
Tokyo – 2 nights
Went to Pokémon center Shibuya, jump shonen store, and some other stores. Highly recommend the Tokyo milk cheese factory, I regret not buying more cookies. They are SOOO good. I also went to Pizza Studio Tamaki, took me a long time to get a reservation. It was really good, not quite as good as some of the best Brooklyn pizza I’ve had but still very good. We ended our trip with SHIBUYA sky. It was amazing, unreal views. Flew back from Haneda, took the Asakusa line directly there.
Feel free to comment with any questions regarding my trip!
by vis1onary
3 comments
Glad you had a good time with the go kart. I seen this subreddit hate on it and saying it’s a nuisance to the residents and to other tourists but I don’t know how true that is.
do you mind sharing which hotel you stayed at in Ueno?
The people who waved at you were not locals. Don’t be delusional. They were tourists too. The go karts skirt the laws and have resulted in serious injuries, and I would bet my life that unless regulated they will result in a death. Tokyo is not a playground. I don’t know why people think it’s going to be like Mario Kart. Try that garbage in London or New York and people will tell you exactly what they think.