This trip was a last minute idea, I (36M) had a flight voucher left over from 2021 which was about to expire so I decided to go back to Japan. This is my third time in Japan but my first time solo travelling ever. Because of that, this trip was a bit safe and I mostly went to places we didn't get to in our previous trips for whatever reason.
One of the goals of this trip was the go to Ishikawa and hopefully Noto to help after the earthquake (either by volunteering or buy spending money) but unfortunately I didn't get to Noto in the end. Information online was conflicting and after talking to people in Ishikawa, I realized it's still too early, however other parts of Ishikawa are fine and need tourists.
Overall I spent two weeks doing Tokyo > Kanazawa > Matsumoto > Tokyo
Budget
Because the yen now is much weaker than how it was last time I went to Japan, I gave myself a budget in my currency and didn't realize it was waaay too high with how low the yen is. I put aside what amounted to 800k yen (including hotels) and ended up spending around 350k (including hotels).
- Flights: None, because I had a voucher
- Hotels: About 220k yen, because this was last minute I didn't have a lot of choices in some places and since I didn't pay for flights, I didn't mind staying in more expensive hotels
- I bought the Hokuriku Arch pass which was around 30k. I was a bit dumb and didn't realize it doesn't work for the train between Nagano and Matsumoto but it wasn't an expensive ticket
- I spent around 100k on everything else: shopping, food, travel etc. I did a lot of shopping
Tokyo (Part 1) – 22.5-26.5 (4 nights)
Hotel: Lyf Ginza – overall a nice hotel. It looks like a business hotel and the rooms are a bit small but I was fine with it. They have all sort of events or meetups for the guests and a communal center but I didn't get to participate (which I regret)
Both Tokyo parts were mostly meant for shopping and meeting friends of mine that were in Japan. I honestly can't say I did anything noteworthy with one exception. I went with a friend to a Fuji day trip. We first went to the Arakura Sengen Park Observatory, which was very lovely but unfortunately clouds were hiding Mt. Fuji all day. We missed the train so we had lunch at Arakura Restaurant (right next to the Shimoyoshida station) and it was very good.
I also went to Comitia 148. It's an exhibition of sort where manga artists can sell their published stuff. They have one every few months and to get in you need to buy a magazine at a book store or buy it in the venue. If you're interested, I recommend buying the catalog before the event and viewing the artists there (or in the web catalog) because the venue was packed and it wasn't very nice walking between the stalls. Also some products were sold out very quickly so it's best to come prepared and know where you want to go.
Kanazawa / Ishikawa – 26.5-30.5 (4 nights)
Hotel: OMO5 Katamachi – also nice hotel, but keep in mind that during the day, vehicles can't enter the street it's on so if you're arriving via cab, you will be dropped off about a minute or two away from the hotel.
Overall Kanazawa felt a bit crowded for me. Maybe it's the neighborhood I was in but there were a ton of tourists everywhere and getting dinner was a problem sometimes since everything was packed. If possible I suggest making reservations. Also, a lot of people either didn't speak English or didn't want to. It's probably one of the least English speaking cities I've been to in Japan.
Day 1: Around noon I took the shinkansen to Kanazawa, I went to the hotel and rested for a bit before walking. I was very jet-lagged so I didn't really do much outside of shopping a bit
Day 2: was a walking day. I started by going to the Kenroku-en gardens, then I had one of the free English tours of the Kanazawa castle (which I recommend doing). After that I went to Higashi-Chaya district and Kazuemachi-Chaya districts. They were lovely but they were a bit underwhelming because of all the tourists. I recommend doing them early to avoid the crowds. Finally I went to Omicho market and Kanazawa station to do some shopping.
I had lunch at barrier. I just walked in without a reservation and they had room. I took the vegetarian course menu which was very good though it was a bit expensive (around 5500 yen) but it was worth it.
Day 3: It was raining all day so I did a museum tour. I went to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. Many parts were still closed because of the earthquake but they had some interesting exhibitions, including a high school art exhibition which was incredible. After that I did the craft museum and the D.T Suzuki museum. They were both nice, though if you're short on time I guess you can skip one or both of them.
I had lunch at Musashi. It was good but I feel like this place is better at night
Day 4 (Komatsu): I took the shinkansen early morning to go to Komatsu (11 min ride) but I got the schedule mixed up and arrived later than I expected. There's a bus to Natadera every hour I think and I just missed it so I had to wait for the next one.
Natadera temple was incredible. The temple itself is beautiful but the best part was that there was barely anyone there. So far, every time I've been to a temple (at least of this size) it was packed and the difference is astounding. It was probably one of my favorite experiences on this trip.
From Natadera temple I walked to Yunokuni no mori. It's a 30 min walk next to a highway but the weather was nice and there was a pedestrian section so I didn't have to walk on the highway itself. Some of the farms around look very serene and the entire area had a very "Wallpaper"-like feeling. Yunokuni was cute, they have a lot of make your own workshops but it's meant more for couples or families and unless you really want to try making something, you don't have a lot to do there beyond shopping in my opinion.
There are other attractions in the area but I had to get back so I didn't get to check them out. If you plan on coming to Komatsu I suggest you also check the surrounding towns.
Matsumoto – 30.5-2.6 (3 nights)
Hotel: Onyado Nono Matsumoto which was great. Probably the best hotel this trip. They offer a lot of stuff and have a hot bath on the tenth floor.
Originally I was supposed to have a day trip or two from Matsumoto but the weather didn't cooperate with me at all. I liked the city, I really love how everywhere you look you can see the mountains and it felt much nicer than Kanazawa and less crowded (though there were still plenty of tourists). I also felt like people were nicer to tourists here and that their English was much better but this could be a coincidence.
Day 1: I went to Matsumoto castle and had one of their free English tours (I also recommend this one). Matsumoto castle is very beautiful and probably is the best castle I've seen in Japan (Not that I've seen that many).
Day 2: I was supposed to go to Narai-juku but it rained like crazy all day so I skipped it and went to the art museum instead. The rest of day I didn't really anything except shopping.
Day 3: On a friend's recommendation I decided to take a walk to Matsumoto City Alps Park. It's a nice park on one of the mountains near the city that has a nice view and some family friendly activities and trails. It's a 1 hour walk but the weather was nice. I did the mistake of using google to navigate and apparently there's a nice path up to that park but google led through some rather steep streets. I walked all around the park, that took around 2.5 hours, maybe 3 and then headed back. All in all I've been walking constantly (and up a mountain) for 5 hours that day so I just went back to the hot bath at the hotel.
Tokyo (Part 2) – 2.6-5.6 (3 nights)
Hotel: Toggle Suidobashi – It was nice, the room was a bit awkward (socket placement was weird and I didn't really have a lot of room for my luggage) but the hotel is beautiful and the cafe was nice. The location is also pretty good.
This part was very similar to the first one. I spent time with my friends in Tokyo without doing anything much. I did go to the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden (next to the Tokyo Dome) and it was surprisingly lovely.
Some final notes
- Even though it's not on any shinkansen line, I think Matsumoto could be a good spot to use as a base while you do day trips in the area (especially if you like hiking). You can finish most of the city's major attractions in a day and the Japanese alps are beautiful and there are so many great spots that are just 1 hour on bus from the city (Kamikochi, Narai, Suwa and so on). There's also a train and express bus to and from Tokyo.
- Please come to Ishikawa, they need the tourists. Kanazawa is pretty much back to normal but other places aren't as much. Unfortunately, don't plan on Noto yet, unless you're in contact with someone there. Things there change weekly and a lot of places are still unable to accept tourists. I also recommend going to Komatsu and especially Natadera temple.
- Even though the yen is so weak at the moment, try not to be frugal unless you have to. Even though more tourists are coming to Japan, they are spending less money than before COVID. You don't have to spend like crazy or something like that, but maybe splurge a bit on yourself.
- Try walking as much as you can and don't just follow google maps blindly. A lot of the cooler things I found were in an alley I accidentally turned into
- If you want to get older (30+) Japanese people talking, talk to them about fruits. No idea why they are so opinionated about this (especially melons and grapes).
by xyrue