Last Dec my then-fiance and I married and went to Japan for our honeymoon. It was my husband's first time and my third time, but I was a young kid so basically they didn't count because I have a memory of a goldfish. We went to Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Takayama, Matsumoto, Nagano, Fuji, and day trips here and there. It was some of my life's best and most chaotic times. I'll tell you why a little later.
Tokyo – Part 1 (4 days) Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tsukiji market, Gotokuji
The best part of this leg was the quiet backstreets and suburbs of Tokyo, like the Gotokuji temple, Yoyogi Park, and the delicious food. After exploring Shinjuku on our first night we already established that we are not city people. Mostly because of the crowds. There were some fun moments too, like the extraordinary view of the Shibuya sky, the pretty fishies from the art aquarium in Ginza, and the Hie Shrine in Akasaka. We also went to Togoshi-Ginza shopping street in Shinagawa to fill our tummies. We scoffed the skewers and the croquettes down before I could take a photo. I think we also went to a pudding place called Tommy's pudding. If you were ever there you should try them.
Yokohama (2 days) Gundam factory, Chinatown
Our time in Yokohama was short but very fulfilling. The Gundam factory has to be the highlight of this leg and we genuinely feel sorry for those who missed out. Our thoughts are with you. Food in Chinatown was great, but every 50 metres or so the same food and shops reappeared. For a moment I thought it was because I was so tired that I was seeing things. A big thank you to the post office staff who helped us out and gave us a cute dragon soap as a honeymoon gift. I wish I remembered to ask for their names.
Osaka (5 days) TeamLab Botanical, Dotonburi, Hiroshima/Miyajima day trip, Den Den town, Namba
Our first time riding the Nozomi Shinkansen. Beautiful view and on the right-hand side (Tokyo to Osaka) you'll see Mt. Fuji if you're the few lucky ones.
The TeamLab botanical garden was something else. We didn't go to the Tokyo one but I'm so glad we went to the Osaka one. The next night we headed to Dotonburi and goodness me it was jam-packed. We mustered our strength and visited Hozenji and called it a night. At some point in this leg, we also went down to Hiroshima and Miyajima. The deers were a lot more timid than their buddies in Nara. Before leaving we hit up Den den town and Namba Yasaka shrine.
Nara (4 days at the end) Nara park, Hasedera, earthquake, and being chaotic
This leg was unforgettable for a couple of very unusual reasons.
Before the trip, I read how much people loved Nara, but I didn't feel the same way. Maybe it was the crowd, or maybe because I was psychic and knew shite was about to go down. Whatever reason it might be, Nara in my memory was underwhelming.
Saying that, if you travel south for about an hour you'll find a little town named Hase and its Hasedera temple. It was the best thing out of the trip for us. We did our fortune reading and (ironically) aha! Daikichi, the best 100 yen I'd ever spent! Husband got the number 69 and we giggled like a pair of naughty children.
On our way back we could hear alarms going off from people's phones. The station's signs and ceiling lights were swaying fairly aggressively back and forth, and we realised it was an earthquake. We learned that it was the Noto earthquake later on. Thinking back I'm grateful we went to Nara. I included Kanazawa and Toyama on our very first itinerary but eventually discarded them because I didn't want to be rushed. If we followed that instead we'd have been near Noto100%.
I also somehow injured my cornea on the very same night. I won't bore you with the details but I was in agonising pain and couldn't open either of my eyes. The good thing that came out of it was learning the Japanese ambulance was free. The bad thing was we couldn't move to Kyoto as planned. We ended up staying in Nara for two extra nights while I was pretty much bedridden. The staff was extremely helpful and offered to check in on me, making sure my husband didn't actually just stuffed me in a suitcase. Jokes aside, he was a champ. Before leaving we gave the hotel staff a souvenir we bought earlier as a thank-you gift.
Kyoto (5 days at the end) Central Kyoto, Gion, Uji, Shiga prefecture
Losing three days meant that we had to cut the Kyoto leg short. Since we didn't like the cities as much we decided to explore Kyoto another time, and went ahead with the day trips instead. Uji was another favourite of mine. Walking along the river made me feel like I did not have a worry in the world. Lake Biwa from the Shiga prefecture was majestic. We stopped by Omihachiman before heading to Hikone. On the very last night in Kyoto we were lucky enough to see the snow falling (but it didn't stick to the ground).
Takayama (2 days) Snow!
At this point of the trip I was slightly let down by the lack of snow we saw, however, Takayama did not disappoint. We tried Takayama beef that night and visited the Showa-Kan museum the next morning. It was snowing the whole morning and by the time we got to the Hida no Sato open-air museum it was truly a winter wonderland. I know most people prefer Shirakawa over the open-air museum, but we and another couple were the only people there. We had the whole place to ourselves, and that was extremely rare in Japan.
Matsumoto & Nagano (4 days) Matsumoto castle, Wasabi farm, Snow Monkey Park
If I have to use one word to describe Matsumoto it would be nogastic. It's so cozily small that I'd love to live in a city like that, not to mention it's nestled in the gorgeous Alps. We headed to the Matsumoto castle before dark. The next day we headed out to the Daio wasabi farm in Azumino. I got to give it to them for turning a farm into an attraction… Afterwards, we hopped on a train towards Hakuba with no particular destination in mind. The view we got on the train was stunning.
Despite being nearby, getting to Yamanochi from Matsumoto wasn't the most convenient because of the mountains I think. We were surprised by how 80s the train station and the train were in Nagano. It started snowing heavily when we got to our ryokan and continued while we were at the snow monkey park. After returning to the ryokan, it was time for the onsen and dinner. Funny to think that was all of our dinner – lol there were at least 7 courses hidden in the kitchen. I almost lost my balance walking out of the dining hall with my belly waiting to burst. Needless to say the next morning I was hungry again. My husband was like I couldn't eat anymore and I was like yeah yeah me too while demolishing all my plates. Before we leave we of course had to dip into the onsen.
Mt. Fuji (4 days) Fujiyoshida, Fujikawaguchiko
Since it's our honeymoon and probably one of the only few times we get to take a month off to travel, we went all out on this leg.
My husband found out about the gran class on the Shinkansen and looked at me with his puppy dog eyes, who am I to say no to that? That was honestly better than some of the business-class seats. We stayed at Bessho Sasa and everything about it was beyond phenomenal. We had another 10-course meal. Obviously did not learn our lesson. And for the next three nights, we had the most amazing time of our lives.
Just kidding.
Turns out that the time we visited Mt. Fuji was also the time many hotels and resorts did their maintenance, which meant we only got to stay one night there. I was like no biggie I can find us another nice hotel. So here was where I, as I quoted my husband, made the biggest mistake of the century. Looking at the photo you might think it wasn't that bad, but what I didn't show was all the stains and dust. The only saving grace was its view. It wasn't cheap either. If the day before we were in heaven then surely we had fallen to hell. We meant to stay for three nights but after the first night, I put on my best-acting face and checked us out. I know we could've stayed but it was our honeymoon and it just wasn't worth the misery. The new place was more like an Airbnb stay and so much better. We headed to the local supermarket so we could make our meals for the next couple of days and discovered exactly how much we get scammed in Australia.
Lake Kawaguchi was relaxing but so windy while we were there, luckily we had the local specialty hoto noodles to warm us back up. Mt. Fuji was feeling a little shy on the day we left.
Hakone (2 days) Lake Ashi, Hakone Checkpoint, Owakudani
Hakone was beautiful and better than I expected. What I didn't realise was how scattered all the attractions were. From our hotel we took the bus to Owakudani. It was exposed to some strong winds that made my heart skip a beat. I prayed for our souls and safety multiple times. Because of the hotel's location, we would pass Owakudani every time we went to the attractions and came back. We had a nice walk from the Hakone Checkpoint to Lake Ashi. While not as impressive as Lake Biwa, Lake Ashi was different with the view of Mt. Fuji and the Torri gate in the same picture. Hakone-Yumoto was okay, tofu ice cream had to be the second best ice-cream flavour just after lavender. The best part would be the hospitality of the people there. We couldn't get a taxi after our dinner one night and the very kind elderly couple asked their son to drive us back. We couldn't say thank you enough.
Tokyo part 2 (3 days) – Asakusa, Sensoji, Tokyo Skytree, Sumo tournament
Our hotel was right at the Rokku Yokocho and only a three-minute walk from Sensoji, so we never really wandered far on our last leg. We chose to visit Sensoji at night to avoid the crowd, and I honestly think people miss out if they only visit the temple in the daytime. We spent our last full day watching a sumo tournament. People went crazy for a few wrestlers. We had Kura sushi twice during this leg and no photos because I was being a piggie.
After the trip
To be honest both my husband and I were very travel fatigued by then and just wanted to go home. My brain is also a bit fried writing this post, so forgive me if I wasn't as detailed as some of the earlier legs.
We are so grateful to be able to experience Japan and the hospitality of the Japanese people. We are planning to return and drive to the countryside of the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions next time. We'll see you next time.
by No-Travel4499
