I hope this report helps others as much as the ones before helped me plan!
May 30-June 8
Traveled to Japan from the west coast of US with husband and two daughters, 14 & 11.
May 30
Arrived at Narita Airport around 3 PM. The line at customs was over an hour long and it was stiflingly hot and humid in the customs area. the line wound around 2 giant rooms. We had done the QR code and it didn’t even matter- the line for QR code people and paper form people was the same line. After the long flight there, this was hard on us.
Arrived at our hotel- the FAV Tokyo Hotel in Ryogoku. I picked this hotel because of the price. It was high quality and the staff were super nice. The original room we had, though, was really small- 200 sq feet. we felt really cramped in there and ended up upgrading to a bigger room after 3 nights.
Upon arriving we unpacked a bit, walked around the corner to get some ramen, stopped at 7-11 to get some snacks and I checked the pharmacy for CPAP water. I found “soft water”- which I used and it seemed to be ok, even though they didn’t have official distilled water. We crashed around 8 pm.
May 31
It was a little rainy in the morning, so we changed up our plans and started in Akihabara. We went to a cat cafe and loved it- the cats were all super cute and healthy. They seemed pretty spoiled! We were underwhelmed by the anime stores in Akihabara though- I think you need to be really into it to like them. We were all feeling pretty tired so we went back to the hotel for a bit, then went out in the evening to Senso-Ji. Unfortunately all the vendors in Nakimise dori were closing when we got there, so we didn’t try a lot of the food we wanted to. But it was nice to see the temple when it was less crowded. We went to dinner at a sushi restaurant in Asakusa, and went to a cabaret dance show at Asakusa Kugua- which we all LOVED. We booked the tix through Viator but I think you can book directly. My 11 year old said it was her favorite part of the trip. I loved the shopping area around it. I actually wish we stayed in Asakusa- it ended up being my favorite area of Tokyo.
June 1
We started with day with breakfast at Yoshinoya which ended up being what we did every day, because my youngest daughter liked it so much. Traditional breakfast of miso soup, white rice and salmon. After that we went to Happy Pancake to see what all the fuss was about. I loved them- my daughters didn’t- they thought they tasted like eggs. After that, we did Shibuya scrambled, checked out Loft, went to Takeshita Dori in Harajuku and went to the Puma store in Shinjuku. I think it was a mistake to do these areas on a Saturday. The crowds were something I wasn’t prepared for- obviously I had seen videos but actually BEING in the chaos is a different story. I was really overwhelmed and tired by the end of this long day and I fell asleep by 7.
June 2
We started the day at TeamLabs Planets- which was really cool. We had booked our tickets well in advance and we didn’t feel overly crowded since they do timed entry. After that, we went to Yanaka Ginza, as I had heard that old town was a nice change to Shibuya. It was- but I wished for more- the “shopping street” was not as long as I thought it would be. Luckily it was walking distance to Nezu shrine, which was absolutely gorgeous. It started raining just as we arrived and I enjoyed the quiet, serene setting, watching the raindrops in the stream with koi fish swimming around. It was one of my favorite places in Tokyo.
June 3
This was our “theatrical” day. We started with a Samurai class that I had booked through Viator. Again, you could book directly through Samurai Theater. This was SO MUCH FUN. My husband’s favorite part of the trip. It was an hour long class, we got to dress up like Samurai’s (I’m plus size and it worked), and there’s a fun choreographed sequence they teach you that you do to music at the end. The instructors spoke great English and were just a lot of fun to spend time with.
We then went to Gonpachi- the restaurant that inspired the design of the restaurant in Kill Bill’s iconic sword fight scene. This didn’t disappoint- it’s a super unique interior design and we loved felling like we were in the movie (especially after having just had sword fights of our own!)
We ended the day with a Kimono Tea Ceremony with MAIKOYA Tokyo. This was also fun- the girls loved getting their hair done, getting to choose their kimono and we were all excited to learn how to make matcha tea and learn about the ceremony.
June 4
This was a “free” day so we decided to try Harajuku again on a weekday. It was a little less crowded and the girls were happy to get some fun clothes at ACDC Rags and Punyas. We also went to a puppy cafe. This one wasn’t as fun as the cat cafe. The dogs seemed really hungry- and it made me sad. (They looked well fed, but it makes me wonder if all their food comes through the hand feeding from visitors?) afterward, we went to the Pokémon Cafe for my 11 year old who loves Pokémon. The food was really bad- which we expected from reviews. I didn’t know, though, that you don’t get to take photos with Pikachu- he just does a little show and waves. This wasn’t worth it in my opinion. We then had ramen on “ramen street” at Tokyo station for dinner. We did the seafood ramen- I think I would have preferred a different one.
June 5
We traveled on the Shinkansen
To Kyoto on this day. It was relatively easy as we connected through Shinagawa Station instead of Tokyo station. We checked into the Mimaru SHIJO (which was amazing and had free happy hour with beer and sake daily from 5-7!) and went straight to Nishiki Market and my husband tried allll the food. He loved all of it. The girls and I loved the shopping area connected to Nishiki. We did My Only Fragrance- a fun experience to design your own perfume (we had a reservation). I went to fushimi inari alone at sunset and was super excited that it wasn’t crowded and the light was stunning. I was there about 30 minutes. Later, My husband and I went out alone this evening in Gion. We saw two Maiko out and about (we didn’t take photos or harass). We also had the best sushi dinner of our lives in an 8-seat restaurant called Sushi Ninenzaka Numoto. We got REALLY lucky as we just walked in- I didn’t realize so many restaurants require reservations in Kyoto!
June 6
I woke up at the crack of dawn and my 14 year old and I took the Shinkansen down to Hiroshima. We went through the Peace Museum, which made both of us emotional- but her especially. She had to take some time afterwards sitting in the park on a bench while I explored the surrounding area- the dome, the different memorials, etc. we didn’t spend a lot of time in Hiroshima but it was important to me to go, and I’m happy we made the trip. My daughter said she wished I had warned her- had she known how emotional it would be she might have skipped it. I think it’s important that people learn from history so even though it was hard for her I’m glad she came with me. We were back in Kyoto by 2. We took a nap then took the train to Osaka to at least see the dotonbori- which was amazing. Such a great vibe. There was a live concert happening when we got there a girl JPoP band called Shinsekai Hero, and my daughters were super into it. We had conveyor belt sushi, tried some food at the stands and headed back to Kyoto.
June 7
Our last day in Japan. My husband and I went to Ninzaka and Sannenzaka at 10 when the shops opened up- we spent a lot. We loved the pottery shops and the doll shop. So many souvenirs bought. Later in the day we went to Kinkaku-Ji and it was everything I imagined and more. Even with the crowds it’s such a calming place. We tried to have dinner at a nice steakhouse that evening but again- no reservations.
June 7
Took the Shinkansen back from Kyoto to Tokyo station because we had an oversized bag and even with booking well in advance couldn’t get a reserved seat with the oversized bag connecting in Shinagawa. We made our connection (20 minutes!) but just barely and only because I had studied the Tokyo station map. If I hadn’t we would have missed our connection to the Narita express.
All in all- it was a great trip that was definitely a teaser for future trips. I wish we spent more time in Kyoto and Osaka- I think we would have liked those areas more than Tokyo. I also want to see more of the countryside, as I preferred the temples to the wild city.
Lessons learned
-The subway was tricky for us- we gave up after day 1 and just took taxis which we not much more expensive than the subway and saved a lot of headache- we used Uber and the go taxi app
– my daughter got a cold while we were there- the Payke app was a lifesaver as you could scan a bar code and the label with ingredients and instructions showed up in the app in English
– my other daughters glasses broke – luckily there are a lot of eyeglass stores in Shibuya and they repaired them for a small fee
– Make reservations in Kyoto
– For language, I used “sumimasen” “nan ban nori ban?” and “arigato gozaimas” a lot but the other phrases I learned didn’t come up. I used google translate to type in and show people the Japanese when needed
by achago