Yes, Travel and Tourism are still denied at this time, but that doesn’t mean we can’t plan or even dream *a little!*
Have you been to Japan before? What are your priorities for next time?
Haven’t made it yet? What “Must-See’s” do you have on your bucket list?
A week? A month? A year? How long would you go if you had the time?
**What would you do if you had the chance? What will you do when you get it again?**
Have fun, play nice, and enjoy the discussion!
45 comments
**Solo – 2022** – Hoping to spend late October, November and part of December visiting for koyo season. Specifically the leaves in Kyoto, Korankei near Nagoya, and Tohoku. Then Christmas shopping and Illuminations in Tokyo before heading home for the holidays.
**Duo – 2023/2024** – Working on these plans gradually, I might be moving my solo trip back, as my partner only gets 15 days vacation from his job (20 in total if you count weekends) and we could do part of it together. If this is combined with the Solo Koyo Round, we’d start in Tokyo and head to Tottori on the Sunrise Izumo (if we can swing it!), then further down to Kurokawa Onsen and Takachiho Gorge. Maybe onwards to Okinawa, since he’s never been, and bounce back up to Osaka/Kyoto before he’d depart back home. I’d stay in Japan until December on my own, and then come home just before Christmas, broke as hell.
Love this question! Hubby and I visited for the first time in Dec,2019 for 2 weeks and absolutely loved Japan and have been planning to go again ever since, to cover what we couldn’t the first time.
Our priorities for the next time would be to check out Hokkaido! Also would like to dive deeper into Kyoto and Tokyo. It felt like we just barely scratched the surface.
So this time around we would be going to Hakodate, Kyoto, Nagashima Spaland near Nagoya, Tokyo, Kamakura and Enoshima.
We would like to go for 2 weeks again as we find it to be the perfect duration for a getaway from work before responsibilities back home start piling up.
When we visited then we had been to Kyoto, Tokyo, Hakone and Okinawa. We also went to Fuji Q Highland Amusement Park in Fujiyoshida as we are both adrenaline junkies and wanted to do something not on a typical tourist itinerary.
Didn’t visit Fushimi Inari as we stuck to Arashiyama area and really regretted not planning properly after we returned, so that is the first stop at Kyoto, followed by Kiyomizudera Temple. We also really want to visit Koko-dera, a moss temple. In Tokyo we want to give a day or 2 to all the different areas like Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, Shimokitazawa, Ueno, Asakusa and Odaiba.
Another thing we loved is Japan’s trains! We would like to go train hopping on Shinkansens, Tokyo’s network of above ground and underground subways, trams in Hakodate, Scenic rails in Kyoto.
Last but the least is to be more adventurous with regard to food, visiting Onsens and interacting with the locals.
We wish to go during the winter of 2022. Thank you OP for igniting the travel bug in me once again!
My Wife and I went to Tokyo and Osaka back in 2019. We spent a total of 7 days in Japan + 2 days of travel. We tried to see as much as we could. Our itinerary was jammed, with touristy places, food places, temples, castles, shops, etc. It was fun, but definitely rushed and grueling. Trying to jam 4-5 destinations in a day was a lot. A lot walking too. Our feet hated us each day lol.
My favorite – Seeing as many Castles and Temples as possible.
Wife’s Favorite – To buy as many different snacks and candies not found in the States. Daiso shopping was like a lottery win for her.
Both our Favorites – 7-11. Grabbed food and drinks there every morning lol. The quality was so surprising Vs the States.
Most Disappointing – There was a White Castle (Osaka Castle I believe). That we walked a while to get to. But came to find that we couldnt even get close to it. So we lingered and took some distant pics of. But left fairly quickly.
We had planned to go again in Apr 2022 with our 2 kids. Unlikely now. But if given the chance to safely go again, we would definitely slow down the pace. Only plan for maybe 2 destinations a day. Take breaks. Have lull days.
I have already been 6 times already and have visited 37 prefectures so far, with the goal to visit them all (then I’ll need to revisit many as I just keep finding more interesting places I want to see).
Next trip that I want to do is at least two weeks (but ideally 3) for Kyushu. I would like it to be around may as I want to try to do some tea harvest related activity around Kagoshima, that is know to be one of the big tea producing region of Japan.
My priority is mostly to visit are temple/shrine, castle and historic location. So for Kyushu there is obviously some important stop to do in Kagoshima related to the history of Satsuma. Now I also try to find local dish (and local beer) to try where I go.
I’ve been three times, twice with the same friend and another time with another buddy. I’ve done the trifecta of Kyoto-Osaka-Tokyo so I’ll probably not spend so much time in those cities.
I’m planning to go to Okinawa because it’s Japan, but not quite Japan at the same time. Also, I’ve never been to Hokkaido. I was thinking about attending the Sapporo snow festival but it’s unlikely in 2022.
One of my protips is to try to plan your trip during a festival. I’ve been to a few like the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival and Shittenoji Doyadoya Festival. The Kishiwada is one where they pull wooden carts around the city at fast speeds. The Shittenoji is where a bunch of young men try to grab an item in the temple, all the while getting ice cold water splashed on them.
One where I never come back.
For my fourth trip (that was supposed to happen in fall 2020) I wanted to enjoy the fall colours and explore Shikoku since that’s the last of the main islands I haven’t been to. Most likely a solo trip, with some nights spent at some onsen towns and a couple of days in Tokyo (still my favourite city).
But it might come different than planned and be a trip with my gf. Therefore most likely a bit more classic touristic (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto).
In the future I would love to explore Hokkaido a bit more (maybe 2 weeks just there) and also go to some of the smaller Japanese islands in the south.
I have been once, in September 2019. It was my first solo trip, dual with Taiwan because there were cheap tickets for the combined trip and both places had been on my “where to go?” list. Just under 2 weeks Japan and 4 days Taiwan – Taipei only, really. It turns out that is not enough time for either place. I had flights booked for September 2020 for four weeks, but clearly that did not happen.
At this point, the idea is five or six weeks (or more, depending on my banked time off and savings account balance) in September/October 2022. Focusing on northern Japan and Shikoku, maybe hitting Osaka and a few things in Kyoto I missed the first go around.
Since it was my first trip, I made some rookie mistakes with how I structured my time. I had a list of things I wanted to see and planned my day the day OF. Going forward, I will plan my day the day AHEAD. I also didn’t go out of my comfort zone with restaurants as much as I wanted to, in either country, so that is something I want to focus on. I figure that since I want to see so many places around the world I have to get as much out of each trip as I can, so I need to make them longer.
Glad to have a job that is so flexible.
Been 3 times and lived there for a year, but I still only saw so little. I would love to spend time exploring the islands around Okinawa, Ishigaki etc. and just enjoy the tropical Japan vibe for a while. I’d love to do a homestay in a traditional Ryukyu fishing village on those islands. Same for Hokkaido, I’d like to meet Ainu people and learn about their culture, see all four seasons in Hokkaido and see the bears and flying squirrels. I feel like those are things that even a lot of Japanese don’t get to do. Also I wanted to travel to the Northern coast of Honshu but never got the chance. There aren’t too many major attractions there other than the Tottori sand dunes, but for that reason there are many old style villages and castle to visit. Maybe I will go Woofing in Japan one day and can spend a long time seeing traditional lifestyles and rural Japan. The NHK youtube channel is great for showcasing parts of Japan that aren’t in the tourism guide books. Just normal life but often remote or forgotten by mainstream culture.
There are a couple of places I really want to visit. A few of the guaranteed locations are hot springs (a multi tour would be preferable since I’d like to learn about the different health benefits for different springs). For sure akibahara…though I may want to have a separate budget for them just in case! Finally I’ve always wanted to see the tsukigi market, the diversity of food available looks irresistible 🥰
After that, I’m open to just walking around without a place in mind. Of course I’d want to go in a group so I can visit places I’d never even think to go on my own! (Like an arcade! Just thought of that, both pachinko parlors and games arcades would be great to check out!)
Almost 30 years ago I went to Japan for the first time. The sister city we visited is on Shikoku. Ever since, I’ve wanted to walk the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage route.
Been twice. Tokyo/Kyoto on my first trip. My 2nd trip was mostly Kyoto, with jaunts to Osaka, Kinosaki Onsen, and [Harie Village](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcKJpXwqVM).
I want to go to Taiwan again first (my wife’s family is from Taiwan). With my limited vacation days of about 2 weeks, I’d plan my next trip to be 2023, focusing on Kyushu and Okinawa. I’d also like to visit Atami, see the sea of clouds in Chichibu, go to Hokkaido… but the logistics of doing those would be a *bit* tricky along with the south of Japan.
But if I had the luxury of 2 to 3 months? I’d just wander around Japan and see what I find. I know now that I’m equally as happy just walking down a shopping street, or drinking coffee in a kissaten, or listening to the wind in a lonely bamboo path. Maybe hop on an overnight ferry just for fun.
I’d probably want to watch some masters at their crafts. Woodworking, swordmaking, cooking, pottery – all of that is fine. I’d also go to many more museums. And hopefully find some quiet shrines off the beaten path.
As for things I’d do again?
* Dotombori for sure. It was super fun bouncing from store to store with my wife, eating whatever we wanted. Felt like we were kids again, in an amusement park
* There’s a modest bamboo path in the Fushimi Inari area that I’ve been to three times now. It’s not spectacular, but nobody goes there, and I feel at peace there. It’s a little odd, but I feel like I need to visit whenever I go to Kyoto
* Onsen. Because onsen.
2019 fall. Did 2 weeks with a friend through the typical spots in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. I additionally stayed a week by myself so I could go to see F1 in Suzuka which I highly recommend (even as a person who really isn’t that big of a F1 fan).
I would like to spend more time in Oita prefecture and in Hokkaido. I lived in Japan for 2 1/2 years and miss it everyday.
I’ve never been, and I already have several versions of trips lined up in my head!
– one week in Kansai region during autumn, just going around Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Himeji Castle and Kobe near the harbour.
– at least a week in Tokyo + Kawaguchiko; plus another week to cover Hakone/Takayama/Kanagawa/Kyoto if I can leave during a lean season at work
– a week when I’m fit enough to do Shimanami Kaido for 2-3 days, down to Matsuyama then back up to Hiroshima + Miyajima, and end at Fukuoka or Osaka
– a week in Tohoku region or including Hokkaido, for the food.
Late summer 2019, my partner and I spent three weeks in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, with a couple days in Takayama and some day trips to Hiroshima and Nara. We spent lots of time in those places, which i loved, but I also want to see more of the country.
Mentally I have two particular trips planned:
– Originally November 2021 through January 2022, for my 30th. 2 months travelling from Okinawa up to Hokkaido along the west coast, having a white Christmas, then back to tokyo along the east coast. It’d be mostly solo because i do t think my partner could get the time off work. I still wouldn’t mind doing this a year or two late, but i could also do something during their spring/autumn. Either way i have like nine weeks leave from work burning a hole in my pocket.
– In five or so years, get a secondment into Japan for two years. My work has three or four offices there, and I’d like to base myself somewhere, spend the week sitting on my ass doing regular work then taking trips on the weekends. Dont wanna live there for ever – work culture is terrible, and by all accounts living there as a woman can be pretty shite, but a couple years then bailing would suit me I think.
Also intend to take shorter trips here and there whenever airfares are on sale – flying from Australia could actually be super cheap pre covid. On my list is to see the most north/south/east/westerly points through a couple slightly longer stays in Okinawa and Hokkaido, ride the Shimanami Kaido, and to hire a car to explore some of the less-visited prefectures.
Been to Japan four times now! Fukuoka on the first trip, Tokyo on the second, Osaka/Kyoto on the third and the fourth back in Tokyo. All of these trips were a week long at most.
Still can’t get enough of it. Hoping to go in winter of next year, if everything opens up. Two and a half week solo trip. First 8 days around Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto, maybe a daytrip or two to Hiroshima, then fly out to Sapporo from Osaka.
The main goal is language immersion, since I’ve been learning Japanese for the past two years. But with regards to sightseeing, I’m planning on seeing the Sapporo Snow Festival, visiting an onsen or staying in a ryokan for the first time, walking around a lot because I’ve been lost multiple times in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto just walking around and the stuff that I found/experienced never failed to amaze me (in a good way), getting fat on konbini food or just food in general. **The list never fucking ends.**
The trip after that is to probably watch the Japanese GP.
Been to Japan three times, but mainly stayed in Tokyo with one 4 day trip to Kyoto. I would definitely like to spend 2-4 days in Osaka and explore Tokyo nightlife more.
I would stay for a solid month if I could get the time. My first trip was about 10 days and the other two were about two and half weeks each.
I’d really like to explore the culinary scene more in Tokyo and Osaka. I’ll also definitely go back to Ageha and have drinks at the New York bark in the Park Hyatt, Shinjuku. I miss walking around Roppongi too…
Suntory Yamazaki Distillery
Been there 4x and had ticket to fly there in 2 weeks before covid locked everything. Stayed in Tokyo and Osaka each time but would like to try stayin in the country side in the future. Needless to say I am eagerly waiting for reopening and have fingers crossed it will be next year. No guarantee.
Visit Japan 1-3 times a year for the last 8 years. My main priorities on my next trip will probably be just going back and visiting my regular places and seeing old friends. Ideally I’d have a month or so so I would also want to visit more prefectures. Mainly looking at ones in Shikoku and Kyushu. Another thing to do is ride the seven stars and shikishima trains.
I have booking for December. But it doesn’t look good atm. Maybe I have to cancel my trip the third time.
I have been to Japan 5 times. Usually just 1-2.5 weeks. As soon as I came back from my first trip, I booked my second one. Last visit was October 2019.
Dream trip would be a months long where I would travel to different prefectures, the length of the country, travelling via train. (I -love- rail travel. All of it – from choosing your ekiben to looking out the window, everything going by so fast.) So, Sapporo to Kagoshima. I bought a book to plan my trip but haven’t cracked it open recently because of the obvious. I’d also love to take a sleeper train and maybe one of those fancy ferries as a mode of transportation.
I also love whisky so I’d stop off at the distilleries (especially Ichiro in Chichibu) and time my visit to coincide with the whisky festivals (been to the one in Osaka) or spirits festival (haven’t been to the one in Tokyo). My travel style tends to be more slow and relaxed. I like going to markets and regular local things. So would prefer to spend a few weeks in one place.
I just found out that my company offers a one time sabbatical unpaid leave (of up to 6 months off) so I will be taking this as soon as I am eligible (in 2 years, 3 months. lol). Might be the one thing to keep me motivated to stay at this job.
I lived in Nagoya for two years in the 2000’s. I would like to go again and take my partner
for the first time. My dream holiday would be 5-6 weeks with a car for parts of it. I find that after five to six weeks II begin to want to return to my home routines again and holidaying becomes a chore. I also find that moving in and out of accommodation is painful, a car helps with that…
My favourite holidays are usually a mix of returning to places I remember, with a mix of something new. In a perfect world It would be half in spring and half when the leaves
change colour..can I have both please.
Favourite memories to repeat
Sport – I loved the crowds at the Soccer and Baseball…but I was a bit cramped watching Sumo..I want to have a warmed seat, frothy beer and the great crowd chants and cheers.
A Festival – Big or small, but definitely a parade. Festivals are my best memory of Japan,
fireworks, fire, fertility, noise or luck. Floats covered in lanterns, full of children playing flutes in Inuyama, the parade through the streets at the Osaka festival, getting free sake freeing while watching Taiko drumming at a small festival outside of Nagoya …Any festival…Anywhere…..I just want one!
Ekiben and a Shinkansen trip – Just making my choice for the journey and maybe ordering something from the staff on the train…so much fun..
Something unique – From a museum of buildings at Meiji Mura to the Seki Knife Festival, to a fertility parade, to discovering something funin a 7-11 (I remember buying scented air in can)
Food – Gee I will be getting fat on this trip. Festival Takoyaki, Cold Soba Supermarket Meals, French cakes, Tonkatsu and Curry from somewhere with plastic food outside, making konomiyaki and downing a beer, choosing random items off an izakaya menu, solemnly eating a meal on the Tatami mats in a temple…I may not see anything, I might just eat
Returning to Memorable locations. I remember Nikko shining brightly in the pouring rain, Walking the small bustling streets around Kiyomizu-dera, looking out the window of atsumoto Castle, and the small watch in the Peace Museum in Hiroshima. There are so many more.
Driving. Japan and Australia drive on the same side of the road, but inter city driving can be slow with expensive tolls. Roads can be confusing and the road signs on the freeways totally confusing. But cars give you freedom to see things that can be a pain with public transport.
Something New
Tokyo Disneyworld and DisneySea. In fact more time in Tokyo as I never really spent much time there. Maybe look at some vintage shops, buy a traditional knife, do something fun.
Something ukiyo-e related. I love the artworks. And I purchased a reprint from a ukiyo-e museum in Matsumoto, that was tiny. I want more.
Walk between the towns in the Kiso valley. I went to the towns but did not do the walk.
Spend time around Hakone and Kamakura. Maybe have a car and stay at a few days. I was here briefly.. but it was pretty and worth time to explore.
Stay at a Ryokan…since there is no budget…I want this. I stayed one night when I was in apan. The traditional dining and meal was etched into my memory.
In my holiday I would also miraculously be fit enough to do some hiking in Wakayama in the mountains. It looks pretty.
I’ve been twice – first time was Tokyo & Kyoto, second time was just Tokyo to go a bit deeper. I’d like, next time, to do Kyoto (history, temple visits), Osaka (food, clothing), Okayama (clothing), Tokushima (indigo), Shodoshima (shoyu). In my dreams, it’s about a four week trip, allowing a full week for the two big cities, and two weeks to spread out the other smaller destinations and tack on anything else I felt like doing. I have a few trips in my head – a west coast road trip to visit a few places along the way, a Sapporo trip combing the whole island. A month in Kamakura to chill on the beach.
A separate and very different trip in my future is a 1-3 month stay in Okinawa, training at a Shorin Ryu dojo so I can get closer to the source.
I’ve never been to Japan, but I’m currently saving up for a trip to Japan in (hopefully) 2023. So far, I’m hoping to go in late May/early June. While what I plan to do is up in the air, but I’m hopeful that I can attend a baseball game there; hopefully a NJPW show, go to Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan.
What I do know, I play to be there for two weeks and the cities I plan to visit are Tokyo, Niigata City, Kyoto, and Osaka.
For now, I’m just saving up for the trip and wait for this whole situation to get better to travel internationally.
We’ve been 5 times, for a total of 6 months in Japan so far, All of it at the Snow with a week in Tokyo here or there… It was all awesome, so I’d do that again, and explore into Tohoku region.
I was lucky enough to go to Japan at least twice a year before the pandemic, and I’ve always wanted to travel from one end to another by train, stopping at key spots along the way.
As a lifelong karateka, it is my dream participate in training in Japan. I would also like the watch a sumo match. Outside of martial arts, I would also love to visit a traditional ryokan and see mt Fuji.
2019 I left my family behind at a hotel in Osaka (by mutual agreement) jumped on the shinkansen to Kyoto, hired a bike, got lost & found Nintendo HQ then reoriented myself and headed for the imperial palace. Then, I found the temple that used to be the residence of the Lady Murasaki, who wrote The Tale of Genji. Right next to the palace walls. Now, you may know how crazy busy tourist spots in Kyoto used to be….wall to wall tourists. This beautiful temple & garden was EMPTY! I had it all to myself for one glorious hour! In the middle of the day in autumn. It was free entry, and I paid a few hundred yen for postcards. I sat in the shade, meditated on the history & garden etc. All you need to do is step away a little from the well publicised paths (though they a fantastic too) and there is magic to be found in Japan. (Edit : I wanna do it all again…to answer the original question)
Had my **first trip** back in Oct 2019. I absolutely loved it, and would love anyone who gives a little love to my [trip report and pics](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/eui6y1/super_delayed_report_from_oct_2019_10_days_tokyo/). Not gonna lie, was butthurt I didn’t get more comments on it back when I wrote it 😛 Some highlights: NJPW show, Golden Gai with friends of mine from grad school, bringing back a knife for my parents that they still use daily, Michelin quality omakase, and sampling so many things from 7-Eleven and vending machines.
Anyways, I don’t think we could have had a better trip that was tailored to how we like to travel (throwing minor shade at 90% of copy paste itineraries). Aside from Fushimi Inari and Hokan-ji Temple, I don’t think we saw a single other shrine or temples– they just don’t capture my fancy whatsoever. I’m more about trying to take in the current day culture: just people watching, observing fashion trends, and of course the food!
Have an April 2022 trip tentatively planned, a quick version to take my mom and show her the big must sees. May push it back to Oct/Nov based on how things open up. Ideally don’t want to push it back further because of her age, no matter what fancy class flight and lavish accommodations I can get.
**Future**: wife and I definitely will go back multiple times, as we left out so many things on our first trip: Shibuya Crossing, any large garden in Tokyo, Ben Fiddich bar to name a few; and missed our day trip to Osaka due to a typhoon. I think our 2nd trip will revisit the Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka trio, to really get those out of our system. By 3rd and subsequent trips, I think I can venture out more to small towns and get off the beaten track. I also have this goal to try to learn basic Japanese, but it’s been over 20 months since my first trip, and I’ve yet to open one language app… so now sure how realistic that is. Also feel blessed since flights and hotels will never be a limiting factor thanks to churning hobby.
I’ve been to Tokyo and Kyoto before for long weekends and loved every second of it. Tokyo was amazing but I wish I could have stayed longer because there is just SO MUCH. However, Kyoto was much better (in my opinion!). Myself and a friend spent an afternoon walking along the ‘Philosopher’s path’ and then through the surrounding neighbourhood really admiring the architecture of the houses. It was so peaceful and a really fond memory of mine.
If I were to go back (which I hopefully will next year!) I’d love to spend 2-3 months during the summer holidays (I’m a teacher so I have the time lol) travelling around the whole country solo and staying in hostels. I have a whole list of things to do (too long to put here tbh) and I’d love to be able to take my time doing them.
I’m sooo jelly that most people commenting on here have already been 2 or 3 times and here’s little old me wanting to go for the 1st time ever..🥺
im sure I’m not the only one who was trapped in there house during a lockdown and craved travel to get away from the 4 walls, I wanna do the usual Tokyo/ktyoto route and throw in kawaguchiko (fuji san) for a night, just want to experience something different.and the foodie in me wants to nom all around Osaka too, anime is important to my husband and I too, when we were dating, we bonded over studio ghibli films🥰 so when it’s built, we hitting that theme park in nagoya too.
I’ve been twice (2009 and 2018) and I miss Japan so much. It’s such a fun place to explore! My last trips have been more budget-conscious but for my next visit I would love to try a kind of “luxe” ryokan/private onsen experience 🙂 I am also very into fine cuisine, so there’ll be a lot of that going on in my dreams!
I love live shows and concerts, so the two times we have visited we made sure to see a kabuki show, a local rock/metal show, and we also scored tickets to see BabyMetal at Saitama Arena. Next time I hope to see a shamisen concert, and some live jazz.
I want to do the Yamathon (walk between all 29 stations of the Yamanote line ) or a portion of it for fun. And eat egg salad sandwiches from the konbini. I’ve been four times. Can’t get enough egg salad.
I have been to Japan twice before and have fallen in love with the country.
My third trip was planned for March 2020. I postponed it a few times and then gave up and canceled. My quarantine activity was learning Japanese so that I could interact with locals, read menus, and order at restaurants and bars in Japan on my next trip.
My dream trip to Japan at this point is to get back to Tokyo for a short trip.
Here’s what I would do:
* Fly Japan Airlines First Class
* Stay at Hyatt Centric Ginza and Conrad Tokyo
* Eat sushi at Sushi Arai (lunch) and Ginza Kyubey (dinner)
* Eat yakitori at Eiki
* Eat tori paitan ramen at Ginza Kagari
* Eat tempura at Tempura Kondo
* Eat yakiniku at Yakiniku Nakahara
* Eat pizza at PST or Seirinkan
* Get onigiri at Lawson and an egg sando at 7/11
* Drink at Bar Hoshi or Star Bar Ginza
* Drink beer at Mikkeller Tokyo and Hitachino Brewing Lab
* See a baseball game!
* Experience TeamLab Borderless (loved Planets)
Dream trip would be winter snowboarding all season long. I’ve been three times and I could never get sick of it.
Top of the list is Niseko/rRusutsu/Kiriro. Snowboarding it up in luxury accommodation, onsen, seafood, buffets… and day trips to Lake Toya, shinkotsu national Park, Otaru and Sapporo in betweeen. I’d love to visit the new museum on Ainu culture.
Second on the list is Nagano. Visiting the snow monkeys, hitting up nozawa, shiga, myoko and happo.
I’ve been to Japan three times (March 2018, May 2019, and October 2019), and have been to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, and Tokyo. Japan and specifically Tokyo has become one of my favorite places in the world. I live in NYC and Tokyo just seems like a kinder, cleaner New York to me with fantastic and cheap food (I miss konbini so much). The history, the beauty, the best Disney resort in the world, the acceptance of people traveling or eating alone – it’s just wonderful. Was supposed to go back in November 2020 and have changed my trip three times now. Hoping for late March/early April. I used to go to a different country every trip but just keep going back to Japan because I love it so much.
If I get to go in March/April I’m honestly just going to walk around my favorite places forever, do some vintage shopping (the vintage shopping in Japan is next level), go to Tokyo Disney again, GO TO COCO CURRY AGAIN god I miss Coco Curry, and just vibe. I can’t wait til we can put this all behind us.
My partner and I traveled to Japan for the first time in August 2019 with friends. We spent 3 weeks, with 1.5 weeks in Tokyo and the remaining 1.5 week split between Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, and Takayama. We really only got 1 full day to enjoy each city and I would not have chosen that, but our friends were more experienced with Japan and were making all the plans, we were just along for the ride.
We did our best to prepare for the climate, but being from the Canadian prairies it was a struggle at times. We climbed Mount Fushimi-Inari in the evening, it was 30C and around 90% humidity when we reached the top around 10pm, and we sweated more than we ever have in our lives.
We arrived in Hiroshima in the evening, and made it to the tail end of a bon odori festival. The next day we wasted a lot of time in Hiroshima waiting in line for the museum, it was a holiday and extremely crowded. Worth seeing, but I wish we had gone on a different day.
Osaka felt incredibly commercial and shopping-centric but that could have just been the area we were in, I think our friends dragged us to a major shopping district. Western style shopping districts full of big brands aren’t really my thing, but there was a smaller market where I enjoyed browsing all the traditional foods and crafts.
I liked Kyoto and wanted to spend more time there exploring the cultural areas and maybe try to see a maiko traveling to appointments, but a typhoon limited our already short time, and a friend REALLY wanted dinner at a particular Korean BBQ place so we spent over an hour waiting for a table in the rain. I am primarily vegetarian so was not happy about this, but the friend was basically throwing a toddler fit at the idea of going somewhere else for dinner.
We really enjoyed Takayama after all the rushed traveling. The ryokan was wonderful and relaxing, with an incredible traditional dinner.
Tokyo was great as well, although we were frequently disappointed by things being closed when we got there (we were trying to visit places featured in Kantaro: the sweet tooth salaryman), or not having enough time to do what we wanted in between what our friends had scheduled. Luckily they are weebs and spent a lot of time shopping in Akihabara, which gave us more time to do what we wanted.
Some of the highlights:
– I scheduled appointments at a salon for “head spa” treatments and my partner was skeptical, but he ended up really enjoying it after a stressful day.
– I loved the Miyazaki museum.
– We did a bus tour to pick grapes and explore around Mt Fuji.
– Rented electric bikes to zip around Kyoto which was super fun.
– Ate a gigantic $40 peach kakigori.
– Went to the Pikachu festival and conquered my fear of heights on the biggest ferris wheel we’ve ever been on
– Experienced a Disney park for the first time (I would only do that again if we were rich and could skip all the lines).
– Spent an hour wandering around trying to find a karaoke place that a friend remembered stumbling upon while drunk on a previous trip, and actually managed to find it.
– We spent 3 hours at a love hotel in Osaka to get away from the friends for a bit and have a proper bath in a full size tub, it was was an expensive 3 hours but worth it imo.
– My partner made reservations at a Monster Hunter themed cafe that was interesting and had good food.
– We randomly found a Mexican restaurant near our rental in Tokyo that was one of our better meals during the trip, and we still reminisce about the restaurant we went to multiple times for a full Japanese breakfast for $5-8.
– We saw lots of castles and shrines, so many that I have trouble remembering what was where, but most of them were worth it. We tried to select ones that had something unique about them, or were in an interesting setting.
We’re thinking of going back to Japan to get married, either splitting time between Osaka/Kyoto and Okinawa, or maybe going to Hokkaido. We will definitely not be going with friends this time as most of our stress and disappointments on the last trip stemmed from the friends, although we did find it very useful having them around for our first trip. We’ve learned that we like to have a looser schedule with more time to wander and
I went to Japan in Jan 2020 with 4 friends, a couple months before the pandemic closed down the world. This was my third trip and as a whole, definitely the most memorable.
The layout of my trip was fly in to Osaka for 2 nights, Kyoto for 2 nights, flight to Sapporo for 3 nights, and flight back down to Tokyo for 4 nights.
# Kansai (Osaka, Nara, Kyoto)
I had already been to Osaka and Kyoto before, but since my friends hadn’t gone yet I figured I’d just go again. Didn’t see many new things this time, but I still had fun.
**Highlights:**
* **Okonomiyaki Fukutaro:** Teppanyaki counter where they cook the okonomiyaki in front of you. Best okonomiyaki I’ve ever had and it was a memorable experience in general.
* **Takoyaki Wanaka (Namba):** I’ve had takoyaki at 3 different places in Osaka, and this was definitely the best I’ve had. Still has the crispy exterior with a gooey, soft interior. Went here after being disappointed with some takoyaki from a place on Dotonbori.
* **Kamiki Udon (Nara):** Delicious cold udon with Karaage.
* **Kinkakuji:** Breathtaking, unique temple and area. I’m not even huge on historic sites but this place was awesome.
* **Kiyomizudera:** The other stand-out site in Kyoto for me. Walking there could be a hassle, but the view and temple itself was unforgettable.
**Disappointments:**
* **Fushimi Inari:** The shrine, gates and area itself is great, but man were there way too many people. Really took away from the experience. I hiked up all the way to the top and that part was serene and immersive, but up until that first rest stop, it was just too crowded.
* **Shinsekai:** Fun for pictures, but food options aren’t great imo. Probably don’t need to spend more than an hour or two there honestly.
# Sapporo
I fell in love with Sapporo in these few days. It’s smaller and slower-paced than Tokyo, and in my opinion, the food is better, though Tokyo does do certain foods better. I’m a huge fan of seafood, sushi and desserts so yeah… I loved the food up there.
Originally, it was planned to take a day trip to Otaru on one day and to spend some time walking-skiing through Moerenuma Park on another, but we just got too comfortable. We just kept eating at different places throughout Sapporo and got too full and lethargic to travel too far out.
**Highlights:**
* **Sushi Hanamaru:** Great kaitenzushi. The places I’ve tried in Tokyo don’t hold a candle to Hanamaru in terms of quality. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive, but it is definitely worth it. Could get pretty crowded, but they have a ticket system.
* **Milk Mura(Village):** A soft serve place where you eat it with small amounts of flavored liquor. Depending on the set you order, they also give you toasted quinoa, crepe and azuki bean (I forget what else) to eat with the ice cream. Just a unique, unforgettable experience that I would love to try again my next trip. Go to this place if you love ice cream, people!
* **Chaos Heaven Soup Curry:** A place I found while scouring Tabelog. We were going to just try Suage but I saw pictures of the soup curry here and it just looked too good to pass up. Needless to say, it was! The Hokkaido milk based curry was delicious, and they cook everything fresh right in front of you.
* **Shimijimi Ramen:** In the ramen alley, but not one of the most well known ones there. They’re known for their miso ramen with small basket clams. So comfy, satisfying and full of flavor, and I’ve never had ramen like it.
* **Shimokura:** A local sushi place in a some small market/alley of some sort. We went there for the lunch chirashi-don which had a lot of fish. I believe it was 1500y only and was loaded. Definitely worth and memorable. Also, what stuck out was that we went there during an off-hour(we didn’t know then), but they still took us in anyway. Nice and friendly owners along with a cool interior.
**Disappointments:**
* Ourselves. We should’ve spent the time to do our originally planned activities. Sapporo was amazing! No complaints here. Actually, maybe **Kinotoya Bake**. Soft serve was good, but the cheese tarts and apple custard pies were just alright.
# Tokyo
I’ll keep this brief, since there’s already so much info about Tokyo on this sub.
**Highlights:**
* **Tonkatsu Maruichi(Ota-ku):** High quality tonkatsu without spending so much on the really nice cuts. Family-owned and one of the best meals I had in Japan.
* **Ramen Muginae:** Clean, shoyu ramen. Look up pictures, it’s as good as it looks!
* **Sushi Motodane:** Small family-owned sushi place near Tsukiji. Same fish you get from the market, but just much cheaper. I got the chirashi-don when I went and it was fresh and delicious (only ~900yen!).
* **BAKE and Ringo:** A cheese tart place and an apple custard pie place. Both so good when fresh. I tried the chocolate tart too and that was also delicious. Pablo has more interesting flavors than BAKE, but for the basic cheese tart, I think BAKE is better.
* Just going to random local places near our AirBnB. There was an onigiri place(Kamataya) in Jujo that we went to every morning. So good and fresh. Locals were always lined up for it. If there’s any random local place that looks interesting, just try it out.
**Disappointments:**
* **Ameya Yokocho:** Ate at a good, cheap tonkatsu place**(Yamabe)** here, but other than that the area just isn’t for me. Not too many of the shops on the streets seemed interesting, and there were just a lot of people and loud noise.
* **Shibuya/Shinjuku/Harajuku/Omotesando:** Probably heard it a thousand times, but there are just too many people here. Definitely worth visiting, because, I mean you just have to go if you’re in Tokyo, but I wouldn’t spend too much time around these places personally unless you wanted to go to a specific store/restaurant. Of course, this is just my opinion.
I’m probably forgetting a ton of things, but my post is already waaaaay too long. Got a bit carried away here, but I’m enthusiastic about it.
For things that I felt I missed out on, I wish I had more time so we could travel on the shinkansen rather than flying from place to place. Because we were flying, we couldn’t hit smaller stations between the larger cities like Hakodate, which is one of the cities I want to visit the most. Next trip, I will for sure make enough time so I can take the shinkansen from Tokyo through Tohoku to Hokkaido.
As of right now, Sendai, Kusatsu, Morioka, Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Matsushima are on the menu for my next trip which I think will be two weeks long, so I’m very excited for when Japan opens up again!
Thanks for reading my poorly written rambling of an essay. Please message me if you have any recommendations in any of the cities I listed just now. I would really appreciate it!
Been to Japan 3 times and looking to go most likely 2023 as thats probably when Covid should be controlled enough for world travel.
Im going to Japan just to eat mostly. Spending roughly 10 days between Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima with day trips to Kobe, Nara, Miyajima. Then to Tokyo for 10 days or more with day trips to Nikko, Kamakura, Enoshima and maybe more day trips. Have a list of over 50 places I want to eat, mostly ramen as Im a huge fan.
I have been there twice and did a good mix of everything, during every trip.
If i ever have to make a “best of” tour it would be like that:
I start in Tokyo, my favorite neighborhood is Kamata so i would stay there again. It’s easy to access from Haneda and with good connections to the important subway lines. I would spend some days in Tokyo, going around again to Shibuya, Yoyogi Park, Shinjuku, Ginza, Asakusa and Akihabara. Would eat Unagi in a small restaurant somewhere in Shimbashi and pick up some food from the supermarket in the basement of Kamata Station.
Next stop would be Mt. Fuji, i love this mountain, i plan on climbing it on my next trip, but because my perfect trip will be during cherry blossom or fall, i have to stay at his foot and admire it’s beautiful snow crown and height form down there.
After admiring Fuji-san enough, i would travel down to Kyoto, strolling through Gion, watching a Geisha dance performance again, having a snack at Nishiki market and going to Arashiyama. From Kyoto i would love to make a daytrip to Nara and Osaka, saying “hi” to the deers and enjoying some Takoyaki in front of Osaka castle.
After a brief stop in Himeji, i would continue my trip down to Hiroshima. Spending a day on Miyajima before going even further south to Kyushu.
It would be funny to visit that bar in Kitakyushu again, that felt like we were the first Gaijins that ever ended up there, but it was really nice. Nagasaki was also nice, but i would appreciate if there would be a Shinkansen track down there, so i’m kind of undecided if i would go there again, but where i would go again definitely is Kagoshima, a nice city neighboring an active volcano. (Is a little eruption, with no one hurt and nothing gets destroyed too much to ask for? 😬)
After all these nice places the trip will come down to the last stop. Yakushima. What a fantastic island, if you have sunshine, which, i know, is very hard to get, but this is the perfect trip so it has to be good weather, because i say it. On Yakushima i would stay in a Ryokan and one day alone would be used to relax in the Onsen, wearing Yukata all day long, and enjoying traditional japanese cuisine. Hiking Mononoke forrest is a must do if you are there, so i will do it again. I was also scuba diving when i was there, so i would do this, too. Basically i would redo my complete first trip to this island, it was perfect.
I’ve never been to Japan but we are planning to go in March/April 2023 for 18 days! I’m so ecstatic!!! I’ve been planning so much for this once in a lifetime trip, can’t wait!
Reading through all these comments just makes me wish I was there now 🙂
I have never been to Japan before, but I have dreamt of going since 2005 when I was in high school. I never had the resources to travel until now and while I wanted to experience living in Japan, I think that ship has sailed. I had some bad lucks because just as I was thinking of planning a trip Covid happened. Nonetheless, I decided to do some actual planning and research to plan a trip if things change. My idea was for October 2022, but I’m not sure if things will be open by then and will people feel comfortable with tourists coming in. I’ve fallen into an “overtourism” / 観光公害 hole online, and it has me worried. I’m worried about crowds, but even if I’m on my best behaviour I worry about how locals will perceive me as a gaijin tourist in their city.
My primary interests related to Japan are architecture (modern and heritage), urban planning, trains (LRT, trams, all kinds of trains), otters (sea and river otters), language, food (especially wagashi). I have been self-studying Japanese for a couple of years (passed JLPT N3), but I don’t have too much speaking practice living in Canada. I was hoping to hire an online tutor to work on speaking and get more into studying again (since the pandemic I’ve just felt too tired to do much of anything).
I’ve so far come up with a 13 page itinerary of what I’d like to do on this first ever trip to Japan. I still have to plan for Tokyo, but once I’m done I’ll post everything here to get feed back. I looked up lots of stuff online in English and Japanese for 名物 and where locals/ Japanese tourists recommend eating, and I’ve used [this book](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Nippon-Japanese-Sweets-Traditional-Confectionery/dp/4416516843/ref=sr_1_69?dchild=1&keywords=%E5%92%8C%E8%8F%93%E5%AD%90&qid=1628647733&s=books&sr=1-69) for *wagashi* ideas. I’ve tried making wagashi by myself, so I definitely want to try as many of them as I can. I’d like to try some train trips similar to this scenic one in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XDyX76OgLk). Otherwise, walk around and explore neighbourhoods to understand them and the cities, photograph all kinds of architecture (sadly my favourite building, the [Nakagin Capsule Tower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakagin_Capsule_Tower) is going to be demolished).
**Yokohama -** Landmark Tower
**Kamakura -** Daibutsu and Meigetsu-in, Engaku-ji, Kenchou-ji
**Enoshima -** (I love islands and I want to ride the Enoden and Shounan Monorail after watching these videos: [Enoden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs8fD4fzsFc), [Monorail](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGLrP5eawdY); public transit is just so fun!),
**Nagoya -** to see the [Mode Gakuen Spiral Tower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_Gakuen_Spiral_Towers) and visit the SCMAGLEV and Railway Museum
**Ise -** Ise Jingu, Oharaimachi, [Ise Sea Paradise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oG1QrNjtOQ), and maybe see the [Toba Aquarium](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riwmK9KNrFw) (naturally to see their otters)
**Osaka -** Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, Expo 70 Park
**Kyoto -** Kinkakuji, Loutre Otter Cafe (I really want to meet [Bob](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DRne-1iiSM&t=120s), Odashi & Otusyu), Kyoto Railway Museum, Arashiyama, Sagano Scenic Railway, Kyoto National Museum
**Hiroshima -** A Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (I’ve wanted to go here ever after reading many books on what happened to see with my own eyes these places), ride their [Green Mover Lex tram](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVg90mHNDlc) (I have a [scale model](https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10707592) of it, and I’d love to ride the real thing)
**Miyajima -** Itsukushima Shrine and Torii, climb Mt Misen
**Tokyo -** too much to list, but I’m about to start researching