Trip report – 17 days covering Tokyo, Takayama, Kanazawa, Kaga-onsen, Nagoya, Sapporo, Niseko + day trips to Shirakawago, Omi-hachiman, Kyoto

Hi everyone, I received a lot of help from this subreddit while planning for this trip and wanted to share my experience travelling in Japan from Dec 4-21. We are a family of 4(parents, sister, me) and this is our third time travelling to Japan. Previously we’ve been to Tokyo, Hakone on our first trip and Tokyo,Kyoto,Osaka(day trip to Nara), Hiroshima(day trip to miyajima) on our second trip.

Accommodations were booked a month in advance as we took a while to cancel our Switzerland trip so some weren’t my first choice in terms of type and budget. If I had been given a leeway of about 3-2 months in advance, I think I could have found better accommodations for better pricing.

We wanted to eat Omakase/fine dining but parents didn’t believe that reservations were needed and thought we could walk in or book on the day itself. We did not manage to and could not visit any of these restaurants so will definitely book way in advance next trip.

We did not buy the JR pass online so we could not reserve it online. For our trip, we went directly to the JR office and bought a 7-day JR pass as well as reserved our seats through them. Reserving seats really saved us a lot of troubles as on the reserved car, it wasn’t so crowded unlike unreserved.

**Day 1: Landing in Tokyo**

We did not do the Japan web thing and they asked us to go to this place and it was settled in 15minutes. Very fast and efficient. Immigration took a while but we were one of the first so it was okay.

* **Hotel:** Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel

Our rooms were originally bigger but they didn’t have that type of rooms next to each other and weren’t willing to help us change even though I specifically sent an email to them a month in advance telling them I want a room next to each other. They didn’t bother replying so we had to ask them again and again while we were there and they helped us change in the end but the rooms were smaller. Overall, the location made it worth it and we stayed there in our second trip but will probably try another hotel next time. We sent one of our 5 luggages to Hokkaido through the hotel.

* **Dinner:** Yakiniku Heijoen

We originally wanted to eat the cats restaurant next to our hotel but sadly it closed down. Since it was about 9-9.30pm, not many shops were open except those ramen bars. We visited quite a lot shops only to be told it was closed for the day. We chanced upon this restaurant while heading down from level 5 in that building. Thank god my mom went to check because this restaurant was still open. The beef tongue, wagyu harami, deluxe karubi and beef tongue olive hot pot was really good. My mom ordered the cold noodle but she said it was okay only. Their hot sake and beer made the whole yakiniku complete.

**Day 2:Tokyo- A bit of Tsukiji, Teamlab Planets, Ginza**

* **Breakfast:** Hidakaya Higashi-Ginza shop

Their Karaage and gyoza were nice and was a good way to start our day. On hindsight, one of our better breakfast.

* **Lunch:** Tsukiji Sushi-Take

We directly came here after our breakfast as this place was chosen by my dad’s business partner. we tried cod egg for the first time and every dish was fresh and really delectable. There was fried fish, sashimi, nigiri sushi and more. I think I ate the most but that’s besides the point haha.

* **Attractions**

We went to the temple just opposite the lunch restaurant and next to Tsukiji market and it looked really cool and different( recommend it if you are nearby). We went to Tsukiji market after and most shops were closing. The mochi and strawberry coated with sugar was really enjoyable tho. We then took a cab to Teamlabs because we were scared that we were going to be late. We bought tickets in advance but there was no queue so we should have just bought it there directly. Teamlab in general was a very fun and a good place for family bonding and photos. There were some parts we couldn’t stay long because my dad and I got dizzy but everybody really enjoyed it. We took a cab back to Ginza and went to cafe Dior.

Cafe Dior is inside the Dior building and it is NOT worth it. We went there because my sister kept pestering but for the price it was not worth it. We went there for the experience and it isn’t something we would do again. We ordered the tea set and 2 non-alcoholic drinks and 1 hot chocolate. It cost about S$250 in total and the food wasn’t great. It was good for the experience and memories (we laugh now lol).

Dinner was normal at a normal tempura shop opposite Shimizu pharmacy. Staff was really helpful and gave us vitamins and medicine we asked for very quickly.

**Day 3: Tokyo- Tsukiji and Asakusa**

Went to Tsukiji for breakfast and seafood was fresh and delicious, albeit expensive. There was this one stall that grilled seafood. We ordered a bit too much and it was expensive(about $200 for 4 of us) but if you order in moderation/ try a bit and save your stomach, it would be a good experience. The yakitori deserves a mention as well as the mochi(same one as yesterday). I think it was a crepe shop so we ordered crepe this time and it didn’t disappoint at all! Its next to a curry shop.

We went to the JR office to buy our 7 day pass and book our trip for tomorrow.

* **Lunch:** Alaska(Nippon press centre)

We originally wanted to go for dinner but they said they are fully booked so we rushed here for lunch. We missed out on eating this on our second trip even though we loved it on our first trip. The beef curry is one of the best. The curry has just the right amount of sweetness(from fruits apparently). Their foie gras is really not bad. It is slightly expensive but compared to the rest of our trip, this was one of the most worth it ones. Please do go for lunch though, apparently dinner is quite hard to just walk in but when we went for lunch, it was almost empty.

* **Asakusa**

We first went to Senso-ji and it was a really grand temple, everyone loved this one. We drew those fortune and I got curse 🙁 while everyone got fortune and great fortune…. Its a really fun place and while walking to the temple there are many shops. After the temple though, we rushed to Suzukien matcha(7 levels of matcha) because it was close to closing time(5pm). We got level 5 matcha and the black sesame ice cream(my fav type). Both were really good and this is a good place for souvenirs. We then visited Amezaiku Ameshin for those life-like candy. It really didn’t disappoint, it looked so real. We got those simple ones instead of the intricate ones as I couldn’t bring back to my country. It looked really cool but the taste was just like candy. We went back to the district and just ate a udon shop, was okay.

**Day 4: Takayama (Activated 7day JR pass)**

* **Ryokan :**Oyado Koto no yume

They were really nice and gave us recommendations for what to do when we arrived. We had a private hot spring bath which felt nice too. You can even bring aromas up to your room which was a nice touch. (Love Takayama water and wagashi sm). The breakfast was really special and they accommodate my mom’s needs and changed her beef to salmon.

We went from the south(Nagoya) and it took about 4.5h, we arrived at about 2.30pm. We went to the old town and walked around. Many shops(Majority) was closed because they are resting. (It was a Wednesday when we went). Luckily we still went into one sake brewery and ate Hida beef on cracker. I loved no no yoghurt( their yoghurt was so so so good). We went into this black sesame shop and everything tasted so good too(honey + ice cream).

* **Dinner :** Suzuya

I originally wanted to eat sakurajaya but it was closed on a Wednesday. Suzuya was empty when we arrived but it was soon full with guests. The barbecue was good and the sukiyaki and shabu-shabu were good. This was one of the best meals we ate and it was worth it. Not that expensive especially for 4 of us.

**Day 5: Shirakawago + Kanazawa**

We spent the morning at the two morning markets in Takayama and the government house.

* **Shirakawago**

We went from 11am to 5pm. It was too long. It would have been best if we went from 11am and caught the 3.10pm bus to Kanazawa as mot shops close at 3-4 so there was nothing to do from 4 onwards. It was raining and really cold but none of the cafes were open. We managed to enter cafe Sato(owned by this grandma?). Anyway she was really nice and said everything on the menu was sold out but she could make us onigiri. She couldn’t speak English so we tried our best to communicate. She was really sweet and nice though. Shirakawago was fun and unique place though we spent more time than needed.

* **Hotel :**UAN kanazawa

The room was okay, 4 people could sleep in one room. I loved their sake candy at the lobby. I wouldn’t recommend them though. It was S$1000+/night and I thought this was the price for two nights but I saw wrongly. For the $1,200 price tag per night it was definitely NOT worth it. Had it been cheaper, it may have been worth it. This was an error on my part as I didn’t see carefully on booking. (I felt bad).

**Day 6: Kanazawa- Higashi Chaya district + shrine and Kanazawa castle**

We went to hibachi Chaya district a little too early as not many shops were open. The matcha shop was a really good start to our day and as we walked we bought a lot of souvenirs and unknowingly entered Hakuichi. We got their gold leaf ice cream and asked if we could do our own gold leaf craft which they luckily had a slot for. My sister and I chose a box but you can choose chopsticks and more. The gold leaf museum was sadly closed for renovations.

* **Lunch:**Ushiyo

We wanted to eat 武作but apparently it was closed. So we went to Ushiyo instead. Was not disappointed at all as the seafood was really on another level. We sat at the counter so we could see the chef. My don contained a lot of different sashimi + uni but it was well worth the price.

The shrine was big and really photo friendly but Kanazawa castle was on a whole different level. We stayed there till closing time and it was getting dark and there were almost no tourist. The leaves were still dropping and the whole atmosphere was really serene and beautiful. We came out at about 5.30pm.

* **Dinner:** Japanese bbq watake

It was raining when we came out of the castle. I originally wanted to eat Itaru Honten because my sister didn’t want to eat yakiniku. However they had a 20 people wait and they allowed regulars to cut our queue so we decided to just leave. This place did not disappoint though. To me, this was actually like the best meal I had. The wagyu with uni on top of raw beef was such a delight to eat and there wasn’t any smell at all! After this, we went to go Mr Donut and the pikachu donut was so cute haha.

**Day 7 : Kanazawa – Kenroku-en + 21st contemporary science museum. Kaga-onsen**

In the morning we went to the garden. It was picturesque and the weather was amazing. We took about 1.5h. Sadly didn’t go into the tea house as I wanted to go to the science museum. I thought we could go under the water but that requires reservation so in the end my entire family couldn’t go under. We went for the exhibition instead but didn’t really understand/appreciate as we aren’t artistic people. Lunch was at the cafe at the science museum. It was a buffet but the food wasn’t so bad, especially the cake. From here, we went to Kanazawa station to head to Kaga-onsen.

* **Ryokan:** Houshi Ryokan

They had a shuttle bus service from kaga-onsen station so that was a nice touch. We made a trip to Houshi Ryokan just for the fact that it is the World’s oldest hotel. I loved the wagashi they gave us. We had dinner about 6pm and went to the hot spring at about 7pm. There was hardly any people so we had it to ourselves and it was such a great experience. Thoroughly soothed our muscle ache and gave us a rest. Dinner and the next day breakfast was such a feast! The meal here was better than our meal in Takayama(great too). There are things I wanted to do around here but it was hard to find a taxi and we did not have a car. The garden was beautiful and even though it was raining, me and my sis still walked there as we wanted to take photos.

**Day 8: Nagoya**

* **Hotel : Nikko Style Nagoya**

The walk to this hotel from Nagoya station is about 10mins but it was okay because you don’t feel that it is very far. The interior of this hotel was very modern and everything was really enjoyable. Amenities, Staff etc.. They even helped us cut our melon and the room even has a charger. It gave off a fresh and exciting vibe plus it was quite cheap so very worth the price. For us, our 4 nights and 2 rooms was cheaper than our Kanazawa Hotel.

* **Dinner: Atsuta Horaiken**

We took a cab here from our hotel as we did not want to take the train as we would have to buy the tickets.( We did not know you could use the JR pass to go to Atsuta shrine). The Unagi was really special especially the skin. We only waited 20minutes because it was dinner. Highly recommend, though the rice was too much for us.

We did not manage to go to the shrine as it was dark and scary.

**Day 9: Omi-hachiman**

We did the attractions in this order old town-boat ride-cable car-shrine. The old town was okay, most shops were closed. The boat ride was a bit bland as most of the trees were bald. The cable car ride and the view up was amazing though. We saw Lake Biwa and it was amazing. We spent a full day here but we left Nagoya late. It is totally possible to do omi hachiman and hiking together in one day. When we went back we spent the rest of the day shopping at JR Takashimaya. The $70 melon was underwhelming but very sweet. It was too soft for us though.

* **Lunch:**  初雪食堂

The katsu was really delicious, crispy yet tender. My dad ordered la Mian but it was actually unexpectedly good. My sister ordered nabeyaki udon and it was delicious. Price point was great and it was very delicious. Highly recommend.

**Day 10: Kyoto – Fushimi Inari shrine, aburi mochi, kinkauji (JR pass ended)**

This was planned as we missed some of the attractions last time we were here. We first visited fushimi Inari shrine and we went up until the view part. It took us about 2h and we did not continue as we were pressed for time. Hence, we descended about 1pm. I was internally and externally dying while walking up but that’s beside the point.

* **Tea :** Aburi mochi (kazariya and ichiwa)

We waned to go here(or I did) because of its history. It was about a 1h train ride from fushimi inari shrine. From nijio(??) station, we took a cab there. We first went to the left which was kazariya and ordered two plates. After paying we went to ichiwa and ordered another two plates. Ichiwa’s mochi was more burnt and the way it was skewered is slightly different. Contrary to popular opinion, I actually enjoyed Kazariya’s aburi mochi more. Each plate had 11 sticks and were priced at 550 yen.

We took a cab to kinkakuji and had about 45 minutes to look through the temple. It was more than enough time and there was enough jujutsu kaisen merch. It looked so serene and peaceful and beautiful. After that we took a cab back to the JR station and went back to Kyoto station.

* **Dinner:**obuya

It was okay. I don’t really enjoy rice with soup but my mom and sister enjoyed this immensely. The sashimi was good though. Overall, it tasted okay but mom and sister said it was good. Queue was long though.

**Day 11: Nagoya- Atsuta shrine, Nagoya castle, Osu cannon and Osu shopping district**

We went to Atsuta shrine first as we missed it on the first day. It was big and quite cool. We were more interested in the big vegetables they had on display. Nagoya castle was good though, there were ninja and samurai cosplays and we took photos with them. Sadly, we couldn’t go inside the castle but it was okay.

**Lunch:** Pop over kinshachiyokocho

We ate here because their ninja parfait looked very cute. The food here was great, we ordered two different fried chicken sets with rice and one beef with bread. Everything tasted amazing. The parfait was cute and delicious. Even if it wasn’t good, it was worth the photos but turned out it was so good.

We took a cab to Osu shopping district. The sweet potato was very sweet and we bought daifuku with fruits. The daifuku was expensive but tasted delicious. We got 2 white strawberries, 1 kiwi and 1 orange. The temple was okay. We were tried so we didn’t stay long. After eating takoyaki we went back to the hotel as we bought many things.

**Dinner:** Teppanyaki Ryujin Meieki

This was recommended by our hotel and we would never have found it otherwise. The oysters and beef was good. The beef tongue and meat sushi especially. The fish tasted okay. Overall this teppanyaki experience was quite good.

**Day 12: Flying to sapporo**

* **Lunch : Nagoya curry**

It was okay. I ate alone here while parents ate at the food court. On hindsight should have eaten with them but I wanted to eat curry. It was too large for me to finish alone.

Flew JAL to New Chitose Airport and I vowed I would never fly JAL ever again. Vomited really badly after landing. We went to pick up our car as we were planning to drive. However, they wanted the exact international driving license issued by an organisation. My dad thought that since Singapore is part of the convention just showing our sg license was enough. It was not. We went back and took the airport express to Sapporo. We saw snow for the first time. It was actively snowing!!

* **Hotel:** Ryoton sapporo

The hotel was old and staff couldn’t speak a lot of English. The security was quite bad. However it was near a subway station and we only used that line to travel in sapporo so it was okay. For the price, it was okay and wasn’t too bad.

* **Dinner:** Kushidori

Food here was great. The yakitori was really delicious. I loved the chicken heart and gizzard. The beef was extremely tender even though it wasn’t wagyu. It was two sticks for 440 yen which we felt was very worth the price. The parfait and pudding were delicious as well. It was very good. One of the better meals we had.

**Day 13: Sapporo- Nijio Market, sapporo beer museum, Shiroi Kibito park**

We first went to nijio market for breakfast. Unlike Tsukiji, we couldn’t directly buy seafood and eat there. We ate at this one place that sold crabs and they could cook it for us. We steamed it and inside the restaurant, we ordered fried fish and uni sashimi. It was delicious, the crab and uni especially. We also bought fruits in the market. The white strawberries were priced at S$32 for 8 pieces and it was super sweet. Second regret was not getting another pack :”. We thought we were returning the next day but we didn’t. Melon ice cream in winter is the best + there’s something different about Hokkaido dairy.

We took a cab to the sapporo beer museum and the grandma who drove us was super kind and sweet. I didn’t think she was grandma but that was how she referred to herself. She said I was so cute ><. She even gave us heat packs and told us where to buy seaweed. It was so wholesome, she was being so nice the whole time.

The beer museum was okay. We didn’t spend too long and didn’t eat at beer garden as it is buffet style. We don’t eat buffets so we skipped this but I heard great things about sapporo beer garden. We spent most of our time watching the videos as there were subtitles. The free tour was in Japanese, hence we did not join.

We took a cab to bus center Mae station to head to the park. We spent about 3h in total. We could only decorate our cookie as to make it from scratch it was fully booked till Jan. **Do book in advance if you want to bake your own cookie.** The cafe though was so so good. We were a bit hesitant to buy the tea set (cough cafe Dior) but everything tasted so amazing. Even the hot chocolate and fruit tea. We also ordered a pancake with bacon and cheese and the bacon was a different kind. We loved it so much and have never eat such delicious bacon. My cookie that I drew looked so ugly… T\_T. The attractions at level 2 and 3 didn’t take long, perhaps 30 mins. We spent the rest of the time buying souvenirs cuz it was so much cheaper here and taking photos. Snow+ Christmas illumination made it look so pretty.

* **Dinner:** Ramen Shingen ( one Michelin ramen)

We came about 6.30pm and got seated at 7.15pm. It was snowing and there was still a queue. Ir was quite fast though and everybody ordered one bowl. It was too big for me and my sister to finish but it was super tasty and delicious. The noodle was chewy and the broth was super tasty and not too salty. By the time we left, the queue was even longer than before. Do eat a heavy lunch/come early if you don’t want to wait while hungry.

**Day 14: Maruyama park, Hokkaido shrine and Maruyama zoo**

We took the subway to Maruyama Koen and ate KFC for lunch. Nothing special but we still enjoyed it. At Maruyama park there is a tea house that sells cookies and they taste so good especially the one that was just cooked. Hokkaido shrine was big and they sold hello kitty fortune bags. My luck here changed for the better(small luck). It was really fun and the scenery was really good.

We walked to Maruyama zoo and most of the cafes are closed. We managed to find one near the wolf enclosure but it closes early too. We did not manage to see some animals eg. giraffes but we could see winter animals being active. Huge plus! We also met a very kind volunteer guide who showed us around. When I said I really wanted to see the red panda, he brought us there and showed us many animals along the way. He was really really nice and went out of his way to help us. Eg. we wanted to take a taxi back to maruyama Koen station and he bought us to The Central exit. He tried to call taxi for us but the taxi company said they were busy. He negotiated with the shop keeper to let us go in so we could buy souvenirs. He made our zoo trip feel very warm and wholesome. I loved every bit!!

We went to door station as I wanted to eat an Omakase sushi restaurant but they only accept reservation. We went to the shopping center next to it and I ate Yoshimi Roast beef specialty with my sister. It was okay and I felt that it was delicious. Portion size was small? It was just enough for my sister and I. Parents ate at Korean soup restaurant which they loved. We bought shoes for the snow as we kept falling especially at the zoo.

Mega donki felt messy and food quality isn’t as good as 7-11 or lawson. We took a cab back to hotel from here.

**Day 15: Niseko**

The first part of the trip to Otaru had reserved seats however from otaru to Kuchan station, it is a local line hence no sear reservation. My sister had to go toilet so we ended up with no seats In the train. Luckily we could sit half way onwards as many people exited.

* **Hotel :**Chatrium Niseko

Our collective agreement that this was one of the worst hotels we stayed at. Its right beside UAN. The price was $2800/night which was ex but niseko is a resort so many things are over priced. The worst was that the rooms did not have aircon and we couldn’t adjust the heating. At night we would be forced to open a bit of the window but there would be a lot of tourists shouting and partying. There is no housecleaning everyday, only once in every 4 days so this was very inconvenient for us.

* **Late lunch and next day dinner: Fuji sushi niseko branch**

We did not know that most restaurants requires reservations way in advance. This place is one of the only places that only accepted walk ins. We ate here twice because we were forced to. Food was good but very very expensive. The first time we ate here, bill was S$400 and the second time was S$250. We took note not to order super ex things like uni(S$88) or sukiyaki($78). However, portion sizes were quite small. Their attitudes weren’t great too. There are many seats but they refuse to seat people leaving many people to stand while waiting. There was an old grandma who wanted to sit down but they refused to give her sit and chased her away when she sat at the counter.(no one sits here). They could have at least given her the chair? The waiter and chef’s attitude when they chased her was very very rude almost shouting. Honestly left a sour taste in my mouth that I wished we just walked away and starve/eat at lawson.

* **Dinner:** Afuri

The ramen and bun was great and it wasn’t too expensive.

**Day 16: Ski**

We went to pick up equipment at about 11 for our 1.30pm lesson. Everything was okay and we even called In advance to ask if Rhythm had lockers. They said they did. We went and the cashier lady said they didn’t. We asked if they could help us store our winter coats in a bag. They refused even though we called in advance and wouldn’t have brought the bag if they said they didn’t have lockers. The lady was very irritated and very very rude. Her colleague said there was lockers at the grandhirafu so all was well but she really ruined the experience. The people working here are foreigners so they aren’t very familiar as well. We were late about 30 minutes to our lessons cuz our skis had problems and we couldn’t find the instructor but all was well. After the lesson we called our hotel for the shuttle bus back but they took 2h to send one.

**Day 17: Flying back to narita**

Our breakfast these 3 days included buying don/udon the night before and cooking it in the morning. At 6am, I called front desk to ask them if they could call a taxi for us and they said it wasn’t possible. They said we should have booked 2 days ago… did not know so that was our mistake. Sigh… We decided to take the bus that came at 8.50am but it didn’t come until 9.30am. We had to beg the hotel to send us to the station and we barely made it there on time. Just on the dot 9.37am. On the train we realised we left one of the bags behind. Even until we arrived at Narita airport, we thought the bag was with the hotel. I think we lost it at the grandhirafu bus station. Chiba police can’t help us as we lost it at Hokkaido. We flew Jetstar back and the flight was great. Even though there was turbulence overall service was good and it was a much better flight experience compared to JAL.

* **Dinner: Rikyu**

The beef tongue was great! It was a bit ex though, but compared to Niseko, this was so much more worth it. My sister and I ate this. We ordered 1 set with 6 pieces and additionally ordered 8 pieces of beef tongue.

* **Hotel:** ANA Crowne plaza

This was good and was very cheap too. They even helped us fill out the form for lost items

**Day 18: Flying back home**

We spent the morning trying to ask the police to sign the lost items thing but they refused so we had no choice but to leave to immigration and go home.

**Conclusion**

Overall, we really enjoyed our Japan trip except niseko. Going to Sapporo was really extra and wasn’t needed, I wouldn’t recommend it either but we were married to the idea of snow and hence no one opposed sapporo. Niseko was just there because my parents wanted to give us the experience of going to niseko once. Everybody collectively agreed that it was bad. The service there was really bad and we didn’t enjoy it there. I actually felt very bad that I didn’t oppose this idea bad enough and feel that it was a waste. I hated Niseko and loved every part else.

I recommend people to skip sapporo part and spend more time in Takayama and Kanazawa. Ideally we should have spent 1 more night in Takayama and 2 more in Kanazawa(so we could take a day trip to Toyama). All of the towns were great. I loved every bit of it!!! Sapporo has one of the best memories though followed by Takayama(I now love Hida beef more than Miyazaki and Kobe). The reason why our first part looked a bit cramped was because we booked a non-refundable stay at kaga-onsen. Shouldn’t have committed, but too late when I realised plans changed. Hence, we had to squeeze many places before going to Kaga-onsen. I only had about 1 week to book everything as we cancelled in November :/. Had I been given 3 months leeway, we would have saved more.

We took taxi quite often though it is usually short distance hence less than S$10. The most expensive one was when we took it to Atsuta Horeiken, it was about S$30. We usually took it to and fro the station and the hotel, when we are tired/carry many things, when distance is quite far by walking/train but much nearer by car. In total, it wasn’t too expensive and saved us a lot of time. Other than that, we took a lot of train and it was quite convenient.

For breakfast, we mostly ate Starbucks. We loved Starbucks in Japan especially Millie Fuelle and the hamburger(the patty and cheese), SG doesn’t have this…. We always ordered that same drink everyday and it was so good.

We love Japan(only place we went more than once)!! The food, ambience, everything was great. We cancelled Swiss to come here and did not regret a thing! Looking forward to next trip in 2024. Even if I’m coming alone, I will still go haha! Hope this trip report helps people in their planning.