Trip Report – Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Okayama. 3rd trip, still learning!

Just came back from Japan a couple of days ago. This was my third trip, and for that reason, my trip report isn’t super detailed, but just sharing highlights and lessons learned.

TLDR:

* We saw very few western tourists, most seemed to be from east/southeast Asian countries at this time
* Yamato Transport is the way to go when you are okay with doing without luggage for a couple of days. Good for traveling light in smaller cities and towns
* Did not do enough research on how to travel within Hakone and paid the price for it
* Finally learned that it is great to station yourself in one city in Kansai and travel to other Kansai cities as day trips
* Good restaurants in Kobe require reservations, took a while to find a walk-in. Again, this was my fault for not doing proper research
* Winter was overall a great time to visit. The weather wasn’t too cold and definitely fewer tourists overall

**Day 1-3: Tokyo**

Stayed in the heart of Shinjuku (again). We were a block away from one of the batting cages and went there several times during our stay, our backs/shoulders/arms paid the price later. Open until 4 am and costs about $3 for 20 pitches. Even though I feel familiar with Shinjuku I accidentally booked us in the love hotel/host district and could hear drunk people well into 5-6 am. Will remember for next time.

Teamlabs was a ton of fun, still waited in a 30 min-1 hour line despite having tickets and reservations for a certain time. Didn’t do enough research to know I would be knee-deep in water, so would have worn different clothes in retrospect.

Shibuya Sky was worth it. Tokyo Tower was worth seeing on the outside, I probably could have done without the ticket to go to the top.

We also used Yamato Transport to deliver the bulk of our luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto so we could travel light in Hakone. We paid $40 in total for a checked-in size luggage and carry-on luggage and it took 2 days.

Couldn’t recommend Furusato Festival enough. Definitely, a must see for those that enjoy Japanese cuisine/street food and are in Tokyo in January.

**Day 4: Hakone**

I clearly did not do enough research prior to our stay. Hakone was difficult to traverse the various attractions without a personal vehicle. Our area was extremely hilly and even walking in our little corner of Hakone wore us out. The bus/rails only took us to certain attractions but we were blocked off from many others. We had a hard time finding a taxi, and each individual attraction would be around a 30-minute trip alone. We sort of gave up and just walked around our hotel and relaxed in our onsen. Didn’t end up seeing the lake or seeing Mt Fuji. Oh well, our fault.

Our hotel, Laforet Club Hakone, was definitely worth the $250/night. It had a traditional feel but was also new and modern looking. We enjoyed our private onsen.

**Day 5-9: Kyoto/Osaka/Okayama/Kobe**

We did the smart thing this trip and stationed ourselves in Kyoto and did day trips to Osaka, Okayama and Kobe. Our initial plan was to do Okayama, Himeji, and Kobe in one day, but ended up skipping Himeji due to time. Was our first time in Okayama and enjoyed visiting the botanical garden and adjacent castle. We rented a pedal boat that goes along the castle. We then went to Kobe the same day in the evening to try to find kobe beef for dinner. We didn’t do enough research beforehand to know that most restaurants are reservation only. Took about 5 restaurants to find one that let us walk in.

We enjoyed going to Fushimi Inari after sunset (approx. 6pm). It was nearly empty and was beautifully lit up.

Osamu Tezuma manga museum definitely a must for those that are a fan of his work. It was a half day trip overall and enjoyed walking around that more suburban town.