Trip Report (Itinerary Part 1): Jan 27 – Feb 15, 2023 – Tokyo / Yokohama / Kyoto / Hiroshima

Background: mid-30s couple, have visited Japan twice before. Focus of this trip – Sapporo Snow Festival ; King Crab ; good food ; anime shopping ; some home-decor shopping

**Jan 27, 2023 – Tokyo**
Main focus of this day was to pick up tickets that we needed to purchase and allow me (who arrived at 5:30AM to push through most of the day before collapsing to sleep).
One thing we noticed about ticket purchases (through the Loppi machine at Lawson/Family Mart) is they require a phone number. So when we were purchasing WonFes and DisneySea tickets, one last question they asked was for a Japanese phone number, so good thing we had my husband’s SIM Card with a number. They never used that number to text us anything, or send a reminder.
This day we took it simple and walked around the Imperial Gardens (did not enter for the tour) and went to Nakano Broadway to do some anime price-scouting. My husband found a beautiful FGO framed art print that we kept in mind for the rest of the trip.

**Jan 28, 2023 – Yokohama – Japan Rail Pass in effect**
First time to Yokohama and we noticed that the Chinatown area is filled with AYCE dim sum restaurant, the Instagram & YT recommended fried buns, but it got busy really fast due to a Lunar New Year celebration that was happening. We also visited the Gundam Factory and saw the show from the outside. We also visited the Red Brick Warehouse as it was just recently reopened and saw some of the new shops that they had. We also visited a North Korean Spy ship museum they had docked nearby. It was a fun 45 minute walk through looking and reading everything. And a nice way to get out of the cold breezy wind.

**Jan 29 – Tokyo (and LisAni concert night)**
So one of the items that my husband found several weeks before we depart was a LisAni concert being held in the Nippon Budokan. So as soon as he arrived in Tokyo and got the Japan phone number, was to go through the e-ticketing system and get tickets. Japan e-ticketing is very complicated and requires every ticket holder to have a JPN phone number and the ability to download their smart ticketing etc. so it made for pre-purchasing hard.

So once we got his tickets all settled and confirmed what time it was starting and how he was going to meet up with friends, we visited Meiji Shrine (which currently has a “one-way path” structure) once you enter the main Meiji Shrine area. I picked up a new goshuin (temple stamp) and a bunny wind chime and we made our way to Akihabara. One of the main attractions of Akiba on a Sunday is they would close down the main road for part of the day and you could just freely cross. Apparently this is no longer the case and you just had to wait for the lights to change to cross. UDX near the Akiba station has good food options on 2nd & 3rd floor. We picked up a gyoza meal set and did some window shopping.

While my husband attended a concert (he estimated 3 hours and it ended up being 5hours), I went to hunt down some old haunts and see if I could get some Starbucks Reserve Roastery merch. When i got to the store on Sunday around 3PM, there were 170+ groups ahead of me and the wait time was hovering around 100 minutes. Sorry, nope. So i wandered around and finally hit Shibuya crossing to see it in person once (finally, third time is the charm) before returning to Tokyo Station and entered the Daimaru basement food market.

bento boxes were priced 20% off but right as I picked up a selection, I noticed a line of people tailing a worker and I realized he was actually marking them further down, so i returned my choices and waited and obtained the 30% off sticker. Dinner consisted of 2 sushi bentos and a mont blanc cake from another cake store also found in Daimaru basement.

**Jan 30 – Kyoto**
This marks the beginning of an overnight trip to Kyoto and Hiroshima. One of our key items for this trip was to visit Kiyomizudera because on our 2019 trip, it was still under renovations and those were completed in 2020. We hopped on the 7AM Shinkansen, saw glimpses of Mt Fuji on our way there. Arrived by 9:30AM and hopped onto a local bus that would take us to Ginkankuji (the Silver Pavilion). Kyoto did feel less busy as there weren’t as many tourists in the area and one of the peak travel seasons (cherry blossom) hadn’t started yet. Additionally, Kyoto area had just been hit by that weird snow storm, so lots of buildings had signs up about falling snow and ice (and boy did we witness them falling off). Sadly, Ginkakuji does not have a silver sheen to it, and the grounds are much smaller in comparison, but it was very beautiful with the unmelted snow. After this, we walked along the Philosopher’s path to Heian Shrine and waited in a line for a udon restaurant that was very tasty.

Kiyomizudera was our next visit and while the paths were busy, it was not the old sea of tourists. You could easily wait out your turn for a rather empty photo of the entry way etc. Without the scaffolding, you can see why Kiyomizu is a magnificent build. Yasaka shrine nearby also had very few people (probably due to the rain that had started as we wandered through there).

That evening, we took the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima and stayed overnight.

**Jan 31 – Hiroshima**
Hiroshima was another must-hit item on our list for this trip. We had an early start to the day and got to the Peace Museum before the school groups arrived. Be prepared with tissue in this museum as it does make you tear up in the beginning. I learned a bit about the history that wasn’t covered in our textbooks. The A-bomb dome also is a stark contrast to all the modern buildings next to it and the green grass that grows alongside.

Hiroshima station also has an okonomiyaki “street” where we got to try Hiroshima style (and i personally prefer the Osaka style more). We took the evening Shinkansen and headed back to Tokyo.

**Feb 1 – Tokyo**
This was a lighter day for us after the overnight trip to Kyoto and Hiroshima so we had a later start in the morning. Visited Sumida Hokusai Museum (as my husband’s favorite art piece is the Wave) and saw some cool exhibits.

As expected, our next stop to Sensoji Shrine and Asakusa showed us that even on a Monday, Nakamise street can be busy. I was able to do some shopping and this is where I first experienced the new digital Tax Free shopping (no more staples in your passport).

We had reservations for Kirby Cafe with friends of ours and note that they are very strict on time. Reservations at 4:20, mean you have to be out by 5:45. The amount of time you’re allowed to stay is based on group size. Additionally, you can only order once for the table and some items have order limits. We got lots of photos of cute Kirby food and rolled out with a food and sugar coma.

​

Next up – Sapporo, Snow Festival, Snow Miku Expo and Hakodate…