Trip report | Solo Traveler | February | Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto

I (28m) spent one week in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto in February.

For context, I had previously taken a trip to Tokyo in October and had also been using the Rosetta Stone app to learn Japanese for about two weeks before my first trip. As a result of speaking Japanese frequently during my first trip and continuing to learn more before my second trip, I felt more confident speaking Japanese this time around.

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19/02: I arrived at Haneda and rented a pocket wifi on the spot (without a reservation). I took a taxi to my hotel in Shinjuku. Although I was exhausted, I decided to head back to Golden Gai at Kangaroo Court Decision. The bartender recognized me, which made me very happy.

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20/02: In the morning, I visited Yushima Tenman-gū. February is the best time to visit this shrine because the plum trees are in bloom. It was beautiful. Then, I went to Ueno Park, but I didn’t enjoy the “vibe” and didn’t end up staying for long. I decided to go to Akihabara instead to visit a Maid-Cafe. I spent the entire afternoon in Akihabara window shopping and playing arcade games.

In the evening, I went to a sushi restaurant and spoke with the chef. Initially, he gave me the “gaijin menu card,” but after we talked for a few minutes before ordering, he gave me another card and recommended a menu. The price was half of what was on the “gaijin menu card,” but it wasn’t exactly the same menu. This was the first time I had ever experienced something like this, and needless to say, I was very happy!

Later in the night, I returned to Lagoon Bar in Akihabara, and the bartender recognized me again! Although I had a good time, there weren’t many people around, and Akihabara was quite far from Shinjuku. As a result, I decided to go back to Shinjuku and spend the night in Golden Gai.

21/02 : I visited Harajuku again in the late morning and went to a small museum called “Design Festa Gallery” where the entrance is free and there are small exhibitions where you can talk with the artists. After some window shopping, I went to Meiji-jingū, which I didn’t visit during my first trip, and it’s a must-see! The temple is huge, and I think it’s the biggest temple I have ever been to. I found out that France gave some wine (Bourgogne wine) to the temple, so I was quite proud to be French this time!
I spent the night again in Golden Gai.

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22/02 : I took the shinkansen to Osaka, and it was easy to get a ticket without a reservation. When I arrived, I checked in and visited Kuromon Ichiba Market, but I didn’t like it very much, maybe because I wasn’t in the mood or maybe because I just don’t like markets. After that, I went to Dontonbori. In the evening, I headed to a bar called “bar Dendo,” which was recommended by the barman in Akihabara. This bar is a video game bar with old-school games like NES, so I drank a few beers and played some games with a Japanese guy who was there. After talking to the barman, he recommended me to go to the anime bar “CAOFF DISCOVERY,” which was in the same building, so I headed there. It was the best decision of my trip! I can’t recommend this bar enough; I had an amazing night singing anime opening and songs with the other customers.

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23/02 : Originally, on February 23rd, I had planned to go to Kyoto, but I was so hungover that the hotel staff had to wake me up, so I decided to stay in Osaka for the day instead. Instead of Kyoto, I decided to go to the Osaka Aquarium, but when I arrived and saw the queue with all the couples and kids, I didn’t feel like it was my place, so I decided not to go and headed to a small cafe nearby. In the afternoon, I visited the Osaka Castle, and I loved it despite reading negative comments about it on Reddit. In the evening, I went back to CAOFF DISCOVERY bar and had another amazing night, even though the barman made fun of me for waking up too late for Kyoto!

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24/02 : I finally managed to wake up early enough to visit Kyoto. I only had time to visit Fushimi Inari-taisha and Kiyomizu-dera, be aware that shrines closes early !
That night, I went to the same building as the gaming and anime bar, but instead, I went to another bar that had an event with atmospheric music. I had a really good night there.

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25/02 : I visited Sumiyoshi-taisha in the morning, which is a unique and old Shintoist temple that I highly recommend.
In the afternoon, I had the moment I was most excited about: I managed to book a live event of a band that I love, For Tracy Hyde, by contacting the band on Twitter (they put some ticket in another website so i could buy it). It was their penultimate farewell concert, and it was an awesome live performance. The name of the live house is Live House Anima.
I spent the night in the anime bar again.

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26/02 : I traveled to Kyoto for the day and visited Kyōto-gosho, Kinkaku-ji, and the monkey park. I found that traveling around Kyoto was quite difficult, so it’s essential to plan ahead of time which places you want to visit each day.

I’ve spent the night, in the same building as the anime bar but go to some different bars, but in the end i’ve gone to the anime bar to have a last beer, thanks them for everything and say goodbye.

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27/02 : Check-out and trip to Tokyo for my Hotel in Roppongi. I visited Roppongi Hills and TOKYO MIDTOWN, but honestly, I didn’t find them worth it. I didn’t like the shopping centers as I couldn’t find anything original in them. However, the art MORI museum was really good. If you’re in Roppongi and have nothing to do during the day, I would highly recommend visiting the museum.

This time i’ve gone to a “theme bar”, i will not elaborate on this here but I had an amazing night at this bar !

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28/02 : Flight back home.

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My advices after this trip :

* Plan ahead for Kyoto as it’s a big city, and traveling from one place to another can be difficult.
* Visit Kyoto in the morning as most temples close early.
* Don’t hesitate to party and stay in Osaka, and keep the morning and daytime for visiting Kyoto or other cities.
* Osaka is full of Izakaya, so for eating in the evening it’s not really optimal when you are a solotraveler… In comparaison to Tokyo I had to use google map to find restaurants that were not Izakaya.