Trip Report: 14 days in April 2023 (Tokyo/Kyoto/Nikko/Himeji/Osaka/Uji/Nara/Kamakura)

Me (30M) and my wife (29F) just got back from our first trip to Japan. It was an amazing time, due in no small part to the advice we got from this subreddit, so to return the favor here is our trip report. Our main interests were to see historic sights, eat unique cuisine, immerse ourselves in Japanese culture, and geek out over anime/video game interests.

Lodging:

We stayed at Hotel 1899 in Shimbashi, Tokyo and Matsumoto Ryokan in Kyoto.

Hotel 1899’s location is between Shimbashi and Hamamatsucho stations, which allowed for easy connections to Tokyo Station and Shinkansen trains as well as the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda Airport. Shimbashi was quiet at night, making it ideal for our stay, and the price was cheaper than more popular areas of town like Shibuya. The hotel has a tea theme, with nice modern room designs and complimentary tea service available throughout the day. The only disappointment was the breakfast buffet, which we found just okay for the price, so I’d recommend skipping that and getting breakfast at a cafe or 7/11 instead.

Matsumoto Ryokan is across the street from Kyoto Station. As a ryokan, the rooms are very simple and feature typical Japanese furniture (futons and low tables). Our booking included Japanese-style breakfast at the ryokan each morning, which was always delicious and could be served at 7, 7:30, or 8 each morning. Rooms also can be booked with dinner included, but we didn’t do this so we had options available to eat around town. The ryokan also features onsen in the basement.

Transit:

The JR Pass made sense for our trip, not just for cost but also convenience. We got the 14-day pass and were happy with the experience, except for the long wait to exchange for the pass at Haneda airport. If you are considering it for your trip, it might be better to exchange it at a station instead of the airport.

We also got ICOCA cards in Kyoto (getting around by bus is basically required). It’s a nice system but we had trouble finding where to purchase the ICOCA cards at Kyoto Station, as most machines you see are just to charge more money onto an existing card. So I’d advise getting the cards at the airport.

Google Maps was essential for navigating, as many streets are not clearly labelled and large train stations can be confusing to maneuver. However, it struggled to consider local bus/train options, especially in Kyoto (suggesting we walk 40 minutes instead of take the subway a few stops). It also doesn’t distinguish between JR trains and other lines, so if you use the JR pass make sure you take trains that are covered (we accidentally took non-reserved seats on a Nozomi Shinkansen, which is not covered by the JR pass).

In terms of walking, we overdid it the first few days and were more careful afterwards. Be kind to your feet, it’s better to make use of public transit and spend a little more money than walk everywhere. Also keep in mind that many sights have inclines and/or stairs, often in excess. Even our less intense days felt like a workout, so be prepared with good shoes!

Staying near Kyoto Station was useful because many bus lines start there, so the bus is empty when you get on. There’s a helpful display showing which bus line to use to get to major sights too. The buses do get very crowded but people will move to let you off at your stop.

For all city buses, you enter near the middle of the bus and pay when getting off the bus via the front door. For the JR bus line in Kyoto, if you have the JR pass you need to take a slip of paper when you board, then give it back and show your JR pass to the driver when you get off. We used the JR bus only once, getting from Ryoan-ji over to near Nijo-jo, but even then there was a better route with local buses available.

Although Shimbashi is relatively quiet at night, the station gets very crowded in the morning commute. Since we were usually going against traffic (leaving the station while others were arriving), we appreciated that there’s always a designated path for foot traffic in both directions up/down flights of stairs. So even in rush hour you can get up to each platform.

Travel:

We tried to carry as little as possible when we went out. I’d only carry my phone, travel wallet (including passport) and my camera. My wife just carried her purse. Initially we took a backpack, but swapped to putting a tote bag in a pocket if we needed to carry any purchases. Although we packed reusable water bottles, we didn’t find a lot of places to refill them and relied on vending machines and cafes instead. A bit less budget friendly, but felt more immersive.

We planned a flexible itinerary, marking sights on Google Maps but trying to make as few reservations as possible. This gave us the freedom to take our time with each sight, making for a very relaxed vacation. We still got to see nearly everything we wanted to without feeling rushed. Be sure to also build in time for rest stops, whether at bathrooms or a nap at the hotel. Breaks to sit on a bench or get a drink at a cafe kept the pacing of the trip from becoming overwhelming.

Weather:

We got very lucky with weather, in that only one had on our entire trip had heavy rain. Each hotel had umbrellas you could borrow, so no need to pack our own. We spent the rainy day at Arashiyama, which we felt enhanced the appeal of the area.

Language:

My wife studied Japanese for a few months ahead of the trip, writing down key phrases for the both of us on a cheat sheet. Her ability to read Hiragana and Katakana (plus a few Kanji) was incredibly useful on our trip, as even though many places had English signage there were just as many that didn’t. We also made extensive use of the Google Translate app, which can identify language in a picture and translate it on the fly pretty effectively.

Internet:

We paid for the Verizon international plan, which gives unlimited data for a month for 100 USD. They also have an option for 10 USD per day, but since we were there more than ten days it was cheaper to do the monthly plan. The coverage was pretty good everywhere we traveled.

Pregnancy Dietary Restrictions:

We had to be cautious when eating on the trip, as my wife is pregnant. She’s early enough along that traveling was safe according to her doctor (if you plan to travel while pregnant, talk first with your OB-GYN). This mostly meant avoiding sushi and alcohol, but as I’m not a big drinker anyway we didn’t have much interest in nightlife, getting to sleep by 10pm most nights. Some days she had morning sickness but due to jet lag it occurred in the evenings for the first few days, so be mindful of this if you plan to travel while pregnant or with someone who is pregnant.

Timeline:

* Apr 9 (arrival at Haneda and check in at Hotel 1899)
* Arrived at Haneda, getting through customs was fast thanks to the QR preregistration, though exchanging for our JR Pass was surprisingly slow due to a long line. After getting our passes we took the Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho station, then walked 15 min to our hotel.
* Apr 10 (Shimbashi/Akihabara)
* Due to jet lag, we both woke up around 5, enjoying some tea in the room before taking a walk to climb the **Stairway of Success**. It was a fun way to start our trip and the shrine at the top is lovely.
* From here we walked to **Zojo-ji.** The complex is huge, but what stuck out to us most was its 1000 Kosodate (Garden of Unborn Children), which is moving. We didn’t go into the temple, as it wasn’t open yet.
* We got a breakfast set at a cafe, then took a train up to Akihabara, though since it was still early we walked to **Origami Kaikan**.
* It has a free gallery, but the main draw is its paper dying paper on the 4th floor and the shop on the 3rd floor, where a 4th generation origami artist was doing demonstrations for free.
* He was jovial and bantered with us and others in English as he folded, giving out finished pieces as souvenirs. Origami Kaikan was one of our favorite stops of the trip.
* Walked to **Yushima Seido**, an impressive Confucius temple, then further south into Kanda to shop at the **Tobichi Tokyo** store.
* This was a must-visit for me, as they sell official merch for the Earthbound/Mother series of video games, which is one of my favorites. Had a great time buying more than I probably should, then we got lunch at a nearby soba noodle place.
* In hindsight, walking here was hard on our feet. Would’ve been better to use local subway options, since there isn’t a JR stop near Tobichi.
* Walked back to Akihabara, going into some arcades as well as **Super Potato**, which has a lot of cool video game stuff for sale.
* Akihabara was fun, but we didn’t spend more than a couple of hours here. Maybe we didn’t go to the right places, but found it a little underwhelming (didn’t help we were pretty tired from walking by this point).
* Got the train back to Shimbashi, walking a short distance to check out the **Hayao Miyazaki Clock** nearby. This was one of the coolest things we saw on the trip, as it’s massive and plays a free show multiple times a day.
* The show begins a few minutes before the hour strikes, there’s a schedule posted near the base of the clock. The show lasts around three minutes, with a lovely song and moving parts in time to it.
* We then walked to Italy Street, a small plaza made to look like it’s in Italy. It’s novel, but not worth making a detour to see. After a nap, went to a tonkatsu place for dinner that was pretty good. Also bought some breakfast items at 7/11, as we planned to be up early tomorrow.
* Apr 11 (Nikko)
* Took a day trip to Nikko, getting a Shinkansen to Utsunomiya station, then transferring to a local JR bound for Nikko.
* You can go more directly from Tokyo but this route was covered by the JR pass and we liked having some time to browse shops while waiting on our train transfer.
* Utsunomiya is located in Tochigi, which is famous for its strawberries. In general, we found strawberries in Japan to be exceptional, so be sure to try strawberry mochi and candied strawberries if you see them around!
* In Nikko, we walked from the station to the sights, which in hindsight was a bad move. Save your feet the trouble and take a local bus instead.
* We walked up to **Tosho-gu**, going all the way up to the Inner Shrine. Our favorite part of the complex was the **Yakushido**, where the guide demonstrates the echo effect of the ‘roaring cloud dragon’. Not to be missed!
* If you are getting tired of all the stairs, I think the Inner Shrine can be skipped
* The sleeping cat carving is right before the stairs to the Inner Shrine and the three wise monkeys are part of a larger frieze on one of the buildings leading up to the Main Shrine (I believe it’s the stable)
* After, backtracked to check out **Rinnoji**, getting the combo pass to the **Sanbatsu-do** and Treasure House. We also went into the Ogoma-do that’s adjacent. Sanbatsu-do is really impressive, with three massive Buddhist statues.
* We also got to witness a monk ring the temple bell at noon, so if timing lines up try to find a nice vantage point.
* The Treasure House is nice too, with a garden and some beautiful pieces on display. Fairly quick to go through.
* There’s a third place the combo ticket can cover, along with more sights in Nikko, but for us Tosho-gu and Rinnoji was more than enough for one day.
* We got lunch west of the main sights, then returned to the main street that leads back to the JR station. On the way, got some monkey-shaped taiyaki and stopped in a shop to get a dango/matcha set that was very tasty.
* The shops on this street are very nice, but by this point our feet were killing us so we decided to get an earlier train back to Utsunomiya. Then got a train back to Tokyo, napping at the hotel before dinner at a delicious a tempura place near the hotel.
* Apr 12 (Ueno/Asakusa)
* After breakfast, made our way to Ueno park, spending a while at the station enjoying the capsule toy dispensers.
* These are all over Japan, along with claw machines, with some places featuring dozens of machines. It’s a nice way to get small souvenirs for cheap and kill time, but the cost can add up if you’re not careful.
* Went to the **Tokyo National Museum**, going through its main building, archaeological wing, garden, and treasures building. It’s a lovely museum and the park seems nice too, but our feet were still recovering so we didn’t see everything it has to offer.
* We left Ueno park and got ramen for lunch on our way east. Between Ueno park and our destination at Senso-ji, spent time walking up **Kappabashi Dongu** street.
* Google Maps marks this street somewhat inaccurately, in that the famous giant chef head and tea cups buildings are farther south than the map implies. To find them, look for the Niimi Cooker building.
* The highlight of the street for us was **Ganso Shokuhin Sample-ya**, which sells realistic wax food models. This was one of my wife’s favorite stores on our trip.
* From here, walked to **Kaminarimon Gate** at the south end of **Nakamise-dori** street, which leads north to Senso-ji.
* This is the most scenic way to approach Senso-ji, as the gate features a massive lantern.
* Across the street from the gate is **Asakusa Culture Tourist Center**, a modern masterpiece by famed architect Kengo Kuma. The building also features a public toilet in its basement.
* **Nakamise-dori** is a fun street market, with dozens of stalls selling food and souvenirs. It gets very crowded but is otherwise enjoyable.
* On the street we saw a sumo wrestler in a kimono, with many locals trying to take selfies with him as he walked. Seemed odd to us as we’d heard a lot about being careful to not photograph people without permission, but maybe with a celebrity the etiquette is different. The sumo wrestler didn’t seem to mind at least.
* **Senso-ji** is beautiful and well worth a visit, though expect crowds.
* We then walked to the nearest subway stop, wanting to buy IC cards but accidentally purchased single-use tickets instead. A bit of a silly mistake, but it got us back to the hotel.
* Apr 13 (Shinkansen to Kyoto/Fushimi Inari)
* Checked out of our hotel and got a Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. We tried to reserve seats but found none available for a few hours, so we got into a non-reserved car.
* Accidentally took a Nozomi train, which isn’t covered by JR pass, so the entire trip was a comedy of errors. Advice is to reserve Shinkansen seats early (the machines let you book it days ahead of time) and always check which type of train you are taking, as many share platforms/have similar routes.
* We did get a nice view of Fuji on the ride, thanks to the good weather.
* Bought ICOCA cards at Kyoto station so we could use the luggage lockers to store our bags, then took the Nara line to Inari to experience **Fushimi Inari**.
* As one of the major sights near Kyoto, it was expectedly crowded, but as you go up the crowds thin out. We took our time climbing, mesmerized by the beautiful torii gates.
* There are rest areas on the way, making it easy to get more water/snacks as needed. There is one crossroad point where it’s a bit hard to figure out which was continues up towards the summit, but otherwise the route is well labeled.
* We climbed to the summit, which was a nice accomplishment, then worked our way back down. At the base of are shops and food stalls with some nice offerings, made for a good lunch after the hike.
* Back to Kyoto Station, then checked into our ryokan. Went to a nearby mall for dinner.
* Apr 14 (Kyoto Sights/Tea Ceremony)
* After breakfast at the ryokan, caught a bus to **Kinkaku-ji**. We arrived a few minutes before it opened at 9 and there was already a line of people waiting to enter, but once inside the sight has a simple route that lets you get nice pictures of the gorgeous pavilion.
* We walked about 20 minutes to **Ryoan-ji**, admiring the famous Zen garden, then took the JR bus line to near Nijo-jo, walking from the west side of the castle to its gate on the east.
* It’s a 10-15 min walk, but kind of cool to see just how large the castle complex is from the outside. There’s also some plaques near the moat with info on archaeological findings at the sight, which were interesting.
* **Nijo-jo** is well worth a visit, beautiful complex featuring a palace that you can go inside. There’s also a nice tea house.
* From here, took a local subway over to Kyoto’s city hall area, walking a bit south to **Nishiki Market**. Though crowded, this had some of the best street food of our trip, making for a fun lunch of eel, dango, fried tofu, tofu skin, and other treats.
* Before our trip we’d booked a tea ceremony for 5pm this day, but since we had a few hours until then we decided to walk over to the Gion geisha district first.
* Saw a maiko on our brief walk, but otherwise admired the architecture.
* Probably could spend more time in this area, maybe on a future trip.
* The Tea Ceremony was at **Kimono Tea Ceremony Maikoya**, north of Nishiki Market. We booked a package that included kimono rental, arriving a bit before 5 to be safe.
* They were very busy and seemed a little overwhelmed by the number of clients, so it took a while to get into the kimonos (especially for my wife, as they also do the hair for the women). By the time we were ready, it was around 5:20, so we had to wait for the next group ceremony at 5:30.
* They were a bit disorganized, but once the ceremony started it was very engaging. The person that led ours spoke English well and gave a brief lesson on the history of the ceremony before performing the full ritual for us.
* It was incredible to watch her expression shift to intense yet serene focus as she performed each action with deft silence. After she finished, she showed us how to make our own matcha, whisking the powder and water, and gave a lesson on etiquette for enjoying the tea (how to hold the cup, the final slurp, etc.)
* Overall, a memorable experience and highly recommended. The company could do better with the kimono rental side of things, but otherwise we were very satisfied.
* Apr 15 (Arashiyama/laundry/Kaiseki meal)
* After breakfast, got a train to Arashiyama. This was the only rainy day of our trip, so we borrowed umbrellas from the ryokan. Although we got there early, there was already a sizable crowd in the **Bamboo Forest.**
* The Bamboo Forest is beautiful, but the actual path is fairly short. If you go and find it too crowded to get a nice picture, there’s a very similar bamboo grove at the nearby Adashino Nenbutsu-ji temple that was far less crowded.
* We walked from the forest to **Jojakko-ji** temple, which had almost no tourists when we visited and features some gorgeous views and gardens.
* After, took a longer walk north up the Saga Toriimoto preserved street, going all the way to **Otagi Nenbutsu-ji**. Although it’s out of the way, this was one of my favorite temples from our visit, featuring hundreds of jizo statues with unique faces and expressions.
* Although these were installed in the 1980/90s, the statues are all covered in beautiful moss. We found our favorites amongst the statues and left some coins as offerings with them.
* Next, retraced our steps to **Adashino Nenbutsu-ji**, which is also quite pretty and features its own bamboo grove.
* For lunch, we ate at Tsure-zure, a soba noodle shop along the path back to the Bamboo Forest that was really tasty. My wife got amazake here, a sweet fermented rice drink usually served hot.
* Amazake can be low or non-alcoholic, so when ordering be sure to ask if you have dietary restrictions. A non-alcoholic type was served here known as Koji Amazake.
* Getting back to the Bamboo Forest on our way to see Tenryu-ji, the crowd by this point was enormous. Glad we got some photos earlier as it really ruins the mood of the space to be so full of people.
* **Tenryu-ji** was also crowded, but thanks to the rain most were not loitering for long outside. We walked the gardens and paid to see the massive cloud dragon painting. As advertised, the eyes of the painting appear to follow you around the room, which is very cool.
* The pricing model at the temple is odd. Coming from the Bamboo Forest side, you can only purchase access to the temple gardens. Once inside the complex, you can pay additional fees to see the main hall and then it’s a separate ticket office to pay to see the cloud dragon painting.
* We skipped the main hall, as you can mostly see it from the outside, but the cloud dragon was worth paying extra to view, in our opinion.
* Returned to Kyoto station, booking Shinkansen reservations for later in our trip to avoid repeating our earlier mistake. Then, after resting got our laundry done at a nearby laundromat.
* The laundromat was interestingly unattended and the washer automatically added detergent to the machine. Once it was done, took it back to our ryokan, then went to our dinner reservation.
* Packing one week’s worth of clothes instead of two allowed us to reduce our luggage to two backpacks and one carry-on sized bag. Everyone will have their own luggage needs, but we were glad to keep our light, even if it meant spending some of our trip doing laundry.
* Upon arrival in Kyoto on the 13th, we searched for a place to have a nice kaiseki-style meal, finding **Koryori Takaya** located near our hotel. It looked good so we made a reservation for the 15th and it was by far the best meal we ate while in Japan.
* The restaurant is small, seating around nine people at a counter around the kitchen with a staff of three. The chef said he didn’t speak much English, but after announcing each course in Japanese to the other patrons he took the time to announce it to us in English.
* My wife mentioned she was pregnant and the chef was nice enough to cook all the raw sashimi for her portion so she didn’t miss out on any courses.
* They served ten incredible dishes, each one a little masterpiece in form, texture, flavor, plating, and aroma. The meal lasted over two and a half hours, but it was so good we didn’t want it to end!
* They serve all patrons the same courses at the same time, with no staggering of meals like you’d find at larger restaurants. This made it feel very intimate, as though it were a private dinner party. I’m not sure if they do another dinner service afterwards, but I believe they also have lunch offerings.
* Since this was our fancy meal for the trip, we were not surprised that the bill was large. But at 21k yen including tax and drinks, it was still quite reasonably priced for what we got. Highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Kyoto.
* Apr 16 (Himeji/Osaka)
* We decided to visit Himeji and Osaka on the same day, going first by Shinkansen to see Himeji Castle. I’m sure these cities each deserve more time to fully experience, but for us it was a nice pairing.
* From Himeji station, we took the 100 yen bus directly to **Himeji Castle**, which fully earns its reputation as Japan’s finest castle. The complex is immense, so we took our time going through the grounds and then up the main keep.
* The ladders you take up the keep are a bit challenging to use, since the steps are shallow and the wood slippery in socks, but they have more modern stairs for descending that are safer.
* Also be cautious of bumping your head, as at several points the ceiling beams are pretty low. They warn you with hanging curtains, but low ceilings are common at many sights we visited so good to stay alert.
* After seeing the castle, went to the nearby garden (only 50 more yen on a combined ticket) that is also quite nice, then walked back to the station to get a Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka
* From Shin-Osaka, took the local subway directly to **Namba/Dotonbori**, first going to try okonomiyaki at **Ajinoya Honten**.
* This is a pretty famous place so be prepared to wait. They have an efficient system, taking your order in line so it’s nearly ready when you are seated, but we waited close to 40 minutes before getting inside the restaurant. From what we could tell, every other okonomiyaki restaurant in the area was also crowded, so a wait might be unavoidable in such a popular district.
* The okonomiyaki itself was delicious and unique. We got seated at the main grill, so it was cool to see the chefs preparing several dishes in tandem. The dish is very filling and worth the wait.
* Afterwards, wandered Dotonbori in search of more things to eat.
* One disappointment was that every shop I’d marked to try had a big line in front of them, but it’s just the reality of going to an area famous for its food.
* The best thing we got was melon bread with ice cream inside it (stall is under for the big moving melon bread sign).
* Dotonbori’s billboards and signage are very cool and the Kuidaore Taro merch makes for a funny souvenir, but we got our fill of the area fairly quickly, moving south to the malls in Namba. Since we were too early to experience the nightlife, we got some more snacks and tried pachinko at a Maruhan, which was a fun diversion (and an easy way to lose some yen).
* Maruhan pachinko parlors are more casual than typical ones, with restrictions on smoking and workers that explain how to play to novices. I was interested to try pachinko at least once so it was a good fit, but I would say it’s better to just save your money.
* We got back to Kyoto for dinner. Overall, feel like we didn’t spend enough time planning our time in Osaka, as we came away a little disappointed. Next time, we’ll give it more thought and time.
* Apr 17 (Kiyomizu-drera/Sanjusangendo/Ginkaku-ji)
* For this day, we wanted to see major sights on the eastern side of Kyoto. Our plan was to start with the ones we wanted to see most, then if there was time we’d continue onto other ones.
* First up was **Kiyomizu-dera**, which we got to via a local bus. Even early it was already crowded, but like many temples it has a defined route so everyone can get their photos.
* The stage is incredible to see up close and the pure waters are fun to drink from. They have UV sanitizing for the long-handled cups you use to catch the water, which was nice to see as we were worried about it being sanitary.
* After, walked **Sannenzaka** and **Ninenzaka** shopping streets, which was a great area to get souvenirs and snacks. There’s also a Ghibli store (Donguri Kyowakoku) with a nice selection, which was cool as we were unable to get tickets to the Ghibli museum.
* Nearby are Hokan-ji’s pagoda as well as Yasaka Koshin-do, a small temple famous for its colorful Kukurizaru balls. Both were pleasant to see as we walked around.
* From here, we took a bus to see **Sanjusangendo**, which was one of the coolest temples for me on the trip. The main hall features 1001 life-sized statues of Kannon as well as a giant main statue. Really breathtaking to walk through.
* The temple is close to Kyoto’s National Museum, but since it’s closed on Mondays we instead got lunch at a nearby cafe (Cafe Amazon, was charming and good food). Then, took the subway north to transfer to a bus east to see **Ginkaku-ji**, the silver pavilion.
* This one was lower on our list to see, but I’m glad we had time as it is stunning. Crowded as usual, but it has a set route that people were good about moving along.
* There’s a shopping street leading up to the pavilion where we got some more treats and souvenirs, then we walked down the Philosopher’s Path to **Otoyo-jinja** shrine.
* As we were visiting after the cherry blossom season, the Philosopher’s Path was pretty but not at its peak of beauty. Plus side, probably a lot less crowded, which was nice as some of the paths along the river are narrow.
* Otoyo-jinja is a small shrine featuring some nice animal statues, easy to see in a few minutes time.
* Went back to our hotel to rest, taking some time to just hang out in the room and unwind.
* For dinner, went to Kyoto station, but the ramen place we chose was just okay. We realized after sitting down it was very tourist friendly (the people next to us asked for forks), which isn’t always a bad thing but in this case meant the meal tasted like cup noodle.
* Apr 18 (Uji/Nara)
* For this day trip, we visited Uji in the morning and then Nara afterwards. I know most people just go to Nara but we really wanted to see Uji and experience its famous matcha. We were not disappointed and the quiet city ended up being one of my favorite stops on our vacation.
* We got to Uji station around 9, then walked to **Byodoin**, which features the spectacular Phoenix Hall and an impressive museum of national treasures.
* The Phoenix statues that adorn the top of the hall are featured on the back of the 10k yen note, which was fun to realize.
* You can join a tour of the hall, but we skipped this as the adjacent museum gives a good impression of the interior.
* Next, we crossed the river to see the Uji Jinja and **Ujigami** shrines, which feature some of the oldest buildings in Japan.
* Then, walked to have tea at **Tsuen** tea house, the oldest tea house in the world.
* The macha set was phenomenal, a higher quality matcha that is less bitter than others we tasted. We also got matcha-flavored dango and bought some tea in their shop.
* After, walked the famous Ujibashi bridge back over towards the JR station, browsing a cotton store before getting another treat at **Matcha Republic**.
* Matcha Republic is a more recent cafe, offering many matcha-flavored desserts and lattes in unique square bottles. After drinking them, they’ll wash out the bottle and you can take it home as a souvenir.
* We got their matcha panna cotta and their rock salt cheese matcha latte. Both were excellent.
* We took the train onward to Nara, arriving around 11:30. Walking towards the park, we got mochi at **Nakatanidou**, which is famous for making it the old fashioned way.
* Although a big crowd stands outside to watch them make the mochi, it was pretty quick to actually purchase some.
* The mochi is warm and fresh, some of the best we had all trip.
* Getting to Nara Park, we soon encountered their deer, which are as friendly as expected.
* We bought some rice crackers and had fun feeding them, but be careful as they really get in your face once they know you have snacks.
* The deer will bow for food, which is adorable, and the vendor told us that the rice paper that wraps the crackers is also safe for them to eat.
* We admired **Kofuku-ji** for a bit, then walked to **Todai-ji**, doing the museum on the combo ticket first.
* The gate leading up to Todai-ji is really awesome, especially its two monumental gate guardians.
* The museum has some amazing artifacts and outside it is a recreation of the hand of the Todai-ji’s Buddha statue, giving a good sense for how large it is.
* Todai-ji is massive, as expected of the former largest wooden building in the world, and its Buddha statue is similarly enormous. Really stunning in person.
* Note that the famous column with a hole to crawl through is currently closed due to Covid precautions.
* After seeing these sights, we opted to leave the park in search of a late lunch, getting a nice meal at a nearby cafe (Ouchi-cafe Noel).
* I’m sure there’s much more to be seen in Nara, but our interest in Uji requires to a trimmed itinerary. It worked well for us, others may want to allot more time to Nara.
* On our walk back to the JR station, we stopped at **Imopipi Nara** for some delicious sweet potato ice cream, then back to Kyoto.
* Apr 19 (Shinkansen to Tokyo/Shinjuku)
* We packed and checked out of the ryokan, then back to Tokyo. It was too early to check back into the Hotel 1899, but they stored our bags so we could more easily enjoy our day in Shinjuku.
* We ate lunch in the station’s mall, which was a fine meal but a bit pricey.
* In general, found food more expensive in the Shinjuku area malls than other parts of the city.
* We spent the day going to a few department stores, the Don Quixote, and saw the big Godzilla statue. Walked over to Golden Gai just to say we did, though it was before bars were open. Didn’t strike us as our kind of area, so we walked back for a nice dinner in **Omoide Yokocho.**
* Shinjuku is known for its nightlife, so we didn’t get the best impression of the area as we only stayed through dinner. Wasn’t for us, but not everything in Tokyo has to be.
* The department stores mainly feature brands found internationally (Gucci, Saint Laurent, etc.). My wife found some make-up items she said were unique to Japan, but otherwise it was just fun to walk around.
* The dinner we had was at a izakaya called Motsuyaki Kikuya and was quite good. There’s the expected cover charge (comes with a free appetizer), then we had skewered meat, gyoza, and some potato croquettes. Seemed like there were many shops offering similar items.
* Apr 20 (Kamakura)
* We’d planned to use this day to visit Hakone, but after reading more on the subreddit we decided the night before to go to Kamakura instead.
* Our main reasoning was that Hakone is best suited to a multi-day visit, whereas a day trip would spend too much time in transit between sights.
* The trip to Hakone is also much costlier, since we would’ve likely had to buy the Hakone pass to cover local transit.
* Kamakura, on the other hand, was only an hour by JR train, with a short use of local train to get to Hase station. From there, we first went to the shore to admire the beach, then over to **Hasedera**, which was the coolest temple we visited in the city.
* In addition to a massive standing statue of Kannon, it also features elevated views of the city/shore, hundreds of small jizo statues and a cave system with statues/shrines inside. All made for a memorable visit.
* Up the street is the **Kotoku-in**, the massive sitting Buddha statue, which is incredible in person. After admiring it, we got lunch at a nearby place, serving boiled shirasu (a local specialty) over tempura.
* After lunch, we began the **Daibutsu** hiking trail, which connects Kotoku-in with Jochi-ji temple.
* Sites list this as a ‘relatively easy hike’ that takes roughly 60-90 minutes. We found it fairly hard, especially the start that features a lot of stairs, some of which are steep and narrow, but there are long stretches that are flat and really tranquil.
* Be cautious of wildlife out here, we had a snake cross our path at one point (uncertain if it was actually dangerous, but still gave us a fright).
* About halfway through the hike we stopped at the **Zeniarai Benten** shrine to wash our money, which was a fun ritual to experience.
* Continued onward to the **Kuzuharaoka** shrine, then finished the trail at **Jochi-ji,** another lovely Zen temple.
* At Kuzuharaoka you can pay to do a ritual where you throw a small piece of pottery at a stone, a way of dispelling sins and quite cathartic.
* We walked next to **Engaku-ji,** but after the hike we were not up to see everything they offer, skipping the famous bell and some other things that were accessible only by flights of stairs. We did enjoy the main buildings and seeing the shrine that contains the Buddha’s tooth (though it’s only visible from a distance), plus the lovely gardening.
* We took the JR one stop from Kita-Kamakura to Kamakura station, then walked up to **Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu** shrine, which is very pretty.
* Walked back to the station along Komachi-dori, another street featuring many shops and food stalls, but it was too early for dinner so we just went back to Tokyo.
* Rested at the hotel, then back out for dinner at a nice izakaya that specialized in soba noodles (plus some dessert from 7/11).
* Overall, very glad we picked Kamakura over Hakone for a day trip, though it still felt like there were more cool sights to see in the small city (have to save them for another time).
* Apr 21 (Shibuya/Harajuku)
* Our last full day in Japan we finally went to the Shibuya area, starting with the **Meiji shrine**. It’s a lovely park and an impressive shrine, after which we walked up Omotesando to admire the modern architecture.
* For breakfast, we ate at **A Happy Pancake**, arriving a few minutes before it opened at 10 to find there was already a line and sign-up sheet.
* We were soon seated, but as they make pancakes with a meringue it takes a while before your order gets made. The wait is worth it as the pancakes are delicious and quite different in taste/texture from more typical recipes.
* After eating, walked to Harajuku, finding it a bit underwhelming. I’m sure it was cooler before flocks of tourists came to see (I am aware as a tourist I’m part of that flock), but still had some fun browsing the area.
* Made our way to Shibuya next, going into a few malls including Parco, which features the **Nintendo Store and Pokemon Center**. They were fun to browse but the long lines kept me from getting anything.
* We went to experience the Shibuya scramble, then tried to get lunch at a place with a view of the crossing from above.
* We chose a place called **Cafe Gusto**, but found it didn’t have a great view (only a few seats were facing the crossing and they had shades down to block sunlight).
* Still, we had a nice meal there for a good price, and were charmed by their robot waiters, which feature cat faces.
* After, went to browse the massive **Tower Records** store for vinyl.
* The store has a nice selection and better pricing than most of the stores I encounter in the US. They also mark each used vinyl with a condition rating, making it easier to shop.
* Found they were selling new copies of Mother Music Revisited, an album I’d wanted to purchase for some time and a nice tie-in to the other Mother/Earthbound merch I’d gotten earlier in the trip.
* Some more browsing at other malls, then back to the hotel, where we enjoyed a serving of sakura tea.
* Since we had to pack for our flight tomorrow, decided to get dinner from 7/11 to make things easier.
* In general, felt like we were also winding down the trip, with the last few days less intensive on activity so we could refocus to returning home. Recommend this for other travelers, as it helped make the transition back from vacation easier for us.
* Apr 22 (Flight home)
* Checked out of our hotel and walked to Hamamatsucho station, getting the monorail back to Haneda. There was a massive line for security check in, but it moved quickly so we got to our gate in under an hour.
* We avoided checking a bag and got our boarding passes on our phones, but still came three hours early to the airport to be safe.
* Extra time was useful to get some last minute souvenirs (duty free treats, etc.) and relax before the flight.
* Trip back home was quite smooth. We flew ANA both ways and felt they did a good job with service and food, though their in-flight entertainment is a bit limited.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. I hope we get a chance to return to Japan someday, thanks again to the subreddit for so much helpful info. Helped to make our trip unforgettable!