Trip Report – March 12th – March 23rd

It took me a while to write this post, but better later than never. I got a lot of help and ideas from reading this subreddit, so I hope folks get some ideas from me.

To make this post a little easier to digest, I’ll be breaking it down into sections. First starting with some background, then trip overview, next general lessons learned, and finally a day by day breakdown.

Also, to avoid wordiness just know what these two terms mean:

1. TC – Traveling Companion. The friend I traveled with to Japan.
2. FIJ – Friend in Japan. My friend who lives in Japan who I visited with.

# Background

Like many others on this sub, this was a delayed 2020 trip that I was finally able to make happen this year. My biggest interest and plan for this trip was to get a good amount of retro games and get some culture in. I went with a family friend (TC) who always wanted to visit as a big anime fan. This was originally going to be somewhat of a solo-trip, but having a friend go with helped as someone bad with directions. Neither of us speak Japanese, but my friend knew a few more words than me. I also had a friend living outside Tokyo (FIJ) who I planned to visit some of the time.

I’m going to get into more details about the retro game collecting on [https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/12wowf6/japan\_pick\_ups\_tips/](https://www.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/12wowf6/japan_pick_ups_tips/)

# Trip Overview

March 12 – Leave

March 13 – March 19 – Tokyo

March 20 – Osaka (USJ)

March 21- March 22 – Kyoto

March 23 – Leave

# Lessons Learned

1. Yamato is extremely convenient for shipping your suitcase around. As I planned to buy a good amount of video games, I brought a large suitcase, a small suitcase, a small duffel, and a backpack. I was able to ship the large suitcase around so I only had to travel with my small suitcase and small duffel. Airtags also gave me peace of mind on where my luggage was at.
2. Don’t be afraid to use your translation app. Neither my TC or I are fluent in Japanese. I found though that store employees and people I had trouble communicating with weren’t afraid to read off my phone when we couldn’t communicate with hand signals.
3. If you can get reservations for something you want to go to, get them. We missed out on one thing because we didn’t get reservations and almost missed out on something else.
4. If you plan to use Suica on your Apple Wallet, don’t put it on your phone until after you get to your hotel. It can take some time for it to activate there, but restarting your phone might help.
5. We used the JapanTravel App primarily for trains with Google Maps for walking direction and backup. Regarding trains, we eventually found out that the easiest way to not get lost was to follow the letters and numbers for the train. Both apps also tell you the platform to get on.

Alright, here we go on the day breakdown. Hope you make it to the end!

# Sunday March 12 and Monday March 13 – Arrive in Tokyo

We flew ANA direct to Narita airport. Because I’m cheap we flew economy, but leg room was decent. As with most international flights, the seats have screen for watching film and tv. I wish I had known in advance that you could use regular headphones though as i would’ve brought the adapter for my noise cancelling headphones.

Anyway, we got to Narita around 3 on March 13th. The rules had changed in between when I registered on Japan Travel for entry and they were looking at the color of your COVID Entry form rather than the QR Code. As I didn’t have this, I had to spend a few minutes resetting my password and logging in to grab it. Definitely make sure you have this ready in advance.

We took about 3 hours total at the airport. We probably spent an hour going through immigration and customs. Most of our time was burned looking for where Yamato was, it’s on the first floor at the far end, getting our JR Pass, and figuring out the train we needed to take. I thought we’d be taking the Tokyo Skyliner, but it turned out we were taking a different train.

We eventually did make it to our hotel though in Akihabara, remm Akihabara. Overall, this hotel was really nice. It was right next to the train station, the rooms were nice, and the breakfast at the restaurant was pretty good. It also ended up benefitting us staying in Akihabara as we were able to use some of our in-between time to shop on other days.

I think it was 8pm when we got to our hotel and we both just passed out at the end of the night.

# Tuesday March 14th – Shibuya and Shinjuku

This was the day my feet began to hate me. This is a common theme almost every day. Be ready to walk.

We started our day pretty early after having gotten to bed early. The start of the day was breakfast at the Portal Cafe which was a few stories down from the hotel in the same building. We ate here almost every day we stayed in Tokyo and I enjoyed it. They have some simple meals, but they tasted fine to me.

For this day, I had planned us spending the day primarily in Shibuya with a short hike into Shinjuku to hit up the two Book Offs there.

As we started our day earlier, we headed straight for Meiji Jingu in Shibuya and walked around a bit. Getting there around 8 or 9 am it was pretty quiet and we were able to take in a good amount of the shrine. It was a nice way to start our trip at a bit of a calmer area. The shrine itself was interesting and worth the visit.

After walking up to the Book Offs in Shinjuku, we caught a train back to Shibuya, well I guess Harajuku technically, to go to the Hedgehog Cafe Kawaii Zoo on Takeshita Street. We got there right at opening and honestly it was a little disappointing because of that. The hedgehog that they had was still sleeping, so while we could pet it, it wasn’t doing too much. Same with the fennec fox that they had there. The meerkats and ferrets though were pretty active and kept us entertained for the 30 minutes we spent there. This place used to have a cappybara, but it died last fall unfortunately.

After the hedgehog cafe we headed to the owl cafe to find out that I confused it with the hedgehog cafe in terms of reservations. The owl cafe had hour sessions that you had to reserve in advance while the hedgehog cafe had 30 minute sessions you could walk-in for and hour sessions you can reserve. So instead of doing that we walked around Takeshita Street a bit looking at the various stores and for a place to eat before making the trek to the mall with the Nintendo Store. We ended up eating at the Sweet Box since they had crepes. They had some more interesting ones with tuna, ham, or pizza, but I stuck to something more traditional that I enjoyed.

Following lunch we trekked from Takeshita Street to the Shibuya PARCO mall to visit the Nintendo store and Pokemon Center. It was a long walk, but as a massive Nintendo fan I was overwhelmed by the Nintendo store and how much stuff there was to buy. I bought way too much there. As less of a Pokemon fan I found the Pokemon Center neat, but not as impressive. The entire floor both stores are on though is an anime and video game fan’s dream with a Capcom Store, Square Enix store, and I believe a Shonen Jump store there too.

After Shibuya PARCO we checked out the Mandrake nearby. Pro tip, take the elevator next to the door labeled Mandrake. You’ll end up walking down tons of stairs if you follow th esign, but have an elevator if you don’t. After Mandrake we headed to D47 Shokudo where I’d thought we’d have dinner. When we got there, my TC found nothing appetizing on the menu though, so we ended up heading back to the hotel. She at at the Lawsons’ downstairs while I ended up eating at the sushi place in the hotel.

As it wasn’t too late by the time we finished our dinners, we both did a little looking around Akihabara. My friend went to the Ami Ami store and I went to the Book Off by the train station before retiring for the night.

# Wednesday, March 15th – teamLab Planet, Akihabara, and Pokemon Cafe

I’m messing with continuity a bit by going back to the evening of March 14th. On a whim I had figured I should check about getting tickets for teamLab Planets. I had figured it was something you could walk up to. Turns out I was dead wrong and neither the official site or Klook at two tickets at the same time anymore. I got lucky and found tickets on Triplabo which were thankfully legitimate though and was able to save our plans for this day.

As we didn’t have tickets for teamLab Planets until noon, we took it easy in the morning. I think the most exciting thing I did was head to Yodobashi Camera for a luggage tag because mine broke off in transit. I was not expecting their theme for that store to be the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Anyway, we made it to teamLab Planet which to me was worth the trip. I’m not a big art person, but this was more like an indoor playground. The water section is the best part for sure. Everything is mesmerizing there but especially the projections on the ceiling. The garden section was more meh, but the second exhibit with hanging gardens was at least more interesting. I think we spent about 2 hours here before deciding to leave.

We were heading to the Pokemon Cafe for dinner, but our reservations were weren’t until 7pm so we had some time to kill after teamLab. I suggested the Imperial Palace, but it was effectively closed at that time. We instead headed back to Akihabara to do some early shopping. First though we stopped at the Spice Factory in the train station because my TC wanted curry. For train station curry though I was impressed. Or maybe I was just hungry.

After getting some food in us we did a small amount of shopping in Akihabara. Mainly the Radio Kaikan building and a few shops around it. I was pretty happy to find a few games I was looking for and my TC was able to find a few toys. I got maybe a little too sucked in though and got back to the hotel a little later than I hoped. Still, we’d be on time for the Pokemon Cafe.

On the way to the Pokemon Cafe we admittedly got a little lost coming out from the train station. It exits through a mall and it wasn’t quite clear to us where to go. Our little mistake though got us to ride an old fashioned elevator with a legitimate operator so that was cool. And we still made it to the Pokemon Cafe on time.

It’s hard to describe the Pokémon Cafe other than making me feel like a kid again. The food isn’t amazing by any stretch of the word, my Eevee plate was ok and the cocoa was alright, but the atmosphere and theming was superb. The little show by waitress Pikachu was also cute and entertaining. While geared towards little kids, I let loose a little bit and enjoyed it. I was also able to accidentally get us front row seats to the show by booking seats D1 and D2. Didn’t realize this would happen, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Of course after dinner we headed to the Pokemon Center across from the Pokemon Cafe and did a bit of shopping. It was bigger than the store at Shibuya and I was able to find a few more gifts for myself and friends here. After we got our purchases though we headed back to the hotel to get some rest. We would need to be getting an early start on our next day’s adventure.

# Thursday, March 16th – DisneySea

We woke up a little earlier this day so we could make it to DisneySea an hour before it opened. We took the train to get there, including the Disney Resort Line. That train does cost to use, but you can use Suica to pay for it and it’s themed for Mickey Mouse.

We made it at about the time I wanted, but unfortunately due to my genius it was all for nothing. I had printed out tickets for the gate and brought them to the hotel. Seeing 2/2 on one of them I assumed it covered both. Then I realized at the park it was only a single page. Oops. Thankfully a staff member was able to use the ticket I printed to print the missing ticket, so we made it it in, but lost probably 30 minutes or so.

Right after entering DisneySea I got us premier passes to Soaring for later that evening, which was worth it, and applied for the Big Band lottery and failed. After this we ran to Tower of Terror and waited in line, which was a common theme for this. RIP fast pass and if there was a single rider line we didn’t see it. For those curious, our route was Tower of Terror, 20K Leagues, Indiana Jones, lunch at Sultan’s Oasis, Raging Spirits, meet Donald Duck, Aquatopia, Soaring (with Premier Pass), dinner at Vulcania, and finally Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The food was excellent and surprising reasonably priced! I paid maybe 5 dollars for the Sundae I had at Sultan’s Oasis and $12 for the chicken and drink at Vulcania. Both were well worth the money to me. I wish American theme parks were priced this way.

The theming and atmosphere also was excellent. When people say this is the best Disney park to just walk around in they are not lying. Everything is well themed and nice to look at in each part of the park we visited.

The only downside I can really say about DisneySea was the wait times and the merchandise. I don’t mind waiting, but the biggest downside to it is there isn’t a lot of downtime when you’re just running from line to line which I think we both could’ve used. DisneySea merchandise is pretty much the same everywhere you go. Whatever Disney characters they are marketing and of course Duffy. I was hoping for ride specific objects since my dad is a big 20K Leagues fan, but I did kind of know this in advance. Still was disappointing I could see the Nautilus but not get anything related to it.

# Friday, March 17th – Akihabara Shopping and Kirby Cafe

After a long day at DisneySea we figured we’d take it a little slower the next morning. For Friday we had planned to do some shopping around Akihabara before heading to the Kirby Cafe to meet up with my FIJ and eat dinner. So after breakfast my TC and I split up and got our shopping on. My TC was mainly looking for figures and collectibles while I was looking for video games.

Having never been to Japan, I can’t tell you if Akihabara was disappointing compared to past visits. The only thing disappointed at the end of my shopping trips was my wallet. I planned in advance what I wanted to buy and how much I could get it for on eBay. Therefore everything I purchased I felt was a fair price.

The only really surprising thing to me was just how small the stores were. I’d watched a few videos on the stores and figured they’d be decent size. Turns out they were maybe as big as an American hotel room with aisles that you have to squeeze through. It was not a good day for me to carry around my heavier coat to say the least.

Anyway, after a long day of shopping it was time to go to the Kirby Cafe and meetup with my FIJ. My TC and I both used a luggage locker at the train station which was easier than I expected. The station by the Skytree mall had plenty available in the size we needed.

After some navigational difficulties, we made it to the Kirby Cafe and met my FIJ there for a great dinner. I got a margherita pizza and Green Greens tea which I found was pretty tasty. The atmosphere was also excellent as a Kirby fan. We sat in an isolated room by ourselves which was great and seeing Whispy Woods in person was well worth the trip. I highly recommend stopping here if you’re a Kirby fan.

After the cafe it was time to head back to my FIJ’s place. Having never had more than a 20 minute train ride until this point, I really appreciate that we forked out the extra money to stay in Akihabara instead of saving money to stay with my FIJ. It took about an hour to get back to his place and the train was pretty full being it was a Friday night. Still, we eventually made it back and hung out for a while before going to sleep in preparation for our next day.

# Saturday, March 18th – Joypolis

This day was really the only disappointing day we had the entire trip. Maybe it was because we visited Joypolis on a Saturday or got moving late, but it felt like we didn’t really get a full experience of Joypolis. As a massive Sonic fan, it is disappointing to say that. Anyway I should probably recap the day so you can make your own judgement call.

As we had stayed up late the night before, we slept in and really didn’t get moving until 10 or 11am. We got to Odaiba around noon and decided to get some food. My FIJ suggested Jonathan’s since it was a big chain and my TC could probably find the breakfast rice she was looking for, the name escapes me. It took us a while to find the restaurant but we eventually did and even for a big chain I really enjoyed the food. I got the Tuna Sashimi which I devoured. What was also pretty cool was that they used robots to deliver you food. It was a neat touch to what was otherwise a plain restaurant.

After breakfast/lunch we headed to Joypolis and it was packed. Other than Spicy Taxi, we spent at minimum an hour waiting in line for each ride. What’s also frustrating and annoying is that Joypolis does not fill rides to capacity. For some rides if you have a party of 4 and there are 4 open seats at the end of a ride, they will not split you up. Since rides only have single vehicle this means the lines move even slower.

The rides themselves were primarily simulators that we went on. They were fun, but nothing to really write home about. We didn’t make it on the Gekion Live Coaster or Sonic Athletics, so I can’t tell you what that was like. As my travel companion and I didn’t speak Japanese we also skipped Attack on Titan and Phoenix Wright, but the theming from a far was pretty nice I can see. Also I was disappointed by the Sonic merch to buy at the store. I picked up a few things, but they were out of my size in a nice T-Shirt and their Sonic Frontiers T-Shirt was around $50 so I passed quickly.

All in all we all felt like Joypolis was a disappointing experience after we left. We headed to a Ramen place nearby to make up for it, which at least was pretty good to me. After this we headed back to my FIJ’s place and hung out for a bit before heading to bed and preparing for the next day.

# Sunday, March 19th – Traveling Fun

Originally on this day I had planned for us to go to Nakano Broadway. Both my TC and I were pretty shopped out though, so I suggested we do something else. My FIJ mentioned that he was going to have to go clean out his old apartment and was renting a car. Experiencing driving on the left side of the road was something that I wanted to do, so I told him we would join him.

Admittedly driving on the left side of the road is a quick novelty that wears off fast. Still glad I did it though. The drive itself was rather uneventful though. My friend warned us that Sunday traffic was bad around him and he was very right. It took us probably a good hour to get to his old place which is maybe a mile or two away. Still it was nice to see parts of Japan that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

After some traveling with FIJ he dropped us off at a train station and told us to head to Shin-Yokohama to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka. Once we got to Shin-Yokohama we talked with an operator over the phone to purchase Shinkansen tickets. It wasn’t too hard to do, but we were a little confused on how we got them with a JR Pass, so we wanted the help.

The only thing I wish we would’ve done is got something to eat earlier for the Shinkansen. The train station only had one convenience store and I had to go outside of the station to the FamilyMart to get something better, which meant using my Suica and paying a few dollars. The train station really doesn’t handle switching from your Suica to get there on a non JR line and then using your JR Pass to board the Shinkansen. My TC had to get her Suica reset later on.

We took the Shinkansen to Osaka and got there around 5PMish. We then headed straight for our hotel, L’Agent Osaka Bay. And honestly this hotel was just ok. For one night it was ifne, but it definitely felt cheap compared to the other hotels we stayed at. I got a deal on it so I didn’t feel too bad.

For dinner we headed to Citywalk and ate at Kobe Matomachi Doria since Google translated it cheese. Unfortunately though there wasn’t much I could eat with my dietary restrictions, so I just ended up with salad and potatoes which were alright. My friend really enjoyed her more meaty meal.

After dinner and some walking around City Walk we headed back to our hotel to get some rest. My FIJ joined us much later into the night so he could get some rest to for our big day at Universal.

# Monday, March 20th – Universal Studios Japan

This was probably the best theme park we visited in our travels. Probably because of the single rider line, getting some more downtime, and Super Nintendo World which all led to an amazing expereince. Anyway I should probably recap the day.

We got to the park a little before 8am and entered shortly after. We were lucky and able to win a lottery slot for Super Nintendo World at 6:40PM which was amazing to see. Our day went as follows:

1. We rushed to Hollywood the Dream and probably waited for about 90 minutes. I saw it got busy so that’s why we went here first.
2. We next did the Hello Kitty Cupcake ride since it was a short wait and I liked the spinning teacups rides.
3. We tried getting some food at the Mario Cafe but even before 11AM the line was long. My FIJ and I had reservations for Monster Hunter at 11:30 and we had to leave probably about 5 minutes before we would’ve ordered. My TC did get the food though.
4. My FIJ and I did Monster Hunter VR. I’m not a big Monster Hunter fan nor could I understand anything they were saying, but it was still al lot of fun. The VR sets reminded me of Ghostbusters, so I hope one day they do that.
5. We headed to Jurassic Park to do the rides there and look for food. We ate at Discovery Cafe where I got the chicken and fries combo. The chicken and fries were great, but it came with a non-alcoholic beer which I thought was root beer. It was actually beer without the alcohol. As a non drinker I didn’t like it ended up tossing most of it.
6. We did a single rider line for Jurassic Park and waited only a few minutes. It’s the same a Florida, but still a fun ride with amazing animatronics.
7. I went to Jaws while my friends went to Flying Dinosaur. I enjoyed doing the only Jaws ride at the world even if I couldn’t understand it just to say I did it.
8. I waited in line for the Mario Cafe and this time was able to get a cream soda! The cream soda was pretty tasty. We took a few minutes break to drink it, I got one for my FIJ too, before heading to the next ride.
9. We did single rider lines for Spider-Man which got us on the ride fast. This was my favorite ride at Orlando and I remembered why going on it. The incredible blend of traditional events and screens makes it an amazing experience. The Japanese language is no barrier to enjoyment.
10. We took another break before our entry to Super Nintendo World by walking around the park. We ended up sitting by the lake enjoying some food for a bit at this point. I got the Minions Banana Popcorn which was surprisingly really good.
11. Eventually it was time to head to Super Nintendo World and it was worth the wait! I’m a massive Nintendo fan so this was like a dream come true.
12. We rushed though to Mario Kart first though and with the single rider line. We waited probably about 50 minutes thank to this, and the ride was incredible. It’s a pretty fun AR experience, even if my glasses fell off midway and I lost some points.
13. We wandered around Super Nintendo World a bit looking for all the Pikmin and checking everything out. We didn’t do any Power-Up Band challenges, but I did get the Gold Mario Power-Up Band. It was announced only a few days before we went so I felt it was only fitting that I purchase it.
14. After wandering around and checking out the bathrooms at Super Nintendo World, they were themed, we felt we had enough and it was time to leave. My FIJ headed home while my TC and I caught a train to Kyoto.

We got to Kyoto probably close to 10PM and checked into our hotel, the Royal Twin Hachijoguchi. This hotel had just opened in 2020 and it still had the new hotel feel. Everything was very clean and the room was pretty nice. The only downside was that the shower and toilet weren’t in a separate walled off section like our room in Akihabara. My TC ended up taking baths while I put my clothes in the toilet room. A little awkward, but overall fine.

# Tuesday, March 21st – Kyoto Walk around

The lack of sleep from the past few days caught up to us and we ended up sleeping in a bit this day. We knew it was a holiday, so figured things would be a bit busy anyway and we’d just take it slow.

In the theme of starting slow, we got some breakfast at the 7/11 across from our hotel and ate it at a park nearby. We enjoyed seeing some of the Sakura which were just starting to bloom and the bird watching. The strawberry and cream sandwich I got was so good I even got it for breakfast the next day!

Next we headed to Toji stopping at a Book Off along the way. We figured Toji would be busy for the holiday, but did not expect there to be a flea market when we walked in! It was packed in that section, but the temple grounds were nice at least. We didn’t pay to enter the garden as we felt a little overwhelmed with everything around Toji. Instead we just headed to our next destination.

Our next destination was the Nintendo office buildings. They are just buildings, as my TC kept reminding me, but I didn’t feel like a trip to Kyoto would be complete without making a pilgrimmage to them. I got my picture taken and we headed back to our hotel. It started raining around this time so we didn’t stop at any of the other Nintendo buildings.

After a quick pit stop at our hotel we headed to another part of Kyoto to check out some of the sites and do some shopping. The shopping area was interesting with its covered sections that I guess were still part of the street? Plus there were all these little shrines stuck in between them. An experience is definitely an adjective that can be used to describe it.

After some shopping we grabbed dinner at a curry place we walked past which we both enjoyed. Just a little hole in the wall place I couldn’t tell you the name of, but hey still some tasty curry. From there we hit another Book Off before heading back to Kyoto Station and our hotel.

At Kyoto station we bought our Shinkansen tickets for the next day so we could get window seat for Mt Fuji which we missed on the way out. We took a wrong turn heading back to our hotel, but got a nice night time view of the Kyoto Tower Hotel which was pretty at night. My TC called it here for the night, but I took a trip to a game store in Kyoto and a quick preview of Fushimi Inari at night. I just did the outside, but it was still gorgeous lit up at that time. Walking around Kyoto at that time of night also gave me some definite Shenume vibes with the little streets and houses packed into alleyways.

Anyway after the game store it was time for me to head back and get some rest for our last full day in Japan 🙁

# Wednesday, March 22nd – Fushimi Inari and Travel

After a lot of discussion and bargaining, my TC and I decided to get to Fushimi Inari around 7:30AM which was the perfect time to visit. It wasn’t too crowded yet and it wasn’t so early that we were sleep deprived. The best way I can describe Fushimi Inari is the way my FIJ did, weird but in a good way. There are a ton of interesting shrines to check out and a bunch of gates that are in great condition. Definitely nothing like what we can see at home!

We made it up to the spot labeled “great view” before deciding our feet had enough walking for the day and it was time to head back. There were still a few shrines to check out on the way down which we did. We got back well before our Shinkansen or hotel check out time. I decided to check-out the Toys R Us since we right there before we got a train.

We took the Shinkansen first to Nagoya to visit my cousin who lived there for lunch. The lunch was alright, but I ended up having a really nice visit with my cousin. I don’t think we had met before, but we still bonded pretty quickly and had a great visit. Lunch was just ok, but it was the visit that was important.

From Nagoya we took the Shinkansen back to Shin-Yokahama getting some Mt. Fuji pictures along the way. Eventually we ended back up at the town my friend lived in, where I visited the Hard Off and Book Off before heading back because I still hadn’t found all the games I was looking for.

I did eventually make it back to my friends and we went out for dinner. We ended up a Gusto’s which is another chain with cheaper food, but overall was alright. Nothing to write home about, but I did enjoy the Coke free style machine they had with all the different melon flavored drinks.

Anyway after dinner we hung out with my friend a bit before getting some sleep for what would be our final day in Japan.

# Thursday, March 23rd – Haneda and Flight Home

Our flight back left around 10:30am, so we headed early to Haneda to try and get in front of rush hour traffic which we were able to do. Overall things thankfully weren’t too eventual getting to and from the airport. Security probably took about 15 minutes. The longest part of the trip was checking in our bags as there was a long line of people to get through.

Our time in Japan had now ended and it was time to head back after an excellent trip. The trip was so excellent that when I got back home that night I slept for 16 hours :). Still, an amazing trip definitely worth it!

If you made it through hope you enjoyed. Feel free to ask me any questions