What a trip, what a place. Myself and my girlfriend are fairly seasoned travellers, and do not have a bad word to say about this amazing country.
A few notes before I recap
\- Comfy shoes are a must. I did read this several times on this sub, but nothing can prepare you for an average of 20km of walking a day and 20 floors of stairs. Shoes like Jordans that you think are comfy, are definitely not!
\- Lining up for restaurants can get frustrating. Being from Australia we are used to making reservations and spending an hour or 2 in a restaurant. We found it a bit shocking lining up for 45 minutes to be seated, and then be in and out of the restaurant in 20 mins. Towards the end of the trip we actually got used to it and enjoyed the process!
\- Trust google maps! I thought I was smarter than google maps a few times and we wasted a bit of time. Take your time and read where google maps is taking you and 99% of the time you will get to where you need to.
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**28/3 –** Arrive at Narita airport 8pm. For some reason it took our flight 3 hours to get out of Narita airport and on to the Narita express. We got the second last train to Shinjuku. Be prepared, Shinjuku station is bigger than what you imagine! After almost 18 hours of transit, this was really difficult, but we made our way out after 30 minutes.
**29/3 – Exploring Shinjuku/Shibuya.**
Highlights
\- National gardens in full swing cherry blossom was amazing
\- Some great conveyor belt sushi at Himawari Sushi Shintoshin
\- Seeing the shibuya crossing for the first time was crazy
\- House of flight (The Air Jordan store)
**30/3 – Disneyland day**
\- What a crazy experience! We were shocked at how polite the Japanese people were in all aspects of the park. We were also shocked at the reasonable price of food. We didn’t pay for the express pass and went on every ride we wanted to. Only disappointment was the finale fireworks show being cancelled for “weather”.
**31/3 – Shopping day**
\- Ginza, Harajuku and Shibuya. Myself and my girlfriend are big shoppers and were amazed at the exclusives they get in Tokyo, especially for brands like Adidas and Nike. The tax free system is great in comparison to other countries.
\- We went to Shibuya sky at 6pm, I recommend booking this in advance as I feel sunset would be amazing here. I booked 1 month in advance and sunset times were already booked out
\- A great dinner at Sushi Sotatsu. I can’t recommend this place enough. A reasonably priced Michelin star restaurant. Our first ever Michelin star and it did not disappoint.
**1/4 – Tsukiji Market/Teamlabs and Daikoku Futo PA**
\- Tsukiji Market. What an experience! Probably would’ve tried to go on a weekday instead of a weekend next time, however the experience was still great. The wagyu skewers and fresh sushi are something words can’t describe. We also had the best strawberries of our life.
\- Teamlabs was a cool experience. Hard to explain, but it wasn’t overwhelming nor underwhelming. We had a great time and got some really cool shots. If you’re into your social media this is one to tick off.
\- That night we had a tour to Daikoku Futo PA. I cant recommend Jeremy from team open tours enough. Wow. It was a JDM lovers wet dream! A must do if you’re into your Japanese cars
**2/4 – More Cherry blossoms , Akihabara and Arsenal!**
\- Ueno park for cherry blossoms in the morning. We had been to Chiyoda previously and ueno was slight underwhelming for cherry blossoms. Got to go to a cool little food market and had some street food which was nice.
\- Akihbara is mind blowing and another place I think is a Must do in Tokyo. The lights and the noises are so stimulating it’s almost too much for the brain to handle! Seeing 40 year old men pack arcades is amazing. I love how different forms of letting out the stress of the week are accepted in Japan. Mario Kart through Akihabara was so much fun too. I know it was slightly touristy and cliché, but we had a great time and would recommened to anyone.
\- Meguro River at night for cherry blossoms was mind blowing also. So many people though. Would recommend seeing the river lit up, but if you don’t like crowds – be wary.
\- Walked to the House of Highbury at night to catch an Arsenal game. For any of you gonners lurking in the sub, this place is a must do when in Shinjuku!
**3/4 – Fun2Drive, Hakone**
\- Another thing ticked off the bucket list, what a day. For those who don’t know, Fun2drive allows you to drive a JDM supercar around Hakone and Gotemba. I drove the GTR R34 and we did the ultimate hakone tour. Yoshi and the team were spectacular and it was honestly one of the best days of my life. If you are a car lover, this is the one for you
**4/4 – 6/4 – FujiKawaguchiko**
\- The mount Fuji area is amazing and we would recommend it to anyone. I think if we had our time again we would only do a day trip, I think another day in Kyoto could’ve been a better way to use our time. It was a great stop nonetheless and highlights included the chureito pagoda, the kawaguchiko ropeway and some amazing ramen at Ramen kaneyuki.
**6/4 – Osaka**
\- Arrived at Osaka late after a long transit day and just explored. The Shinshaibashi shopping street is crazy and Dotonbori is a sight to behold. On first impressions it felt more touristy than Tokyo. Had an amazing pork cutlet at the top of Daimaru and hit the hay.
**7/4 – Universal Studios**
\- The most rain I have seen in a long time, but a great day at universal studios. Lines were shorter for rides if you didn’t mind getting pelted in the face with rain. Heaps of fun. I preferred this to Disneyland as I felt it was aimed more at adults.
**8/4 – Hiroshima/ Miyajima**
\- One of our favourite days of the trip. We were sceptical about the time it was going to take to do a day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima but we decided to go for it, and we definitely made the right decision. The shinkansen makes things so easy.
\- What a beautiful city Hiroshima is, I would’ve loved to have spent longer there. The peace park is mind blowing and seeing the atomic bomb dome in person for a ww2 history buff was a great experience. I wish we tried Okonomiyaki but didn’t have time!
\- Miyajima was so much fun. A great and relaxing time. Watching people with food in their bags getting harassed by deer makes the trip worth it. The grand torii gate was amazing. If I went again I would try and base my trip around the tide so it looked even more spectacular.
\- For those trying to do both of these in a day, theres a ferry from the peace park for about 1200Y that will take you to miyajima, rather than the long commute from the JR ferry to Hiroshima station!
**9/4 – Day out in Osaka**
\- A shopping and eating day in Osaka which we both enjoyed. It was a great way to unwind after the huge days we had previously. We saw Osaka castle and explored Umeda. Overall a great last day in Osaka
**10/4 – Osaka to Kyoto**
\- Straight to the hotel in Kyoto, from which we walked to Nishiki Market. We stumbled across Ginjo Ramen Kubota, which was probably our best bowl of ramen for the whole trip! Highly recommend. Nishiki market was not even comparable to Tsukiji, but worth a look nonetheless.
\- After this we walked the philosophers path in the afternoon which was amazing, especially in cherry blossom season.
\- Dinner that night was GyuKatsu in Pontocho alley, another memorable meal.
**11/4 – Kyoto**
\- Wishing we had more than 2 nights in Kyoto. We both said that if we could change anything we would have added some more time in to Kyoto so it wasn’t as rushed. In the one day we woke up early to get to Fushimi Inari, from there we caught the train and walked to Kyomizu Dera. From there we walked to Gion, not before eating another gyukatsu meal on the way. From Gion we caught the train to Arashiyama.
\- I know most people have said this but definetly get to fushimi inari early. If we had more time, we probably would’ve done Fushimi Inari early one morning and Kyomizu Dera early the next morning. Although there were a few places we missed out on, I feel like we did well for our 2 nights in Kyoto and thoroughly enjoyed it.
**12/4-13-4 Kyoto to Tokyo and home**
\- We did our final shop in Tokyo and finished the trip with Ichiran (Which we don’t have in Australia). One final time at Shibuya crossing and one final time at our favourite neighbourhood Shinjuku.
7 comments
Hi! Thanks for taking the time to do a trip report.
What was the Daikoku meet up like? My partner has a Datsun 280z and is looking to go to a meet up while we’re in Japan later this year. We’re thinking of going to one that happens in Daikanyama on Sunday mornings, but open to others. What was the experience like and do you really need a tour guide to go?
Also, never heard of the Hakone test day! Do you mind me asking how much it was and how long the whole experience took? We’re planning on spending a night in Hakone so it might be something we’d do. Was your other half able to be in the car at the same time?
Thanks!
Hi, did you do the Nara day trip? Did you hear any feedback about going to Nara be Hiroshima from Osaka? We only have time for one day trip so debating which one to do
Google Maps is great. Even if you don’t use the real-time navigation guidance (or can’t due to just being too slow a walker), just being able to pull up the upcoming departures from train stations or bus stops is an absolute godsend.
My wife and I arrived at Narita around 7pm the same day as you. It took us about 2 hours to get passed immigration and customs. Longest it’s ever taken us.
Hi did you rent wifi for your trip, if you did was it worth it?
How were the cherry blossoms, were they at their peak? Trying to plan for mid March next year and seeing if March 23 – April 5 would be a good time frame
For Shibuya Sky, how early should I book before sunset?