My partner and I just got back a few weeks ago from around a month in Japan, but I feel our trip was a bit unorthodox in its setup. Because of this I won’t give out an itinerary but instead will focus on some particular topics that I want to share information on as well as some recommendations I have not seen shared often here
**Minor context:** My partner and I both have been to Japan before. She is fluent in Japanese as well has having a decent friend group over there she stays in touch with and I took two years around a decade ago with ‘survival level’ Japanese as I would consider it. I haven’t been back in almost 20 years and this is my first time as an adult. Finally, my partner is vegan however I am not due to food allergies to specific ingredients.
# Tips:
* Depending on your age and what anime you are fan of, you may have a better experience at Nakano Broadway instead of Akihabara when it comes to shopping. Not only are the prices lower than most places in Akihabara but the selection is much better when it comes to Gunpla, Anime Cels (found some great ones for Saiyuki), Doujin, Art Books and more. Its not as glam and looks like a rundown mall, but we spent way more money here and had a better time
* If you are looking for specific Gunpla or collector goods, Mandarake is going to be a better bet than Gundam Base UNLESS there was a recent reprint. I was able to get the UC Hard Graph and Gundam AGE kits at Gundam Base for MSRP, while I was able to get rare kits like the JR-Line RX78 and Eggshell Ecopla RX78 at Mandarake for 2000yen each. Again I recommend Nakano Broadway’s over Akihabara and also recommend the Ikebukuro Mandarake in the P’Parco as that focuses on older toys and plamo
* Depending how much time you have, shopping on weekends and rainy days may seem like the best bet but also will be the busiest. Sunshine City and the new Animate Ikebukuro were a nightmare at 3PM on a rainy Sunday but fairly empty at 11am on a nice Tuesday
* If you need a tools restock, hit up the Volks in Akihabara. Not only is it tax free, but much better selection of God Hand, HIQParts, and Wave tools/supplies while staying at lower prices for almost all of them vs what you can get in the west. Just be aware that tools like nippers, chisels and files you will have to check your luggage
* For concerts, in most cases you will be SOL. However, if the artist you want to see offers 1. paper tickets or 2. plays at a smaller venue where you can ask the staff directly to hold tickets for you it is possible to get tickets without a Japanese phone number. Please note you will need to know Japanese to do this, or ask a Japanese speaking friend for help. With all that said, we were able to make it to three different concerts with minimal issues: (Daichi Miura, Sugizo/SHAG, Dravil (ex w-inds.). Daichi Miura we bought paper tickets via Rakuten and picked up at 7-11, Sugizo was at the Blue Note, which you can buy via the venue’s site. For Dravil, partner reached out directly to the live house in Japanese on Instagram and they held tickets for us. Once we arrived at the venue, we gave our names at the front desk and paid in cash for the tickets.
* Veganism in Japan was not what we were really expecting. We used Wanderlog and found around 100 places between all the major cities (even Nagasaki) but its a spec of dust in the wind compared to the vast selection of everything else. If you are vegan, just to be brutally honest, you will not have the same experience as a non-vegan can in Japan or even as a vegan in a US city.
* What was even more rare than a vegan place, was a place that offers both vegan and non-vegan food. If you are very strict in your veganism is but your partner isn’t, or if you are allergic to something used in the vegan food, either someone is eating alone or you need to find somewhere else, which for vegan options in some areas might not be possible without relying on conbini food.
* Speaking on conbini food, you will have to google translate all ingredients especially if you have allergies. Its very common to find fish or dashi in food that seems it would not have it (like tomato sauce or plum onigiri) but one thing to keep in consideration is that if the amount of the ingredient is low enough it is not required by Japanese law to be on the labeling.
* For vegan food advice and research our best friends were Youtube (Misus Yaya probably the best), Vegewel, and Japanese Vegan Instagram (which will require some language skills)
# Recommendations:
* Lodging:
* Tokyo, we stayed at [Mimaru Ikebukuro](https://mimaruhotels.com/en/hotel/ikebukuro/), which had amazing rates when we booked ours. It was actually cheaper for us to book the room for the month vs have the place for the 2.5 weeks + luggage shipments/storage while we went down south.
* Nagasaki was at [hotel&cafe ksnowki](https://www.chillnn.com/17deb2f2f421f7), which we absolutely loved and was our favorite lodging experience.
* Fukuoka was [LAMP LIGHT BOOKS HOTEL](https://www.lamplightbookshotel.com/fukuoka/) and Kyoto was [Suigetsu Machiya](https://www.kyoto-machiya-inn.com) but we likely would choose different next time.
* Notable food during our trip:
* [T’s Tantan.](http://ts-restaurant.jp/tantan/) Went to both the Tokyo and Ikebukuro locations. Fully vegan. The Black Sesame Ramen was def our favorites. Some of the other broths were a bit weak in flavor sadly
* [Mermaid Coffee Roasters](https://www.instagram.com/mermaid_coffee_roasters_ike/) in Ikebukuro. They do have vegan milk options but I don’t believe any of the snacks were. If you are looking for third wave hip coffee, this is your spot. Both of us felt this was the best coffee we had the whole trip and bought beans to take home with us.
* [Stand Umineko](https://www.instagram.com/stand_umineko_yoca/) in Fukuoka. Great standbar with a huge tap list and fridges in the back focusing completely on Japanese Crafts. Very chill environment and great way to try craft beer from all over Japan.
* [博多金鯖](https://tabelog.com/fukuoka/A4001/A400103/40035359/) in Fukuoka. Dunno if anything here is vegan (maybe the friend natto was), but focuses heavily on Mackeral. Between the prices and how great everything tasted, I kept thinking of this place throughout the rest of the trip
* [Bar Oscar](https://tabelog.com/en/fukuoka/A4001/A400104/40000009/) in Fukuoka. Very good cocktails and the master bartender is extremely welcoming and fun to talk with, especially if you speak decent Japanese.
* [Ogura Chaya](https://www.ogurachaya.com) in Kyoto. A little walk past Arashiyama going towards some of the temples in the more residential area. They had a special vegan udon on the menu when we went, but good to check before going if its still on the menu
* [Saga Tofu Ine Head Store](https://www.kyo-ine.com) in Kyoto. Fully vegan tofu tasting set. Has freshly made tofu, yuba, and seasonal veggies in the form of set meals. This is very Kyoto styled traditional food. The portions were large and it was super filling after a long day of walking around.
* [AWOMB Nishi-Kiyamachi](https://awombnishikiyamachi.mystrikingly.com) in Kyoto. Completely Vegan (they have a non-vegan location as well in Kyoto). Effectively is a make-your-own sushi place with all veggies, all made right before you arrive. Desserts and drinks were also amazing, but you will need a reservation and is worth the experience at least once.
* The Irori Grill Special Lunch at [Hakone Yuryo](https://www.hakoneyuryo.jp/?utm_source=Google+business+profile). Due to some scheduling issues we were not able to book a stay at a Ryokan this trip, but here you can rent a private bath for a few hours and get very good food at their restaurant. Outside of some noodle dishes, nothing is vegan here, but the Irori Grill Special they had was very fresh on fish and vegetables and did require pre-booking both the room and the meal, as both are limited. Minor shoutout to [Eva-Ya](http://www.evastore2.jp/eva-ya/) for the Eva-Themed ice cream and drinks that were fun.
* [Weller](https://liveweller.jp) in Tokyo. Fully vegan conbini. The store owners make an effort to stock local Japanese vegan and organic products (natto, tofu, pastas, cookies, etc.) but also carries some western vegan products. It is worth trying their premade bentos, onigiris and other conbini food but vegan equivalents.
* [Oscar American Chinese](https://www.instagram.com/oscaramericanchinese/) in Tokyo. Fully vegan ‘American Styled Chinese’. Place looks like it was transported from the states with washed out menu boards and dingy aesthetics but tasted just like Chinese food in the states but 100% vegan.
* [Kitade Tacos](https://www.kitadeshokudo.com) in Tokyo. Have some vegan options, but depends on the time and location so check before hand. Between this place and Fukuoka Craft, we were impressed with the Japanese takes on Mexican food, but this one stood out more as they focus on using Japanese ingredients and make the tortillas on demand from Hokkaido corn.
* [Saido](https://saido.tokyo) in Tokyo. This was one of the few places we felt exceeded all our expectations when it came to vegan food. Get their unagi. You are going to be really sad you didn’t.
* [Devilcraft](http://en.devilcraft.jp) in Tokyo. Best craft beer I had the whole trip. They also do Chicago Styled Pizza but didn’t try
* [1/2ppudo Lumine Est Shinjuku](https://stores.ippudo.com/1127?utm_source=Yext&utm_medium=Yext&utm_campaign=Listings) in Tokyo. About half the menu is vegan, including vegan gyoza. While its just an Ippudo ramen, it was nice for both of us to get ramen that fit our diets while being together. I believe this is the only Ippudo with vegan options.
* [Oiwake Dango](http://oiwakedango.co.jp) in Tokyo. Was recommended by a local friend, as the anko is not overly sweet. Should be vegan as well but expect a line.
* Blue Note Japan. My recommendation is to not eat here as it was not only one of the most expensive meals the whole trip (not including the concert fees, which was worth it for Sugizo.) The food I would consider some of the worst I’ve had my whole adult life.
* Experiences
* Goushin collecting was an amazing way to document our trip and explore places we may not have traveled out to. It was a first for us and only got 11 each, but also motivated us to get up early and get to many of the major sites before anyone else showed up
* Canal City was really cool to just walk around and enjoy the vibe. We initially went for the Kirby Cafe, but ended up spending a good chunk of the day there and going back another for snacks. They also had a mini-concert/handshake-event for THE SUPER FRUIT, which was fun to watch.
* Uminonakamichi Seaside Park was 100% worth the difficulty in getting to. The bike rental wait was quite long but was an amazing way to experience the whole park and just have a nice time away from the city.
* I know this might be a hot take based on a lot of the recent posts, but we enjoyed TeamLab Planets Tokyo a good amount, as well as Vegan Ramen UZU afterwards.
* Vanilla Gallery in Ginza was a good surprise that we didn’t plan until later into the trip. We are both big fans of Sorayama and the exhibition was completely focused on Kinbaku with a few of his pieces there. Majority of the exhibitions will be adult-only, but good way to see art styles and genres not covered in other locations.
* Yuurakucho Koukakyou stores and restaurants in Tokyo. During the post war period, many of the restaurants in the underpasses of Yuuracho station fell into disrepair. There’s been a big push to revitalize this area and now there’s tons of breweries and restaurants that can be found here. Got very affordable sushi at a standing restaurant in this area. After that, got a couple of beers at a different restaurant and just vibed. It was themed to a Showa/ city pop aesthetic which was pretty cool. While I can’t really recommend one place (there is so much to pick from) the vibes and visuals of the area are super cool. Even if you end up not eating here it is definitely worth walking through this area. Also, there is a high likelihood you’ll stumble across salarymen who are passed out on the street if you venture here at night.
