We (M31, F30) originally had this trip planned for autumn of 2020 which we had to cancel due to Covid-19. We then took the chance and booked flights for this trip around Christmas last year. We were flexible on the timing and basically looked out for a good deal for the flights in spring/early summer of 2023. Got many inspirations from this forum so I hope that our trip report is helping some of you. Focus of the trip was sightseeing, meeting family and Japanese cuisine. Overall we explored a lot by foot because we like to absorb the atmosphere of a city by just walking around. I think we had around 20k steps on most days, sometimes up to 30k steps.
**Pre-Trip:**
\- we started to book the hotels for the first half of the trip because of Golden Week but ended up booking all accommodation before the trip
\- besides that we just made a big google maps list with places to visit but did not plan individual days beforehand
\- bought 21 day JR Pass through [japanrailpass.net](https://japanrailpass.net) to be able to already make seat reservations during Golden Week -> I think financially we came out at +-0 with the JR pass, but for us it was still worth it because it took away the hassle to buy tickets
\- bought Ghibli museum tickets on the international website, took us about 3 hours in the middle of the night but worked out in the end
\- bought tickets for TeamLab planets
\- used an eSIM from Airalo, 10GB for \~17 Euro which worked well and was exactly enough data for the three weeks
\- registered through “Visit Japan” to speed up entry process
**Trip Report:**
27.4 Day 1 Tokyo
Arrived at 6 pm at Narita, going through immigration and getting our luggage took about 1h 15 min. We then picked up the JR pass and took the N’EX to Tokyo. Our hotel was in Kyobashi which was about 10 min by foot from the central station. The neighborhood is not really lively, so if you like to go out in the evening maybe not the best place but as a general starting point to explore Tokyo Ginza/Kyobashi it is a good location.
28.4 Day 2 Tokyo
Next morning we bought a Suica card and went to Team lab Planets. I read some negative comments about the condition of the exhibition, which i don’t think are justified. All in all really cool exhibition. After that we took a bus to the Tsukiji fish market. Main market action of the day was over by that time but there are still a lot nice food/snack places in the area worth checking out. We had a amazing tamago sandwich from Shuoro and Taiyaki with custard filling. Then we took a little break at Hibiya park before going to Nakamise Dori street/Asakusa-Shrine. For dinner we had ramen at Ippudo. They make thinner more al dente style ramen, which is not really my jam but anyways really good ramen.
29.4 Day 3 Tokyo
In the morning we explored the Shinjuku/Golden-Gai area and went on top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which gives you a really nice view and is free of charge. In the afternoon we met relatives for lunch at Sharikimon Chawanbu (incredible Tonkatsu) and had afternoon tea in Ginza. Afterwards we still had some time to explore Ginza a bit. We planned to use the embroidery service to get some customized clothes at Uniqlo but their waiting time was 15 days, so we abandoned that plan.
30.4 Day 4 Tokyo
We planned to eat at Sushi no Midori Ginza where we arrived at 11 am and took a number. We gave up after 2 hours of waiting that we used to check out some shops in Ginza and pick up Sumo tickets at 7/11. I think it would have taken at least one more hour until we would have gotten in. Instead we had lunch at Shibuya at izakaya 365sakaba, which had good Karaage and Gyoza. Took some picture with Hachiko and the crossing before going to Harajuku. Ota art museum had a fun little exhibition about cats in Ukiyo-e paintings. Marion Crepes at Takeshita street was really tasty. Spent the evening at Akihabara. Since we were still a bit grumpy that we failed at Sushi no Midori in the morning we got a take away sushi box at a different branch of them which for take away sushi was still really tasty.
1.5 Day 5 Tokyo
Next morning we had standing sushi at Nemuro Hanamaru without any wait time. Standing sushi restaurants are a really cool concept if you just want to have quick bite in between. We had planned to visit Shinjuku Gjoen garden which we found closed on Mondays – better always check opening times before you go. Instead we spent quite some time at Meiji Shrine & Yoyogi Park. We were lucky to see parts of a Shinto weeding ceremony at Meiji shrine. Afternoon we spent at Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. The museum is quite small but really atmospheric, so it’s a cool activity for Ghibli fans. Food recommendations from that day: Tarako spaghetti at Tokyo Tarako spaghetti and Tsukemen at Rokurinsha.
2.5 Day 6 Kawaguchiko
We took the Fuji excursion direct train from Shinjuku and got out at Shimoyoshida. The train is separated at Otsuki and only three wagons go to Kawaguchiko so we had to stand on this part of the trip. JR pass is only valid until Otsuki but train tickets for the rest of the journey can still be bought inside the train. Churotei pagoda was crowed but not as bad as i expected, given it was Golden Week. We then hiked from there through the mountains about 8 km to Kawaguchiko. Did only meet a handful of people on the way and the views of Fujisan were amazing. No food recommendations for that day, we planned to eat at Hotou Fudo, but ended up not having enough time. We went back to Toyko and then took the Shinkansen to Mishima.
3.5 Day 7 Mishima
We spent that day with family living in Mishima.
4.5 Day 8 Osaka
In the morning we took the Shinkansen to Osaka. Our hotel was the Willows hotel at Shinsekai, which had a good room size and a small rooftop area were you had a nice view of the Tsutenkaku tower. We spent the time until check in the area and had Kushikatsu and Kasu Udon at Kawashiya (around 50 min wait time). In the afternoon we visited Osaka castle and Dotonburi. We had Okonomiyaki at Fugetsu (no wait time) which was excellent.
5.5 Day 9 Himeji/Osaka
We spent half a day at Himeji. The castle was really pretty from the outside but actually quite boring from the inside since it’s completely empty inside and the view was not really spectacular. In front of the castle was cool little street food market where we had Juu-en pan, Karaage, Dango and Baby Castella. Not sure if that market is always there or if this was a golden week thing. We then went back to Osaka and spent the evening at Maishima Flower park. It’s a bit of the grid but quite close to USJ. Food recommendation: Ramen Jinsei JET in Fukushima.
6.5 Day 10 Kobe/Osaka
We went to Kobe to have Kobe steak at Steakland Kobe, they have a really affordable lunch menu and the steak was amazing. Kobe turned out to be quite nice, we liked the Ikuta Shrine and Kitano Ijinkan-Gai. If you are up for a little hike, the Nunobiki falls and then right next to the Shin-Kobe station are really worth it. Back in Osaka we got Rikuro Cheesecake and Butaman from 551 Horaii. Both good but no must-haves for me. Evening we did some shopping at Tenjinbashi-suji. Bought a Santoku at Kunishige, which came with a free engraving of my name, which was a cool surprise.
7.5 Day 11 Kyoto
Next, we went to Kyoto where we had a hotel at Kyoto downtown. This day was really rainy so we just strolled around Shinkyogoku shopping street, checked out some shops and had some sweets at Café Kumonocha.
8.5 Day 12 Kyoto
We visited Arashiyama bamboo forest and the monkey park and had some tasty soba noodles with tempura in the area. The bamboo forest was really crowed and not too spectecular, but it is a nice place when you are in the area. The monkey park is cool, the view from the mountain top is great and it’s fun to feed the monkeys with some bananas or peanuts. After that we visited Kinkaku-ji, the temple and the surrounding park are really beautiful. After a little break at the hotel we spent the evening at Ninenzaka. The K36 rooftop bar is quite cool especially at sunset, but it’s a bit pricey since you also pay a fee for the table. Really good ramen in the area at Musoshin Ramen.
9.5 Day 13 Kyoto/Nara
Next day we visited Fushimi inarii shrine. We didn’t bother to go there super early so it was quite crowded around 09.30 am, but as others wrote the closer you get to the peak the less crowed it gets. I think it’s really worth to spent a little bit more time there and get all the way up. We combined the visit to the shrine with a trip to Nara. The fresh mochi from nakatanidou were really tasty although we didn’t see the pounding procedure. We strolled through the park, fed the deer and visited Kofuku-ji and Todai-ji. Nara was not really a must-visit for me although the deers were really cute.
10.5 Day 14 Kanazawa
We took the thunderbird train to Kanazawa where we stayed at a Henn na hotel with robot dinosaurs at the check in desk which was fun. The Kenroku-en garden was really beautiful and the Higashi Chaya district gave a good impression on how the historical Kanazawa looked like. If you want to visit a Pokemon center, the one in Kanazawa was a bit small but really relaxed since most tourists probably go to the ones in Tokyo or Osaka.
11.5 Day 15 Kanazawa/Shirakawa-go
We did a day trip by bus to Shirakawa-go. Really beautiful scenery and amazing soba noodles. We spent about 4 hours there which is a good time if you want to explore everything leisurely and also want to grab a meal or a coffee. Had a Kaisendon in Kanazawa in the evening, definitely a recommendation to try in Kanazawa.
12.5 Day 16 Shinhotaka
Our next stop was Shinhotaka in the Japanese alps, where we booked a room in a onsen hotel for three nights. Getting there by public transport was a bit more difficult compared to the previous routes but still fairly simple. We took the train to Toyama and from there to Takayama. In Takayama we had about 2 hours to explore the city a bit. Takayama didn’t seem too interesting to me, but i guess it’s a good hub to explore the region. From Takayama we could take a direct bus to Shinhotaka. Travelling in the Japanese alps is definitely easier if you rent a car but travelling with public transport is certainly possible. If you want to slow down a bit and relax public transport is a good option, since you are more restricted in how much you do every day.
13.5 Day 17 Kamikochi
Our original plan was to take the Shinhotaka ropeway and hike down into Kamikochi from there. Unfortunately the ropeway was under maintenance (until august this year) so we took a bus to Kamikochi and explored the valley. The landscape was really beautiful even if the weather wasn’t to good on these days.
14.5 Day 18 Shinhotaka
Since the weather was still bad we just walked around Shinhotaka a bit and used the private onsen in our room to recover from the travel so far. The smell of sulfur from the onsen was a bit off-putting in the beginning but after a while we got used to it. If you are travelling as a couple and want to spend time together in an onsen it’s best to book an accommodation with a private onsen, since the majority of the public onsen will be gender separated. The hotel was really nice but i think here it makes sense to spent a bit more money and stay in a traditional ryokan.
15.5 Day 19 Matsumoto/Nagano
We travelled by bus through Hirayu Onsen to Matsumoto where we had a few hours to explore the city. I liked the Matsumoto castle more than Himeji: the black color gave the castle a cool ninja vibe and there was an exhibition inside about the history and adaption of firearms in Japan. In the evening we then took the train to Nagano.
16.5 Day 20 Nagano
For Nagano we had planned to visit the snow monkeys, but after i read that when the snow is gone the monkeys are only rarely found sitting in the hot springs we decided to skip that tour. Instead we visited Zenko-ji and explored the city. Since we already had seen quite a few temples my expectations weren’t too high but i ended up really enjoying this temple. We could see some sort of Buddhist ceremony there and you can go through a completely dark tunnel where you can find the key to paradise. If you want to eat Oyaki at Nagano go to Ogawanoshodaimonten where you can sit next to the wood fire where they are grilled.
17.5 Day 21 Tokyo and flight back
On the last day we went back to Tokyo and went to visit the ongoing Sumo tournament. All large coin lockers at Tokyo station were taken but we could store our luggage at a JR storage facility. Sumo was really cool for a few hours even if you are not really into the sport. Since we booked while we were already in Japan only the cheap seats in the back were left but i think those are totally fine if you just want to get an impression of the atmosphere. Spent the afternoon at Ueno park and had Anmitsu as a afternoon snack – really tasty dessert i didn’t knew before. After that back to the airport to catch our flight home.
**General remarks:**
Golden Week was not a negative experience for us. Often it is advised to not travel during this time, and yeah of course everything is more crowed than usual but i don’t think that it reduced the quality of our trip in any way.
Many popular restaurants will require some waiting time, so if you really want to go to a specific place try to reserve or be prepared to wait. If you want to find the less touristy restaurants search for the dish you want to eat in Japanese, e.g. search for お好み焼き instead of okonomiyaki on google maps. Restaurants at train stations or in shopping malls can be really good – this is really different from Germany where restaurants in these places are usually crap. Konbini stores have a really nice selection of food, so if you are in a hurry or just not in the mood to go for a restaurant you can always get something decent there.
If you want to shop something specific and can’t find it in a store ordering on Amazon and having it delivered to your hotel is super convenient. I wanted to buy a Hanten, which is a winter coat, but failed to find one in the stores – so [amazon.jp](https://amazon.jp) was a handy solution.
There is a lot of advertisement for tax-free shopping. We used it a few times without really knowing if it would have any implications later. When i checked i found out that theoretically you are required to have the items with you when you go through customs at the airport, so not in the checked baggage which is kind of annoying. We ended up putting the stuff in the checked baggage anyways. The customs control is an automated passport scan – my impression is that it is extremely unlikely that they will do a baggage check for the bought items at the airport.
**Travel expenses:**
Japan was actually cheaper than expected. Our accommodations were all solid three star hotels – we payed in total 750€ per person for 20 nights. Prices during Golden Week were notably higher, if you travel during that time book as early as possible. For everything else (food, shopping, entry fees) we payed about 1200€ per person.