Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto-Nara-Osaka-Kobe
Just wanted to preface this and say that for my partner and I, jet lag became our friend. We got up super early with ease and did everything we wanted to do. So if jet lag is something worrisome for you, think of it as a positive 🙂
\*\*all prices are in Canadian dollars which is 1:100 Japanese yen.
\*sorry for any grammatical / punctuation errors
Takeaways:
\-Fruit is expensive as heck in Japan!!!
\-Bring plastic bags for garbage with you!!
\-Going to the washroom & “dropping off your kids at the pool” is a \* religious \* experience
\-Splurge on kobe beef & omakase!!-Get a bullet train / shinkanssen pass. We found that it was extremely worth it for the days we were in Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Kobe as we used it everyday on the JR lines. For an entire week we did not replenish our Suica.
\-Japan has this Peach water that tastes like REAL fruit juice. Identical to when you bite into a peach. GET IT!
\-For money conversion, I found that my credit card gave me a better rate than converting my cash. However, cash is still king in Japan, especially in the markets.
\-The japan metro/JR/Subway system etc is overwhelming at first however, we learned it the first day. Google maps was my bestie.
\-The culture shock is huge. Japanese people are very dutiful. Everytime we needed help, locals would always go out of their way to make sure we got to our destination, even if that meant a 10minute detour for themselves. Japan is also very forward looking. I was impressed with how I was handed a sheet to put over my face to avoid my makeup getting on the clothes when trying things on.
\-Comme les garçons does not let you try on their shirts 😣
8 May 2023 (Monday)Canada -> TOKYO
We checked in for our flight on air Canada as well as the Japan website.Highly recommend downloading Ubigi as an air sim and getting the suica card on your iphone wallet! Suica saved us a lot of time and we just tapped as we went along.
9 May 2023 (Tuesday) TOKYOArrived in Narita airport
I highly recommend getting the airport limo bus. I used this link: [https://www.klook.com/…/2274-narita-haneda-airport…/](https://www.klook.com/…/2274-narita-haneda-airport…/)…Service to and from the airport cost us 45$ canadian total per person and was a great choice since we did not have to worry about transfers on our first day in Japan. Lots of leg room, AC & WIFI.Our airbnb was near Okubo station. I loved our location as it was 1 stop away from shinjuku station and we had the best ramen. Restaurant is called Gomaryu.
10 May 2023 (Wednesday) TOKYO / shibazakura festival
Our trip was slightly changed as seeing Mt Fuji was important to us and this was the only day we knew for certain would be sunny! Initially, I had planned a chill day but we rearranged everything and went to the Shibazakura festival. I highly recommend going as it was beautiful with tons of Instagramable photo spots and great food vendors.
11 May 2023(Thursday) TOKYO / DISNEYLAND
I booked tickets for us on Klook for Disneyland.I have never been to any Disneyland but this one was truly magical! My partner and I cried after the beauty and the beast ride. We got to the park at 8am and werent let in till 9am. We were one of the first 10% of people who arrived. Keep in mind that people who stayed at the Disney resort got a 15mins head start so once it was our turn, we ran towards the B&B ride to which there was already a 3hr wait immediately. Paying an extra 20$/pp was a no brainer and 10000% worth it. Honestly never experienced nostalgia and magic to this degree. Also want to give a shoutout to the tower of terror 10/10 and 10mins lineup. The starwars ride was also superb for what it was. Alien mochi was worth the hype.
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12 May 2023 (Friday) TOKYO / tsukiji market & sumo performance
Tsukiji market was worth visiting with the variety of food. I do not recommend getting anything “a5 wagyu” or sushi as it is not the freshest. I learned the hard way that not all sushi is made equally in Japan so splurge on an omakase (more on my experience later).I booked a sumo experience with klook: [https://www.klook.com/…/75397-sumo-lunch-experience…/](https://www.klook.com/…/75397-sumo-lunch-experience…/)…Amazing meal (I still think about the katsu we had) and show! Was very intimate and got to fight the sumo wrestlers! This day was a core memory for sure.We also visited the unicorn gundam statue which was UNBELIEVABLE!!
13 May 2023 (Saturday) TOKYO
This day was supposed to be relaxing… but we somehow did 30k steps. We went to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (so beautiful and amazing starbucks!), Meiji Jingu shrine, imperial palace & yūshūkan museum (ww2 history & samurai)
14 May 2023 (Sunday) TOKYO bullet train to yunessan
This was the first day we had for activating our shinkansen pass. We travelled to an onsen in the mountains of Hakone. It is called Yunessan onsen and it was AMAZING. It is the onsen where you can bathe in wine, coffee, sake, green tea etc. We for some reason did not have high expectations but it superseded everything. We paid extra for the fish bath where they eat your dead skin (so ticklish and a crazy experience) and we went to the adult part of the onsen where everyone is naked. Here we found ourselves submerged in lemon water while it was raining with a view of the mountains. Truly a sublime experience
15 May 2023 (Monday) TOKYO -> KYOTO We walked everywhere this day.Saw the emperor, checked out Kinnkaku-ji (Golden Temple), and Yasaka shrine (had the best matcha soft serve)
16 May 2023 (Tuesday) KYOTO We Travelled to Fushimi Inari shrine (super busy and touristy but worth it!), nara park to see the bowing deer , saw the Todaiji temple and visited the famous mochi making place called nakatani mochi shop and saw the show! Best mochi I had all trip. We decided not to go to the Arashiyama bamboo forest as it did not seem worth it from other people’s reviews.
17 May 2023 (Wednesday) KYOTO -> OSAKA Kuromon market had everything similar to Tsukiji market in Tokyo. One thing i loved here were the sweet potato chips that had sugar and salt coating. We also visited a micro pig cafe and the animals seemed very happy. Dotonburri had so many food options.
18 May 2023 (Thursday) OSAKA -> KOBE -> OSAKA My partner had a religious experience here as we both had the best beef of our life. We had kobe and wagyu beef at mouriya honten in Kobe (we travelled here using our JR pass so it was \*technically free\*). I wanted to take some time to note how amazing the hospitality was and that the chef cooked our beef in thirds. He made sure that every slice of beef we put in our mouth was still hot and watched as we ate to gage when to start searing the next slabs of beef. I WAS AMAZED!!! Total spent here was $240 CDN.Next we visited the zoo in Osaka and it was only 5$ CDN! (500 JAPANESE yen). I have never seen a red panda before so that was the highlight for me!After this we did mario kart in the streets of Osaka/Dotonburi. [https://www.klook.com/…/8590-street-go-kart…/](https://www.klook.com/…/8590-street-go-kart…/)…I originally wanted to book it for us in Tokyo but it was booked out for a month!! However, the tour guides were amazing and it was a blast. I am not sure why others advised against it and that local Japanese people are annoyed by this activity because I found everyone waving at us, smiling and taking videos. 10/10 activity.
19 May 2023 (Friday) OSAKA. I never had soufflé pancakes so I made a reservation for us at Happy Pancake in Osaka. WAS DELICIOUS AND THE LINE WAS SO LONG FOR PEOPLE WHO DID NOT MAKE A RESERVATION. Also the fruit was really worth it as I said before, Fruit is very hard to come by.The rest of the day was for exploring Dotonburi and shopping.
20 May 2023 (Saturday) OSAKA -> TOKYO Free day!We had michelin ramen for 15$ in … A SUBWAY STATION. Ginza kagari! The creamiest broth with chicken and truffle. It was life changing to say the least. We go there at 4pm and the line only formed after we left.
21 May 2023 (Sunday) – Last full day 🙁 TOKYO We had an omakase booking at Sushi Yajima and I was so happy. It is run by a old couple who speak PERFECT english. The freshest fish and each person only paid 44$! I made sure to research this place and many other omakase experiences and this was worth way more than what we paid for. The husband was making the nigiri for us and he said the funniest things! He was plating tuna for my partner and said: “This fish is Viagra. You are strong man so you don’t need it, but I need it” HIGHLY RECOMMEND IF YOU ARE ON A BUDGET AND WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE BEST SUSHI IN JAPAN. 😂
22 May 2023(Monday) TOKYO ->back home
25 comments
also can answer any questions !
Thank you for the review. I plan to visit Japan in November and noted down so many places already. My friend who have been there recently said exactly the same thing about Japanese people will go out of their their to help you, it sounds quite nice for me to hear this but it was a bit frustrating for her when she experienced it
Any chance you can edit the post with paras and additional spacing between them. It is a bit too much read without the spacing. Thanks
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Sorry if I missed it. But where did you go for omakase?
Did you make the restaurant reservations when in Japan or back home before you make the trip? I’m having some trouble finding English websites to make reservations.. My plan b was to get to Japan and speak with my hotel concierge but worried that would be too late…
Is getting an esim without a Japanese number ok to get around? I have always travelled with a local number to reserve things and such…
Thank you for your trip report! I love that you tried everything… you sound like you had an amazing time!
How did you order your JRpass?
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Thanks for your feedback!
Planning on going there for 10 days next year.
Would you recommend focusing on Tokyo and Kyoto? Or should I look into Osaka/Kobe?
How did you do your research and finalize your itineraries? Especially things like your experiences and restaurants?
I am going in mid-July and it feels a little overwhelming at this point.
Just got back from Japan and didn’t get any of that peach water so i guess I have to go back!! Lol. Literally have a long list of reasons to go back (I miss it so much) and this is going on the list 🙂
Really envious. Last time I went to Japan it was 1:80 for me on the exchange rate. 🙁
Thanks for sharing your trip! It’s true fruits are expensive in Japan but also 100000x times much better than anything I ever had in states. I find the fruits in high end department stores are going to cost more than the ones at the supermarket. Locals also give fruits as gifts hence the price. I always have a dedicated allowance for strawberries and musk melons whenever I’m in Japan 🙂
>For money conversion, I found that my credit card gave me a better rate than converting my cash.
You shouldn’t use conversion services, just pull out money from an ATM and you’ll get a better rate since it’s a bank and not a business that is making all its profit from skimming off the top.
Where/how did you make reservations for Happy Pancake? Very interested in trying that place lol
>Japan has this Peach water that tastes like REAL fruit juice. Identical to when you bite into a peach. GET IT!
That is the single most remarkable thing with any of their drinks there. It was hard for me to grasp the idea of drinking water but it taste like biting into a peach. Especially when you’re constantly disappointed in artificial fruit flavors.
have a very similar tripped planned in October! How do you go about getting to Hakone from Tokyo? did you train to somewhere and the bus into the mountains? thanks
Great trip report. Thanks for the onsen tip.
Thank you for your post. Saving this for my future Japan trip whenever time allows me
I wouldn’t just go to the bamboo forest but combine it with the monkeys park and tenryu temple when I’m in Kyoto
Imma disagree about the Wagyu at Tsukiji, that Wagyu stick was better than the Wagyu I got at an “all you can eat” Wagyu place in ginza. However the stall I went to had nice thick cuts, not one of the stalls with the thin ones. Expensive as hell but worth trying once imo.
Challenge accepted! Ask me anything, even if it’s about my favorite toilet seat in Japan.
How do I set up a suica card on my Apple wallet? It’s all in Japanese and I’m lost
Thanks for the post! How can you tell between good sushi and bad sushi?
im doing the same route in November. Thank you for the review.