[Trip Report] 15 days in Singapore, Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, and Osaka as a Vegetarian!

Hey everyone! My friends and I had an amazing 2 week trip in Japan (and Singapore), between May 20th and June 4th. With this report, I want to highlight some of the vegan/vegetarian food options, as well as a bunch of general tips along with a day wise itinerary. I’m hoping that this trip guide helps you guys plan your own adventures in Japan!

# Background:
– We’re a group of 11 guys in our 20’s each with different interests, mainly anime, gaming, technology, and food. So, putting together an itinerary that would satisfy everyone took more than 6 months! Japan had been in our bucket list for a couple of years, and we found a good window of time to take a trip.

– Of the 11, 5 of us were lacto-vegetatians. To keep things simple, the 5 of us were targeting vegan food most of the time.

– In addition, 6 of us wanted to visit Singapore since we had a layover there anyway. We figured that we’re gaining almost a full day in Singapore in exchange for half a day in Tokyo and sleep. So, we decided to YOLO it.

– I also wanted to visit every Pokemon Center in the cities we went to and get a photo of each Mascot. And mission accomplished! (in Japan atleast…We had no time in Singapore :P) There is a list of Pokemon Centers on [Serebii](https://www.serebii.net/pokemoncenter/), for more info.

# Planning and Budget:
– We started planning the trip early October, booked flight tickets in December, and started booking hotels in January.

– We wanted to keep the trip budget-friendly. In total, the cost per person came to ~$2,500 including flights and souvenirs. Booking everything early probably contributed to a lower price.

# Hotels:
We booked everything on [booking.com](https://www.booking.com). Like many people here, we didn’t want to deal with AirBnBs. We also considered taking apartment-style hotels, so that the vegetarians could cook our own food in the worst case. But there were 2 issues with those:
1. Our schedule was very packed, with us planning to return to the Hotel in the night just to sleep.
2. Apartment hotels do not have as many bathrooms. In a large group, this is extremely important since it’ll take longer for everyone to get ready in the morning.

Considering these 2 factors we opted for traditional hotels, with 2-3 people per room.

**Tokyo:**
[Hotel MONday Ueno, Okachimachi](https://maps.app.goo.gl/YkY5NdDmuVdhGiRd6) – Right beside Naka-Okachimachi station and walkable from Akihabara.

[Keisei Richmond Hotel, Monzennakacho](https://maps.app.goo.gl/5iLeN2uRTuieKpgC8) – Somewhat far from everything in Tokyo, but still manageable. This was probably the biggest hotel we stayed at.

**Hakone:**
[Mitake](https://maps.app.goo.gl/fTiCcbFQ7ycreg1L6) – Ryokan with private and public onsens. Breakfast and dinner can be provided, but cost quite a bit extra.

**Kyoto:**
[Sotetsu Fresa Inn, Shijokarasuma](https://maps.app.goo.gl/yeS4qFpi6ZcbVSBQA) – Decent hotel, located close to SUINA mall with good connectivity.

**Osaka:**
[Hotel Wing International Select, Umeda](https://maps.app.goo.gl/aL9xtt1CAuXnpGKY9) – Easily the cheapest hotel we stayed at. But the rooms and beds were quite small. To be fair the website did say “Small” double bed.

# Vegan/Vegetarian Food:
– We relied on HappyCow and [isitveganjapan.com](https://www.isitveganjapan.com). Overall, HappyCow worked well but it’s not an exhaustive resource. There were definitely places which serve vegan/vegetarian food not listed, such as Starbucks.

– We also brought a printed piece of paper explaining the ingredients we can and can’t eat in Japanese. Thankfully, we never had to use it.

– Breakfast was a little bit of a struggle. On most days, we relied on fruit, bread, and yoghurt from Combinis.

– The portion sizes served in restaurants were a smaller than what we were used to. But overall, it is possible to manage, and find some great food along the way.

– The food budget we set aside was ¥5000 per day, and on most days it was only ~¥3000

# Itinerary:
## Singapore
**Day 1: Chinatown (Street Market, Buddha Tooth Relic temple, Thian Hock Keng temple), Little India, Marina Bay Promenade, Esplanade, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi airport**

– Most of us had Priority Pass with free lounge access, so we decided to freshen up in the Ambassador transit lounge before heading out.

– Surprisingly, this day had the most amount of walking at ~26000 steps which we didn’t expect.

– Breakfast – At the airport lounge

– Lunch – Greenleaf Cafe, Little India. There were plenty of Indian restaurants around, but this was the closest from where we were.

– Dinner – Subway at Jewel Changi airport.

– Singapore was easily the most tiring day of the trip. We wanted to try a lot more food options while we were there, but we were tired af. So, we just ate at the closest place with vegan food.

## Tokyo
**Day 2: Arriving in Tokyo: Check into hotel, all day Akihabara**

– The Keisei Skyliner took us close to our hotel, and was very comfortable. Price: ¥2470

– We had to wait in the immigration queue for ~30 minutes, but process was smooth. We took the Keisei Skyliner to our hotel.

– We did consider attending Sanja Matsuri, but most of us barely slept for 6 hours in 2 days. So, we decided not to push ourselves. This festival is held every year on the third Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

– The main Akihabara road is closed for cars between 1PM and 6PM, so that made roaming around easy.

– Lunch – CoCo Ichibanya
– Dinner – CoCo Ichibanya again

– Throughout the trip, CoCo Ichibanya was almost like comfort food for us. You can find it in every city (Except Hakone), and you’re guaranteed a filling vegan meal. But we of course tried to find anything else to eat first.

– We also realised the hard way, they you have to go SUPER early for lunch and dinner. So, we unfortunately had to eat the same thing for lunch and dinner.

**Day 3: Asakusa (Senso-ji, Tokyo Skytree, Pokemon Center Skytree town) and Akihabara**

– Breakfast – Starbucks
– Lunch – T’s Tantan, Ueno station (Inside ecute center).
– Dinner – Salted onigiri from 7-11

– Due to time constraints, we didn’t have time for lunch. So, we decided to have a heavy supper instead from T’s tantan. This place was among the best Ramen and Gyoza we had in Japan! Highly recommended if you’re in Ueno station, Tokyo station, or Narita airport. They also sell instant ramen for ¥250. We stocked up on those to eat later.

– An important note about T’s Tantan: The ones in Tokyo and Ueno are inside the station. So you need to tap your card/ticket and enter the station to reach the restaurant. The gate deducted ¥150 even though we entered and exited through the same gate, so beware of this.

**Day 4: Ikebukoro (Animate, Uni-Qlo, Sunshine City and Pokemon Mega Center), Harajuku (Meiji-jingu), Shinjuku, Shibuya (Hachikō memorial, Shibuya 109, PARCO – Nintendo Store, Pokemon Center Shibuya, Capcom store)**

– Breakfast: Caffe Veloce – Has some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Good for a light breakfast

– Lunch: Subway at Ikebukoro Sunshine City

– Dinner: Carvaan Delicatessen – A good Middle Eastern style restaurant located in Shibuya station

– There were actually a good number of vegan places we could have gone to. Falafel brothers, and Izakaya Masaka in the Shibuya PARCO building were other options.

## Hakone
**Day 5: Transit to Hakone via Romancecar, Pola art museum, Hakone Venitian Glass museum, Onsen and Dinner at Ryokan**

– One big issue we noticed as soon as we reached Hakone, is the bus wait time. Expect to wait for 30+ minutes to catch a bus. In addition, the bus services don’t extend late into the night. Hence, making note of the last bus back is essential.

– Breakfast: Caffe Veloce for a light breakfast

– Lunch: Restaurant at the Pola Art museum – This was the closest restaurant to our Ryokan with a vegan option. Food was fine, but a bit expensive.

– Dinner: Vegan meal at Ryokan. The folks at Mitake gladly arranged a Vegan dinner for our entire group of 11! It was quite expensive (¥4400 per person) but was a good experience. The dishes were things we had never tried before, and they made some clever vegan substitutions like Eggplant instead of fish.

**Day 6: Hakone loop (Ropeway to Owakudani, Boat cruise across Lake Ashi, Hakone shrine and Torri gate), Onsen**

– Lunch: Pizza at La Terrazza (plus some snacks from 7-11 and instant ramen we bought) – A decently filling meal. Has vegan and vegetarian pasta and pizza.

– Dinner: For dinner, we ended up eating one of the Vegan noodles we bought at T’s tantan along with some hash browns from Family mart. Reason being, we had to get back to our Ryokan before the bus services stop, and there were no vegan places nearby.

## Kyoto
**Day 7: Transit to Kyoto, Imperial Palace, Nijo castle, Kyoto Tower**

– As many others have mentioned, almost everything in Kyoto closes by 4. And we unfortunately missed the entry to Nijo castle by 15 minutes.

– Breakfast: Starbucks at Odawara station

– Lunch: OC Burrito – A great place to eat, located in the SUINA building food court.

– Dinner – Meals and snacks we brought from home. There were places to eat around, but we were too tired.

**Day 8: Arashiyama (Sagano scenic train, Bamboo grove, Tenryuji temple, main shopping street, Togetsukyo bridge), Kinkakuji, and Pokemon Center Kyoto (SUINA mall)**

– Lunch: Musubi cafe – A very nice vegan set meal, located beyond Togetsukyo bridge. Not too expensive either!

– There is a Shojin-Ryori restaurant called Shigetsu located inside Tenryuji temple. We wanted to eat here, but it was fully booked. If you plan on eating here, MAKE SURE TO BOOK A TABLE AT LEAST A MONTH IN ADVANCE! As of writing this, some days are even booked through Feb 2024!

– Dinner: Miyabi – Amazing and filing vegan Okonomiyaki! And it was also one of the cheapest meals we had. They were also able to provide us with a vegan sauce, since the condiments on the table were not. Recommended if you’re around the area. You may have to take a bus to get there, but it’s worth it.

**Day 9: Fushimi inari, Kiyomizu-Dera and Sannen-zaka, Ninnen-zaka, Yasaka jinja shrine, and Ginza**

– The crowd at Fushimi Inari is not a huge problem. It thins out significantly after the first rest stop. It can be a problem if you want a decent photo in front of the main shrine, but still manageable. The shrine is open at night, so you can consider doing an evening trek as well.

– I would highly recommend visiting Yasaka jinja shrine at night! This is one of the few shrines open 24/7 and looks beautiful with all the lanterns.

– Lunch: Machiya Starbucks on Ninnen-zaka – We wanted to check out this special Starbucks. Getting a seat was difficult though. Try coming here in the morning if possible.

– Dinner: Itadakizen – A pretty small but highly rated restaurant in Kyoto. We planned on eating here the previous day, but they couldn’t accommodate us without a reservation. So, book on advance if you plan on eating here!

**Day 10: Ginkaku-ji, and roaming aroud Minami ward**

– Lunch: Omen, Ginkaku-ji – Amazing Udon! Try to come as early as possible, because there is a small wait. Vegan menu only has 2 options (Cold Udon or Hot Udon), but still excellent.

– Dinner: OC Burrito – It was raining pretty heavily, so we ate here again. Great food nonetheless.

## Osaka
**Day 11: Transit to Osaka, Osaka Tenmangu, Osaka Castle, Aquarium Kaiyukan, Ferris Wheel, Dotonbori**

– Lunch: Unfortunately, had to skip to make it to Tenmangu shrine on time

– Dinner: Gyozaoh Dotonbori – Amazing place for Ramen and Gyoza! There is a separate vegan menu, and they were even able to accommodate the entire group in a separate room!

**Day 12: USJ**

– A few tips about USJ:
1. Try to come as early as possible. Check the park entry times for the day, and take the early entry pass of you want some extra time.
3. Food and Water are not allowed in the park, but empty water bottles are, which is useful to have.
4. Link your USJ pass to the app. We were able to do it in the line, before they even scanned our pass.
5. The staff may not ask you for a timed entry ticket for SNW if you do it as soon as the park opens. But try to book a slot either way.
6. The SNW power up band is ABSOLUTELY worth it, if you plan on spending a good amount of time there. You get to interact with all the elements, complete challenges, and the band works as an Amiibo for your Nintendo Switch!
7. Kinopio’s Cafe has a time slot system. You take a ticket from the staff, and return when it’s time. I’d suggest taking a ticket ~1hr before you plan on eating. We were able to ride Yoshi’s Adventure while waiting!
8. If you plan on doing the Jurassic park ride, bring your own poncho from a Combini if you want. They sell a disposable one for ¥400, which is a ripoff.

– My favourite ride in the park by far was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey! I’d highly recommend giving it a try.

– Yoshi’s Adventure has a great view of SNW, but it’s not worth waiting more than 20-30 mins. Would recommend it only if you’re waiting and have nothing else to do, have a kid, or want to finish all the challenges in the app.

– Lunch: USJ is unfortunately not very vegan friendly. The only vegan option they have is at Three Broomsticks, Harry Potter World. Kinopio’s Cafe at Super Nintendo World has 2 salads that contains mozzarella cheese, which is what we had.

– With SNW, once you leave you cannot re-enter without another times entry ticket. So, you’ll need to plan, keeping lunch in mind.

– Dinner – CoCo Ichibanya

**Day 13: Umeda (Pokemon Center Osaka, Nintendo Osaka, Capcom Umeda), Nipponbashi, Denden town, Pokemon Center Osaka DX, Joysound Karaoke**

– For anime and video game souvenirs, we actually found Nipponbashi to be better than Akihabara! This place was less chaotic and smaller than Akiba, which made shopping easier.

– Lunch: LUU’s BAO – A great vegan bao place in Nipponbashi. Do check it out of you’re in the area.

– Dinner: Oko Okonomiyaki – An excellent Okonomiyaki place in Shinsaibashi. The place however is really small, and extremely popular. If you plan on eating here, be sure to reach before 6:45pm otherwise you’ll have to wait for more than an hour. But it’s worth the wait! Luckily, there is an automated token system, so you can take a ticket and roam around the area until it’s your turn.

– The shop right beside Oko also has vegan options, so you can check it out if the wait is too long at Oko. I haven’t tried this place but just saw it on the way out. Doesn’t seem to be listed on HappyCow either.

## Tokyo
**Day 14: Transit to Tokyo, Ghibli museum**

– On this day, some of us missed the Shinkansen we reserved by 2 minutes. But thankfully, we were able to board the unreserved compartment on the next train.

– Make sure to double check the platform number on the display!

– Tickets for Ghibli museum: The international website is a pain in the ass. There is a queue system, but even if you open the website 10 minutes before tickets open, you’re not going to be first in line. In your itinerary keep multiple possibilities for the museum, and be prepared if you don’t get the slot you want. (NOTE: You do not need to make any account if you’re booking through the international website. You can book 6 tickets at once)
The Japanese website is far less crowded now. You can try this if the international quota is sold out. You do need to make an account on Lawson for this method. But Lawson will keep spamming your inbox, so don’t use your primary email.

– Lunch: No lunch, because we had to rush to the Ghibli museum

– Dinner T’s Tantan, Tokyo station (Follow the signs for Keiyō line)

**Day 15: TeamLab Planets, Akihabara**

– TeamLab was great, but only worth going once IMO. The water area is not as nasty as some people here said (maybe because we booked the first slot?). Prefer wearing your own shorts over here. They do provide free lockers for your belongings and shorts if you need them, but apparently they don’t have pockets.

– Lunch: Komaki Shokudo – Excellent vegan Japanese set lunch around Akihabara. They also have Udon which was really good as well.

– Dinner: Ramen Shichisai – Around Kayabacho station. They have one vegan option, which was pretty good!

**Day 16: Transit to Narita Airport, flight home**

– Well, this was our last day in Tokyo and it was hard to say goodbye.

– For transferring to the airport, we took the Narita Express from Tokyo Station. Keep atleast 30 minutes from leaving the ticket office to arriving at the platform. Ticket cost: ¥3027

# General Advice and Miscellaneous Thoughts:
1. Keep some snacks at all times in your backpack, especially if you’re vegan/vegetarian. Instant noodles, fruits, cookies, granola bars, chips are all good choices.

2. Drink LOTS of water. You may forget to do this because of the all excitement! Not drinking enough can cause your legs to cramp up, especially since you’ll be walking a lot.

3. If you’re gonna buy new shoes, ensure that you use them regularly for a month or so before bringing them to Japan, or your feet will hurt.

4. When traveling with a large group, you’ll inevitably have to split up. This is bound to happen, due to different interests, dietary restrictions, etc.

5. Everyone in the group should get their own individual SIM, or pocket wifi. This is essential to call each other and keep track of where everyone is.

6. Ubigi is the best option if your phone supports eSIM. The 10GB plan was plenty for navigation. The vending machines at the airport have unlimited plan SIM cards, if you don’t have eSIM.

7. When buying an IC card, prefer the standard Suica/Pasmo/ICOCA card over the non-refundable Welcome Suica.

8. Wherever you’re going, make note of the last bus/train back to your hotel.

9. In Kyoto, take the bus pass if you’ll be taking 3 or more buses, even if you have an IC card. The flat fare system in Kyoto sucks (¥230 to any station), and you’ll find yourself quickly running out of balance. The pass costs ¥700 and you’ll recover the cost by taking 3 buses (minus ¥10). You can find pases in any train station by asking around.

10. Keep checking the weather everyday. Rain can ruin your plans! For example, we had to move the Fushimi Inari trek to a different day. Carry an umbrella with you at all times.

11. We didn’t use any luggage services. Most of us had 2 pieces of luggage at most. On the Shinkansen or Romancecar, the small ones can fit in the overhead compartment, and larger pieces either go behind your seat or in front of you. On the Shinkansen, you can reserve the oversized luggage seats for added comfort (even if your luggage is not over 160cm).

12. If you are serious about trying new food, I’d suggest setting aside time specifically for food. You will not be able to try out everything you want if you prioritise activites. There were many things we wanted to eat (Like vegan conveyor belt sushi), but didn’t have time for.

13. Try researching places that sound interesting before coming to Japan. This is crucial if you’re vegan/vegetarian, and can save a good amount of time.

14. For our itinerary, we figured the JR Pass was not worth it. It’s only valid on the Shinkansen, and a few of the main train lines in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

15. Before arriving, try to read up on the transport systems of the cities you’ll be visiting. The Tokyo metro map looks complicated but trust me it’s not! With a small amount of research you won’t get lost, on your first train. Also, download and keep route maps of the metro on your phone. They’ll come in handy when you least expect it.

16. Keep your passport on you at all times. Apparently, the police could ask you for it. It is also required for tax free shopping as described below.

# Tax Free Shopping:
1. You can get a 10% discount on the sticker price. The minimum purchase amount has to be ¥5500.

2. At the counter, you just have to show your non-japanese passport with the immigration sticker to avail the discount.

3. Not all shops are tax free, and do not assume so. Pokemon Center Skytree town was tax free, but Pokemon Center Kyoto was not. In a large mall like Shibuya PARCO, the website shows you which stores offer tax free purchasing.

4. It’s unclear whether or not you’re allowed to open the tax free items in Japan. Consumables like food (and souvenir chopsticks for some reason 🤷‍♂️) are sealed in a plastic bag, which states you should not open the bag in Japan. With non-consumables like game consoles, the items are not sealed but the cashier gives you a printed paper stating that you can’t open it and makes you read it before completing the purchase.

5. In the end, they didn’t check anything at immigration but my advice would be to not open anything and keep the tax-free goods in your carry on in case they decide to check.

That’s about it for this long report, thanks for reading! I’ll be happy to answer any questions or take feedback on things we could do better next time.