Hi Everyone!
I’ve enjoyed reading all the posts on this subreddit, and this my first post on reddit ever.
I’m going to Japan for the first time in late August through mid-September.
About Me:
Solo traveler
Ghibli Fan
Pokemon Fan
Shellfish and tree nut allergies. (Someone shared the Japanese food allergy document on another post and I have that ready to go.)
Budget Conscious
\- But I don’t include food in my budget because I live in NYC and food is expensive here and I’d be eating if I was in NYC or Japan.
\- But I’m not made of money so I’m not blowing what I don’t have on food.
Not into hiking or fitness in general, except when I’m traveling, and then I’m summiting mountains, volcanos, and glaciers.
TOKYO
August 28th
Landing at Narita in the early afternoon. I’ll have taken a direct flight from NYC. (Anyone have any advice on time adjustment while in the air? I’ve got this down for going to Europe and back. I can sleep on planes.)
Pick up JR Pass and pocket wifi. Train into city. Check into hostel in Asakusa. Conbini dinner. Sleep?
August 29th
Morning: Walk to Nakamise-dori Street to Senso-ji Shrine to Sogenji Temple to Skytree Pokemon Center. (My husband wants a Steelix figurine or toy as his souvenir. Should I be looking in a different store?)
Lunch: Souffle Pancakes??
Afternoon: Explore Akihabara and/or Ueno Park? I’m not planning to stray too far from where I’m staying today because I’m not sure what my energy level will be like.
August 30th
Morning: Explore Skinjuku. I want to go find the original Aikido dojo, which is a stop or two away from Shinjuku station on the Yamanote line. My dad was a fourth-generation sensei. Meiji Shrine.
Lunch – Budget Friendly Theme café?
Afternoon: Explore Shibuya. Metropolitan Government Building observation deck.
August 31st-Sepetmeber 1st
Mt. Fuji Climb. Going with a tour group for an overnight mountain hut stay and climb. Bus to/from Shinjuku station.
I plan to get a branded-as-I-climb walking stick as my souvenir for this experience. I only travel with carry-on and I was thinking that I’d mail the stick and the hiking gear that I don’t need for the rest of my trip back home after doing some laundry. Does anyone have any experience with mailing packages from Japan? I feel like the stick will make for a weird package situation.
September 2nd
Morning: Train to Yokohama. Check out Gundam Factory. Explore Yokohama on foot.
Lunch: Ramen Museum (Not Cup a Noodle)
Afternoon: Train to Odaiba. Check out Unicorn Gundam and Odaiba.
Dinner: ?
KYOTO
September 3rd
Travel Day: I’m going to Kyoto. I have to check out of my Tokyo accommodations by 11AM and I can’t check in to my Kyoto accommodations until 4PM. I have a JR Pass, any day trip suggestions for my time between accommodations?
After check in, I’m staying about a 15-minute walk north of Kyoto Station, I was going to walk up to and around Gion.
September 4th
Morning: Fushimi Inari Shrine. Hike the whole Senbon Torii.
Lunch: Take the train to Uji. Get a matcha/green tea infused food item. Tea depending on how hot I might feel.
Afternoon: Back to Kyoto to do some wandering.
Dinner: Pontocho?
September 5th
Morning: Train to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. In Lonely Planet’s Experience Japan book, they have a few pages on “Strolling through Saga,” which details a walk through this area that includes the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (Otagi Nenbutsu-ji > Gio-ji > Okochi Sanso > Arashiyama Bamboo Grove > Kameyama-ya). And the Top Tip on the first page is “In Summer, do this course in reverse and cross through a haunted tunnel to enjoy a swim beside Kiyotaki Village.” Does anyone know more about this swimming opportunity? I couldn’t find anything about swimming. I did find the haunted tunnel through Google Maps and walked through it via street view.
Lunch: Kaiseki? I don’t know if I’ll be near any Kaiseki options, but I wondered if there were budget and allergy friendly options anyone knew about.
Afternoon: Maybe I’m still in the suburbs? If not, I’m wandering around Kyoto.
OSAKA
September 6th
Travel Day: I’m going to Osaka. Same check out/check in times as before. So I thought I would travel to Osaka via Nara to check out the giant Budha. The aggressive deer don’t interest me.
Check in and explore! I’m staying right on the canal a few blocks from Dotonbori. Eat my way through Dotonbori for dinner.
September 7th
Morning: Osaka Castle
Lunch: Kuromon Ichiba Market: Can I afford a tiny Kobe beef sample? Pufferfish?
Afternoon: Amerikura and/or Umeda wandering?
HIROSHIMA
September 8th
Travel Day: I’m gong to try to do some laundry before I check out. I’m going to Hiroshima, and I’m meeting my friend there. He teaches in Miyoshi City in Shikoku and finishes work around 2PM. He’ll be arriving around 5PM or 6PM. I’m not sure if he’s driving or taking the train, but the hotel reservation is under his name. So, I was thinking I’d stop in Himeji to see Himeji Castle. But I think I have time to do more. Is there somewhere else between Osaka and Hiroshima that would be another nice stop, or not-too-far-branch off?
September 9th
Morning/Afternoon: We’re going to visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.
Lunch: Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki.
Afternoon/Evening: We’re headed to Miyajima for a night and staying at a Ryokan with an Onsen. We’ll soak in a bath and eat a fancy dinner. Torii Gate?
September 10th
Morning: Fancy breakfast.
Afternoon: Torii Gate? Hike up Mt. Misen. Enjoy non-aggressive deer.
MIYOSHI
September 10th is also a Travel Day. We’re going from Miyajima to Miyoshi City.
September 11th
The Shikoku part of my trip is still unplanned. I’ll be staying with my friend, but he’ll be working until the early afternoon. I’m not sure about the public transportation options in the area yet, and I know of a few things to see. But finding information about anything on Shikoku is actually pretty hard. I read Robert Sibley’s The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, I’ll probably go see the 66th Temple because it’s near where I’ll be. Any suggestions for public transportation accessible sites? I think my friend will have a car and we’ll be able to see less accessible things when he’s done with work.
September 12th
Morning: More sightseeing.
Afternoon: Last hang with my friend.
Late Afternoon: Train back to Tokyo.
September 13th
Nothing planned, but this is my last full day in Tokyo. Ghibli clock?
September 14th
Late afternoon flight back to NYC. I’m excited for the time travelling I’ll be doing on the plane.
2 comments
Okay, few thoughts…
– budget and food: food can be reasonably priced, but you can of course also splurge. you wont find a budget friendly 3 star michelin kaiseki restaurant, but you will find almost all eateries the locals also frequent to be in the 800-1500yen for one meal range. that includes ramen, or a burger, or a tonkatsu meal – all pretty good food and filling too. if you start looking for prestige restaurants and tourist filled themed stuff, the prices will more likely go up. unless you have a really good reason to pick one special place (as some people do, like fire ramen or kichi kichi omurice) I suggest not trying to make special reservations (that screws with the flow of the day planning) and it will usually end up costing more than just wander around and pick something on location when you get hungry, the mood is right, and the price seems right too…
– if you really desperate to save money, supermarkets and conbinis give you the very best deals, especially when you time it right and go for reduced because it has reached its “best by” time of day but that might be going too far. japan has the very best food to offer, and it might be a shame to feed on ramen packets and 7-11 onigiri and supermarket sandwitches. thats okay for some times but not all times imho.
– you are not into fitness or hiking. and you are going to japan. in the end of summer. train. start today. you will be walking so much in japan that if you are unprepared it will really sour your 3rd day forward, in bad cases for the entire trip. start walking today. make sure you have good shoes, two pairs. dont walk in wet shoes. buy blister pads the second you think you MAY need one (you can find them in conbinis, usually Johnson+Johnson blue/red packages “band-aid” labeled)
and it will still be pretty warm if not hot and moist. might be raining too.
Now I dont want to scare you, but I want you to be prepared. Most of all however I want you to mentally know what you are getting into, mostly so you can recognize it before its too late and you sour your remaining time or you push too far and cause fatigue that will bite into your remaining days…
– mt. fuji hike. I hear you have a group and plan on doing overnight. Thank you for not being one of those that try to go at it alone, in shorts, and try to do it without sleeping. mt. fuji is a real dangerous sh*tshow this year due to many coming unprepared.
(sorry I cant be helpful with shipping stuff)
– kyoto sep. 3rd: you can try to put your luggage in a coin locker at the train station or leave it with a hands-free travel luggage storage shop. it would mean you have to go to the train station to retrieve the luggage. you can try and get the hotel in tokyo to send the luggage to your hotel in kyoto, too (which is if available very much recommended instead of taking big luggage onto shinkansens). and you can, pretty much guaranteed, head to your hotel in kyoto and leave the luggage there at the front desk before your check in time.
15min north walk of kyoto station. dont try to walk from there to gion. you are walking plenty. take a bus, or the subway if you MUST go this day.
– sep 4th: okay
– sep 5th: I suggest you do tenryuji instead of Kameyama-ya and follow that list backwards if you so chose. its not a bad way to spend the day in arashiyama. I am unsure this is only morning activity though. probably depends on how soon your start. i would say do bamboo grove at like 6am, but, tenryuji opens at 830 and okochi sanso at 9am, gioji also 9am, so there is limited use in trying to get a head start…
kaiseki and budget friendly does not go together in any way shape or form. especially not in arashiyama where everything we might find is meant for tourists. I am not saying you wont find food that is budget friendly in arashiyama, it can be done but Kaiseki is not budget friendly, its a 5-digit yen cost you are looking at.
– you are missing higashiyama, maybe also kinkakuji/ryoanji. if you find time after arashiyama, maybe consider trying to add ryoanji and or kinkakuji. its a randen (train) ride and some walking away, but its a close option…
– higashiyama needs attention. its the one “if you have one day in kyoto do that” area. I am contemplating if you can steal the time on your arrival day (unlikely) or your uji day. maybe uji should be entirely gone and replaced by higashiyama? if so you could put fushimi inari on your “off to nara and then osaka” day, its on the way…
– nara day: yeah you can head to nara to check out the big budda. the deer wont hurt you. you will walk through the park and see some…
– kobe beef sample: i dont know. its probably more a question if you can find some sample, less can you afford it. fyi a5 wagyu might be what you think of, just so you dont miss out just because its not “kobe” named. I have seen sticks with a small piece to try for 1000yen at “street vendors” so its not out of the price range. but, again, you gotta find them, I dont have a list with addresses.
– himeji: seeing the castle when you can manage is a good idea. dont miss the garden. I am not sure you need more to do then. if so just wander around, or head to hiroshima to wander around there.
– with your friend, he will have the best plans and advise, i cant help there 🙂
Hi! I have a peanut and nut allergy and live in Japan! Definitely make sure you always ask, even for things you would think are safe.
You should be fine with most/all Japanese food, but if you go for any fusion foods (especially pasta or weirdly enough, Mexican food), nuts start popping up in weird stuff. 😵💫
Have a great time!!