My partner and I are going on a 3 week Japan trip toward the end of this month! It will be our first time in Japan and first time travelling together. We are from Australia, LGBT, able-bodied and in our mid 20’s.
We’ve always wanted to visit Japan and want to experience both the modern and traditional sides during our visit.
We both are big into Japanese food and would be interested in recommendations for restaurants to visit. In Australia, we enjoy Izakaya and fresh fish in conveyor belt sushi. Recommendations for some of the best non-smoking Izakaya or conveyor-belt sushi places would be appreciated! We also want to try uni and Kobe beef somplace special like at an omokase restaurant. I really like the ‘sunken seating’ experience.
My partner is big into arcades and video games, while I take more to art and architecture. We both enjoy exploring nature and are looking forward to the uniquely japanese experiences like comic book stores, novelty cafes and kawaii culture.
**Itinerary:**
|Date|City|Activities|
|:-|:-|:-|
|22/7|Arrive in Tokyo|Arrive Haneda Airport at night. Buy IC card and take Monorail and Yamamote line to accomodation in Shinjuku.|
|23/7|Tokyo|Shinjuku. Discover the local area. Metropolitan Government Observation deck, local gardens and Meiji Jingu. Golden Gai for dinner.|
|24/7|Tokyo|Shibuya, Harajuku, Ebisu. Nezu Museum. Hedgehog/Cat Cafe. Nintendo and Capcom stores. Izakaya and Omoide Yokocho.|
|25/7|Tokyo|Buffer day.|
|26/7|Tokyo|Akihabara. Square Enix Cafe Tokyo. Shopping and Arcades. teamLab Planets.|
|27/8|Tokyo to Hakone|Odakyu Romance Car to Hakone. Chisuji Waterfall trail or hanging out at the Onsen.|
|28/8|Hakone|Sengokuhara Susuki Grass Fields. Hakone Ropeway and Sightseeing Cruise to Old Tōkaidō Road Ancient Cedar Avenue.|
|29/8|Hakone to Osaka|Bullet train to Osaka (Start JR pass). Discover the local area. Visit Nakanoshima or Utsubo-koen Park and Osaka Castle.|
|30/8|Osaka|Explore Osaka city, Dotonburi. Eorzea Cafe Osaka.|
|31/8|Osaka (Nara)|Day trip to Nara. Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji Temples. teamLab Botanical Garden.|
|01/8|Osaka|Universal Studios day. Royal Game Center Arcade. Hozenji Yokocho.|
|02/8|Osaka|Buffer Day. Janjanyokocho. Nipponbashi Denden Town.|
|03/8|Osaka to Kyoto|Train to Kyoto. Nishiki Market. Kiyomizu-dera Temple and Gion District. Maruyama Park to Kyoto City Museum of Art. Pontocho Park for dinner.|
|04/8|Kyoto (East)|Fushimi Inari in the early morning to skip any crowds. Kiyamachi Dori. ‘Naked’ Nijo Castle of a night.|
|05/8|Kyoto (West)|Tenyru-ji Temple and Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Okochi Sanso. Arashiyama Monkey Park.|
|06/8|Kyoto to Hiroshima|Bullet train to Hiroshima, leaving large bags in coin locker. Peace Memorial area and Toro Nagashi.|
|07/8|Hiroshima to Tokyo|Bullet train to Tokyo picking up bags on the way.|
|08/8|Tokyo|Buffer day. Shibuya and Harajuku area revisit? Mihoh Waterfalls Trail?|
|09/8|Tokyo|Mitaka. Ghibli Museum and Capyneko Cafe. Nakaono Broadway.|
|10/8|Tokyo|Chuo/Koto area. Artizon Museum. Divercity Tokyo Plaza Pokemon and Kirby Cafes.|
|11/8|Depart Tokyo|Buffer day. Leave Haneda Airport at night|
Accomodation is booked and pretty firm at this stage, so it’s unlikely that dates will be moved.
Are there any core experiences you think we could fit in that we haven’t considered? Should we move anything around?
I imagine it would be fairly busy in Hiroshima around Toro Nagashi, is there anything we should be aware of when visiting at that time? Do businesses close by a particular time, or is there a particular time we should plan to book the train by/for?
I have purchased pocket wifi, but wonder if an eSIM/SIM would be a better option, as we wouldn’t have to worry about charging the wifi device, plus then we could split up and both still have internet access. I read that Ubigi is good for eSIM and see that they have 50GB/30 day plan. My partner doesn’t have an eSIM compatible device, what would be the best company for a physical SIM card?
4 comments
For the pocket wifi/esim debate, my partner and I were in the same situation(my phone wasn’t supported by ubigi but his was). We ended up just splitting the cost on a Japan Wireless pocket wifi and despite the higher cost (3 weeks, unlimited data, $120 total), absolutely ZERO regrets. When you pickup at the airport, you’re provided a handy zip bag, the pocket wifi, charging bank, and prepaid post envelope for you to return the pocket wifi with. Charging is never an issue because of the charging bank provided, but also there shouldn’t be any issues if you charge the pocket wifi every night. Connection during our entire trip has been great, not slow, and the only time we lost a little bit of connection was hiking in Chubusangaku National Park lol (to be expected). Hope this helps!
Ubigi was amazing for my 3 week trip! I bought the 50gb plan and I had 6 gb left over using my phone pretty liberally like I do at home! Highly recommend
If you like traditional art/fashion, you might enjoy the Japanese Gallery at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno.
I also think Asakusa is a fun place to visit, despite the touristy nature.
Hi!
Personally, I think trying to do the Kirby Cafe and the Pokemon Cafe on the same day will be a challenge. Each one is a 90 minute experience.
Since you will have a rail pass, on your Hiroshima to Tokyo day I would stop off in Nagoya and do the limited time Pikachu tea over the Pokemon Cafe because (having eaten at both the Tokyo and Osaka branches of the cafe) I can say the food is pretty bad. (I think Kirby has better food.) However, the Pikachu tea (at least in Tokyo) was amazing.
[https://www.pocketmonsters.net/news/6559](https://www.pocketmonsters.net/news/6559)
They will also work with dietary restrictions and allergies, much more so than the Pokemon Cafe. I tried all 3 of the drinks, the Passion Fruiteade was the best.
In terms of luggage, since you are staying in hotels, I would see if your hotels have luggage delivery service, and just send your bags from Osaka to Tokyo, rather than trying to deal with lockers.