This is my first time writing something like this so let me know if there’s something I could improve on or could add on.
Day 1 (Tuesday):
– Arrived at HND at 0515. Without the need for MYSOS (Covid/vaccine self-reporting app) verification, immigration moved quicker than it did last year, however, it still took about 45 mins to get through security as a lot of the process is still done manually.
– Bummed around at HND until 1845 until I took the monorail and subway to Yutenji to pick up my rental.
– Arrived at Yutenji at 0750 to pick up my rental. I used Omoshiro rent-a-car as I preferred to drive a manual when driving in Japan’s touge and mountain roads. Overall it was an easy process as the staff spoke good English, however, note that if there is any situation where you caused their car to be “inoperable”, you will have to pay 150,000 JPY to cover their losses which I find extremely unreasonable.
– Got to Truffle Bakery in Koto City at 0855 right before open. Already a small line up forming. The truffle scrambled egg sandwich and the salt and white truffle bread was awesome. Note that if you are driving in Tokyo, you can either pay 1,950JPY for a toll to save only 15 minutes, or you can drive in stop and go traffic and drive 40 mins to go 10km. Tough choices..
– Arrived at 0930 for my second breakfast at Misojyu. The soybean milk white miso soup was to die for. The kakuni, not so much.
– Got to Saten Japanese Tea at 1130. The matcha pudding was good, but I’m definitely not driving an hour for this again.
– Arrive at the sex life museum at 1345. Its supposed purpose is to bring awareness to sexual abuse/assault and normalize talking about sex. Good concept, and decent exibits. A good 30 minute visit for 1,000jpy/person.
– Went to the Toy, Doll, and Car museum at 1430. Cool exibits if you like Initial D, old Skylines, Minis, 2000GT etc. I guess the toys are kinda cool. You get to paint a plastic doll at the end of the museum.
– There are a lot of udon places in this area. Unfortunately most are closed by 3pm, make sure you get there early. Unfortunately, by 1615, only Suikouen Udon was open which was pretty good, but it is not one of the more well-known like Tamaruya.
– Finally got to our ryokan Nagomigokoro no Yado Omori. The facilities were excellent and the room had a great view. The kaiseki meals were just okay.
Day 2:
– 1030 Walked the Ikaho steps and up to the Kajika bridge. Don’t bother going until 12pm to be safe as most stores are not opened then.
– Drove up Haruna to Lake Haruna, and visited the Haruna Fuji mountain top via cable car.
– Drove to Karuizawa 1630. The main street (old Ginza) was absolutely dead and only 10% of the shops were opened. I’m not sure if it was a summer thing or weekday thing, but it was absolutely depressing. Finally got a proper lunch at Kawakami An at 1730. Visited the Kumoba Pond which was stunning, but would definitely look better in Autumn. Visited a quirky Izakaya called Sakaba8. There were barely any restaurants opened after 7pm, almost called it quits before finding this and would’ve settled for Lawson’s food.
Day 3:
– I can’t believe it, but I actually decided to get McDonald’s for breakfast. Holy fuck, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made for this trip. There were only 2 other people there any no one at the drive-thru, I guess they don’t expect much customers, so my food was FRESH. Fresh and hot Sausage McMuffins, freshly fried hashbrowns, and freshly fried hot McNuggets. Everybody needs to find a McDonald’s in rural Japan once in their life. Its life changing.
– Went to the Prince Shopping Outlet. Lots of choices there.
– Drove to Shiraito falls for some quick photos. Not much else there.
– Arrived at Kusatsu at 1500. Make sure your hotel is as close to the Yubatake as it is all on foot in this area. Beautiful and quirky little Onsen resort town, but not much to see and do except enjoy the few onsens. Not much food choices here either so order a Kaiseki dinner/breakfast plan with your ryokan. I unfortunately did not, so I drove to a nearby family owned Yakiniku restaurant called Bariki-Ya.
Day 4:
– Went to the Tenguyama zipline. It was a short zip for 2,000jpy.
– Drove 3 hours to Chuzenji Lake. There were a lot of cops there that day so I didn’t want to drop off my car to walk around. Took a few pictures and left. Got to Kegon falls, which was beautiful. You have to pay 570jpy/person to go down the elevator which brings you closer to the falls. This is an absolute must as it is a whole different experience than looking from above.
– Drove down Irohazaka pass. Luckily the Kei cars in front me gave way for me, but please do not try to overtake anyone here. It is not allowed.
– Spend the afternoon at Sano outlet
– Arrived at APA Kabukicho at 2130.
Day 5:
– At that point my ankle was swollen and in pain. Most likely got cellulitis at the onsen through a mosquito bite. Luckily at my rental drop off at Yutenji, I was able to see a kind doctor at Yutenji Medical Clinic. He prescribed me some anti-inflammation meds and some weak antibiotics.
– Had breakfast at Eggslut and Luke’s Lobster in Shinjuku station. Both completely overhyped.
– Had a lunch omakase at Sushi Tokyo Ten. I should’ve known this was a trap as it was very easy to make reservations (unlike most Japanese restaurants). The food wasn’t bad per se, but nothing special. The quality is definitely something I could readily get in Hong Kong or Vancouver, but considering it was only 8,500JPY for the omakase set and low JPY FX right now, I wouldn’t consider this a loss.
– Went to Shibuya sky for the views, and walked around the Shibuya scramble area.
Day 6:
– By this time my foot was black and engorged as fuck. I hobbled around to 5 separate openned medical clinics, no one was willing to see me. I gave up and went to Asakusa.
– There was a line up at Asakusa Imahan, so I went to Senso-ji and its surrounding areas instead. Went back to Asakusa Imahan at 1530 for Sukiyaki. IMO the Kobe for 19,500jpy was not that much better than the 11,000jpy set. I could’ve saved quite a bit here.
– Walked around Roppongi, but the main point was to try my luck at Yakiuo Ishikawa. They were full that day, but I could make a reservation for the next evening.
– Went back to Shinjuku, and got dinner at Gyukatsu Motomura. Please note that there is another one of these gyukatsus called Ushikatsu Aona which is also underground. Please do not go to that one, that one is definitely a tourist trap (I had it Day 4 evening after I found out Gyukatsu Motomura was sold out). Don’t make the same mistake I did. Get it proper at Motomura. There are a few locations in Tokyo.
Day 7:
– I tried a few more medical clinics with no luck. I went back to Yutenji and the doctor was more than happy to fit me in. For the love of god, don’t get sick in Japan unless you speak Japanese.
Got to the Tsujiki outer market and tried a bunch of different stalls. Don’t bother lining up for oyakodon at Torito. Its okay, but not worth lining up for. Tonboya was a good start off snack for 500jpy a skewer. Don’t bother with the 2,500jpy wagyu skewers.
– Bummed around ginza for a bit before dinner at Yakiuo Ishikawa which is like a Yakiniku restaurant, but for fish/seafood, and they cook it for you. Got the second to last set for 16,000jpy which I believe has everything except for 300g of abalone. The star of the show was definitely the Ikura, uni, and toro don which is covered from the 3rd set or above.
– Got my luggage back and took the bus from Shinjuku to HND.
TL;DR:
– Don’t go to Karuizawa either in Weekday or Summer. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
– Don’t get sick if you don’t speak Japanese.
– Put down Asakusa Imahan and Yakiuo Ishikawa in your itineraries if you like sukiyaki and grilled fish.