Trip Report! Sapporo, Wakkanai, Hakodate, Aomori, Akita, Sendai, Tokyo, Kawaguchiko, Kyoto, Uji, Nara, Osaka, Kinosaki Onsen, Hiroshima, Miyajima

Hello!! Wanted to share this trip report as a thank you since this subreddit was so crucial to helping me formulate my trip! It is a long post, but it needed to be since I spent a long time in Japan!

I had never traveled internationally before and Japan was my first international stop! I had an amazing time.

I spent 7 weeks in Japan. Flew from Haneda airport to New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. I brought $400 cash with me from the US and converted it at Haneda airport which I was grateful for because then it gave me a source of yen for my first leg of the trip before I had my wits about me to find an ATM. I took the hotel shuttle bus to hotel from CTS which was challenging getting there because I arrived very late and not having pocket wifi accessible until the hotel didn’t have translation services. In general very few people in Hokkaido speak any English. But I asked enough people in extremely broken japanese that I eventually found the queue area for the bus and made it to the hotel, pocket wifi was already in my room and from there it and I were inseparable. (My phone wasn’t able to do an esim card). I was so tired but walked to tanukikoji shopping street because it was close to my hotel. I wandered around some shops and felt so overwhelmed but got dinner at 7-11 conbini, tried a bunch of different stuff.

Unless otherwise noted, all travel was done via bus, local train, walking, or bullet train (shinkansen). My primary translation app was google translate with the Japanese packet downloaded (made translation of signs and menus a breeze and relatively easy conversation with locals). Google maps was fantastic and my trusty pair of Hoka 7 road running shoes never once did me wrong and made this whole trip possible without wrecking myself.

I traveled only with a 21″ carry on and a backpack for almost the entirety of the trip, something I read on this subreddit AND I AM GRATEFUL. Laundry was easy to access at almost every accomodation and there were so many times I was able to do more exploring because I could fit all my stuff in a luggage locker at the train station affordably and easily. I didn’t see many American or European tourists at all until I hit Tokyo and those few I did see looked miserable and uncomfortable trying to get around with all their luggage. Luggage forwarding doesn’t really exist this far north so that wasn’t an option.

The first leg of travel was booked through trip.com for good rates and easy management of reservations, but as I got to Tokyo it became harder to find good deals so I moved to Airbnb (which I still got hotels and whatnot even on there but at much better prices). I’m glad it worked out this way because northern cities are so much harder to find convenience and the hotels were all located by main attractions / near good bus and train routes. In the bigger cities further south it mattered less because they had more convenient transport over wider areas of the cities overall in my experience.

First day was a full Sapporo day. Figured out the bus enough to go to the Moiwa Ropeway which was incredibly beautiful and a great way to start the trip and orient myself to the city. Very few people on a Friday and there was a cute lovers bell at the top to ring. I only found out later that the ropeways is close to Sapporo inari shrine so I regret not going there, instead I headed to the Sapporo beer museum and garden. Interesting but pretty touristy, learn about the brand development and some about the Japanese colonization of Hokkaido. Had an amazing meal of jingikusan at a restaurant on the museum grounds and my very first Hokkaido vanilla soft creme! It was very good and you could tell it was made with fresh milk. Headed to Susukino and wandered around the neon lights, getting a bowl of ramen from a random shop before heading back to the hotel.

Second day I went to my WWOOF host site in Nakagawa-cho, a small village in northern Hokkaido. I did a three week stay on a small family dairy farm and LOVED IT. The family was wonderful and made me feel at home. I had my own room and made fast friends with their three children who even the 1 year old spoke better japanese than be but honestly they taught me a lot and helped me settle into daily rural Japanese life. Yes I know this was risky or whatever but honestly I didn’t say at customs I was doing this, just that I was a tourist. Didn’t have any problems with the farm officials I met who came to the farm for inspections/tests while I was there. Happy to share more experiences of my WWOOF dairy farm adventures if folks are interested.

During my stay I took a day off and visited Wakkanai, the northernmost town in all of Japan. Climbed to the top of their small mountain and saw the memorial statue, the big tower, and got great bento from a local shop. Also started collecting Eki sutampu at this point in my travel journal. They’re at every station and at many tourist stops so for the most part I always carried my journal with me and a quick question I learned was “sumimasen, Eki sutampu doko?” Even tho this lead to Many answers in very fast japanese for the most part if I paid attention to hand directions I could figure it out from there. Many people were surprised to see a foreigner this far north which was fun. I didn’t have enough time but there are buses that go regularly to the great sunset spot so next time I’d definitely do that. My host family met me in Wakkanai and took me to a sushi restaurant with a little cat robot that delivered bowls of soup to the table and a conveyor belt that brought sushi to the table. They also got me into an onsen which was great because I don’t think they normally accept tattoos but having a japanese family with me and a baby on my hip they made an exception.

During my stay my host mom took me on rides along the coast and to Teshio, Oiteneppu, and other small villages. These were great to see from a local perspective and amazing to see how proud everyone is of Hokkaido grown products! Had the best local buckwheat soba, potato croquettes, and soft creme everywhere. I was sad to leave the family but was starting the next phase of my journey so was excited also!

Took the train to Asahikawa which is where I got a 21 day rail pass. I didn’t realize tho they really mean 21 days starting on the day it’s active so I should have started it the next day and paid for my ticket to Sapporo that day due to my schedule, but oh well live and learn. Got to Sapporo and had accidentally booked a capsule hotel, the only one of my trip so that was fun to learn about but honestly it was my least favorite accomodation of the trip. Glad I got in late and left early.

The next day I was going from Sapporo to Hakodate and decided to stop by Upopoy since it was en route on the train. My host family recommended the anime Golden Kamuy to me to learn more about Hokkaido locations / Ainu culture, so when I learned of this museum I had to go! Put my luggage in a luggage locker at the station and spent the day at the museum. I wish I had more time because it was AMAZING. So many activities, demonstrations, performances, all about indigenous people of Hokkaido, the Ainu. It was a highlight of my entire trip and I want to go back someday on a weekend when there’s even more stuff going on! Got in very very late to Hakodate but the hotel had an onsen that allowed tattoos so I took full advantage of that after visiting Lucky Pierrot at almost midnight for dinner. It was such a trip I would highly recommend eating there at an odd time (during the day they were packed, queue around the block, but late at night no wait and plenty of space to enjoy the trippy 1950s acid trip diner). The next morning i did the hakodate morning market which was a lot of fun trying new foods like sea urchin, eel, and squid ink soft serve. I also did the ropeway here which was really cool because of Hakodate’s interesting shape!! I was going to take the ferry to Aomori after this but once I saw it would take 4 hours and the shinkansen would only take 2 hours, I decided to take the shinkansen.

Got into Aomori around 4 and just dropped my stuff in a luggage locker again and checked out the Nebuta Wa Rasse museum, it was AMAZING! I really want to go back to japan to experience these floats when they’re being paraded around. Such incredible craftsman ship. There were live music performances at the museum and a fun dance lesson of the dance and chant they do during the festival. Their gift shop was also incredible!

The next day I got a rental car, about 1 month before leaving i got an international driving permit through AAA which was needed for the rental car in addition to reservation. This was amazing because I went and checked out Oirase Gorge which was so fun to drive around and make frequent stops to see all of the 14 waterfalls without the 5 hour accompanying hike. Stopped at lake Towada to have an amazing shrimp tempura + udon lunch before heading up north to Takayama Inari Shrine. It was a long day but so so worth it to see the shrine which has 100s of red torii gates and there were very few visitors. I also saw an oriental crane in a rice paddy on my drive back to the rental car place which just made the experience that much more magical!

The next day I had reserved a ticket on the “joyful train” Resort shirakami from Aormori to Akita. This train ride was INCREDIBLE and so worth reserving the tickets a month ahead of time for. The scenery of the sea of Japan was so beautiful and the special snacks and events at the train stations we stopped at were so wonderful to experience. Once we got to Akita I checked into my hotel and went straight to the Folk Performing Arts Heritage Center. This was amazing too to see the 30’ tall poles they balance hundreds of candle lanterns on and learn about their fall festivals as well. You get to practice balancing a mini version of the pole which was a lot of fun watching others do it. I went up to the third floor and since it was near closing I was able to watch the guys who work there practice balancing the real poles on their hips and foreheads, it was so incredible to watch! When I left the museum there was a street festival happening down the road so I got to try a bunch of great streetfood and watch some neat local school dance performances. After that I wandered around Senshu Park which was cool to see so many samurai spots located in the middle of the city with great ponds and a beautiful park in general. Was pooped that day so took a nice long rest at the hotel afterwards.

The next day I headed to Sendai. I had wanted to stop by the Yamamoto Mountain Shrine but after looking at the train schedule it was just going to be too far out of the way, so I decided to do a trip straight to Matsushima and left my luggage in a locker again. This place was absolutely beautiful and a great little tourist town. Cheap ferry to see all the beautiful little islands and walking across the long red bridge to explore one of the islands was an absolute blast. This was one of my favorite day trips.

The next morning I did the Sendai loople bus to see the main sights in Sendai, the Mausoleum and Hachimangu temple, but the bus was cool because I got to hop on and off at a bunch of local tourist destinations which was a lot of fun. That night I went straight to Tokyo!!

I honestly thought I’d have a lot more fun in Tokyo but it ended up being the least favorite part of my trip. My hotel was close to the Yamamoto line which was a blessing because it’s a JR train that goes almost everywhere you could want and was very easy to access, but honestly the big city just wasn’t for me. The first day I checked out Shibuya which was alright for the poke center and don quixote if you like that stuff. Shibuya sky was pretty cool tho for sure. Then I went to Shinjuku for dinner, which was fun to see Omoide Yakucho, the Kabuchiko district and all that. Shinjuku was one of my more favorite neighborhoods. The next day I went to the Asakusa district which was my favorite day because the temple there is so cool with the huge lanterns and I really liked the shopping market vibes with the best gifts I found the whole trip. At this point in tokyo I got a big box from the post office and was using this time as my shopping time on the trip. That night I went to Akihabara, which for an otaku like me was fun finding figurines and anime souvenirs. The following day I decided to make a day trip to see Mt Fuji, and went spontatneously to Kawaguchiko for good viewing. I had a blast here but just a heads up the busses to kawaguchiko are very popular so get there early for a seat! I slept in a bit and had to wait over an hour for the next available bus. I got my return ticket right away when we arrived in Kawaguchiko which was a good move because so many people had strict return times to catch a game in tokyo or whatever but they had to wait for the bus and wound up being late while I was super set with my departure ticket already planned. I did the ropeway and got amazing views of Mt Fuji as well as the pleasure sightseeing boat which was great. There were a lot of other fun sightseeing things there but i didn’t spend a lot of time here, next time I’ll try to see the caves and the museum and everything.

The day after that it was raining and I went to Harajuku. It was fun but not as exciting as I thought it would maybe be, just a lot of expensing shopping although the crepes were amazing I will admit and I did get a lot of cool fashion ideas from the locals all dressed up here! The next day I did Teamlab Planets which was INCREDIBLE, FOR SURE GET A TICKET!! And checked out the Tuskiji outer fish market and the Namioka Jinja shrine which is nearby. Got even more amazing fish products and food on sticks which was such a fun time.

The next day was my transfer day to Kyoto so I mailed my box full of souvenirs back to the states after stopping by the Tokyo City Flea Market, which was a great place to find one of a kind metal statues and other neat stuff only found at flea market style places. I’m glad I stopped at the tokyo station to drop my luggage and get a mid afternoon ticket to Kyoto before going to the flea market because it looked like folks were stressed having to wait for trains since they went to get a ticket right when they wanted to leave on a weekend and Kyoto is a popular destination from Tokyo.

I LOVED KYOTO and stayed at a little Ryokan / Hostel combo that was affordable and not too far from Kyoto Station. I’m glad I had almost a week here because I could pace myself each day and still see a lot of amazing stuff. From tokyo I went straight to Fushimi Inari around 5 pm, left my stuff in a luggage locker and got to explore without too many other folks blocking my way. Fushimi Inari was incredible and one of my favorite temples of the whole trip.

The next day in Kyoto I went to the silver pavilion and got a Goshuin book and started collecting the red temple stamps! Which was so much fun to watch the monks do such beautiful calligraphy at every temple from that point onward. I walked the philosophers path from Ginkakuji (silver pavilion) to Nanzenji and stopped by a few other random temples and shrines along the way which was a great time and a beautiful path. On the way back to the Ryokan i stopped in the Pontocho district which had great vibes and I got a great dinner at a random restaurant.

The next Kyoto day i went to Kinkokuji (golden temple) and the Arashiyama Bamboo grove which I didn’t know if I would enjoy and actually it WAS SO COOL. I didn’t care about all the crowds honestly I was just obsessed looking at all the bamboo and walking around. After getting my fill and deciding I didn’t need to see any of the shrines around there I went to the Nishiki market which was by far my favorite fish market of the trip!! I tried so many amazing things like a little red octopus on a stick stuffed with a qual egg, the best shrimp kabobs I’ve ever eaten as well as my first Takoyaki from a street stand. Such a great time.

The following day I went to Kiyomizu-dera which was astonishing and so so so beautiful. Walking around the grounds, doing the special water fountain and eating a matcha shaved ice with red beans and condensed milk were highlights. Afterwards walking around ninenzaka and sannenzaka was so much fun and another great souvenir destination. After that I went to Nijo castle which was one of my favorite castles I went to on the whole trip, definitely worth getting the combo ticket to go inside the castle!

Then I went on a day trip to Uji, the matcha green tea capital of Japan was on my agenda and this surprised me with what a great day it was. Got there early and went to Kanbayashi tea shop (the oldest tea shop in Japan) and asked if they had any matcha classes available, they didnt but then they made space for just me to take a private class which was so sweet! The owner and 14th generation tea master showed me their cute family museum above the shop too which was so sweet and so generous. I got matcha and sencha for them and continued exploring, seeing the Byodoin Temple (on the back of the 10 yen coin, so beautiful!) AND I could not believe it but apparently if the river is low they do cormorant fishing in Uji!! The river was high so it was canceled that day but while walking around I got to see the boats they use and even found the enclosure where they keep the Cormorants. I definitely want to go back someday and do the fishing experience. Walked around exploring and went to Takumi no Yakata for an amazing matcha lunch of matcha soba with congi and matcha zenso which was so yummy! Then I went to the green tea museum and got to see a whole field of green tea growing and learned so much about green tea it was a really fun day! Train back to kyoto was easy and I rested before the next day which was –

A day trip to Nara! I decided to do the Nara trip as a day trip on my way to Osaka which was very convenient. Again threw my stuff in a luggage locker in Nara to explore and had great fun visiting Kodai-ji and Kofuku-ji temples, Petting and taking pictures with all the deer and watching them get into trouble and harass people for crackers was a hoot. I spent most of the day strategizing for how not to get ganged up on by deer and figure out the secret – if you get the crackers and hide them, you can take a cracker out one at a time, break into pieces, and feed the deer piece by piece until you are out of a cracker. Then you can take a break before pulling the next cracker out to feed more deer! There was a lot more to do here but I was pretty tired and honestly playing with the deer I have no regrets whatsoever.

Getting to Osaka was the first time I got lost the whole trip! I don’t know why but Osaka’s train stations were so so confusing for me and unlike any of the other train stations. I kept thinking oh good I’m figuring it out and then would see my little dot on google maps going the wrong way and kept asking why?!?!?! But I thought I got on the right train?! Maybe it was just me but osaka trains were not intuitive at all! Glad I didnt’ spend a ton of time here to be honest.

My full Osaka day I started late and went straight to Osaka castle. There’s a cute road train you can get tickets for which take you straight to the castle if you don’t want to walk 30 minutes all the way there. It was fun in a cute way and at that point I was so tired I was so grateful for the road train, it only cost 200 yen. At the castle I got a pass inside and got to see the cool architecture and exhibits they had, then went back down and was able to catch one of the cool moat boats they do around the castle. After this I went to the Namba Yasaka shrine which was AMAZING to see in person and they were having a little childrens performance on the stage. Namba Yasak was close to the dotonbori district so I went and saw the glico running man, Dotonbori was really cool like New York City but without all the trash and gross billboards! Got amazing Takoyaki again for dinner there before heading to Tsutenkaku Tower, where I learned the history of the Glico man and saw their cute museum. The Shinsekei district nearby was also really cool with lots of neat old school retro carnival games, awesome restaurants and beauty everywhere. I ended the day by going to Teamlab Planets botanical garden, which was again just beautiful and awe inspiring! Long day but I’m glad I fit it all in.

The following day I got on a train to go to Kinosaki Onsen. This onsen village is over 1300 years old, has 7 onsen and is known for allowing folks with tattoos. I made the mountain pilgrimage to go to the shrine to get the dipper and permission to soak from the monks there after I arrived, and got an early sleep at my hostel. The next day I rented a yukata at a local shop that I LOVED and ended up buying, and visited all 7 onsen that day which were all amazing as well as the traditional straw craft museum. My only regret is that I didn’t have 2 full days here because it would have been lovely to split the 7 up over 2 days instead of doing them all in one. Very cute town and I’m definitely going back next trip I absolutely loved it.

I had to take an early train the next day to get to Hiroshima at a reasonable time, but stopped in Himeji to see Himeji castle during my train transfer, again dropped my luggage at a coin locker and checked out the castle. Was lucky enough to get a spot on the english guided tour which was important to get a lot of context on what I was looking at. You gotta get there by 9 am to get into the tour, it was totally worth it. Stopped at a traditional raw egg restaurant nearby and had an amazing meal with unlimited rice and raw eggs! Then hopped on the train to Hiroshima. I really like Hiroshima a lot, one of my favorite cities to be honest. Right away I knew I wanted to buy a big luggage so I could bring the last of my souvenirs home with me. On my way I took the bus to the big Don Quijote there but didn’t wind up going because I stopped in at an amazing fresh udon and tempura restaurant and noticed a sign for a “second reuse shop” which when I googled was actually a thrift store!! So I went there and FELL IN LOVE! Lots of high quality goods at such good prices! I found a big luggage there for only $3000 yen, got lots of good clothes and neat metal sculptures, as well as THEY HAD AN AMAZING ANIME SECTION!! So many anime keychains for only 100 yen as well as great classic figurines for so cheap!! It was like heaven! Went to bed so happy that night.

Based on the weather I decided to do my day trip to Miyajima the next day. Beautiful floating torii gate the shrine there is so so cool!! Did the ropeway but didn’t have energy to do the mountain walk which I regret but at this point I had to really pace myself so I know I’ll have to return to see the primeval forest path and the other shrines at the top of the mountain. Walking around Miyajima, going to the folk museum was a lot of fun as was the ferry ride to the island. That night I was lucky to see they were doing Kaguya performances at the cultural office and there were plenty of tickets available so i got a ticket that night, it was so beautiful and a great show! Highly recommend looking to see if there will be any performances when you’re there, they run regularly from April thru November.

The next day was when I went to the Atomic Bomb Domb, Hypocenter, saw all the monuments and went to the Memorial museum. It was both really powerful and painful to learn about the devastation in Hiroshima but also extremely important for an American tourist from New Mexico (home of the manhattan project) to do. I’m glad I did. After all that heaviness I went to a grocery store nearby which was fantastic and got lots of affordable snacks, furikake, barley tea, and a feast for dinner!! The grocery store was so much fun.

Then I packed up and got my flight out from Hiroshima the next day!

Happy to answer more specific questions, share my bullet point itinerary (I feel like I did a great job of grouping things together and had a fantastic flow the whole trip) and whatever else folks wanna know about from there! Just say the word.