Trip Report: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, with brief stops in Nagoya and Nara July 5th-19th

First, of all I want to thank the r/JapanTravel community for the many helpful threads and comments that helped make this trip possible, including the comments on my itinerary check. My mom and I (55 and 30) went on this trip with the intention of enjoying the anime/video game stores and attractions (mom mostly knows the basics Mario, Sonic, etc.), historical sites, and the nature landscapes. She learned the Japanese basics including greetings, please, thank you, excuse me, etc. I have been using apps, podcasts, and one-on-one lessons to the point of casual conversation level and nearly passing the N3.

My itinerary changed a bit from my original post and not everything went according to plan, but it was a wonderful trip and am excited at the idea of going again. Below is my report, followed by some tips.

07/05 WED
Fly out from Orlando at 8:00AM land in Atlanta at 9:25,
Depart from Atlanta at 1:15PM and land at Haneda Airport July 6th at 4:25PM
07/06 THU
4:30 PM Arrive and go through customs
Check in a Hotel Fukudaya
7:30 PM **Shibuya Sky** (open till 10:30) We had some trouble finding the entrance and ended up asking someone nearby for help. She went out of her way and led us to the entrance. She was friendly and complimented me on my Japanese. The views at the top were nice and they had spots set up for decent group pictures. Going at night, it was beautiful seeing the sea of lights from the surrounding buildings.
**Shibuya Crossing+Hachiko Statue**: I put these on the itinerary, but staying at a hotel in Shibuya I realize I didn’t need to because I would pass them on my way out for the day and on my way back in. It was cool seeing Shibuya Crossing in person, a lot of people film the shuffle. We saw street performers on a few of the nights we passed by there. A lot of people took their picture with the Hachiko statue (us included) and there is a nice mural dedicated to Hachiko at that entrance of Shibuya station.
07/07 FRI
**Yoyogi Koen**: It was a nice contrast to see the lush green park after a night of skyscrapers. This is where the 1964 Olympic games were held. There are some monuments in the park as well as a pretty garden and a dog park.
12:30 PM **Lunch with iTalki teacher** hanging out with him at Kichioji (Parco, game center…) it was nice being able to meet someone in person that I had only known online up to that point. We did conveyor belt sushi at Sushiro.
3:00 PM Explored surrounding park and went to **GHIBLI MUSEUM**(10-5) The park surrounding the museum was beautiful. It wasn’t too crowded and was a great place for a stroll. The museum is a must for any Ghibli fan! Unfortunately photography is prohibited inside, but the is a robot from Castle in the Sky on the roof and Totoro and some soot sprites are by the window at the entrance. The timed entry kept it from being too crowded. It was exciting to see the sketches and storyboards for the movies and the mini movie that they had in the little theater was very cute!
07/08 SAT
8:30 Explore **Sensoji** the statues and monuments were nice to look at and the vendors had a variety of food and goods for sale.
**Akihabara**: The game centers were a big highlight with their abundance of Dance Dance Revolution machines, particularly since the popularity of DDR in the states isn’t what it used to be. The other games were great too. There were a fair share of anime tie-ins you won’t see much in the US (Initial D and Gundam for example). Most arcades had themed floors for rhythm games, retro games, prize games (UFO catchers/crane games), so there is something for everybody. We tried kobe beef on a stick and it was very tasty. We did a cat cafe, which felt uncomfortable the cats weren’t interested in the toys or interacting with anyone unless they had food which left me wondering if they might be underfed. I had humored the idea of doing the maid cafe cliche, but thought it would be weird tro go with my mom. There were many kinds of anime and video game goods for sale at the different stores we went to. We were surprised at which series had an abundance of representation and which series had none. For example, I don’t think I saw any Fullmetal Alchemist or Sonic goods at all!
**Diver City** Gundam Base (Unicorn)/Hello Kitty: The Unicorn Gundam is enormous and it is truly amazing to see it in person. The Gundam Base had a display for each Gundam series toward the front of the store with model kits representative of that kit as well as a description of each series. That and the many kits for sale make it feel like a museum and a store. The Hello Kitty store was cute and they had these sweet choco pancake things there.
07/09 SUN
**HIS CALL Church**: This is church in Nagoya that I watch online nearly every week. We stopped off in Nagoya to attend in person on our way to Osaka. We got there a little late and sweaty because we were hauling our luggage. We had some lovely conversations after the service and it turned out to be the pastor’s birthday!
PM Explore **Shinsekai**: I was kind of unimpressed by Shinsekai. Most of the stores didn’t pique my interest and the takoyaki I got there was runny. There was a charming candy store and a nice arcade, but I would recommend passing Shinsekai
Check in at Hostel OGK
07/10 MON
10:30 PM **Osaka Museum of History**: I was under the impression that it was going to be a more generalized Japanese history museum and was surprised at how specific to Osaka it was. The exhibits cover Osaka’s very long history and were quite enjoyable. The restaurant at the bottom was pretty good too. They offered combined tickets for the Museum of History and Osaka Castle, but we declined because I have read and staff at the hostel said that Osaka Castle isn’t very impressive and they would recommend Himeji castle instead. I am curious if it might be worth it though…
3:30 PM Explore **Amerikamura**: this was another dud. It sounded interesting in an article I read, but it was mostly stores that had merchandise that I wasn’t interested in. Unless I missed something, I suggest skipping Amerikamura.
4:00 PM Explore **Dotonbori**: Dotonbori was great! Tasty Japanese food as far as the eye can see. We had: korean fried chicken (mom’s favorite food of the entire trip), takoyaki (it was delicious and a nice redemption after Shinsekai), okonomiyaki, and candied strawberries on a stick (mom’s other favorite food of the trip). There was a talented street performer playing bass guitar, we saw a cutesy character performance, and a bunch of people taking pictures with the Glico Man.
07/11 TUE
8:00 AM **Universal Studios Japan** (Super Mario World+Hello Kitty) Super Mario World was amazing! The timed entry can be done on the app once you enter the park and it goes pretty smoothly. When you enter Super Mario World through the warp pipe you feel like you are in the games with Peach’s Castle, the hills, enemies, and blocks all around you. We did the power up bands which interact with blocks around the park as well as the rides. The Mario Kart ride was a lot of fun! The line has a lot of cool banners and props to look at while you wait. Very exciting for big Nintendo/Mario fans. The Yoshi ride was cute, but probably isn’t worth going on every visit. Definitely for smaller kids. We were surprised to see that the park was doing a limited time crossover with One Piece. They were selling a lot of One Piece goods in the shops, one of the restaurants was rebranded a la Sanji, and the music ride had a track you could select that made you feel like you were with the Straw Hat Pirates as they were being chased by the Marines. With the early timed entry to the aquarium we just looked at most of the other sections of the park. The Hello Kitty section had a tasty strawberry churitto.
2:15 PM **Osaka Aquarium**: The exhibits here were fantastic! I particularly like otters and penguins and was excited to see them. The big tank with the whale shark was a sight to see too. There were a wide variety of species represented including a jellyfish section with many tanks of jellyfish. I overestimated the time the aquarium would take. We spent about an hour and a half here. If I could do this day again, I would spend more time at Universal and get a later timed entry for the aquarium… or pair a whole day at Universal with an evening at Dontonbori and pair the Aquarium with a different attraction.
07/12 WED
Check in at WUMETEI Japanese-style lodge
9:00 AM **Kinkakuji**: Kinkakuji was beautiful and on the higher side of the temples for me. I was surprised that it wasn’t as crowded as articles had led me to expect (maybe that’s because it was July). The pavillion was nice and there were good spots for far shots and near shots if you want pictures with it. As was the case with most of the temples in Kyoto, the landscapes and plant life were very beautiful and worth nearly as much attention as the monuments.
11:30 PM **Toei Kyoto Studio Park**: I was really on the fence about this one because the only real pull for me was the giant Eva and the Evangelion stuff. It turns out that alone was worth the price of admission. They had exhibits for Kamen Rider and Super Sentai (Power Rangers) that were nice to wak through as well. The last thing I found noteworthy was the displays of the different Toei anime goods and memorabilia (a lot of cool movie posters) Most of the park is geared toward a younger demographic and makes me wonder what Evangelion is doing there. This park is worth it for any EVA fan, but I wouldn’t plan on more than an hour and a half unless you have small kids.
2:00 PM **Nijo Castle**: This was beautiful and so rich in history! My general preference turned out to be castles and palaces over temples and shrines. There were detailed descriptions explaining the significance of each bulding, gate, you name it. I felt like there was much more context and that made sites like this easier to appreciate. The also had a fair share of natural beauty with the gardens, ponds, and landscapes.

07/13 THU
**Kyoto Imperial Palace**: This paired really well with Nijo Castle. The information that we had learned about Nijo Castle was often directly related to what we learned at this Palace. It’s HUGE and I had a few things on the itierary. I would have liked to have spent more time here.
**Kyoto International Manga Museum**: this was really cool, but was much more library than museum. The first floor has manga printed in dozens of different languages. You can read the volumes at your leisure. There was also comics from other nations printed in Japanese. I checked out a Nancy (US) for example. On the muesum side of things they had some display cases focused on manga goods that came with snacks. The top floor had some cool exhibits exploring the significance and history of manga in Japan and abroad which unfortunately couldn’t be photographed.
**Kiyomizu-dera**: this was hands-down my favorite temple. There is a steep slope on the roads before the temple and they are lined with kimono rental stores. It seems that many people made use of these and dressed up to visit the temples. The architecture of the temple was breathtaking and being high up and away we were surrounded by nature. We were able to see the skyscrapers in the distance.

07/14 FRI
**Arashiyama Monkey Park**: the walk up the mountain was a bit taxing, but worth it. The trees were nice to look at on the way up and the monkey park itself was cute. The signs say to keep at least 3 meters away from the monkeys, but they will often walk right past you. There were some newborns that were adorable! You could go into an enclosure and feed monkeys that climg the outside. That was fun and a great way to get close up picures.
**Bamboo Forest**: mom loved the bamboo forest. It was amazing to look around and see bamboo as far as the eye could see. It was nice to take it all in for a bit as a contrast to the city feel.
**Tenryuji**: this had been a maybe and we went ahead and did it. Maybe I was getting templed out by this point, but I wasn’t impressed by this one and can’t recommend it.
Okochi Sanso Garden: this was a pleasant surprise. The path was nice, with a lot of beautiful plants to look at. The site has an interesting history and you get green tea and a snack at the end of the trail. We met a nice couple from Ireland and shared stories of our trips over the tea.

07/15 SAT
8:15 AM **Fushimi Inari Shrine**: This one was pretty and the walk up felt rewarding. We saw some torii gates on the way up, but when the path diverged we ended up taking a more scenic route. The shrines and natural beauty were fantastic. On the way down, we took the route with all the torii gates. There was a man putting lacquer on the newest torii gate on the way down, which was neat.
12:30 PM **Nara Deer Park**: This was exactly what is advertised and it is great. You go to the park, buy some crackers, have the deer bow, and then you feed them. They roam around as they please and we had a lot of fun people watching. Everyone seemed to be excited about the deer but some people were nervous. The deer picked up on that and would crowd around those people.
**Ginkakuji**: when we in Nara I felt like we should either do Odaiba or head back and to Ginkakuji. We decided on this one and I would say it was good, but not great. The builidngs and monuments were nice, it’s on the smaller side and it’s not too posh. It’s a nice and quiet follow-up to Kinkakuji.

07/16 SUN
10:00 AM **Ghibli Park** unfortunately we took the bullet train from Kyoto to Nagoya and then did the transit to Aichi Park before I realized that I bought tickets for the 23rd (the following Sunday). I must have panicked thinking that they would sell out on the day I bought them and rushed. We tried asking the staff if they could let us in anyway, but they were unable to as tickets were sold out and the transfer could not be made. We looked at some of the stores that sold Ghibli stuff on the way out and were pleased with the wide variety. Mom bought a few souvenirs for family. If I can go to Japan again this will be at the top of that trip’s ininerary. Thankfully the other parts of the Park will likely be completed by then!
4:30 Check in at Hotel Fukudaya
5:00 **Parco Shibuya** (JUMP and Capcom) & Tower Records: Parco Shibuya was cool. We were particularly interested in the 6th floor, which has all the video game/anime stuff. They didn’t have exactly what I was looking for, but I found a few souvenirs for family and friends. The Nintendo store was particularly swamped and you needed a timed entry ticket to get in. Tower Records had Tatsuro Yamashita records and CDs front and center which were something I had specifically wanted. We had bought a lot of souvenirs and were running out of space by this point, so I bought two CDs. I also didn’t want to run the risk of the the records breaking or warping in transit.

07/17 MON
Lunch with other iTalki teacher in Harajuku: we got lunch at a Korean chicken place and visited a **hedgehog cafe.** The impression that we got from the hedgehogs was better than the impression that we got from the cats. The three at our station had distinct personalities which made it fun.
**Ukiyo-e Museum**: we went to this with my teacher and the exhibit had many works by a French born artists. unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the pieces.

In the evening we went back to **Akihabara**. We did a few more game centers and I got another few sets of DDR in. Mom begged me to try for a giant Yoshi (her favorite) from a UFO catcher. I failed to get myself a Dragonite the week before despite trying a few times so I didn’t have the best expectations and I was worried we wouldn’t have space for it. All that to say I got it first try and we had to rearrange our baggage to accommodate him.
07/18 TUE
Intended on the things below; but they were closed this day because they already had off for Marine Day the day before.
Ueno Park (Zoo, Tokyo National Museum)
Shinjuku Peace Museum

Instead we went to Ikebukuro, did a little more souvenir shopping and tried out their game centers. In the evening we went to a traditional sushi place for dinner and I ordered a higher end chef’s choice platter. I recommend doing this at least once if you like sushi. It was the best I’ve had in my life!

07/19 WED
Fly home from Haneda at 03:25 PM

Tips:

Use ATMs to get your yen! I read this over and over again but had some time before our departure and went to a currency exchange center at the airport we flew out of and lost basically 100 bucks. The ATM fee is MUCH cheaper.

Learn at least a little Japanese before your trip. The staff at most places know enough English to get you through your transaction, but if you want to make conversation with locals it helps to use Japanese and in my experience I usually had to initiate the conversation. Some of my best memories of the trip were talking with older men sitting next to me at the different restaurants and hearing thier stories.

If you are a Pokemon fan, check out at least two Pokemon Centers. We went to three. The selection and displays are different at each store. The displays more than the selection.

Try out different districts in Tokyo. They each have their own vibe so don’t stick to the same one or two that are near your hotel.

Make sure you look into the holidays that are taking place during your stay. The Zoo and Museums I wanted to see are typically closed on Mondays. Marine Day fell on a Monday, so those places were closed the following day to make sure their employees didn’t feel cheated (at least I think that’s why.)

Make sure you book your tickets for the right day (particularly if they are out of the way in Nagoya or something)

Pocket wifi works really well and often comes with a protable charger. Make sure you keep the charger charged too. We had to rely on it when the pocket wifi didn’t charge overnight one time.

When you use Google maps it will often tell you which, bus stops station exits, and platforms to use, but you have to look closely.

Coin purses come in handy, but more places take card than you might expect.

You are likely going to walk a lot (we averaged 5-6 miles a day). Drink plenty of water, recover electroclytes (Pocari Sweat), and use an umbrella for shade on brighter, hotter days.

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