The (now) fiance and I went back to Japan for the second time, last time was in 2019 where we decided we would climb Mt Fuji on the next trip. Fast forward a missed Europe trip due to COVID and our first holiday back is … Japan! We tried to remember all our lessons learnt from the 2019 trip but we still had a lot to learn for this one, so in a way this is also to help me if we go back again.
We knew we wanted to climb Mt Fuji, so we spent the first half of the year training for it and also planned our itinerary around it.
Arrived Tokyo Haneda: Did the Visit Japan Web registrations beforehand, you’ll show some QR codes to get through Immigration but make sure to scan at the counter near the baggage carousels after immigration. This wasn’t overly obvious and if you didn’t do this, you would have to go back and scan your code. I saw a fair few visitors miss this step.
We flew into Haneda so we jumped on the monorail with iPhone Suicas, changed to a train to get to Shinjuku.
ShinjukuHotel: The Knot Shinjuku
* If I was to stay at Shinjuku again, I probably would have opted for somewhere closer to the station
* The hotel was about 10mins walk to the nearest useful metro station Tochomae.
* In the heat and humidity, it kind of wears on you by the end of the day, and we avoided going back to the hotel during the day to freshen up because of time.
Kamakura Day 1 (Day trip)
* Got to Kamakura, all IC card, nice and easy
* Walked to that coffee shop where the train rolls past real close to the window
* Got engaged in one of the more secluded temples, bought our Shrine book and started our collection of shrine stamps
* Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine
* Ring making workshop at Glanta Kamakura, booked online before departure with some help from Google Translate
* Back to Asakusa to see fireworks for the summer festival, if you hate crowds, you’ll REALLY hate going to any festival in Japan. I’m talking about hardly being able to move an inch kind of crowd. Police were trying to keep people moving but honestly nobody listened and it was a bit frustrating. We ended up just working our way out of there and found a cute little restaurant where we enjoyed some sashimi and soba- Senso-ji at night
Day 2
* TeamLab Planets, then walked around Harajuku, early sleep to prep for Fuji
Fuji Days 3 & 4
Fuji is actually going to have it’s own post because there is a fair bit to write but the key points are:
* First big lesson. I knew we had to get a limited express train from Shinjuku to Gotemba, followed by a bus from Gotemba to the Subashiri 5th Station where we were starting our climb. I had booked the limited express train (Romance car) both ways, seats reserved, times locked in, and thought I was all good. As it turns out, even when you have this organised and paid for, when you get to the station, you still need to buy a SEPARATE base fair ticket
* Bus from Gotemba to Subashiri 5th station to start the walk
* Subashiri has more trees and is less crowded than Yoshida
* Stayed overnight at Taiyokan mountain hut, booked via Fuji Mountain Guides
* The way down suuuuuuucks
Day 5
* Nakameguro, walk around, shop, Onigily Cafe- Shimokitazawa, thrift shopping
* Shibuya
* Yomiuri Giants baseball game at the Tokyo Dome (book online)
Day 6 DisneySea
* Pre booked tickets online before departure
* Don’t listen to all the influencers saying you need to get there before they open to get in line. The reason there even is a big line is BECAUSE they all get there before the place opens and they don’t let anyone in
* We rocked up around 10:30 and it probably only took us 20mins to get into the park
* Download the Disney App, every 120mins you can use free premier access to get in the “fast lane” for a ride. There are paid options that lets you book in more frequently but even this is capped at every 60mins
* Ride highlights were Soaring Fantastic Flights, Aquatopia, Indiana Jones, Raging Spirits, Ariel’s Playground, Journey to the Centre of the Earth
* Spent the whole day here, rides, eating, relaxing, shopping- If you want to get a cool set of ears/hat/matching Hawaiian shirt to wear at the park, buy this FIRST at the main souvenir shop after the entrance. If not, you’ll spend the whole day at the various smaller shops looking for one that you like, the shop at the entrance has everything.
Day 7
* Went to a post office to post some Fuji climbing clothes and bulky souvenir items back to Australia. This ended up being $150 for 6kg EMS. We were hoping to keep baggage to a suitcase and a backpack each to make it easier to travel between cities.
* Tsukiji market- Dawn Avatar Robot cafe (robot waitstaff controlled by people with disabilities)
* Ginza Six, Ginza Tsutaya Books, Ginza Uniqlo Flagship
Day 8
* Boarded the Shinkansen, Nozomi green class, booked on the SmartEx app and designated the tickets to our iPhone Suicas. All we had to do was tap on at a Shinkansen gate and it spat out a seating ticket (easy!)
* If you book 21 days before travel date, sometimes you can get a cheaper price on the SmartEx app, and in this case the green car was only a little more than the standard reserved
* Because we had suitcases about 20kg each, we got the seats with oversize baggage, otherwise you have to try and put it in the overhead area. The overhead supposedly was meant to fit them based on dimensions but I wasn’t going to test it out.
* Nozomis for this kind of trip is great, very limited stops, got to Kyoto real quick.
* Kyoto Manga museum
* Walked around Gion and surrounds
Kyoto Hotel:Mitsui Garden Kawaramachi – loved this hotel, super convenient to all the central spots, close to bus stops for day trips, limited train use in Kyoto.
Day 9
* Nazen-ji temple
* Walked the Philosopher’s path
* Higashiyama
* Ginkakujicho (Silver Pavillion)
* Train to Kurama dera
* Walk from the shrine to Hirobun (sort of over the mountain to the other side)
* Kifune Shrine
* We wanted to have some late lunch at one of the Hirobun restaurants where you catch noodles in a bamboo thing but honestly it was just too hard to make it work with bookings and timing of the other stuff we were doing this day
Day 10
* Fushimi Inari, again woke up past the alarm from the last big day. Plenty of influencers where the torii gates start, just walk past them and head to the top. The closer you are to the top, the less people there are. Plus you can meet the temple cats.
* Kiyomizu-dera, super crowded but amazing temple architecture
* Starbucks, it’s the one that looks like an old fashioned building
* Mos Burger dinner
Day 11
* Needed coffee so went to a dog cafe, lots of poms and poodles, we were missing our dog back home
* Nishiki market
* Micro pig cafe
* Organised to have our big luggage pieces shipped from our hotel to the next Tokyo hotel. This was super easy, the concierge did it all and it was about 50AUD for 3x 20kg luggage.
Day 12
* Otagi Nenbutsuji temple
* Walk to Arashiyama, in this walk you actually pass a smaller temple with its own mini black bamboo forest pathway. No need to fight influencers at the actual bamboo forest in Arashiyama.
* Did a traditional book binding workshop that we found on airBnB, this was awesome.
Day 13
* Shinkansen to Nagoya (SmartEx again)
* Limited express train to Nakatsugawa
* Bus to Magome-juku to do the Nakasendo Trail
* Walked to Tsumago-juku, make sure to stop at Tateba tea house and the Otaki-Metaki waterfalls
* Bus to Nagiso station
* Limited express to Nagoya, if you have a JR pass, Nagiso station actually can’t issue tickets that way so you’ll just have to pay
* Shinkansen to Tokyo Akihabara
Tokyo Hotel #2: JR Mets Akihabara – So good, so convenient, clean, comfortable, and did I say convenient? Also that luggage we sent from Kyoto? That was there waiting for us when we checked in, as with our Gibli museum tickets that I had sent there.
Day 14
* Ghibli museum Mitaka, had to get a guy to buy them for us on Fiverr so paid a premium for them
* Yayoi Kusama museum- Harajuku
Day 15 Nikko Day trip
* Pre-booked tickets through Tobu Express for the limited express to Nikko
* Bus to Lake Chuzenji & Kegon falls
* Back to Nikko for Toshogu shrine
* Kanmangafuchi abyss, it had rained earlier today and we saw some people get attacked by leeches
Day 16
* Kori
* Walked the Otama trail, found some wild growing wasabi
* Arcades back at Akihabara
Day 17
* Yodobashi camera
* Pokemon centre
* Harajuku snake centre
Day 18
* JCII Camera museum, you actually can’t take photos in here, the irony was not lost on me
* National Museum of Modern Art- Haneda Airport
If you made it this far, you deserve to see some [photos](https://imgur.com/a/0bucj4R).
**Shortcut of tips we learnt:**
* eSim for data, we used Holafly, has always worked well for me.
* Use mobile Suica, international Mastercard worked well for us to reload on mobile wallet, Visa didn’t work.- Get cash out at ATM, make credit card purchases in Yen instead of your home currency. Lots of places didn’t like tap and go, we use it in Aus everywhere so bringing a card around was an adjustment.
* Use SmartEx for Shinkansen and then designate tickets to the mobile Suica, suuuuuper easy. Also having the flexibility to get on a Nozomi is worth it.
* If you bought limited express train tickets online such as the Odakyu Romance Car or Tobu-Nikko Express, you also need to get a base fare ticket. Sometimes you can use your Suica as the base fare like with Tobu-Nikko, other times you have to go to the ticket gate like we had to with Odakyu.
* Metros were significantly worse than railways during peak hour, so if you have the option, trains are that little bit nicer.
* Pre-book everything, or at least everything that you would be disappointed if you missed out on.
* Climbing Fuji is probably the best and worst thing you can do, so spectacular even when the weather is bad, but straight up hell on earth at parts. Take the Subashiri Trail for a less crowded walk compared to Yoshida Trail. Stay overnight as high up the mountain as you can find room.
* Convenience store onigiri and boss coffee for on the go sustainment. You can’t eat while walking but you can stand on the side of the road.
I’m sure there is more I have forgotten about, so I’ll make an edit if I remember them as I go through photos.
10 comments
> the way down suuuuucks
Oh man I was just waiting for your post to get this! I did this climb once while I was living there and had the exact same experience. Trail of tears to the bottom. Moonscape path devoid of life above the tree line. Switchback after switchback. When I did it the bottom was also shrouded in mist so it was impossible to see how much further you had to go. We could only see the next switchback. For hours.
I did it once. I’ll never ever do it again. This experience is common enough that there’s a famous phrase relating to it:
「富士山に一度も登らぬばかに、二度登るばか」
Usually translated like “a wise man climbs Mt Fuji once, only a fool climbs it twice”
🤣🤪😂
Thanks for sharing your travel experience!
Your link to your photos is not working for me?
Do you know how long it actually too for your bags to ship from Kyoto to Tokyo? I want to shop my luggage but have a business formal function and need my suitcase to be there in 24 hours.
amazing! Where were photos 8 and 16 taken?
The pictures are great! Can I ask which camera you used to take them?
Great post – thanks for sharing your tips. Would be interested to know whether looking back, would you choose to stay in hotel#2 JR Mets Akihabara for the entirety of your Tokyo stay? Did you get the breakfast here?
We have a similar itinerary and had booked an APA hotel in Shinjuku for the stay, but it looks smaller than the rooms in JR Mets and is a 10-12 min walk from the nearest station. Thanks
Was the green class train ticket worth the upgrade vs regular class?
I also thought it was funny and silly the JCII museum didn’t allow photos. A shame because its exhibits are pretty incredible if you’re a camera nerd, but I guess you just gotta enjoy ‘em while you’re there.
Thanks for the detailed trip report! For day 13 Nakasendo trail – what do you mean you had to pay for the Nagiso to Nagoya journey even with a JR pass?
I’m headed to Japan for the first time in a few weeks. Great writeup. Can I ask why you didn’t use luggage transport between cities? We are planning on doing that but wondering why you opted to take your luggage on the skinkansen?