**Introduction**
Helloo! I have been lurking around this subreddit for a while now looking for inspirations and restaurants/attractions/things to do recommendations and i thought i should give back to the community with a trip report. Do let me know how to improve my trip reports if any! Apologies in advance for the lengthy post.
I have been lucky enough to go to japan multiple times with my friends so this trip would be the 5th time I’m here. It feels like every time i come to japan, there’s always new things to explore. This time, i am traveling with a group of 5 guys, sort of like a grad trip we never had since our plans got delayed due to covid. One of them have not been to japan while the rest of us have been to a couple of times, thus the more “mainstream” places are still included in the itinerary.
Our main goal for this trip is to venture out of Osaka for more day trips, anime Mech, Cherry Blossoms, Ryokans and Onsen \[4th April- 14th April\]
**Day 1 \[Osaka\]**
\-Arrived at Kansai Airport at around 3.45pm, got ready all our QR codes (Not sure if its still needed now) , still took about 1-2hour to clear the customs cause I think this is the first cherry blossom after Covid-Collected our our pocket wifi ( Some of my friends opted to Use eSim) and took the train to our AirBnb.
\-Went to Eroza Cafe for dinner at dotonbori since one of us was a huge fan of Final Fantasy. Nothing special IMO
Our Airbnb was amazing and my friends and i loved it. It was directly at the Kuromon Fish market, there were 5 double beds + 2 Futon, a kitchen area, a main dining area, its more of like a studio apartment so it kinda works for us so we could all like sleep in one round and drink at night together. we paid about 80+sgd per pax
The airbnb: [https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/41700732?source\_impression\_id=p3\_1695202727\_%2FG%2BnLluANcbNbJ8%2F](https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/41700732?source_impression_id=p3_1695202727_%2FG%2BnLluANcbNbJ8%2F)
**Day 2 \[Osaka\]**
\-Went Kema Sakuranomiya Park in the morning, bought 7/11 breakfast so that we can stroll around the park and admire the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately , we arrive in japan a tad bit late and the Sukura flowers are already starting to wilt. Still a pretty sight tho.
\-The park was a pretty near to Osaka castle so we walked to Osaka castle while admiring the Sakura Flowers. There was a toy figurine museum showcasing all the old toys to the latest figurines and i thought that was pretty interesting it was only $5 so why not.*Going into Osaka castle was interesting but unless you are really in the history, just taking photos outside with the Sakura flowers is good enough.*
\-Headed to the Aquarium for to see some fishies. Pretty fun and will recommend for first timers 😀
\-Last stop of the day was an Onsen, Solaniwa Onsen Osaka Bay Tower. It had a similar concept of the Oedo Onsens Monogatari where you are given a yukata to wear around the whole complex. There’s a foot onsen, and open air area to take photos, restaurants and the standard multiple pools onsens. Not bad but a little under whelming for its price of $25.
**Day 3 \[Nara\]**
\- Visited Todaiji Temple and it was pretty mind-blowing to see the giant Buddha statue. Would recommend
\-Walked to the Nara park to play with some deers. Nara park is always fun no matter how many times i’ve been there. Feeding deer, running about getting chased while u have food is just such a Nara thing.
\-Continue to walk towards Kasuga Taisha Manyo Botanical Gardens where we wanted to see the Wisteria flowers to prove none of us are demons (Demon slayer joke), but it wasn’t blooming. Oh wells still pretty nice walk around
\-We took a short break at Mizuya Chaya, which is a quaint little udon shop in the middle of the forest. Even tho the menu was limited, the Udon was amazing and eating a hot bowl of udon at 15 degrees is just unreal. There will be quite a number of tourist there so just heads up it gonna be crowded since the shop has very limited space.
\-Next we traveled to Owl Cafe Chouette to play with some Owls. I visited this place a few years back and it was pretty fun. Brought my friends this time and it was still soo fun. Got to see hedwig 😀 Reservations are required for this.
\-Early dinner at Chibo Okonomiyaki. Amazing place and my go to okonomiyaki place whenever im at dotonbori. I feel that the next time i come osaka again i should try Mizuno or Ajinoya, but their queues are always soooo long.
\-Last stop of the day was TeamLabs Botanic Garden. I went to the teamlab on Tokyo a few years back and it was fun as heck. Figured this would be as well. I met my expectations as i the colours sound and everything is just so cool. would definitely recommend. Book in advance.
Day 4 \[Kyoto\]
\-Nothing special we did in kyoto, did the standard tourist first time in Kyoto Route:
Arashiyama Forest > Fushimi Inari Shrine > Nishiki Market > Kiyomizu Dera
Went super early to take photos, like 6am and there was almost no one so that’s pretty nice.
\-Headed back to Osaka around evening. Friends wanted to try the Giant crab restaurant but we didnt had any reservation cause those there booked out weeks in advance. But another friend told me that you can try your luck and ask the person if there is any slot right now and surprise surprise they had a table for 5 and we went in. I would always recommend anyone who likes crab and first time coming to Japan to try this at least once. A Bit pricey so factor that budget in. Worth tho.
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Day 5 \[Tottori\]
\-Since we bought the JR Kansai Wide pass, we might as well travel to the furthest point to make the pass worth. We decided to visit the Tottori Sand dunes and it was amazing. If you have a chance, you should definitely go and visit it. It is sandy and the cold and we spent about 2 hours just chilling there taking photos etc.
\-There was a sand museum nearby where every few months they showcase sand sculptures based on a certain country/theme. When we went there it was Egypt. Pretty amazing feat to see such detailed sculptures made only by sand.
There we quite limited restaurants there so have lunch early before they all closes at around 1-2pm. Apparently they are quite famous for seafood since they are by the ocean so try their Seafood donburi.
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**Day 6 \[Kurashiki\]**
\-Kurashiki is really a nice place that i came to enjoy. It is giving the small olden town vibes with a long canal the middle. Love the vibe and tranquility. Too bad we couldn’t ride the boat at the canal because it was fully booked. i think you gotta come super early to book the tickets.
We explored the town, ate street food, walk around. There’s this denim street where everything is denim themed including the ice cream and food. Pretty cool concept. My friends bought some jeans here.
Stayed here still around late afternoon and traveled back to osaka for dinner. Just ate at some random store for dinner.
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**Day 7-8 \[Kinosaki Onsen Town\]**
This was one place that i wanted to go and we also decided to splurge abit for a Ryokan and stayed one night. It was about $450 per person and it was worth every penny. We had a large room, a private bath. Dinner and breakfast was also included. The dinner was Omakase style at the restaurant right beside the Ryokan and it was one of the best meal i had this trip. The Ryokan is called Nishimuraya Honkan.
The town itself had 9 onsens and if you stayed at any of the ryokans at the town, u get a pass to visit all the 9 onsens anytime you want until you checkout. Certain onsens closes at certain days and times so just visit whichever ones that was opened. We wore Yukata around the town trying different food and going to the onsen whenever we come across one. It was really a relaxing and nice change of pace.
The next day we just went to more onsens again and just chilled at the town till late afternoon before heading back to Osaka to check in to the next hotel. The next hotel we stayed at was Omo7. It’s a pretty modern/hipster kind of hotel/Resort at shinsekai. the room was huge and it was pretty worth it at 80 dollars per pax. would definitely stay here for big groups.
\-Had dinner Gyukatsu Motomura and this is the bomb. Gyukatsu is a unique concept in japan and this was one of the most delicious thing in Japan, Not to mention is was pretty damn affordable so you can eat it multiple times during the trip. 10/10 would recommend no cap.
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**Day 9 \[USJ\]**
No trip to Osaka is complete without visiting a theme park. i have been to USJ multiple times and it still soo soo fun. I wanted to visit again because the last time i went , the Nintendo World wasn’t finished. We bought the express 7 because we wanted guaranteed entry to Nintendo world and Harry potter. It turns out there wasn’t really much people that day and we could have not bought the express pass. Oh wells i guess we have more time to go around the park. The nintendo was everything i imagined and more. It was just so much fun. The rides, the colours ,the sounds, its all sooo inviting. Loved the place.
Also one of the main reasons we wanted to go USJ because every year they had this ‘Cool Japan’ event where some of the rides and food were themed after a certain anime. This year Jujutsu Kaisen and Spy X family so that’s a W for us. we bought a couple of merch like the popcorn basket and the theme spy x family lunch.
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**Day 10 \[Osaka\]**
This was out last day in Japan so there wasn’t really much thing planned. Our flight was in the morning the next day so we didnt want to pack too much things. We mainly went to:
\- Den Den town to get some Anime merch
\-Kuromon market to get some last minute souvenirs
\-Pokemon center at Umeda daimaru and some shopping
managed to try the 551 Horai Bun and tbh personally i felt that it was pretty mid wasn’t worth the hype at all. Maybe i’m from an asian country where meat buns are dime a dozen so it wasn’t anything fantastic at all. If anything, to me it felt like the most disappointing food of the whole trip. But just try it, it may be for you 😀
\-We decided to splurge a bit for the last dinner in Japan and i recommend Yakiniku M. I would always fit in at least 2 meals in the entire trip for Yakiniku M because its a really good BBQ beef. They use A5 Matsuzaka beef and they never fail to disappoint.
\-Ended the day Osaka’s most famous Onsen,Spa World. I would visit this place at least 3-4 times in a trip because its just so much fun. Themed onsen, a water park and restaurant. What’s more to say?
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**Final Words.**
There’s always new things to explore and new experiences every time you step foot into this country. I hope that everyone has a chance to visit this amazing country once in your life. From the people to the culture to the endless activities, i am pretty sure there’s something for everyone. Some final Tips:
**Money**
Most of the places accept Credit card but just bring cash to those more rural places. i like to do 1/2 of budget in cash 1/2 youtrip, prioritising payment in card first.
**Language**
Most tourist places have english speaking staff or English Signs. I speak basic conversational japanese so that language wasn’t a big problem for me. Learning some basic phrases can go a long way.
**Onsen**
Like many peeps here mentioned, most places don’t allow tattoos. One of my friends who had tattoo couldn’t join us in most of the onsens that we went. However, Kinosaki Onsen does allow tattoo in all their 9 onsens so that was one of the main reasons we went there.
Wifi
I used Japan wireless pocket wifi for my Internet needs and some of my friends used eSim, both had no problem so it depends what kind of data you need. Pocket Wifi is indeed more troublesome since you need to collect and return and bring an extra device around but u get unlimited data while eSim don’t require anything but u gotta check if your phone supports it. My friend said Ubigi is pretty good.
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Thanks for reading! 😀
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