I’ll just throw mine on the pile! This trip was planned to my tastes which probably includes more museums than most folks, so be warned! 😆 Second time visiting, second time solo. Last year was a 7-city, 15-nights kind of thing, getting a ton of use out of the JR Pass (which was great because I ❤️ seeing Japan’s landscape by train). This year, I hubbed at three cities, didn’t use any Passes and didn’t get nearly enough train time.
I don’t have big goals when visiting- just to further my personal interests in Japan’s history, literature, art, folklore and modern culture. The other 50 weeks a year, I parent and homeschool a teenager who is medically-complex and has mobility issues. So while in Japan, I also take note of accessibility challenges for future non-solo trips. Travel dates were 9/26-10/11 so warm, but not as humid as Kyushu last year!
* used **cash** for everything (including hotels) to avoid merchants needing to pay credit card processing fees on top of the weak yen. Easy to get after landing at HND and NRT. My credit union refunds international ATM fees, but I also don’t think I’d mind paying fees for the convenience.
* for transit and konbini, pre-loaded **Suica** card through Apple Wallet. Don’t wait until the last minute to replenish, though. Sometimes, I had to try a few times before it actually authorized and loaded. Seemed to happen more often when I was underground or in very busy places. (used this for transit pretty much everywhere except for shinkansen, two limited expresses, two private railroad trips, taxis and the airport limo bus to HND. More convenient than dealing with last year’s JR Pass.)
* pre-loaded Ubigi 10GB **esim** plan for $17 USD and only used 3.7GB over 15 days, mainly for Google Maps and Japan Travel Navitime. Pre-loaded most museum audio guides. Only used free wi-fi network once (required to access museum guide). For laptop, used hotel wi-fi with VPN. Brought two portable chargers and didn’t ever need them. (Much easier than last year’s mobile wifi rental.)
* traveled with the same 40L **backpack** as last year and used coin lockers on two travel days. Brought, in total, four black pants, five solid color t-shirts, two cardigans, seven underthings, six pairs of socks, two pairs of shoes (only used one pair), laptop, iPad, phone, charging cables and adaptors, two power banks, documents, deodorant, comb, humidity-defying hair product, masks, thyroid prescription (along w/doctor’s note), too much omiyage for a friend I wouldn’t see until Day 14, and, controversially, an umbrella. I checked JMA’s 14-day forecast and saw I’d hit definite rain in all three cities so I brought one as opposed to buying one there and I’d do that again. Next time, though, I will cut back on the clothing and only bring one power bank.\* masked on flights and everywhere else except when walking alone at night. Way too many people coughing. It looked to be a 65/35% split on the trains with more people not wearing masks.
* ​
* Things I learned:
* always listen to (and heed) the overhead train announcements
* there’s a difference between semi-express trains and limited express trains
* it’s not always obvious if you’re on a train that will uncouple at some point (had it happen twice). Just know what car you’re in and where that car is ultimately headed to
* if you’re going to be at a museum in the middle of nowhere all day, pack some protein bars. There are always drink vending machines, but there aren’t always quick food choices around.
**COST TOTALS in USD: $3391** (was trying to keep it under $4000 and definitely could have cut back on transit, food and activities)
FLIGHTS: $1316 ($1225 SEA-HND roundtrip + $91 HND-IZO one-way, booked mid-April)
LODGING: $840 (14 nights, booked mid-April)
TRANSIT: $370 (trains, busses, taxi, shinkansen, airport limo)
FOOD: $380 (for myself + Osaka food tour and guide meals)
ACTIVITIES: $380 (entrance fees, GetYourGuide service)
SOUVENIRS: $60 (more omiyage for Sawara friend and airport confections for home)
INSURANCE: $45 Allianz Travel Insurance- OneTrip Emergency Medical
​
\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
**MATSUE**
Day 0 was the flight from SEA-HND (Delta Economy, 2pm arrival), followed by connecting flight HND-IZO (JAL, 5:15pm departure). For the Delta flight, they really, really harped on about the immigration and customs QR codes. So I think HND really wants you to do them. There’s a bus to Matsue Station after every flight arrival at Izumo and, not wanting to miss it, I read they accept cash and I tried to pay with cash, but the driver really wants you to use the ticket vending machine in the Arrivals lobby. So just go do that. The machine had English-language support and takes Suica. Plus, there’s staff posted at the machine to help everyone. A lovely 20 minute evening stroll from Matsue Station to Guest House Daisho, two blocks from Matsue Castle. The owners are really warm, friendly and accommodating. Awake for 24 hours, asleep by 9:30pm.
Lodging: GUEST HOUSE DAISHO OSHIRO ASOBI (A hostel. Originally booked with Dormy Inn Matsue but wanted a more personal experience and glad I did this. Just note they start cleaning promptly at 9:30am. And there’s a steep set of stairs to navigate in order to reach the dorm rooms. The female dorm walls and ceiling are covered entirely in glow in the dark stars. And there’s free laundry!)
Cost: (5 nights) $150 USD/￥22500
Food: Ramen Tonteki Daisho (conveniently located near and run by the Guest House Daisho couple) for multiple dinners and IMAGINE Coffee for multiple breakfasts. The folks at IMAGINE Coffee are kind as can be, have an English menu, speak some English and were patient with my sad, kindergarten-level Japanese skills. And the lattes are really good!
Sites/Activities:
Over the next four days, at a relaxed pace, I visited:
**Matsue Water Lantern Festival (Suitouro)** **at Matsue Castle** (nighttime event with lantern illuminations, Iwami Kagura performances, Dogyoretsu Drum performances, food, boat rides, nighttime views from the top of the castle. Went to the festival twice as they were running special weeknight events.)
**Matsue Vogel Park** (It’s a bird and flower park. Peaceful with lovely views, but if you don’t like seeing falcons short-tethered, maybe skip.)
**Adachi Museum of Art** (went with a great GetYourGuide guide named Hiroko. Had fancy wagashi and matcha for the first time! I wish I had been able to spend more time at JR Yasugi Station. It had some neat Yasugi Bushi things to look at, including souvenirs and a market.)
**Yuushien Garden** (same day as Adachi with GetYourGuide guide. We taxied between the two gardens. We had an amazing, beautifully-presented, 3-tier lacquer bento meal at Zen.)
**Matsue History MuseumHoran-enya Memorial Hall** (about the matsuri held every 10 years)
**Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Hall** (much more interesting than I thought it would be)
**footbath at Matsue Shinjiko Onsen Station** (perfect after Matsue Vogel Park)
**Shirakata Park** (extra lovely at night!)
**Shimane Museum of Art**
**Shiomi Nawate Street walk** (did this every day)
**Shinjiko Ohashi Bridge** (also, extra lovely at night!)
**Kyomise Shopping District** (Kyoto-style shopping streets, pretty at night!)
Things in the nearby areas I didn’t get to:
Haniwa Road (a nice stroll between Yaegaki Shrine and Kamosu Shrine)
Bukeyashiki (Former Samurai Residence)
San’in Godo Bank’s observation deck
Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography
Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo
Tottori Hanakairo Flower Park
Shimane Aquarium AQUAS
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine
Yasugi-bushi Entertainment Hall (closed for renovations)
Daisen-Oki National Park
Oki Islands plus tons more!
And if shrines/temples are your thing, there’s, of course, Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine. And Gesshoji Temple, Yaegaki Shrine, Kamosu Shrine, Kiyomiza Temple, etc.
**Take-aways for Matsue**: Easy to get to, pretty easy to travel around by transit, and plenty to see. I could have spent the entire two weeks here and not run out of things to do. And imagine what more you could do with a rental car! It’s perplexing that Shimane is one of the least-visited prefectures. That should change!
Day 5 was a travel day to Osaka by way of Tottori to check out the Tottori Sand Museum (and dunes, from a distance. I have access to dunes where I live, but not a cool sand museum!). Stowed my backpack in a station locker (plenty available on a Monday at 11am) before heading out to bus stop #0. I ran into one woman later who forgot and had all her luggage with her and then got off the bus to store her luggage and take a later bus. I couldn’t find mention of coin lockers at the Sand Museum and also didn’t see any. There are some at the dunes, but I didn’t want to risk them all being taken. The museum’s theme changes annually and this one’s is Egypt. It was awesome, as was the downloadable audio guide app. By the time I was ready to head back to the station, there was a 40 minute wait for the next bus so when I saw a taxi dropping off a group of 4 at the museum, I grabbed it back to the station for ￥2600. I had lunch and visited the Tottori Central Post Office for gotochi postcards before grabbing the Super Hakuto Limited Express, direct to Osaka Station. Osaka Station was a zoo at commuting hour and while my hotel was located not even 10 minutes away, it took me 25 minutes to find it because I am navigationally-challenged, even while using Google Maps.
**OSAKA**
Lodging: VIA INN UMEDA (chosen for its location to multiple train lines, I ended up walking to most places anyway. Upgraded to a double room two months prior. Wanted to book directly, but surprisingly, directed to reserve thru booking.com by hotel’s English web portal. Private lobby entrance into the neighboring 7/11 was convenient! A quiet oasis amidst the carnival that is Umeda. Appreciated the two pre-set choices of either Japanese or Western breakfast, brought to your table. Laundry room was readily available and easy. The hotel is located in the Hankyu Higashidori shopping arcade, btw. Though, I usually got lost trying to find it.)
Cost: (5 nights) $390 USD/￥58,215
Food: I know Osaka is ‘the nation’s kitchen’ but the days were long and all I wanted to do was grab an easy meal and chill out to Japanese detective dramas on NHK. Traveling solo, I didn’t have to negotiate that or disappoint anyone. The one thing I did, knowing I wouldn’t go to Dontonbori otherwise, is sign up for a small group food tour through Airbnb Experiences with a local woman named Chie. It was awesome! The other guests were awesome, as well. We ate a ton of great food and learned some really interesting history about the area.
Sites/Activities:
Over the next four days, at a relaxed pace, I wandered a lot and visited:
**Expo ’70 Commemorative Park** (toured inside the **Tower of the Sun** and spent the rest of the day at the **Museum of Ethnology** (great audio guide!) and **Japanese Garden**)
**day trip to Miho Museum in Shiga Prefecture** (highly recommend. At the bus stop ticket machine, consider purchasing the museum/round top bus fare combo. but prepare to possibly stand for 50 minutes on the local bus out to the museum. Standing gives a much better view of the landscape anyway. The current special exhibit was really interesting.)
**Osaka Museum of Living & Now** (kind of hard to navigate around everyone taking photos in kimono. nice audio guide, though!)
**Dontonbori Food Tour** through Airbnb Experiences
**Nakonoshima Park**
**Osaka Museum of History** (another recommend! This is as close to the castle as I got. Nice views!)
**Osaka Aquarium** (fairly crowded at 4:30pm on a Friday. I live within an hour of two really great Pacific Coast aquariums and visit regularly so while it was fun seeing creatures from the other side of the Pacific, I wish I had spent the time elsewhere. But it was nice seeing all the excited little kids having a great time. My kid would definitely like this place.)
Things in the nearby areas I didn’t get to:
Open Air Museum of Japanese Farm Houses
Osaka Ukiyoe Museum
Minoo Park
TeamLab Botanical
a ton of food recommendations
a ton of walking and light hiking recommendations (like Fumin no Mori)
**Take-aways for Osaka**: It’s a great city with much to offer! In retrospect, I should have re-evaluated my choices and used Day 9 much better. Or stayed for a few more days.
Day 10 was a travel day to Chiba Station with a quick trip to Himeji beforehand. It turned into an absolute crap day. Train gaffes galore! I actually didn’t want to go to Himeji at all but it was highly recommended by someone I know and then I was also hoping to visit Nagoyama Cemetery there. But I arrived to Himeji later than I thought I would because I jumped on the first train to Himeji I saw. Let’s just say I took the ’scenic route’! Plenty of coin lockers available at 10:30am on a Saturday morning, though! Then, because it was the Sports Day holiday weekend, I wanted to grab a shinkansen ticket to Shinagawa in advance because I was never able to get SmartEX to 3D Secure validate any of my credit cards. Not back in the States, not in Japan, not with M/C or Visa and not through the web or their mobile app. Grrr…! After trouble with the ticket machine (and wanting to pick my seat), I ended up waiting in line at the JR Ticket office. I should have considered Klook. The castle itself was pretty congested by then and I think I just fell into sensory overload. After a quick walk around using the castle’s downloadable app, grabbing a souvenir for a friend, and eating lunch, I grabbed the shinkansen. Then totally messed up the Shinagawa-Narita Express transfer to Chiba Station. My advice would be this: if you hear an announcement that your train is running on a 2-minute delay, but a train that looks exactly like yours pulls up exactly when it’s scheduled to, don’t get on it. In a moment of arrogance, I thought -“Wow, I can’t believe the announcement is actually wrong. Here’s my train now! How did they mess that up?” Did my train stop at Chiba Station before heading to Narita Airport? No, it did not. Luckily, after doing my fare adjustment to pay for an hour-long ride to the airport that I didn’t want, getting to Chiba Station was a breeze!
**CHIBA**
Lodging: HOTEL SUNROUTE CHIBA (located at Chiba Station, nice breakfast buffet, great staff)
Cost: (4 nights) $300 USD/￥42200
Food: Rin Coffee was good. And the Lawson’s was handy.
Sites/Activities:
Over the next three days, at a relaxed pace, I visited:
**National Museum of Japanese History** in Sakura by way of the Hiyodorizaka Slope. (Here all day. Great museum audio guide! )
**Chiba City Museum of Art** (extensive special exhibition of illustrator Ryoji Arai)
**Tokyu Hands** (not much of a shopper so finally made it to one!)
**Chiba Monorail Line** end-to-end
**day trip to Sawara** in Katori (I was going to visit on my own anyway, but a friend got a job here recently so I spent the day with her and a coworker, visiting the Mitsubishi Building (former bank/current tourist center), Sawara Historical Street, Suigo Sawara Dashi Kaikan (Sawara Float Museum), Mizunosata Sawara (a michi-no-eki), having an amazing lunch at a tiny restaurant somewhere in the middle of rice fields and at a bakery for dessert. Also Katori Jingū Shrine which I wouldn’t normally visit, but went along for the ride anyway. It was lovely, quiet and populated with many mosquitos. And the grounds are large and easy to get a bit lost in. Sawara makes for a great day trip. We had use of a car, but with the exception of the lunch, these places were all accessible by walking from the station. Maybe a taxi or rental bike to the shrine.)
Things in the nearby areas I didn’t get to:
Hoki Museum
Chiba Port Tower (for evening views)
Nokogiriyama
several light hiking recommendation ( like Ōtaki Prefectural Forest)
**Take-aways from Chiba:** I like Chiba a lot and it’s a great place to stay if you want to see more of the prefecture.
Day 15, I took the Keikyu Airport Shuttle directly from Chiba Station to Haneda. West Exit, bus stop #25. It’s the second stop on the route so plenty of seats. And only costs ￥1400 cash. It was so easy I think this is how I’ll always get to the airport from now on. Plus, I got a good view around Chiba City on the way. Long line at Haneda to get through security but it moved somewhat quickly.
Done!!
