First timer’s trip report: Oct. 2023 (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka)

First off, let me thank this sub for the plethora of information we got ahead of our first trip to Japan. I’m not sure it would have been as good as it was without the help we received from many of you.

*Now let’s get into it.*

**Day 1 (10/17): 4,613 steps**

* Travel day, plain and simple. We were up at 4am for a 5am flight to Detroit before departing for Haneda a few hours later.
* We flew Delta, Premium Select. If you prefer flying Delta and you can’t afford Delta One, I’d recommend PS. As a 6-foot-even guy, I simply cannot imagine making a 14-hour flight in main/basic.

**Day 2 (10/18): 16,644 steps**

* Landed at Haneda around 1:30pm. Thanks to our QR codes, customs was a breeze. The hardest part was trying to track down where to get Welcome Suica or Pasmo Passport cards. Ultimately we gave up, because the airport was so crowded.
* I ended up getting a Suica through Apple Wallet, but my wife was unable to do the same (even though we tried Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX). She ended up paying cash for her train tickets, as did my best friend.
* Called an Uber to take us from HND to our Airbnb. Quick ride, not all that expensive, and it made luggage transportation super easy.
* Our Airbnb was a block away from Tokyo Tower (we could see it from the balcony).
* We ended up getting settled around 5pm, and quickly made our way to the closest Ichiran to chow down on the obligatory ramen. It may not be the best ramen in the country, but it was certainly the best I’d had up to that point. We got there at the perfect time, too – no line on arrival, but one that was out the door when we left.
* Hit our first 7-Eleven on the way back. It’s as good as everyone said it would be.

**Day 3 (10/19): 18,033 steps**

* Aaaand the sleep schedule gets messy. We were all up around 6am, surprised by how bright it was already.
* After taking some time to get ready, we made our way to Senso-ji and Asakusa via Oedo line (Akabanebashi Station was also a block away, which made travel very smooth).
* We got there around the time when many shops were first opening up. We bought a bunch of touristy stuff (chopsticks, trinkets, food, etc.)
* I was really excited to try the candied strawberries, but my wife and I were kind of disappointed by how difficult they were to eat.
* Interestingly, on our way to find lunch, a small team of Japanese journalists found us and asked if they could ask us questions and follow us on our journey around the area. They wanted to see what we got for lunch, but we turned the tables on them and asked for recommendations instead – something they seemed surprised by. We were ready to eat our first Japanese McDonald’s, but they ended up taking us to a little stand with those fish-shaped sandwiches. We never saw the footage they recorded.
* After that experience, we headed over to Kappabashi Dougu to pick up knives for myself and a friend back home. Along the way, my wife picked up a few cute bowls and cups.
* Our next stop was Akihabara, and I gotta say…Super Potato was a ridiculously overwhelming experience. Cramped store, cramped staircase, cramped everything. Cool stuff, but skippable (IMO).
* After walking through Akihabara, we were all pretty hungry, so we made our way to Kikanbo – a ramen place my wife and I saw on Phil Rosenthal’s old show. Hands down, I think this was my favorite bowl of ramen from the entire trip. Very cool spot and ramen that was perfectly spicy and hearty.
* Our second-to-last stop was the Tokyo DX Pokemon Center for souvenirs. I grabbed an Aerodactyl sticker for my car, a Snorlax for a friend back home, a Charmander for her daughter, and my wife even got a Jolteon for herself. For someone who was an avid fan of Pokemon as a kid, this was a very cool experience.
* Lastly, my wife wanted to hit up Uniqlo Ginza. My friend and I rested our feet while she walked around the store.

**Day 4 (10/20): 13,760 steps**

* This was targeted as our Shibuya/Shinjuku day.
* Our first stop of the day was the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo. My wife used to work at Starbucks and I’m still a daily Starbucks consumer, so this was very fun. Surprisingly, the Teavana upstairs was our favorite spot. I got an apple cider cream soda float that was to die for.
* We hit a record store and Nintendo Tokyo before grabbing lunch at Kura Sushi. They wanted conveyor belt sushi, and I loaded up on shrimp tempura. It may not have been the best sushi in the world, but it was still better than anything I’d had in the states. Seems to be a trend.
* After that, we walked through Omoide-Yokocho for that stereotypical view. It was busy, but it was still neat.
* My one ask for the day was to see the Toho building with Godzilla. I love Godzilla, so I just stood there in awe for a moment.
* We hit another record store and the 2D cafe for some coffee and cake before heading back to the Airbnb to prep for our next travel day…

**Day 5 (10/21): 11,775 steps**

* This was our first scheduled day for Kyoto.
* We got non-reserved tickets on the Nozomi line to Kyoto and paid the price. Zero available seats in the non-reserved cars from Tokyo to the second-to-last stop, so we had to stand/squat in the bathroom car for most of the ride. Note to travelers: Always get reserved tickets, which we did for the trip back.
* After arriving in Kyoto, we made our way to Gion and Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka for food and shopping. We got there shortly before things started to close, so it wasn’t too packed but we were still able to check a lot of things out.
* On our way out, we stopped at a tiny ramen place called Kachikura – honestly no bigger than a Waffle House – for dinner. This place is run by a single dude who is just slinging out great food.

**Day 6 (10/22): 11,012 steps**

* We got up a little early to make our way to Fushimi Inara, which was already crowded.
* Saw some cool luxury cars making their way around the entrance to the shrine.
* Decided to make an impromptu hike up the mountain to get around the crowds. My wife wore a sweater that day, which was a mistake – so we ended up getting a souvenir t-shirt for her to wear about halfway up.
* Note to travelers: If you can swing it, the views from the hike are stunning. This was easily my favorite part of the entire trip.
* After making our way back down the mountain, we decided to skip our original plans to visit Nara Deer Park and instead revisited Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka to get the full experience.
* The matcha place that you see on TikTok (with the tiramisu boxes) was just okay, IMO. Turns out, I’m not a big matcha guy.
* Food highlights from this area: There’s an old couple on the way out who sell delicious pork buns and there’s a fried chicken stand that was absolutely mouthwatering.
* We finished up that day with a trip to a local yakitori place, where I pounded an astoundingly large beer and copious amounts of grilled meats.

**Day 7 (10/23): 15,084 steps**

* We checked out of our Kyoto hotel and made our way to Osaka via train.
* First stop after checking in at the new hotel: Kuromon Ichiba, where we tried different street foods and picked up neat Japanese snacks to bring home.
* We spent the remainder of this day wandering around Dotonbori, taking in the lights, sounds, smells, and shopping.
* Holy shit the shopping. Endless rows of stores and intersections of even more stores. Saying it was overwhelming would be an understatement.
* We closed the night with a trip to The Ramen War, a nice little ramen joint that loves to play American country music.

**Day 8 (10/24): 11,315 steps**

* Our 8th day started with a trip to Osaka Castle. The line for admissions was way too long to wait in, so we snapped pictures of the outside, walked around, and enjoyed the fresh air.
* After that, we made our way to Shinsekai which was…underwhelming. I’ve read that Shinsekai is supposed to be 80s themed, but it really just felt dingy and depressing. Maybe we went at the wrong time, or on the wrong day, but I could have skipped this stop.
* In Shinsekai, we made the decision to eat at a restaurant – one of the ones where you could catch fish. While we didn’t catch any fish, we did order sushi. I don’t know what it was, but that food ran right through me. During a visit to a local arcade, I had to run out of the building and find the nearest public bathroom – my first squatty potty experience – and relieve myself.
* After Shinsekai, we hit up Nipponbashi Denden and America-mura.
* Gotta say, behind Shinsekai, America-mura was my second least-favorite place. Idk what it was, but the vibe felt way off.
* Still, we couldn’t let the day go by without another bowl of ramen – so we found a hole in the wall place and chowed down on noodles, gyoza, and alcohol.

**Day 9 (10/25): 12,155 steps**

* Because they were closed on Wednesday, and my wife’s one ask for this trip was to visit it, we made a visit to the Osaka Cup Noodle Museum to make our own Cup Noodles. It was cheap, it was fun, and that’s about all I can say about the experience.
* Our bullet train back to Tokyo was scheduled for 2:30, so we arrived a little early to grab lunch and wait for our reserved seats.
* Note to travelers: If you reserve tickets on smartEX, the QR code you receive should be scanned at the ticket gate (like you’d scan your Suica card) – NOT at the ticket pickup computers. I stood in line for half an hour to talk to train station customer service to figure out why my QR code wasn’t working, only to find out it was a really simple misunderstanding.
* Upon arriving back in Tokyo, we hit up Kamikatz Taproom for food and beer. The food was so good we didn’t even notice it started pouring down rain and hail. One of the waitresses ran out in the storm to get umbrellas for everyone, which we returned to the restaurant after our uphill trip to the nearest 7-Eleven.

**Day 10 (10/26): 20,312 steps**

* On our last full day in Japan, we decided to hit up several of the spots we missed out on at first.
* First up, Hamarikyu Gardens. Very pretty, very serene. Great to wander around and breathe in truly fresh air, which you forget about after walking through large cities for so long.
* Next, Tsukiji Market. I had tried wagyu and Kobe beef on this trip from various stands, but the beef I got from this market was by far the best. Absolute butter.
* If you’ve seen Hatcoffee – the 3D latte art place – on TikTok, know that you may want to grab a reservation if you plan on sitting down and drinking inside. We didn’t know that, so we got our latte art to go. It was about a 20 minute wait, but 100% worth it. Great coffee, cute art, and a fun experience overall.
* After that coffee break, we headed over to Shibuya to see the scramble, hit up Tower Records, and try Yakiniku Like (personal grill place).
* We didn’t realize many (if not most) of the stores in Shinjuku closed at 8pm, so my wife wasn’t able to hit up many of the clothing stores she saw during our first swing through Shinjuku.
* Our nightcap was originally supposed to be Muscle Girls Muscle Girls, the bar where athletically clad women challenge you to feats of strength, but we were informed that you needed a reservation to go up. Womp womp – no face slaps for us.
* With that, we headed back to our Airbnb to pack up all of the snacks and souvenirs we had purchased over the trip.

**Day 11 (10/27): 8,932 steps**

* Not much to report on here.
* As a last minute solo expedition, I ventured to Tokyo Tower for a 9am trip to the very top. My wife and friend are scared of heights, and I got there early enough to be there only one on the main deck for a good 5 minutes. TT may not be the tallest tower, or the prettiest, but I enjoyed the views and the history of it all. WIO!
* Airbnb checkout was 11am, and my friend’s flight was scheduled to depart at 4:30pm.
* We spent most of this day in the airport, getting through a very long line for customs and security.
* After a 13-hour flight home and a connection through Atlanta, we made it back to our house at around 12:30am on 10/28.

**General tips and tidbits for new travelers:**

1. **We thought more people would be wearing masks**, but it was primarily the elderly who were wearing them, and only on trains or in stores. We felt okay not wearing masks during our trip, and none of us got sick. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t carry one with you (we all did), but we never felt pressured to wear one or judged if we didn’t.
2. **A little sumimasen goes a long way**. Simple phrases – and “sumimasen” was my favorite – helped us communicate, even if many of the people we interacted with spoke little to no English.
3. **Cash really is king**. I think I made three ATM withdrawals over the entire trip, which was more than enough to cover us. Carry a coin purse because those things really add up over time, and the copious amount of vending machines give plenty of opportunity to get rid of them.
4. **It’s okay to not get a Suica card or a JR Pass.** We struggled with the idea of getting a JR Pass, but looking back I think it would have been a waste. Shinkansen tickets are easy to get, and since so much of the country runs on cash, we had no issue getting in and out of train stations quickly and cheaply.
5. **Likewise, don’t feel bad about getting a taxi** if you don’t feel like trying to navigate different train transfers. Sometimes a 45-minute train ride is less appetizing than a $20 (USD) taxi ride for three people. I booked taxis through Uber – not only was it pretty affordable, it was easy.
6. **It’s easy to overshoot or over-plan.** We did a lot on this trip, and I’m glad to say we hit most of our targets. That said, I think we tried to plan too much and didn’t realize how long certain things would take or how far apart things really were. We ended up cutting out different shrines, the bamboo grove, Nara Deer Park, a day trip to Hiroshima, and a few other things. Plan accordingly, I guess.
7. Speaking of planning, **Wanderlog was super helpful.** The map view helped us organize our stops, discover new places, and (mostly) keep us on track. Not a plug, but I’d use that app again in a heartbeat.