Trip report – 12 nights in Tokyo/Kyoto/Hiroshima/Osaka with not elderly (early 60’s) parent

Original itinerary: https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/17y4vo2/first_time_in_japan_trip_itinerary_12_days_with/

**Total Costs for two people**

* $4K – Flights from SFO to HND

* $2.5K – All Marriot Hotels – 5 days in Yokohama (free with points/promotion), 2 days in Kyoto, 2 days in Hiroshima, 3 days in Osaka

* $1K – Ordered 14 day JR green pass vouchers and pocket WiFi rental before price increase

* ~$0.8K – Food, shopping, souvenirs, etc. ($400 of this was a jacket and some action figures so $500 tops is probably more accurate)

* Over 12 days, spent 70,000 of the 75,000 yen in cash held

**General Observations**

* 80% of people spoke English or were able to understand

* ~85% of places accepted Visa

* Didn’t research any demographic data, but was surprised by the amount of families with young children, also lots of teenage, early/mid 20’s couples

* The platform shoes seem to be popular amongst women, also lots of skirts even though it was very cold

* Crowded but people seem very respectful of space, I didn’t get shoulder bumped once and people walking in the opposite direction/towards me would often see me and walk to the side a few feet before they reached me. Parent suggested maybe I looked like an aggressive tourist.

**Impression of Cities as a Californian**

* Tokyo = LA, everything you want, diverse

* Yokohama = Orange County, definitely New Port beach vibes, lots of youngsters out at night

* Kyoto = Sacramento, kinda historical, a little dated, not as densely populated, great nature

* Hiroshima = San Diego, very calm coastal vibes

* Osaka = San Francisco, a little grungy and wild, but fun

**What I learned/My advice for first time travelers**

* Visit 1.5 cities for every week you are there (1 week stay = Stay in one city with one or two day trips, 2 week stay = three cities to visit)

* Luggage forwarding with the help of your hotel front desk is gold. They only accept cash. It was about $15 per piece of luggage.

* Do the math for a one day pass if there is a lot of train rides in your itinerary that day to see if it’s more cost effective

* Have some planning for food places, the choices can be overwhelming but food is generally insanely cheap.

* Collectibles and clothing were more expensive than expected

* I liked buying some snacks at night at 7/11, Family Mart, Lawson, for tomorrow’s breakfast

* The Osaka amazing pass is well worth it, but lots of places were closed on some weekdays so plan accordingly

* Show up at train stations at least 45 minutes before your train. It can be confusing.

* Google translate camera feature is very helpful

* Wasn’t as much walking as I was expecting, lots of train rides

**Day 1** – Arrival in Yokohoma

* 2:50 PM arrived at HND airport

* Exchanged and activated JR Pass voucher, and bought SUICA cards at JR office

* Picked up pocket wifi upon arrival at JAL ABC booth

* Took train to hotel, about 45 min. Dragging luggage up and down stairs and ramps from Yokohoma station was quite a workout

* Stayed at **The Westin Yokohama** – hotel was free with points and promotion, convenient and calm location, spacious suite, great fitness center, also loved the overhead shower

* Ate at the McDonald’s ($17) at the World’s Porter mall, didn’t realized the self-order machine had an English option and was using the Google Translate camera feature like a fool. Shrimp filet burger was the highlight

* Explored Yokohama Chinatown, a little underwhelming, but parent was trying to convince me the restaurants were selling authentic shark fin soup ($2)

**Day 2** – Tokyo Sightseeing and Shopping

* Fried chicken for breakfast at Lawson ($1.75), didn’t realize I could microwave it after purchase and ate it cold

* Took train to Tokyo, about 45 min

* **Tsukiji Outer Market** – it was a little crowded at 10 AM, tried about 6 different foods paid in cash (about $30 spent total), the highlight was the Wagyu beef skewers (about $7 each)

* **The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace** – free admission, it was a pleasant walk after all the food, not very memorable

* **Tokyo Tower** ($18 each) – the area for the actual observation deck wasn’t very good as the window panes were smaller than expected

* **Akihabara area** – visited a few shops looking for Marvel action figures, found one I liked at Tamashi Nations store

* Ate ramen at one of the few placed still opened at the World’s Porter mall, was surprised most places closed by 9 PM

**Day 3** – Staying local in Yokohama, Shibuya shopping

* **Cup Noodle Museum** – I think $3.50 each admission (everything was in cash). Food court with all the noodles ($3.50 each bowl) was mediocre and the initial reservation plus additional fee to make your own cup noodle ($7) wasn’t really worth it unless you have kids imo

* Took train to Shibuya – went to few shops, found another figure I liked at a Mandarake store. Tried the 10 yen cheese coin from Don Quijote (I think it was like $3.50), it was okay.

* Ate at a soba place at Shibuya station ($31), wasn’t a fan of the noodles but I liked the black sesame ice cream

**Day 4** – Mt. Fuji **(fail)**, Ueno area

* Tried to get to one of the lakes near Mt. Fuji, asked the guy at the JR office to reserve a train seat for us there. We got as close as Shimoyoshida station before taking a pic from a distance and turning back. Spent about 5 hours roundtrip on trains.

* **Ueno area** – ate some BBQ beef and pork cutlet rice bowl, some other skewers and sides ($32), bought an eye catching sukajan jacket ($214)

**Day 5** – Shibuya Sightseeing Day

* Ate at the food court area/floor at Shibuya Station, tried a few things but none were memorable

* **Shibuya Sky** – ($15 each), great views, I can see why this was crowded, needed like 100 yen deposit to use lockers as they don’t allow bags on the observation deck

* Ate at the Hawaiian places at World’s Porter mall near hotel, the BBQ chicken was great, pancakes were filing and okay (~$50)

**Day 6** – Yokohama to Kyoto

* Missed train twice because we didn’t know Yokohama station wasn’t the same as Shin-Yokohama station *(fail)*. Took a while before we figured it out/someone was able to explain to us in English

* Arrived at hotel at around 4 pm, **The Prince Kyoto Takaragaike, Autograph Collection** – ($275 per night) was a little outdated but surrounding scenery was nice, also has the best reflection pond at the entrance I’ve ever seen. Would recommend something closer south near the tourist attractions unless you like the quietness

* Took train and then bus to visit **Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion)** but didn’t realize it closed already **(fail)**

* Walked around aimlessly looking for food before we found a Coco curry house – the crispy chicken curry was great ($7 per bowl)

**Day 7** – Kyoto site seeing

* **Kinkaku-ji** – I think admission was like $3.50, waited in line for it to open, it was nice stroll. A nice older man who was getting off the bus at the same stop made sure to show us how to get there via hand signals. It may have been the first time someone started a conversation with me in public.

* **Kyoto Imperial Palace** – this was more impressive then the imperial palace in Tokyo, lots of ground to cover

* Ate at the place near the palace, beef udon was great, chicken and rice with Kyoto vegetables was not so great (meals about $10 each)

* **Fushimi Inari Taisha** – I walked all the way to the top, it was tougher than expected because I was wearing two jackets and it got hot near the top. Parent stayed behind. It was a little underwhelming.

* Tried the street food near Fushimi Inari Taisha and this time the wagyu skewers were disappointing

* Met up with friend and pigged out on food at Kyoto station, $100 for three plates of sushi (about $3 per piece), went to a few other places for ramen, gyoza, fried rice, cake, drinks (~$30)

* There was a fail where we asked one of the food vendors if they had any rice dishes or was it just noodle. He repeated “rice, noodle” before heading to the back of the shop and refusing to come to the counter. We waited about 5 minutes ready to order but ultimately left.

**Day 8** – Kyoto to Hiroshima

* Took train from Kyoto to Hiroshima. Arrived at hotel at about 11 AM – **Sheraton Grand Hiroshima Hotel** – ($200 per night) convenient location near Hiroshima station, clean, tidy

* Passed by **Shukkeien Garden** and decided to go in on a whim, Well worth the $2 admission. Great scenery for about a 90 min stroll.

* Walked through **Hiroshima castle and ruins** but did not go in as we wanted to make sure we made it to the peace museum. Wasn’t very memorable.

* **Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum** – I thought it was interesting for a $1.50 admission, but parent didn’t really like it as they grew up in an era right after WWII where Japan was viewed as an enemy.

* Took Uber (which was taxi) to Costco ($12). Would probably have been cheaper just to take the taxi waiting outside the peace museum but didn’t want to risk any communication issues.

* Costco for groceries and food court for dinner. They didn’t take Visa so I had to pay in cash. I noticed the cheese products were a little more expensive compared to the US.

**Day 9** – Day trip to Miyajima

* Train and ferry to Itsukushima Jinja. Commute was more simple than expected, no reservations required and everything was included with the JR Pass.

* Ate a curry cheese ball ($3.50), didn’t have interest trying the oysters

* Noticed a lot of girls taking pics of the shrine with a little picture of pop stars/idols. Figured it was a fad.

* It was cold so we left after about 90 minutes on the island.

* Stayed at hotel until night where we found a place to eat at Hiroshima station for dinner

**Day 10** – Hiroshima to Osaka

* Took train to Osaka. Purchased the Osaka Amazing Pass ($25 each) which was a great deal. Two free days of train/bus rides and 40+ attraction to choose from.

* Hotel – **W Osaka** – ($500 per night) – Amazing view of city, great location, fitness center is spacious, cleanliness and carpeting of room left a little bit to be desired

* Ate ramen at Umeda station ($10) – I like the self-order machines where you can choose English, click the ones you want, pay, and give the ticket to the counter where they then make your food. The portion sizes are small so I get two meals sometimes and the person taking my order always triple checks to make sure I want two.

* Bought one figure each from the Mandarake and Tamashi Nations stores (about $70 total)

**Day 11** – Osaka sightseeing

* **Osaka castle** – I enjoyed reading the little plaques next to the displays

* **Osaka Museum of History** – came here to use the bathroom, but this had a great view and lots of interesting displays. Also bought a little samurai armor toy souvenir ($25)

* Ate pork cutlet somewhere near the financial district

* **Tempozan Ferris Wheel** – it felt a little shaky in the pods, but the view was great by the pier

* **Santa Maria Cruise tour** – this was like a pirate ship and it was a nice relaxing ride, but I was a little sleepy that afternoon.

* We were a little overwhelmed by the food choices in Osaka and ended up at a wagyu beef and fried chicken place. It was more pricey than expected ($70) and forgettable, but still great value compared to the US.

**Day 12** – Osaka sightseeing

* Realized I was in Japan for 12 nights, 13 days (and not 11 nights, 12 days) so I had to extend hotel stay by one night

* **Umeda Skybuilding** decent view, but the day was a little gloomy, spent $11 for ice cream, pasta and apple juice there

* **Hep Five Ferris Wheel** – the pods were much more stable but the view wasn’t as great

* **Tombori River Cruise** – very enjoyable and great sightseeing opportunity

* Ate at the Shinsaibashi PARCO – some Kobe beef place ($80), premium Kobe beef was great, okonomiyaki was too savory

**Day 13** – Osaka to HND

* Took train from Shin-Osaka to Shin-Yokohama to Yokohoma to HND

* Returned pocket wifi via mailbox

* Spent some remaining coins on Pocky