Hello everyone! My wife and I just got back from our fifth trip to Japan, where we’ve spent two awesome weeks in and around the Chubu region. Just wanted to share our experience and offer some insights that hopefully help anyone interested in the area.
General Tips
• Load Suica onto your phones. We’ve used physical cards in the past, but this trip was was my first time in Japan with an iPhone. Just being able to reload and tap with your phone is incredibly helpful and stress-free.
• Grab an e-sim. We’ve always gone with a pocket wifi on previous trips…but not having to carry an extra piece of equipment makes a big difference. The flexibility let my wife and I split up on shopping trips without worry. Ubigi worked perfectly for us.
• Plan ahead, but be flexible. Stuff goes wrong on any trip (and definitely did this trip!). Roll with the punches and get familiar with backup plans, but don’t get discouraged when things go off the rail.
• Hotels are pretty great. My wife and I had previously always stayed at AirBnbs. We still like the bigger space they offer (and the access to kitchens), but it was pretty nice having the service of a front staff, plus a place to drop off/hold our luggage. The rooms are smaller, but it wasn’t a problem since we were always out and about.
Onto the report!
Sun 11/26 (Tokyo) – We landed in Haneda at about 3:40 and grabbed and activated our JR Pass for the next day. At 5:30, we dropped off our luggage at the hotel in Shinagawa and went out exploring, but we were pretty beat by traveling and called it a night early.
Mon 11/27 (Nagyoa) – Using jet lag to our advantage, we woke and caught the earliest train to Nagoya. My wife immediately lost her JR Pass (she only had it in her possession for 12 hours lol), so that was annoying. It was a rainy day and we intentionally packed light, so we went shopping for cold-weather clothing.
Tues 11/28 (Takayama) – Another early morning departure to Takayama. The fall colors were on full display on our train ride. The town itself was very beautiful, even in the rain. We checked out Takayama Jinya, had Hida Beef (so good!) and tried out sake breweries in the Old Town, checked out the retro museum (kitschy, but small…would probably recommend doing something else), and ended our night eating more Hida Beef.
Wed 11/29 (Kanazawa) – Another day, another early departure. Kanazawa was still rainy, but still beautiful. We spent the morning at the fish/seafood market, visited some shrines, and visited the Kanazawa Castle and gorgeous Kenrokuen gardens. The fall colors were amazing here as well. We were hoping the weather would let up by this point, but unfortunately…
Thu 11/30 (Tateyama – Nagano) – So this day was straight-up insane and I still can’t believe we did it. The 30th is the last day that the Tateyama Alpine Route is open for the season, and with the bad weather, the bus route from Toyama was closed. My wife and I decided to say fuck it and headed to Nagano and do a round trip passage from that side and it was brutal but worth it. We were the only ones on the bus headed to the mountain, and other than another tour bus, we basically had the whole mountain to ourselves. The snow was insane, and the peak had zero visibility, but the dam was gorgeous and I’m glad we did it.
Fri 12/1 (Nagano) – This was the part of our trip where we stayed multiple nights in a hotel, so that was a nice break. We went to the Yamanouchi Monkey Park and it was beautifully dusted with light snow, and the monkeys were out in full force. We arrived just before feeding so that was a cool experience to see. If you’re planning on visiting the park in bad weather, be careful—the path up to the park gets incredibly muddy and was honestly a little sketchy in parts.
Sat 12/2 (Ginza) – My wife and I split up this morning because she was pretty shrined out at this point. She booked herself a hair appointment (and loved the experience despite the language barrier!) and I went to the Zenkoji Temple, which I highly recommend. I arrived early morning and there were only a handful of people there. I had a mini-spiritual experience in the inner chamber where you walk through a pitch-black hallway looking that’s supposed to represent death. With the temple grounds empty, experiencing that by myself was a pretty surreal moment. In the evening, we took a train to our final hotel in Ginza (phew!).
Sun 12/3 (Chichibu) – We took it easy in the morning before heading out to the Chichibu Night Festival. Not sure if it was our travel fatigue at this point, but the festival was pretty…disappointing. We arrived there at about 5pm and had fun browsing the food stalls. We then found a spot a great spot on the sidewalk to watch the parade of floats and waited. And waited. And waited. Supposedly the parade was supposed to start at 7:30, but they ran super late. People in the crowd were getting pretty restless and started leaving en mass. When the parade finally started, it was super slow and seemed to be running into problems left and right. Not sure if there were technical difficulties, but the floats would unintentionally stop in the middle of the street, and the performers would just stand around seemingly confused. There was even a point where a float careened off the path and ran into the curb, sending the crowd into a hurried panic. Being caught up in that mess had me genuinely afraid of crowd crush. After that, my wife and I had to hurry to find a train back to Tokyo. Definitely wasn’t worth the trip out.
Mon 12/4 (Shimokitazawa) – My wife planned a cooking class in Shinjuku for my birthday (Cooking Sun I believe). It was great! Highly recommended. We spent the afternoon/evening thrift shopping in Shimokitazawa and had an amazing time.
Tues 12/5 (DisneySea) – We’ve been here before, but wanted to try out their take on fine dining at Magellan’s. It was pricey, but a really cool experience. It’s definitely the best meal I’ve ever had in a theme park (not that that’s a high bar), but I think it’s only worth it if you really love Disney. The park itself was amazing—not busy at all and we got to go on all the rides (going single rider meant I could just basically walk on).
Wed 12/6 (Ueno/Shinjuku) – Took it easy this day and went out to Rikugien Gardens and Ueno Park to enjoy some fall colors. At night we headed to Shinjuku to grab dinner at Omoide Yokocho (fun, but touristy), and spent the evening at Rock Bar Mother—it was awesome and if you love rock, you’ll love it here. It’s a great dive bar where you get to pick songs with every drink you buy. Super fun vibe that night.
Thur 12/7 (Roppongi) – Spent the morning nursing our hangover, but mustered up the courage to hit up Roppongi at night for their Christmas Night Market. It was fun, albeit small. Didn’t really feel like waiting in huge lines for a Japanese take on German food, so we headed to Imakatsu for some amazing Tonkatsu. Highly recommend it here!
Friday 12/8 (Headed home) – Stopped by Tsukiji for a quick lunch before heading to Narita. It was packed and not a super enjoyable experience (a lot of tourists who aren’t really paying attention bumping into one another), and the food was just okay. On the way to Narita I had a huge bloody nose on a packed train…super stressful. A kind local handed me a pack of tissues as she exited, a small but incredibly sweet gesture that really meant a lot when you’re tired and stressed.
Anyway, it was another great trip on the books. Wrapping up my fifth trip was a bittersweet experience…I obviously love traveling to Japan, but I feel like this trip has hit the last checkboxes on new places to discover (we’ve gone as far west as Miyajima and as far north as Hokkaido). Not sure how I’ll ever talk my wife into coming back…but I’m open to suggestions! I mean, we haven’t been to Okinawa yet………….