I made a full trip report here [(Link)](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1c3mci6/trip_report_18_days/?ref=share&ref_source=link) but I figured I would leave a pared down version with some helpful tips for any newbie travelers/first time to Japan travelers as that is what I consider my wife and I to be.
**About us, for reference:**
* This was our first long haul international trip (one trip to Cancun last year from California)
* We love coffee and food and most of our vacations are planned around these two things
* I don’t like to wait in lines and we avoided most things where this was a requirement
* I have a Pixel 7 pro and my wife has iPhone 13
* We prefer castles and gardens over temples and shrines (learned on the trip)
**General tips:**
* **Get an IC card** regardless of JR pass or not, physical or Apple pay, either work. There were some people who said IC cards were unnecessary, but we traveled using the ticket booths for the first day, and after getting our Pasmo (for me) and loading a Suica onto my wife’s iPhone, traveling was immensely easier. No need to spend time calculating how much fare to pay, just tap in and tap out and it’s auto calculated. I was able to pick up a Pasmo Passport in Yokohama JR office, and later I picked up a normal suica (10 year validity) at the Shinjuku JR office near the end of my trip.
* **Ubigi eSim**: while I rarely had service outages, I never got the advertised 5g speeds and was stuck on 4g the whole time. Apparently this is a US Pixel specific issue (I have Pixel 7Pro). My wife has an iPhone 13 and she had 5g the whole time, but she had to change some privacy settings in order to use her web browser (apps worked fine). We both got the 10gb/30day plan and I had 800MB of data left while my wife had 2.8GB. I did all the navigation but I wasn’t watching videos or using social media unless on wifi.
* **Learn some Japanese** and Japanese culture/etiquette. There were definitely areas where we felt like some business owners and residents were weary of tourists. But knowing simple things like where to wait, how to say how many seats you need, or just simply being mindful of those around you will go a long way.
* If you want to **avoid the crowds**, you will have to go early (or late) to popular tourist spots. The downside to going early is that a lot of the shops are not open yet.
* **Cards or cash?** I see this asked often and I see a varying degree of answers. My personal experience is that I was able to use cards at a lot more establishments than I was expecting, especially since I went to more rural areas. I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum card and they were allowed at probably around 90% of the businesses I visited. If you have a physical IC card, you need cash to reload it.
* **Luggage forwarding:** we used this service 3 times, including forwarding luggage to the airport ahead of our departure. I read a lot of posts saying that they received luggage the next day, but our luggage always took 2 days to arrive. So make sure to plan accordingly.
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**Airports:**
**Narita Airport:** I prioritized decreasing wait times and stress. We arrived at Narita Airport around 5pm. When we landed, immigration only had two lines: 1 for Japanese residents and 1 for tourists. Everyone in the tourist line had to line up and do the same things regardless of if you had a QR code or filled out the hardcopy paperwork. Everyone had to scan their face and fingers. I noticed that the customs agents seemed to work quicker for people who had QR codes (maybe due to illegible or incorrectly filled out paperwork).
We headed straight for the ticketing booths on the B1F and I headed for the Keisei Skyliner Ticket booth. The Keisei Skyliner information booth (yes they are two different booths) was much longer. The JR Line was even worse. I waited about 10 minutes before getting to the front of the line and purchased our Skyliner tickets to Ueno. They had no Pasmo Passports or any IC cards at the booth. The lady told me I had to pick one up at Ueno station. We boarded the Skyliner and arrived at Ueno station around 7pm. Information booth was closed and the JR office had no IC cards.
Departing from Narita at was a very smooth process compared to LAX. Unless you are taking a Chinese Airline… The lines for China Air were 50-100 people deep when we got there at 5:30pm. Every other line moved quickly and efficiently. The duty free shops had similar, if not cheaper, prices as they were in Tokyo duty free shops (Don Quijote may have been cheaper for some items). Restaurants also sold food for the same price as you would find in Tokyo. No price gouging like you see in US Airports.
**Oita Airport:** Amazing experience here. It took us maybe 5-6 minute to get from the shuttle bus to our gate. We regretted rushing to the gate because most of the shops and restaurants were before security checkpoint. Very efficient boarding process for our flight to Osaka.
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**Coffee Recommendations:** For reference, we prefer dark, nutty, low acidity roasts. Most of the coffee shops and specialty coffee shops focus on light/medium roasts with fruity, floral, and higher acidity so if you enjoy that, you won’t have any problems finding good coffee.
**Tokyo**
* *Glitch – 8/10:*this is made for people who prefer light/medium roasts with fruity and floral notes and enjoy drinking coffee black. It can take a while if you come at the wrong time because they walk everyone through their coffee process so if you have a bunch of people lined up in front of you who like to ask questions and don’t know what they want, it will be a while.
* *Fuglen – 10/10:* apparently this is a tourist hotspot and there is a guy who seems to regularly sit in the front in a military outfit (he was there both times we went). The coffee jelly was AMAZING (best I had).
* *Kielo Coffee – 9/10:* Another spot with non dairy milk and it was really tasty. The vibes were nice as well – chill and relaxed.
* *The Roastery – 8/10:* the baked goods here were some of the best we had in Japan. Donut and cinnamon rolls were amazing.
* *Koffee Mameya Kakeru – 9/10:* Reservations needed. They offer an omakase coffee experience where they serve you coffee 4-5 different ways based on your course selection. Our barista informed us that it would take up to 2 hours. Baristas were fairly fluent in English.
* *Little Nap Coffee Stand – 9/10:* Excellent coffee stand. Don’t sit in the outside bar area though – the bathroom vents to that counter.
**Kyoto**
* *Kitaoji Roastery Lab – 8/5/10:* run more like a roastery than a cafe, but they know how to make a good latte.
* *% Arabica – 10/10:* this was maybe our favorite coffee spot in all of Japan. Perfectly steamed milk and beans that are strong enough to burst through the creamy milk in perfect harmony.
**Hiroshima**
* *Obscura Coffee Roasters Hondori – 10/10:* one of the few places that have dark roast beans in their main rotation. This was one of the only places we actually bought beans from. Loved the vibe and ambiance in this location (they have another location closer to the peace park). Our second favorite coffee place after %Arabica.
**Yufuin**
* *Ordinary Day Coffee – 9.5/10:* Really chill place to get coffee after walking around Yufuin all day. I didn’t confirm, but it seemed to be run by a husband and wife. They use manual press espresso extraction and the flavor was excellent.
**Osaka**
* *Lilo Coffee Kissa – 8/10:* very cool vibes in this shop with 2 floors. They have all the brew methods you can ask for for their beans. Coffee jelly is good (but not as good as Fuglen).
* *Cafe Ciao Presso – 6/10:* coffee wasn’t great, but the views from the 17th floor and the fact that it’s not jam packed with tourists was really nice. They have some “panino” sandwiches which weren’t bad.
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**Food Recommendations:** General rule of thumb is to go early to wait less. I would rather wait 30-45 minutes before they open rather than 1-2 hours after, so if there’s a place you really want to try, look up if they have reservations first, and if not, go line up before they open.
**Tokyo**
* *Himuro Ueno – 8/10:* our first meal in Japan after landing. They went a bit heavy on the beansprouts for my wife’s miso ramen. Gyoza was excellent. Eggs were amazing (theme for the trip)
* *Tonkatsu Hasegawa – 10/10:* I believe you need reservations to dine here, but I saw a couple people walk up and try to get seats (not sure if they were successful or not). Best Tonkatsu we’ve ever had.
* *銀座すし和* – 9/10: our first sushi spot in Japan. It is underground and there is only 1 person running the whole thing. He speaks no english and there is no english menu.
* *Boulangerie Jean Francois – 10/10:* we loved their baked goods so much that we compared every other baked goods to this place. Their cinnamon rolls, butter croissant, regular croissant, and curry bread were the best we had.
* *Yasubee – 8/10:* Known for their Tsukemen, but they have ramen options as well. I was confused because they price the small, medium, and large serving sizes all the same. Amazing noodle texture, and the eggs.. Holy moly
* *Harajuku Gyozaro – 6/10:* Very skippable. Pretty much only tourists ate here. Putting this here because it was recommended by several people on this sub.
* *Sobahouse – 5/10:* this was a big disappointment for us considering its Michelin star rating. Maybe come for lunch as they did not have a lot of items in stock for dinner despite us being one of the first 14 customers for dinner.
* *Shewolf Diner – 9/10:* Really really tasty fries. Highly recommend the truffle if you’re into truffle.
* *Sushi Mogana Okachimachi – 9/10:* One of the best tempura we had in Japan, along with very good quality sushi. You order from your phone after scanning a QR code.
* *Nogata Ramen – 9/10:* Their broth is extra garlicky and oily, so ask for less if you need to. They offer pickled beansprouts that have a little kick to them and they were super tasty. The egg was excellent. Chashu don was very tasty with a good char taste. Skip the gyoza.
* *Bifuteki Kawamura – 9/10:* Really good dining experience here, but also the most expensive of our trip. The garlic fried rice was bursting with flavor. I can’t help but wonder if there aren’t cheaper alternatives though.
**Nagoya**
* *Charcoal-grilled eel Togawa sakae – 10/10:* we actually wanted to eat at Atsuta Houraiken in Nagoya, but there was a 3 hour wait when we arrived at 11am, so we found this place nearby and ordered takeout.
**Kyoto**
* *Funaokayama Shimizu – 10/10:* our first kaiseki dining experience and it did not disappoint. Reservations only, as the place only seats 6.
* *Yamamoto Menzou – 10/10:* They seem to require reservations but we came at a down time and they were able to seat us right away. Best udon we’ve had in our lives.
* *Ramen Tanaka Kyu Shoten – 8/10:* everything here was pretty delicious, but it is definitely overpriced. This was the first place we dined at that we felt like we were paying tourist prices.
* *Pizzeria Da Yuki – 10/10:* neapolitan style pizza has become our go-to in recent years and this place knocks it out of the park. We made reservations online.
**Hiroshima**
* *Kome Kome Shokudo – 10/10:* It was the best Karaage we had all trip. Skip the sizzling steak plate and just get the karaage chicken.
**Osaka**
* *Mizutaki Iroha – 9/10:* the best sukiyaki we’ve had. It is definitely a bit on the sweeter side – but it might be possible for you to request for them to add less sugar. It is very pricey though.
* *Sumibiyaki Unagi no Nedoko – 10/10:* hard to compare this with Togawa sakae because we had a dine-in experience, but it was amazing. We had reservations for dinner and I believe they are required as we saw several people turned away. This was also not a cheap dinner, but unlike Mizutaki Iroha, this was worth every penny.
* *Mugito Mensuke – 10/10:* we got here 45 minutes before opening on a rainy day on a Wednesday and were the first in line. This was our favorite ramen experience for sure. The chashu bowl is also a must get, as they cook the chashu while mixing it in a bowl using a hand torch. The eggs here were the best eggs we had all trip.
* *Sakamoto Sushi – 10/10:* I actually had to wake up twice at 5am (PST) to reserve a table at this location because they open reservations on tablecheck on the 20th of every month and I miscalculated which day that would be in the US. But it was so worth it. Chef Sakamoto was our favorite chef all trip and was so accommodating and interactive. Very affordable omakase and I would go to Osaka again just to dine here.
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**Chef Knives:** do your research before you come to Japan. Identify the type of knives you want and the price of purchasing in your home country. If the price difference isn’t significant, it might make more sense to buy at home rather than in Japan. Ideally you can identify specific knives you want and then target those knives in the big knife shops or visit the knife makers’/sharpeners’ stores in Sakai or Fukui (the two major bladesmith cities). I would also highly recommend that you find a way to contact the bladesmiths or vendors ahead of time to see if they will a) allow you to visit when you want to visit and b) whether or not they will have the knife you want in stock/available for sale.
by dubear