About me: 26F American Solo Traveler. This was my first time traveling to Japan but the 40th country I had been to. I grew up in countries that had great public transport and trains (re: not America) so I found navigating fairly straightforward, if you aren’t used to taking public transport definitely give yourself more time that Google Maps estimates it will take.
Tokyo Day 0:
Hotel: Hotel Gracery Shinjuku
Arrived at Narita at 3:30pm and blew through customs because I had the Visit Japan Web code. Arrived at my hotel in Shinjuku at around 6pm. Basically just wandered around trying to stay awake. Managed to stay up until around 9. Bought dinner and breakfast for the next day at 7/11.
20k steps
Tokyo Day 1: Day Trip to Mt Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes
Woke up at 4am in the morning. Took advantage of the jet lag and headed to Meiji Jingu. The place was empty; it was an incredible experience.
After spending an hour or so around the temple and in the park I walked around Harijuku. Later in the trip I went back to Takeshita Street during business hours but honestly I think it’s a much better experience when it’s not absolutely packed, but I just went to look around not to buy anything.
My first full day in Tokyo was also the only day that it was supposed to be sunny with clear views of Mt Fuji. The buses were sold out until 1pm when I went to buy a ticket at 7ish so I took the trains from Shinjuku to Lake Kawaguchi which took a little over two hours. Walked around part of the Lake.
Quick aside, a theme of my trip was my absolute refusal to stand in queues unnecessarily.
So when I saw there was a 2hr + line to take the Panoramic ropeway to see Mt Fuji I decided against it. I got a little lost going up to find a scenic viewpoint of the lake but found a trailhead that hikes up to Kawaguchiko Tenjozan Park. This is where the panoramic ropeway also drops off but the hike is free and so much less crowded. Honestly, if you’re capable of hiking and enjoy hiking, this I highly recommend it. Beautiful views of Mt Fuji, shady walk, multiple places to stop and sit down in the hike up. I fell asleep on the bus back to Shinjuku and arrived around 5:30. Spent the next couple of hours in Hands and picked up some K-skincare in Shin-Obuko. At this point I was too tired to get food and just went back to the hotel.
I used this link to check the weather around Fuji so I could guarantee visibility: https://live.fujigoko.tv/?n=3&e=1
28k steps & 12.5 miles walked.
Tokyo Day 2: Shibuya
Woke up at 5am and headed to Shibuya at around 6. The Shibuya Crossing/Scramble isn’t much of a scramble at 6am, to the point that I crossed it serval times without realizing it. Walked around the Mega Don Quijote just to kill time until things opened. Tried the 7/11 pancakes and they because a staple of my diet in Japan. After aimlessly wandering around the streets for a few hours I sat by the Hachiko Statue and people watched. Once everything opened I spent quite a bit of time exploring the department stores in Shibuya then in Shinjuku that evening.
Went back to Harajuku to see it crowded around 1pm and it was overwhelming.
28k steps & 13 miles walked
Tokyo Day 3
Hotel: Tokyu Stay Shinjuku
Today was the day I used my 24hr metro pass, so I went a little crazy. Started the morning at 6am and went to Nezu Shrine then to Hie Shrine. Both shrines have a row of torii’s to walk through, like Fushimi Inari-Taisha on a smaller scale.
Got to the Imperial Palace/East Gardens right as they opened. I didn’t realize you couldn’t go into the palace grounds without a tour – I found this out by walking around the outside of the palace grounds. Beautiful walk but my feet were killing me at this point.
Next stop was Ginza. More exploring department stores that make me feel poor then got lunch in a department store. My feet were so sore I didn’t get to fully explore Ginza. Also I had to be back in Shinjuku at 3 to pickup my bag and check into my second hotel.
The highlight of the day was going to the Muscle Girls Bar. Got two buff ladies to lift me in the air for the equivalent of $13USD. Plus the bar is all you can drink if you’re interested in going. I cannot recommend this place enough, the again you’re basically paying super buff ladies to pretend to be interested in whatever you say for 1.5hrs so what’s not to love.
Tokyo Day 4: Asakusa, Ginza, Shinjuku
Went to Senso-Ji around 8am when things were starting to open up. Explored around the Senso-Ji Temple, Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori Street. At this point it was pouring rain so I went back to Ginza this time for Ginza Natsuno (fancy chop sticks store), bought some stationary at Itoya Ginza, walked around Kyukyodo (300 year old paper/stationary store).
At 3pm I ate at Ichiran Ramen, mainly because it was the first time I’d seen it without a line. It was decent but it wouldn’t have been worth standing in line for an hour plus in my opinion. Lastly went to Golden Gia in the evening then walked through Hanazono Shrine on the way back to my hotel.
32.5k steps
Tokyo Day 6
Today was basically garden/park day. I went to the Snoopy Museum and afterwards walked around Tsuruma Park. Back in Shinjuku, walked around
Shinjuku National Garden (half price entry if you have a student id!). Admittedly, there weren’t a ton of people in the parks because it was another rainy day, which made the experience really peaceful.
20k steps
Japan Day 6: Niigata City
Admittedly, Niigata is a bit off the beaten path. I went because a friend of mine is an ALT out there. I had an amazing time overall and highly recommend a visit to Niigata city/prefecture but do want to note, this is the first time in Japan that I felt like I was being stared at.
highlights of the day include: Sado observatory and walking around the beach, exploring Furumachi Geisha District, then Hakusan Park and Shrine. The shrine sells Thomas the Tank engine and Hello Kitty Omamori.
The train station had Ponshukan, sake vending machines, 10/10 highly recommend. Especially if you’re a lightweight like me.
32k steps
Japan Day 7: Niigata Prefecture
For this day, I rented a car and drove around the area. Only $20 for an international drivers license and around $30 for a rental car. I’ve spent a substantial amount of time driving on the left hand side of the road so I was comfortable driving in Japan. I do want to note that I was not in a very populous area and wouldn’t recommend getting a car in the more populous cities.
Places I went that were beautiful with almost no one around: Bijin Bayashi Forest, Kiyotsu Gorge, & Hoshitouge Terraced Rice Field. The drive was about five hours in the car but I took the long way back to the city by driving up the coast/stopping on the beach and seeing Sado Island in the distance. This was the best day of the trip for me.
17k
Japan Day 8: Kyoto Hotel Forza Kyoto Shijo Kawaramachi
Left Niigata at 9:30 and arrived in Kyoto at 2. After checking into my hotel I walked around Nishiki Market. Took the bus to Kinkaku-Ji Temple & Gardens (the Golden pavilion) at this point it was about 5:30 and the sunset made the temple glow. Lastly, took the bus to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Since it was around 7pm there was almost no one around so that made the experience much more enjoyable than what I’ve read about here. Since it was getting dark I wasn’t able to go to the monkey park.
21k steps
Japan Day 9: Kyoto
Arrived at Fushimi Inari-Taisha at 6am. Almost nobody was there and it was basically empty past the entrance. I was able to get tons of great pictures. I hiked to the top but it’s definitely not necessary, from top to bottom it took me about 1.5 hours but it could be done faster.
Walked the Philosopher’s Path.
Temples visited: Tofuku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Nanzen-ji, Eikan-dō, Hōnen-in, and Otoyo Shrine. At this point it was around 1pm and I was officially ‘Temples Out’ so I took the train to Osaka. From there. I went to Osaka Castle then walked around Dotonbori.
42k steps
Japan Day 10: Day Trip to Nara and Uji
Another rain day, it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. First stop in Nara was Nara Park got to see the deer go absolutely crazy on people with cookies then walked to Todai-Ji Temple to see the 1300 y/o Buddha.
After exploring Nara beyond the park for a few hours I took the train to Uji. Highlight of the trip to Uji was the matcha ice cream.
Back in Kyoto I walked around Gion before stopping at a hole in the wall ramen place.
33k steps
Japan Day 11: Return to Tokyo:
Hotel: Tokyu Stay Tsukiji
SUMO
Also lost my credit card that evening. Mildly inconvenient but not the end of the world. Had to file a police report but we had some google translate issues because the cop kept asking me ‘how many died’. Really hard to freak out about losing a card when the cops put things in perspective like that.
18k steps
Japan Day 12: Tokyo Chill Day
This was the day I did all my shopping. Highlight was achieving my dream of buying a Bao Bao bag.
33k
Japan Day 13: Trip to Nikko
Hotel: Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel
Took the train to Nikko and did the following:
– Taiyu-in
– tosho-gu
– Kanmangafuchi Abyss
– Shin-kyō— sacred Bridge
Grabbed dinner at a Kobini and had some great pudding from the Nikko Pudding store.
The hotel I stayed at has a free shuttle from their Lake Chuzenji Hotel to their Hotel in Nikko that goes several times a day. Made it super convenient. Walked around Lake chuzenji walk at sunset. That evening I finally got to onsen. This hotel had both indoor and outdoor baths.
21k
Japan Day 14 Hotel Gracery Askusa
- Lake chuzenji
- Ryzuzu Falls
- Kegon Falls
- Return to Tokyo in the afternoon and stocked up on souvenirs etc
29k steps
Japan Day 15: last day in Japan
Mainly stayed around Askusa. Happened to be there during the Sanja Festival.
21k
by dontcallmeheather