Trip Report – 21 days, Tokyo, Kyoto, Okunoshima, Hiroshima, Osaka, Hakone

Reading other people’s trip reports added a lot of context and helped a lot when planning our trip, so I thought I’d give back now that we’re home!

We (37M & 34F) spent 3 weeks in Japan from 9/12-10/2. It was our first time in the country, but we’re from NYC so we’re used to big cities and walking. We prioritized food and social experiences over traditional “sightseeing” and shopping (but we definitely did some of that too), and are not theme park people so we skipped Disney/Universal and a few of the notable tourist spots like Shibuya Sky and Teamlabs. We’re easygoing and had no interest in a packed itinerary or spending too much time on trains, so we picked one or two things each day and didn’t sweat (too much) what we had to miss. We used the JR pass for 2 weeks and it was worth it for us, but would not have been after the price hike. I spent the last year learning some Japanese, enough to read menus and signs and be a polite tourist, but nowhere near conversational.

**One other note:** The first week we were there was SO HOT(95F/35C) and crazy 90%+ humidity, so we spent a lot of time indoors because it was truly miserable outside.

That said, here’s what we did!

**Tuesday 9/12 Arrival:** Arrived at Narita at about 2:30 PM. Picked up Welcome Suicas and JR passes at the JR office, then took the Skyliner to our hotel in Ueno. By then it was about 5-6 PM, so we took a quick walk around the immediate area, got some konbini food for dinner, then passed out for the night.

Stayed at Tokyo Sofresa Inn, the room was very small but comfortable. Pretty cheap and included a little breakfast bento in the morning.

**Wednesday 9/13 Akihabara and barhopping in Shinjuku:** Up early and got breakfast at Gusto (just a little chain that’s open early, but the food is super cheap and tasty, recommended if you need an early breakfast spot). After that we walked up to Ueno Park and chilled there around the lotus ponds and the shrine for a few hours until more things opened up. Spent the afternoon in Akihabara wandering the arcades and admiring the anime stuff and the big Don Quijote. Had conveyer belt sushi at Hamasushi. Went back to the hotel for a nap, then out to Shinjuku for an Airbnb experience bar hopping around izakayas in Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai.

The [Airbnb experience](https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/385431) was honestly incredible, our host was so great and it was a great opportunity to learn and practice ordering food and drinks and experience some unique little bars and backrooms that tourists wouldn’t normally get the chance to hang out in. We stayed out way too late in Golden Gai, had a great time, and took a cab back to the hotel around 3am.

**Thursday 9/14 Recovery Day:** Took it easy this day since it was our last day before kicking off a lot of train travel (and we were still pretty jetlagged and a little hungover). Got lunch at McDonalds to try the regional stuff, and dinner at a little ramen place that specialized in a fish broth ramen.

**Friday 9/15 Tsukiji and Kyoto:** Went to Tsukiji Outer Market in the early morning for breakfast, then activated our JR passes and took the Shinkansen to Kyoto. Got some ekiben for the trip, and sat on the right side but it was too hazy to see Mt Fuji. Arrived in Kyoto, did some laundry in the hotel, then took a nap. Went out in the evening to get some dinner and ate it on the roof of our hotel. Stayed at Hotel GOCO Stay Kyoto Shijo Kawaramachi, the best hotel of the trip. Laundry in the room, super friendly staff, decent sized room.

**Saturday 9/16 Kyoto:** Up early and decided to walk through Pontocho Alley and Gion and admire the buildings and alleyways while there was no one around (and before it got too hot). Wandered through Nishiki Market and then got breakfast at Smart Coffee when it opened. My husband is a professional chef, so we tried to stop by Shigeharu to get him a knife, but he had a sign up that he is “closed for a while,” so we got him one at Kikuichimonji instead. In the afternoon we saw How Do You Live?/The Boy and the Heron. Even without subtitles it was excellent, and I’m looking forward to watching it again when we get it in the US! In the evening we went out in Gion and had a couple glasses of wine before bed.

**Sunday 9/17 Nara Day Trip:** We decided to do Nara from Kyoto instead of Osaka (controversial, I know). We took the JR down to Nara and had a fantastic day in the park feeding the deer and visiting the shrines. We happened to be visiting on the same day as a huge beer and music festival, so there were stages scattered around Nara, some near the station and some in the park, and local breweries doing tastings, so that was a lot of fun. That said, it was HOT, so we spent a lot of time walking between shady spots and taking refuge.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT MISS: My favorite meal of the trip was the cold udon at Mizuya Chaya a little ways into the park. We had a lot of really great food, but this was one that really stands out and was the most affordable of our favorite meals.

**Monday 9/18 Fushimi Inari:** Woke up early and got to Fushimi Inari around 7am. Started the hike up, and it is absolutely spectacular!! Even that early in the morning there were some other people around, but not too many. The heat and humidity though were unbearable, and because it was a holiday, all but one of the little shops on the way up was closed. We brought water but got through it quickly, and bought more on the way up from vending machines. After around 40 mins-an hour, we made it up to the halfway viewpoint, took a rest, and then turned around because we were truly at risk of heatstroke. We walked back down the alternate, longer path, which was very cute and filled with smaller shrines, got food at a soba spot in Nishiki Market, then had some cocktails at Bar Rocking Chair (very cute, very nice cocktails!)

**Tuesday 9/19 Okunoshima (Rabbit Island):** Woke up early and started the journey to Okunoshima! This was a Shinkansen to a local train to a ferry, but it was a pretty route and pretty simple to navigate! We bought some food for the rabbits before we got on the ferry, then checked into the ryokan when we arrived. We went out for a walk and spent a few hours with the bunnies, then headed back for dinner. We spent the evening in the room overlooking the fields and watching the rabbits run around, it was ridiculously cute!

The ryokan (it’s the only place to stay on the island) on Okunoshima was really cute! Our room was a traditional one with tatami floors and futon style beds, but it didn’t have a shower or bathtub, only the onsens on the second floor. Since we are both tattooed people I was worried we’d just have to do a spongebath in the sink, but they told us it was alright if we just covered our big tattoos with that stickon flexible fabric stuff. We both took a soak in the onsen after dinner, which was cool because it wasn’t something I thought we’d be able to do!

**Wednesday 9/20 Hiroshima:** Checked out of the hotel and started making our way to Hiroshima. It was a little rainy, and this was the day that the unbearable heat started to let up. We arrived in Hiroshima in the late afternoon, dropped off our stuff, then went out for okonomiyaki at Toshinoya. We found a really great divebar nearby called Bar Strum and had some drinks and made some friends.

**Thursday 9/21 Miyajima Island:** Got up early and made our way to Miyajima Island. It rained all day so the ropeway was closed, but we had a good time wandering around the market and shrine by the ferry. Got some good pictures of the floating tori gate at high tide, tried momiji manju, then headed back to the mainland. Got dinner (burgers) at a brewery called hangout, then went back to Bar Strum because we had such a good time the night before.

**Friday 9/22 Peace Memorial Park and Osaka:** Got up early, got some breakfast pastries at Bakery Roti, and went over to Peace Memorial Park for the morning. Took the Shinkansen to Osaka in the afternoon, wandered around the immediate area of the Airbnb, and got dinner at a Japanese BBQ.

**Saturday 9/23 Tattoos and Bar Hopping:** We got ourselves a walk in appointment early, then spent most of the day killing time in the thrift shops in Dotonbori until we could get some tattoos. That evening we bar hopped a little and made some local friends, then hopped around to a couple more places. Had a great time, bar highlights were bar GIG’L and Puka Puka.

**Sunday 9/24 Aquarium and Anniversary Dinner:** This was our anniversary so we wanted a date day! We decided to go to the aquarium, and definitely should have bought tickets ahead of time because it was a 2 hour wait to get in by the time we got there. We killed some time in the nearby mall (there’s a great little fake food shop in there that was really fun to look through) and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the aquarium. We skipped all of the exotic animal cafes because I have a real sensitivity to animal welfare, but the Osaka Aquarium was world class. After that, we had a reservation at the counter of Sushidokoro Tsumami and had a really fantastic meal and had fun chatting back and forth in broken Japanese and English with the couple seated next to us.

**Monday 9/25 Osaka castle and Dotonbori:** Woke up early and got a great little breakfast at 42195 Coffee then spent 30 mins in Manga Cat Cafe Tatsuki, an adorable little cat cafe. We debated a day trip to Himeji but opted to go see Osaka Castle instead to skip the time on the train. Had a great walk around the grounds, took some pictures, then spent the early evening in Dotonbori eating street food. It got very crowded by about 8pm, so we headed back to the Airbnb for some lemon sours at the izakaya across the street.

**Tuesday 9/26 Hakone:** An absolute highlight of the trip. We left early from Osaka and arrived in Hakone in the early afternoon, checked into our ryokan (Gora Karaku, expensive but worth every penny), and went out to lunch at 箱根そば 五代福庵 (excellent). At 4 we were let into our room with a private onsen, and just spent the afternoon relaxing until dinner. Dinner was a traditional kaisekei style and was phenomenal, highly recommend a stay in a Hakone ryokan if you have the time.

**Wednesday 9/27 Open Air Museum and Hakone ropeway:** I got up early and watched the sunrise from our private onsen, one of the most memorable moments from the trip. We had an excellent traditional breakfast at the ryokan, then ventured out to the Open Air Museum. Spent a couple hours wandering around there (very cool!), had lunch at Bar Woody, then headed to the cable car to take the ropeway up the mountain. We basically had just enough time to head up to the top, grab a drink, then head back down. We had another amazing dinner at the ryokan and a relaxing evening in the onsen.

**Thursday 9/28 Back to Tokyo:** Arrived back in Tokyo, checked in to Hotel Intergate Tokyo Kyobashi, another very small but comfortable room, and the breakfast buffet was great. Killed some time until our room was ready at Craft Beer Bar Ibrew Ginza, then had dinner at Warashibe Gyoza. After that, we went to Bar Bumps for 70s-80s karaoke and drinks.

**Friday 9/29 Harajuku and The Bellwood:** Spent the day shopping in Harajuku and got some fun stuff at Kimono by Nadeshiko and Jimsinn. Had reservations at The Bellwood and had a really great nigiri and cocktail course where each round was inspired by a different world city. Had an early night because we had very early plans the next day.

**Saturday 9/30 Toyosu Fish Market:** Got up at 4:30am to meet our host at Toyosu Fish Market at 5:45. This [Airbnb experience](https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/71924) was an absolute highlight of the trip. We spent the morning at the tuna auction, then our guide took us to the wholesale fish market and purchased the fish we would be eating later in the day (and even took my chef husband onto the wholesale floor to help purchase, which he absolutely loved). Afterward, he took us to Tsukiji to do a little more shopping, then walked us through Senso-ji on our way to his restaurant, where he and his wife prepared a truly excellent meal for us from the fish purchased that morning. 10/10 experience, if I could recommend only one thing, it would be this.

In the evening, we went back out to Golden Gai since we had such a good time the first time, but this time we made it back before the trains stopped running. 😉

**Sunday 10/1 Nakano Broadway and Akihabara:** We headed to Nakano Broadway to do final shopping (pro tip, vintage kimonos in the basement, anime and manga on the 2nd and 3rd floor) and had the best ramen on the trip at Tsuyamaru. We went back out to Akihabara for dinner at Tsukada Nojo Akihabara Chuo Dori and then ended up at Game Bar A-Button, which was adorable and full of retro videogames.

**Monday 10/2 Art Aquarium Museum and flight home:** Our flight didn’t leave until 5pm so we had time for one last thing. We chose the Art Aquarium Museum because it was nearby, and it was very cool and fun! Definitely recommended if you’re in the area and have an hour or two to kill. Took the Skyliner back to Narita, easy peasy.

**Takeaways:**

* Three weeks was a really great amount of time, we never felt rushed and we got to see and do a lot. In retrospect, I wish we had swapped the dates for Kyoto and Osaka because it was just too hot to really do much of the shrine hiking during our days in Kyoto. I wish we’d been able to do Arashiyama, but it was genuinely just too hot to do that and Fushimi Inari back to back. No way to know that ahead of time, but we’ll be sure to make it there next time!
* Bring a power bank for your phone, and a little waterproof bag for trash.
* Ubigi e-sim worked great for both of us basically everywhere we went, and was very easy to set up and use.
* Welcome Suica worked everywhere we went and it was easy to refill at the station or 7-11. Made bopping around really easy because we didn’t need to waste time buying tickets at the station every time.
* I really wanted to go to the Ghibli museum but didn’t manage to get tickets. If things are important to you, make sure you make the time to get tickets as soon as they’re available. I did, and I still missed out on this one, so you never know!
* Learn a little bit of Japanese before you go! Even if you only know enough to say how many you are at a restaurant, order food and drinks politely, please/thank you/excuse me, a little goes a long way and we found that people were much more likely to want to chat with us if we made a little effort first.