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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/frozenpandaman on 2025-01-30 10:23:05+00:00.

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| Name | Old price | New price | |

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| | 5-day Hokkaido Rail Pass | ¥21,000 | ¥23,000 | | 7-Day Hokkaido Rail Pass | ¥27,000 | ¥29,000 | | 10-Day Hokkaido Rail Pass | ¥33,000 | ¥38,000 | | Sapporo–Noboribetsu Area Pass | ¥10,000 | ¥11,000 | | Sapporo–Furano Area Pass | ¥11,000 | ¥12,000 | | JR East–South Hokkaido Rail Pass | ¥35,000 | ¥35,370 | | JR Tohoku–South Hokkaido Rail Pass | ¥30,000 | ¥30,640 |

These passes will also now be purchasable by all non-Japanese passport holders (i.e. including foreign residents), not only those on a tourist visa.

Beginning April 1, 2025.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/dannyrab on 2025-01-28 18:24:07+00:00.

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Hey guys!

Me and my wife (early 30s) are going to Japan end of March into April this year.

I built out our itinerary and wanted to get your feedback before finalizing things.

Please give me your thoughts if I have done repetitive things, or if geographically something doesnt make sense in the order I put it. Also some suggestions for last days in Tokyo.

Also, I attached a list of restaurants and the bottom and would love to hear your feedback.

Day 1: Tokyo

|Arrive 16:30| |Ginza| |Sushi| |Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi Building|

Day 2: Tokyo

|Meji Shrine| |Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden| |Takeshita Street| |Omotesando| |Shibuya Crossing| |Shibuya Dinner|

Day 3: Tokyo

|Senso-ji Temple| |Namikase Street| |Tsukiji Outer Market| |Ueno Park| |Akihabara| |Tokyo Skytree (Sunset)|

Day 4: Tokyo

|Yoyogi Park| |mipig café| |Akihabara (Arcade)| |teamLab| |Odaiba (Shopping / Rainbow bridge)|

Day 5: Hakone

|Train to Hakone (85 Min)| |Hakone Open-Air Museum| |Lake Ashi (Hakone Sightseeing Cruise)| |Hakone Shrine| |Owakudani Valley| |Rokyan| |Isuien Garden|

Day 6: Kyoto

|Train To Kyoto| |Fushimi Inari Taisha| |Daigoji Temple| |Nishiki Market| |Gion District|

Day 7: Kyoto

|Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji).| |Nijo Castle| |Philosopher’s Path| |Kiyomizu-dera Temple|

Day 8: Kyoto

|Arashiyama Bamboo Grove| |Tenryu-ji Temple| |Togetsukyo Bridge| |Iwatayama Monkey Park|

Day 9: Osaka (Nara Day Trip)

|Train to Nara| |Todai-ji Temple| |Nara Park| |Isuien Garden| |Kasuga Taisha Shrine| |Kofuku-ji Temple| |Train to Osaka|

Day 10: Osaka

|Osaka Castle| |Kuromon Ichiba Market| |Shops in Namba| |Dotonbori| |Hozenji Yokocho|

Day 11: Osaka

|Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Arcade| |Amerika-Mura| |Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine| |Shinsekai| |Tsutenkaku Tower|

Day 12: Tokyo

|Asakusa & Sumida River| |Open|

Day 13: Tokyo

|Open|

Flight at 5:50 PM

Top Sushi

|Sushi Inomata| |Kiyota Hanare| |Hirō Ishizaka| |Kiyota| |Sushi Mizukami| |Sushi Suzuki| |Sushidokoro Yamato| |Sushi Kimura| |Tomidokoro| |Sushi Akira| |Takaoka Chiba| |Sushidokoro Yamada| |Sushisho Masa| |Azabujuban Hatano Yoshiki| |Sushi Takeru| |Sushi Ryujiro| |Hakkoku| |Sushi Arai sub counter| |Udatsu|

Yakiniku BBQ

|Yoroniku (よろにく)| |Sumibi Yakiniku Nakahara (炭火焼肉 なかはら)| |Ushigoro (うしごろ)| |Shin-Nihon Yakiniku Tou (新日本焼肉党)| |Yakiniku Kuro 5| |Yakiniku Jambo Hanare| |Yakiniku Yamachan| |Yakiniku Sudo Haruyoshi|

Casual Sushi

|1. Sushiro| |2. Kura Sushi| |3. Uogashi Nihon-Ichi Standing Sushi Bar| |4. Uobei Shibuya Dogenzaka| |5. Katsu Midori| |6. Nemuro Hanamaru| |7. Katsumidori Seibu Shibuya| |8. Sushizanmai| |9. Ganso Zushi| |10. Uobei|

Kyoto Restaurants:

High-End: |Hyotei| |Kikyo Sushi| |Mizai| |Gion Sasaki| |Tempura Endo Yasaka| |

Mid Range: |Omen Udon| |Gion Tanto| |五燠堂 (Gooudou)| |G-men (Curry Ramen)|

Casual: |Chao Chao Gyoza| |Menya Inoichi| |Nishiki Market (Food Stalls)| |Kichi Kichi Omurice| || |Izuju (Gion)| |Kyoto Gogyo| ||

|Street Food| |Yudofu| |Yatsuhashi| |Taiyaki|

Osaka Restaurants:

High-End: |Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M (Dotonbori)| |Hajime| |Fujiya 1935|

Mid Range: |Mizuno (Okonomiyaki)| |Ichiran Ramen (Dotonbori Branch)| |Harukoma Sushi| |Yakiniku M Hozenji|

Casual: |Ajinoya (Okonomiyaki)| |Takoyaki Wanaka| |Dotonbori Akaoni| |Kiji Umeda (Okonomiyaki)| |Kuromon Ichiba Market| || |Tsurutontan Udon| |Endo Sushi (Osaka Central Fish Market)| |Okonomiyaki Chitose (Shinsekai)| |Endo Sushi| |Ramen Yashichi| |Fujiya 1935| |

Street Food: |Takoyaki| |Okonomiyaki| |Kushikatsu| |Horumon-yaki|

Tokyo Restaurants:

High-End: |Sushi Arai (Ginza)| |Sukiyabashi Jiro (Ginza)| |Den (Shibuya)| |Florilège (Omotesando)| |Narisawa (Aoyama|

Mid Range: |Afuri Ramen (Multiple Locations)| |Uoriki Kaisen Sushi (Shibuya)| |Ningyocho Imahan| |Tempura Shinjuku Tsunahachi (Shinjuku)|

Casual: |Ichiran Ramen (Multiple Locations| |Rokurinsha (Tokyo Station)| |Sushizanmai (Multiple Locations, Tsukiji Outer Market)| |Ginza Kagari| |Harajuku Gyoza Lou| || |TeamLab Planets Dining (Toyosu)| |Tsukiji Outer Market (Various Stalls)| |Sushisho Masa (Roppongi)| |Maru (Ebisu)| |Omakase Sushi Sho| |Katsu Midori (Shibuya)| |Tsuta (Sugamo)| |Kyubey (Ginza)| ||

Street Food: |Monjayaki| |Taiyaki| |Karaage| |Dango|

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/bigWrist415 on 2025-01-26 19:35:57+00:00.

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48 hours after completing my 2nd trip to Japan in a year and hopefully this report can help others in their vacation planning. On this trip, I was accompanying my 17 year old daughter and a college friend on a 17 day trip to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Her focus on this trip was thrift shopping and she wasn't focused on cultural sightseeing. This was her friend's first trip to Japan and he was interested in the normal first timer's sightseeing as well as Universal Studios Japan and fun2Drive, a JDM driving experience in Hakone.

Our family had just visited Japan in June 2024 and we visted cultural spots in Tokyo, Kyoto, Miyajima, Kanazawa, and Shirakawa-Go on a 13 night vacation. This second trip was in January to take advantage of a long winter break between college semesters. I tagged along on the trip (just in case), but essentially I was a solo traveler and my daughter and her friend had their own itinerary for the trip. I'll lay out their itinerary and then my own itinerary.

We took Japan Airlines into Narita and then immediately took a bullet train to Osaka. I don't recommend a 3 hour train ride, following an 11 hour plane ride, but that's just how the itinerary developed after booking the Japan Airline tickets into Narita (and then flying out of Haneda). Some quick notes. We had the QR code ready for customs/immigration, picked up portable WI-FI devices, and then luggage forwarded (Yamoto) our suitcases from Narita to Osaka. Luggage forwarding worked flawlessly and I highly highly highly recommend forwarding.

We had three nights at the Dotonbori in Osaka and it was great! The hotel had come recommended on several travel blogs as a good value option hotel in a great location. The reviews were not wrong. The location was amazing, the rooms were fine, and the hotel had several free amenities (massage chair, happy hour, customer activities) that just made the stay more enjoyable.

My daughter's itinerary was pretty loose. She was less interested in sightseeing than I was and I suggested they just plan one main activity during the day and evening and leave time to explore.

Osaka - 3 nights

Daughter's three day itinerary: Night 1: arrival; Day 2: explore Dotonbori; Day 3: Nara; Day 4: Osaka Aquarium.

Dad itinerary: Night 1: arrival; Day 2: Cup of Noodles Museum, explore Dotonbori at night; Day 3: Nara; Day 4: Osaka Aquarium.

Our itineraries matched up for the Osaka portion. I hadn't visited Osaka on my last trip and I enjoyed it more than I thought I was. I'm not a foodie, but there was an energy and vibrancy to the night life. I researched the Yokohama Cup of Noodles for our last trip and when I found out that Osaka had cup of Noodles museum (founder's home town) - it was a no brainer for me to visit. I made three personalized cup of noodle as presents for my wife and kids and the experience was a lot of fun. No admission fee to the Cup of Noodles museum and I recommend the experience.

Did not visit Nara on our first trip, because we got our deer experience at Miyajima. The kids had a great time interacting with the deer at Nara. We got there early before a ton of tourist arrived. Quick note about traveling to Japan in the winter. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. While you could see your breath, the daytime temps averaged in the low 50s and night time temps in high 30s to low 40s. I managed just fine in a long sleeve thermal shirt, sweater, and jacket. The manageable temperature and smaller crowd sizes make winter a viable travel time.

Osaka Aquarium was crowded with families and was as expected. It is a good aquarium. If you've been to major aquarium before then you know what to expect. I wouldn't necessarily go back for a 2nd time, but it is a good family or rainy day activity.

I'm not going to list any restaurant or food places that I ate at, because I'm not a foodie. However, I did challenge myself to eat where the locals eat and not to be intimidated at the lack of english menus. Consequently, I ate at Yoshinoya twice and had a very enjoyable beef bowl with rice for like 800 yen ($5 USD).

luggage forwarded from Osaka to Kyoto.

Kyoto - 7 nights ( 1 night sleep capsule/Millenials and 6 nights Solaria Nishitetsu

Having stayed in downtown Kyoto this summer, I knew I wanted to stay in this area again. I think it is perfect location for tourist due to its proximity to the train station, Gion, and Nishiki Market. I also thought it would be fun to try out an upscale sleep capsule hotel. The Millennials has a hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto and I'd call it a premium sleep capsule experience that is a tad pricey. The pods are more expensive in Tokyo than Kyoto and I enjoyed it for the one night we were there. The kids also thought it was "fun".

The Solaria Nishitetsu was great. No complaints. The location is great and our rooms were clean and comfortable.

Kids itinerary: day 2: shopping Onisuka tigers + explore; day 3: fushimi inari; day 4: Arashiyama bamboo forest+monkey park; day 5: Universal Studio Japan; day 6: Kiyomizu-dera; day 6: animal cafe

Dad itinerary: day 2: Ginkaku-ji, Philosopher's Path, Nanzen-ji; day 3: Kyoto Imperial Palace (it was closed; ugh!) Wife & Husband coffee shop; day 4: Uji day trip; day 5: Kobe day trip; day 6: Imperial Palace (english tour, Golden Pavillion, Nijo Castle)

I used this trip to supplement the Kyoto activities I did this summer (Arashiyama, Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-era). I enjoyed the Philospher's Path. It must be incredible in the spring or autumn when flowers are blooming or vibrant. In the winter, there was no foliage, but I still enjoyed the walk and found it very peaceful. I also enjoyed the day trip to Uji. The weather was not cooperating and it was threatening to rain on me in the afternoon. However, Byodoin Temple is spectacular and the fact the temple is pictured on the back of a 10 yen coin. It felt like I was really witnessing a historical landmark. I did the Kobe ropeway and really enjoyed exploring the Herb Garden. However, the wind coming across the Kobe Harbor made it really cold in the morning. I had Kobe beef in Kobe and it was good, but not particularly memorable. I'm not a food guy, remember.

I enjoyed the tour of Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace more than I thought I would. I had only a very basic understanding of Japanese history and visiting the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle make the historical references come to life.

On this trip I was able to eat at Hikiniku to Come (hamburg), No Name Ramen, and Chao Chao Gyoza. I wanted to eat at Hikiniku to Come this summer, but wasn't able to get a reservation given the popularity. In the winter, it still required a reservation, but given my flexible schedule, I was able to come by at noon to secure a dinner reservation. It was great. A fun and delicious experience. I didn't see any other tourist eating at No Name Ramen and I ate there twice. Solid ramen with tender beef. Chao Chao Gyoza required a 30 minute wait (even in the winter), but its a fun vibe and I had dinner there twice.

luggage forwarded from Kyoto to Tokyo.

Tokyo - 6 nights in Shinjuku

Previously, i stayed in Asakusa and Ginza, but we stayed in Shinjuku to get a difference experience and to facilitate day trips. The kids had a day trip to Hakone and Shinjuku was the most convenient train station to leave from. Since we were in Shinjuku, I planned day trips to Mt. Fuji and Kamakura that left from Shinjuku station.

Kids itinerary: Day 1: explore Shinjuku; Day 2: shop + explore Shibuya; Day 3: Shop + Mario Go-Kart in Shibuya; Day 4: Hakone - 2Fun2Drive; Day 5: TeamLab Borderless; Day 6: TeamLab Planets (expanded version).

Dad itinerary: Day 1: explore Shinjuku; Day 2: explore Harajuku + TeamLab Borderless; Day 3: My Fuji day trip; Day 4: Kamakura day trip; Day 5: Gotokuji Temple (lucky cat temple) and explore area; Day 6: Tokyo Imperial Palace and TeamLab Planets (expanded version)

I enjoyed TeamLab Planets more than Borderless. I need more structure as compared to just randomly walking around an exhibit. However, the tea garden at Borderless and coloring in a drawing and then having it scanned it and being incorporated into the exhibit was really fun. The Mt. Fuji day trip was great. I almost missed the tour, because I couldn't find the meeting spot, but it all worked out. I enjoyed visiting Kamakura and getting outside of Tokyo. I went to TeamLab Planets again, because the newly expanded TeamLab Planets had its' grand opening a day before we flew out (and I couldn't resist). It was fun revisiting Planets, but the new exhibits are not must-see.

I enjoyed our stay at the Gracery and would happily go back there for a future stay. It was very easy to navigate Tokyo, because we were close to a major train station. Also, the access to konbinis and restaurants was great. Yes, you are close to Kabukicho and you will be solicited by guys and girls, but you can just ignore them.

Happy to take questions and hope this write up is helpful.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Illustrious-Dust-290 on 2025-01-26 02:02:03+00:00.

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On January 25, 2025. my mentally disabled uncle got on a train. We were about to board with him but the doors closed too fast.

We have contacted the police and they told us that there is a nationwide search but every train station we have visited DONT know anything about it. We have filed a missing person's report.

He was last seen January 25 2025 at 20:15 pm at Shin Kiba station on Platform 1, heading to Maihama. Wearing a brown jacket with a hood.

He is 62 years old, about 5 feet 2 inches. He has a mustache. He is a diabetic and needs medication so this is very urgent!!! Please call the Uruyasa police station if you find him or have seen him since last night.

Do you think we should try contacting a news media or anyone else? The embassy does not open until tomorrow...we will appreciate any advice or happy stories 🙏🏻

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/anuragashok16 on 2025-01-25 14:51:47+00:00.

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Hey everyone! I’m planning a 4-5-day trip to Kyoto (25th Feb to 28th Feb 2025) with my spouse, and I’d love some feedback on our itinerary. We’re especially interested in early-morning visits (to avoid crowds) and vegan-friendly meal spots. Here’s what we’ve sketched out so far:

Day 1

• Morning (7 AM): Arashiyama (Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji, Kimono forest), then hop over to Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji before lunchtime.
• Afternoon: Nishiki Market for food/snacks (we’ll check for vegan options).
• Evening: Gion for lantern-lit streets and Yasaka Shrine.

Day 2

• Morning (7 AM): Fushimi Inari (JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station).
• Afternoon: Continue on JR Nara Line to Uji → Byōdō-in Temple, matcha shops, and river walk.
• Evening: Either explore Pontocho Alley or Shijo-Kawaramachi area for dinner.

Day 3

• Morning: Kiyomizu-dera around 8 AM, then Ninenzaka & Sannenzaka for that classic pagoda view.
• Afternoon: Okazaki Shrine, maybe check out Heian Shrine if time permits.
• Evening: Final night in Kyoto—souvenir shopping and a vegan dinner (possibly TowZen for ramen or Ain Soph. Journey again).

Day 4

• Biwako Valley / Nara / Osaka

Day 5

• Morning: Kitano Tenmangu for plum blossoms
• Afternoon: Leave Kyoto for KIX using Haruka.

Questions / Advice Wanted

1. Feasibility: Does the itinerary look feasible?
2. Crowd Tips: Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari are super popular—are 7 AM starts early enough?
3. Anything Missing: Is there a lesser-known gem we should squeeze in or something we should swap out?
4. Day Trip Advice: Biwako Valley / Nara / Osaka .. we are mostly leaning on Biwako because we both have not seen snow yet :-D

Any insights would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/InternationalBox679 on 2025-01-23 15:15:23+00:00.

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Planning to visit Japan March 19-30, this is what we planned so far but not sure how hectic it will be and if its worth checking out everything in this timespan, or just adjusting the days in each city. Would love to hear some input and suggestions for things to do/remove. This will be our first time traveling to Japan. Landing in Haneda.

Day 1 (March 19): Arrival in Tokyo

• Land at Haneda Airport at 2 PM.
• Explore Shinjuku for shopping, nightlife, and unique stores.
• Optional: Visit Sky Lounge Stellar Garden.

Day 2 (March 20): Tokyo - DisneySea

• Full day at DisneySea.
• Evening: Relax and rest at the hotel.

Day 3 (March 21): Tokyo to Mt. Fuji

• Morning: Travel to Mt. Fuji. Stay at onsen.
• Activities: Explore the area, enjoy the onsen, rent pedal boat on lake ashinoko, hakone shrine.

Day 4 (March 22): Mt. Fuji to Kyoto

• Travel to Kyoto. Would love to hear recs.

Day 5 (March 23): Kyoto - Temples and Culture

• Morning: Visit Hokan-ji Temple and Fushimi Inari-Taisha (hike the Tori gates).
• Afternoon: Explore Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Kinkaku-ji.
• Evening: Visit the Gion District and Nishiki Market.

Day 6 (March 24): Day Trip to Nara and Uji

• Morning: Feed deer at Nara Park and visit Todai-ji Temple.
• Afternoon: Visit Byodo-in Temple in Uji, reserve matcha testing.
• Evening: Return to Kyoto.

Day 7 (March 25): Kyoto to Osaka

• Morning: Travel to Osaka.
• Afternoon: Explore Dotonbori for food and nightlife.
• Evening: Visit Osaka Castle.

Day 8 (March 26): Day Trip to Kobe

• Morning: Travel to Kobe. Visit Kobe Harborland.
• Afternoon: Enjoy vegetarian-friendly delicacies in Kobe.
• Evening: Return to Osaka.

Day 9 (March 27): Osaka to Hiroshima

• Morning: Travel to Hiroshima. Check into local hotel.
• Afternoon: Visit Peace Memorial Park.
• Evening: Explore Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima).

Day 10 (March 28): Hiroshima to Tokyo

• Morning: Travel back to Tokyo.
• Afternoon: Shopping at GU and exploring Shibuya Sky
• Evening: Leisure

Day 11 (March 29): Tokyo - Last Day

• Ginza: Tsukji Outer Market, shop around at GU, Uniqlo.
• Evening: Prepare for departure.

Day 12 (March 30): Departure at 4:30 pm from haneda

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/VanceMkk on 2025-01-23 16:06:25+00:00.

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I spent my fall of junior year living with a family in Kanagawa and attending school in Tokyo. I have been meaning to do a write up of my experiences as I used this subreddit for help on occasion and enjoyed reading others' posts. My experience was somewhat unique but I was able to travel extensively and hope that my experiences might be beneficial for those looking to travel to Japan or at the very least spend some time reminiscing with me! This is a long post, hopefully not a boring one.

Admittedly, I would like to learn more Japanese before I return (and I have every intention of returning, Japan was a magical formative experience for me). I had taught myself hirigana, a little ketekana and some basic words and phrases. I spent more time trying to learn customs as I was unsure of my homestay assignment until pretty close to my departure. Should I have been assigned an older couple I expected a more strict traditional experience and I hoped to be ready. Some things I learned were helpful, some not. I had an open mind and committed many faux paus while I was there. The funny part was, most Japanese people were far too kind and polite to ever correct me. I think most of all they appreciated the effort. If there is anything I hope to impart from this it is the smallest efforts are met with great appreciation and endearment. Respect Begets Respect.

Photos:

August:

I arrived late August and the heat and humidity were rather miserable. In spite of the weather, I did a few notable things:

1. Spent a day in Yokohama. Yokahama is a large city just south of Tokyo. Yokohama has an immigrant past exemplified by its bustling Chinatown. Later in my stay I would return to see Sankeian Garden, the estate of what was the wealthiest man of Yokohama that is now a lovely garden displaying Japanese maples and great examples of traditional architecture. Yokohama has many green spaces, some of which were built during the Tokyo Olympics where Yokohama was a venue. Shin-Yokohama station was the nearest Shinkansen station to where I was living and presented a quieter experience relative to Shinagawa or Tokyo stations in Tokyo. Yokohama is a lovely city but by no means a must see on a more packed itinerary.
2. Kamakura. Kamakura is a lovely area and I wish I had spent more time exploring the myriad of temples nestled throughout the region. When I visited in the summer the beaches were packed with people escaping the heat. the beaches of Kamakura actually represent some of the few sand beaches in the area. On this trip I visited the daibutsu, a giant bronze buddha statue second only to the Todaiji in Nara, another place I would visit. I would also later visit the island of Enoshima, famed for its views of Mt. Fuji, such views are usually elusive in the summer months when the clouds cling to the mountain. Kamakura lovely area and I'd recommend those staying in Tokyo to visit as a day trip to escape the hustle and bustle.
3. Explored Senso-ji and Tokyo skytree. Senso-ji is quite busy and touristy. It's a nice area but I only returned once or twice (I needed to collect a goshuin from the temple once I discovered the tradition). The temple grounds are spacious, especially for being in a busy part of Tokyo, but not unique enough to warrant the crowds. There are numerous better priced less crowded shopping streets that Japan has to offer. The skytree presents cool panoramic views but its busy and expensive and in my opinion not worth the time if one only has a limited number of days.

September:

Still hot. Spent my weekends further exploring areas of Tokyo. In early September a classmate and I hiked Mt. Fuji. I walked around Ginza and the Hamarikyu gardens, both nice for different reasons. Ultimately, I think it good to do a bit of wandering, especially when it comes to restaurants. I went to this amazing tempura place that was down a flight of stairs in a nondescript building outside of the busy area of Ginza. I sat at the bar and watched as the young chef expertly prepared my tempuradon.

Mt Fuji: We took a bus from Shinjuku to kawaguchiko where we took a train to fujiyoshida and stayed in a hostel for the night. We got up the next morning ~5am and took a bus to the 5th station, the common starting point. We began hiking around ~7am and took the most common path to the top. For reference, I'm a college athlete and my classmate is from a mountainous region of America so we ascending at a quite rapid pace. I would not recommend someone less fit or more sane to go as fast as we did. From the fifth station to the top we hiked for roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes. When we started, it was cloudy and raining. By the time we had reached the top we were above the clouds. I had applied a little sunscreen but evidently not enough. We hiked to the true high point of fuji, around the rim of the volcano and then descended. The descent was more difficult. The trail is loose and sandy and it is difficult to hold your footing with the momentum. At this point we were tired and ready to be done with our adventure but the trail kept going and going. Because of the early start we were done mid afternoon. I ended up sustaining second degree sun burns and thankfully our hostel owner knew a local nurse and I was able to get treatment the next morning. Thank goodness for Japanese health insurance! My friend hearing I was being attended fulfilled their dream of riding the tallest rollercoaster at Fuji-Q amusement park. They waited in line for 2 hours!

October:

My first "big" trip happened in October. The school I was attending put together some field trips that were partially subsidized by the school for study abroad students. It was first come first served so I was only able to get into one, however I think it was probably the best trip anyway. For a long weekend we went to Wakayama prefecture to visit holy sites related to Buddhism. Specifically, Shingon Buddhism's holy temples are housed on Koyasan (Mount Koya).

Nachi: We took an overnight bus to Wakayama prefecture that was chartered by the school. To get to Mt. Koya using trains is an arduous and convoluted process so I don't think I would have been able to replicate this trip on my own. From Tokyo the busride took about 9 hours. We first visited a part of the Kumano Nakahechi, a sacred pilgrimage path for followers of Buddhism that is a protected World Heritage Site. We saw the Nachi-taisha, a temple nestled on the side of a valley overlooking nachi falls, a site also sacred in Shintoism. I think there are few more beautiful places I have been. We explored the grounds of the falls and temple for a few hours before getting lunch and checking in at our hotel. The hotel had onsen, my first experience, and we were treated to a buffet dinner and breakfast. Of course, one of the students I was assigned to room with was a snorer... I woke up early but that was okay because I got to watch some of the Jets game before breakfast.

Koyasan: After breakfast we got back on the bus and drove to Koyasan where we were staying overnight in a Buddhist monastery. Mt. Koya is one of the few places in Japan where tourists can book such an experience so I was very happy. When we arrived we dropped our bags and got to exploring, we had several hours before dinnertime. A friend and I decided to go on a hike on one of the pilgrimage routes from the town. It was rainy but we hiked for probably two hours. I'm not a particularly religious person but I felt the spirituality of those woods viscerally; the green-ridged mountains and tall conifers were beautiful. We returned and freshened up for dinner where we were served traditional vegetarian Buddhist cuisine. The attention to detail was remarkable, the vegetables were cut and crafted into various shapes. They served us Udon that was simmered into individual pots next to us. It was delicious. When we had all had our fill, we assembled outside the monastery for our night tour of the famous Okonuin cemetary. It was raining but we were accompanied by a lovely temple monk who spoke perfect english. He guided us along telling us the history and lore of the cemetary, as well as some "spooky" trivia. "They say that if you look in to that well and don't see your reflection, it means you will die within the year!" Halloween comes early there I supposed... The most famous person enshrined in the cemetary is Kobo-Daishi the founder of Japan's Shingon sect of Buddhism. I can't remember his story well enough to recount here but for those interested it's worth researching. After the tour we went back to the Monastery to sleep. Why are traditional Japanese pillows so hard? In the morning we attended the morning Buddhist prayers and then were on our way back on the bus.

Hakone: I went for a day trip with a friend at the end of the month. Its a mountainous region close to Tokyo and popular vacation and onsen location for those who live in the city. I would say it was underwhelming, especially as we were limited to public transportation. There's several things to see and do but they're not walkable and require getting on and off busses. For those who are staying in one of the areas many wonderful Ryokan or with a rental car a better experience might be had but for me there would be better places for a day trip. I think most of Hakone's popularity comes from its convenience for those living in Tokyo.

November:

November was a big ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/outandabout91 on 2025-01-22 20:25:29+00:00.

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This sub has been so helpful in planning this trip. I initially had a whole different itinerary set and now have a more concrete itinerary. It will be my husband and I traveling with our 2 year old from May 4-May19.

*I need advice for Day 5. In hindsight, we should have gone straight from Tokyo to Kyoto and have an extra day at the end to go to Miyajima Island instead however, the prices of the hotels I booked are way too high now for me to cancel and rebook.

Day 0: Arrive in Narita at 4:30pm. Estimating we will reach our hotel around 8pm. Have dinner and crash.

Day 1-4: Tokyo, Hotel-Banrai Hotel Asakusa

Day 1: Senso-Ji, Asakusa shrine, Nakamise Dori Street

Day 2: Shinjuku

Day 3: Shibuya & Harajuku

Day 4: Tokyo Tower area and Teamlab borderless*

**Note: Not planning too much and will just explore Tokyo without a definite plan. Will focus on 1 or 2 neighborhoods a day. Anything specific you think we must do? We don't want to do anything that requires a reservation as we have no idea how our toddler will be and I don't want to be restricted by adhering to certain times. The only exception to this is teamlab borderless but haven't decided on that yet.*

Day 5: This is the day I need some advice on. I was initially planning on staying overnight in Kawaguchi and visit the Mt Fuji Shibazakura festival, but then I saw that in May there's only like a 40% chance of seeing Mt Fuji and I am not sure if it will be worth staying one night there.

The other options are Kamakura, Hakone, Nagoya and I have points for all of them but just not sure which one to go with.

Kamakura: Love the layed back vibe of the coastal town and to visit the Great Buddha. However I feel Kamakura will feel similar to places we will visit during the rest of the trip.

Hakone: Lots to do even if Mt. Fuji is not visible. The open air museum, ropeway are some pros.

Nagoya: My husband loves Toyota and its not a requirement for the trip but he would love it if we visited the Toyota technology museum and the railway museum. My 2 year old is also currently obsessed with cars, trucks, trains. Also Nagoya is very different than the rest of the places we will be visiting and it is on the JR line so getting to Kyoto will be easier.

Day 6-9: Kyoto, Hotel-West Japan Kyoto Kiyamizu

One of these days if we can wake up before sunrise the plan is to do Kiyamezu Dera first thing in the morning and then walk down Sanenzaka and Nanenzaka. The other days we plan to do more of the non touristy temples and just relax and shop around. One day, if we are up for it we might do a day trip to Amanohashidate, rent a car and go to Ine. OR do a day trip to Miyajima Island

Day 10-11: Nara/Wakayama/Mie. Hotel-Hotel Nagisaya

also booked a room at Kamenoi Hotel with an open air private onsen in the room but might cancel this one as its's a bit out of our budget for 2 nights.

This is also the roadtrip part of our trip. We will be renting a car from Kyoto Station and Returning it in Osaka. The cost to return the car in Osaka will be about $50CAD.

Day 10:

Morning-Nara Kasaga-Taisha, Todai-Ji.

Afternoon-Lunch at Hatinashi Village in Totsukawa.

Drive to Hotel in NachiKatsura and relax in the onsen in the evening

Day 11:

Morning-Kumano Nachi Taisha, Seiganto-ji, Nachi Falls.

Afternoon-Yunomine Onsen, Hongu

Sunset: Maruyama Senmaida Rice fields

Day 12-13: Osaka, Airbnb near Namba Station

Day 12: Morning - Hashiguiiwa Rocks, then drive back to Osaka

Afternoon & Evening in Osaka

Day 13: Shopping day in Osaka

Day 14: Tokyo, Hotel-Almont Hotel Nippori (Right next to Nippori Station where the Skyliner goes straight to Narita)

Day 15: Fly out from Narita at 6:30pm

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Technojust on 2025-01-22 05:00:57+00:00.

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Sorry this may be a wall of text, but hopefully someone will do a google search one day and find even just a sentence from this helpful for their trip. 

Context:

• 20M. This would be my third time in Tokyo, first time visiting everywhere else. Only decided to visit Nara, Enoshima, and Kamakura around 12 hours in advance.
• I am Asian so I look Japanese-passing. Know just enough Japanese to survive. Can slowly read Hiragana/Katakana. Only Kanji proficiency is from knowledge of basic Chinese characters.
• Booked in advance 5 restaurants (initially 6 but cancelled one) and 2 attractions.
• All solo except for time in Sapporo and during the Kikkoman tour.
• I centered my itinerary around me being a big foodie, collecting goshuin, and carrying a camera. I’ve built up a list in Google Maps of 100+ restaurants in Japan that I add to as I scroll Instagram or watch JapanEat.
• Grew up with US Northeastern winters, so Japan was not that cold, including Sapporo. All the walking and heating in buildings and subways probably helped.
• EDC - Aer City Sling 2: Camera (attached via S-Biner). Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K (highly recommend - small and maintained a healthy phone charge throughout 14 hr days). Airpods. Goshuin book. Uniqlo drawstring bag folded up in case of shopping. Wallet, passport, coin pouch.

D1 Wednesday: Arrival in Osaka

• 8:45: Landed at KIX (smooth connection from HND) and cleared everything. Decided in advance to visit Mt. Rokko in Kobe, and bought a special tourist transportation ticket at the KIX Tourist Info Center. Did not know the booth only opened at 9:00, but I was lucky to not have to wait long.
• 10:30: Dropped off luggage (one backpack) at the hotel (1 min walk from JR Namba Station. Planned to eat at a health-orientated teishoku restaurant but they open at 11:00 so I wandered around the area until then.
• 12:00: Walked down to Namba Yasaka Jinja. A small crowd but nothing crazy. Took some pictures and got a paper goshuin. Walked through Denden town and only went inside the Animate store. Walked up to Kuromon Ichiba market and ate seafood and takoyaki. Walked to Hozen-ji Temple, which was very quiet, and got a handwritten goshuin.
• 15:15: Checked into the hotel after walking in this circle. Got organized and refreshed.
• 17:00: Shopping in Uniqlo Namba City for some necessary items. Went back to the hotel to drop extra stuff off.
• 19:30: Arrive in Shinsekai via metro, much quieter than expected. The decorations were touristy but cool nonetheless. Had kushikatsu for dinner, but the doteyaki was the star.
• 21:30: Arrive at Okonomiyaki Moegi. Had their regular okonomiyaki and a negiyaki, and learned that just one okonomiyaki is plenty for a full meal. Restaurant was full but with only one local.

D2 Thursday: Surprise trip to Nara

• 5:00: Woke up due to jet lag, decided to take advantage of the extra time and go to the Nara deer park and Todai-ji. I had done a little research on a Nara trip but decided against it, so I was not going into this fully blind. Got on the 6:10 train to Nara.
• 7:00: Got out of the station in Nara and walked towards Todai-ji and the deer park. Extremely quiet with no one around, only a few ojisans and others. Then snow started falling and it was so beautiful and peaceful. Went to Todai-ji and saw the giant Buddha, and there were only two other visitors in the hall. Got a written goshuin. Completely silent with the snow falling outside.
• 10:00: Left the temple and walked to the main deer park area. Tour buses started arriving and it got really loud really quick. Immediately turned into the Nara you see on Youtube and expect of a tourist hotspot.
• 12:00: Back at the hotel and went out to an eel restaurant. Really crispy and tender Kansai style grilled eel but pricey. Multiple floors for seating, and it was just myself and a staff for the majority of my meal. Kind of awkward.
• 15:00: Go to Umeda for a 15:30 reservation at Yakitori Ichimatsu. Got the sake tasting set which included a really good one from Akita. Everything was really good, but the tail skewer was so good I ordered another one a la carte. The seating was around 2 hours. Made the reservation 2 months in advance via omakase online concierge.
• 17:00: Got lost for 2 hours trying to find a cafe and 551 Horai in Osaka Station City. Found both but it really wasn't worth it. 551 Horai is everywhere. Learned to not rely on Google Maps GPS and instead focus on surrounding buildings and floor maps.

D3 Friday: Kobe Day Trip

• 9:40: Arrive in Kobe Chinatown. Wandered around a bit and got the famous pork buns at Roshoki. They open at 10:00 so I waited for less than 5 minutes to order and get my food. Wandered and ate other foods which was mostly disappointing. Saw a massive line for Yun Yun fried baos while I was in a cafe, so I stopped by later and miraculously did not have to wait in line. It ended up being the best thing I ate in Chinatown.
• 12:00: Arrive at the BE KOBE sign. Walked around the harbor area and checked out the earthquake memorial museum. It was mostly exhibits but the preserved area was pretty impactful.
• 13:00: Reservation at Mouriya for Kobe Beef (booked 3 months in advance via online form and confirmed via email). A must try experience but a little underwhelming when taking into account all the hype. The quality of beef was excellent and the service was top tier, but I think you can get a more exciting meal at the same high quality for cheaper at a nice yakiniku place instead. After, I walked to Ikuta shrine 2 minutes away and got a special January goshuin.
• 15:00: Begin the journey to Mount Rokko Garden Terrace. With some assistance from a very kind bus driver, I made it up the mountain. It was completely empty and the only tourists I later saw were one Chinese family and a group of four Koreans. The only other people were ojisans and obasans, and staff. I mainly stayed on top of a small brick tower and went crazy with my camera. A mild snowstorm passed by just before blue hour. Hands and feet were freezing but the black magic known as Uniqlo heattech kept my body warm.
• 18:43: Took the bus down and arrived back at Sannomiya station around 20:00. Explored the food court of San Plaza (the same one from the series JapanEat is doing), and had dinner at a tempura place that JapanEat gave S-tier to (which I agree).
• 21:30: Went to Osaka castle straight from Kobe for some night photography. The only other people there were three tourists and some people walking their dogs. Even in the area outside the castle grounds, there was nobody around. Eerily quiet and peaceful.

D4 Saturday: Kaiyukan Aquarium

• 10:00: Arrive back at Osaka Castle for morning pictures. Extremely packed and I did not go inside. The view from outside was nice enough. Got a written goshuin from Hokoku Shrine outside the grounds, which had significantly fewer people.
• 10:45: Second in line waiting for Chukasoba Uemachi (Bib Gourmand) and seated at 11:03. Excellent ramen and a pork rice bowl which is lunch only. It was completely silent inside except for the sound of slurping noodles. This was somehow my first bowl of ramen this trip, so I only realized later how excellent this ramen was after I had other bowls throughout the next few days.
• 13:30: Entry into Kaiyukan Aquarium with a timed ticket I bought online 3 weeks in advance. I overlooked how bad the crowds would be on a weekend, but was spared the ticket lines. Inside, there were lots of loud children and couples. I found the squid, octopus, and jellyfish more interesting than the whale shark which was smaller than I imagined. The cafe’s marketing hit my weak spot for aquatic animals and I got a whale shark soft serve (ramune flavor, very average).
• 16:45: Embark on a quest to obtain instagram-viral honey donuts at Ronpaul bakery. Instead, I took the wrong bus and ended up at Ikea and in the middle of nowhere. Found my wa...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ButterscotchFar1294 on 2025-01-21 09:19:32+00:00.

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Waiting at the airport now after a little over 4 weeks in Japan and thought I would write a trip report to reflect on things and because I used this place as a resource for travel planning. Hopefully it will be of use to someone.

Started the trip arriving in Fukuoka on the 22nd of December off the New Camellia line ferry from Busan. Spent 3 days in Fukuoka, staying in Tenjin area. Particularly enjoyed Ohori park and Fukuoka's Gion district, although it may not feel as impressive if you have already been to Kyoto. Ate at a Yatai near Canal city which was a cool experience. I had heard how quiet the subways were but found Japanese people to be chatting comfortably. Went up the Fukuoka tower and to the Teamlabs exhibit. I never went to the Tokyo ones so can't really compare, but I found the opening exhibition that required an app quite underwhelming but the rest was very cool. Starting in Fukuoka was a cool way to build up to the craziness that is Tokyo.

Then we rented a car and did a 6 day roadtrip of Kyushu. We visited Kurokawa Onsen, Beppu, Kagoshima. Even though it was expensive, I enjoyed the freedom of being able to go where we wanted and not have to rely on busses/trains. Kurokawa onsen was a real highlight and we stayed a in a little cabin at a campsite called Kurasako onsen sakura, where we had our own private onsen. Did not particularly enjoy the Beppu gates of hell or Yufuin floral village. The south of Kyushu was awesome to drive along the coast and Kagoshima is just a fascinating city, with a constantly erupting volcano right next door. Unfortunately cancelled our trip to Takahiko Gorge due to not enough time. Driving in Japan is very slow compared to my country and I underestimated how long things would take. The petrol is very cheap for me, but the toll gates really added up.

Then we went to Kyoto by shinkansen for 5 days, which was probably a bit too much time. Highly recommend the trip out to Kurama hot springs and the walk over to Kibune. Then we went to Osaka by train. I won't write much about Kyoto or Osaka as I think there is enough info on them on here.

Then we did a little side trip for a gew days to Okayama and spent a night on Naoshima island riding bikes and visiting the art exhibitions. It was winter and this was the only point in the trip I felt like the colder weather negatively impacted the trip. It was also quite expensive staying on the island and paying for each art exhibition started adding up and they were quite small. I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. Also did the bike trip in Okayama, Kibi Plain which was awesome and very well setup. Then a quick visit to Himeji on the way back to Osaka.

Then I did a templestay in Koyasan for one night. I had previously done a buddhist templestay in Korea and I felt like the one in Koyasan was more luxury staying in temple accommodation whereas my Korea experience was closer to being a monk for a day. The Okunoin cemetery was absolutely beautiful covered in snow.

Then we took a bus down to Yunomine onsen, which was one of my favorite places on the whole trip. Saw heaps of monkeys and bathed in Tsuboyu. Went to the outdoor onsen in the river in Kawayu. Walked two days of the Kumano Kodo ending in Nachisan. Stayed in a cute homestay accommodation along the way.

Then travelled from Katsura to Tokyo by train and had 2.5 days in Tokyo.

Happy to answer any questions if anyone is planning something similar.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/alyssaelman4 on 2025-01-21 03:47:04+00:00.

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I have been reviewing the posts on this sub for the last 8 months and had posted a preliminary itinerary a while ago that received helpful feedback.

At this point, everything is mostly booked and I am hoping for some final comments. I want to make sure that we arent missing anything important and would love restaurant recommendations (and would also like to know if the places we have reserved are good, if anyone happens to have been!)!

Finally, though we want to see as much as we can, we also dont want to hate ourselves and be utterly exhausted, so if these days are too packed, please let me know!

Thanks so much for your comments!

PS: I included time stamps only for things that are already ticketed / reserved for a specific time.

Tokyo (Day 1, Thursday)

• 2:20 PM: Arrive HND
• Check into hotel in Shinjuku
• Free day to acclimate

Tokyo (Day 2, Friday)

• Meiji Jingu Shrine
• Yoyogi Park
• Walk / Shop around Harajuku (Takeshita Street, Cat Street, vintage shopping, etc.)
• Sushi lunch at Maguro to Shari
• Walk around Shibuya (Shibuya Scramble, Omotesando Street)
• 7:00 - 10:00 PM: Shinjuku Bar Hopping Tour: Dinner & Drinks in Golden Gai and Omoide Yokocho Street

Tokyo (Day 3, Saturday)

• Tsukiji Outer Market (super early!)
• 9:00 AM: TeamLab Borderless Museum
• Walk by Tokyo Tower
• 12:15 PM: Lunch at Pizza Studio Tamaki Higashi-Azabu
• 1:30 - 2:45 PM: Tokyo Imperial Palace
• Explore Ginza
• 8:30 PM: Dinner at Tempura Mochiku

Tokyo (Day 4, Sunday)

• Sensoji Temple
• Walk around Asakusa
• Ueno Park
• Ameyoko St.
• Explore Akihabara (casual dinner here?)

Tokyo --> Hakone (Day 5, Monday)

• Breakfast at Cafe Aaliya (opens 9 AM)
• Take Romance Car Train to Hakone
• Do as much of Hakone Loop as desired
• 3:00 PM: Check into Ryokan and relax
• 7:00 PM: Dinner at Ryokan

Hakone --> Kyoto (Day 6, Tuesday)

• 9:00 AM: Breakfast at Ryokan
• Open Air Museum
• Shinkansen to Kyoto
• 3:00 PM: Check into Hotel
• Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
• ?Dinner and drinks in Pontocho

Kyoto --> Uji (Day 7, Wednesday)

• Fushimi Inari Taisha (early!)
• Train from Inari Station to Uji Station (D: Nara Line, 30min)
• Tsuen Tea House
• Walk through Uji Park to Ujigami- jinja Shrine
• 1:30 - 3:00 PM: Matcha Factory Tour at Marukyu Koyamaen Factory
• 3:30 - 6:00 PM: Nintendo Museum
• ?dinner

Kyoto (Day 8, Thursday)

• Nijo Castle
• 11:30 AM: Lunch at Rokujuan
• Gingkaku-ji Temple
• Philosopher’s Path
• 3:00 - 4:00 PM: Glanta Jewelry Appointment (Ninenzaka location)
• Yasaka Koshin Do Temple
• 5:00 - 5:45 PM: Tea ceremony at Camellia Flower Tea House
• Walk around Higashiyama and Gion
• 8:00 PM: Dinner at Wagyu Ryotei Bungo Gion

Kyoto (Day 9, Friday)

• 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM: 10 hour private car charter

Arashiyama:

Bamboo Grove

Tenryu-ji Temple

Kameyama-Koen Monkey Park

12:30 PM: Lunch at Shigetsu

Gioji Temple & Garden

Ryoan-ji Temple

Kinkaku-Ji Golden Pavilion

• ?Dinner
• Drinks at Bar le Coq

Kyoto --> Osaka (Day 10, Saturday)

• Breakfast at Nishiki Market
• Train to Osaka
• ?Osaka Castle
• 3:00 PM: Check into hotel
• Umeda Sky Tower (Klook Conf#: ID: NFP347971)
• 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM: Osaka Food Tour

Osaka (Day 11, Sunday)

• Consider breakfast reservation at Happy Pancake
• Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street
• 1:45 - 6:00 PM: Sumo Tournament at Edion Arena
• Dinner: Dotonbori
• Walk to Namba Shrine before heading back to hotel

Osaka --> Tokyo (Day 12, Monday)

• Shinkansen to Tokyo
• 3:00 PM: Check into hotel in Toranomon
• 5:00PM: Shibuya Sky (pending getting tickets!)
• 7:30 PM: Dinner at Yakiniku Ikuta
• After dinner drinks on Nonbei Yokocho St.
• Karaoke at either Rainbow Karaoke or Karaoke Kan Shibuya

Tokyo (Day 13, Tuesday)

• 11:00 AM: Check out of hotel
• Free time for last minute errands
• 6:25 PM: Depart Tokyo from HND

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Cloud668 on 2025-01-20 18:09:50+00:00.

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Intro

I planned to visit Japan alone for about a week some time in December before Christmas, but not much specifics. I decided on Kansai because I sniped a relatively cheap United flight to KIX via SFO. Flying back was cheap since it's after the holiday rush. The time between leaving Kansai and returning to Tokyo would be spent elsewhere. One purpose of this trip was to plan a further trip with family some time in 2025.

I knew I had about 7 days, and originally I was thinking about 2 days in Osaka, 2 days in Kyoto, then 3 days in Tokyo; but trying to plan some specifics made it clear that this would be way too much time spent on the road, especially since the flight loses me a day. So I decided to split it between Osaka and Kyoto, with day trips in between. Kobe was originally on the menu, but I looked at the wagyu restaurant prices and thought, "maybe next time".

Expenditure breakdown (JPY¥/USD$)

Flight cost: $1270.61 (12/16 CLE-KIX, 1/17 HND-CLE)

• SuperHotel Namba Nippombashi
  • 12/17 ¥7560/$48.35
  • 12/18 ¥8820/$56.40
  • 12/19 ¥9360/$59.86
• Tassel Inn Kawaramachi Nijo
  • 12/20 ¥8750/$54.68
  • 12/21 ¥15400/$97.21
  • 12/22 ¥10650/$66.83
• Sarasa Hotel Namba
  • 12/23 ¥5580/$35.68

Total hotel costs: ¥68451/$437.59

Credit card charges: $187.77

Cash withdrawals: ¥30000 / $197.85

Total cost (excluding flight): $823.21

Packing:

I traveled with a ~30L backpack containing laptop and electronics because I was expecting some work calls, and a 28" Xiaomi Classic Pro (purchased secondhand). I packed 4 days of long-sleeve undershirt+underwear, jeans and trousers, 2 wool sweaters and 1 sweatshirt, down puffer and a barbour, 1 pair of Asics and a pair of Nicks boots.

Hotels:

SuperHotel at Namba Nippombashi was fantastic. I booked through their official site which didn't have a no-breakfast option. The room size was small and similar to all business hotels, but the layout was good and let me open my luggage on the floor without compromising chair space. The only criticism - a single elevator serves the entire building with the lobby on the second floor, and there's no stairway down.

Breakfast was a decent buffet, rice+curry, salad, cooked fish, cooked meat, some form of eggs, instant miso soup, yogurt, coffee/tea machines. Balanced with very low risk of stomach issues.

Craziest thing was that they had free alcohol from 2pm-8pm. No beer but a pretty extensive cocktail setup with shochu, sake, sour mixes, and liquors. I think I polished off like half a bottle of whiskey over the 3 days. It also made me ignore every nomihodai place.

Tassel Inn Kawaramachi Nijo was chosen for its decent transportation proximity and cheap price. It's also quite new so the room was definitely nice and clean. If I had a larger budget, I would've stayed a little more south, closer to Kawaramachi station and the Teramachi shopping street. I also wanted to pick somewhere that wasn't directly on a thoroughfare so it would be quieter, but this concern was not necessary. Laundry was easy to use.

Since my flight out of KIX was in the morning, I wanted to spend the last night close to the Namba JR station and booked Sarasa Hotel through Trip.com as a test. Tiniest room so far with a narrow and awkward layout. Front desk had 4 youngsters manning it who were clearly inexperienced. For the price, whatever.

Tourism itinerary:

12/17

• evening arrival: Processed through KIX very quickly with a prepared VisitJapanWeb QR code.
• Withdrew cash at ATM, purchased ICOCA. Was interested in getting the Kansai ONE Pass but their office had a long queue. Nankai-Kuko to Namba station.
• Checked in at hotel, then walked around Kuromon Market. Since it was the evening there was few people around. Bought some stuff at the pharmacy/cosmetic stores on behalf of family.
• Quick dinner at Niboshi-Ramen Tamagoro Kuromon
• Walked around Sennichimae and Namba Center, then went to bed early.

12/18

• Barely had any jet lag, woke up around 6am. Breakfast at hotel and left early.
• Headed south on Sakai-suji down Denden Town, took a detour to check out Kizu Market. Probably too early for the crowds.
• Checked out Imamiya Ebisu Jinja, then walked to Shinsekai, Tsutenkaku, and wandering around in Tennoji to Isshin-ji. Wandered through residential districts to Shitenno-ji, then back to Tennoji station.
• Around 11am now, malls are open and a lot more people are everywhere. Went to Bic-Camera at Abeno Q's because I forgot to bring a 2-prong adapter, 450-ish yen. Then went up to Abeno Harukas's observation deck entrance for the view. Didn't bother entering but view was still good.
• Walked back to Namba for lunch at Tonkatsu Kitcho. Most of the restaurants in Shinsekai was pretty busy.
• By this time I was already about 20k steps in.
• After lunch, started walking north on Sakai-suji through Shinsaibashi til Semba Center.
• West through Semba Center to Mido-suji shopping street, then south to near Shinsaibashi station and to Minamihorie.
• Visited a couple of /r/rawdenim favorites, such as UES Osaka, Blue Blue Osaka, Studio D'Artisan, and Momotaro. Walked through Orange Street and Amerika-mura as well.
• Starting to get dark, so I returned to the hotel.
• Another 10k steps, making it about 30k steps to explore north and south of Namba.
• Dinner at Abaraya.
• Walked to Dotonburi to fully experience the crowd, then a little bit of window-shopping at the mall.
• Found a yakitori place, Zanza, that does a beer and 5 omakase skewers for ¥550.

12/19

• Took the train to Minamikata station. Walked around the residential district, then along the Yodogawa Riverside Park to Juso Bridge.
• Wandered through Nakatsu to Umeda Sky building. Visited the 39th floor for a bit of the view and a break.
• Back to walking through Umeda. Visited the Kapital store.
• Quick lunch at Kaitensushi Sakae.
• Walked east through Ogimachi Park to Tenjin-bashi-suji.
• Beer and okonomiyaki at Chigusa.
• Croquette and beef katsu at Nakamuraya. Small queue but fast.
• South to Osaka Tenmangu Shrine
• South to Minamitenma Park, walked east along river to cross Temmabashi Bridge.
• Osaka Castle. Didn't enter the Keep but just walked around the gardens and ponds. There was also an Osaka Castle Illuminage thing but it didn't look particularly interesting.
• Waited for the sun to set and for the Osaka Castle spotlights to turn on.
• Dinner at Isshomaru for maguro, where I also consumed an entire roasted tuna collar by myself. I was not prepared for the absurd amount of tuna meat for ¥880 and the ensuing meat sweats.
• Returned to hotel. 20K steps today.

12/20

• Breakfast, check-out, then onwards to Himeji. No more Strava to conserve battery drain.
• Train stations are relatively easy to navigate, just make sure to take the right 'version' of the train line (i.e. not the local line that stops at every station). Sometimes it's annoying when the Google Maps train name is different from what the station and announcer calls it.
• Very nice ocean view past Kobe.
• Stored luggage at Himeji station. 1 large ¥700 locker was enough for both backpack and luggage. Paid with IC card which is very convenient.
• There's a shopping street you can walk through to the Himeji Castle area.
• Bought the Himeji Castle + Koko-En combined ticket.
• I think I spent around 2.5 hrs in the castle. They have a very nice route planned out for visitors and I did both the castle wall walk and the castle tower climb.
• This was one of the highlights of the entire trip, and the entire experience in the castle was simply excellently curated.
• Koko-en is a completely separate entrance from Himeji so it's a bit of a detour. Nice gardens but I'd skip if you're pressed for time.
• Udon set lunch at Menme near Himeji Castle.
• Walked back to Himeji station and took the train to Kyoto. Ride is about 2 hours and I had a nice nap.
• Bus out of Kyoto station to Kawaramachi and my hotel.
• Dinner, mazesoba at Ramen Hiryuu
• Walked across Nijo bridge and around Kamo river a bit

12/21

• Set breakfast at Nakau.
• I rented a bike for ¥1000 at FridgeBicycle. Need to return by 7pm.
• The goal was to bike to Fushimi Inari Taisha, but I took a wrong turn while cycling down Higashioji-dori and ended up at To-ji.
• To-ji would normally be a nice calm temple, but today happens to be the monthly market. Pretty insane crowd. I spent around 20 minutes here before escaping.
• Got my bearings and cycled to Fushimi Inari Taisha, which has a nice bike parking lot.
• Made it up to the observation deck and didn't do the upper hike loop.
• Lunch, tempura teishoku
• Cycled up north along the Kamo river to Gion and parked it in an alleyway behind some restaurant. I was a little apprehensive about parking it somewhere too public because it seems like the city is cracking down on bike parking.
• Walked through Yasaka Shrine, Maruyama Park, Otani Sobyo, past Kodai-ji, then through Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka, and up to Kiyomizu-dera.
• At this point it ...

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Tokyo - Joetsu - Osaka - Koyasan - [Seoul] - Fukuoka - Nagasaki - Tokyo

Yeah I just came back from Japan less than a year ago but made a last-minute yolo decision to go again over winter holidays.

I booked the roundtrip flights one week out, when I saw some pretty reasonable prices. The rest of the time leading up was spent frantically booking more flights/lodging whilst cobbling together some concept of a plan.

Some people seemed to find the last trip report helpful so here's another one, with the caveat that it's much more low-key. The previous trip, I was more determined to hit major tourist spots at least in Tokyo, this one not so much.

For food, I just went with what I liked before, or what was open and looked good at the time. So, no can't-miss ultimate dining destinations or whatever, though I can't say I had a single bad meal this trip. Nevertheless, I hope this will still be of use to someone.

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Wed 12/25 - Tokyo

I wanted to make it by Christmas since apparently decorations come straight down the next time. Unloaded bags, shot over to Roppongi for some pretty lights and strolled over to Omotesando. By 9pm, I already saw some places tearing things down.

Thu 12/26 - Chiba

Not a train nerd, but the Chiba suspended monorail looked interesting enough to check out. I spent over an hour riding the damn thing. It's just a commuter train and everyone else was carrying about their own business, but for me it was so cool. Wandered around a bit, got my Ichiran out of way, and finally headed back.

That's right, no Disney, no baseball, no shopping, no zoos, just a stupid sexy train.

Fri 12/27 - Tokyo

Tbh today was mostly killing time until the next destination. Ate hambagu steak for lunch, then headed over to Kiyosumi Garden. It was full of waterfowl and with waters perfectly serene .

Took a long walk over to Ginza for food and shopping. Ate jiggly souffle pancakes at Musashi no Mori, then spent time at Daiso which was packed with both people and curios.

At some point came across a horse sashimi gacha machine (as in, you don't know which you're going to get).

Ended the evening at Asakusa doing more of the same.

Sat 12/28 - Joetsu

I wanted to get some time in at Arai Snow Resort so as someone suggested, I rode the Shinkansen to Joetsumyoko Station and checked into the Toyoko Inn next door.

Nothing else planned for the day so I decided it'd be brilliant to trudge over to Takada Castle during a snowstorm. Pretty much the entire park area was carpeted, but the turret was still visible.

My wet dog self asked some older gentleman for directions to the nearest train station and he ended up walking me all the way there whilst sharing his umbrella. It was a pleasant surprise how helpful and chatty some of the older folk have been, esp if you speak with them in Japanese.

Sun 12/29 - Tue 12/31 - Joetsu

Took the free shuttle to and from Lotte Arai for snowboarding. Made reservations beforehand, zero issues.

I opted not to bring my gear and deal with luggage forwarding/storage whilst bouncing between different countries and a bunch of different cheap hostels. Under different circumstances I could see it making a lot more sense.

The first day, it was snowing hard all morning and there was a localised avalanche so some runs were closed. Pretty though. Things subsided after a bit and what can I say, powder's amazing.

After day 3 of riding, I took the Shinkansen to Nagano and did a quick visit to Zenkoji, which was surprisingly open that night I guess for NYE.

Back at Nagano Station, I boarded the Osaka-bound overnight bus, where I entered into 2025 passed out on the road, figuratively speaking.

Wed 1/1 - Osaka

Stressful day. My phone got damaged the previous day and needed to be repaired. Unfortunately, many places were closed on New Year's Day and possibly longer, so my options were limited. I asked the station info desk for help and thus commenced a wild goose chase for somewhere that's a) actually open and b) able to repair my Android phone. I gave up after the third failed attempt and decided to wait things out. It was just unfortunate timing.

I spent some time walking up Nipponbashi, which had a lot of electronic and geek culture goods, including some cheap phones that I briefly considered.

From there, I made my way to the Dotonbori area, which seemed more packed than I'd remembered, even dare I say dangerously so in some parts. (I fully acknowledge I am part of that traffic) Not really my cup of tea, I s'pose. Grabbed some okonomiyaki nearby and then bailed.

Thu 1/2 - Koyasan

Perfect day to escape the crowds. Started the morning stopping by Shinsekai, which gave off this retro Showa vibe. Even without the lights, very cool.

After, onwards up to Koyasan, which I was really excited about. Because I booked everything so late, I couldn't get a temple stay but I recommend it.

Fun fact: My ex and I did one here last time, but we overslept our alarm and missed the mandatory morning prayer service. A monk finally woke us up and we had to do the walk of shame to the dining area for breakfast with all the other guests staring at us. The monks were gracious about it but it was mortifying. DON'T BE US. I've always wanted to redeem myself but not this time I guess.

Anyways. That was a nice sunset to be caught from the mountains and then the largest cemetery in Japan to explore. It's pretty well-lit at night though there are some dark areas too. I was hoping to see some snow this time but nonetheless it was very peaceful to visit.

Fri 1/3 - Koyasan/Osaka

Dragged myself out of bed early to return to Okunoin cemetery during daylight for a completely different vibe (and to show my friends I'm not some weirdo who only visits graveyards at night). You can see all the old moss-covered gravestones in much better detail.

Also during the daytime, there were better views of all the various temples lining the streets, even though I didn't have time to stop at any.

Got back to Osaka by evening and decided to visit the Umeda Sky Building (not needing to reserve time slots ahead was nice). Great vista of the city and interesting architecture, worth it imo.

Sat 1/4 - Wed 1/8 - Seoul

Hopped over, had a blast, missed flight back

Thu 1/9 - Fukuoka

Well my small jaunt in Kyushu ended up a little less than expected, due to me missing my flight and bad stuff happening back home.

I arrived in Fukuoka one day later and went straight for ramen. Queued up for Hakata Issou, was wowed by the first sip of rich, umami broth. I'm not some ramen fanatic but this was ramen done right.

Was still pretty wrecked from travel, so I just did some light shopping at the station stores, chilled out with some fancy biscuits and latte, then boarded my bus to Nagasaki.

Fri 1/10 - Nagasaki

My friend asked me to visit a capybara onsen for him so that's what I set off to do today - off to Nagasaki Bio Park! However, once I arrived at the terminal where I was to transfer buses, I was informed that it was closed for the day due to dangerous road conditions. Booo, there went my morning.

Instead, I rode back and decided to check out Ouratenbo Park for some nice views of the city. It's up a hill but there are elevators if you don't want to walk. From there, I wandered into Glover Garden, which showcased the Western influence and mercantile history of the region.

I also visited the Chinatown, supposedly one of the biggest in Japan but definitely smaller than the one I saw in Yokohama.

Thought about visiting the Peace Park, but honestly the bomb stuff from Hiroshima was still weighing one me and I decided to skip it this time.

Overall, maybe it was the fact that I went to historical areas, but Nagasaki definitely gave me a sleepier, older, more relaxed vibe - not that that's a bad thing. The people I chatted with also seemed very friendly. Except for that baasan who scolded me for eating at a bus stop. What the hell.

Oh, the night view from Mt. Inaya was pretty dece as well.

Sat 1/11 - Nagasaki/Fukuoka

Nagasaki Bio Park - take two. This time, I made it, after getting lost multiple times that is. Couldn't really use navigation with my broken phone and for whatever reason, the bus system there has buses with the same number going different routes. It was utterly confusing.

Yeah so I eventually got there way later than expected, but still made it in time for capybara bathing. Except, today there was a water pipe issue so they would not be entering the onsen. Instead, they were out and about where they could be fed and pet. Sorry friend, maybe next time. They were very chill creatures, good at multitasking.

(There were other animals too btw; they just weren't my main focus.)

Getting back was much easier. ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/primenbers on 2025-01-20 12:50:48+00:00.

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My 10-Day Hokkaido Adventure: A Trip to Remember!

I just returned from an unforgettable 10-day trip to Hokkaido, Japan, and I’m excited to share some of the highlights and tips from my journey! Whether you're planning your own visit or just curious about what Hokkaido has to offer, here’s a summary of my experience:

First and foremost, I must mention the incredible hospitality we experienced. The Japanese people are by far the kindest, most polite, and helpful I’ve encountered anywhere in my travels. Simple phrases like “Sumimasen” (Excuse me) and “Arigato Gozaimasu” (Thank you very much), along with showing respect, go a long way. With these, you’re sure to be treated like gold wherever you go.

1. Traveling to Hokkaido ========================

• Our group of four flew from San Francisco to Osaka, then connected to a short flight to Chitose Airport. Upon arriving in Osaka, we cleared customs, which took about 15 minutes, then we collected our checked bags and rechecked them for the short flight to Sapporo, which took another 15 minutes.
• We traveled with one carry-on, one checked regular bag, and one checked snowboard bag. The ANA airline staff were incredibly helpful and kind throughout the process.
• Tip: Be prepared to go through customs in Osaka, (or wherever you touch down in Japan) before your flight to Sapporo—it adds a bit of time to your journey, but the process in Osaka was smooth.

2. Otaru: Our Home Base =======================

• We arrived in Chitose on a Friday night and took the JR Train directly to Otaru—a simple and easy journey that took about 1 to 1.5 hours. Otaru became our home base, and we stayed at the Grand Park Hotel Otaru—a great location with easy access to shopping and dining. There’s even a mall attached to the hotel, which was incredibly convenient.
• The following morning, I rented an all-wheel-drive Toyota Noah Hybrid with snow tires from Toyota in downtown Otaru. The car was perfect for our trip—it handled the snow beautifully and fit all of our gear, making it easy to travel to the ski resorts and back to Chitose on our return.
• Tip: If you visit in winter, be aware that it snows a lot in this area during the season. If you plan to drive, be prepared for snowy roads and occasional storms, especially if you’re heading to the resorts. However, the roads are very well-maintained and plowed during storms. We had no issues with the roads, and the infrastructure was top-notch. Also, make sure to check road conditions every morning via Google, as they update the info around 07:00.
• Tip: For connectivity, we used International data from our cell carriers, which worked perfectly in all areas. Some in our group also used pocket Wi-Fi, which was great in towns but didn’t work as well on top of mountains. A few of us used eSIM, which was essentially the same as using international data and worked seamlessly.

3. Snowboarding and Skiing in Hokkaido ======================================

• We spent the majority of our days hitting the slopes at some of the best resorts in Hokkaido: Kiroro, Kokusai, Sapporo Teine, and Niseko.
• We made a day trip to Niseko United, which was about a 1.5-hour drive on a snowy, sometimes white-out day. Again, the roads were well-maintained and ready for winter conditions, so despite the weather, it was really no problem getting there and back.
• The resorts Kiroro, Kokusai, and Sapporo Teine were all within 35-45 minutes from Otaru (depending on the weather), and we had snow for 7 out of the 9 days in the area. Despite the heavy snowfall, we had no issues getting to and from the resorts thanks to the well-maintained roads and our reliable rental car.
• Tip: If you're interested in more details about these resorts, feel free to DM me!

4. Otaru: A Hidden Gem ======================

• Otaru was such a charming, smaller fishing town. Walking around the downtown area was a true pleasure, and the food was amazing every day. The Otaru Fish Market is a must-see—don’t miss the king crab, they’ll cook it for you right in the market stalls. The local sushi was exceptional—fresh and bursting with flavor. The ramen to die for and really everything I ate was pretty fantastic. Check out the area known as Snoopy Village downtown.
• The town is known for its glass-blowing culture, and we took part in a glass-blowing class, which was such a fun experience. We also picked up some beautiful local pieces from the shops.
• Tip: Otaru has a strong presence of milk cream ice cream and chocolate shops. Make sure to explore the local chocolate shops and try a few—delicious!

5. Day Trips to Sapporo =======================

• We made several trips to Sapporo, a bustling city with everything you could want—from upscale fashion to street shopping and relaxing massages. The food scene is incredible, and we especially loved trying the soup curry downtown.
• One of the highlights of our Sapporo day trips was the drive to the Hill of the Buddha, which is about 30 minutes outside of Sapporo city. The views of the snow-covered fields were breathtaking, and it was snowing moderately during our visit, which added to the charm and beauty of the scene.
• We also enjoyed some great walks in downtown Sapporo. The underground mall and the covered shopping walk near Odori Park are fantastic spots for local shopping and exploring. These areas provide shelter from the snow and are full of great local shops and boutiques. Be sure to check out the Sapporo TV Tower—it’s a great landmark to visit and a fun place to explore in the heart of the city.

6. Onsen Relaxation ===================

• We took advantage of Kokusai Resort’s package deal with several onsens in the Jozankei area, and the Hoheikyo Onsen was a highlight. The onsen is tattoo-friendly and offers a relaxing and scenic experience. The best part? They have an incredible Indian curry restaurant right on the property with the best naan I’ve ever tasted. We visited Hoheikyo onsen both days we were at Kokusai Resort.
• Tip: If you plan to visit onsens, make sure to check whether they’re tattoo-friendly, as some require tattoos to be covered.

7. The Beauty of Winter Driving in Hokkaido ===========================================

• Renting a car was truly a game-changer. Driving through the snow-covered countryside felt like stepping into another world—magical, serene, and incredibly beautiful. As someone used to driving in snow (I live in Reno-Tahoe), the vast, snow-clad landscapes were breathtaking.
• Tip: If you're comfortable with winter driving, renting a car provides so much flexibility and allows you to fully experience the beauty of Hokkaido’s countryside.

8. Final Thoughts =================

• Hokkaido is an amazing destination for those looking to combine outdoor adventures, breathtaking nature, and delicious food. From the ski resorts to the charming town of Otaru and vibrant Sapporo, there’s truly something for everyone.
• Whether you’re into skiing, snowboarding, soaking in onsens, or just exploring local culture and food, Hokkaido has it all.

9. A Note on Following Local Customs ====================================

• One important thing to keep in mind while traveling through towns and cities in Japan is that public trash cans are scarce. Be prepared to pack out your trash as you walk around. This is part of the strong culture of cleanliness and respect for public spaces. It’s one of the reasons the towns and cities are so clean and well-maintained. It’s a small thing to keep in mind, but it goes a long way in preserving the beauty of Japan.
• Check other posts on Japanese local customs. I found Japan to be a wonderful place and I wanted to be as respectful as possible to the wonderful people. It was my pleasure to be a guest in their amazing country and I wanted to show my gratitude.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Suitable_Nectarine46 on 2025-01-19 05:59:55+00:00.

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My partner and I (M 29 & F 29) will be travelling in mid-feb for the first time. I have done some research on websites, reddit and youtube for months before building the itinerary and would definitely appreciate constructive feedback. We are doing the golden route for our first time to get the feel, culture and vibes of the country. We are anime and gaming fans so we'd like recommendations to visit (we do not want to overdo it, if there is a one-two places that satisfies the fandom within we'll be more than happy). I do realize our days in each city are limited but extending is not an option (corporate life), so I put in what we can manage and let go of what we can't. I've left out Tokyo itinerary for now and would like to focus on the first two before I get to move on. Thank you !

Day 1 - Tokyo (Arrival at NRT 7:00 am)

Hotel at shinjuku (late check-in)

• drop off luggage
• Breakfast at Shinjuku
• Take photos of Godzilla Head, Shop for necessities
• Check-in and rest
• Shibuya crossing and light exploring
• Dinner , back to hotel

Day 2 - Tokyo > Osaka

Hotel at Hommachi

• Check-out and breakfast
• Take the bullet train to Osaka
• Check-in Hotel
• Shinsekai
• Namba and Namba Parks (have dinner here)
• Back to hotel

Day 3 - Osaka

• USJ

Day 4 - Osaka

• Day trip to Nara

Day 5 - Osaka

• Take photo of Namba Jinja Shrine
• Osaka Castle & park
• America-mura and Shinsaibashi-Uji
• Night at Dotonbori
• Back to hotel

Day 6 - Osaka > Kyoto

Hotel at Nakagyo Ward

• Check out and breakfast
• Travel to Kyoto
• Check-in Hotel
• Nishiki market
• End day

Day 7 - Kyoto

Spend the day at Arashiyama (not necessery to finish everything on the list)

• Arashiyama Bamboo forest
• Saga Toriimoto
• Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
• Monkey Park
• Kimono Forest

Day 8 - Kyoto

• Kiyomizu-Dera
• Kimono experience
• walk around Sannenzaka

Day 9 - Kyoto

• Kinkaku-ji
• Kyoto Gyeon National Garden
• [to choose an experience]
• Fushimi Inari Taisha (afternoon/evening time)

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Potential_Ticket_571 on 2025-01-18 20:55:28+00:00.

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Hiya! My husband and I are staying in Hakone for two nights and we were wondering if what to do. We are staying at a Ryokan Sengokuhara Shinanoki Ichinoyu, and we have a few things in mind including:

• Taking the Komagata Ropeway
• Hakone Mototsumiya Shrine
• eating at Hiroshiya, Kuro Udon, Sushisane, Mont Blanc and/ or the Amazing Tea House

We are looking for scenery, interactive activities and peaceful romantic walks. We look forward to y’all’s recommendations!

Also we are staying from May 28th- 30th, traveling from Tokyo and leaving to Osaka afterwards.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/TaroGaiden on 2025-01-18 07:13:32+00:00.

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January in Japan ❄️

Day 1(2): Wednesday / Thursday * Depart from HNL Wednesday 1200 Arrive Haneda, Tokyo Thursday 1700 * Train/Limousine bus to Sotetsu Fresa Inn (Shinjuku) * Walk Shinjuku / Kabukicho * Eat Family Mart sushi / Day end

Day 3: Friday * (Day) Walk Harajuku (im donut? & Roast Beef Ohno) * (Night) Walk Shibuya (Mega Don Quijote & Magnet) * Eat 7-11 sushi / Day end

Day 4: Saturday * (Day) Walk Ikebukuro (Animate & Pokémon Center/Sunshine City) * (Night) Ikebukuro cont. Sunshine 60 observatory * Eat Lawson sushi / Day end

Day 5: Sunday * Shinkansen/Bullet train to Nagano Sta. * Dagaden bus to Snow Monkey Park * Check in 14:00 Jigokudani Kurakukan & Walk Snow Monkey Park & Onsen * Eat Ryokan provided meal / Day end

Day 6: Monday * Check out 1000 from Jigokudani * Check in 1500 (Kanbayashi Senjukaku) Onsen & ryokan provided meal/Day end

Day 7: Tuesday * Check out 1100, Return to Tokyo * Walk Shinjuku / Gyoen National Garden * Eat Takoyaki & taiyaki / Day end

Day 8: Wednesday * (Day) Walk Nakamise-dori street /(senso-ji & Kaminarimon (Samurai Champloo)) * (Night) Walk Akihabara (electric town/Welcome to the NHK)

Day 9: Thursday * (TBD) * Depart HND Thursday 9 PM * Arrive HNL Thursday 9 Am

I chose to design the itinerary for our group of 3 this way so that we aren’t stressed in a constant time crunch to reach points of interest. The itinerary gets us in the general area we want to explore but remains open ended so that we have time to wander and stumble upon exciting things we may not had anticipated discovering.

Any insight welcome, and recommendations/experiences on eSIM / data amounts necessary to carry us for 7 days, for GPS, YouTube, social media usage. Thanks! ありがとう ございます

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Additional_Row_6276 on 2025-01-16 19:35:50+00:00.

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Hello everyone,

I’m going to Japan with my mother next April, during cherry blossom season.

It’s our first trip, and we’ll follow the classic route : Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, over 15 days.

I’m looking for advice or suggestions to make the trip as smooth as possible.

Here’s the itinerary:

DAY 1:

• Arrival at Tokyo Haneda Airport at 6:30 PM
• Hotel near Otemachi

DAY 2:

• Imperial Palace Garden
• Asakusa (buying goshuin)
• Ueno Park
• Nezu-Jinja
• Akihabara
• Sumida Park for cherry blossom illumination

DAY 3:

• Day trip to Mount Fuji
• Chureito Pagoda
• Lake Kawaguchi

DAY 4:

• Visit Ginza
• TeamLab Planets
• Odaiba
• Tokyo Tower
• Zozo-ji Temple
• Meguro River

DAY 5:

• Day trip to Nikko

DAY 6:

• St. Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo
• Shinjuku / Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
• Gyoen Park
• Meiji Jingu Shrine + Park
• Takeshita Dori Street + Omotesando
• Hachiko Statue
• Shibuya Sky
• Explore Shibuya
• Shinjuku Golden Gai + Omoide Yokocho at night

DAY 7:

• Departure for KYOTO
• Arrive in Kyoto around 11 AM
• Tower of Kyoto
• Higashi Hongan-ji
• Ochikochiya
• Gion Kobu Kaburenjo : Miyako Odori performance (reserved)
• Maruyama Park + Yasaka Jinja + Shoren-in Temple
• Gion district at night

DAY 8:

• Silver Pavilion
• Philosopher’s Path
• Eikan-do Temple
• Imperial Gardens + Palace
• Nijo Castle
• Golden Pavilion
• Kyoto Botanical Gardens light show

DAY 9:

• Day trip to Nara

DAY 10:

• Fushimi Inari early in the morning
• Byodo-in Temple in Uji
• Tofuku-ji Temple
• Kiyomizu-dera Temple
• Shirakawa Canal
• Dinner in Pontocho

DAY 11:

• Visit Kokodera Temple in the morning
• Depart for Osaka
• Osaka Castle + garden
• Shi-Tenno-ji Temple
• Return to Osaka Castle for the light show
• Dotonbori + Namba

DAY 12:

• Day trip to Himeji
• Himeji Castle + Engyo-ji Temple
• Dinner in Kobe on the way back

DAY 13:

• Day trip to Mount Yoshino

DAY 14:

• Universal Studios Japan

DAY 15:

• Osaka to Tokyo Haneda Airport

Do you think this itinerary is coherent ? Or are there things to adjust ?

Thank you :)

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/bigredtowel on 2025-01-16 14:33:42+00:00.

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Hi all,

I made a huge mistake while drunk, having unprotected sex with someone I just met. I know HIV rates are low, but I’d like to be safe just in case.

Does anyone know any clinics in Sapporo that will prescribe me PEP (post exposure prophylaxis) for HIV? I did a quick search but could only find clinics in other cities like Tokyo.

Thanks in advance

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jlamoney on 2025-01-15 04:32:28+00:00.

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Hello, I am planning the Kyoto and Hiroshima portion of my trip and could use some advice. This is our first time visiting Japan, so there is so much to see, but I prefer to have a more relaxed schedule.

Friday, 2/14 (Arrive in Kyoto)

• Arrive in Kyoto late in the day.
• We are staying in Gion, so we're planning to explore without a specific plan

Saturday, 2/15 (1st full day in Kyoto)

• Fushimi Inari Shrine
• Philosopher's Path
• Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Sunday, 2/16 (2nd full day in Kyoto)

• Nijo Castle
• Nishiki Market
• Arashiyama (Iwatayama Monkey Park)

Monday, 2/17 (Leave Kyoto, arrive in Hiroshima)

• Go to the Pokémon Center before heading to Hiroshima
• Peace Memorial Museum (It turns out it is closed on the other days we are in Hiroshima, so we need to do it this day!)
• Sake bar

Tuesday, 2/18 (full day in Hiroshima)

• Miyajima Island
• If there is extra time, Hondori Shopping

Wednesday, 2/19 (Leave Hiroshima, arrive in Tokyo)

• Hiroshima Castle
• Shukkei-en Garden
• Leave for Tokyo, probably around 11 am

Does this seem reasonable? Is there anything I should swap out?

In February, how early is it recommended to arrive at Fushimi Inari Shrine?

For Arashiyama, I'm struggling with what to focus on besides the Monkey Park. I've heard the Bamboo Forest is not "worth it," but I'm open to advice here.

Lastly, I would love to hear recommendations for things to do that are not the main tourist attractions. For example, we are going to the Ghibli Museum while in Tokyo and randomly found out about it during research. Obviously, this will vary based on interests, but I would love to hear about your favorite spots.

Thank you so much in advance!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/faerieghoul on 2025-01-13 21:24:15+00:00.

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Hi! I've been lurking on this sub for a while looking at people's recommendations and now I have got an itinerary somewhat down I thought I would ask for suggestions! I (27NB) will be travelling with my sister (30F). We will be arriving separately as she lives in another country so I will have the first day or two to myself before she arrives. I am a big fan of anime, gaming, nerd shit whereas she enjoys scenic and instagrammable places so I have tried to sort something of a balance between the two! This is my second trip to Japan (last trip was 2018), whereas it is her first. She is not super fussed about what we do and is just excited to soak up the sights. We are both happy to get up early to get started with our ways (and will rely on convenience store food for the early mornings)

Now for the itinerary:

Day 1 - (24/3) TOKYO

• 6:10pm I arrive in Narita
• Check into airbnb in Taito and grab food from local shops/restaurants

Day 2

• Mandarake Complex
• Akihabara Gachapon Hall
• Animate Akihabara
• Lashinbang Akihabara
• Super Potato Akihabara
• namco
• Kanda Myoujin Shrine

Day 3

• Sister arrives at Narita 10:45am
• Drop bags at airbnb
• Senso-ji Temple
• Kaminarimon
• Skytree shopping (hello kitty, pokemon centre, jump shop, donguri republic)
• Tokyo Skytree
• Takagi Shrine
• Imado Shrine
• Ueno Park

Day 4

• Ghibli Museum
• Inokashira Park
• Shibuya Crossing
• UNIQLO
• Mega Don
• Animate
• Pokemon Store
• Jump Shop Shibuya Parco
• Nintendo Tokyo
• Shibuya Sky
• Tower Records
• Yoyogi Park

Day 5

• animate Ikebukuro
• Gashapon Ikebukuro
• Donguri Kyowakoku
• Sunshine 60
• KitKat Chocolatory

Day 6

• Imperial Palace
• Ginza Itoya
• Kiddy Land
• Harajuku
• Meiji Jingu
• Pompompurin Cafe (maybe)
• Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Day 7

• teamLab Planets
• Odaiba Marine Park (maybe)
• teamLab Borderless (uncertain whether to go to both and do them in the same day)
• Tokyo City View
• Sasuke Inari Shrine (if we have the time)

Day 8 - OSAKA/Nara day trip

• Forward luggage to Kyoto, bullet train to Osaka
• Drop small bags at airbnb
• Shitenno-ji
• Train to Nara
• Todai-ji
• Nara Park
• Train back to Osaka
• Tempozan Market Place

Day 9 - OSAKA (this day is very all over the place and needs work/editing)

• Train to Rokko Garden Terrace
• Train to Kobe
• Train to Minoh and Minoh Falls
• Travel to Katsuoji
• Travel back to Osaka
• Katayama Shrine
• Umeda Sky Building

Day 10 - OSAKA

• Train to Himeji
• Himeji Castle
• Train back to Osaka
• Shinsaibashi-suji shopping
• Donguri Kyowakoku
• Denden Town
• Tsutenkaku
• TeamLab Botanical Garden
• Shin Sekai "New World"
• Dotonbori

Day 11 - KYOTO

• Bullet train to Kyoto, drop bags at hotel
• Nijo Castle
• Kyoto Sento Imperial Palace
• Higashiyama Jisho-ji
• Sanrio Gallery
• Matsubara Street
• Kiyomizu-dera

Day 12 - KYOTO

• Fushimi Inari Shrine
• Toji Temple
• Travel to Kifune Shrine

Day 13 - KYOTO

• Arashiyama Bambo Forest
• Okochi Sanso Garden
• Adashino Nenbutsuji
• Travel to Kinkaku-ji

Day 14 - NAGANO

• Forward luggage to Tokyo
• Shinkansen to Nagano
• Drop bags at onsen
• Jigokudani Yaen-Koen

Day 15 - TOKYO

• Shinkansen back to Tokyo
• Drop bags at airbnb
• Do anything we missed during the first week

Day 16 - TOKYO

• Last minute shopping and more things that we may have missed

Day 17 - TOKYO/NARITA

• Store luggage
• Run around doing more last minute things
• Train to Narita
• Check into hotel
• Prepare to leave hotel at 4am for 8:15am flight from Narita airport

It is very much jam packed until the last few days so any thoughts about what could/should be cut out would be appreciated! Also recommendations for good gacha halls/spots would be great! Thank you in advance :)

EDIT: Thank you for the awareness about the unethical animal cafe practices, I will be taking them off the list ! Also made some edits to order of plans, thank you everyone :)

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/GoldRoger3D2Y on 2025-01-14 06:53:32+00:00.

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This post can get very long if I’m not careful, so I’ll do my best to keep this brief!

We arrived at Haneda airport on December 29th and are flying back to the US on February 5th. My wife and I have never done a trip this long, but we’ve planned it for years as a sort of quarter-life milestone. After reading so many posts on this sub, I want to give back and provide some of our takeaways for other first time Japan travelers. I’ll also give some notes on specific locations as is pertinent, but honestly 60% of our trip has been along the well beaten paths so I won’t ask you to read about our hike up Mt. Inari for the 1000x time…nor do I want to write it. It’s a lot of steps. There, report done!

First unique note, we broke a Japan travel cardinal sin and came at New Years! For others who are worried about coming to Japan at the wrong time, just throw that thought in the trash. No matter what, you’ll walk away with pros and cons so just pull the trigger and get here because it’s amazing. New Years is pretty quiet, but we were in Tokyo until January 2nd, so we figured the biggest city in the world wouldn’t shut down completely, right? The answer: yes and no. Plenty of restaurants do stay open, but it’s just the major chains and massive shopping districts. We used this opportunity to visit areas like the Tokyo Skytree, so we stayed plenty busy despite all the fears of “Japan closing down”. Coming in the winter means being too late for fall foliage and too early for anything in bloom, but it also means smaller crowds! A trade we were happy to make.

Second (not so) unique note, get off the beaten path! Such a cliche, but damnit I’m including it anyway. Our best experiences have come from the kindness of the Japanese people, but that only happens if we take the first step. For example, on New Year’s Eve, my wife and I visited the Buddhist temple and shrine nearest our hotel in Tokyo to ring in the New Year. Thing is, our Japanese is pretty bad. However, we did study for a few months before coming here to at least have some basic phrases and vocabulary. This emboldened my wife to ask some elderly Japanese men what they were standing in line for. We had translated the sign above, and knew it said “Prayer”, which is what they told us…but that could mean many things.

These men took it on themselves to shepherd us through the line, where we paid for our prayer to be read by the monk. Once we did this, we began to walk away thinking this would be done in private. That’s when the men grabbed each of our arms and walked us into the temple along with the crowd, where we were given some traditional New Year’s snacks and tea and we chatted with these men with a combination of their choppy english and our abhorrent Japanese. We learned one of the men’s fathers was a professional Japanese trumpet player, and played alongside Louis Armstrong (he proudly showed us many photos, including himself as a baby). Our names were eventually called, and we were called into the Hatsumode (as we now know), and sat through a truly surreal experience at 12:30 in the morning. Certainly the coolest way I’ve ever started a year!

Third unique note, try your Japanese language skills no matter how bad they are! This piggy backs off my last point, but I want to be sure to encourage you that it’s OK if you don’t speak Japanese. We’ve have gotten an insane amount of mileage out of using the most basic phrases. Locals open up, they start to ask us more questions, and in some cases they’ll even invite you to dinner! I certainly wouldn’t expect this, but twice on our trip have we been invited to dinner with locals after some basic conversation. The first time we were in Matsumoto (highly recommend!) and visited a small izakaya. It was one of those tiny, 8-seat izakayas where the owner’s personality becomes the entire experience. We were the only non-Japanese in there, but the owner’s english was quite good and he translated our speech to everyone in the restaurant. We became the center of attention, and everyone tried practicing their english skills (though only the owner’s was conversational). We got to know the owner so well he invited us to dinner at another izakaya the next night. He was incredibly kind, and even brought us a small gift when we met up the next day! Like damn…my wife doesn’t treat me that well. /s

Fourth (and final) unique note, the soul of Japan runs through the izakayas! It’s crazy to me that in American we hear more about sushi and ramen than any other Japanese cuisine. I love both of those foods, but Japan’s real magic lives in the izakaya. It’s a uniquely Japanese experience that I can’t say I can compare to anything in the USA. They’re typically smaller restaurants, often just a single bar with 6-8 seats, though they can sometimes have a dining room with few more tables. At first, we thought of the izakaya kind of like the local bar, where locals meet but the food is just typical bar food. I’d now call this description dumb as rocks. The cuisine at izakayas is more comparable to American gastropubs focusing on Japanese cuisine, but the vibe is totally different. They’re so intimate, yet relaxed. Charming, disarming, and good for the soul. It’s here that I’ve eaten the best sushi of my life, as well as impeccable smoked duck, delicious oden, braised mushrooms and more all in the izakayas. It’s like stepping into an episode of Japanese Cheers.

If possible, get a reservation at your izakaya of choice. We got lucky in Nara where we thought we’d beat the crowd by showing up when they opened at 5am, but they were totally booked up. However!!! This was the 2nd time we we were asked to dinner, as the two men in the 80s standing behind us invited us to their private room in the back. They spoke NO english, so we used Google translate all night and had a wonderful time. At some point, one of the men ordered warm sake steeped with pufferfish fins, and it was…pungent, though I didn’t hate it? Great night, all from being in the right spot and practicing our horrid Japanese.

TL:DR; Come to Japan regardless of the time of year, be willing to break away from your itinerary, always be willing to speak in Japanese even if that’s only “arigato”, and go to izakayas very often. You do this, you’ll have a great trip.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/i2hellfire on 2025-01-13 02:39:56+00:00.

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First time writing one of these, but not my first time in Japan. I've visited enough times now that I take trips to primarily relax rather than see new sites. That's not to say I don't like exploring and visiting new places, but I'm definitely not as adventurous as I used to be.

A friend that I had traveled to Japan with right before the pandemic asked if I wanted to play tour guide again for her and her friend. Even though my girlfriend and I had visited as recently as 2022, we (I) of course said yes. We planned the trip for late November into December as I personally wanted the Christmas Illuminations but not the Christmas crowds.

Days 1-2 TOKYO

We all landed in Narita and stayed in Ginza the first two nights. The first night consisted mainly of window shopping around Ginza, a quick dinner at a standing sushi spot, then drinks at Ginza Music Bar to settle in. We ducked our heads into the Don Quijote too, but dear god that place gets packed.

We had a bit of trouble with the Smart EX app the next day, so decided to just head to Tokyo Station early to reserve tickets since we were going there anyway. I took my friends to see the Tokyo Forums on the way as well as it's still one of my all-time favorite architectural spaces.

We roamed the basement levels of Tokyo Station for gifts and snacks (mmm cheese tarts), then had a tsukemen lunch before heading street side to shop around Marunouchi. There's an eyewear shop that I like picking up new glasses from whenever I visit...formerly called Facial Index and now going by their parent company name Kaneko, if anyone's interested.

We took it easy and stayed around Ginza and Marunouchi and spent the rest of the day looking for more Sanrio (one of us was really into Sanrio), sipping warm cocktails, and overloading on a multi-course anago set meal at a restaurant in the Barney's.

Days 3-4 FUKUOKA

Jetlagging the next morning and without many early breakfast options, we had a chicken-off between Family Mart, 7-Eleven, and Lawsons (Famichiki won easily). There were onigiris and bao buns in there too, but they weren't competing.

It was a 5-hour train ride to Fukuoka, so after all these years of visiting Japan I decided to actually reserve right-side facing seats and finally see Mt Fuji. It was pretty great. I also finally got to try one of the self-heating bentos, which was definitely a step in the right direction (but the Taiwan HSR still has better bentos)

We checked into our hotel in Tenjin, the Nishitetsu Grand, and headed to a nearby Christmas Market that we could see from our rooms...the Daimyo Garden City Christmas Market. I ate something that didn't agree with my stomach, so I spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room while everyone else went out and played claw games all night.

The next morning was a bit rainy, but we headed out anyway and roamed Tenjin and Hakata by foot. We took coffee at White Glass, then waited in line for I'm Donut? Intentional question mark. We had a curry lunch at Alley Tiki Curry, then rested a bit before heading out in the evening. There were a lot of Christmas markets around Fukuoka, and apparently you can collect a unique mug design from each one. So we hit up a couple of them (one had an unhealthy number of Santa statues) before finding dinner at one of the canal-side yatai's, then drank at a British-themed bar nearby called Half-Penny.

Day 5 MIYAJIMA

Our next destination was one I'd been looking forward to. I studied in Japan in college (a long time ago) and had been meaning to visit Miyajima again as I always loved the vibe of the island. We hopped a morning train to Hiroshima, grabbed a quick okonomiyaki lunch at the station (Denko Sekka), then headed towards Miyajima via the ferry port near Miyajimaguchi Station. We were staying overnight at a ryokan, so we dropped our luggage off and wandered the shopping streets leading towards Itsukushima Temple. Plenty of picture taking, snacking and shopping...and even a spiked drink from Gebura, because you seem to pass a Gebura every 5 minutes.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at our ryokan (Kinsuikan). Being the only guy on the trip, I relaxed on the rooftop terrace by myself with a rum and coke while the rest of the group were trying out the various public baths. We also had a massive in-room traditional dinner that was both amazing and way too much.

We all went up to the roof terrace after dinner to relax and take pictures, because the island is absolutely gorgeous at night.

Days 6-7 HIROSHIMA

Jetlag definitely wasn't going away, so we all got up early to watch the sunrise from Itsukushima Temple. Note for those that also want to see the sunrise...the temple faces west! So it takes a bit of time and effort for the sun to get over the mountains.

After getting our pictures and videos, we headed into Momijidani Park and towards the ropeway up Mount Misen. Time-wise though we couldn't relax as long as we had originally hoped to. We got to the second station, snapped a hundred photos of the surrounding views, then pretty much had to immediately turn back around to get back down the mountain in time for checkout. After checking out though, we split up to do some more shopping and sightseeing before catching the ferry back to Hiroshima.

Once we were back at Hiroshima Station (we were staying at the Hotel Granvia next to the station), we got more okonomiyaki from Rei-Chan, then kind of ran out of steam and took it easy the rest of the day.

The next morning we got a mildly disappointing breakfast at a nearby Komeda Coffee. But hey, it's coffee and (sort of) food, so we had to make do. We headed out towards the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. The park and museum are a lot to take in, so we took our time there. We continued onto Hiroshima Castle, then a light lunch before splitting up as a group. My friend and I headed out to do a bit of shopping, then some great cocktails from Bar Upstairs, followed by a yakitori dinner at Buta Tora.

Days 8-9 KYOTO

I kind of regret only giving Kyoto two days. It's one of my favorite cities in the world, but the original intended group had all visited Kyoto before, and the plan was to prioritize new cities. The group makeup changed last minute (the last person to join would be visiting Japan for the first time) but regardless I should've given Kyoto an extra day. If not for them then definitely for myself.

As it were we only had 2 days, so we caught the earliest train we could to Kyoto. We immediately dumped our luggage into lockers at Kyoto Station and caught the train 2 stops south to Fushimi. Yes I know it's over-touristed. But as mentioned one of ours was visiting Japan for the first time. And as crowded as Fushimi was, I personally think it's still a can't miss for someone's first visit.

We shuffled our way through the "tourist loop" then headed up the mountain paths where the crowds started to thin out. We didn't want to tire ourselves out though, so turned around after the second rest area (after some mochi snacks), picked up some temple charms, then started walking north towards Tofukuji Temple.

I've always had a soft spot for Tofukuji. I had to give a presentation and tour of it during my college trip (this was pre-internet), and I've taken photos from the Tsutenkyo Bridge whenever I visited Kyoto. Always quiet, never crowded. So maybe it was because we were there as the leaves were changing, but my god I'd never seen the temple grounds so crowded. I suppose I got a few nice photos, but we fast-walked through the temple grounds, got some oden and pastries from food vendors, then caught the train back to Kyoto Station.

We grabbed our luggage and taxi'd to Shijo Kawaramachi where we were staying. We had an udon lunch around Teramachi, overdosed on gachapon, did some light shopping around the shopping arcades and side streets, then sunk into some cocktails at Scotch and Branch. We grabbed a late ramen dinner afterwards, but it was so bad I don't want to name and shame.

My gf and I got some quiet time the next morning with a spot of breakfast from Common Well before meeting up with the rest of the group. We were splitting up for the day...my gf and her friend for a hair ornament-making class and my friend and I for some 2-Michelin kaiseki at Roan Kikunoi. Before our lunch reservation though we dropped into Weekender Coffee for....coffee. It was good. We also made a friend while waiting outside Roan Kikunoi, another American tourist with reservations. We sent each other sake during lunch...it was fun.

My friend and I roamed Gion after lunch, then chilled along the Kamo River. We reconnected with the group back at the hotel, then grabbed evening drinks at Bar Prost before dinner at a yakitori spot called Yanagi Koji Taka on a quiet side street.

Days 10-11 KUSATSU ONSEN

We had a lot of traveling the next day, so we took an early Uber back to Kyoto Station. Our next destination was Kusatsu Onsen! This was only my second time visiting an onsen (my friend drove the first time), so getting there felt a little intimidating. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, though we did have to learn the longest station name ever in all my trips...Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station. Ok typing that out wasn't so bad, but it felt daunting the first time I read it.

We made it to our ryokan by early afternoon, Ryokan Tokinoniwa. I booked this particular ryokan because I'm partial to having private open air ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/No-Injury-5383 on 2025-01-13 04:24:18+00:00.

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I turned 30 in November while in Japan. It was my first time traveling outside the U.S., and before this, I’d only taken family trips within 300 miles of home. I decided I didn’t want to grow old and regret not traveling when I had the chance—especially now that I’m single, have no kids, and am self-employed.

So, I booked a solo trip to Japan for 10 days, traveling 5,400 miles from home. I’d never traveled alone before, but I loved it. Since coming back in mid-November, I miss it every day and am hoping to return for 1-2 months this October.

On my 13-hour flight there, I met a Japanese guy a bit younger than me who’s moving to Tokyo for school. His mom owns a strawberry farm outside the city, and he said I could stay in his room if I help pick berries in the mornings and clean the house. While staying at a hostel, the staff loved how outgoing, kind, and multilingual I was. They encouraged me to reach Japanese Level 2 and apply for a job with them. For just 15 hours of work per week, they’d provide a private room and two daily meals. I have some choices for when I come back to visit.

Traveling was both fun and beautiful—both the places and the people. I had so many amazing meals in Japan that I couldn’t have imagined being so delicious. Since returning home, I’ve been eating mostly Asian food. Even though I hate cooking, I’ve been cooking a lot. In Japan, I took classes to make sushi, gyoza, and vegan ramen. I’ve also been learning new recipes on YouTube. Just now, I made my first ramen with coconut milk and peanut butter, and it reminded me of a ramen I had at TeamLab Planets.

That meal took me back to sitting outside Planets, eating a delicious bowl and chatting with a fellow first-time traveler. She was staying in the same area as me but paid about $80 for a taxi to get there, while I spent just a few dollars on the train. I offered to show her the way back. While we were eating, a vegan military couple joined us—also from the States—and we had a fun conversation. A Japanese businessman quietly worked at our table but then stood up, smiled, and said in perfect English, “That was a nice conversation. Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of Japan and have a safe trip.”

I also loved the sento. I went to one in Kyoto for five nights in a row. Even though I’d never been so exposed in public, it was relaxing and no one cared. Now back at my home gym I feel super confident walking around the showers and changing area butt naked, I can fit in with the older men now😝 The only time anyone seemed curious was when they saw my tattoo and asked if it hurt or what it meant.

I noticed that older locals were more interested in chatting than younger people. I learned some Japanese phrases through Pimsleur, and everyone was kind and patient, even helping me fix my pronunciation. The only negative experience I had was with an English-speaking local who told me it was illegal to eat or drink on the metro and that I was lucky he was nice about it. I didn’t argue—I didn’t want to cause problems as a tourist.

Navigating the trains wasn’t as hard as people say. The only time I got lost was at Kyoto Station, but a few Japanese words were enough to get me back on track. I always left an hour early to make room for distractions or toilet stops. My only reservations were for two cooking classes and three hostels. Everything else was planned in the Tripsy app, and I decided where to go day by day. Some days I visited three places; other days, six. I never rushed, never had to run for a missed train, and enjoyed having a flexible schedule for meals and breaks.

I traveled light: a half-filled 30L carry-on backpack, a 20L pack stuffed inside, three changes of clothes, and sleepwear. My souvenirs included a yukata, a beanie, toe socks, unspent yen, a Starbucks wet wipe, a yokai book from the samurai museum, a Dandadan figurine, and a kiss from a Japanese woman I went on a date with. She was eight years older than me, a fitness model and a health coach, and while we’ve decided to stay friends, we’re still in touch.

On most nights, I slept 4-5 hours. Two exceptions were at Plat Hostel in Taito, where I got eight hours, and Niniroom Hostel in Kyoto, where I slept for 11 hours after my first sake at Yakiyasai Isoya. I even fell asleep fully dressed on my room couch, then woke up, ate downstairs at the cafe, and went back to sleep for another two hours.

I then cried for half of my flight back to LA and spent the other half watching anime I had offloaded onto my iPad from Netflix. From LA to SLC, I was too uncomfortable to sleep. At the SLC airport, I waited for my family, half-asleep, eating dango and onigiri I had bought at a 7-Eleven after leaving my hostel in Tokyo. I finally got home after a 34-hour day and slept for 17 hours straight on my Japanese futon.

Even now, it’s hard to believe I actually did all that. I never could have imagined myself traveling so far from home, alone, knowing it was such a big leap. All my travel-savvy friends thought I was crazy, especially when I found out they’d always traveled in groups. For someone like me, who’s a bit of a homebody, this was a huge step.

This trip changed me in so many ways. It pushed me far out of my comfort zone, and I’m already planning two solo trips this year before heading back to Japan. I feel happier, less stressed, and even sleep better now. I made friends from different states and an amazing friend from Israel (she looks a lot like Gal Gadot). I learned so much about traveling, including how to pack even lighter than I already did.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Maleficent-Farm4630 on 2025-01-12 18:20:23+00:00.

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Hi everyone,

I’m planning my first trip to Japan for 2 weeks this coming April for and would love your feedback and suggestions on my itinerary! Travelling to Japan has been my dream from childhood and I cannot believe it's finally happening!! I turned to this group for recommendations and have come up with this draft itinerary:

Tokyo

Day 1 (7 April)

• Land in Narita early morning at 7:30 am
• Check into my hotel in Asakusa
• Ueno Park/ Ueno Ameyoko
• Kappabashi street
• Sensoji temple, Nakamise street, rent a kimono
• Tokyo Skytree

Day 2 (8 April)

• Tokyo National Museum
• Tokyo palace gardens
• Kitanomaru park
• Teamlab borderless
• Tokyo tower, zojoji temple
• akihabara

Kyoto

Day 3 (9 April)

• Shinkansen to Kyoto
• Arashiyama Bamboo forest
• Tenryu-ji
• Kinkaku-ji

Day 4 (10 April)

• Fushimi Inari
• Nijo Castle
• Nishiki Market
• Explore Gion area
• Yasaka pagoda, Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka, Kiyomizu Dera, Kodaiji temple, etc.

Osaka Day 5 (11 April)

• Hankyu train to Osaka
• Osaka Castle
• Namba Yasaka shrine
• Explore Dotobori area

Day 6 (12 April)

• Nipponbashi denden town
• Shinsaibashi
• Shinnsekai
• Umeda skybuilding

Day 7 (13 April)

• Universal Studios

Day 8 (14 April)

• Nara day trip

Day 9 (15 April)

• Unsure about this day. Either day trip near Osaka or go to Hakone

Tokyo

Day 10 (16 April)

• Explore Shinjuku area

Day 11 (17 April)

• Warner Bro Harry Potter Studio
• Shibuya crossing, Hachiko statue, Meiji Shrine
• Shibuya Sky
• Harajuku

Day 12 (18 April)

• Mt. Fuji day trip

Day 13 (19 April)

• Explore and do shopping in Ginza/ Roppongi areas

Day 14 (20 April)

• Depart from Narita

Questions I Have:

1. Major confusion around day 9!! Would Hakone be doable in one day after traveling from Osaka? Or would it be better to do a day trip near Osaka? Or should we just return to Tokyo and spend an extra day there?
2. We are huge Harry Potter fans and that's the only reason we've put Universal in the itinerary. Is it worth going there if we're already doing the Warner Bros studio in Tokyo?
3. Any other feedback on this itinerary. Is it too packed, or are there areas where I can add more activities? Any must-see spots I’m missing?

Thank you so much for your help—I appreciate all your insights and look forward to your recommendations!