Japan trip report – what we planned vs what we did + main impressions

Came back from my first Japan trip few days ago and I wanted to share how it went, hope you enjoy.

about me: 30F with my sister in mid20s, Central European, we’re not very fit but we like to walk a lot. We like nature, historical sights and shopping. Not into nightlife /clubbing. I’m vegetarian (who only eats eggs from animal products) so keep it in mind for my food impressions.

basic trip info: 16 days, first time trip – classic golden route with some side trips. Arrival&departure from KIX.

PT. 1 TOKYO; 7 nights, hotel in Shinbashi

Day 1:

• ⁠Planned: arrival at KIX, Shinkansen to Tokyo, evening in Ginza

• ⁠Actual: arrived in Tokyo with significant delays and extremely tired so we went straight to sleep

Day 2:

• ⁠Planned: Meiji Jingu -> Shinjuku Gyoen -> Harajuku -> Shibuya (incl. Shibuya Sky sunset spot)

• ⁠Actual: nothing, got sick on the plane (thank you AC blasting for 12h) and was heat exhausted from the last day so I spent the day in the hotel bed 😀. My sister went to Shibuya Sky alone so at least one ticket isn’t wasted and did some shopping there.

Day 3:

• ⁠Planned: Sensoji -> kappabashi st -> national museum -> yanaka ginza -> ueno park -> akihabara -> ginza

• ⁠Actual: was feeling a bit better so we tried to make the best of this day. Went to Sensoji and then through kappabashi to National Museum. It was Saturday though so most shops were unfortunately closed. After Museum went to get lunch at Vegan Gyoza which was a bit out of the way but it took us through some more residential streets which was interesting to see. Then we went to Yanaka Ginza, stuck mainly to the shopping street (as cats lovers it was amazing (not for our wallets though)). We skipped the Ueno park and took the train straight to Akihabara. We spent maybe 1.5h there cause honestly it’s not rly our vibes, we just wanted to see the iconic sights. It was also super crowded and loud and I was still feeling trashy from sickness. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and in the evening we went to Ginza to shop and eat dinner.

Day 4: trip to Nikko

• ⁠Planned: Rinnoji – Toshogu – Tayuin mausoleum – lunch – a scenic walk along Kanmangafuchi Abyss

• ⁠Actual: went as planned. We did the shrine complex and recharged at lunch. Then we walked by a scenic route I found recommended at Nikko’s website. Most ppl stopped at the Abyss and turned back there but we went further to the other bridge. We wanted to make the whole loop but we got tired and took the bus after the bridge back to the Nikko station. Got back to Tokyo in the evening and ate dinner. We really enjoyed the trip, I think it was one of our favorite days. Note: didn’t account for the local tourism on the weekends and it was pretty crowded. Highlight of the day: getting bit by a forest leech (20min after we saw a leech & bear warning sign). With our luck we would prob see the bear next if we didn’t take the bus.

Day 5:

• ⁠Planned: gotokuji – ikebukuro (sunshine city) -> Shinjuku

• ⁠Actual: this was one of our least planned days so I took the chance and tried to fit some of the stuff we missed on day 2. Started the day with Gotokuji temple as planned. Then we went to Meiji shrine and through Harajuku (ate lunch there) and Omote-sando to Shibuya. After Shibuya we took a train to Shinjuku were we walked around for a bit and ate dinner in Kabukicho. Absolutely do not recommend doing Shibuya and Shinjuku in one day. The only reason I did this was cause I didn’t wanna miss out on seeing at least a glance of it (thank you sickness).

Day 6: trip to Kamakura

• ⁠Planned: Tsurugaoka Hachimangu – Hase-dera – Kotokuin- Zeniarai Benten Shrine – Beach – Dinner

• ⁠Actual: started as planned and did all the temples and shrines. The hike from Kotokuin to the Zeniarai shrine was rough, I thought I did my research but maybe internet lied to me and it was not a light walk in the mountain as I have read 😅. I also noticed most ppl took the opposite route cause it was the easier way. Anyways the views were nice and I still enjoyed it (my sister hated me though 😂). After the money shrine we were super tired, also the weather was terrible (the hottest day with 40+ degrees in the sun) so we skipped the beach and went back to Tokyo earlier. I honestly don’t remember what we did in the evening. I think we went to eat sth? Idk the sun fried my brain that day.

Day 7:

• ⁠Planned: Vegan Sushi in Shibuya -> Akasaka – Teamlabs borderless -> Ginza

• ⁠Actual: started the day late for once cause our reservation was for 11:30am. After lunch we got sidelined (bad idea) and went to mega donki which left us overstimulated (and much poorer). We didn’t have time (and energy) to do anything so we just went back to the hotel to rest. Later as planned we went to teamlabs and after that we went to shop in Ginza. This was our last full day at Tokyo.

Tokyo impressions: loud (the city, not the people), a bit overstimulating but still pretty fun and definitely interesting. I definitely want to experience it again at a slower pace and see things I didn’t manage this time. Really enjoyed the area where we stayed, a bit quieter than others and well connected (near 3 stations and 15min to Ginza by foot).

Pt2 KYOTO 6 nights, hotel in Gion

Day 8:

• ⁠Planned: imperial gardens – jimbocho book town – Tokyo station and Shinkansen to Kyoto – yasaka shrine

• ⁠Actual: we were tired after that whole week so we slept in and went straight to the station. We did some shopping there and took the train to Kyoto. Freshened up at the hotel, went to eat dinner and then on a walk to see Yasaka shrine when it was already dark so everything was lit up.

Day 9:

• ⁠Planned: Kiyomizu dera – Fushimi Inari – Uji

• ⁠Actual: as planned. We walked through Gion to Kiyomizu dera, we arrived there around 9am which was pretty crowded but not that bad. Idk if it’s cause it was Friday but it was full of school trips. Then we took a train to Fushimi and made the whole mountain loop. As everyone says the bottom was crowded but the further you go the least ppl persist lol. Honestly the route was tiring but manageable. After that we took a train to Uji where we ate lunch, went to see Byodoin and then walked along the main tea shopping street. Came back Kyoto in the evening and finished with dinner.

Day 10:

• ⁠Planned: Nijo castle – Ginkakuji – philosophers path – nazenji – heian jingu

• ⁠Actual: as planned, not much to add until Heian Jingu where we came across two events, one was some anime/manga convention so we saw a lot of cosplayers walking around and then there was some planned event at the shrine grounds, couldn’t rly find what it was but there was a stage set up and everything. After that we walked (buses didn’t come and the ones that did (late) were full honestly the bus situation in Kyoto deserves its own section 😂 ) to the shopping area around Kawaramachi st, did some shopping and ate dinner there.

Day 11:

• ⁠Planned: arashiyama bamboo forest – tenryuji- monkey park – otagi nenbutsuji – ryoanji – kinkakuji

• ⁠Actual: as planned until otagi nenbutsuji which we skipped cause we spent too long on lunch and we missed the bus that would take us there on time (the next one was like 40min later). So we took a train straight to ryoanji and then walked to kinkakuji. Went back to the hotel and in the evening we went again to kawaramachi area for dinner.

Day 12: trip to Nara

• ⁠Planned: deer park; todaiji – kasugataisha – kofukuji

• ⁠Actual: as planned, we started at todaiji and took the recommended route to Kasuga Taisha along the green hills and then back into the park, a really nice walk. I noticed most ppl just went to see the big Buddha at the main hall in Todaiji but there’s a whole complex of smaller halls if you go further to the right of the main one, much recommended. After the temple walk we went to eat lunch and back to Kyoto. In the evening we just ate dinner in Gion cause we were too tired for anything else.

Day 13:

• ⁠Planned: Hike from Kurama dera to Kifune shrine

• ⁠Actual: nothing as planned. We slept in and decided it’s too late for the hike (the internet info on the hike duration was inconclusive and I didn’t wanna risk it cause we had a reservation for the afternoon). Instead we went on a walk in Gion to Kenninji temple and it’s subtemple Seiraiin. Then we walked to the main street leading to Kiyomizu dera for some pottery shopping. Wanted to go to Kodaiji but ran out of time. In the afternoon we had a reservation at the Rokujuan teahouse and after that we went again to the Kawaramachi area for dinner and some final shopping.

Kyoto impressions: felt way more „touristy” than Tokyo, probably cause the tourist sights were more condensed in fewer areas. However the city itself was very pretty and felt calm despite the crowds. I especially enjoyed the temples and shrines there. Would like to go back on the next trip and explore some less popular sights. Note: the buses were consistently late except for early mornings, sometimes they didn’t come at all or they run on some hidden internal schedule idk 😂 anyways I was slightly shocked by this.

Pt3 OSAKA 2 nights, hotel in Shinsaibashi

Day 14:

• ⁠Planned: Himeji – Osaka – Shinsekai – Dotonbori – Shinsaibashi

• ⁠Actual: as planned we took an early train to Himeji, this trip was a bit out of the way but I really wanted to see it. We spent around 5-6h there and arrived in Osaka around 3pm. After checking in and resting a bit we took a train to Shinsekai where we walked around and then we walked all the way through Nipponbashi to Dotonbori shopping along the way and then through Shinsaibashi back to our hotel.

Day 15:

• ⁠planned: Koyasan

• ⁠Actual: didn’t work out. We were tired after last day so we decided to skip on that trip. Instead we slept in a bit (a common occurrence as you can see) and went to Parco in Shinsaibashi for some shopping. Then we walked to see the Namba Yasaka shrine and after that took a train to Shittenoji Temple. Then again took a train to Osaka castle, only to see from the outside though. Walked back to our hotel with dinner along the way.

Day 16:

• ⁠Planned: Katsuoji – free time – KIX

• ⁠Actual: as planned took the first train in the morning to Katsuoji. The temple itself didn’t take us much time and I regret not extending the trip to Minoh falls which was totally doable. Anyways don’t regret going there, after the temple we went back to Osaka and hanged out around the Namba station to kill time till we took the train to the airport. The end.

Osaka impression: the tourist areas felt like a crazy town (positive). Very camp. However one time is enough for me to experience that, don’t think I wanna go back there. Outside of the tourist areas it felt like a very regular city, a bit dirty and stinky 😂.

Overall Japan impressions:

Highlights and positives: overall clean and felt very safe. Loved the temples and shrines, I was also collecting goshuin which made it extra fun. The megalopolis city vibes were also cool and sth I can’t rly experience in my country. The shopping was also great (for my brain and horrible for my wallet). My biggest shopping regret: not buying a teapot I rly liked but I wasn’t sure about cause of the high price.

Disappointments and negatives: in theory I knew what I signed up for weather wise but nothing prepares you for reality if you’re not used to it already. Kyoto was better but Tokyo temperatures and humidity were messing with my brain. Now some very unpopular opinions: convenience store food was horrible. Everything was super processed (and either sweet or salty) and tasted very artificial. Thank you EU food regulations. As for the restaurant food: I was also not that impressed. Now before you jump on me it wasn’t bad, just mediocre for the most time. Also quite heavy (oily, fried etc) while a bit bland in taste. Maybe it was my vegetarian experience but from what I saw idt it would be much different otherwise. There were some spots I really enjoyed but overall I wouldn’t rank it in my top culinary experiences.

Conclusion: I def want to go back and see things I didn’t manage this time + stuff more off the beaten path (kyushu island seems especially interesting to me). Hope I don’t have to wait too long for that 😁.

Hope you enjoyed this (too) long write up, I didn’t get into details too much cause it would be twice as long. If you have any questions I’m happy to answer in the comments.