My two-week travel report (Tokyo – Osaka – Koyasan – Kyoto – Tokyo)

Hi everyone,

I returned from my trip yesterday and want to share with you my travel report and as much information and useful insights that I can. This report is my own and is completely subjective – but honest. I will avoid naming restaurants and hotels.

As many of you, Japan was my #1 destination for as long as I can remember. I used to joke that 5% of my total happiness will be achieved once I did it. For years I have been delaying it, waiting for the perfect moment. This was it!

# of people traveling: 4

Itinerary:

• 4th – 8th of Oct (Tokyo)
• 8th – 12th of Oct (Osaka)
• 12th – 13th of Oct (Koyasan day trip)
• 13th – 17th of Oct (Kyoto)
• 17th – 18th of Oct (Tokyo)

Budget:

I overspent by x2.5 times what I planned for (not sorry). You can travel to Japan with a budget as low as €2-€2.5k (incl. tickets and accommodation) and obviously spend much much more than that. The Yen is a bit deceiving and I spent it like monopoly money to a degree. My partner was disappointed with how much more Japan shopping is tailored to men than to women – I can't complain 😀

The categories that I spent much more than I planned for are Uber and shopping.

Planning:

• I started planning for Japan in Feb (trip beginning of October)
• Booked my accommodation through Booking. Checked here and there for price changes, snagged an amazing hotel at 70% discount via mobile app and rebooked same accommodation multiple times for lower rates. Koyasan Temple stay was 3x less expensive because I booked it 6 months ahead.
• I booked 1 month ahead via Klook Shinkansen tickets, Koyasan World Heritage Digital Ticket and Samurai restaurant, Go-Kart (30 min, yes I am a tourist).
• Read everything there is on r/JapanTravel and r/JapanTravelTips (especially the FAQ)
• Airalo 20Gb eSim
• Tabelog and Tablecheck for restaurant reservations

The Trip:

Tokyo (4th – 8th of Oct)

Itinerary (short):

• 4th – night in Akasaka
• 5th – Asakusa, Akihabara, Roppongi
• 6th – Tsukiji Market, Ginza, Shibuya
• 7th – Harajuku, Shinjuku
• 8th – travel to Osaka

Detailed:

• Stayed in Akasaka because it had the best intersections of 6 metro lines (Namboku, Chiyoda, Hanzomon, Yurakucho, Ginza, Marunouchi) connecting us to all our planned locations, has some amazing streets with bars and restaurants and close to Hie shrine.
• We opened our food trip with an amazing ramen and spent the night strolling through the many bars and restaurants in Akasaka.
• 5h – The first full day we opened up with Asakusa (Senso-Ji), which was my favourite part of the city. Senso Ji was crowded but I liked it. Asakusa is a vibe during the day and night, filled to the brim with shops, restaurants and bars. I would recommend going to the Samurai Ninja museum. Then we went to the Sumo tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena which was one of the trips higlights and would definitely recommend it. After that we went to Akihabara (I bought a gameboy colour – now I just need to buy Pokemon Gold in English cause all games are in Japanese). The night we spent in Roppongi going for food and drinks – great district for that purpose.
• 6th – The second day (hungover) we went for a stroll in Tsukiji Market, which is a tourist hotspot but was fun to spend an hour walking through it and having some good food. Then we went for some short shopping in Ginza (the flagship stores such as Uniqlo are a bit too crowded for my taste). We then had sushi omakase lunch (spent about ¥20k per person) and it was one of the highlights of the trip and best food experiences I had in my life. The night we spent in Shibuya, did some shopping, did the 30min Go Kart activity and spent the rest of the night at a fantastic jazz concert. Shibuya was atmospherical, but would not go back on a second trip to Tokyo.
• 7th – spent the first part of the day at Harajuku, probably the best part of the city for shopping offering all types of shops from higher end to second hand. We also had some of the best food during the trip – gyukatsu. We sadly didn't make it to Meji Jingu as we had show book after Harajuku. The show was Samurai Restaurant (ex. Robot restaurant) in Shinjuku, which was a unique experience and I was happy I experienced it. It has long breaks between acts but all in all I had a blast and was laughing out loud throughout the experience. After that we we walked around (Omoide Yokocho – too touristy for my tast) and had some good sushi. We later spent the night until early hours in Golden Gai (too touristy). Shinjuku was atmospherical, but would not go back on a second trip to Tokyo.
• 8th started with a heart attack (went to bed at 4am drunk) since we had 1h to pack, check out and go to Tokyo station to make the Shinkansen – happy to say we made it. Arrived in Osaka around 14h.

Osaka (8th – 12th of Oct)

Itinerary (short):

• 8th – Osaka castle, Dotonbori
• 9th – Osaka Aquarium, Umeda, Shinsekai, Dotonbori
• 10th – Expo, Dotonbori
• 11th – Namba, Dotonbori
• 12th – travel to Koyasan

Detailed:

• Osaka is a great city to act as a hub for day trips. Maximum of 2 days to spend here. You have the options to go to Koyasan, Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima etc.
• 8th – we went for a walk around Osaka castle during golden hour. We didn't go inside as I didn't read anything positive about it. Great for a photo session and peaceful stroll. After that we went for some street food dinner and drinks around Dotonbori. It's a chaotic place to say the least – a swarm of people everywhere.
• 9th – We went to Osaka Aquarium, which was generally fun. After that we went to Umeda which is packed with shopping malls. Later that evening we went to Shinsekai, where sadly a portion of the stores close quite early. I had maybe a bit higher expectations of the area, but maybe I was a bit tired from the day. Later we had some great cocktails and drinks around Dotonbori and America-mura area
• 10th – We visited the chaos what was the Expo. The highlight of it was the walk around the ring, which is a marvel of architecture. I hope they keep the whole ring afterwards as a testament to the genius of Japanese construction and tradition. We managed to visit 4 pavilions with reservations, the best being Serbia and Luxembourg. Later we had a godawful dinner in the city..
• 11th – We had a nice stroll around the hotel area and went for a shiatsu massage. I am tattooed so I am unable to go to onsen – so shiatsu was the next best thing. After that we visited Namba Yasaka Jinja and strolled around the areas and did some shopping. During the night we went for an amazing teppanyaki omakase experience and tasted some juicy wagyu food.
• 12th – We travelled to Koyasan from Namba station with the Koyasan Limited Express (it is not covered by the Koyasan World Heritage Digital Ticket and you need to buy an additional add-on ticket to use that train)

Koyasan (12th – 13th of Oct)

Detailed:

• Koyasan is one of the best places to experience an overnight stay at a temple lodging (shukubo) where you can get a taste of a monk's lifestyle, eating vegetarian monk's cuisine (shojin ryori) and attending the morning prayers. Around fifty temples offer this service to both pilgrims and visitors.
• Once you reach the train station (wonderful ride from Osaka), you take a cable car up the mountain and then a local bus to reach the town. The town itself is beautiful, with loads of small temples. It rained a bit and there was a low fog, which created such an atmospheric vibe to the trip that we loved!
• Since the check in to the temple was at 12noon and dinner at 17:30 with curfew at 21h, we had to move fast to see everything. We did 32k steps that day. For me the definitive highlight was Okonuin Cemetery (during the day) – truly magnificent place to wonder around. Additionally, I loved the area around Kongobu-ji Danjo Garan.
• Sleeping at a temple was unique as you get to experience a snippet of that lifestyle (tailored to tourists). In particular the morning ceremony was the highlight and the serene beauty of the temple. What I enjoyed the least was the public bathroom in the temple, but for one night you manage.

Kyoto (13th – 17th of Oct)

Itinerary (short):

• 13th – Pontocho
• 14th – Manshuin, Enkoji, Shisendo, Gion
• 15th – Nishki market, TeamLab Biovortex, Kiyomizu-dera, Nakagyo Ward
• 16th – Fushimi-inari, Muri-an garden, Kinkakuji
• 17th – travel to Tokyo

Detailed:

• 13th – We arrived in Kyoto and spent the rest of the day walking around the Pontocho area. Had some tasty yakiniku and went for a bar crawl in the area.
• 14th – Initially we had some different plans for Kyoto, so we switched up our itinerary. Instead of doing Fushimi-inari on this day, we made wanted to do something different and went north east to visit three marvellous temples which ended up being (especially Enkoji) the most beautiful and peaceful temples we visited. They are a bit out of the way for most, so there were almost no tourists there. We enjoyed some nice peace and quiet. Later we went to Gion for some ceramics shopping and walk around Ninenzaka.
• 15th – Even it being a tourist hotspot, we really enjoyed Nishki market, after which we visited TeamLab Biovortex which was a 10/10 and would definitely recommend it. It is large and filled with different rooms and sensory elements. After that we visited Kiyomizu for the Seiryu Dragon Festival and later went for shopping around the city. Later we enjoyed a modern izakaya omakase, which was great but it didn't hit my preferences in terms of food.
• 16th – Went to Fushimi-Inari which was packed with tourists and it was super humid and rainy. We didn't do the whole climb, maybe we will do it next time. Later we visited Muri-an garden, which is a pettit but beautiful garden to enjoy some macha and watch this marvel of Japanese gardening. Kinkakuji is a bit of a tourist trap – nice to take 3-4 pics and walk a one-way route with a million other people.
• 17th – traveled to Tokyo

Kyoto (17th – 18th of Oct)

Detailed:

• Last 24h in Japan. We stayed in Ueno, next to Ueno station – loved it. Very close is the National Museum, Asakusa, Kapabashi street, Ameyoko Shopping Street. We bought two new knives at Kapabashi street, visited the craziest store that I've been to – Don Quixote in Asakusa, had soba noodle dinner and bought some woodblock print artwork for our home.

Trip Highlights:

• The Japanese people
• The food – especially sushi omakase, teppanyaki omakase, gyukatsu, okomoniyaki, yakiniku and ramen.
• Sumo tournament
• Drinks at some amazing places that I will keep for myself
• Koyasan
• Teamlab Biovortex
• Enkoji and Muri-an
• The Expo and walk around the ring
• Go Kart in Shibuya in Charizard costumer (yes, I am baka gaijin)
• Samurai restaurant

Some final notes:

• I used revolut for transfering cash, paying and picking up cash from ATM. Worked like a charm. I always had around ¥20k on me, but most places accepted card.
• Suica in apple wallet worked like a charm.
• Be conscious of the constant creep of FOMO – you will not be able to scratch a scratch of the surface. Especially Tokyo. You could easily spend 2 weeks just in Tokyo.
• I am happy we visited Osaka and then Kyoto, as Osaka on its own isn't as much of an experience as Tokyo and Kyoto are. Osaka is great to act as a hub for day trips.
• Japan uses coins extensively, so having a coin purse can help you manage change efficiently and keep your wallet organized.
• Many accommodations provide laundry facilities or have them nearby. Packing fewer clothes and doing laundry during your stay can save luggage space and make travel more convenient.
• Location. Location. Location. When searching for hotels, see what metro lines are near by. Trains will your best friend for the entire trip. Distances are huge and we overspent on Uber, but it was a conscious decision to afford us with this luxury.
• You can send large luggage between hotels (takkyubin service), just ask at the reception. We used it between all the major cities. If you decide to walk around with large luggage, make sure to select "wheelchair accessible" in google maps routes so it shows you a route with elevators.
• Respect etiquette such as: Don't eat while walking, take your shoes off for dressing rooms, do not be loud on public transport, be mindful of others when you take photos in public spaces, be patient and queue as everyone else, be on time everywhere, walk on and stand on the left side
• Learn the basic Japanese as most aren't fluent in English. Japanese people will appreciate any effort to speak Japanese. If needed, just use google translate. Use Kuli Kuli app for translating menues or any text.
• Egg sandos and Aquarius water (or smoothie at 7-Eleven) is the way to go for breakfast. 7-Eleven, Family mart and Lawson are your friends.
• Japanese eat more brown chicken meat than white chicken meat.

Special thanks to all the amazing Japanese people that made this trip special. Thank you for welcoming us to your country and for an amazing time. Arigato gozaimasu and Ookini (Kansai region)!

I did my best to write as much as I can think of. If you have any specific questions – I am happy to answer those.

At the end, my partner asked me if I was sad for leaving – and I honestly wasn't. Japan was such a sensory overload with so many memories. It was perfect, it was perfect. I hope I will have a chance to visit Japan a few more times in my life. But for now, I am super grateful I got a chance to do it even this one time. 5% of my total life happiness – achieved!