Hello! I had 2.5 weeks in Japan. (February 18-23 + March 2-16)
Here are my finds from each city we went to. Not a full day-by-day, but sharing highlights and things I found useful. If I did day by day, it'd just be too long.
Tokyo:
Things I enjoyed:
- Sakana Matsuri. Found a local fish festival in Yoyogi park the day before it happened. Recommend finding local activities! It was super cool to see all of the vendors trying to hawk us fresh seafood. There was also a stage with some performances.
- Disney Land / DisneySea. They actually have a ticket where you can go to both parks in 1 day! It's a bit tight, but effective if you have a busy schedule. It's really important to look at the schedule. Some days one of the parks may close early due to an event. (Happened on the day we were there!). It's way cheaper than going to Disney World in the US, if you happen to already be in Tokyo.
- Arcade games in Akihabara. I didn't expect to get into it, but there's a Rhythm game called Mai Mai, and it was a lot of fun. Don't be intimidated to try the arcade games, definitely surprised me. You can purchase an Aimo card, which saves your progress for around $2 USD. Highly recommend even if you're only going to the arcade 2-3 times. Akihabara has a bunch of arcades with a lot of machines.
Lodging:
- Stayed in Hamamatsucho area. I found it quite convenient for lots of subway lines. Quiet at night. And it was great to see the Tokyo Tower every night. I recommend the area.
Food:
- TareKatsu. It's a thin katsu infused with sauce. There's one place that specializes in it in Tokyo, if you just google Tare katsu Tokyo. One of the few places we went back to a second time.
- Warabi Mochi. It's a super soft mochi. Usually with Kinako Powder. Recommend trying. Brought some back to the U.S. and it was a big hit. Everyone felt it was very special. You need to eat within 48 hours if buying fresh. But they sell packages where you can boil at home. Lasts for ~1 month. Our favorite store is at the Kabuki museum building, in Ginza. It's in the basement, in the corner. A must. We tried like 5 places across our trip, and this one was the best.
Shopping:
- If you're going to shop on the trip, Tokyo is the best spot. Selection for stores is just the greatest. Here are some shops I enjoyed: Itoya Ginza (Stationery), Tokyo Station Character Street (Character goods), Parco Harujuku (Character Goods), Loft Ginza (Stationery), Laforet Harajuku (Subculture clothing and goods — Honestly interesting enough to just look around. They have really unique stores as a tourist, even if not buying anything)
Tokyo Other Thoughts:
- You walk on the left side in most of Japan, including Tokyo.
- You probably need like 3 months to actually see most of the city. I wouldn't try to spread yourself too thin. Just stay focused. We tried to rush Shinjuku, but would have been better if we allocated our time elsewhere.
- The train stations are packed with people. But the trains themselves are quite spacious. (Opposite of how NYC works).
- When you're at the airport, you have the option to get a Welcome Suica card, which has some discount specials attached to it. We didn't end up using the discount specials. But did use the Suica card for transportation all throughout Japan. A lot of Tokyo's subway lines did not have tap to pay yet. Note that at the airport you can add money to the Suica card with your credit card. But everywhere else you need to add cash instead. Honestly, a lot of cash was needed on the trip (~$600).
- The vending machines have hot drinks. Which was the best, since we were there in Feb/March. It's always the perfect temperature too. The convenience stores are like every 3 blocks and also have hot drinks ready always. My favorite was Family Mart. 24 open. I love Japanese convenience store sandwiches. This is an aside, but, I already make my own conbini sandwiches at home (before ever visiting Japan. Like as of 10 years ago haha). Highly recommend JustOneCookbook online.
- Train station luggage lockers are the best invention. Used throughout all of Japan. Highly recommend to use as needed. Reasonable pricing to hold onto luggage so you can explore an area freely.
Osaka:
Things I enjoyed:
- Bungu Joshi Haku – Stationery festival experience. If you like stationary, can be worth going to one. Everything is in Japanese / don't expect any English.
- Museum of Housing and Living – Super cool museum. You get to experience what Japan used to look like many years ago. Recommend if museums aren't your usual thing.
- Mochi-making class. I think they have time slots every day of the week. It runs the whole year I believe, even though mochi making is traditionally a new years thing. More fun than expected!
- Universal Studios. We went on a Monday, but it was still packed. We learned the hard way that apparently, March 9th is the day before Mario day. (MAR. 10), where more people go to Nintendo World to not hit the March 10th crowd. Don't get suckered by Mario day like us. Who could have known? It was fun to go here, but much smaller than Disney, and longer wait times for rides accordingly.
Lodging:
- Tried Apartment Hotel 11, which is an up and coming hotel chain. Honestly, for the price it's nice and roomy. Yes, no services, but felt worth it for a short stay.
Food:
- Melon Daifuku. In Hankyu Department store, there is a super delicious melon daifuku shop. It's like $6 USD a melon daifuku. But it was one of the best things we ate.
Osaka – Other Thoughts:
- You walk on the right side in Osaka!! So confusing.
- Personally, I'd skip eating Kushikatsu. Just felt more oily / not tasty, nor worth the price. Much better food in Japan.
- Namba is a crazy touristy. The most tourists I saw the whole trip. Not personally my cup of tea, but I get why it's popular. For those into board games a board game cafe opened up, Jelly Jelly Cafe, 2 days before we were there. The board game selection looked amazing. All the games are in Japanese, so you'll have to know the rules already. It was very cool though, and reasonably priced (they had an opening special).
- If it weren't for the Melon Daifuku place I would not step foot in Umeda station area in Osaka. The most crowded stressful area of the whole trip.
- If you go further out of the main areas, it becomes less touristy, so don't be afraid to venture out. Also, our JR West pass worked on the Osaka circle line, so we saved a bunch on Subway access there.
Hiroshima + Miyajima:
Things to visit:
- Hiroshima Museum (Peace Memorial). It's tough but an important visit as someone from the U.S. There are a lot of graphic images, so just be prepared it will affect your whole day. Allocate enough hours, as stayed longer than expected.
- Miyajima (Shrine, Tori Gate, Buddist Temple, Food Street). Stayed overnight per Reddit's recommendation. Woke up at 6AM to get the early morning pictures of the Tori gate and to see all the deer. Super memorable experience. Got lots of pictures of deer. Saw the shrine with no one else there, other than the caretaker doing his morning chores. Recommend, like everyone else. Just make sure to eat dinner before getting to the island. Restaurants close early. Crazy crowded with tourists starting from around 11:00am.
Food:
- Had some decent street food. Worth trying the local specialties. Did not stay in time for the place to open on the 2nd day, but saw a super fancy / expensive fuwa fuwa pancake place on the island — has anyone gone to this?
Shopping:
- Rilakkuma + Summiko Gurashi Shop on Miyajima. Items are themed to the area. I got a deer themed item here.
Fukuoka:
Things I enjoyed:
- Underground mall below Hakata station area. Really lovely shops.
- Ohori Park. Went on a rainy day. Super peaceful. Nice walking over the bridges and seeing lots of birds out.
Food:
- Strawberries & Strawberry Castella. Fukuoka has delicious strawberries. In the underground mall there is a place that sells Strawberry Castella. Wish I had more! Absolutely delicious.
Fukuoka – Other Thoughts:
- Check the dates carefully on when things are open. I originally planned to go to Uminonakamichi park, but it was closed on the one day I planned to go. Rare, but happens.
Hakone:
Things I enjoyed:
- Open Air museum. Super cool spot. It's a big sculpture garden rather than a regular museum. There's a foot bath where you can look out into the distance.
- Owakudani. Sulfer steam, and a view of Mt.Fuji. Pretty neat tourist spot, that you can take a gondala to. We got some souvenirs from the shop, and tried the black egg, which you can get hot for a few dollars.
- Lake Ashi. Super beautiful in the evening. Got some great pictures as the sun was setting. Things close early there though. So if you're going for food, do lunch, not dinner.
Hakone – Other Thoughts:
- Three nights felt like too much. Two nights is the right amount. Recommend seeing the sites, and using the first night as a crash pad, then transfering to a luxury Ryokan for the second night.
- For one night, went with a Ryokan experience with a private Onsen. The. Best. Expensive. But one of the best things I've experienced. The weaker yen makes it possible right now to live in a little more luxury.
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Other Thoughts:
- Don't sleep on Japanese grocery stores. Cheap prices, delicious fish. We got some nice food for the train rides from the grocery stores.
- Best if you know someone from Japan. I connected with an old roommate who now lives in Tokyo. She introduced me to her friends in Fukuoka and Hiroshima. They all showed us around while we were visiting their respective cities and did things completely off the regular tourist track. For example, in Fukuoka we went to a Tea place that is not findable on English Google Maps. In Tokyo we went to an Eel place, that had eel inside of Tamagoyaki (Must reserve in advance over the phone in Japanese). Etc.
- JR West pass was useful, but we broke about even for cost. We needed 1 more day trip between Fukuoka and Osaka to make it worth it. Please note for the shinkanen, you get two tickets. One for your seat. and one for the actual distance travelled. You use the latter to enter/exit the turnstiles.
- Ran out of steam, so cancelled some plans when we were in Osaka. Originally planned to go to Himeji, see some castles, and parks. Just chilled instead.
- Try to book special things early. Originally, I wanted to do a Nagano excursion and stay at the Snow Monkey hotspring hotel, but it was all booked out. Maybe next time.
- Luggage service is easy to use, but kind of adds up, cost wise. Next time would mostly lug around. We just had carry-on bags, but used it to make the travel a bit smoother. It was pretty easy to use overall.
- Purposefully switched hotels every 3 days for cities we were staying in longer (Osaka). The mid-range priced hotels don't have room service…but switching gives you new everything…
- There's so much in English at all the trains and train stations. I was surprised. It was very easy to get around. Subwayed and walked around 20k steps almost every day.
- Saw cute plum blossoms in bloom. Was a bit too early for cherry blossom season, but did see a few at the tail end. I learned that NYC actually has more cherry blossoms than I realized on my return.
Closing thoughts:
Had an amazing time. Originally planned it as if it were the only time I was going to Japan. But now plan to go back sometime in the next five years. I don't think Japan is perfect, but it's a very beautiful place to visit, and the prices are reasonable right now. I did a mix of touristy and non-touristy things. Did not see many tourists on the trip overall. (The most in Namba, Osaka. By far.)
Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to answer.
by why_do_i_think