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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/tang_hulu on 2024-11-08 17:04:31+00:00.

I recently came back from my first trip to Japan with my aunt to visit some family and roughly followed the golden route when it came to planning. It was more of a spontaneous decision so I only had about a month or so of prep time. I’m very fond of architecture and exploring as I go so we often just walked around the area. We also spent quite a lot of time shopping :D 

Pre-planning tips and recommendations

• Get Ubigi e-sim: super easy and painless to set up and there is always a 20% off coupon somewhere, it will save you money and time and the hassle of buying a SIM when you arrive. Ubigi worked as soon as I touched down.
• Yamato Transport: the little black cat saved us the hassle of lugging around multiple suitcases worth of souvenirs and gifts through sometimes very long subway stations and rush hours. 100% recommend. Most staff can speak English if not a little google translate goes a long way. Keep in mind most hotels can only ship luggage for it to arrive the following day to be sure to plan accordingly. It also took us an embarrassingly long time to realize that most convenience stores offer the same luggage shipping services as the hotel and sometimes at a cheaper rate so be sure to check them out.
• Sugi Drug mart: sells necessary and emergency over the counter medicine and is almost everywhere, we needed it due to a deer allergy at Nara
• Google maps is your best friend but does not do well in navigating buildings with lots of floors.
• Book specific experiences in advance to structure certain days but I wouldn’t stress too much about packing everyday with specific times as it get slightly overwhelming

(we booked→)

• Tea Ceremony and Kimono Experience at Kyoto Maikoya
• Bus tickets to Shirakawago from Kanazawa)
• Kaiseki dinner with a ryokan we stayed at Kaga
• Get comfortable shoes: cannot recommend enough if you are not used to walking long distances in the city, the miles really take a toll on you and the last thing you want is to be tired before your trip has even begun.

Itinerary 

Chiba

Day 1

Flew in via JFK and landed around 5 am at Tokyo Haneda and drove to Chiba to stay with my cousins. I decided I would just tough it out with the jet lag after chilling for like 2 hours, and went straight to Kamogawa Sea World for the afternoon. It was more of a local aquarium/sea world so all the introductions and information on the animals were made in Japanese. I also mistook one of the sleeping walruses for a statue -.- I ate the first of many many soft creams on my trip and for dinner we ate at a family restaurant with a set menu, it was so good for the price! 

Mt Fuji Region

Day 2

We headed out early for a road trip to Mt Fuji, visiting Makaino Farm with a huge grassy slope where you can feed sheep and goats pellets and carrots and saw some glimpses of the elusive mountain while eating more soft cream. Stayed in a ryokan with a kaiseki dinner and rotenburo. The dinner included some really good sashimi but I am not a fan of crispy garlic and we were greeted with a cloudy view of Fuji-san in the morning and all you can eat buffet style breakfast. 

Day 3

We checked out Oshino Hakkai, which had crystal clear ponds and gave us the best view of Mt. Fuji up on the viewing platform that cost around $3. Fujiyoshida is awesome for Fuji Q Highland but we just stopped by for its famous street with Mt. Fuji in the background. It was quite the drive back to Chiba.

Chiba

Day 4 

Didn’t do much, just hung out with family.

Day 5

Ventured out on my own for the first time and explored the Peria mall around Chiba station (much prefer the Aeon Malls after completing my trip). Then I traveled to Narita to pick up my aunt.

Asakusa

Day 6   

Arrived around lunch time, checked into the hotel and then walked right into Uniqlo and did some damage. We visited Senso-ji Temple which was crowded for an off-season but still very impressive in its size and structure as it was the first temple on our journey. Then explored the shopping streets in and around Asakusa and got a matcha float. Headed to Shibuya Parco at night, said hi to Hachiko, stopped by the Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing and visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo in Meguro.

Day 7

Started the morning off at Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park, the park was pretty quiet in the morning hours and the further into the Museum the less people there were, with a variety of ancient scrolls, paintings, ceramics and buddha statues. During lunch there were several yatai set up for a food festival and we had to get takoyaki and grilled fish. We then went to Ikebukuro for its Animate store and I found I enjoyed it more than Akihabara. Visiting Meiji Jingu in Yoyogi Park was amazing at dusk but the atmosphere walking into the park leading up the shrine was slightly haunting due to a large group of crows that kept on calling which kind of added to the chill of the dense forest. We then stopped by Akihabara at night for a quick walk around and Book Off. 

Hakone 

Day 8 

It took absolutely forever to get to our ryokan in Hakone due to the slow bus and traffic in the mountain roads but we managed to visit the Hakone Open-Air Museum and it was honestly quite impressive, as someone who is generally not a fan of modern art, it had great architectural landscaping that allowed each art piece to breathe and did not feel overcrowded at all. The cafe in the center of the park hit the spot even if there were only two food options: hotdog and a muffin. The whole park was really conceptual but very well curated and laid out. 

Hakone → Kamakura → Yokohama 

Day 9 

BE PATIENT, the bus in Hakone is absolutely brutal and if you can drive, DRIVE. We waited for about an hour after bus driver upon bus driver told us the bus was full and that we would have to wait for the next one. But we managed to finally catch the bus and not miss our ride on the Togendai Pirate Ship, which gave us a clear view of the iconic red Heiwa no Torii in the water and took us directly to the cable car leading up to Owakudani. There is also a regular ferry but the pirate ship was just more fun bc obviously. The view of Owakudani from the cable car looked as if there were pockets of steam rising from the mountainside and lowkey looked like forest fire smoke. 

Around mid-afternoon we caught the train to Kamakura to see the Kotoku-in which enshrines the Great Buddha statue, once again, dusk was the perfect time to capture photos and walk around without it being overly hot as fall still hadn’t quite come. I ate more soft serve and headed up to Yokohama for the night. I got a kebab for dinner and it was amazing. 

Osaka

Day 10 

Arrived in Osaka, ate some of the best butter chicken curry I’ve ever had in Nishishinsaibashi, then took a walking tour path from Amerika-Mura to Shinsaibashi Shopping Street which is great for casual streetwear and has lots of international brands. I already liked the vibe of Osaka more, you could immediately feel it was more laid back than Tokyo, the shop staff were more friendly and much more willing to consistently try to talk. We had to pay a visit to Mr Glico Man at Dotonbori, stopped by a small shrine in the heart of Hozenji Yokocho, and saw the fierce facade of the Namba Yasaka Jinja. It was slightly sad that it appeared like an oasis between the high rises because it was facing a hotel I think? that was towering over it but also made it feel like another block on the street. We had to check out the Namba City shopping mall and if I recall correctly, there were quite a few boutiques on the B2 level selling very cute clothing.

Day 11

Started a relatively slow day at Himeji Castle, exploring the castle grounds.I visited Koko-en gardens thinking there might be some fall foliage and I was greeted with absolutely nothing but it was a nice walk. The interior of Himeji Castle is mostly preserved but the rooms did start to get a little repetitive after a while. I’d still say I think it’s good to visit the interior once because there were some insanely steep and slippery wooden steps to climb. We visited Osaka Castle in the evening, saw it lit up with lights and passed by a massive concert being played at Osaka Jo Hall and had some very nice tonkatsu in the park adjacent to the castle.  

Osaka → Nara → Kyoto 

Day 12

Feeding the deer at Nara, we saw some deer fighting, head butting a poor girl off the steps and biting tourists butt for food. Very cute but kind of aggressive. 7/10. Walking all around the Nara Park area, Todai-ji was very impressive, configured in a giant courtyard setting with really huge Buddha and guardian statues inside. We also stopped by the temple buildings of Todai-ji around the area. Isuien Gardens and Museum was serene and quiet but there was a very nice garden a little bit ahead of Isuien that was free and I felt like it was quite similar if not a little bit bigger but nevertheless, worth the walk around the park. Ate a very brunch style late lunch and headed directly to Kyoto afterwards.

Day 13

For our first full day in Kyoto, we booked an all day tour with lunch included with Sunrise Tours and both our tour guides for the morning and afternoon were really wonderful. We first saw Nijo Castle, a residence for the Tokugawa Shogun, then Kinkaku-ji which was exp…

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