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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/wharf_rat_01 on 2024-12-06 12:22:29+00:00.

Background: I previously visited Tokyo April 2023 (previous trip report) and did not have as great a time as I had hoped due to jet lag and lack of energy (I had just finished 6 months of chemotherapy 2 months prior). Decided to go back and do the golden triangle now that I feel much more normal.

Flew into NRT from DFW and decided to use the Narita Express roundtrip ticket, my Airbnb was in Shinjuku and while not the cheapest transportation option from NRT, it was a direct drop-off at Shinjuku Station so I would not have to fight rush hour traffic to transfer if I used Skyliner. If you decide to do the roundtrip option, make sure to keep your NRT return ticket that gets printed out along with your NRT outbound ticket, you’ll need it to get back. You can use the return ticket on any local JR subway line to get to Tokyo Station and take the NRT Express from there back to the airport. This worked out well.

Jet lag was still an issue on this trip, I would wake up at around 3am for the first few days but I was more prepared for it this time. I took this opportunity to walk the quiet streets of Japan when no one is around and take pictures. I never once felt unsafe doing this, but I am a 5’6" Asian American male so YMMV.

I purposely chose Airbnb’s close to popular destinations (Shinjuku in Tokyo, Dotonbori in Osaka, Gion in Kyoto) so that there would be restaurants open close by during my late night/early morning walks. This kind of backfired on me since there were still quite a lot of (sometimes drunk) people on the streets even late at night. By the middle of my trip, I was getting tired of crowds so for the last 2 nights of Tokyo, I canceled my original Shibuya rental and chose the quieter neighborhood of Asakusa instead. By the end of my trip though I was sleeping pretty normally so ended up not being a big issue.

I visited 3 areas famous for otaku culture, Akihabara and Nakano Broadway in Tokyo and Denden Town in Osaka. I am in my late 40s and grew up on G1 Transformers, Robotech/Macross, and the 1988 anime film Akira and those are what sparked my love for all things Japanese. I am less interested in current anime (although I still watch some) and most stores in the area seem to sell figures from current series. However there are retro stores in all 3 areas that sell older stuff second hand, but you have to look for them. Mandarake locations in particular seem to have a good selection of older stuff and I found out they have an online database you can search for particular items to see what locations have them in stock.

I visited a couple of street markets (Kuromon in Osaka, Nishiki in Kyoto) and to be honest, if you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all. They are all tourist traps nowadays similar to Tsukiji in Tokyo and they in general have the same street food for sale. I also found the street market food to be a bit hit or miss, the grilled food in general was good but I ordered a seafood curry in Nishiki that had a picture of big shrimps in it, but when I got the actual food, there was only a pitiful amount of salmon and oysters in it. Restaurants were more consistent quality wise, but I still recommend visiting at least 1 street market if you’ve never been to one, it is a pretty wild experience.

During this trip, I found I did not care for the typical tourist destinations like Kabuchiko, Dotonbori, the aforementioned street markets, etc. It was too crowded and did not feel “authentic”, my most memorable meals were from walking back from these tourist traps back to my Airbnb and just using Google Maps to find a highly rated local restaurant on my way. Had a great chicken udon soup from a mom & pop shop in Osaka this way.

This was a great time to visit Japan as the cities were decorated with holiday lights and beautiful autumn colors were everywhere. In Osaka, there was a festive European style Christmas Market going on at one of the parks.

All in all, I had a much better experience this trip even though I walked a heckuva lot more this trip than previous (I clocked over 40k steps my last full day, which is over 18 miles). Even after 2 trips, I feel like there’s still so much more I want to see in Tokyo let alone the rest of Japan. I can’t wait to go back!