Hi everyone, I just came back from Japan a few days ago. I've sort of lost count of the number of times I've been to Japan, but it's definitely in...
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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Jigumina0929 on 2024-12-31 10:48:57+00:00.

Hi everyone, I just came back from Japan a few days ago. I’ve sort of lost count of the number of times I’ve been to Japan, but it’s definitely in the double-digits now. However, this is my first time writing a trip report so I hope you enjoy reading it! I did also have to trim this down a lot as reddit gave me an error saying I’d gone past the character limit with my original report. Feel free to ask questions if you have any!

Itinerary Overview

  • Day 1-2: Tokyo
  • Day 2-5: Nisekohirafu
  • Day 5-6: Otaru
  • Day 6-8: Sapporo
  • Day 8-10: Noboribetsu
  • Day 10-11: Hakodate
  • Day 11-12: Nikko
  • Day 12-18: Tokyo (Enoshima/Kamakura day trip on Day 16)

Background

  • Took ¥300K in cash but used my credit card for some of the larger items during the trip.
  • Booked a flight using points.
  • Brought a check in and carry on and didn’t end up using luggage forwarding services, but this is mainly because I enjoy bringing my luggage around with me. I even feel a bit uncomfortable when hotel staff offer to carry the luggage for me to my room. However, I definitely recommend that most people use it.
  • 25 years old and pretty introverted.
  • Bought the 30 day 25GB Ubigi eSim, of whicn I used 19GB of, and the connection was fine.
  • I can read Hiragana and Katakana. I can also read Kanji and understand the meaning but don’t know the onyomi/kunyomi for most of them, and if I do, sometimes not knowing which one should be used when.
  • Packed about a week’s worth of clothes and planned on buying more as needed during the trip. Also brought my own toiletries as I prefer them to the ones provided by hotels.

Itinerary

I’ll be linking albums of images for each day and linking them in the heading for each day. Also, I’ll be separating the cost of accommodations from all other expenditures.

Day 1: Tokyo (Steps: 11771 / Cost: ¥7216 / Accommodation: ¥8687)

  • Arrived at Narita Airport made it through immigration in about 30-40 minutes.
  • Took the Keisei Narita Skyaccess to Daimon Station and checked into my hotel. It was just your standard business hotel.
  • Went to Shinbashi Station to get my SUICA (which I thought was funny seeing “様” (sama) added to the end of my name), then had udon for dinner at Oniyanma Shinbashi. It was very average but warmed me up as it was chilly that night.
  • Walked back to my hotel and stopped along a LAWSON along the way.
  • Had melatonin pills to help me adjust time zones from EST to JST (just make sure to only take the recommended dosage).

Day 2: Tokyo / Nisekohirafu (Steps: 16778 / Cost: ¥8687 / Accommodation: ¥11230)

  • Went to Meiji Jingu early in the morning. It was super quiet and peaceful without the crowds, and I highly recommend coming here before it gets boisterous.
  • Walked to MEGA Don Quijote in Shibuya to buy some things I hadn’t packed like the Senka facial foam and Rohto Mentholatum lip balm. Was basically a ghost town in the morning.
  • Returned to my hotel to check out and took the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda Airport.
  • Got on an ANA flight to New Chitose Airport, then took the train to Kutchan Station. Tons of trains were delayed that day from the weather and snowfall, and the lines in the airport bound for Sapporo were about 150-200m long, so barely made one of the last two trains heading to Kutchan that evening.
  • After arriving, I took the free bus to Hirafu then dragged both luggages across the snow and ice to my hotel. The rooms were surprisingly spacious and came with a small kitchenette.

Day 3: Nisekohirafu (Steps: 13650 / Cost: ¥16873 / Accommodation: ¥11230)

  • Ate breakfast at the hotel as it was included as part of my booking. Was a buffet style and was pretty forgettable as there weren’t many options.
  • They offered free rides to the ski resort, which I took advantage of, then acquired my 2-day resort pass along with ski rentals for Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu.
  • The snow was a bit used up and icy, and I ended up falling a couple times at the beginning of the day, but the weather was sunny and mild.
  • For both lunch and dinner, I ended up getting an assortment of things to eat from LAWSON on the walk back to my hotel.

Day 4: Nisekohirafu (Steps: 10865 / Cost: ¥2559 / Accommodation: ¥11230)

  • It snowed a ton during the night, so the fresh powder in the morning was amazing. As it was the early season, a lot of it remained pretty unused as there weren’t too many people on the slopes. This might’ve been the best snow I’ve experienced in a few years which is even more surprising as this was part of the early season.
  • There were snow storms on and off during the day, and when it was heavy, I could barely see 10m in front of me, but also didn’t feel scared coming down.
  • Had similar meals for lunch and dinner as the previous day by dropping by the LAWSON.

Day 5: Nisekohirafu / Otaru (Steps: 21344 / Cost: ¥55991 / Accommodation: ¥12181)

  • Woke up early and the staff were kind enough to drive me to Kutchan Station (getting a taxi in Nisekohirafu’s pretty difficult and would’ve cost about ¥5000) and I caught a train bound for Otaru at around 08:00.
  • Dropped off my luggage at my hotel then headed to Sankaku Market. The hotel was pretty new and I appreciated the relatively tall ceilings in the room.
  • Had the Takinami Don at Takinami Donburi inside the market. The seafood was super fresh and I had just beat the crowd as I was able to be seated immediately but there was a line of 20+ people by the time I left.
  • Got ice cream from Yamanaka Dairy on my walk down to Otaru Canal and it was pretty good.
  • Walked along the canal then headed to Sakaimachihondori where most of the glass stores were located. Spent a few hours walking around and looking at cups I wanted to purchase.
  • At the end of the street, I stopped by LeTAO for dessert. This place was a massive disappointment, and personally, I think people who say the cheesecake here’s good haven’t had good cheesecake.
  • After, I took a look inside Otaru Orugoru to find any music boxes I wanted, and ended up purchasing two: songs from Mononoke Hime (hands down the best anime movie) and Laputa.
  • I also bought four cups from Kitaichi Glass that were super cute.
  • I went to Yabuhan Soba for dinner and got the uni soba along with tempura. It was some of the best soba I’ve had and really warmed me up after spending most of the day out in the cold.

Day 6: Otaru / Sapporo (Steps: 15864 / Cost: ¥77580 / Accommodation: ¥8874)

  • As breakfast was included, I ate at the hotel before checking out to take the train to Sapporo.
  • Before leaving Sapporo Station to go to my hotel, I purchased some train tickets I would need in advance (Sapporo to Noboribetsu, Noboribetsu to Hakodate, Hakodate to Nikko).
  • After dropping off my luggage at the hotel, I just wandered around the Susukino and Odori Park area. As I had a bit of time, I visited the MEGA Don Quijote and bought a few lighter items I’d be bringing back tax-free.
  • When it was just past sunset, I headed to Sapporo TV Tower to get a view of the city illuminated at night. Odori Park was especially beautiful with all the Christmas decorations glowing.
  • After spending about half an hour observing the city, I went down to the Christmas Market right in front and it was interesting seeing how many European themed stores there were.
  • For dinner, I had みそバターコーンらーめん (miso butter corn ramen) and a side of gyoza at Sapporo Ramen Haruka, and it was definitely worth the half hour wait. They were even kind enough to distribute hand warmers to everyone in line although it wasn’t particularly cold that evening. If there’s anything I regret, it was not getting additional butter as they provided a generous amount of corn.

Day 7: Sapporo (Steps: 20848 / Cost: ¥46976 / Accommodation: ¥8874)

  • Early in the morning, I headed to Nijo Market to get 三色丼 (uni, crab, ikura don) at Daiichikaisenmaru. It was pretty good and the crab legs were super sweet.
  • After breakfast, I went around the market and bought some strawberries before returning to my hotel. They were some of the sweetest strawberries I’d had in a while.
  • I then took the Sapporo Shiden to Sapporo Fushimi Inari Shrine, and it was super empty. I saw three people during the 20 minutes or so I was there.
  • Went to Hokkaido Jingu which was mostly tour groups from China, but it was pretty quiet as it didn’t seem like there were any guides leading large groups of people.
  • Took the subway back to Odori Park and wandered around the area some more, buying nailclippers at Tokyu Hands and Kessoku Band We Will album at animate before taking a break at my hotel.
  • For dinner, I went to Sushisai Wakichi (Tabelog Bronze and 4.31/…

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