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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/i2hellfire on 2025-01-13 02:39:56+00:00.

First time writing one of these, but not my first time in Japan. I’ve visited enough times now that I take trips to primarily relax rather than see new sites. That’s not to say I don’t like exploring and visiting new places, but I’m definitely not as adventurous as I used to be.

A friend that I had traveled to Japan with right before the pandemic asked if I wanted to play tour guide again for her and her friend. Even though my girlfriend and I had visited as recently as 2022, we (I) of course said yes. We planned the trip for late November into December as I personally wanted the Christmas Illuminations but not the Christmas crowds.

Days 1-2 TOKYO

We all landed in Narita and stayed in Ginza the first two nights. The first night consisted mainly of window shopping around Ginza, a quick dinner at a standing sushi spot, then drinks at Ginza Music Bar to settle in. We ducked our heads into the Don Quijote too, but dear god that place gets packed.

We had a bit of trouble with the Smart EX app the next day, so decided to just head to Tokyo Station early to reserve tickets since we were going there anyway. I took my friends to see the Tokyo Forums on the way as well as it’s still one of my all-time favorite architectural spaces.

We roamed the basement levels of Tokyo Station for gifts and snacks (mmm cheese tarts), then had a tsukemen lunch before heading street side to shop around Marunouchi. There’s an eyewear shop that I like picking up new glasses from whenever I visit…formerly called Facial Index and now going by their parent company name Kaneko, if anyone’s interested.

We took it easy and stayed around Ginza and Marunouchi and spent the rest of the day looking for more Sanrio (one of us was really into Sanrio), sipping warm cocktails, and overloading on a multi-course anago set meal at a restaurant in the Barney’s.

Days 3-4 FUKUOKA

Jetlagging the next morning and without many early breakfast options, we had a chicken-off between Family Mart, 7-Eleven, and Lawsons (Famichiki won easily). There were onigiris and bao buns in there too, but they weren’t competing.

It was a 5-hour train ride to Fukuoka, so after all these years of visiting Japan I decided to actually reserve right-side facing seats and finally see Mt Fuji. It was pretty great. I also finally got to try one of the self-heating bentos, which was definitely a step in the right direction (but the Taiwan HSR still has better bentos)

We checked into our hotel in Tenjin, the Nishitetsu Grand, and headed to a nearby Christmas Market that we could see from our rooms…the Daimyo Garden City Christmas Market. I ate something that didn’t agree with my stomach, so I spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room while everyone else went out and played claw games all night.

The next morning was a bit rainy, but we headed out anyway and roamed Tenjin and Hakata by foot. We took coffee at White Glass, then waited in line for I’m Donut? Intentional question mark. We had a curry lunch at Alley Tiki Curry, then rested a bit before heading out in the evening. There were a lot of Christmas markets around Fukuoka, and apparently you can collect a unique mug design from each one. So we hit up a couple of them (one had an unhealthy number of Santa statues) before finding dinner at one of the canal-side yatai’s, then drank at a British-themed bar nearby called Half-Penny.

Day 5 MIYAJIMA

Our next destination was one I’d been looking forward to. I studied in Japan in college (a long time ago) and had been meaning to visit Miyajima again as I always loved the vibe of the island. We hopped a morning train to Hiroshima, grabbed a quick okonomiyaki lunch at the station (Denko Sekka), then headed towards Miyajima via the ferry port near Miyajimaguchi Station. We were staying overnight at a ryokan, so we dropped our luggage off and wandered the shopping streets leading towards Itsukushima Temple. Plenty of picture taking, snacking and shopping…and even a spiked drink from Gebura, because you seem to pass a Gebura every 5 minutes.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at our ryokan (Kinsuikan). Being the only guy on the trip, I relaxed on the rooftop terrace by myself with a rum and coke while the rest of the group were trying out the various public baths. We also had a massive in-room traditional dinner that was both amazing and way too much.

We all went up to the roof terrace after dinner to relax and take pictures, because the island is absolutely gorgeous at night.

Days 6-7 HIROSHIMA

Jetlag definitely wasn’t going away, so we all got up early to watch the sunrise from Itsukushima Temple. Note for those that also want to see the sunrise…the temple faces west! So it takes a bit of time and effort for the sun to get over the mountains.

After getting our pictures and videos, we headed into Momijidani Park and towards the ropeway up Mount Misen. Time-wise though we couldn’t relax as long as we had originally hoped to. We got to the second station, snapped a hundred photos of the surrounding views, then pretty much had to immediately turn back around to get back down the mountain in time for checkout. After checking out though, we split up to do some more shopping and sightseeing before catching the ferry back to Hiroshima.

Once we were back at Hiroshima Station (we were staying at the Hotel Granvia next to the station), we got more okonomiyaki from Rei-Chan, then kind of ran out of steam and took it easy the rest of the day.

The next morning we got a mildly disappointing breakfast at a nearby Komeda Coffee. But hey, it’s coffee and (sort of) food, so we had to make do. We headed out towards the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. The park and museum are a lot to take in, so we took our time there. We continued onto Hiroshima Castle, then a light lunch before splitting up as a group. My friend and I headed out to do a bit of shopping, then some great cocktails from Bar Upstairs, followed by a yakitori dinner at Buta Tora.

Days 8-9 KYOTO

I kind of regret only giving Kyoto two days. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world, but the original intended group had all visited Kyoto before, and the plan was to prioritize new cities. The group makeup changed last minute (the last person to join would be visiting Japan for the first time) but regardless I should’ve given Kyoto an extra day. If not for them then definitely for myself.

As it were we only had 2 days, so we caught the earliest train we could to Kyoto. We immediately dumped our luggage into lockers at Kyoto Station and caught the train 2 stops south to Fushimi. Yes I know it’s over-touristed. But as mentioned one of ours was visiting Japan for the first time. And as crowded as Fushimi was, I personally think it’s still a can’t miss for someone’s first visit.

We shuffled our way through the “tourist loop” then headed up the mountain paths where the crowds started to thin out. We didn’t want to tire ourselves out though, so turned around after the second rest area (after some mochi snacks), picked up some temple charms, then started walking north towards Tofukuji Temple.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Tofukuji. I had to give a presentation and tour of it during my college trip (this was pre-internet), and I’ve taken photos from the Tsutenkyo Bridge whenever I visited Kyoto. Always quiet, never crowded. So maybe it was because we were there as the leaves were changing, but my god I’d never seen the temple grounds so crowded. I suppose I got a few nice photos, but we fast-walked through the temple grounds, got some oden and pastries from food vendors, then caught the train back to Kyoto Station.

We grabbed our luggage and taxi’d to Shijo Kawaramachi where we were staying. We had an udon lunch around Teramachi, overdosed on gachapon, did some light shopping around the shopping arcades and side streets, then sunk into some cocktails at Scotch and Branch. We grabbed a late ramen dinner afterwards, but it was so bad I don’t want to name and shame.

My gf and I got some quiet time the next morning with a spot of breakfast from Common Well before meeting up with the rest of the group. We were splitting up for the day…my gf and her friend for a hair ornament-making class and my friend and I for some 2-Michelin kaiseki at Roan Kikunoi. Before our lunch reservation though we dropped into Weekender Coffee for…coffee. It was good. We also made a friend while waiting outside Roan Kikunoi, another American tourist with reservations. We sent each other sake during lunch…it was fun.

My friend and I roamed Gion after lunch, then chilled along the Kamo River. We reconnected with the group back at the hotel, then grabbed evening drinks at Bar Prost before dinner at a yakitori spot called Yanagi Koji Taka on a quiet side street.

Days 10-11 KUSATSU ONSEN

We had a lot of traveling the next day, so we took an early Uber back to Kyoto Station. Our next destination was Kusatsu Onsen! This was only my second time visiting an onsen (my friend drove the first time), so getting there felt a little intimidating. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad, though we did have to learn the longest station name ever in all my trips…Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station. Ok typing that out wasn’t so bad, but it felt daunting the first time I read it.

We made it to our ryokan by early afternoon, Ryokan Tokinoniwa. I booked this particular ryokan because I’m partial to having private open air …

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