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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/the_rustyknight1 on 2025-05-25 17:13:02+00:00.

Last December, I traveled across Japan on a 14 day solo trip. I was a bit anxious at first because it was my first big solo trip but it was magical! Being a vegetarian, many people told me that it would be hard to find any good food and that I would have to live off convenience store food. I’m here to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the great vegetarian and vegan options I was able to find.

Day 1: I landed in Osaka late at night and found the trains were delayed due to some operational issue. I was concerned initially but the staff were super helpful in getting everyone on the right train. I got to my hotel late but it was a fun adventure on my first night in the country. I stayed at Hotel Ataroyo which offered capsule style accommodation but you could pay a little more to get a bigger capsule. I stayed in the Superior Capsule Room which had enough space for a solo traveller.

Day 2: I hopped on a train the next morning to Kyoto. I planned my trip to spend more time in Kyoto which was definitely worth it! I dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed off to explore. I spent the whole day just walking around Gion and its little backstreets. There were a few restrictions on where you could go and take pictures but I didn’t mind, there were lots of other places to explore. I had lunch at Zirael Vegan Restaurant which serves delicious and super healthy vegan platters that come with a generous serving of rice and fresh salad along with some vegan yuzu beer. I closed the day by visiting the Gion Shrine in the evening (it was all lit up and pretty) and trying some yummy matcha sweets.

The five nights I spent in Kyoto, I stayed at the Pocket Hotel in Karasuma Gojo. The room was clean, spacious and most importantly cheap for a solo traveller. They even let me leave my bags at the reception well before check-in. The bathroom and shower areas are shared and were very clean throughout my stay. Note that bathrooms are not attached and while there were toilets on every floor, the showers were on the ground floor.

Day 3: I visited Arashiyama on day three. I reached the bamboo forest around 8:30 AM and happy to report that on a cold winter morning the crowds were sparse. There were a few people but nothing crazy (Did get a bit busy later on though). I did the stroll through the bamboo forest and got some really pretty snaps of the valley. I strolled by the river and got some pics from Togetsukyō bridge.

The highlight of my trip to Arashiyama was the walk up to Daihikaku Senkoji Temple. It’s a small Buddhist temple situated atop a hill just beyond the monkey park (which I skipped). Apart from a lovely caretaker lady, I was pretty much the only person there. I spent some time in the peace and quiet and also got some really great pics. Highly recommend visiting this little temple. Note that there is a bit of a climb (short but steep) but it’s definitely worth it!

After exploring Arashiyama, I visited Kinkaku-ji temple. It was alright, not worth the hype and super crowded. Also not a lot to see here. For lunch I had a vegan ramen at Ramen Kazu near Kinkaku-ji. While the place looked interesting and the owner was super lovely, I didn’t enjoy the shoyu ramen here very much. For dinner, I visited the highly rated Vegan Izakaya 虹屋 nijiya VEGAN FARM, which was definitely worth the hype! I tried the assorted platter here and it was fantastic. I enjoyed the cozy izakaya experience and the ladies who prepared the food were super lovely. The food was a bit pricey and also I was very lucky to get a seat immediately. The izakaya has about 7-8 seats and you may need to wait 20-30 minutes to get a spot. Definitely recommend going early in the evening.

Day 4: On this day I took a trip to Nara. There are a couple of ways to get from Kyoto to Nara by train and I took the Kintetsu Nara line. This was very convenient because the train station is very close to all the big sites. I enjoyed the hour long train ride with really nice views. At Nara I visited Todai-ji Temple, Kofuku-ji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Temple and Gango-ji Temple. I tried to feed one of the many deer that freely roam the area but found them to be very aggressive. I really enjoyed walking around the city, which was less crowded than the Nara Park area.

I had lunch at Onwa, a cute little cafe tucked away at the heart of Nara city. I got the vegan delight which was a platter that contained a little bit of every dish they had.

Day 5: I started off early on a cold morning to visit Fushimi Inari which was a short train ride from my hotel. Based off of advice I read online, I decided to get breakfast before I went up the mountain and this was definitely a good choice. I had breakfast at a cute and cozy cat themed spot called Cafe Yuyuri. The place is run by a sweet old woman and had only one breakfast option. I was a bit worried that it would not be vegetarian but my fears were laid to rest when the lady brought out the platter consisting of toast, jam, yogurt, potato salad and some oranges. I definitely recommend getting a bite here before going up to the shrine.

Fushimi Inari was definitely one of my favourite spots that I visited throughout my trip. I went all the way up Inari mountain which was a 2-3 hour hike through a very picturesque route. As mentioned by previous reviews, there are lesser people as you go higher so there are some really nice spots to take pictures. After this, I visited some nearby temples including Sennyu-ji and Tofuku-ji. I ended my day by watching the sunset at Kiyomizudera. This was definitely a very busy and crowded spot but the view was beautiful.

I had dinner at Vegan Izakaya Masaka, Kyoto which was really good. I enjoyed the food and the ambience here. Highly recommend their fried mushrooms, was yum.

Day 6: I didn’t plan much for the day so I visited Nijo Castle in the morning. This was a great experience seeing the castle gardens and even got to see inside the Honmaru-goten Palace which had some beautiful rooms with stunning paintings and screens with motifs. There is a separate ticket to visit the Palace and can only be purchased online. I spent the rest of the day just walking around Gion area, window shopping.

For lunch I decided to try Tadka 1, a South Indian restaurant run by a Japanese chef. As a South Indian myself, this was a really interesting experience. The whole restaurant had been modelled like a Tamil mess, loved the attention to detail. I had the vegetarian meals and it was really yummy, tasted like home. Definitely recommend. For dinner, I had ramen at Kyoto Engine Ramen. It was super busy but I enjoyed the vegan ramen here.

Day 7: I took the Shinkansen to Tokyo on Christmas Day and arrived around noon. I had lunch at Ts Tantan at Tokyo Station which was so hard to find. I tried their golden sesame Tantanmen and organic soda, which was delicious. After that I went to straight to my hotel which was L Stay and Grow Minamisuna, which was really clean and nice but quite far from the city.

I spent the evening in Shibuya, which had some really nice blue Christmas lighting and walked around a bit. I had curry and rice for dinner at Vegan Bistro Jangara in Shibuya which was okay.

Day 8: I started the day with a visit to Teamlabs Planets and was absolutely mind-blown. I really enjoyed all the pieces especially Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers. I grabbed brunch at a nearby Blue Bottle Coffee which was alright. After that I travelled to Asakusa and visited Senso-ji temple. I enjoyed walking through Nakamise market and the temple, though it was super crowded. After that I went shopping at Akihabara. As an anime geek, I splurged on some merchandise. I ended the day with dinner at Vegan Eat Tokyo, where I had a yummy lotus root Hamburg. The people were lovely and the food was amazing.

Day 9: I visited Meiji Jingu shrine in the morning. It was so peaceful and nice to walk through the trees. Quite a contrast to the concrete jungle of Tokyo. I also visited the beautiful Yoyogi Park. Then I visited the Shibuya crossing and had lunch at a nearby Mos Burger. Despite all the negative reviews, I wanted to try the place out and now can confirm that it is easily the worst burger I’ve ever had. After lunch I walked to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and went up to the 45th floor for picturesque views of the Tokyo skyline. In the evening I visited Golden Gai. Though I found it a bit overwhelming and didn’t really go to any bars, it was an interesting experience to just walk through the area.

Day 10: I started off lazy as I had a sleep in and got breakfast at the hotel. I spent the rest of the day shopping and just walking around. I had lunch at 2Foods Ginza, where I tried the vegan omurice. It was creamy and really tasty. Definitely a spot to have on your list.

Day 11: I started the day super early on trip to Hakone. I took the 2 day Hakone free pass for 6100 yen, which included a discounted ticket from Shinjuku to Hakone and all the other transportation at Hakone. The train took me until Hakone Yumoto and then there was another train to go up to Gora, where I was staying. After dropping my bags at the hostel I was staying at, I took the cable car to Sounzan. On the way I stopped at Owakudani, which was super crowded but I managed to get beautiful views of Mount Fuji. Then took the ropeway do…

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