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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/z33ji on 2025-10-09 19:42:32+00:00.

Hi hi,

I finally have time to sit down and write down my experiences traveling to Japan for the first time all by myself. This sub really helped a lot so I wanted to share my thoughts, for myself as well to remember my memories. I really loved reading people’s trip reports beforehand, especially the long ones, because it got me excited for my trip so please excuse the length! I’ll put what I planned to do, and what I actually ended up doing.

Some context: I’m a mid 20s Southeast Asian-American girl and I’ve never taken a solo trip anywhere before. I decided to book a trip to both Japan and Korea, though this trip report is just about the Japan part. I had a friend who was going with her friend group however I didn’t feel like intruding and wanted to try out going back myself. I’m an ambivert so doing my own thing on some days and meeting up with friends on other days was perfect for me. I’m also from North Carolina and was a little bit worried about the heat/humidity but it was slightly comparable to our summers. Am also fairly active and am used to constantly being on my feet working a lab job BUT i have bad knees. Did duolingo for like a month or two to pick up some basics that were actually helpful!

Transportation: Flights were booked in April ($500 one-way) and booked Hostels + Hotel two weeks later. Did the math and with all of the traveling I was going to be doing, the JR Kansai Wide Pass was worth the price so I booked that about a month prior. Also booked my Shinkansen 2 weeks prior even though I know you could do it the day of, I didn’t want to stress about it and wanted good seats.

Packing: Had 1 backpack and 1 carry-on. Really tried not to overpack since I knew I’d be buying a lot of things but was also prepared to back 1-2 checked bags.

Day 0/1 -

I booked through AirCanada since it was the cheapest however the week leading up to it, there were strikes and that did affect my flight. It went from 8am to 7am which was no sweat. BUT when I got to the airport (at 4am mind you), I got all the way to my get, tried to rest my eyes after only getting 2 hours of sleep and a migraine, and an hour before we were scheduled to board, my flight got delayed for THREE hours. Which wouldn’t have been a problem except my next layover was supposed to be in 3 hours. They luckily rebooked me through United for free and my 2 layovers, in DC and Toronto, to just 1 layover in San Francisco (yay). The flights weren’t terrible, I used an app to help avoid Jetlag but tbh I didn’t do much except sleep for 3 hours, wake for 2 hours, sleep for 3 more etc, until the 10 hours were over.

Official Day 1- Check in, Sumida River Walk, Akihabara

Landed at Haneda Airport around 3pm. Bought and activated an e-sim from Airalo before I flew so it worked right when I landed. I also did the arrival card online beforehand cause I thought it was faster however, it was required by everyone to do it and have the QR code ready lol. They weren’t handing out any physical forms on the plane FYI so def have it ready beforehand. I did it the night before. Customs line was still super super long but once I scanned everything, it was pretty easy to get out. Did a mobile Suica card and I got cash from my bank back home so loaded it up on my card as well. TIP: if you have a mobile suica card, put it on service mode when you are loading it up physcially then put it on transit mode to use it on the train. Took the train to my first hostel: Nui. Hostel Bar & Lounge in Kuramae, and checked in.

My hostel was RIGHT next to Sumida River so I decided to walk along it and get my bearings but also take it in that I’m really in Japan!! It was absolutely beautiful since it was at sunset. Decided to head to Akihabara since someone recommended to go my first night. Headed to Radio Kaiken but quickly realized that I’m not that up to date on current anime. Lights were cool though. Quickly got dehydrated so I walked to Gyukatsu Motomura cause it was right there. Got a seat after waiting for 15 minutes and wow what a first meal! Went to a random (HUGE) department store (?) to grab some necessities like fans, an some airism Uniqlo clothes. Was gonna take the train home but I got lost, realized I was near by Senso-ji temple and decided to just cut through it back to my hostel. The view at night was soooo much better than the day time. Made a friend at the hostel and she invited me out to try this random ramen restaurant a Hostel staff recommended (ran along Sumida River cause I lost track of time and was late meeting her lol but pretty!) so great way to end the night.

Steps: 33,172

Day 2 - Asakusa/Ueno, Kappabashi St, Ikebukuro, Akihabara (again)

Got an egg sandwich and coffee at a family mart and it was just ok (but got to use a lil japanese!) Met another person at the hostel and we made plans to go to Ueno Park together. But first, I wanted to see Asakusa during the day. Went to see Senso-ji temple during the day and holyyyyyy the heat and humidity really hit me. I got a UV umbrella from Uniqlo, a fan, and cooling wipes. That trio saved me my whole trip. Got a book to collects stamps from temples (this was the only day I used it lol) paid my respects, got some blessings. It was 8am and the crowd was already started to come in so I dipped. The stalls were just beginning to get set up but I wasn’t that hungry. Took the train to Ueno park to meet up with my hostel friend and we walked around and enjoyed the views. Took pics of each other and visited smaller shrines and things. Went to an area that said it was a lake and there wasn’t any water so was kinda confused but the lily pads (?) were cool. She really really wanted to visit the museums but we discovered the museums were all closed on Monday so she was really disappointed. I’m not that big into museums but I was sad for her. We split off and I decided to head to Ikebukuro.

Went straight to Sunshine City Mall and yeahhh stayed for quite a few hours. I see the obsession with Gacha. I’m a size 6-8 M/L in the US so I was worried about sizing BUT I fit most free size shirts and am a L/XL (oof) in other clothing items. The girl from ramen wanted to meet up so we to the food level which was a floor with a bunch of restaurants. Stopped by one place with a long line of locals and sold out items and wow had the best fish I’ve ever had in my life. I really loved all the extra stuff that came with it. We split off and I went to animate and got goodies. Tried to visit this cafe I saw online but when I got there, it was closed even though it wasn’t supposed to be :( Went back to the hostel cause I was sweating through my clothes. Met someone just checking into the hostel who needed to buy somethings so I decided to bring her along with me to the mall but at Tokyo Skytree which is breathtaking at night. Our hostel was just one stop away which was really great. Ate in the food court which is crazy to me cause the food is just great quality even though it’s fast?? Too used to mcdonalds and chick-fil-a in my food courts. Had a great soba dish. Ramen girl invited us to try the conveyor belt sushi place - Kuma(?). Who am I to turn her down even though we just ate. I’ve never actually had conveyor belt sushi even though I eat sushi religiously but it was really fun, great quality, and fast! The fish choices were different than I was used to but it was fun trying them out. Loved the squid btw. Decided to lead the group through Senso-ji temple at night on the way back to the hostel cause they hadn’t seen it yet and it felt like I was passing it on lol

Steps: 28,993

Day 3: Ueno, check out, Kiyosumi, Shibuya, check-in, Golden Gai

I started to really like solo-traveling cause obviously my plans were already changing. Since I already visited Ueno the day before, I decided to bump up Kiyosumi. I really loved walking through the area, I didn’t see anyone else who wasn’t a local and it was just a beautiful area. Was amazed at kids walking themselves to school. Stopped by a really great cafe and unironically had an amazing grilled cheese and tomato soup. Wanted to visit Kiyosumi Gardens but it was kind of like dead?? Idk if it’s under construction or something but there was no water or anything. Didn’t really expect that so just stopped by another temple, before heading back cause I needed to finish my laundry. TIP: Japan dryers really really suck. Expect 3 rounds of drying before it’s even semi-dry and definitely don’t do it if you’re on a time crunch. Asked the staff to hold onto my luggage after check out and headed to Kappabashi st. Visited___ to buy knives for my dad and brother and they were really helpful. I knew what kind of knife I wanted but it was still fun to try out different ones. Got them engraved really quickly and left. Wasn’t in the mood to buy much else in the area. Grabbed my luggage and headed to my second hostel: Unplan Shinjuku.

Just dropped off my luggage and tried to wipe down my sweat. The route google maps took me was TERRIBLE, I should’ve forwarded my luggage that was the worst walk of my entire life I wanted to cry. The train station was so far I started questioning my decisions booking that hostel. Went to Shibuya sky cause I had tickets with my friends from home that was booked two weeks beforehand. It was cool but honestly after 30 minutes, we were kind of over it. Ended up in Harajuku and shopped til night time. Went back to the hostel, decided to check out the bar attac…

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