In this article, I will share my experience during my fascinating & fabulous vacation with my wife on a trip to Japan from May 7 to 23, 2023. We took Air Canada flight from Pearson Airport in Toronto on May 7 and returned back on May 23. We stayed in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hakone, but we also took a day trip to Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama and Nara.
Table of Contents
May 7 (Sunday) From Toronto to Tokyo
We booked the flight from Toronto Pearson airport to Haneda airport on January 2023 through booking.com. At that time, Japan just reopened to individual international tourists (post pandemic) for a couple months since October 11 last year. The entry requirement at that time is that international travelers are required to submit a vaccination certificate or negative Covid test to enter Japan. We do not need visa to enter Japan since Canadian citizens who travel for vacation are allowed to stay in Japan for a maximum of 90 days without visa.
We are lucky the Air Canada airfare we paid is not so expensive, the same price our sons paid for the same flight they flew to Japan six years ago. This is probably because at the time we booked the flight in January, international visitors who visited Japan were at 40% from pre-pandemic level. We took Air Canada because there is a direct flight from Toronto to Japan (Tokyo).
The departure time from Pearson airport is at 1:25 pm and arrival time in Haneda airport is at 3:40 pm the following day on May 8, a 13 hours and 15 minutes travelling time, because Tokyo time is 13 hours ahead of Toronto.
May 8 (Monday) Haneda Airport to Hakone Yumoto
We arrived on time at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 airport at around 4 pm local time. Because we already created “Disembarkation Card for Foreigner” and “Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles” QR codes through “Visit Japan Web” app, the immigration and custom procedures at Haneda was relatively quick. Visit Japan Web is an app created by the Japanese government to make the arrival procedures faster and smoother for those entering Japan from overseas and those returning to Japan. In addition to immigration and customs procedure, Visit Japan Web can also be used to create a QR code for “Tax-free shopping service”. You can just show the tax-free shopping QR code instead of passport to purchase tax-free goods in Japan.
After we are cleared from immigration and customs, we went directly to JAL ABC counter at Haneda airport arrival lobby to pick up the Wi-Fi rental device that we ordered online earlier through Global Advance Communication, one of the leading Wi-Fi rental companies in Japan. We waited for about 10 minutes because there are three people ahead of us lining up at JAL ABC counter.
We then headed to JR East Travel Service Center at the same Haneda arrival lobby to exchange the Exchange Order that we ordered online with JR Pass. Our stay in Japan is 16 days, but we ordered a one-week JR Pass to save money since we only need JR Pass during the one-week travel between Hakone, Kyoto and Tokyo area. So, we activated our JR Pass from May 11 to 17.
We spent more than one hour lining up to get the JR Pass at Haneda. There was about 100 people lined up in front of us. According to the security officer over there, that day was special since it was unusual to have a flock of tourists getting JR Pass at the same time. While we were waiting, we were thinking if we were better off to get the JR Pass at Shinjuku station rather than waiting too long at Haneda, but we decided to stick at Haneda as there may also be a long line up at Shinjuku JR office.
After we got our JR Pass, we took Tokyo Monorail from Haneda to Hamamatsucho station and from there we took Yamanote JR Line to Shinjuku station. For information, there are many ways to go to Tokyo area from Haneda airport. Other than using Monorail, people can also use Keikyu train, limousine bus or taxi. We went to Shinjuku station since we wanted to take Romancecar, an executive and limited express train from Shinjuku to Hakone Yumoto. This is the most efficient and fastest way to go to Hakone from Tokyo.
Since we waited too long at Haneda airport to pick up our JR Pass, when we arrived at Shinjuku station, the last direct Romancecar to Hakone-Yumoto already left at 6:00 pm. We then took the next Romancecar at 8:00 pm but only up to Odawara station. From Odawara we need to take Hakone Tozan Train to Hakone-Yumoto for a 15 minutes ride time. Luckily, our hotel at Hakone-Yumoto is just a 5 minutes walk from Hakone Yumoto station.
After we self checked in, we headed to 7-Eleven konbini (convenience store) which is another 5 minutes walk from our hotel, to buy quick meals for supper and the next morning’s breakfast. For information, we bought three-days Hakone Free Pass at Shinjuku station. This free pass includes a round trip transportation between Shinjuku and Hakone-Yumoto using local train and all means of transportation in Hakone area (such as Hakone Tozan train, Hakone Tozan bus, Hakone cable car, Hakone ropeway/gondola and Hakone Sightseeing Cruise). Since we used Romancecar (rather than local train) from Shinjuku to Odawara, we have to pay a 1,000 yen surcharge for the trip.
May 9 (Tuesday) First day in Hakone
At around 9:00 am we headed to Hakone-Yumoto station to take Hakone Tozan train to Hakone Gora Open-Air Museum at Gora. Hakone Tozan railway is the Japan’s oldest mountain railway. This mountain train winds itself through a narrow, densely wooded valley over many bridges and tunnels, stopping at small stations along the way and changing directions at three switchbacks. When we took the ride, we were wondered why after the train stopped at one station it reversed back for few minutes before it headed again in the same direction. We thought that there was a problem with the train so that it had to return back to Hakone-Yumoto station. Finally, we found out that this is the way the train travel from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora.
From an article we read, we noted that this train ride is especially beautiful in June and July when thousands of hydrangeas (ajisai) are in bloom along the tracks and are illuminated during the evenings. The ajisai are usually best around the beginning of July and can be seen from the train and around the stations. Special trains run from mid June through mid July between Hakone-Yumoto and Gora stations for the viewing of the illuminated flowers. They depart in the evenings and require seat reservations.
The trip to Open-Air Museum close to Gora is about 15 minutes. Along the ways, we can see the hills from afar that are covered with green color trees. It was so beautiful. My wife mentioned that it would be more beautiful if we visit there during the Fall season when the trees change their color. The elevation at Gora is at 533 meter while Hakone-Yumoto is at 103 metre elevation. So, the train travel up hill for about 400 metre high.
Because we have Hakone Free Pass, the admission fee to the Open-Air Museum was discounted by 200 yen. The normal fee for adult is 1,600 yen, we only paid 1,400 yen per person. The museum created a harmonic balance of nature and art by exhibiting various sculptures on its grounds in combination with views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The museum has various sections and exhibition spaces outdoors and indoors. One of the notable showcases is the Picasso Exhibition Hall which has two stories of sculptures, paintings and ceramic works by the artist and photos of him at various points in his life.
Outside, one of the larger pieces is the Symphonic Sculpture, an 18-metre-tall glass lookout tower featuring a spiral staircase that allow visitors to admire the stained-glass artwork from the tower’s interior created by Gabriel Loire, a French stained-glass artist. Other than Symphonic Sculpture, the Sculpture Garden has approximately 120 masterpieces by leading modern and contemporary sculptors, including “The Weeper” by Francois Xavier and Claude Lalanne and “Sixteen Turning Sticks” by Takamichi Ito.
We spent almost two hours to enjoy and admire the artworks at the museum. After this, we took the same Tozan train to Gora station. Gora is the terminal station for Hakone Tozan railway. From Goa station we transferred to the adjacent Hakone Tozan Cable Car. Gora station was very crowded with tourists and the cable car was full with many have to stand inside. We waited about 15 minutes before it started to move. The ride from Gora to Sounzan station by cable car took about another 15 minutes. The cable car climbed along the hill and reached Sounzan at 767 metre elevation.
From Sounzan we have to transfer and take a ropeway/gondola to Owakudani, an area around a crater created during the last eruption of Mount Hakone some 3,000 years ago with a volcanic valley of active sulfur vents, hot springs and bubbling pools. This area is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Hakone. We are fortunate that we can see the amazing view of Mt. Fuji at Owakudani because when we were there the day is clear with no clouds.
There are four buildings at Owakudani area. The biggest one is the one where the ropeway station is. This building has its top floor with full of restaurants and small gift shop at the same level with the ropeway station. Down not far from this building is a building that has a big souvenir shop. Here you can find a lot of local snacks and sweets such as mochi, daifuku, cookies as well as various bags, handkerchief, hand fan, key chains, magnet etc. The most famous thing you can buy at Owakudani is “black eggs” (kurotamago), hard-boiled eggs cooked using geothermal heat with shells blackened by a chemical reaction from the influence of volcanic gasses and hot spring waters. It is said one’s life is extended by seven years by eating just one. The other two small buildings are an ice cream shop that sells black color ice cream & snacks and a small eatery where you can purchase the meals (mostly ramen) from vending machine.
We continued our trip to Hakonemachi by taking the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise, a pirate cruise ship, from Togendai port over Lake Ashinoko, a popular spot in Hakone. The Hakone scenery seen from the lake is completely beautiful. We can enjoy majestic views during that sunny day where the contrast between the blue sky and the sparkling surface of the lake is very beautiful.
The trip took about 30 minutes. Inside the cruise ship, other than international tourists, we saw many local tourists that took bus to go there chartered by tour guide companies. My wife had an opportunity to make friends with Japanese tourists from small city in Kanagawa Prefecture. They don’t speak English and we don’t speak Japanese. They used Google Translation App conversation feature to communicate to each other.
We spent sometime in Hakonemachi before we took a 10-minutes bus to Motohakone, another favourite tourist spot at the shore of Lake Ashinoko. From the lakeshore, we can see the clear view of Mt. Fuji and Hakone-jinja shrine from afar. When we were there, clouds and poor visibility blocked us to view the Mt. Fuji, However, we can still see the red color Hakone jinja shrine’s lakefront torii (gateway to Shinto shrine) from afar.
Motohakone is a small town on the south shore of Lake Ashinoko. There are many small restaurants and souvenir shops along the main street of Motohakone. The lakeshore itself is quite big and wide. We saw a lot of tourists spending their time along the lakeshore walking or sitting enjoying the beautiful view of the lake. We also spotted few people set up a small tent on the shore and sitting holding long rod fishing on the lake. The atmosphere over there is pretty calm, laid back and relaxed, a perfect place to enjoy the afternoon time.
After spending some time at the Lakeshore, we walked about 15 minutes along the lakeshore to Hakone-jinja shrine torii gate location to take a picture. When we arrived there, we were a bit surprise to see a long line up of people to wait their turn to take Instagrammable pictures of the torii gate in front of the lake. We initially wanted to just take picture from afar with other people in the background. We finally decided to wait our turn to take the picture without any distraction. We spent more than one hour to get our turn.
At the end, we returned back to our hotel in Hakone Yumoto by taking Hakone Tozan bus from Motohakone. We completed our first day visiting popular tourist spots in Hakone by circling the region (round course loop) using five different means of transport (train, cable car, ropeway, boat and bus), using Hakone Free Pass.
May 10 (Wednesday) Second day in Hakone
Our second day in Hakone’s schedule is not as tight as the first day since we did not want to be too tired. Our initial plan is to visit Hakone Glass no Mori, a Venetian styled building housing a museum and shops with a large strolling garden surrounding a canal-like pond. The garden has a number of large glass sculptures laid about it and a café with an open terrace at one end where live canzoni (Italian ballads) performances are held. We also would like to go to Mishima Skywalk, the longest suspension bridge in Japan that is 400 meters in length and gives pedestrians a chance to view the magnificence of Mt. Fuji from the bridge.
However, we changed our plan because these two locations are in complete opposite side of Hakone. Glass no Mori is located in the north east while the Skywalk is in the southwest of Hakone. We decided to visit Motohakone again in the morning and then take a free shuttle from Motohakone to Hotel de Yama, a resort hotel on the lakeside with a view of Lake Ashi.
The reason we decided to go to Hotel de Yama is because we knew that the azaleas at Hotel de Yama garden are at full bloom in May. Every year near Golden Week in early May, the vast garden of the Odakyu Hotel de Yama on the shore of Lake Ashi in Hakone begins to bloom with colorful azaleas against a gorgeous landscape of Mount Fuji and Lake Ashinoko. The garden itself is huge with 130,000 square metre in size. Not all of the garden are azaleas. There are many big trees with a shady and leafy atmosphere.
The scenery inside the garden is very beautiful. We took many pictures with full bloom azaleas and the view of Lake Ashi and Mt. Fuji at the background. We noted that many visitors to the garden are mostly older people and are Japanese local tourists. The entrance fee to the garden is 1000 yen per person (only while azaleas are blooming, other time is free).
After we had our lunch at a small local restaurant in Motohakone. We headed back to our hotel to take a rest. In the late afternoon around 4 pm, we strolled along Hakone Yumoto close to terminal station to shop for souvenirs. Searching for souvenir is one of the real pleasures of traveling. There are products including confectionary, marine products, hot spring products and wooden mosaic accessories local to Hakone.
After we finished shopping, I decided to try to take a bath in an onsen at Hakone Yuryo located at 5 minutes free shuttle bus ride from Hakone Yumoto station. Hakone is famous and popular hot spring resorts for centuries. There are more than a dozen springs provide hot spring water to many bath houses and ryokan (Japanese traditional inn) in the Hakone region.
Hakone Yuroyo has private and public indoor and outdoor bath houses and are separated by gender. People going to public onsen are usually naked inside the bath. You can cover your private with a towel before you enter the pool. The water temperature of the onsen is about 40 degrees Celsius. It is not too hot but hot enough for us to relax and stretch your muscles. The scenery at the outdoor onsen is beautiful with a lot of shady trees and view of the hill of Hakone Yumoto. Again, because I have Hakone Free Pass, I paid 200 yen less than regular admission fee.
May 11 (Thursday) Hakone to Kyoto and Fushimi Inari
After finished our breakfast, we headed to Hakone Yumoto station to take Tozan train to Odawara station to catch Shinkansen (bullet train) for our trip to Kyoto. For information, only Hikari type of Shinkansen is available for free using JR Pass. Hikari is a little bit slower than Nozomi, but JR Pass cannot be used to take Nozomi for free.
We took the 10:07 am Hikari train from Odawara to Kyoto station. Hikari is the shinkansen train from Tokyo Station all the way up to Shin-Osaka station with a stop at Odawara. Nozomi train does not stop at Odawara station.
While we were waiting for Hikari, I went up stair to the Shinkansen platform. I noted that there are pairs of rail road with each pair has four railway tracks in between of each side of the platform. The first tracks closest to each side of the platform are used to get on and get off the train while the two tracks in the center between the first two tracks are used for Shinkansen to run without stopping. I was able to see how fast the Shinkansen (which do not stop at Odawara station, probably the Nozomi) run in the centre of the track when I was at the platform. My wife who was waiting inside the station did not have a chance to see how fast the Shinkansen run because the train always slow down its speed when stopping and start running from station.
It took 2 hours and 5 minutes to reach Kyoto station at 12:12 pm. Before we went to our hotel, we had our lunch at the 10th Floor of Kyoto station at Kyoto Ramen Street. Kyoto Ramen Street is a corridor of ramen noodle shops of the station building, south of the “Daikaidan” Grand Stairway. It is a quick, tasty, cheap and super satisfying to eat in this place.
After finished check in at the Daiwa Roynet Kyoto-Hachijoguchi hotel at 2:00 pm (our hotel is a 10 minutes walk from Kyoto station), we went to Fushimi Inari Shrine using local JR train from Kyoto station. It is a Shinto shrine famous for thousands of vermillion torii gates which straddle a network of trails behind its main building. Foxes are thought to be Inari (Shinto god of rice)’s messengers, that’s why there are many fox statues across the shrine grounds. We did not climb the hill up to the top. We only reached the second stop of the way. We bought bento box for our dinner from the food hall at the basement of Isetan department stores at Kyoto station
May 12 (Friday) Arashiyama
This is our second day at Kyoto. We were so excited that we would be going to Arashiyama area to see the famous bamboo grove. Arashiyama is a 20 minutes train ride from Kyoto station and a pleasant and touristy district in north western outskirts of Kyoto. This place is particularly popular during the cherry blossom and fail color season. There are many small shops, restaurants and other attractions nearby, among other are Togetsukyo Bridge, Tenryuji Temple, bamboo grove, boat tour and Sagano Scenic Railway trip.
From Saga-arashiyama JR station, we walked for about 15 minutes to bamboo grove area. This is a path that cut through the bamboo groves that make the walk nice and pleasurable. The groves are particularly attractive when there is a light wind and the tail stalks sway gently back and forth. Inside the path, we visited Tenryuji temple form the side gate (the main gate is located in the main street of Arashiyama area). This is one of the great Zen temples and is the largest and impressive temple in Arashiyama. In addition to temple buildings, there are attractive gardens with ponds inside the walking paths.
We did not have our regular lunch while we were at Arashiyama. Instead, we bought various small local snacks to eat, such as cold cucumber in stick, yakitori (grilled skewer, we ate chicken and shrimp skewer), soy sauce rice cakes, cold noodle, shumai, karaage, matcha ice cream, and ice coffee.
The main street, restaurants and souvenir shops are crowded with tourists and many group of middle school students in uniform having their school trip there. We found not only one but many group of students. I guessed it was a school trip season. One group can be between 50 to 100 students line up walking in uniform with their teachers. They stopped at certain tourist attractions either for sightseeing or shopping.
We also strolled the main street to the area where Togetsukyo Bridge is located. Togetsukyo Bridge is Arashiyama’s most iconic landmark and looks particularly attractive in combination with the forested mountainside in the background and water on the river.
We noted that the river boat tour for that day was cancelled due to not accommodating river condition. Anyway, we did not have a plan to take either river boat tour of Sagano Scenic Railways tour. We just spent our time there to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere.
May 13 (Saturday) Kiyomizudera Temple and Nishiki Market
We took bus ride from Kyoto bus station to Kiyomizudera temple. The bus trip took about 30 minutes to reach there. From the bus stop we have to walk uphill for about 15 minutes. There are many buildings over there including pagodas and the main hall with 13 metre high above the hill. The view of the main hall can be best seen from the wooden stage that just out of its main hall. It was said that the main hall was built without using any nails and houses the temple’s primary object of worship.
Located at the base of the main hall is “Otowa Waterfall”. There are three separate streams waterfall. Visitors use the cups attached to long poles to drink from them. Each stream of water is said to have a different benefit, such as longevity, success at school and fortunate love life. However, drinking from all of them is considered greedy.
The area around Kiyomizudera Temple is a classic sightseeing route. They are many kimono rental shops and you can see many tourists wearing kimono walking along the path. Other than that, the street alleys are full with shops selling confectionery, sweets, snacks, gifts/souvenirs, pottery, paper products, small bags, postcards, magnets, candy that will give you a true sense of Japanese culture.
We initially planned to walk along Higashiyama District, lower slopes of eastern Kyoto mountains that is the city’s best preserved historic district, between Kiyomizudera and Yasaka Shrine. The streets in Higashiyama are lined by small shops, cafes and restaurants which catered to tourists for centuries. But we decided to skip it and headed directly to Nishiki Market in downtown Kyoto.
Nishiki Market is a narrow shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and small restaurants or eateries. This lively retail market is all thing food related, such as fresh seafood, produce, cookware and seasonal foods such as pickles, dried seafood and sushi.
Like other tourist attractions we visited, Nishiki Market was crowded with many tourists browsing and buying foods there.
May 14 (Sunday) Nara and Ginkakuji Temple
We left our hotel and went to Nara deer park using JR train from Kyoto station. From JR Nara station, we still have to take a local bus to the deer park since it is located quite far from the park. Other than deer park itself, located in the same area is the famous Todaiji temple.
Admission to the deer park is free, but tourists can buy deer crackers for 200 yen each that are for sale around the park from the vendors. We bought one pack of cracker when we just reached the park. Surprisingly, right after we paid and held the crackers, three adult deer approached me and asking for the crackers. Later on, we found out that these deer are quite aggressive. I did not have time to even open the band on the cracker to take the cracker one at a time since the deer were biting my pant and shirt. In less than one minute, the crackers (probably ten in each pack) had been fed to deer in hurry because of the sudden surprise. My wife said there was people taking video of me with the deer when they were biting my pant. People and myself were laughing with this incident. It was surprising event but undoubtedly fun.
We then went to Todaiji temple, one of Japan’s most famous and historically temples and landmarks in Nara. The main hall (Daibutseden) houses one of the Japan’s bronze statues of Budha (Daibutsu). The 15-metre-tall Buddha statue is flanked by two other Buddha statues from its right and left.
In the afternoon, after going back to Kyoto station, we went to Ginkakuji temple by bus. Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) is another Zen temple in the hill of Higashiyama District used to be a retirement villa of a famous shogun. It was modelled after Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), another retirement villa in different part of Kyoto. The villa was converted into temple after the death of the shogun.
Ginkakuji consist of the Silver Pavilion and six other temple buildings, a beautiful moss garden and a unique dry sand garden. It can be enjoyed by walking along the path in a circular route around its grounds. The view from the upper hill to below is spectacular and beautiful.
May 15 (Monday) Nagoya and Ghibli Park
We are fans of Ghibli animated movie from Ghibli Studio founded by Hayao Miyazaki and his two co founders. We watched most of the Ghibli movie including the famous of My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle. We also watched less popular Ghibli movies like Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, Arrietty, From Up on Poppy Hill, The Wind Rises, When Marnie Was There and many others.
We knew that there is a Ghibli Museum in the outskirt of Tokyo with a giant Totoro in the entrance. When we knew that Ghibli opened its park in November 2022 located within the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park in a city near Nagoya, we were determined to find the ticket for this.
Currently they just opened three theme parks namely Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth and Dondoko Forest. They planned to open another two parks, Mononoke Village and Valley of the Witches. Admission to the park has to be done through advance reservation. Tickets for a certain month are sold three months in advance on first-come-first-served basis. Since we wanted to visit the park in may, the ticket for May was sold online on February 10, 2023 at 2:00 pm Japan time (which is 12:00 am EST since there is 14 hours time difference between EST and Japan time). When we logged into Ghibli’s website at 11:30 pm, half hour before, we were put in queue before we could choose the admission date and time. We waited for 45 minutes to get the tickets we wanted. The fee is relatively not so expensive, only 2000 yen. As international visitors, we could only visit Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse. The other two parks are only for local Japanese resident. We noted later on at 2:00 am EST, two hours after the start of ticket sale, all tickets for May for international visitors are all sold out. The admission time for international visitors is at 12:00 pm. The park close at 5:00 pm.
We arrived at Ghibli Park at 11:00 am. We had our early lunch before we entered the park. At around 11:40 am, visitors started to line up. The ticket can only used by the purchaser and they checked our passport to confirm we are the one who buy the tickets.
The “park” itself is located inside a huge ex Expo building. There are no rides or roller coaster similar to typical theme park at Disney. There are 15 spots inside the building where we can see different type of gallery or exhibits. The notable spots are Central Exhibit Room where we can take a picture with “No Face” inside the Spirited Away Train (where Chihiro sat) and Sheeta falling from the airship from Laputa: Castle in the Sky movie and Ponyo from Ponyo movie; Director’s Room i.e., Yubaba’s office; Special Exhibit Room which shows replica of some place inside Ghibli movies (you can take a picture with giant Totoro there); Cat Bus Room to take picture inside replica of Cat Bus; The House Below and The Little People’s Garden where you can see many spots from Arrietty movie; Garden in the Sky where you can take a picture with Laputa Guardian Robot; Screening Room “Cinema Orion” where the screened a 15 minutes short animated movie of Koro’s Big Day Out, a lost loyal dog.
May 16 (Tuesday) Osaka Castle, Namba and Dotonbori
We took a direct train from Kyoto station to Osaka station in the morning. From Osaka station we took JR Osaka Loop Line to Osakajokoen station. From there we walked to Osaka Castle for about 15 minutes. The people/tourists there were not too crowded as expected, probably because the site is so big.
A lot of people took pictures in front of Osaka Castle. The castle tower is surrounded by citadels and impressive stone walls. It is Osaka’s premier tourist attraction and famous landmark. It is stunning sight from afar, standing out in the skyline of east Osaka. There is a beautiful small Japanese garden just in front of the castle which most tourists do not recognize it. With the garden at the front and Osaka Castle at the background is definitely the best spot to take a picture. We did not go inside the Castle so we don’t have anything to say about it.
From the Castle, we headed to Namba station by bus. Namba is Osaka’s major city centers. It is the city’s most famous entertainment district and offers abundant shopping and dining choices. The most popular tourist destination is Dotonbori, the street that runs parallel to the Dotonbori canal. At night it is lit by hundred of merchandized signs and neon lights, including the famous Glico Running Man and Doraku Crab
Perpendicular to Dotonbori is Shisaibashi Shopping Arcade. This area with 600 metre long is unique as it combines chain retail shops and trendy boutiques with department stores and designer fashion labels. When we were there at night, Shinsaibashi was crowded with tourists that made us moving so difficult.
May 17 (Wednesday) Kyoto to Tokyo
We thought that staying in a same hotel for six nights without trying its all you can eat breakfast is not a good idea, so this morning before we went to Kyoto, we went to the hotel’s eating area and paid 1300 yen per person for the breakfast.
We were kind surprise to see the foods that are made available. It is not like a typical Western style hotel breakfast. We guessed this is a typical Japanese breakfast because we saw a lot of Japanese guests. There are congee, steam rice, various type of sauteed vegetables, hotdog, pickles, chicken nugget, fried rice, fried mackerel, broccoli, corns, natto (traditional healthy fermented soybean), kimchi, tofu, many different type of cakes, sliced bread, different type of juice, sweets, fruits etc.
At 10:33 am, we took another Shinkansen (Hikari 646) for our trip to Tokyo. Before we boarded to the train, I bought ekiben/railway bento (specific type of boxed meals, sold at train station in Japan) with Kobe beef as the main protein for my lunch inside the train (Shinkansen). My wife bought Chinese meat bun and shumai from “551 Horai” since she always saw people long lined up to buy the meat bun and shumai from 551 Horai inside Kyoto station.
We arrived at Tokyo station around 1:30 pm. We strolled along the basement of Yaesu Gates (the eastern side of the station) and found a lot of shops selling sweets, souvenirs and foods. The Yaesu is also called Tokyo Character Street because they are more than 20 stores selling different kind of products from animated media characters/stars such as Hello Kitty, Pokemon, Lego, Winnie the Pooh, Kirby Café Petit, Rilakkuma. We spent around two hours inside Tokyo station window shopping and bought some souvenirs and tried some sweets.
We spent the night at Akihabara browsing the area and had our dinner ate ramen from vending machine. We saw a lot of young girls dressed as maid standing along the street holding card inviting people to eat at “maid café”. Maid café is very popular Japan especially in Akihabara. Inside the café you will be welcomed by a girl in French styled maid custom with a cheerful “Welcome home, master (or princess)”. Counter and table seats are lined up around a stage. Live performance by maids and commemorative photos with maids can be taken on the stage. The menu offers a wide variety of food, drinks as well as amusements to enjoy with the maid. I heard that you are not allowed to even touch or hold the maid’s hand. If you do it, you will be asked to immediately leave. The fee is pricey because you are not only paying for the food and drink but also the time spent with the maid.
Even thought it may be a good experience to try one, we did not try one.
May 18 (Thursday) Shinjuku Gyoen National Park, Shinjuku and Kabukicho
Our day today is to spend the time in Shinjuku area. The morning we went to Shinjuku Gyoen. It is one of the most popular gardens in Tokyo other than Ueno Garden and Yoyogi Park. Shinjuku Gyoen is Tokyo’s largest and most popular parks located in short walk from Shinjuku station. The park’s spacious lawns, meandering walking paths and tranquil scenery provide a relaxing escape from the busy Tokyo.
We arrived at Sendayana Gate at the southern path of the garden. There are three main gardens inside Shinjuku Gyoen (Japanese Traditional Garden, Formal Garden and Landscape Garden) and five ponds. The main attraction inside Formal Garden is rose garden that are in full bloom. There are hundreds type of roses that I don’t even know the name of it. The Japanese Garden is also beautiful. With ponds between Japanese Garden and Taiwan Pavilion in between, taking picture in this area is a must. Landscape Garden is basically an open space lawn with some Japanese trees here and there. I saw a lot of local people picnicking over there under the shady trees.
At the north path of the garden is Shinjuku Gyoen Museum where you can see the history of the garden from a video recoding shot at a wall, and certain type of plants/flowers from different seasons. In this area, you can also find a greenhouse with more than 1,700 tropical and subtropical plant species. We spent more than two hours inside Shinjuku Gyoen. The garden is so beautiful. I can’t imagine how beautiful it is if it is during cherry blossom time.
We walked from Shinjuku Gyoen to Shinjuku station around noon time. Since we knew that Shinjuku station is big and confusing, we went to Tokyo Tourist Information Centre in the Basuta Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal located on the south side of Shinjuku station. The Japanese young woman who served us is very friendly and helpful. When she was not sure the answer, she Google it from internet and then provide us with the information requested. We asked brochure and Shinjuku station map. Even though we have map on hand, we got lost couple of time since the station is very big. Using Google map to walk from one spot to other spot is not so helpful since Shinjuku station has many entrances and buildings located in adjacent area. For example, Shinjuku bus station is located in completely different area from Shinjuku train station, separated by a road but connected from the basement.
We strolled inside Shinjuku station. There are Takashimaya Time Square shopping mall at the southern terrace, Lumine 1, 2 and EST shopping mall, NEWoMan Shinjuku, Keio Department Store among other. We did not go to all of them since our time is limited. We just browsed inside Keio Department Store and had our lunch in this area.
In the afternoon, we went shopping at Uniqlo and GU located at Shinjuku Flags Store next to the southeast exit of Shinjuku station. GU is a sister company of Uniqlo, one of the most famous clothing stores in Japan, where the price is cheaper than Uniqlo. We also went to Don Quijote at the same area to just window shopping. Don Quijote is a famous Japanese discount store chain that provides a wide variety of products, from basic groceries to electronics and clothing.
In the early evening, we went to Kabukicho area, the biggest red-light district in Tokyo providing night life entertainment. The entertainment district is filled with neon lights, restaurants, pachinko parlors, hostess and nightclub. Kabukicho and the adjacent Omoide Yokocho (a maze of narrow alleys with tiny restaurants and open barbeque food stalls) are shown in the opening song of Netflix series “Midnight Diner”.
We had a chance to see the giant Godzilla at top of Toho Cinema at Kabukicho which eyes light up and its classic roar boomed throughout the area. Before we left Kabukicho, we visited the newest tower in Tokyo, Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, a Japanese largest hotel and entertainment complex which opened on April 14, 2023. It has 48 storeys and five basement floors with plenty to keep you entertained. There is a cinema, concert venue, gaming arcade, food hall etc.
The food hall called Kabuki-Yokocho food hall, is a fancy new food hall with about ten restaurants and live cultural performances. You can find classic Japanese cuisine such as okonomiyaki, soba, gyoza and more. There are also Korean and Taiwanese cuisine there. The venue crates a fun night out as it is decked out with state-of-art lighting and sound systems, DJ booth, karaoke, taiko drum show and many more.
May 19 (Friday) Akihabara area
Initially we scheduled this Friday for a day trip to Kawaguchiko area at Mt. Fuji. We planned to see the Fuji Shibazakura festival at one of the five lakes around Mount Fuji, Oshino Hakkai and Kawaguchiko Lake area. But because the weather forecast showed a rain for this day, we decided to cancel it and spend our time around Akihabara area.
Fujishibazakura Festival is an annual festival between mid April until end of May and one of the best and most popular occasions to see shibazakura (pink moss or phlox moss in English). It offers a breathtaking views of vast fields of shibazakura with Mount Fuji in the backdrop on clear day. Approximately 800,000 stalks of shibazakura are on display, producing delightful fields of pink, with and purple color in different hues.
Oshini Hakkai is a small village in Fuji Five Lakes region located between Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Yamanakako. The eight ponds in Oshino Hakkai are fed by snow melt from the slopes of nearby Mount Fuji resulting in very clear spring water. It is a pleasant atmosphere to walk around it. We don’t have anything to share about it since we did not go there.
Akihabara or sometime called Akiba is a district in central Tokyo that is famous for many electronic stores and also as a centre of Japan’s otaku (diehard fun) culture. Most of the shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga. The most famous building over there is Yodobashi Camera electronic store next to Akihabara station east exit. We had a chance to visit Yodobashi Camera and were very impressed with a very wide variety selection of all kind of electronics, such as smart phone, TV, computer, audio-video, office supplies, watches, home appliance, games etc.
We also spent our time at Don Quijote discount store at Akihabara. What surprised me is that Don Quijote and all other big shops in Tokyo such as Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera, have their own jingle that are played over and over again for the whole day. I even remember the melody of Don Quijote and Yodobashi camera jingles.
May 20 (Saturday) Asakusa, Sensoji Temple and Ginza
We arrived at Asakusa station at around 9:30 am. We saw a lot of people coming to Asakusa even while we were inside the train. When we arrived at Kaminarimon, the first entrance leading to Sensoji Temple, people were busy taking pictures in front of the gate. The Nakamise shopping district that stretches over 250 meters from Kaminarimon to the main ground of Sensoji Temple were packed with tourists. The shops along Nakamise are offering specialties, sweets and souvenirs.
We realized afterward that the day we visited Sensoji temple coincide with Sanja Matsuri that are held from Friday until Sunday. Sanja Matsuri is Tokyo’s largest annual festival that is held over three days in the third week of May. We saw people wearing traditional clothes carried many mikoshi (portable shrines) chanting from Sensoji Temple through Sensoji ground and out through the Kaminarimon gate. The crowds got very intense with people pushing for a chance to see them up close.
It was very difficult to move around since people were blocking us from walking because they stopped and watching the procession. When we reached the Sensoji Temple, we could see from the temple sea of people at the Asakusa ground watching the event.
Probably because of the festival, there are many (more than fifty I think) pop-up stalls selling foods and snacks to eat. They sold okonomiyaki, mochi, yakitori, yakisoba, taiyaki, takoyaki, rice cake, ice cream, and many others.
In the afternoon we headed to Ginza district, Tokyo’s most famous upscale shopping, dining and entertainment district featuring boutiques, department stores, restaurant, cafes and night club. Because we were there on week-end afternoon, several sections of main street in Ginza (Chuo-dori) are closed to car traffic and for large pedestrian use only. People were taking selfie on Chuo-dori with the background of flagship stores. The notable buildings in Ginza are Tokyu Plaza, Ginza Six, Seiko House, Matsuya and Itoya.
May 21 (Sunday) Harajuku, Takeshita-dori, Shibuya
There are two places in Harajuku area that are famous for tourists to explore, Takeshita-dori and Omotesando. Takeshita-dori is located just a step from Harajuku station. It is a street which are lined with many trendy shops, fashion boutiques, crepe stand, and food outlets.
We checked before from a website that in Takeshita-dori there is a famous Mame-Shiba cafe that is open at 11:00 am. It is a small café that only houses Mame-Shiba Inus, a smaller version of Shiba Inu dog. It is incredibly popular and the queues can be very long.
We arrived at the café at 10:45 am. We saw people already lined up to buy the ticket for the café. When we got at the counter, it has already 11:00 am. We were lucky we got the 11:20 session so we did not need to wait too long. The allotted time is only 30 minutes. When we were inside the café (it is not really café per se, it is just a floor with 12 mame-shiba walking around), we got a free drink (included in the ticket price) from a drink dispenser. We are not allowed to lap the dog, unless the dog come to us. We could only pet or tickle the dogs while we are sitting on the floor. Each session is limited to certain people (I think 20 people). Visitors are entering and leaving in batches to prevent overcrowding so that the dogs won’t get too stressed out.
Along Takeshita-dori, we browed some shops such as Sanrio to buy Gudetama key chain and other. We also tried the famous crepe in Takeshita-dori, Marion Crepe, since we saw people were lining up to buy crepes from many stalls over there.
Not too far from Takeshita-dori for about 10 minutes walk is Omotesando area. Omotesando is one of the most expensive and luxury shopping districts (other than Ginza) with packed with many classy shoppers, and cafes and restaurants are filled with people talking/gossiping over lunch time.
In the late afternoon, we were heading to Shibuya area. First, we took pictures with Hachiko, a loyal dog waiting for 9 years at the station for his master to return who actually had died 9 years before. Then we cross the famous and busy Shibuya crossing with hundreds if not thousand people crossing the intersection at the same time. We were able to see and take a picture from Starbuck café located at the second floor of a building facing Shibuya crossing.
We also had our late lunch at Yakiniku Like, a famous yakiniku eatery with bargain price. We also took a time to go to Shibuya Loft, a shop that provides a large variety of products with stylish and modern design such as kitchen utensils, stationary, toys, cosmetic product and many more.
May 22 (Monday) Yokohama
As planned before, our last day vacation in Japan before we left is to visit Yokohama, a port city located about half an hour from Tokyo by train. We went to Cupnoodle Museum and Minato Mirai area.
Cup Noodle Museum is a fun and interactive museum in Yokohama’s Minato Mirai District that shows the history of instant ramen noodles (Nissin made) with a combination of exhibits and hands on experience. The entrance fee is 500 yen. The two most popular spots in Cupnoodles Museum are “My Cupnoodles Factory” and “Chicken Ramen Factory”.
In My Cupnoodles Factory you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES. In a cup that we design, we select our favourite soups base from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 varieties. The fist step is to buy a cup from the vending machine, then sanitizing our hands, designing our cup by drawing whatever we want such as picture of toppings. The cup was then handed over to the staff who would place the noodle inside. After we chose the soup base and toppings, the staff would seal the lid onto the cup and shrink-wrapped the cup. We were then able to use air pump to blow air into the “air package” with our cupnoodle inside. We tried making our own cupnoodles. It was a very fun and exciting experience. Chicken Ramen Factory is where children can make chicken ramen by hand from kneading, spreading and steaming the wheat flour and then dying it with flash-frying method. I don’t have anything to comment about this since we did not go for it.
We had our lunch inside Cupnoodles Museum from the “Noodles Bazaar” World Noodle Road. The menu for this food attraction features eight varieties of noodles that the Momofuku Ando (the founder of Nissin) encountered during his travels in search of noodles’ origin. There are Italy’s pasta, Kazakhstan’s logman, China’s Lanzhou beef ramen, Korea’s cold ramen, Vietnam’s pho, Thailand’s Tom Yum Goong, Malaysia’s laksa and Indonesia’s mie goreng. The price is reasonable (500 yen). I bought Tom Yum Goong and my wife mie goreng.
Minato Mirai is a seaside urban area with many high rises, including the Landmark Tower, which was Japan’s tallest building until 2014. There are shopping centers, hotels, convention center, amusement park, museum, and park space. The most recognizable feature of Minato Mirai is the Cosmo World Ferris Wheel which display time and was for sometime considered the world’s largest clock.
Located in the same area is Red Brick Warehouse, a warehouse converted into shopping arcade. The tow buildings have a number of shops offering interesting products as well as restaurants and cafes.
Our impression about Yokohama, especially in Minato Mirai area is that most of the old building over there have architecture of Western style, rather than Japanese. Aside form that, the life style over there is pretty laid back and relax compared to the frenzied of Tokyo.
May 23 (Tuesday) Returned to Toronto
This is the last day in Japan. After we checked out at our hotel, we were heading to Tokyo station to take Monorail to Haneda Airport. Haneda is closer to Tokyo than Narita. Terminal 3 of Haneda is solely for international travel.
When we arrived there in the morning, we had a chance to go to Haneda Airport Garden located at the arrival level of Haneda Terminal 3 because our flight is at 5:40 pm. It is a new complex attached to Terminal 3 opened in January 2023 which include attractive shopping & dining facilities, spa facility and two hotels, Villa Fontaine Grand and Villa Fontaine Premier.
We spent sometime strolling the Haneda Airport Garden (even though there is no garden per se) before we had our lunch there and then boarded to catch our flight back to Toronto.
