Itinerary
- Most folks I know who travel to Japan go for at least a week. I think Japan is most interesting at the extremes, so I recommend spending most of your time in a big city and a few days in the country.
- Start in Tokyo. It’s so big that I would actually recommend staying in two different places within Tokyo if you are there for more than a week, just to experience more of it. Shibuya is a great place to stay your first-time – it’s probably what you picture when you think of Tokyo – but it can also be pretty touristy and commercial. Ebisu/Nakameguro and Rapponigi would be my other first-time recs; Shimo-kitazawa, Asakusa, and Ayoyama/Omotesando are also excellent but a little less accessible by train. I would avoid Shinjuku.
- Naoshima is the most amazing art experience I’ve ever had. It’s a small island in southern Japan that has a bunch of museums and insallations. Tadao Ando designed many of the spaces on the island, Yayoi Kusama’s Yellow Pumpkin is there, and James Turrell and Walter de Maria both created multiple pieces specifically for Naoshima. It can mostly be seen in a day or two, so despite being 6 hours from Tokyo by train it’s worthy of a 2 day trip (you can stay on the island). Teshima is a neighborhoring island that’s a bit more under-the-radar, which might be good as I’ve heard Naoshima prper is bordering on too-crowded post-COVID (I went in 2018).
- On the western coast, I loved Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, and Takayama. It was a beautiful place to experience fall; Kanazawa is home to one of Japan’s most famous gardens and Shirakawa-go and Takayama are both in the mountains so the colors were just incredible. Shirakawa-go is a traditional village filled with old farmhouses that you can stay in, highly recommended.
- In the south, Onomichi and Miyajima are both excellent. Onomichi is a cute little port town just north of Hiroshima; most notably it’s the starting point for the incredible Shiminami Kaido bike ride, a 70km route across 6 islands with top-notch bike infrastructure. Biking across these semi-tropical islands – stopping for onogiri and ice cream along the way – was an all-time ride. Despite being extremely touristy, Miyajima (famous the floating shrine, Itsukushima) is a total blast, especially if you stay on the island overnight (most folks just do a day-trip from Hiroshima). Sunrise over Itsukushima was somethign else.
- Kyoto is good if you’re really into old stuff (temples, museums, etc). I found it kind of boring and spread out in comparison to Tokyo.
Tokyo
- Here’s my map of my favorite places in Tokyo.
- Tokyo is my favorite place in the world to shop: Nakameguro, Harajuku/Omotesando, and Shimo-kitazawa are all excellent; I budget at least a day in each. Maidens Shop in Harajuku is IMO the best-curated menswear store on the planet.
- Visit a listening bar like Bar Martha, Grandfather’s, or Lion. Owners play records from their existensive collections on hi-fi systems while you drink and smoke – just perfect. The concept exists elsewhere these days but there’s nowhere else like Toyo.
- Drink in Golden Gai. It’s really fun although pretty touristy. I love The Albatross.
- Go to the electronics stores and arcades in Akhibara. It’s wild to see the diversity in electronics; so many products that exist in Japan only. The arcade culture is really out of this world, particularly in the evening.
- Have a Lost in Translation experience at the Park Hyatt. You can go to brunch at Girandole but I recommend going to the New York Bar at night. It is not cheap ($100 for cover + a round of drinks for two) but the view is incredible (plus you can smoke in there).
- Take a day trip somewhere outside the city. Hannah and I had a really nice time staying at a ryoken + onsen (Japanese traditional inn) in Hakone (1.5hrs away). A lot of people have fun going to Kamakura (where the big buddha is).
Stray Impressions
- This 20m documentary about KFC entering the Japanese market in the 80s is a great lens on ways Japan is different from the US/Europe.
- One of my favorite things about Japan is that high-quality food is readily available in small-portions (not just at convienence stoies, restaurants too).
- Try and plan each day such that you can enjoy the sunset wherever you are.
- Nobody eats or drinks while walking around or waiting for a train, always at a place dedicated for eating.
- This won’t affect you as a tourist but if you’re curious about Japanese working culture I really enjoyed this blog post.
Logistics
- The ‘no trash cans’ thing is real, they are nowhere to be found. After three trips I still find it perplexing. Convenience stores often have trash cans that you can use.
- Don’t tip anyone anywhere, they will find it very rude.
- Most places accept credit cards, but cash is still pretty important (especially smaller restaurants). Convenience stores usually have ATMs. The 7-11 ATMs are particularly great because of the satisfying way it dispenses your cash (it feels like opening a loot box in a game).
- Restaurant star ratings aren’t a very useful signal in Japan: the distribution of them is far more normal than in the US/Europe (e.g. you’ll eat at plenty of 3 star places) but also less predicive of a great experience. I’ve struggled to find a definitive answer; my leading theory is:
- Tabelog is the Yelp equivalent in Japan, and was historically dominate with locals. The star rating norms were quite different: 3.5 is great, 3.75 is stellar, and almost nothing is above a 4 (including Michelin-starred restaurants).
- Google Maps is more popular with tourists, where US/European rating norms flourish (e.g. everything is 4-5 stars).
- As Google Maps has become more popular with locals, Tabelog rating norms have become more prevelant (you can see this in translated reviews, e.g. a raving review from a Japanese person gets 3 stars)
- The resulting ratings are just scrambled between the two groups, e.g. a 4+ star place is often a tourist trap.
- If you’re traveling to a bunch of places within Japan, it’s probably a good idea to get a JR rail pass, which allow for unlimited use of Japan Rail train lines for 7/14 days. You should buy them in advance of your trip (e.g. here), it’s cheaper than buying it once you’re there. If you’re mostly staying within Tokyo, it probably doesn’t make $$$ sense. Here’s a useful calculator if you’re on the fence.
- Hauling luggage around Tokyo is a big pain, especially through the metro. Outside of storing luggage at hotels/train stations, there’s a few services (like Klook) that’ll pick-up your luggage from your hotel and take it to the airport for you. Super useful to make the most of your last day.