Featured image of post Trip Report: Japan (March 2024)

Trip Report: Japan (March 2024)

A recap of my first trip to Japan

Mid-late March this year I travelled to Japan with my family. It was my first international trip since covid and also my first time visiting Japan.

I know a few folks travelling there soon who may want ideas for things to do. I also had some photos I wanted to share and nowhere to put them. So I’ve made this post to address both of those things.

General notes

  • I used Japan Guide, /r/JapanTravel and /r/JapanTravelTips to find things to do. Japan.travel also looks like it may be useful
  • The main thing we were hoping to see were the cherry blossoms. We managed to snag a few photos, but colder than average temperatures pushed the peak of the season past our departure date
  • We didn’t have a particularly detailed itinerary before we arrived. We had a spreadsheet and Google doc with a list of things we wanted to check out, but for the most part we were planning things day by day
  • I signed up for Ubigi’s 10 GB for 30 days plan as it was recommended by a few folks on /r/JapanTravel. I finished the trip with 2.4 GB to spare
  • We used Japan Travel by Navitime and Google Maps to find our way around
  • We bought a JR Pass ahead of time. We didn’t get much use out of it as we didn’t make as many day trips as we thought we would. It did at least get us a discount on the Shinkansen
  • We were travelling with someone who couldn’t consume too much red meat, too much fried food, or any raw seafood. This narrowed our food options somewhat
  • A few days before our flight we enabled international payments on our regular cards so that we could use them to pay or withdraw cash while we were travelling. This was probably costly given all the transaction fees

Day by day summary

Day 1 (Melbourne -> Osaka)

  • Woke up at 3am to catch our flight
  • Flight to Cairns Airport
  • Flight to Kansai International Airport. Took about an hour to get through immigration
  • Train to Momodani Station
  • Checked in to Hotel Trad about 5 minutes before check ins closed
  • Snagged a hot drink from a vending machine across the road from our hotel
  • Dinner: Instant noodles that we brought from home

Day 2 (Osaka)

Shitennoji Temple Shinsekai in the rain Tsūtenkaku seen from Shinsekai at night

Day 3 (Osaka)

Blossoms at Osaka Castle Park Osaka Castle Dotonbori

Day 4 (Osaka -> Kobe -> Osaka)

  • Breakfast: Yayoiken Tsuruhashi again
  • Stopped by Sannomiya Station to buy some snacks from Manneken
  • Kobe Animal Kingdom
    • They had sections to pet rabbits, cats and dogs. These areas required a booking and bookings only opened 30 minutes ahead of time iirc. We ended up skipping these
    • Came here for the capybaras but we managed to explore the rest of the place before closing time
  • Lunch: One of the cafes at Kobe Animal Kingdom (might have been Yamaneko Kitchen?)

Outside Kobe Animal Kingdom Feeding a capybara Otter Sanctuary at Kobe Animal Kingdom

Rooftop garden at Osaka Station Intersection near Tsuruhashi Station at night Night time view from balcony at Hotel Trad

Day 5 (Osaka -> Tokyo)

Side street in Osaka Mt. Fuji seen from Shinkansen Nishikasai Station at sunset

Day 6 (Tokyo)

  • Managed to recover enough to travel
  • Breakfast at hotel
  • Got an earthquake alert on my phone. Didn’t notice anything at the time, but others at the hotel reported feeling a tremor
  • Dropped by Uniqlo Ginza Flagshipstore to buy some heat tech
  • Lunch: Ginza Kagari
    • Store had two queues: The first queue lead to a vending machine where you can place an order and get a ticket. The second was for a seat inside
    • Had a 55 minute wait. But this was the best tori paitan ramen I’ve ever had
  • Wandered around GINZA SIX to check out their stores and rooftop garden
  • Dinner: Bento boxes from FamilyMart

Tori paitain ramen from Ginza Kagari Artwork at Ginza Six Rooftop garden at Ginza Six

Day 7 (Tokyo)

Shibuya Crossing seen from walkway to Mark City Meiji Jingu Sake barrels at Meiji Jingu

Isabelle and one of Tom Nooks nephews at Nintendo Tokyo Mario statue at Nintendo Tokyo Shibuya Crossing at night

Day 8 (Tokyo)

Food replicas outside Kakaya Udon Sabo Suica plushie in the wild Strawberry pancake filled with mascarpone cream at Original Pancake House

Day 9 (Tokyo)

Close up of cherry blossoms Stream at Shinjuku Gyoen Aerial roots of bald cypress trees Pond in Japanese Traditional Garden area Pond near Kyu-Goryo-Tei (Taiwan Pavilion) Crowds gathered near cherry blossoms

Day 10 (Tokyo -> Kyoto)

Self-heating ekiben section at Ekibenya Matsuri Kyoto Tower at night Goeido-mon Gate at Higashi Hongan-ji Temple at night

Day 11 (Kyoto)

  • Arranged for some our luggage to be sent to our next hotel in Osaka
  • Breakfast: Some snacks that we bought from somewhere near Kyoto Station the previous night
  • Lunch: Kyo Suishin
  • Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. We had more walking planned later so we only made it partway through Sembon Torii (Thousand Torii Gates) before turning back

Gate at Fushimi Inari Torii at Fushimi Inari Several torii gates

Yasaka Pagoda at night Street in Higashiyama District Stairs with a cherry blossom tree

Kiyomizu-dera at night Kiyomizu-dera with a beam of light overhead Main Hall in Kiyomizu-dera seen from Okuno-in Hall

Day 12 (Kyoto -> Osaka)

Cherry blossoms at Kyoto Gyoen Oikeniwa (Pond Garden) in Kyoto Imperial Palace Part of Kyoto Imperial Palace

Day 13 (Osaka)

KitKat selection at Tokyu Hands Paldea starters at Pokemon Center Osaka Mario statue at Nintendo Osaka

Day 14 (Osaka -> Melbourne)

KitKat selection at Daimaru, Umeda 泉の広場 Water Tree Sunset enroute to Kansai International Airport

Things I would like to revisit or try next time

Not a comprehensive list, but here’s a few things on my wishlist:

Thanks for reading this post! Catch you next time 👋

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