Author: cjwl

We spent a day in Yokohama which turned out to be a lot more eventful than expected. We took an express train to Yokohama station and would return on the Shinkansen from Shin-Yokohama station. We explored the market in the station while trying to find our way out, happened upon Nissan headquarters, explored Chinatown, got caught up in a couple large festivals along the waterfront and went shopping at the Red Brick Warehouse. Yokohama was a lot more fun than I expected with the addition of some festivals going on the day we went. Our first goal was Chinatown, we…

When we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto it was overcast and I could not see Mt. Fuji despite looking quite a lot. This was a bit of a disappointment but the train from Osaka to Tokyo gave us a glorious view. We decided to explore Shibuya more which did not disappoint, I would definitely go back here to walk around more. There are so many nice shops and restaurants especially in Jingumae. Later we headed to our afternoon booking at teamLabs Tokyo. It was fully booked as it had been before and we entered with a large group. I’ll warn…

We took an express train from Kyoto to Osaka and stayed at a hotel very close to Dotonbori. We stayed in Osaka two nights, walked around downtown quite a lot, took the train out to the Osaka aquarium and the Osaka Castle. We spotted the whale meat vending machines, the numerous luxury cars showrooms along the Main Street, got some Kobe beef and saw a lot of street vendors. Dotonbori was an interesting retro area but I felt like you can get a similar sort of experience in Shinjuku City or Akihabara area of Tokyo. I’m glad I went but…

Our last day we headed to the Fushimi Inari Shrine by foot, walking through neighborhoods and along the river. The shrine was very busy and the torii gates were a regular stream of people. At this point we were addicted to matcha lattes and soft serve matcha, so picked up a few of those along the way. We then headed to the Kyoto Railway Museum, by train of course, and explored the museum. It was very nice and they have a nice collection of vintage trains. We finished our evening with a meal at Onikai an Izakaya restaurant I had…

Walking through Gion Our second full day in Kyoto was walking into the Gion district with walks to the Hōkan-ji Temple, through Sanneizaka and up near Kiyomizu-dera. We then walked over to the Nijō Castle area and back closer to downtown for dinner at Isomatsu. The crowds in Gion near the temples were very significant and there were vehicles trying to get through roads flooded with pedestrians. Restaurant Isomatsu I had researched some restaurants and made a reservation at Isomatsu in downtown Kyoto. This was probably one of our favorite meals, we had a large booth by the bar, the…

We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto, staying in downtown Kyoto. Downtown worked out really well as Kyoto is a big city but spread out with lower buildings so while downtown is a busy area it is not incredibly busy. Arashiyama Our first destination the next day was the bamboo grove in Arashiyama. We took the train from Kyoto-Kawaramachi, changed trains at Sai , and took the train into Arashiyama Station. The train cars on this route were old, very clean, on time (of course) and just charming. There are a variety of train routes which go into Arashiyama…

This was my first time in Japan, vacationing with our two oldest kids we flew into Tokyo via Narita Airport, took the train to Kyoto, then Osaka and back to Tokyo. We went to Yokohama inside a day from Tokyo. Of course millions of people visit Japan for the first time and nothing here is new. We had an awesome time and if you’re considering going to Japan maybe this will inspire you. The afternoon approach into Narita. Tsukiji Outer Market We visited the Tsukiji outer market on our first day. You may read this is very touristy area but…