I had a lie in so Scott took off for a long walk around Kyoto. Here is a sampling of what he saw and captured along the way…
When I finally emerged from the comfy bed I took some time to organize our purchases as the piles and bags were a bit overwhelming in our small hotel space.
It was a rainy day so when Scott returned we decided to enjoy our hotel’s common space for a couple of hours for one of our “coffee shop days” to enjoy our hobbies.
We emerged later in the day to have a tempura meal in a nearby mall, and then discovered Kyoto Tower Sando – a most excellent basement level food court. We settled into the barstools at The Roots Of All Evil, drawn by the lovely cocktail list and the jamon featured prominently on the bar.
We settled back into our hotel room early and tried to make sense of unhinged Japanese TV as we drifted off to sleep.
I had pre-booked us into a Kyoto Free Walking Tour focused on the Gion District for 10:00 am. I’ve rarely been disappointed with a free walking tour and I like doing them on our first full day whenever we go somewhere new to get a lay of the land.
To get to our meeting point we used a Kyoto city bus and it was great. Per usual Google Maps gave us the details we needed to find our stop, get on the right bus, and know where to get off. We were able to easily use the Suica card we obtained in Tokyo to pay our fare.
The simple rules for bus travel in Japan that seem to differ from a lot of our American bus experiences were:
Don’t vandalize or litter at the bus stop. That’s rude, immature, and stupid.
Get on at the back door. You don’t have to wait for passengers to exit the bus because they aren’t getting off through that door. It’s called a system, people.
Shut up while you’re on the bus and make sure your electronics are silent, too. No one wants to hear you. However, if you’re a French or Chinese tourist in Kyoto this rule doesn’t seem to apply to you.
If you need to pay in cash and don’t have change, there’s a machine at the front of the bus to use. Because Japan implements things that just make sense.
Leave out of the front door. It’s that system, people.
Pay your freaking fare on the way out. It’s reasonable at only 230 yen/$1.50 USD. You don’t leave without paying because you understand you’re a capable and responsible member of society.
To be honest I’m not terribly bothered by bus usage in Seattle, and use it frequently during hockey season to get to our 1,000,000 home games. It’s the environmentally, socially, and fiscally responsible thing to do when you can even if sometimes you need to plug your nose or pretend you didn’t see something. But international travel often reminds me that Americans could really benefit from getting their shit together in just the smallest, most obvious ways.
We found our group at our meeting point at the edge of Gion at the statue of Izumo-no-Okuni (the founder of Kabuki Theater). The group had a nice international blend of tourists as has been our experience with other free walking tours in our travels. Scott enjoyed overhearing some German spoken during our tour, harkening back to memories of his dad.
Our guide was Swiss. Huh? He had been enjoying Japanese culture from afar for most of his life, including studying martial arts, and had been living in Kyoto for 18 months to further his studies. To be honest at first I was a bit disappointed we weren’t getting the inside scoop of a lifelong resident of Kyoto, but in the end I was happy to have this fellow Westerner’s perspective.
The walking tour started in the the geiko/maiko/teahouse area of Gion. Very quiet, clean, tranquil streets. Our guide had the opportunity to point out the real deal women vs. the tourists dressed up in costumes. He educated us on how young girls get started in the trade as apprentices (maiko), what their lives look like both early on and long term, and took a moment to help us question the morality of male behavior in teahouses. The traditional arts that these women produce is gorgeous and important. But And at the end of the day this is a highly misogynistic subculture of Japan, catering to only the most powerful and rich men in society. Unsurprising reports of maiko abuse are out there with a simple Google search.
We finished the tour in the shopping area of Gion. Crowded, of course. Delightful, of course. The reason that Japan is such a shopping temptation is that in an area like this in the other countries I’ve traveled to, the vast majority of shops would be selling silly souvenirs manufactured in China with maybe a couple of attractive local stores. In Japan this ratio is reversed and the shops are teeming with gorgeous little things that YOU NEED.
One thing to note is that Gion (as well as other places in Kyoto) is full of tourists dressed in kimono. It’s the perfect outfit for that photo memory with a religious and/or historic backdrop. You see people primarily of Asian descent doing this, but occasionally you see a whitey. This feels wrong to a liberal caucasian girl from America who has been taught about cultural appropriation. But I heard from multiple sources online and in-person while in Japan that Japanese people typically are not offended by seeing white people dressed in kimono and more often say that they take it as a compliment that we would want to do so. Does that mean I was about to do it and take photos and post them online? Um, no. Also, it was so fucking hot that I couldn’t begin to imagine tolerating all of those layers, much less walking in those wooden shoes for thousands of steps. To each their own.
Walking tour highly recommended. Fantastic itinerary, great insights (even from a non-local), and a taster of some great areas to go back to and spend more time. We also got bonus advice out of it from our guide who gave us his favorite ramen spot recommendation, as well as a way to enjoy Fushimi Inari with less crowds. Stay tuned…
We were ready for a spot of lunch so we quickly found Gion Tachinomi Yamaneko – a craft beer & izakaya place – close to where the tour ended. Comfy environment, A/C at the right temperature, lovely employees, good Wifi, yummy beers, a bunch of tasty snacks, left full and satisfied for $34.
The rest of the day we just did a lot of wandering. We went back to the shopping district to browse at our own pace. We had more snacks and drinks. We walked along the river. We took photos of random things.
I promise I’m having a good time – I think the sun was just in my face. Or maybe Scott was taking too long snapping the pic. We found coffees in a vending machine that said FIRE on them. #iykyk
It’s a man personhole cover. #cutejapaneseshit
A preview of something we are doing on the 17th.
One of just a handful of stamps I got on this trip. I might try harder on future trips.
A serene spot tucked below a busy intersection.
And to finish it off, a bunch of random photos from the day. If you look closely at the last photo you can see Kyoto Tower which was near to our hotel, and gives an idea of how much walking we did today.
Today the goal was to travel to Kyoto. We slept in and took our time packing up since our hotel checkout time wasn’t until 11:00. We ended up leaving around 10:30, with the addition of a large shopping bag that I needed to carry since they were not lying about the shopping temptation in Japan. Even for quasi-minimalists like us.
It was raining so we splurged on a cab to Tokyo Station. The ride was about a mile (maybe less) and cost $7.61. Kind of a silly expense but it was pissing so it is what it is.
At Tokyo Station the plan was to go to a counter and buy our shinkansen tickets from a real person because some of the online advice said the machines were confusing. But online advice also said you needed cash everywhere and that it can be difficult as an English-speaker in Japan – both WRONG. The line for a real person was long so we gave the machine a try and guess what? It worked out. You can toggle to English instructions, and I’ve used computers my whole life. Why do some people try to make travel seem harder than it is?
We ended up buying tickets for a later 12:24 pm train that still had seats together on the right side (increased chance of seeing Mt. Fuji and only 2 seats in the row). It was no problem wasting the time in the station looking for a bakery and buying our ekiben. The ride to Kyoto was smooth and easy as expected. A very pleasant way to eat unagi, journal, and knit. Alas, Mt. Fuji continued to elude me thanks to overcast weather.
The walk from Kyoto Station to the Tune Stay hotel was less than 10 minutes and the initial impression was fantastic. The room was small of course (kind of like a college dorm room), but clean and efficient. In addition to a vanity area with sink just outside the bathroom, there was one of those very cool handwashing sinks built into the top of the toilet. Brilliant for water conservation! (Kind of like this. Not my photo.)
The hotel common areas as pictured online were what sold me on this hotel to begin with and they did not disappoint in person. There’s a bookstore with primarily Japanese language books but also some in English. The bookstore area has amphitheater type seating that is great for the international short films they play every night. The hotel also has a large communal kitchen with table/chair seating, and there’s a gin bar with tables and chairs as well. The craft gin cocktails were great and were only around $6 USD each. Large coin-operated laundry machines are available for a fair price that automatically dispensed the detergent. Each floor of rooms had shelving with spare towels at the elevators to grab as needed. We paid $852.20 for our 9 nights here booking through Expedia. I failed at taking photos of the hotel, but their website has a lot of good, accurate images.
Scott found us a great spot nearby for an early dinner: 100K Craft Beer & Pizza. I had a nice, fresh salad and realized I hadn’t had much fresh produce on this trip. The camembert cheese fries were like upgraded mozzarella sticks.
Afterwards we went in search of the JINS store so I could get my own pair of eyeglasses. I selected a pair with thickish black frames and got in immediately for an exam. A couple of quick steps and the salesperson recommended +2.25s. Geez perimenopause has decimated my eyesight. They didn’t have the right lens size in stock and asked cautiously if it would possibly be OK if I waited for a few days for them to come in. Otherwise I could pick another frame and could have them in an hour. I was OK waiting a few days since we weren’t leaving Kyoto until the 21st!
The mall with the JINS store – Yodobashi – also had a Uniqlo, so of course we had to buy more things. Scott got another color of his new favorite shorts and I grabbed three colors of a “new release” simple crewneck sweater. I’m going to need to purge some stuff from our tiny closet when we get home. Oh, and I also felt compelled to buy these pajama pants covered in a print of a melancholy kitten in a shark costume. WHY?
Also in this mall was a store called Ishii Sports. OMG, so good. Since I literally couldn’t stop buying all of the things every day in Japan I knew I would need to buy a suitcase to get it home. But when we came across this store it occurred to me that I could go ahead and just buy the new pack I’ll need for our July 2025 trip. I picked the Lowe Alpine Airzone ND28. I love her.
We spent so much money today. Mr. Budget said we’re doing fine. We ended the day back at our hotel in the gin bar.
Today was a reminder that a flexible mindset is key to staying positive during travel. For months prior to our departure I had planned the FUCK out of this day trip out of Tokyo, so on the surface this day looks like a failure.
Early in our travel planning I learned about Hakone as a popular option. There were several YouTube videos and online resources for the beautiful area, detailing the variety of experiences and transportation options for the day. japan-guide.com had my favorite video and blog post and helped me craft our plans.
So we set off early on this day for a journey that I was excited about. We’d move about on trains, busses, a cable car, a tram, and even a pirate ship. We’d walk through a forest, walk on a mountainous volcanic area, and sail on a lake. We’d drink local beer, buy local handicrafts, hike a historic pathway, and (fingers crossed) get an epic view of Mt. Fuji.
We had bought our Hakone Freepass and Romance Car upgrade tickets the previous day at Shinjuku Station at the Odakyu counter for an 8:30 am departure. The pass included all of the transportation for the day, covered some of our activity costs, and gave us discounts on other things we planned to see and do. Some blogger (I need to do a better job of recording who my sources are during planning) had suggested not booking the return ticket ahead of time to maintain flexibility. This was such an excellent tip, for a reason I did not anticipate!
The 80-minute train ride was super enjoyable. Large window to enjoy the scenery, ekiben and snacks, laptop time, and knitting time.
At the exit of Hakone-Yumoto Station we came upon this lovely river and were happy to breathe in some fresh nature air!
As a popular domestic and foreign traveler destination, the signage, staffing, and organization at the Hakone-Yumoto Station was excellent. We found our “K” route bus quite easily to head to our first area destination – Hatajuku, known for their wood marquetry handicrafts called Yosegi Zaiku.
I say “area” but Hatajuku was just a lovely little street, and only one of the stores was open (as far as I could tell). Despite the popularity of the Hakone area, we seemed to be the only tourists in this little hamlet. The store we entered was two-thirds workshop and one-third shop; clearly the items in the shop were hyperlocal. The pieces they were selling were plentiful and gorgeous. If we led a normal life on a normal trajectory I could have spent a lot of money in there. Instead I purchased a small keychain in the form of Mt. Fuji, thinking it would be a lovely, meaningful, functional souvenir of the day I saw the great mountain.
From Hatajuku one could join the Old Tokaido Road trail to hike down to the lakefront, and that was the plan. A 3-mile walk on the Edo-period road that joined then-capital Kyoto with then- and now-business center and port of Tokyo. As we headed toward the entry point it started to sprinkle, but it was hot and we live in Seattle so we were not deterred. I was thinking this would be a great preview of possibly a future multi-day hiking trip?
I don’t know how much of this historic road/current trail looks like the point at which we entered, but our section started with large, uneven boulders with a fair amount of moss and an upward slope. Add worsening rain and this was a slippery obstacle course. I sometimes refer to Scott as a mountain goat because of how sure-footed he is, but even he was slipping and sliding. It was like ice. We made it about 50-feet on the mild upward slope of our entry point and I said HELL NAH. This was a fall waiting to happen, possibly with an injury. We could either go back down the 50 feet or continue up maybe another 50 feet to the next exit point. It felt safer to go up.
Our exit from the trail was at a 2-lane, curving mountain road without a shoulder. By this time it was pouring rain. We scampered back down the road to the point in Hatajuku in which we had disembarked the bus earlier. We waited about 10 minutes in the pouring rain for the next bus and took it down to Motohakone on the shore of Lake Ashi.
We got off the bus and scurried through the rain to Bakery & Table. We enjoyed tasty coffees and pastries in a warm, dry environment with a lovely picture-window view of Lake Ashi. It was pissing and gray, but we could still see the famous torii gate from our seat and it was a vibe that I just adore.
During our time in Bakery & Table the rain had subsided but the visibility across the lake and up towards Mt. Fuji remained very poor. We had planned to get on a sightseeing cruise from Motohakone, but noted we hadn’t seen any of the famous (and silly but that’s OK) pirate ships come into the dock while we were at the coffee shop. We could have looked for an alternative transportation option towards Togendai Station for our cable car ride up to Owakudani, but given the visibility issue it just didn’t seem worth it. So we decided to cut our losses. I even used the phrase “sunk cost fallacy” to Scott. #personalfinancenerdalert
Before heading back to towards the train station, we did enjoy a stroll along the shopping street in Motohakone. Scott found himself a little snacky snack at food cart called Dandy Kitchen – kind of a Spanish/Japanese fusion of churro balls in local flavors. Also, he likes the word “dandy”, because he’s an 87-year old man trapped in a 47-year old’s body.
We hopped on a bus back to Hakone-Yumoto Station with guidance from one of staff at the bus depot. At the Station we picked up our return train ticket for a 2:30 pm departure back to Shinjuku Station (yay flexibility!).
When we return to Tokyo in the future, during a season other than summer FOR SURE, we plan to spend a couple of nights in Hakone. Even though we didn’t get to do most of the planned activities for today, we saw enough to know that a short stay would be super enjoyable. We will get back on that Old Tokaido Road trail, we will get on that cheesy pirate ship, we will ride the gondola, and we will get an epic view of Fuji-san.
Back in Tokyo we found our way to Tokyo Aleworks and enjoyed excellent burgers and beers.
Afterwards we made sure our last night in Tokyo included visiting the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station to enjoy the illuminated architecture.
Tomorrow we head to Kyoto. Seven nights in Tokyo and we barely scratched any sort of surface. We will be back, and we will figure out how to stay for a month or more. A most excellent and intriguing first impression.
I had decided yesterday that Scott must have one of those amazing wagyu skewers at Tsukiji Market. So this morning we retraced my steps via the train to Hongwanji. We went inside the temple, but unfortunately much of the interior was covered. A lovely greeter gave us two origami cranes. So sweet.
Like Hongwanji, Tsukiji Market was also less open today for some reason. Many of the storefronts were shuttered. We still managed to find several things to snack on including fresh and candied fruit, and melon-flavored soft serve ice cream. Scott’s face when he bit into the wagyu skewers was everything. I love seeing my man that happy. I loved it so much I failed to take a picture of it. But here’s the cutie smiling over nummy fruit.
I was also able to pick up a big bag of matcha tea for one of my mom’s best friends back home who is originally from Japan. She’s the cutest.
After the Market we headed to Shinjuku Station to buy train tickets for our big excursion planned for tomorrow. While there we had lunch at a tempura restaurant. It was all very good, but I have been finding that the food we are eating in Japan is comparable to a lot of Japanese food available in Seattle. Benefits of living on the Pacific Rim, I guess!
We wandered the big city streets in Shinjuku a bit to soak in the hustle and bustle and architecture. We found our way to the famous Godzilla Head. And we also walked thru Omoide Yokocho, albeit during the day so it wasn’t really a fair time to judge it. We’ll be back.
In some YouTube vlog I got the hot tip of going to the Metropolitan Government Building for 360-degree views over Tokyo for free. So we headed over there and were not disappointed. There was no line to get in, it was indeed free, and the observation area was the entire floor of the building with nearly floor to ceiling windows in every direction, a cafe with lots of seating, and a gift shop. It was a great experience and highly recommended!
It wasn’t very late in the day but as our time in the MGB was winding down we just looked at each other with the same feeling of fatigue and understanding that it was time to go back to the hotel and rest. The fatigue of the heat and humidity and megacity was starting to wear on us and we needed to enjoy some downtime.
Today Scott and I spent a day apart. We had the BIGGEST FIGHT EVER. Just kidding.
Typically we both love, love, love food tours. But when I was trying to find one in Japan I was hitting a lot of roadblocks due to Scott’s, um, limited palate. He won’t touch sushi, or most seafood. There are a lot of foods in Japan he likes, but finding a food tour limited to those options was impossible. I had resigned myself to missing out on a food tour this trip, then Scott discovered an amusement park that he wanted to check out and that’s not a taste that appeals to me. So, boom – a day apart to enjoy our separate interests. Fuck codependency.
Scott left very early in the morning forFuji-Q. He walked over to Tokyo Station and caught a pre-booked coach bus that provided a direct, 2-hour one-way service to the park (and then back home again). He wanted to maximize the opening hours so his bus left at 7:20 AM, and he didn’t get back to the hotel until really late. The r/t bus fare was about $30, and his park entry fee was $44. He spent around $15 on food/snacks that day. Later we would know that he would be the only one of us to see Mt. Fuji on this entire trip and it was on this day. Also, when have you ever had a full day at a big amusement park for less than $100?
My day also started early (but not that early) for my Tsukiji Market Food Tour with Japan Wonder Travel. The starting point was only a 22-minute walk from our hotel, but as it was once again north of 90 degrees and humid out I elected to take the train. I arrived a bit early so had the pleasure of exploring the Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. It’s a bit unique as it is built in the Indian style rather than the Japanese style.
I met up with the tour at 8:15 which was guided by this lovely woman, Yoshiko. The group was really small – only 4 travelers.
It was a Tuesday morning so the Market wasn’t crowded at all. Yoshiko led us around several of the streets, educated us on the foods and preparation processes, and fed us a lot of yummy snacks. Snacks included fresh muscat grapes (not covered in sugar), octopus fish cake, dried snacks (I don’t remember what they were exactly), tamago, and saki. OK, maybe saki isn’t a snack.
The absolute most tastiest snack was the wagyu skewer with a side of real wasabi (I now know the difference!). I knew I needed to bring Scott back to this place.
Yoshiko then took us nearby to the Namiyoke Shrine. I got a refresher course on shrine etiquette, and I also learned about omikuji, the fortunes you can buy. Yoshiko helped me translate it on the spot – it wasn’t a bad fortune so I took it home with me and later fully translated it into my journal using Google Translate. Kind of like fortune cookies, the omikuji was more advice than foretelling. “No matter what happens on the rainy day or the wind or whatever happens on the pathless road, don’t stop and just keep moving forward.” Sounds good, will do!
The tour ended with a live demonstration of preparing sashimi, with a nice tasting platter at the end to share with our group. Does the chef look like a California model, or what?
I definitely recommend this tour, and of course Yoshiko if you’re lucky enough to be able to make that request. I would also target a weekday to avoid the crowds. Unlike other food tours in other parts of the world, I felt full but not gross at the end of it. Like pleasantly full, I got my money’s worth, but I didn’t feel like I needed to slip into a coma afterwards. Oh, I forgot to mention it was only $83.
After I said goodbye to Yoshiko and our group, I made my way back to Shibuya to buy my favorite souvenir. Amimono Spin was closed on the day we had been in Shibuya, but was worth the extra effort to go back. The shop is only their own dyed yarn so it was small, but the products were so nice and the store was very cute and inviting. I walked away with 5x 50g skeins. Yep, I’m gonna need to buy an extra piece of luggage to get my Japan-inspired consumerism home.
I came home with these specific beauties. Three skeins of dyed DK to make something for a friend having a baby, and another two skeins of undyed to make something for me (gloves, maybe?).
I contemplated doing some eyeglass shopping but I was pretty exhausted. I headed back to the hotel for a lovely nap, to get some laundry done, and to organize the many things I had already purchased on this trip. I think the draw is that there isn’t much of that touristy made-in-China crap around – the shops are all full of lovely, quality items that look and feel great.
We had planned on this being a slow morning since we knew we would have a later evening, but Scott was restless so he took off for one of his signature “long walks”. He took the opportunity to scout where he would need to meet his transportation for tomorrow morning.
Around 11:00 am we headed to Shibuya to do some more neighborhood exploring and check an item off our planned to do list before meeting our tour. I had heard in a YouTube video that buying prescription glasses in Japan was affordable, quick, and easy so we had been planning all along for each of us to get a pair or two on this trip. I had picked the JINS location in Shibuya as our primary target as online reviews indicated people had shortest turnaround time at that store. On this day I found frames at JINS that I liked, but their wait time for an exam was a couple of hours and we had that tour later that would interfere with that timeline. We went into another eyeglass shop nearby called Zoff and Scott found a good pair of glasses that were a nice blend of modern and classic. He got in for an exam immediately and he said it was the most thorough exam he had ever had. His glasses were ready to pick up about an hour later. And only $50 for exam, frames, lenses, and their standard fast service!
For lunch we wandered a bit and came across Ojori, a tiny Korean restaurant up one of those narrow staircases. We both got bulgogi, got some traditional starters, and a couple of beverages. It was super yummy and we paid less than $20.
Early in our planning for this trip some friends of ours had told us about Street Kart and highly recommended it. Based on their verbal description alone we were decided, but researching it further online just got us more excited about the idea. I researched their locations and settled on the Shibuya tour because it included driving through one of the busiest intersections in the world. People consider walking across Shibuya Scramble a bucket list experience, but how about driving a Mario Kart type vehicle through it while wearing a costume??? Level up! When we would talk to people about our plans for Japan, this was easily in the top two things we were excited about.
The tour was originally planned for Saturday, but rains had made us reschedule for today. Weather was all good, no rain in sight. But it was just too hot to put on one of the costumes. Bummer. We joined the 6 other people from our tour to watch the short safety and how-to video and then it was time to get going. Scott and I both started to feel a little apprehensive after the video for some reason, but I just used my old mental trick: thousands of people have done this before me successfully – I’m not dumber than all of them – I’m not smarter than all of them, but I’m definitely not dumber than all of them – I can do this.
OK – this experience was DOPE.
We drove around Shibuya for a very full hour. We drove through the Crossing twice. We were zooming around right in the middle of big traffic. Lovely people – locals and tourists alike – gave us big smiles and waved to us as we drove around.
This outfit is either Aussie owned or just Aussie managed or maybe just staffed by a lot of Aussies. Makes sense though, doesn’t it? Our guide was Clinton and he did an absolutely awesome job of taking care of us. He kept us all together, communicated really well throughout the whole excursion. And he took a million photos that he airdropped to us afterward.
After our ATV Tour in Iceland last year we realized the value of a GoPro for capturing adventures. When we booked this experience for this trip we knew this would be the prime opportunity to use one so we purchased a Hero 12. And look at me, I managed to edit together a video of all of the GoPro clips Scott filmed! I’m like a video-logger.
Afterwards we headed to Shinjuku to check out a new neighborhood. It was starting to get dark and we enjoyed the Times Square (but cleaner) vibe. There was cool architecture and bright lights and a million people enjoying their evenings.
And we spent some time gawking at that famous 3D billboard. Honestly it was so crazy in person.
Finally we headed off to the neighborhood of Ikebukuro for our last planned adventure of the day – The Muscle Girls Bar. This was the invite we got yesterday from our new friends. I hadn’t planned any themed cafes/bars for the trip because honestly the ones I knew about made me a bit uncomfortable. The Maid Cafes feel super misogynistic to me – sorry, not sorry. And the animal themed ones – come pet a capybara or a river otter or whatever while you drink a coffee – feel not right from an animal rights perspective. Our new friends felt the same way but had found this bar themed around jacked women and it seemed empowering for females, verdad? Sure, I’m game. Plus – NEW TRAVEL FRIENDS.
OK, so… this place was weird. I felt weird being in there. It kind of felt empowering for the women that worked in there and they seemed happy, but it also felt like a venue for men with… fetishes.
The ticket ($32) bought all you can drink for 80 minutes, plus a kind of show. You sit around a long, oblong bar with the women in the middle. Our group of 4 was assigned a “Muscle Girl”/bartender. At one point during the 80 minutes music came on and the women took off their shirts and did flexing poses in their sports bras. At one point one of the women pole danced wearing her sports bra and spandex shorts. At another point all of the Muscle Girls demonstrated their strength by squeezing citrus into pitchers for drinks. The women were definitely in better shape than me (low bar) but not in any shape that would be considered particularly jacked in America. So the flexing felt… weird.
The part that felt the weirdest was that there was a menu of experiences you could purchase. There were some that were super innocuous and innocent, especially since only women could purchase them. I tried to buy a hug for Scott and that’s when I learned that he’s not a lady that some items could only be purchased for women. But their loss – Scott is a REALLY good hugger. #iykyk But then there were the ones where men could pay to be slapped across the face or get kicked in the ass by one or all of the Muscle Girls. OK anyone could pay for that but let’s be honest only men with red flags are going to pay for that. A guy paid for all of the women to smack him while we were there. I found it… uncomfortable. Our Muscle Girl seemed proud of her ability to hit hard and pulled out a couple of pics on her phone of past injuries she had inflicted.
Loads of people have raved about this experience online. I don’t mean to hate. I’m just being honest about my reaction to it. I am ultimately glad we went since it seemed pretty uniquely Japanese – meaning that even though it felt weird, it wasn’t scary or overtly sketchy in any way. If that makes any sense. It was just in that category of “unhinged Japanese shit” that I kept a little inventory of in my head throughout our time there. You know, those sightings, experiences, etc. that remind you that despite the outward appearance of conformity and control and success there’s a big strong undercurrent of… I don’t know… rebelliousness? sass? perversity? Honestly, I dig it and respect it – it’s just the particular application of it at this Bar wasn’t my jam.
OK that was long. ass. day. We took trains back to the hotel and crashed hard. We both had early mornings planned for tomorrow.
Nothing pre-planned on the agenda today so we slept in and were not ambitious in what we put together for the day. We decided to start with what we call “coffee shop time” which is, in fact, us spending time in a coffee shop. We do this in our hometown on a semi-regular basis – bring the laptop and reading and knitting and headphones and videos, and chill in a coffee shop for a couple of hours. Sometimes it’s a brewery. This is that DINKWAD life, people.
We weren’t terribly sure what the culture was in Japan around loitering in a coffee shop so we kept it easy and walked a few blocks to a Starbucks. I know, why are we spending time in an American chain but honestly checking out American chains in other countries can be fun since they typically have different offerings and you can check out locals (if you’re in the right neighborhood). And sure enough, this Starbucks was chock full with locals doing their own loitering. It felt like home except the bicycles outside weren’t locked up.
After awhile we dropped our extra belongings back at the hotel and walked the 1.2 miles to the Uniqlo flagship store in Ginza. Originally I had planned to do this when Scott is going to be away at an amusement park all day (coming up on Tuesday). But right before we left Seattle I needed to head to a local Uniqlo to pick up another pair of my favorite shorts to wear under a skirt, and Scott came with me. While we were there Scott became enamored with some items he saw and I convinced him to wait until this trip to see if they were cheaper in Japan. So, alas, Scott joined me on this pilgrimage to one of my favorite clothing stores.
As we got into Ginza we were delighted to see that they close down the big thoroughfare to traffic on Sundays. Loads of people were out just wandering along the large avenue enjoying the scene. It was still hot out but a bit less humid so we were able to enjoy it.
We also wanted to grab lunch but I was wondering if we would be able to find a decent budget option considering the stores in this neighborhood. This is Gucci territory. I can’t remember if I found it on my phone or we just stumbled across it. It was called Blue Lily and it was a steakhouse and Chinese food restaurant that advertised a “dim sum lunch”. It was kind of oddly tucked down into a basement so we were a bit tentative as we approached. But dang it was so pretty down there. Kind of this old school Chicago steakhouse vibe like Sinatra might be sitting in a corner booth.
It wasn’t dim sum like we are used to with carts of tiny plates being wheeled around and you praying that the thing you’ve pointed to isn’t still alive or some unspeakable animal body part (sorry, I’m not a dim sum fan if you couldn’t tell). We just ordered from menus and the food was very tasty and very filling. We had the biggest gyoza I’ve ever seen. Scott had a super tasty beer from Tokyo Sumidagawa Brewing. All in this environment that felt above our pay grade. Total bill for this splurge? $32. Japan is SO AFFORDABLE.
It was time to head over to my own kind of temple. The Uniqlo flagship store is 12 stories. Seriously. The levels aren’t terribly big, but still… 12 stories. We were in there for a bit going through everything. I think maybe a couple of hours? Scott found quick dry items for himself, and I got t-shirts, cardigans, another pair of their joggers, and socks. Nice haul! I was able to confirm my suspicion that Uniqlo sizes differently in Fatmerica. And I might be one of those people that has to buy another suitcase to get their Japan purchases home. Ugh.
We were wandering around Ginza for a little bit and ran into the couple from Vegas that we met on our free walking tour yesterday. How random is that? They were so friendly and awesome to chat with. And also super gracious because they invited us to join them for a theme bar night tomorrow (stay tuned)… yay new travel friends!
We meandered back towards our hotel and checked to see if we could get reservations for that restaurant we tried to go to our first night in town based on a recommendation from Cakes With Faces. It’s a chain yakitori restaurant called Torikizoku with a location just a couple of blocks from our hotel, and we were in luck! This place was pretty fun – just ordering drinks and small plates intermittently from an iPad in our tiny booth. We had 4 drinks (including Scott’s gigantic beer), several skewers, some other small plates and the grand total? $28. WHAT?
A slow coffee date, walking unfamiliar streets taking in new sights and sounds, a leisurely lunch, meandering a neighborhood or two, and an entertaining dinner. We love these kinds of travel days.
We woke up early after not the best sleep. The A/C just wasn’t doing its job. But then we did a better job looking around the room, found the A/C remote and English instructions and quickly “fixed” the A/C. Guess we were more tired last night than we thought. Otherwise, jetlag wasn’t really affecting us but I remembered from a previous Asia trip that going West from the US isn’t so bad; it’s coming home that can be a bitch. But that’s not for another two and a half weeks!
As is becoming our travel routine, I had booked a free walking tour for this morning, our first full day in Tokyo. It was scheduled to begin at 10:30 am in Akihabara. Google Maps suggested a small station a couple of blocks away to begin our commute via train, but I was hesitant since we didn’t yet have our Suica cards and would need to figure out tickets, likely from a machine. A quick YouTube search alleviated my concerns with a preview of what we should expect. My time as an NYC resident might give me an advantage, but overall I think the metro/subway in Tokyo is really easy to navigate. Google Maps provides very detailed directions, including which platform number to find your train going in the correct direction, and the exit number you should use at your destination station.
It’s funny I made such an effort to get a hotel “close” to Tokyo Station for ease of transportation, but most of the time we used this much smaller station only two blocks from our hotel and it was still easy. On our next trip I’ll know to just make sure we are close to any station and it will be all good!
Once in the Akihabara area we eventually found our way to a bakery I had found online. I say eventually because unlike using Google Maps for transit directions, using it to follow walking guidance is horrible. It didn’t seem to do a good job of pinpointing our exact standing position at any given time, so we might think we were on one side of a road or an intersection but we were most definitely not. But yeah, we eventually found the Akihabara location for Vie de France and enjoyed a couple of goodies while we people watched.
Since we were figuring out how long it takes to navigate while walking, we left with plenty of time to spare for our free walking tour, and had a little time to browse inside the Tamashii Nations Store (the tour meeting point). I don’t really know any Japanese characters, but they had some great Star Wars items for this GenXer to enjoy.
We joined the Original Free Walking Tour of Tokyo hosted by Tokyo Localized at 10:30 am. Our guide was Reiko and she was so, so lovely. Our group was an international mix of maybe 10 people, including a couple from Vegas and a father/daughter duo from Cork/Dublin. In addition to an ongoing verbal overview of Japanese history and cultural notes, our three-ish hour tour included:
*A walk around Akihabara with comments on “otaku”. Oxford says, “a young person who is obsessed with computers or particular aspects of popular culture to the detriment of their social skills“. HA! Our guide also talked about maid cafes and recommended we give one a try. Um, no thank you. The neighborhood definitely had fun vibes and amazing visual stimulation though!
*Yushima Seido, a site for Confucianism including the world’s largest sculpture of the man himself. Our guide took the opportunity to explain how the Chinese teachings align well with Japanese culture, and how the temple fit into the larger story of Japanese history. Students frequently visit here to pray for scholastic success. Our guide also warned of the mosquito population on the grounds and graciously provided repellant, but per usual my blood is too tempting for those little shits and I found many welts on my legs the following day.
*The Kanda Myojin Shinto Shrine that is a favored site for business people to pray for success. Here, Reiko taught us about Shinto shrine etiquette. On one hand she explained that Japanese people are not judgmental or offended by people that simply walk around the grounds as a tourist stop. On the other hand she said non-believer tourists are also welcome to participate in visitation rituals and took us step-by-step through the process including how to walk through the torii gate, how to purify your hands and mouth, and how to pray at the offering hall. There are lots of websites and YouTube videos that detail the traditions, but getting the lesson during our walking tour was so great to instill confidence for the rest of our trip. The Shrine grounds included nice bathrooms and an indoor souvenir shop, which provided a wonderful A/C break.
*A quick stroll through Ameyoko Shopping District with a warning to watch our belongings in the crowded area with a reputation for pickpockets. The food stalls all looked super amazing, but sitting outside in the 90-degree humidity to eat did not.
*Ueno Park, which probably qualifies as their “Central Park”. Massive park with water features, museums, food stalls, etc. We didn’t walk through much of it on the walking tour, but it was a great ending point. Only one photo here because I was getting heat stroke and needed to find some sustenance and A/C asap. My face might have told you that already, though.
Overall I definitely recommend this tour and bonus if you can luck out getting Reiko! The company has several free walking tours spread around the city and next time we are in Tokyo we will likely do a couple more. I just think these tours are an awesome way to get acclimated to a new city. We all need to tip well to keep these going all over the world!
The next couple of hours are a little bit of a blur but I know in my heat stroke haze we made a stop in a Starbucks for a cold drink – the yuzu citrus iced tea was amazing, and we stopped in a tourist office to get our Suica cards. We had to show our passports to get them; apparently there’s a chip shortage so they’re reserving some for tourists. These tasks happened in/around/between Ueno Station and Tokyo Station. I know we ended up having lunch in Tokyo Station at a place that lured us in with their name: Beer Hall New Tokyo. Cold beer in an air conditioned restaurant. Yes. Well, kind of. Cold beer was good, food was pretty meh. They were trying to do German food. My German-ish partner was definitely a YES though – so cute, right?
Next on our preplanned agenda was Street Kart at 7:00 pm in Shibuya so we headed that direction planning to explore that neighborhood a bit before our start time. But when we started to exit the station a huge thunder and lightning storm hit and we crowded under the roofline with a couple of hundred other people to wait it out. It did stop for a short bit but then started up again later and we found refuge in the doorway of an apartment building.
This is when I started texting with the Street Kart office about options. They were cool about us rescheduling, but apparently we still needed to come to their office in person to do that (WHY?). Luckily the rain subsided to a trickle and we were able to walk to their office, but we decided to reschedule to another day anyway considering all of the rain puddles we would have to zoom through in our lowrider vehicles. No thank you.
For the late afternoon we spent a lot of time in the Mega Don Quixote in Shibuya. Does anyone ever get in and out of there quickly? Jesus that store is insane. I had seen a couple of videos on it during my trip planning but they did not prepare me. I found some stationery sets for Scott’s mom, and I grabbed my favorite kit kat flavors (orange & strawberry). I left the pikachu shorts for someone else.
After all of the walking, heat, sweating, heat stroke, new learning, and visual stimulation we were kinda done early. We did the cliche konbini dinner in our hotel room, showered, and zzzzzz… goodnight Tokyo.
We landed at Narita close to 3:00 in the afternoon. Customs/immigration had a longish line, but it moved. At immigration they didn’t put a stamp in our passports; they put a sticker which was so easy and clear to read. This was our first moment of “they do things that make sense here!” And the organized side of my personality swooned when she took the time to find the next available passport page with the right amount of space left for the sticker, instead of haphazardly opening the passport and slapping it on a random page. I wonder what those agents think when they see the chaos of other country stamps in people’s passports.
We had this cute little greeting as we exited customs into the arrivals hall. They like cute little things in Japan, right?
For most of the months leading up to this trip I had planned on using the Narita Express train to get us from Narita to Tokyo Station. It was going to take around an hour and $40 for the both of us to get within 20 minutes walking distance of our hotel so it seemed like a great option. Besides, it’s a TRAIN, and in Japan you take TRAINS. But then just a couple of weeks before we left I stumbled upon a YouTube video that talked about taking a coach bus from Narita to Tokyo Station and I was intrigued. Same transit time, half the cost, less popular with tourists. So we decided to keep an eye out when we landed at Narita to see which option was most appealing on arrival.
So we exit customs, get cash at an ATM, and then immediately see two counters selling these bus transfers to Tokyo Station. And the bus picks you up right outside the doors. And they could get us on one leaving in 20 minutes. And it was less than $10 pp. SOLD.
We were the only western tourists on the bus (this means it was quiet). It was comfortable and clean, obviously. They stored my bigger bag under the coach and pulled it off for me when we got to the station. This couldn’t have been easier, and considering it’s around a 40-mile trip I think the cost was a steal. I might preach bus coach over Narita Express forever.
When we disembarked from the bus we got our first clue that Google Maps for walking directions in Japan is just annoying. #iykyk But after a few false starts we started the walk to our hotel which was about a mile away. Tokyo streets are largely what I think you’d imagine – clean and orderly. Every single person waits for the cross signal before they cross a street. Every, single, person. The thing that caught me off guard the most was how few cars are driving on the road. This is one of the biggest megacities in the world and they must have fewer cars then Seattle. I know it’s expensive to drive there, and they have great transit, but it still struck me. Like I texted a friend during our trip, “I knew they were better than us, but now I know it know it.”
So the walk to the hotel was easy, but it was hot. Like hot and humid, muggy, sweaty, yucky hot. I kinda wish I had a wheelie bag at that point instead of my pack. So entering our hotel to a wave of frigid A/C air was heaven.
We stayed at the Hotel Villa Fontaine Hatchobori (they have several locations). I don’t remember exactly why I chose this one. I wanted a hotel walking distance to Tokyo Station for day trips, it was less than $100/night, and the reviews were decent. We prepaid $595.71 for 7 nights, including taxes, and including a $69.63 rewards credit we had on Expedia. I failed to take photos of the hotel and the room, but the photos on their website and Google are accurate. First impressions were great, and I’ll write about our overall stay when we check out on the 12th.
We unpacked somewhat quickly. Well, kind of. Not only was the room small (to be expected in Japan) but there wasn’t much in the way of furniture to unpack very well. But we made it work. We then set off the two blocks to a recommendation from Cakes With Faces, a chain yakitori restaurant called Torikizoku that uses iPads for ordering that you can toggle to English. Keeping it easy on our first jetlagged night. Well they were full and we didn’t have a reservation. Another time, then!
I was getting hangry so we stopped into the infamous Japanese 7-11 to grab snacks, head back to the hotel and regroup for a new dinner plan. This is where my love of konbini egg salad sandwiches was born. I started to Google a new dinner plan and we both just realized we were exhausted and would be happy with just another konbini run and an early night. So we set out again and this time found our first Family Mart. Like everyone else says, why can’t we have these in the US?
While Scott was showering I decided to see what was on Japanese TV. I noticed that they tend to have a lot of writing on their screens. There’s also a lot of big cute energy. And then there’s the show where a panel of people on a TV stage were watching and reacting to nighttime videos of cats navigating around their sleeping owners?
Goodnight, Tokyo. I look forward to getting to know you better. Sweet dreams.
Kjar-ied Away 