Japan

During my maternity leave we traveled once around the world. As part of this trip we spent one month in Japan during February & March 2018. We started with a week of exploring Tokyo before heading a week north to Nagano and finishing off with almost two weeks in Kyoto. Those three cities were our bases from where we did many day trips, making the most of our 3 week Japan Rail Pass.

Maybe one day I’ll get around to write up our trip in more detail. Until then, below is our high level itinerary (each picture roughly equals a day) and the blog by 2 Aussie Travelers was my main source for things to do in Japan and will have many details on the places we visited. An absolutely brilliant resource with many off the beaten path ideas.

UENO

Ueno was our home for our time in Tokyo, so we spent quite a bit of time on a daily basis exploring parts of it. We went to see the panda cub at the Ueno Zoo, experienced the cherry blossom madness (even though it was a very rainy day!), and enjoyed the various different temples and shrines within the Ueno Onshi Park.

SHINJUKU, SHIBUYA & HARAJUKU

We started the day by taking the lift to the viewing platform of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, visited the well know Shibuya crossing, were blown away by the peace & quiet of Meiji Jingu, and explored the colorful streets, food and people of Harajuku. Meiji Jingu was definitly the highlight of the day as it is quite surreal how one can go from the hustle & bustle of the city into these thousands years old woods.

TJSUKIJI, HAMARYIKYU, SKY TREE

By the time I write this down Tjsukiji market will be no more, which is a real shame as it was an amazing food experience. The toddler loved trying everything! Hamaryikyu was in gorgeous bloom and we enjoyed a lovely tea ceremony. Finished the day off with a river cruise taking in the bridges of Tokyo and by climbing the Sky Tree (with amazing views all the way to Mt. Fuji).

HAKONE

For ages I kept going back and forth between doing Hakone as a day trip or spending a couple days in the lake district. We ended up doing it as a day trip and it was the perfect day. Even though a bit touristy, the toddler loved the various modes of transport and the views were just incredible. Also had the best Katsu curry at the restaurant at the top of the cable car!

AKIHABARA & ASAKUSA

Our highlights of today was running into a guy walking his pig around the neighborhood and eating Okonomiyaki at Benten in Asakusa (there was a little playground around the corner).

YUDANAKA ONSEN

I worried that getting the full Ryokan experience with a toddler in town wouldn’t quite work out, but I was so wrong. I had a lovely time staying at Yudanaka Yumoto. The staff were lovely and super helpful. I could make use of the onsen while placing the sleeping toddler on a mat next to the bath, and they gave us a ride to the start of the walking path for the Snow Monkeys. Totally worthwhile experience!

MATSUMOTO

One of our favorite days in Japan was a day trip from Nagano to Matsumoto, a 16th century strong hold nick-named the ‘Crow Castle’ for its black outer walls. One of only a few Japanese castles maintaining it’s original wood interior, it was fascinating to climb the steep stairs and learn about its history. We also walked along beautiful Nackamachi street and tried the local delicacy, eal, at

NAGANO

I really enjoyed staying in Nagano for a couple of days as it is a lot calmer then Tokyo but still has a lot to see and do. The area around Zenkoji is really impressive. Some of my favorite temples we visited and it was amazing to watch a Buddhist ceremony in the early morning.

OBUSE

Another one of our favorite days was exploring the area around Obuse. We came for the Hokusai museum and discovered so much more. Highlights included the Hokusai painted dragon ceiling at Gangsho-in and the Buddhist temple hidden in the forest, Jokoji.

KANAZAWA

Decided to stop over in Kanazawa for a couple of hours on our way from Nagano to Kyoto in order to check out the Omicho fish market and famous Kenroku-en gardens, Sadley it was a grey & rainy day, so it was a bit miserable. We still powered through and the garden still looked lovely. Must be gorgeous on a sunny day!

EASTERN KYOTO

On our first day in Kyoto we followed the Eastern Kyoto walking route by 2 Aussie Travelers. We didn’t go into every temple and shrine on the list, but picked and chose what we fancied. It was a brilliant day exploring this part of the city on foot which we finished with an amazing udon dinner at Omen.

NARA

On a beautiful day we hopped on the train to Nara to enjoy the temples, cherry & plum blossoms and deer. The toddler got to crawl through the tree that promises a place in paradise at Todai-ji temple (much to everyone’s amusement) and we loved the lanterns lining the path towards Wakamiya shrine.

ARASHIYAMA

This was the day trip that I would least recommend, because yes there is a bamboo grove and there are monkeys on a mountain, but it is all very touristy and we were lucky enough to see both of these in much better environments in other places. That being said, it is a nice day out, there are just too many other amazing things to do around Kyoto. Did have an amazing lunch at Arashiyama Yoshimura.

OKYJAMA CASTLE & GARDENS

FUHIMI INARI SHRINE

While thousands of people trek up Mt. Inari via the most direct route through the Torii, I decided to turn off after the first couple of Torii tunnels and go up the back via a gorgeous bamboo forrest. There was nobody else on this path and the landscape was just amazing. We then did the Torii path on the way down when it was much less busy and more enjoyable.

ENRYAKUJI

My absolutely favorite day trip from Kyoto. It took us two attempts because the cable car was closed the first time we tried (check the website!). Didn’t matter though as it gave us time to explore Sakamoto which is a lovely little town. This is definitely a day to leave the stroller at the hotel as there are uneven forest paths and many stairs.

OSAKA

This was supposed to be a break day, so clearly it made sense to hop on the train for an hour to go to the children’s museum in Osaka. But the interior was designed by Hundertwasser, a fellow Austrian, so how could I not check it out! This place was amazing and the ball run in the entrance totally mesmerized the toddler.

HIMEJI

KYOTO: GOLDEN PAVILION

This place was so ridiculously touristy, don’t think I would go back there. One thing I noticed was that in Tokyo most shrines and temples still felt like places of reflection and worship, whereas in Kyoto, quite a few of them just feel like tourist attractions and have pretty much lost all charm and mystic.

KYOTO: IMPERIAL PALACE

On our last day in Kyoto we visited the Imperial Palace.