- I want to preface this for everyone who says that I only ever vacation in Japan, I swear I didn’t intend to take another Japan vacation this soon! My friend Plusan, who I went on the 2019 Tour de Japan trip with, asked if I wanted to tour around Japan again with her and her friend. So who was I to turn down an offer? Unfortunately her friend had to drop out, but we planned to continue on as a “third wheel” trip. That then changed again when my girlfriend’s brother’s girlfriend decided to join us.
- Given this would be my ninth trip to Japan and that the yen exchange rate was as historically low as it was, I wanted to take the opportunity to see and do things I never had a chance to before.
Day 1 – Calgary Layover
During our planning phase of the trip, we were able to book relatively affordable Business class tickets to Tokyo. The only caveat was that there was an overnight layover in Calgary. As it turned out our friend Aisa, who was the one who introduced me to Plusan in the first place, lived in Calgary. We hadn’t seen each other in years, so we’d be able to get a reunion as well as a trip to Japan!
⇲ Calgary
The day we landed was already snowy, and there was a snowstorm forecasted for the next day when we were scheduled to depart. We all met up the next morning at Bro’Kin Yolk for a hearty breakfast, then got additional coffee and donuts at the Tim Horton’s next door. After catching up on as much as we could, Aisa dropped us off back at the airport, where we hung around the WestJet lounge until it was time to depart. We took off in the middle of a snowstorm, but given that this was Calgary Airport it seemed like they were more than prepared. The plane de-icing was especially fun to watch.
⇲ Ginza Music Bar
Day 2 – First Day in Tokyo
We were all supposed to arrive around the same time and make our way to Toyko from Narita Airport together. But Charlotte, the fourth person on our trip, had her flight delayed significantly. Chichi decided to stay at Narita and wait for her as it was Charlotte’s first time traveling abroad, so Plusan and I took the train to Tokyo first to check into our hotel, the Hotel Gracery Ginza. We were then going to hit up Kura for some conveyer belt sushi, but walked past a standing sushi spot called Sushi Uogashinihonichi Yurakuchoten on the way and decided on that instead. Maybe it was because this was our first meal in Japan, but every single piece was damn tasty, especially the seared salmon and mayo. It was so good that I ordered a second piece, though that was mistakenly given to the person standing next to me. I thought their confused look and my animated hand gestures pointing at the sushi then at me let them know that it was mine. But nope, they just hand gestured generically, the guy then downed the sushi, and I never got replacement pieces. Sad face….oh well.
We headed off for a round of cocktails at Ginza Music Bar then tried shopping at Don Quijote, but there were just too many people. Chichi and Charlotte taxi’d to Tokyo pretty late, so we just retired for the night once they arrived.
⇲ Ginza Music Bar
Day 3 – Ginza and Marunouchi
We were up bright and early because, you know…jetlag. We made our way back to Tokyo Station to book our Shinkansen tickets for the next day, then began wandering the massive hallways full of snacks and shops. The wafts of smells coming from Bake Cheese Tarts led us to our first spot, which was saying something given just how many sweet and savory smells permeated the hallways. We headed street side for a bit to get some fresh air at the Tokyo Forums and the Imperial Palace grounds, then headed back into Tokyo Station once the rest of the stores began to open. We stopped first for a spot of coffee at Rockumei Coffee, then some shopping along Character Street for overly cute plushies and toys. Lunch time had everyone a little peckish, so we decided to wait in line for tsukemen from Rokurinsha. Still delicious after all these years, though it seemed no one else was able to finish off their bowls (how embarrassing).
⇲ Rokurinsha
We headed street side again to walk it off, passing by the new ice rink they’d set up along the avenue leading towards the Imperial Palace. Plusan and I had intended to swing by Facial Index, which was now known as Kaneko (the name of their parent company) for a new pair of glasses. I’ve never really been happy with any spectacles I’ve found in the States, so with the frequency I visited Japan I typically just picked up a pair of Spivvy’s whenever I could. Three out of four of us ended up purchasing new glasses as it were, though we’d have to wait until we got back to Tokyo later in the trip before they were ready.
We took an afternoon break for hot cocktails at Stand T, then a detour to Sanrio World Ginza before wandering around the pedestrianized main Ginza avenue as the sun went down. After a brief respite back at the hotel, we headed back out for an anago dinner at Anago Tamai inside the Barney’s New York Ginza (that’s a bit confusing, especially since we’re from New York). I wish I could say we knew what we were ordering, but I figured hey…it’s anago, what could go wrong? We ended up with a multi-course dinner featuring multiple ways for anago to be prepared. By the third or fourth course we were wishing we understood Japanese better. After (barely) crawling to the dinner finish line, we all skipped evening drinks and retired back to the hotel.
⇲ Ginza
Day 4 – Off to Fukuoka
We had an early morning chicken-off between 7-Eleven and Family Mart. Everybody was talking up the Famichiki, including Mr. Broad himself. So we had to see for ourselves who had the best fried chicken, bao buns, and adjacently who also had the better morning breakfast items. As it were, Famichiki was in fact the best tasting of the two (helpd by their spicy chicken offerings). But when it came to onigiris (especially the tuna and mayo), 7-Eleven came out on top. Everyone’s bao buns tasted the same (great).
⇲ Chicken-Off!
We didn’t want to hike our way back to Tokyo Station, so we took an Uber instead to help with all our luggage. We had a bit of time before our Nozomi Shinkansen to Fukuoka, so we took a little Doutour coffee break (they were the only place open). But to be fair their mocha wasn’t too bad. 25 years and I’d never once stepped foot in a Doutour until now.
It was a 5 hour train ride down to Fukuoka, so I reserved the cushy seats of the Shinkansen Green Car (so comfy!) In addition to the plush seats and ample leg room, I was also able to book seats on the right side of the train facing north on our west-bound train. Which means after all these years I was finally able to see Mt Fuji! It only took a quarter of a century.
Since revisiting Taiwan and having what is in my opinion superior train bentos, I had to try one of the fancy heated bentos during this train ride. I grabbed a beef and rice bowl and hoped for the best. And while it was definitely better than the typical lukewarm train bentos I’ve had in the past, it’s still no contest compared to the myriad of hot Taiwan bentos.
⇲ Fukuoka
We arrived in Fukuoka early in the afternoon and we immediately checked into our hotel, the Nishitetsu Grand Hotel. Unlike our incredibly puny rooms at the Hotel Gracery Ginza, our room was almost the size of our apartment back in NYC. Fairly impressed, and the hotel in general was incredibly old school. Massive lobby, dark rich woods and plush leather seating, event spaces all around, and a hotel bar overlooking a private grotto (called Grotto!). We actually started with an evening drink at said bar, then headed next door to the Daimyo Garden City Christmas Market to check out the Christmas Market we could see from our rooms. After rounds of glühwein and hotel sausages masquerading as bratwurst, my stomach got a bit weird, so I stayed in while everyone else headed back out to wander.
⇲ Grotto
Day 5 – Canals and Yatai
Since we were still waking up super-early in the morning, we had another chicken-off. To be honest, our only breakfast options were really 7-Eleven, Lawson’s, or Family Mart, so a chicken-off made us feel better about that fact. On top of that, it was an exceedingly rainy day, so we were a bit hesitant to roam too much. Chichi and I headed off to roam the canals on our own, strolling around Tenjin and Hakata while waiting for shops to start opening. We took a coffee break at White Glass Coffee while waiting for the rain to die down. Up until this point, we hadn’t really seen many tourists (obviously touristy tourists anyway), but White Glass seemed to collect them all in one place…including us!
⇲ Tenjin Christmas Market
After Plusan and Charlotte joined us later with umbrellas, the rain let up and we continued our roaming. The first stop for Plusan and Chichi though was the highly sought-after I’m Donut? (intentional question mark). Doing a quick Google search also flagged the upcoming NYC branch to Chichi, to her giddy delight. We had a nice curry lunch at Alley Curry Tiki, tucked away in the titular alley behind a non-descript house. We then took a break back at the hotel until nightfall, then headed back out to wander the other Christmas Markets around the city. Each one of them had their own unique mug designs that you would get if you ordered a glühwein, so we ended up with a couple that came with us back home.
We continued towards the canal-side for a yatai dinner (cannot remember the name at all), then wrapped the day up with a bit of drinkies at the British-themed BAR イギリス家.
⇲ Yatai Stands
Day 6 – Miyajima Island
We took an early morning buffet breakfast at the hotel, which was actually quite good (why didn’t we do this sooner?). After checking out and saying goodbye to the grand’ole Nishitetsu hotel, it was on to our next destination…Hiroshima! After a short train ride, we pulled into Hiroshima Station just in time for lunch, which had to be okonomiyaki. More specifically Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which in my opinion is world’s better than their Osaka counterparts. We settled on a place in the station called Denko Sekka, which was mostly out of convenience but was actually pretty good!. And while the plates of okonomiyaki look massive, they’re actually incredibly easy to eat. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki isn’t greasy or overly batter-y, and almost everyone finished up their hot plates (except for one of us who added cheese).
⇲ Denko Sekka Okonomiyaki
Our first day in Hiroshima wasn’t actually going to be in the city; it was actually out on Miyajima Island. So we took the train down to the ferry port and hopped on a ferry to the island. We dropped our luggage off at our ryokan Kinsuikan, then headed out to explore the town. The island was actually pretty crowded; a mix of foreign tourists, a whole bunch of Japanese school trips, and a small population of deer that didn’t seem as dickish as their Nara cousins. We snacked, shopped, and walked towards Itsukushima Temple, which I hadn’t visited since college. For those unfamiliar with Itsukushima Temple, the temple itself sits on a shallow inlet, and its torii gate sits even further out on the water. When we visited in college, the low tide allowed us to walk right up to the torii gate, and we stayed on the island long enough for high tide to turn the temple into a floating one. Absolutely amazing, and still an amazing view to this day.
⇲ Itsukushima Temple
We took plenty of photos, especially as the sun started getting lower, then headed back to our ryokan in time for our in-room kaiseki dinner. The kaiseki dinner was delicious, but just a tad overwhelming. By the time we were nearing the last courses I kind of just fucked off to take a shower. I couldn’t fit anything more in my stomach.
The girls went to check out the public baths while I headed up to the roof of the ryokan for some drinkies and amazing views of the island at night. The tourist crowds were thinned out (though ferry’s ran pretty late), so you were left with just the small population of locals and those staying on the island. Miyajima definitely turned out to be one of my new favorite places to visit.
⇲ Miyajima Island
Day 7 – Hiroshima
The early start to the day wasn’t going away anytime soon, so we decided to go see the sunrise over Itsukushima Temple. That was the plan anyway, except it was hard to gauge when to start recording our videos as the sun had to navigate its way over the mountains. And just like the sunrise over Biwako, we gave up literally seconds before the sun peeked over the mountains.
⇲ Sunrise on Miyajima
We headed back to the ryokan for breakfast, then figured that we had time to go up Mount Misen before we had to check out. Except we didn’t and ended having to run down the mountain to check out in time. That was a bit of a downer that the ryokan didn’t really work with us on that (we needed literally 5 extra minutes)…ah well. We stored away our luggage so we could relax on the island a bit longer, then headed out to shop. We started with snacks and confections from 藤い屋 宮島本店, then split up to wander on our own. Chichi and I wandered the side streets away from the main areas, explored the rest of the temple grounds, then took a break at one of the many Gebura‘s we kept seeing around the island for some rum cider.
⇲ Mount Misen
We finally hopped a ferry back to Hiroshima, checked into the Hotel Granvia Hiroshima atop Hiroshima Station, then split for personal time. Chichi and I got more okonomiyaki from Rei-Chan, but I passed out the rest of the day thanks to hustling down a mountain with camera equipment…damnit.
Day 8 – Hiroshima Take Two
Since we were all up early again, we made a concerted effort to find some proper early morning brekkie. Except all we could find was a nearby Komeda Coffee, which wasn’t so much breakfast as it was some bread that came with your coffee. Not satisfied.
⇲ Peace Memorial Park
We started the day by heading towards the Peace Memorial Park by bus (with a side of light rail when we went the wrong way), where we spent time walking around the park, then going through the Peace Memorial Museum (it’s alot to take in). We had a light snack at a nearby coffee shop called Mikawaya in the Sogo department store, then continued walking towards our actual destination, Hiroshima Castle. It’s a reproduction (obviously), but was somewhere between Osaka Castle (a fully modernized reproduction) and Himeji Castle (an actual castle) in terms of modernization, which was nice. I also picked up my Secret Santa gift from the gift store, because samurai stuff!
⇲ Top of Hiroshima Castle
We had a light lunch at Chapeau Rouge, then walked back to our hotel where Chichi and Charlotte broke off. Plusan and I continued on to do a bit of window shopping at the nearby Bic Camera and Fukuya, then took in some awesome evening cocktails at Bar Upstairs (the bartender got his start at the lobby bar of the hotel we were staying at), then a yakitori dinner from Buta Tora. Too bad for the rest of the absent crew, as both the cocktails and yakitori were incredibly good.
⇲ Fushimi Inari
Day 9 – Kyoto!
It was time to change up our scenery once again, this time to something a bit more familiar. As much as we had fun exploring Hiroshima, we caught an incredibly early morning train to Kyoto to maximize our time. I mildly regretted only giving Kyoto two days on this trip, so we arrived into Kyoto Station right as the day started. We immediately tossed our luggage into lockers and took a train two stops south to Fushimi Inari. Fushimi is by far the most over-touristed spot in Kyoto. But it was Charlotte’s first trip to Japan, so it wasn’t even in question whether we would pay a visit. As expected, the temple was absolutely mobbed with people. The “tourist loop” as I like to call it, was shoulder to shoulder jammed with people. Thankfully it cleared out quickly once people looped back to the entrance and the gates started to climb up the mountain. We decided to at least hit the second pit stop up the mountain before turning around (with mochi snacks of course). Hitting the summit of Inari probably would’ve been too much…or maybe I didn’t want another Mount Misen incident.
⇲ Tsutenkyo Bridge
I always liked pairing Tofukuji Temple with Fushimi as it’s alot more chilled out, with a fraction of the tourists, and only a short walk away. But surprisingly as we approached the temple, we saw massive lines of people milling around the temple….what the fuck? And not only lines of people, but a prescribed route through the complex in order to even see the Tsutenkyo Bridge. Ahhh….what the fuck is going on?? We did the best we could navigating the procession and skipping whatever portions we could, but the bridge itself was so incredibly mobbed with tourists that we couldn’t really enjoy the views over the valley. I’m hoping this is only because of the fall foliage. It’d be a shame if Tofukuji also became over-touristed. We at least got some nice oden, tea, and confections as they had food and craft stalls set up on the temple grounds.
We took the train back to Kyoto Station to grab our luggage, wandered the station a bit more for my nostalgic needs, then taxi’d to our hotel the Travelodge Kyoto. We booked it primarily because of its price and location, but it did turn out to be better than I thought. We wandered a bit around Teramachi, spent yen at a nearby gachapon shop, then settling into an udon shop called Sarashina Kishimen 更科本店 for lunch (it was pretty good!). We relaxed back at the hotel, then headed back out to wander Nishiki Market and the various shopping streets later in the evening. We did some light shopping, Chichi got her cat hat from Frapbois, then we landed back at Scotch and Branch (from our 2022 trip) for pre-dinner drinks. And I have to say, their drinks are still amazing. We went through about 3 rounds before finally heading out to dinner, where we ended up at the only lemon of the entire trip….an awful ramen shop called Kyoto Engine Ramen. No disrespect to their intended audience, but we should’ve looked closer at their menu. Because that was not good ramen.
⇲ Scotch and Branch
Day 10 – Roan Kikunoi
Chichi and I headed out early morning in search of breakfast. One of the complaints I’ve always had of Japan was that they don’t have a strong breakfast culture (available to tourists anyway). This is in stark contrast with Taiwan, who in my obviously biased opinion has incredibly delicious (and cheap) breakfast options everywhere. We did find a spot called Common Well (it was attached to a hotel) which had a great breakfast and plenty of coffee options. Once we were back at the hotel, we split for the day as Chichi and Charlotte had a ribbon making class and Plusan and I had a kaiseki lunch reservation.
⇲ Common Well
Plusan and I took a quick coffee break at an amazing spot called Weekenders Coffee (they were only open on the weekends). You placed your order, then sat in the courtyard with everyone else until they called your number. They didn’t do takeaway as they insisted that the coffee be had immediately. They took their coffee game very seriously.
⇲ Weekenders
After barely getting our coffee and downing it as quickly as we could, it was time to head to our lunch reservations at Roan Kikunoi. On our 2019 trip, even though I booked what’s considered the best kaiseki restaurant in the world (the 3 Michelin Kikunoi), Plusan was a little less than impressed by their offerings. She insisted that we try again as she now had a better understanding of kaiseki, so we booked their more casual sister restaurant Roan.
While waiting for their doors to open, we chatted up another American who it turns out had worked on a bunch of Star Wars shows like Mandalorian…very cool. He sent over complimentary sake during lunch, so of course we did the same. As for the kaiseki, I think the more casual offering did align better with my personal tastes, and it seems Plusan liked Roan more too. So yay!
We continued wandering around Gion after lunch, then headed back to our hotel by late afternoon. Chichi and Charlotte had gotten back from their class, so Chichi and I went for some last Kyoto drinks around Pontocho at a spot called Bar Prost. There wasn’t a menu; you just told the bartender what you were looking for and he’d craft you a drink. Every one of the drinks he made was amazing, but I’d say the Asian pear drink he made for Chichi was probably the best.
⇲ Bar Prost
Chichi and I met up with Plusan and Charlotte and insisted that our last dinner in Kyoto had to be better than the previous night. Chichi and I recalled a quaint alleyway in Shijo Kawaramachi with a yakitori spot from our 2022 trip, so we backtracked to it using old photos and found Yanagi Koji Taka. It definitely turned out to be worth (re)finding, as they had tasty yakitori and incredibly chill vibes.
⇲ Yanagi Koji Taka
Day 11 – Onto Kusatsu
The next day was going to involve alot of travel, so we took an early morning Uber to Kyoto Station to start the four hour journey to our next locale, the onsen town of Kusatsu. We were thankfully helped by the transfer desk while transiting through Tokyo Station. They laid out and booked the rest of the journey to Kusatsu for us with minimal wait time. This involved taking the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Takasaki, then a transfer to Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station, which had to be the longest station name I had to learn for this trip. Once we arrived at the station, we skipped the bus portion of the trip and splurged on a taxi ride straight to our ryokan, the absolutely gorgeous Ryokan Tokinoniwa. The ryokan overlooked the town; and in addition to the various hot spring amenities, each room also had their own open air bath. We spent a bit of time oohing and aahing the gorgeous rooms, amazing views, and sprawling ryokan complex before heading to the town center to the star of the show; the Yubatake.
⇲ Ryokan Tokinoniwa
One thing I somehow overlooked in all my reading and researching was the fact that Kusatsu was a sulfur-based onsen town. The entire town center smelled like rotten eggs. Within an hour or so though, our olfactory systems seemed to get used to it and the smell didn’t seem as pronounced as when we first arrived.
⇲ Yubatake
We had lunch at an izakaya called 暖 right before their afternoon closing time, then coffee and dessert at the cute little Cafe Gute Reise (affogato!). We then headed back to the ryokan in time for our kaiseki dinner (much more manageable than the one at Kinsuikan), then an evening open air bath while looking out towards the mountains.
Day 12 – More Kusatsu!
The original plan for our second day in Kusatsu was actually supposed to be a day trip to the Jigokudani Monkey Park to hang with the snow monkeys, As it turned out though, I completely misread both the time table and how frequent the trains were. As in it was not at all easy to get to from Kusatsu whatsoever without a car, so that plan went out the window. So after our morning breakfast at the ryokan, we went back down to the Yubatake to watch the Yumomi demonstration.
⇲ Foot Bathing
Our trip to Kusatsu was focused on relaxation, so we took our time chilling around the Yubatake, taking photos, and checking out the foot baths. We took a fancy coffee break at 喫茶去 where we lazy’d about watching them brew siphon coffee while having fancy desserts. We then had surprisingly good Neapolitan pizza (and ok pasta) at Tsukinoi 洋菓子･レストラン 月乃井. We imagined for ourselves that the wife wanted to run a pasta restaurant, the husband wanted to make pizza, and the mother-in-law just wanted to serve desserts. Maybe this was the story, maybe not.
We took the shuttle back to the ryokan to rest until sundown, then went back down to enjoy the Yubatake at night. The entire hot spring field was lit up and absolutely amazing to chill next to. We did some souvenir and snack shopping before heading back to the ryokan in time for another kaiseki dinner and private hot baths.
⇲ Yubatake
Day 13 – Back to Tokyo
Our last morning in Kusatsu meant the first day back in Tokyo (and the final leg of our trip!) We skipped the ryokan breakfast in order to catch the earliest train back to Tokyo. We took a taxi back to Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station for good measure, but still had to wait an hour for the next train to arrive…doh! Once we were back on the Shinkansen though heading towards Tokyo, the train ride seemed to speed right by.
⇲ Marunouchi
Arriving back in Tokyo Station, the first thing we did was to pick up all our glasses from Kaneko that we had ordered at the beginning of the trip. Mine gave me a headache after a while, so I had to put my old pair back on. We all got various lunches from the food trucks parked along Food Truck Street in Marunouchi; Chichi and I got a pretty tasty hamburg omurice. We all headed to Akihabara after lunch to do some Christmas shopping, though Plusan and Chichi headed off early while Charlotte and I stayed behind to keep shopping.
We met up later at the Tokyo Skytree Christmas Market to meet Chichi’s brother Jojo, who also happened to be vacationing around Japan. The Christmas Market had alot of food and drink items that we definitely didn’t see anywhere else, and in hindsight surprisingly turned out to be my favorite Christmas Market out of all the ones we visited. And they had the best mug to boot (because it was a boot!) While Chichi hung out with her brother, the rest of us went up to the Tembo Observation Deck to see Tokyo from the 350th floor (??). To be honest I think I still like Shibuya Sky better, though I did get a small JJK collab toy from the souvenir shop.
Sushi Keita
Chichi, Plusan and I had sushi reservations later in the evening for our first night back in Tokyo. I made the reservations for us at the one Michelin Sushi Keita. The sake, starters, and nigiri were all great, but I had an unexpected thought during the entire course…I think I’ve had better in New York. It was weird feeling that way, but maybe that’s saying less about Sushi Keita and more about how far New York City has come when it comes to great (and affordable) omakase.
We finally made it to our hotel, Hotel Groove Shinjuku, late in the evening. Being in the middle of Shinjuku (and right across from the Godzilla hotel), the area was nothing less than rowdy even that late. In fact I wouldn’t have expected anything otherwise.
⇲ Hotel Groove Shinjuku
Day 14 – Sunset Helicopter Tour
Even Shinjuku is short of decent morning options, so we made a 7-Eleven run for onigiris and katsu sandos, along with some Starbucks since we literally had to walk through them to get to our hotel.
⇲ Fluffy Pancakes Micasadero Cafe
We started the day with a nice stroll through Meiji Jingu before heading down Takeshita Dori and then Omotesando. I still wouldn’t really recommend Takeshita Dori for anyone visiting Tokyo, but it was requested so here we were. After wandering through Ura-hara and Cat Street, we took a lunch break at Micasadeco Cafe for fluffy pancakes, another spot from our 2022 trip. Fluffy pancakes now count as lunch options.
⇲ Tokyo Heliport
We took a quick trip back to our hotel to drop off our shopping bags before taking a taxi out to the highlight of our trip, a helicopter tour over Tokyo during sunset. This was something I wouldn’t have even imagined on past trips. But since there were four of us and the dollar to yen was so high, we kind of just said fuck it…let’s do it. We arrived at the Tokyo Heliport and were escorted over to the Airos Skyview hangar to chat with the staff and chill out until we got closer to sunset. When it was time for lift-off, I was lucky enough to sit up front, though I was of course expected to take all the photos and videos. But after lifting off and we started heading towards the nearby Tokyo Disney, all our faces were pretty much plastered against the windows for the rest of the flight. We flew over all of Central Tokyo, including flying up close to the Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Station, and over all the major neighborhoods. The skies were clear and the sunset was amazing, so the views out towards the city only got better over the course of the 30-minute flight.
It was amazing flying over the city, easily the best part of an already amazing trip and absolutely worth the price.
⇲ Tokyo Sunset
The rest of the day seemed inconsequential, but I still took notes! We bookended the helicopter tour with a spot of Mos Burger in Shibuya (hehe), followed by some evening shopping in Miyashita Park, then rounds of Butterbeer at Music Bar Cave Shibuya.
Day 15 – Asakusa and Azabudai Hills
There’s definitely a noticeable drop-off in my notes after the helicopter tour. But that’s ok, I have just enough notes and plenty of photos to draw from. We hopped on the subway towards Asakusa to see the sites of Senso-ji and the surrounding area. Like everything in Tokyo at this time, it was absolutely mobbed with tourists. The Nakamise-dori was stuffed with people and selfie-sticks, so we ducked down the side streets instead. One of the first shops we ducked into had gorgeous stationary and incredibly classy notebooks and souvenirs, so we all picked up numerous gifts from this one shop.
⇲ Senso-Ji Temple
As we made our way down the side streets, we also came upon Giraffa who were serving up curry-pans stuffed with cheese. Why is this not a thing here in New York?? After getting tired of the crowds, we headed back to Akihabara to try and wrap up our shopping. We had a quick lunch at the only thing we could find, a Vie en France (it wasn’t bad!), then we all split up to do our own shopping. After finally buying what I needed, I dropped everything off at the hotel and started making my way towards Chichi. We lost Charlotte somewhere in there as she got fed up with the subway and train network, but Chichi, Plusan and I met up at the new Azabudai Hills to check out their fancy new Christmas Market.
⇲ Azabudai Hills
By this point in the trip everyone was craving non-Japanese food (except me). As it were we decided on a Thai dinner and drinks at the tapas side of Saawaan Bistro. They had a BOGO happy hour (no complaints) and some excellent dishes, along with a friendly bartender who was sad that they had to dilute Thai flavors to suit Japanese tastes. Still tasty though, and some especially great cocktails. Thumbs up, would visit again.
Chichi and I were going to have a couples night out after this, but something we ate didn’t sit right with her so we spent the rest of the night back at the hotel.
Day 16 – Last Day in Tokyo
As amazing as the trip had been, it inevitably had to end. So on our last full day in Japan we got things started early with a bit of a walk to the amazing Cafe Swamp for coffee in the morning. Tucked away on a quiet side street, their coffee and Japanese Bossanova playing on vinyls was everything I wanted from a Tokyo trip.
⇲ Cafe Swamp
After the shops started opening, we ran through the Takashimaya depachika shopping for gifts and sake before splitting up to wrap up any remaining shopping…I think (there’s a gap in my notes). I headed to Ginza to meet Plusan for lunch at Nemuro Hanamaru, except there was a 3 hour wait. Let’s try Kura then….shit, a one hour wait. We landed on Yumcha Terrace Toh Sai (which was right next to Kura) but was actually pretty tasty! I’m also pretty sure the owners were Taiwanese, so thumbs up to that.
⇲ Roppongi Hills
We did some light shopping around Ginza, then headed to Roppongi Hills to meet Chichi and Charlotte for the Christmas Illuminations. While they definitely had some amazing decorations, their Christmas Market was absolutely mobbed and there was nowhere to sit. We had to eat our bratwurst standing next to the signage…not very festive. We had a not-so-great dinner at Piao Xiang, then headed back to Shinjuku for one last group drink at the Shinjuku branch of Bar Bridge. While the DJ and sound system were as amazing as the original, they didn’t have the views that the Shibuya spot had, so I definitely still prefer Bar Bridge Shibuya. After a couple rounds, Chichi and I finally got our Tokyo couples night chilling out to whiskey and coke.
Cheers Japan, and I’ll see you soon.
⇲ Bar Bridge Shinjuku
