Japan as a tourist destination has been the talk of the town. In this post, I would like to share with you our recent Japan trip, summer of 2024. We truly enjoyed our Japan summer holidays! It was magical and absolutely enchanting. I can say that it was indeed a dream come true.
If you are planning for our trip/holidays to Japan, I hope this personal post will be useful to you; Japan in my optics as a tourist:
1. My take aways as a tourist in Japan:
- No metro nor train station is small in terms of crowd and of network. Even if we went to the suburds, outskirts of the city, the Madrid metro network and the passengers are still smaller compared to Japan.
- Public transport infrastructure is efficient, easy, accessible. But while it is accessible and modern in terms of network, the stations are not always PWD nor luggage friendly. You will have to locate the scalator or elevator if they are available or otherwise, you will have to carry your luggage via stairs
- Regardless of the metro, subway and public transport that you have taken, expect to walk. Walking is essential to be able to see the city alleys, corners and visit the tourist attractions.
- If you are visiting during summer, like us, HYDRATION is important. The heat is strong and humidity is high so you have a high feeling of suffocation. Water is easily available as there are vending machines and convenience stores in every corner, in every street.
Snapshots of some of the convenience stores and vending machines that we have encountered in Japan.
- Anywhere you go, food is great. This is one of Japan´s strongest points. You do not have to follow a bucket list to enjoy its gastronomic offerings. Even the mediocre izakayas, restos still offer really good food! And its value for money food!!
- In our trip, we were able to debunk the myth that Izakayas are not tourist friendly. We were graciously attended to in all of the Izakayas that we entered!
- Coffee shops have boomed in Japan
Snapshots of some of the best food that we have eaten in the different Izakays and Coffee Shops
- Japanese hospitality and tourism business can boast of a very respectful customer service and treats the tourists well (no over pricing)
- Japanese professionalism is commendable. Even the taxi drivers wear neat and crisply pressed clothing/uniforms. Even if there is a language barrier, the cashiers, the attendant, the service provider will explain and accompany with gestures their explanation to make sure that you understand their message. For example: opening a boxed item to ensure that it is not damaged, counting the bills that you paid and counting in front of you the change.
- Garbage: There is barely available trash bins in public places and in the hotels/airbnb accommodation, litter segregation is a must.
- Japanese fashion is amazing, bold and daring. Even if the beautiful Japanese women are wearing minimal design clothing, they have a strong sense of fashion. And the youngsters love to dress up!!
- Japanese´s contribution to pop culture which the tourists and foreigners/globally have embraced: anime, capsule toys, claw machines, pet cafes, cosplay
- Travel light, minimal baggages to facilitate moving around and just buy an extra luggage when in Japan
2. Our itinerary: We completed a 3 week holiday. We incorporated kid friendly attractions as we travelled with our 13 year old son. We did not go to DisneySea, Disneyland, Universal Studios, but instead, as requested by my son, we went to Tomica and Plarail shops in the Tokyo Character Street for a couple of times. We also went to the Studio Ghibli museum im Mitaka, Cup Noodle Museum in Yokohama and Cafe Plarail/Plataku.
- Tokyo: we spent a total of 9 days in Tokyo, 1st leg was upon arrival 4 days and 2nd leg was prior to fly back to Madrid. In both occasions, we stayed in Taito, Asakusa.
- Senso-ji temple and as it was summer we watched the light festival
- Side trip to Yokohama where we went to experience the Cup Noodle museum experience
- Akibahara (we visited this place 2x): A haven for character shops, capsule machines and specialized products on manga and anime
- Shibuya (we visited this crossing 2x). You will also see the monument of Hachiko on the other side of Shibuya
- Shinjuku
- Ginza (we visited this place 2x). On Sundays, the streets are converted to pedestrian to give the tourists the opportunity to walk more freely
- Meiji Jingku temple
- Mt. Fuji tour: you have to allocate a full day tour
- Tokyo Skytree
- Cafe Plarail: plataku, a haven for all Plarail and train lovers kids and kids at heart
- Mitaka/studio Ghibli museum
- A walk in the sumida river
- Ueno for shopping and for the Sanrio Giftgate shop
Some snapshots of our Tokyo escapade
- Kyoto: 4 days and 3 nights
- Kiyomizu shrine and gion village
- Kenji museum and Fushimi Inari shrine
- Kinkakuji (Golden shrine/Pagoda), Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Kyoto city walk and Arashiyama Monkey Park
Kyoto Snapshots
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- Osaka: Dotonboori Street
- Miyajima: Itsukushima Shrine. We were able to see the complete experience, from low tide in the afternoon, to high tide in the evening and early in the morning when we were able to access the shrine. We also stayed in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese abode and we dove into the private onsen of the Ryokan.
Osaka Snapshot
Miyajima Snapshots
- Hiroshima: 4 days and 3 nights
- Hiroshima Downtown
- Okonomimura: Okonomiyaki place in Hiroshima downtown
- Commemoration of the Atomic Bombing: Early ceremony at 9am, Children´s Peace Monument, Museum Peace Park, Lantern Festival during the evening, Atomic Bomb Dome
- Hiroshima Castle
Some snapshots of our Hiroshima visit
3. Packing Considerations:
- Consider the season/weather that you will visit. Pack clothes according to the season. Summer is very hot and humid. It is strongly recommended to wear loose, cotton, airy clothes and shirts. Also, portable mini electric fans, umbrellas, thermal water, caps and sunscreen are very handy and helpful!
- Pack comfortable, walking shoes. Forget about ballerinas, flip flop or heels. If possible, bring a couple of sneakers, rubber shoes so you can alternately use them.
- Pack light as you will be mobile. You will move from one train to another, one station to another and one big city to another.
- Typically, hotels provide toiletries and sleepwear/yukata and airbnbs/apartments provide toiletries. If you don not have special considerations, the shampoo, shower gel and conditioner provided are pretty decent.
- In our case, due to our health considerations, we have to bring our own toiletries.
- And if applicable, do not forget your medicines/vitamins/supplements
and medical, travel insurance as you´ll never know when they will come useful.
4. Practical tips and links to the services and platforms that we used:
- It is advisable to have a local sim to avoid excessive roaming charges. We bought ours from the Haneda airport and they were reasonably priced and the staff were all friendly and accommodating
- Suica card: this is a multi purpose debit card that can be used as a tap/transport card all over Japan and is widely used in the restaurants and convenience stores. Sucia card can be purchased from any station and can be recharged at any station, though only in cash.
- If you are a resident of Madrid, please come and visit Naomi. She’s our tour consultant and helped us prepare by giving us an overview on the Japanese culture and habits. These are the links to her business: https://
arganzueladigital.com/ sakigake-madrid/ and her Sakigake Madrid Facebook page - Klook app: travel, tourism guide which we used to buy Shinkansen tickets in advance and organize our unforgettable Mt. Fuji day trip
- Nissan/cup noodle museum Note: Reservation can be made 3 months prior to your scheduled visit.
- Airbnb: Search engine for accommodation
- Mitaka: to reserve the studio ghibli visit. Note: Reservation is open only every 10th of the month, 10am Japan Time. Even if this is a very busy site, it is fast and efficient. However, in our case, we endured the 7 hour time difference; we were connected as early as 3am Madrid time to reserve our tickets. The whole transaction, from logging in to finalizing the purchase lasted a total of 55 minutes.
- Hotel Mystays Haneda airport: overnight accommodation upon arrival as we arrived midnight
- IP City Hotel Osaka:
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