Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka

This is where the use of bullet trains (Shinkansen) begins. These trains travel at huge speeds, but are so comfortable. It's all reserved seating and if you don't want to put your luggage in the overhead compartment you have to book specific places for it to go on the carriage. The trains don't have food services, so make sure you take snacks and drinks if it's a long ride. Most of our bullet train rides took us under 2hrs.

The Golden Pavilion, Kyoto

Kyoto

We spent a few days in Kyoto, which is so different from Tokyo; it's much less high rise and you can see the mountains surrounding it, but still has plenty to do. We visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine which has thousands of Torii gate shrines going up the mountain. It's a very popular tourist spot, so the advise is to go early, although apparently it gets quieter the further up the mountain you make it. I did not make it up that far. We also went to Kiyomizu-dera temple which was also very very busy. About an hours train ride from Kyoto is Nara park, particularly famous for its deer which have learnt to bow in return for food and we visited another temple whilst we were there. Kyoto is also home to the Geisha district, which we did walk through, although we didn't actually see any. You can book for shows at Gion corner but you need to do this well in advance as they sell out quite a way ahead of time. Another thing we did was go on an e-bike ride along the Kamo river to visit a Zen temple and the Golden Pavilion, which all made for a really lovely morning out. We were lucky to see a number of grey herons and a Nutria. Kyoto station also has a sky garden and sky walk for some free views out over the city, although I did also go up Kyoto tower because I enjoy observations decks from up high overlooking places.

Nara deer

Hiroshima

Next stop was Miyajima Island, a short ferry ride from Hiroshima. This island also has sacred deer, although these ones much prefer stealing your shopping bags. There is a cable car up the mountain which provided some lovely views, but it was still a long hike to the top, so I didn't indulge. Did do some shopping and enjoyed some lovely food here. It is also home to the Torii gate in the sea, although at low tide you can walk up to it, but either way it is very pretty (photo below).

We then visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park. Unfortunately the museum was super crowded and noisy, which I feel detracted from the visit, but for me it was an important place to go to. The museum has personal effects of those directly impacted by the atomic bomb in 1945, followed by a section looking at nuclear weapons and the desire for peace. The surrounding park is beautiful and contains a number of further memorials relating to those killed by the atomic-bomb. Nearby is also the A-bomb dome, which is the only structure that remains after the widespread destruction and fires that followed. Historically it is a significant place as it was the first place to have an atomic bomb dropped on it, with the second being dropped over Nagasaki a few days later. The park was beautiful and I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to visit.

Osaka

After going up to the Umeda Sky Observation floor, I visited Osaka castle and museum and learnt some more about Japan's history. The world expo is nearby and we also had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the castle which was nice. It's a bit of a train ride from where we were staying in Shin-Osaka but was lovely to visit. Rather than join the que to buy tickets, we bought them on Klook once we were outside and went straight in.

Osaka Castle

Two of us went to the Osaka Aquarium and spent a lovely morning watching the fish and penguins being fed. You start at the top of the building and spiral down around the tanks. My highlight was seeing great whale sharks and emperor penguins. After this I walked over to the Tempozan ferris wheel that overlooks the port for a lovely view of the area and even had a car with a glass floor in it at no extra cost (slightly more of a que though). It's the world's largest ferris wheel at 112.5m tall and a diameter of 100m. I then went to Dotonburi to see the famous running man billboard and visit Don Quijote to do my souvenir shopping.

Aquarium

Kansai airport is huge and it took a long time to get through check in, security etc, to the point where despite arriving 2.5hrs before my flight, I made it to the gate in time for final boarding. I would not say I had a great experience through this airport, and actually had a better time getting through transit at Shanghai Pudong 2hrs later.

Tokyo Part 2, Kamakura and Hakone

After a few days solo in Tokyo, I joined a 13 day group tour, run by The Dragon Trip. We stayed in hostels and had a guide who came with us and helped us get around for the trip, This included travelling around Japan using public transport and the Shinkansen (bullet train). The trip also included a number of activities and not only did we make sushi, we also got to try out Calligraphy, both of which were new skills for many of us. 

Mount Fuji viewed from Arakurayama National Park

Tokyo

We started with a sushi making class, which introduced us to the different types of Sushi in Japan before we made our own for dinner. We then visited the observation deck at Tokyo Metropolitan Building, this is free but does come with a fair bit of queuing. We went in the evening and had a night time view of the Tokyo skyline, which personally I think looks beautiful. Our tour also took us out to the Tsukiji fish market which was very busy, with lots of fresh sea food being sold in lots of little shops. We also visited a fair few shrines and temples which are dotted around Tokyo, you generally don't have to go far to find one.

3 of us booked for the Sumo experience, which came with a lovely dinner. We were given a very brief history and then got to watch 2 ex-sumo wrestlers demonstrate their exercises that they spend many hours a day practicing and how to push each other out of the ring. If you felt so inclined afterwards, you could don a sumo suit yourself and attempt to push a sumo wrestler out of the ring. The evening ended with a Q&A and group photos. It was a really enjoyable evening, I would certainly recommend it.

    Other popular tourist spots in Tokyo

- The 3D cat crossing billboard in Shinjinku, was good to visit, but was broken up with A LOT of adverts, it also looks better at night.

- Harajuku, which I am reliably informed is a place of fashion, although I'm not sure I appreciated it all that much. Also home to animal cafes which I didn't visit.

- Hachiko statue and Shibuya scramble crossing. The latter is the world's busiest pedestrian crossing, which feels more chaotic and ground level than it looks from above. There are lots of free and paid for spots you can see the crossing from, we chose a rooftop bar overlooking the crossing.

Arakurayama National Park

We had a day trip here by bus, which took about 2hrs from Tokyo. We hiked up to Arakura Fuji Sengen for a stunning view of Mount Fuji behind the Chureito five-storied pagoda. We were very lucky with the weather in the morning and were blessed with a stunning view. By the time we went to Tenku no Torii the cloud had begun to descend over Mount Fuji. There was a lot of walking and hiking and stairs involved, but the views were definitely worth it.

Kamakura

This was a flying visit, as we only spent a day here. It's a coastal spot, but if you head away from the beach there is also a lot of shopping available. Kotoku-in temple has a 13.4m tall Buddha statue and some lovely grounds to walk around. Whilst we were here we also practiced calligraphy. I was with some studio ghibli fans, so we went to the Ghibli store and visited Tsurgaoka Hachimangu shrine. There was also an avenue lined with cherry blossom (sakura), which was just beautiful.

Hakone

I have to say, getting here was a mission that involved a bus, a hike, a ferry that looked like a pirate ship over Lake Ashi and another bus, with a cable car ride to Owakudani thrown in for good measure. Owakudani is famous for its black eggs, cooked in the Sulphuric waters of the volcano, and allegedly adding 7 years to your life. In reality the shell turns black and the egg inside is cooked just like a normal boiled egg, but it was a fun thing to try. The gift shop has a whole range of black egg themed products you can buy.

This area has a lot of hot springs and our guesthouse for the night had 2 private onsen, one indoor and one outdoor. I used the indoor one and had a lovely 30minute session in the pool by myself. Very relaxing.

Tokyo Part 1

Travel 

I flew into Narita airport via Shanhai Pudong on China Eastern as they had the cheapest flights. Once in Narita airport I bought an IC card and put money on it to travel on the trains and subways. It's a pay as you go fare, but fares weren't too expensive. Tokyo has a vast subway system and with a little help from Google maps I was able to get around without any problems. All of the public transport has signage and announcements in Japanese and English, so it was easy to know where you were. Some stations, however, have so many exits it can be confusing how t get out of the station to head for the direction you want to go. 

DisneySea 

 I didn't arrive pre-opening time and didn't manage to get any standby passes for performances or rides. One ride broke down whilst I was queuing for it and another broke down before I found where it was. I only made it on one ride; Sinbad's voyager storybook, which was very good. There were ques for everything, from snacks to ride ques over 2hrs long. It was a nice day out but I'm honestly not sure I would go again. Unlike Disneyland, DisneySea has a volcano, which I think I expected more from.

Activities 

 I used Klook to pre-book what I wanted to do well ahead of time. Lots of things were fully booked due to it being peak season. I did a sweet making and matcha tea workshop near Kanda (there is nothing else to do in Kanda), which was a nice experience. I visited Ueno Park and a couple of shrines within it, which was nice despite the rain. Tokyo National Museum is actually a complex of museums. I only made it round the Japanese gallery and the gardens because there was so much to see, so I missed a lot too. I was able to buy my ticket when I got there, rather than having to pre-book. Really interesting visit, as well as layered stamps and Eki stamps. 

My highlight was Teamlab Borderless, aka the digital art museum. This is an immersive digital artwork with hidden rooms and no route. I thought I was done and then discovered a whole new corridor with more to explore. The photos don't do it justice, you really need to go and see it for yourself. In one room I coloured in a turtle template, which was then scanned and appeared as part of the sea scape room, with hundreds of other creations, drawn by other people. At the end you could even get your design printed onto a badge, towel or bag. There is also Teamlab Planets, but I didn't book for this as I didn't have enough time to do both, but I hear that is also pretty amazing. 

 I also booked for the 3 main towers; Tokyo tower, Skytree and the very popular (thanks TikTok) Shibuya Sky. Tokyo Tower was the first I visited and I was here over sunset, so I had day and night views. The orange and white tower stands out in the surrounding area and I really enjoyed my visit here. It has a cute cafe that sells drinks and ice creams. Skytree was rammed, granted I visited on a Sunday afternoon, but the que for the lift back down from the top level was a good 20mins on its own. Great views over the great expanse of Tokyo that seems to go on to the horizon and beyond. Good shopping available there too. Although, personally I think I preferred Tokyo tower. Lastly I visited Shibuya Sky, which books up super fast when the bookings open 2 weeks ahead. The only slot I could get was midday and as it came recommended, I booked it. It has an open rooftop with great views and lots of places for a great photo. It was busy, but not as bad as Skytree and they had free lockers as you aren't allowed to take anything other than your phone/camera out with you.

Tokyo Tower

Skytree

There are also lots of temples and shrines in Tokyo, I found that almost everywhere I went I would see the distinctive red Torii gate of a shrine or temple and enjoyed visited both quieter and popular ones whilst I was walking around. Some were small and others much bigger, but they were all beautiful and well kept. As most are actively used, they don't come with a huge amount of English signage, but are lovely places to visit.

Accomodation 

I stayed in an APA hotel in Kojimachi, which was a comfortable hotel that provided breakfast. One night however, I took an overnight bag and stayed in a capsule hotel. I felt it had to be done. Towels, pyjamas and toothbrush/paste were provided and the capsule was actually quite spacious, including a light and a USB charging point. The male and female facilities were on different floors, serviced by different lifts, although the lounge on the top floor was open to everyone and had a lovely view of Tokyo Tower.

A Capsule at the 9hrs Capsule hotel