2025 Toyko, Hakone, Kyoto Japan
Arrival - day 0
super tired but was a cute walk from subway to hotel
Bought delicious sweet potato pastry
Got our fortune told at the shrine for 100 yen - if it’s good you keep it, if it’s bad you tie it up there and leave it
After checking into hotel, napped til Negina got in
Ate dinner at revolving sushi (45m wait) everything was self serve - from getting number, to getting seated, to ordering and paying - we all full and paid $32
7/11 stop <3
Put on matching pjs and slept
Day 1
cold and overcast
Breakfast at hotel, snacks from 7/11
Love there are drink vending machines everywhere with hot and cold drinks
Suica card is so easy on iPhone wallet. Just fill it and scan phone
Subway pretty easy to figure out
Rode to Shibuya - walked thru the crossing. Saw famous dog statue (hachiko). Shopped at Uniqlo for Marshall to get better cold weather clothes.
Walked through yoyogi park and saw entrance to temple
Goal was b side label stickers and it was very small and cute on a really quaint shopping street (Harajuku, all things teenage culture.) Good vibes (cat street)
Trendy shoe store too crowded for Marshall's liking
Lunch at Gluten FreeTs kitchen - so tiny and cute. Very good.
Rode to shinjuku and saw the 3D cat, Godzilla street and then met Chris and Jen for rooftop drinks (expensive)and a killer view on 45th story
Finally, had to get back to asakusa for dinner reservation at Gonpachi - meat and veggie skewers
Walk home was very cold with chunky, wet snowfall
Negina bought her traditional vacation umbrella
Wandered a mall looking for shoes for Marshall
Noticed: restaurants have little baskets to put your belongings
Steps: 22k / 9 miles
Day 2
Sunny!!
Breakfast from 7-11/ Lawson (sold out of egg salad sammies at 7-11 so had to get one from Lawson; Negina had her first onigiri
Went to don Quijote (multi level store of so many things)
Saw long lines of dudes staring at their phones for what we thought was for a casino
Walked down kitchen street (kappa bashi)
Headed to sumida city hoping to see capybaras
Got super lucky and was able to go to the capybara cafe! Most of the time require booking weeks in advance
We needed to kill an hour so we walked around this part of town that was not touristy at all. Bought some delicious chicken from a mom and pop shop.
After capybaras, Tourists told us about the onigiri shrine so we popped by there
Took a stroll over the sumida river/sumida park
Popped by Imado shrine with lots of maneki neko (bekoning cats)
Next was lunch at tempura asakusa - which is gluten free tempura bowls that came with instructions. We had the place to ourselves - which was on the 2nd floor off a crazy busy street
For dessert, had candied strawberries and ninja got foam art coffee
Marshall tried on some platform sneakers
Then we tried some bad strawberry themed alcohol (tequila and sake)
And continued to walk around busy streets and shops
Stopped for an interview from a couple girls practicing their English
Saw a few cherry blossom trees blooming here and there
Saw very phallic pink and blue chocolate covered bananas
Popped into a wood block prints shop - owners were really sweet
More vending machine stops and 7-11 pop ins
Ended the day with lovely views from the top of our hotel around 6pm
We saw lots of dogs in strollers
20k steps, 8.6 miles
Day 3
weather is clear!
check out. Finally got egg sando from 7-11 and was indeed delicious and better than Lawson’s
Took a romance car train to Hakone - saw some nice views of mt Fuji
Once in Hakone, we took the railway to a stop for a snack. We found an adorable cafe (Naraya Cafe) that served delicious pizza, roasted sweet potato, beer and included a hot spring foot soak! It was a highlight! 100/10 would recommend.
Then we stopped at the open air museum which was just delightful. The weather was sunny and perfect. We just strolled around. Highlights: the stained glass spiral staircase building, the splooting man, weeping chia head, Rainbow diamonds, squishy rock stools,
Time for lunch! Went to Gora brewery and this was my fav meal so far (potatoes, delicious salad, and 2 types of crudo) plus beer / yuzu drink
Walked through Gora park but mostly all the plants were still in hibernation + moss garden was being protected for the winter - we took the cable car to the next stop.
From there, took the ropeway (gondola) from Gora to black egg place. We rode over the active volcano and Sulfur smoke - then got out to go try the black eggs! They add 7 years to your life. Negina got chocolate eggs. Unclear how much time they add to life.
After that, we went to the final ropeway stop to catch a quick bus to our Ryokan.
Had about 20 mins before our traditional multi course dinner. Not much (or anything) was explained. Negina came down in traditional attire. At one point we had 30+ plates on the table.
Had to kill some time between end of dinner and 9pm private onsen
-~15k steps 6 miles
Day 4
Overcast / misty
slept on traditional beds
Had leisurely morning until 8:45 breakfast. It was again a full spread of little funny foods. Lots of gummies, a couple of soups, pickled items, fish
Time to adventure back down the mountain to get to kyoto.
In hindsight (Erin’s opinion) should have just gone down to the main station and walked around / shopped. However, we did close the Hakone loop by taking the pirate ship across lake Ashi
The bus ride back to Odawara took forever so we had to scramble to get food (from Lawson’s) to take on the high speed train to Kyoto. The high speed trains coming through the station are wild!
After a 2 hour ride, we checked into the Dormy Inn which I’m already in love with. We chose this franchise because I saw on Reddit that folks love it - and get it now. We have fun matching hotel clothes. There’s free ice cream at night and a free probiotic drink in the morning. You get free late night noodles. And there’s a public bath.
After settling in and booking massages, we walked to the Gion area (45 minutes) which is a HUGE shopping area. We found the b label sticker store here. Then had to race all the way back for our 7pm dinner reservation.
We had all the meats at this wagyu restaurant.
Another pop in at Lawson for pampering items (face mask and leg masks) before heading back for massage / bath house. I was afraid the bath house would be chaotic with tourists but it’s not the case. I was the only white girl during my time in. It was a fun thing to experience!
18k steps, 7.5 miles (mostly all done in Kyoto lol)
Day 5 - 24 hours in Kyoto
overcast but warmer
Started with free probiotic drink
Negina had breakfast buffet
Erin and mosho got 7-11 food (strawberries, onigiri, part boiled egg)
Checked on, stored luggage, and bike tour guide picked us up
We drove west then rode through the natural area, away from tourists! Each mountain has a gold and a shrine/temple, and each direction of Kyoto (NSEW) has a temple
Stopped at the emperors mausoleum surrounded by bamboo and large cedar trees
Saw a fruit and veg vending machine
We had traditional matcha from a tea shop
Stopped at a plum temple where the plum celebration occurred in March, and passed the cherry blossom temple where that celebration occurs in April
We stopped at the golden temple - the grounds were really beautiful
Then we RACED back so that we wouldn’t be late for our 1:00 lunch reservation at Kacto. Our guide was so worried about us being late. We made it at about 3 mins after. Food was lovely. Biked around 16 miles?
The area the restaurant was in was btw the river and a canal. Super cute. We walked back to the hotel along the canal. Mosho really loved this area and wants to spend more time there if we return.
Mosho also wants to eat more sushi next time
Picked up bags and began the adventure to Osaka airport (which is on an island)
The line for Cebu to check bags was over an hour long (not convinced me needed to check them) and then getting through security and customs took like 3 minutes.
We checked out a lounge but it was pretty terrible
At dinner / snack at Onigiri Burger. Ninja had spam and egg, mosho had teriyaki chicken and I had tofu and egg. They were really yummy.
Turns out the flight is a mega huge international plane
Some fav pics that Mosho & Ninja took:
