# Japan Travel

This is mainly a copy/paste of notes that I prepped for a friend back in 2015, with updates now and then.

## General

### Recommended books/movies to get acquainted

- **Midnight Diner** (netflix) turns out I've only watched the follow up _Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories_, both seems good.
- _Untangling my Chopsticks_ is a nice, relatively short read if you want to get an idea of the culture beforehand (focused on kyoto and food). I would recommend getting a physical book and not kindle though, since at the end of many chapters are recipes.

### Some background for planning

- [Takuhaibin](https://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/) (aka kuroneko) offers a relatively cheap service of sending your luggage ahead. You can send it to specific addresses, and have it arrive on specific days, specific times! Very handy for doing side tours. Ask your hotel or nearby 7-11 for help arraging it.
<!-- - There is often no soap in public restrooms. You may want to bring hand-antiseptic. -->
- Often people speak surprisingly little English. Keep that in mind when booking stuff (better to ask hotel lobby to book stuff for you rather than just showing up).
- ~~use [hyperdia](https://www.hyperdia.com/) to check train schedules. NOTE! With the JR pass you can't use the Nozomi/Mizuho/Hayabusa shinkansen, so uncheck that option!~~ Hyperdia has been discontinued :(
- mini-souvenirs! Giving little gifts is a big thing in Japan, and it's very convenient to have mini-souvenirs to give back (especially when people go waaay out of their way to help you, which happens more often than you might expect). My recommendations are these 25g ragusa: cheap, blocky (don't break) and small enough to carry around, and not too nice that the receiver will lose face for accepting. Might melt in summer though...
- Go to at least one onsen! Onsen is a hot-spring bath (usually public but sex-segregated)
- Sentos are also super nice. (almost same as onsen, but the water isn't from a natural hot spring). Especially in the south, sentos are often still part of people's daily routine, and quite an experience.
- You should splurge one night at a Ryokan. This is a traditional inn, usually runs upwards of 150$ and includes kaiseki dinner (served in your room) and breakfast. SUPER DELICIOUS FOOD. They are very often located at onsen-towns, and tend to be romantic. Try to get a traditional ryokan, not a modern one.
Ryokan I've been to and recommend:
- [Tsukimotoya](http://www.tukimotoya.com/en/) in Kinosaki Onsen town (also good place for onsen, and allows tattoos)
- [Tajimaya](https://kiso-tajimaya.com/) in Magome (Kiso-ji valley) this is techincally a Minshuku, and a bit cheaper, but very nice.
- [Showakan](https://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/ryokan-single/Showakan/) at Ginzan onsen town, the nicest one I've stayed at
- [Hohoemino Kuyufu Tsuruya](https://www.tsuruya-h.co.jp/en/)
- Try to go to a Matsuri (festival). For dates of big ones, see [here](https://www.japan-guide.com/event/), [here](https://www.japan-experience.com/plan-your-trip/to-know/traveling-japan/festival-may).
- [JRPass info](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html)
- There are several well curated websites for travel in Japan. [Japan Guide](https://www.japan-guide.com/), [Japan Travel](https://en.japantravel.com/), [JNTL](https://www.japan.travel/en/us/). Imho, Lonely Planet Japan sucks and is superfluous.

## Specific destinations / itineraries

### Itinerary recommendation: Tokyo-Nagano

- Fly into Tokyo. Spend a couple of days there.
- **highlight** Take the shinkansen to Nagano, change to local line, and go see the [Jigokudani](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6028.html) macaque monkeys bathing in onsen water! Stay at either Yudanaka or Shibu onsen towns in a hot spring resot (ryokan).
- spend a couple of days in Nagano
- option a) take the train to [Matsumoto](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6050.html), spend a couple days there. See the castle, several art museums, and go to the wasabi farm.
- option b) take the shinkansen up to [Kanazawa](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2167.html), a cultural center often pitched as a off-the-beaten-path version of Kyoto (I have not been).
- Go home.

### Itinerary recommendation: Tokyo-Kisoji-Kyoto
You can either fly into Tokyo or Osaka/Kyoto.

- Spend a few days in Tokyo.
- Go to [Kisoji Valley](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6075.html), hike between Magome and Tsumago (or vice versa, depending which ryokan you book), stay at a ryokan.
- continue to Kyoto, spend several days there.
- **bonus** if you're really into Studio Ghibli, you could stop at Nagoya (on the way) for the new [Ghibli Park](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3318.html)

### Itinerary recommendation: Kyoto - Shimanami Kaido - Hiroshima
For the more active

- Start by arriving in Kyoto, spend a few days there.
- Take the train to Onomichi, do the temple walk, stay overnight (recommendation: [Anago no nedoko](https://anago.onomichisaisei.com/).
- In the morning, rent a bicycle and start cycling the [Shimanami Kaido!](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3478.html), a series of bridges that hop across little islets all the way to Shikoku. I recommend booking a place to stay halfway through, 70km is quite a lot. You can also hand back the bicycle partway through, and take a bus the remainder.
- **optional** once at Imabari, see the town, and then go on to [Dogo Onsen](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5502.html), for their famous bath house.
- Take the train back up to Hiroshima, spend a coupel days there to see the Peace Museum, and a day trip to Miyajima.
- Go home.

### Kyoto
Kyoto was one of my favorite places, and you can see much of what we did there on the [blog](https://dokodokobot.travellerspoint.com/).
- Guesthouse Bon
It's amongst the cheapest places we stayed at, yet super nice. Tatami and futon beds, everything in the traditional style, and mainly the owner has the old style of hospitality. He'll give you loads of insider info on where to eat (cheap and DELICIOUS) etc.
Also, it is in the north side of Kyoto, which is closer to some of the less visited temples (which is something I like: less tourist-oriented things). The owner of the guest-house will give you a rundown of good day-trips.
- [Giro Giro restaurant](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298564-d1135201-Reviews-Guilo_Guilo_Hitoshina-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html): You can only sit at the counter if you don't reserve, but without reserving you might not get in (it's small)...
- Fushimi-Inari is the classic walk with thousand tori (red gates), highly recommended. Make sure you go to the top.

The rest of the stuff is I guess pretty standard and you'll find it anywhere.

Nara is an easy day-trip from Kyoto, which a lot of people recommend. Personally, I didn't like it so much. It's basically one really long temple walk, and in Summer it was swarming with tourists... I preferred the smaller, but more secluded temples elsewhere.

### Various destinations

### Art Islands Naoshima++

- Naoshima and Teshima, which have fantastic art installations. I recommend staying at the Little Plum guesthouse in Naoshima, or if you book in advance in a Yurt or at the museum hotel itself (which I have not tried, but if you stay at the museum you get to walk around after hours).
- Book in advance for the Turrell sky-light exhibit.
- Takamatsu (on Shikoku) has really good udon.

### Other

- Hiroshima was nice, to see the peace museum (very touching), as well as Miyajima.
- an hour away from Hiroshima is Onomichi. I strongly recommend this place as an "off the beaten path" destination. It actually has a lot of small temples, and a wonderful temple walk. Very good ramen and seafood (it's on the coast). A very beautiful little hostel, called [Anago no Nedoko](http://anago.onomichisaisei.com/?author=1&lang=en). The hostel itself is a worthy visit. And to top it all off, from Onomichi starts the Shimanami Kaido: this is a series of bridges that go from the Honshu island to the Shikoku island, hopping across several small islands. Best of all, each bridge has a dedicated cycling lane, and you can rent (and drop-off) bicycles all along the route! You can do just partway then take a bus back, or do the whole thing (at which point I would recommend splitting it into 2 days and sleeping on one of the small islands). I didn't check, but there might be a nice ryokan on one of the islands you could go to.
After this we went to Tokushima (still on Shikoku) because there was a big festival there, but with your limited time, you may want to just go straight back to the honshu mainland and travel by shinkansen (only slow trains on shikoku. It's a much more rural island).
- Kiso Valley: Another 'somewhat' off-the-beaten-path destination. It actually is touristy, but caters mostly to Japanese tourists, beautiful scenery, a nice (short) hike and lots of traditional architecture. Also, all accomodation here are almost-ryokan: they will serve dinner in a dining hall instead of directly in your room, and they are somewhat less luxurious, which officially puts them in the "minshuku" class. They are also cheaper than ryokan at 70-100.-
We stayed at this one because our first choice was fully booked. Was very nice.
- From Kiso Valley you could continue north and get to Matsumoto, which is kind of like Luzern: a city, but relatively small, with a famous but not illustrious castle, beautifully nestled in the alps. Depending on your time, it's a nice addition. They have a very interesting art museum too, from a schizzophrenic artist.
- In Tottori, [Mitaki-en](https://ashidumitakien.jp/en/) is quite special, but also difficult to get to without a car.

I haven't been to Osaka much, but out of my friends who did go... those who like city stuff really liked it, those who were more into traditional culture really didn't... personally I would pick either Tokyo or Osaka (because I'm not so into cities...).

Okay, I think for now that is probably enough info : )
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! I'll try to keep my next answer shorter ^__~

### Sendai

#### Food
- Misoichi Ramen, under the Loft in front of the main train station, is one of my favorite ramen places. Get the aka-kuro (red+black) for the full deal.
- Rose Garden is a fantastic yaki-niku place.
- SAKE Zen Hatago for sake (nihonshu). Btw, my favorite local sake is Hakurakuse
- Masamune Menya --> Abura-soba, sooo good and spicy, get with chashu. The tsukemen isn't to my taste (fishy).
- Gori-shokudo, for specialty karaage (fried chicken).
- Katsudon no Katsudon-ya, a small, homey tonkatsu/katsudon shop, favorite of students. For something slightly more unusual, try the umejiso-maki (tonkatsu made with ume, rolled, and deep-fried).
- Beef tongue (gyutan) is the local specialty, Rikyu is a good place to have it.
- Brio makes really good gelato, and also espresso.
- Wabisuke for upscale dining
- Shaka Soup Curry is a very good soup curry (something I've only seen here). Spicy is actually spicy here, don't go too high.

#### Day Trips out of Sendai
- Yamadera: really nice short hike to a mountain-top temple with a nice view. Especially nice in the Fall.
- Matsushima: a very picturesque little port-town, one of Japan's "three scenic views". Make time for the Zuiganji temple + gardens, and to walk onto Oshima, the little island (connected by bridge). **warning:** get a train that goes to _Matsushimakaigan_, not _Matsushima Station_ (there are multiple stops, one of them is quite far from all the sights). Alternatively, go to Shiogama and take a ferry for the scenic cruise. There is also a fancy onsen-resort I've been told is very nice.
- Sakunami is an onsen town outside Sendai, quite easy to get to. It is quite close to... (can be combined as one day trip)
- Nikka's second whisky distillery, Miyagikyo, is a short train ride out of Sendai.

#### To do/see
- Mediatheque
- Side alleys in the Ichibancho