Heading to Japan next month - must sees?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observatory is free and you get a great view of Tokyo!

It all depends on what you're trying to do or see. I've been to Tokyo a few times, always interested in food.

If you're going to the Shibuya Parco, there's an awesome sake bar in the center of the basement restaurant floor. All you can drink for an hour — 3,000 yen.

If you like udon, Udon Shin in Shinjuku is other worldly. You'll definitely have to wait a while. Afuri in the Shinjuku subnade has really good yuzu ramen. Really great braised pork, too. It's in a weird spot.

If you're into fashion, you should check out Shimokitazawa. Lots of vintage and thrifting. Maybe there's streetwear there? Toyo Department Store is an experience. The Hokkaido-style soup curry at Poniprika is really good.

Also, you should definitely check out Team Labs in Toyosu. It's like an interactive art exhibit that you walk through.

I also couldn't recommend this super-tiny-bar hop tour enough.

In Tokyo the train stations are coded like JY01 JY02 etc because the Japanese names are so long. when you use google maps keep an eye out for that. There’s a learning curve but once you get it you’ll always take the train

There are express trains when you go to and from the airport. Some of them you need to get extra tickets (besides the Suica card)

If you have iPhone. Get the Suica card on the Apple wallet because it’s hard to charge physical cards with credit cards.

Kyoto and Osaka you can take a regular train because they’re pretty close. if you have time go see the deer park in Nara as well as the temple with the big Buddha in it. It’s in the same park as the deers.

We loved Osaka because it’s quieter than Tokyo. And still has a lot of shopping.
In Kyoto, we did a green tea ceremony we found on trip advisor, they had all of us wear kimonos and we can take pictures… not bad because you don’t need to spend extra on kimono rentals and walk outside in those shoes! You get a bit of the culture stuff too cuz the very nice old lady will explain what she’s doing.

Kyoto is famous for obanzai food which is home cooking style not very heavily seasoned dishes. Worth a try.

Download google translate download Japanese and you can translate any Japanese words with the camera on.

Try kura sushi (very popular no frills conveyor belt sushi). They get super busy around meal time. So when you get in pull up google translate and find the machine that gives you tickets.

Kyoto is wonderful, it's like the village in NYC or a sightly scaled down Manhattan that's actually pretty and has spontaneous temples and nature around it. Cannot recommend Fushimi Inari enough, but go up the mountain - there are a ton of gorgeous graves and fewer people. Kyoto bars are great and I never felt unsafe. If you know where you're going, the metro is stupid easy to use and very convenient but requires some navigational know-how.

Try to learn a bit of Japanese. People generally know English, but they'll rake you over the coals for a bit before they realize they're not getting anywhere. I forget a lot of specific destinations because my friend helped guide me around, but I was in the more rural area of Yasu for most of it, Osaka for a bit, and Kyoto for a bit. Get as many different meals as you can, I thought it was all fucking delicious. Hung out at a shrine no one was at for hours at a time in Yasu, was gorgeous.

My memorable castle experience in Japan was Himeji, which is an easy day trip from where you will be.

You have your choice of shrines in Kyoto. There was a zen one with a rock garden I really liked, but I don't remember the name.

My husband has been to Osaka, he suggests shopping and food.

Tokyo is cool, but I really only recommend spending 2 days there. There's cool stuff there, but my favorite parts of Japan were outside Tokyo.

I'm a big fan of nature and cool sights like mitakidera in Hiroshima, a super old Ryokan turned hostel in Ito (with a natural hot spring in the basement), Fushimi Inari in Kyoto, just a bunch of cool stuff outside Tokyo.

In Tokyo. We did a one day panoramic tour. I did it the first trip i went, but I decided on the second trip that I went with my SO, that we will definitely do it on the first day. So we get the lay of the land. Highly recommend. You will see lots more that way and you can go back to whatever area you want to see later.

I spent a semester in Tokyo (Musashi University in Ekoda). One of my favorite things was to just explore without a purpose, I'd often take the Tobu Tojo to a random stop and see what was there. Yorii is an especially cool stop, end of the line in the middle of the countryside. There's an old castle ruins I found and some good local places to eat at. With a limited 10 days it might be difficult to do, but if you can spare a half a day I highly recommend just checking out a random stop.

Beyond that, the Edo-Tokyo museum is really cool (and a super impressive building), Kawagoe is a fun afternoon stroll, Ueno park is incredible, the Koishikawa Botanical Garden is beyond gorgeous, and Ikebukuro station is a shoppers/nomihodai fan's paradise (and there's Sunshine City, an underground mall).

For food recommendations, I'll go against the grain by recommending non-Japanese restaurants (I know I know).

1. My absolute favorite Indian place is カレー専門店 マサラ in Ekoda (few minutes from the station)
2. The best pizza I've had in the world is DevilCraft in Kanda, it's deep dish and they are also a brewery. Reservations required.

In Kyoto, the Philosophers Walk and the Fushimi Inari Shrine are must visits. Especially Fushimi Inari, I highly recommend dedicating a few hours to just exploring the mountainside and stop into a few of the shops, get a tea and chat with the shop keeps. The Kyoto bus system is great, and (at least in 2015) there was some kind of tourist pass my hostile would give us each day that made it much cheaper. Make sure to check out a public bath house, I remember Kyoto having a great one a few blocks from the main train station.

It's been awhile since I've been back (last trip was in 2017), but I'd be happy to answer any questions! I've been to Tokyo, Kyoto, various parts of Iwate and Sapporo.

Try a jazz kissaten.

If you have a chance, I LOVED Kyoto. it wasn't bombed during WW2, so there are tons of buildings, some centuries old.

one of the coolest cities I've ever visited.

An easy train ride outside of Tokyo is a fun island named Enoshima; really enjoyed our unplanned decision to go visit there and nearby Kamakura.

If you like fashion go to any bookoff that sells cloths.
They buy second hand clothing and on sell it.
You will find high quality brands quite cheap.

It depends. You can be in and out in two days, perhaps. We left our things at a ryokan, climbed, and the others came back the next day.*

But then we were young, had a rail pass, and spent three weeks ranging Tokyo as far West as Hiroshima before heading home.

• I got lost coming down from Fuji and, well, that's a longer story.

teamLab: Planets was a great experience when I was there last year, I'd highly recommend it if you get the chance: https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/

A wise man climbs Fuji once. A fool twice.

I climbed Fuji once. I strongly encourage it. Start your hike at night. Read about the hike well in advance.

Ginza and Harajuku for fashion in general. Daikokuya, and the Book Off stores have secondhand heat and luxury items. If you have friends you can trust, you can bring back stuff like Berkin bags secondhand (unless that's against customs). Though I got a decent deal at the Arcteryx store in Kobe.

Tsukiji Market is more a foodie spot now. The one in Bourdains Kitchen Confidential is no more. The new market is more sterile sadly (but it's understandable why it changed) yet has awesome restaurants nearby.

Following my name, if you like green tea Uji is worth the pilgrimage. It's a day trip though.

One of my favourite places around Kyoto was the city part around Arashiyama in the west. There's of course the bamboo garden which is well known, but I think my personal highlight was the Ōkōchi Sansō Garden: Gmaps.

It costs a fee to get in, but you get a cup of matcha and it's a really relaxing experience.

A short train ride away from Tokyo is Hakone. There's an onsen there you can book for an hour with private pools that look out over the mountain. There's also a gorgeous cedar grove on the shores of the lake. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji from the lakeside.

I always suggest the Meguro Parasitological Museum in Tokyo just because it's such a different subject. It's pretty small but a fun little detour.

Rokunen Yonkumi if you want to eat at an izakaya styled like an elementary school.

In Kyoto, try to spectate a training session in the historic building of the Butokuden / Kyoto Budo Center. If you can catch an iaido session it's as if you were transported back in the Meiji era.

It's in front of the Kyoto Handicraft Center which is one of the best souvenir shop in Kyoto my opinion.

In Tokyo, try to visit one of Hamamonyo's shop. They sell tenugui - small cloth towel. They are all insanely beautiful ; I have framed several of them in my flat.

Also, arcade games are still more or less alive in Japan ? Try HEY in Tokyo or a-cho in Kyoto. They all reek of cigarettes (or at least, they did in 2015), but you'll find no shortage of arcade games new and old.