Japan highlights from my 3 year stint of living in Tokyo and working at a local middle school.
Includes a detailed guide to my local favourite spots in Tokyo, including restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping spots, museums gardens, onsen and some day trip suggestions to hiking locations in Saitama, and the temple rich town of Kamakura. There is also a less detailed guide to other major and minor towns and cities I visited around Japan, with more details in the Kyoto, and some additional tips for Nikko, Wakayama, Gujo Hachiman, and the area around Hiroshima and Okayama. I haven't included the most well known tourist places in this guide, as this information is readily available for free in many places around the internet.
At the end there are a few cultural notes and seasonal tips
Some of these places are solid options if you’re getting overwhelmed by the choices in certain neighbourhoods, but don’t feel like you’ll be missing out if you don’t go to them. The ones with a 🌟 in the description are worth going out of your way to try, if it doesn’t mess too much with your plans. Of course, there are more restaurants in Tokyo than anyone could ever try - so if you completely ignore my recommendations and explore on your own, you’ll also be sure to find plenty of incredible places!
🌟A trendy specialty miso place in Asakusa. This place opened up after I’d already left Japan, but is highly recommended by my lovely friend Yuki, who is an accredited miso sommelier and grew up with parents that ran a miso factory, so it's gotta be good! They have veggie options too!
🌟 A beautiful cafe attached to a major temple in the tsukiji area. I highly recommend going here for their breakfast! They have several options, but the set meal with 18 small dishes the most famous, and impressive. This place is really popular and they have a limited amount of sets they serve each day, so if you want to make sure you can try it, you can ask someone at your accomodation to help you make a booking for that specific breakfast set. Otherwise try and go on a weekday because it’s especially popular on weekends!
The walk from Ginza station is pretty reasonable.
🌟Traditional tea and Japanese sweets with a gorgeous garden view. It’s a bit out of the way, but the surrounding neighbourhood is also very cute to wander around, so if you’re in the area, you should definitely stop by
🌟Very off the beaten path, but widely accepted to be the best udon in Tokyo. There's also a great sake selection.
Not very English friendly, and there can be a long wait, especially on the weekend, so try and go on a week day!
The udon with chicken tempura is what they’re most famous for and is delicious, but I preferred the udon with vegetable tempura.
They also sometimes have oden cooking here - mainly in the autumn and winter, so you can ask for a few things to try as a side.
If there’s a line up outside (which there almost always is) you need to write down your name (english is fine) on the sheet of paper, and write the number of people in your group next to the 人 character.
For about 3 years, I lived 5mins walk from this place so I went there pretty often, and about a quarter of the times I was there, a Japanese customer would come up to me and congratulate me on both finding and travelling out to the best udon in Tokyo - this never happened in other restaurants in this neighbourhood, so it's definitely highly revered locally!
🌟I highly recommend their bento lunch! You get a 12 little dishes to try - it's not on their dinner menu.
The atmosphere of this place is really gorgeous, and the surrounding neighbourhood is lovely to wander around - lots of cute little shops, without being super touristy
🌟One of the best izakayas I went to! Owned by a lovely couple who are dedicated to making delicious and extremely fresh, seasonal food. Small, cozy and not too pricey either
Regional Japanese specialties with a view over Shibuya. On the 8th floor of the Hikarie building, you’ll find D47 Shokudo. The restaurant and shop is based on bringing specialty ingredients and traditional objects from the 47 prefectures of Japan to the middle of Shibuya. They regularly change their menu to showcase local dishes from the various prefectures of Japan. After lunch, you can look at the selection of objects from around Japan that have been curated for their store, and also flip through the design-centred guide books they publish.
The place is popular so there might be a line to get a seat if you go on the weekend
A good spot for lunch or dinner in the Harajuku/Omotesando area. For 1800 yen, can choose a main, salad, side, rice, soup and a drink from a selection of daily dishes. When I lived in Tokyo it was super popular, and there was almost always a line up, so it might be better to try going here on a weekday!
This is a very unique cafe. You whisper your coffee order to the staff and then sit in silence while they play vinyls of classical music on their huge retro sound system. They have a no talking policy which everyone respects. The experience feels especially surreal given that the cafe is in the centre of the overwhelming neighbourhood of Shibuya.
A great place to try Ramen if you're vegetarian! They have a few other branches too - this one is inside the JR line gates at Tokyo station, so don’t go out the gates if you arrive via one of the JR train lines, or you’ll have to pay to get back inside top get to the restaurant.
Since vegetarianism is not very popular in Japan, you'll almost always see a long line of foreigners here, but that doesn't mean it's not good!
I found this place when I was planning a 2020 trip.. so I’ve never actually been, but I’ve wanted to go for a while! Nice minimalist meals and modern takes on tradition Japanese sweets. The main thing that drew me to the resturant was that can grill your own dango at the table - if that’s still an option, I would definitely recommend - otherwise all the traditional sweets looked really delicious! There are some veggie friendly options for the mains, and all the sweets should be meat free!
A great place to try oden after wandering around Meguro - a delicious kind of cooking where various things boiled in dashi broth - you simply choose which things you'd like to try and pay per item
Starbucks seems like a lame suggestion, yes, but the special Japan-only seasonal drinks that the locals go crazy for does make it a true Japanese cultural experience. This location is my favourite, especially sitting in the outdoor garden just above harajuku madness
Michelin star ramen! The tantan-men here is amazing - I tried the other flavours and they were good, but not as good!
This place was about 10mins from my old work, so I sometimes went here during exams since I had no classes to teach and could stand in line for a long time!
Everything here is vegetarian, and delicious! There are a few branches of Ain Soph throughout the city - the one in Ikebukuro does more burger-y style food, while the Shinjuku one does nice Japanese versions of western food, which is quite far from actual western food! I think there’s also a Ginza branch too now. You can book on their website, I got turned away quite a few times when I attempted a dinner walk in, but you could always get lucky!
The lunches here come are very reasonably priced set-meals and delicious. The dinners are more upscale, izakaya style dining. The place has a nice view of Tokyo station and getting a window seat at night is especially nice. The building this is inside has lots of cute shops too, including the good design shop that I’ve also recommended here. I remember they are relatively English friendly as well
Vegetarian, very cute and right by the Nezu shrine. The place seems very very homely - almost like you’re in someone’s living room. I remember the food seeming extremely healthy, so maybe it was also macrobiotic as well as vegetarian.
Extremely popular shaved ice spot! If there’s no line up, or just a few people outside, you must go in! If there’s a massive line up outside, there can be a fun sense of community in waiting with everyone for shaved ice.. but sometimes it’s just ridiculous!
Reasonably priced and very fresh! As in, the kind of place where you sometimes witness them killing the fish that they serve you minutes later. If you go here in the summer, look out for the seasonal special of eel (unagi) tempura.. I dream of eating that again!
Nabezo is a chain hotpot place, and can be found in most major areas all over Japan. The self serve veggie selection there and the all you can eat meat (if you partake) are always fresh and delicious. You choose 2 soups (always make sure one option is sukiyaki soup - so good) and then you basically have a timed all you can eat hot pot, with self service veggies, and your choice of meat delivered to you - just ask the waiter for more when you’re out.
You can also order a vegetable only option too if you don’t want meat at all, and this includes various noodles, dumplings and tofu, as well as rice, curry and ice cream.
Also, if you order the sukiyaki soup, they’ll also bring you a small bowl with an uncracked raw egg - you’re supposed to crack the egg into the bowl, and use it as a dipping sauce after you’ve cooked your meat/veg in the sukiyaki soup. Japanese eggs are apparently safe to eat raw, and this does turn out to be a very tasty, but don’t feel obliged!
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Bars
There’s often a seating change in bars - usually around 500yen per person though it can be more in higher rent areas - it might not be written anywhere so don’t think they’re scamming you if you get this charge.
🌟 Tiny bar run by a group of Buddhist monks. I went here one NYE and they brought out a small bell and handed out copies of the heart sutra for everyone to drunkenly chant at midnight.
The cocktails were good too!
This is a great tiny bar. I especially recommend going to the CCR DJ nights if there's one on while you're there (there's a the schedule linked below). The vibes are great ime! The bar can be intimidating to go in since it's not very well sign posted, but don't worry, just go in and get a drink!
🌟A street filled with post-war retro bars - a lot of them have an outdoor area where you can enjoy a beer and some snacks while people watching. A great option for the evening! You can generally order enough food to count as dinner. There should be a few veggie options on most menus, especially if they have yakitori: just ask for them to point out which of the skewers are veggie only
A must visit! Toyo Hyakkaten (or “department store”) feels like a huge ramshackle garage that a bunch of independent designers have subdivided and turned into a spot to sell their wares. The streets nearby are also full of small independent shops too.
This is a giant art supply store where you can get materials for basically any medium you want to try. One of my friends was a Japanese print making student and apparently this was the store of choice for Tokyo Fine Arts University students
The entire neighbourhood of Jimbocho is famous for second hand and specialty bookstores. It's so much fun to spend a morning or afternoon here browsing all the shops. As well as books on basically any topic imaginable, you can also find old art prints and other antiques. This bookstore was my favourite - it's dedicated to architecture books and has a good selection of english and bilingual books available
Probably my favourite museum in Tokyo. Not too big, but a diverse collection of art and artefacts. There’s a beautiful, extensive garden and a tea house as well
The museum’s pretty small compared to other major museums in Tokyo, but contains a well curated collection of the artist's work. You’ll need to book ahead
Traditional shopping street that’s getting more and more hip. People often take an extended walk around the ya-ne-sen area, short for yanaka-nezu-sendagi - all of these areas have a nice bohemian retro vibe, with modern and traditional stores, as well as beautiful temples and shrines to see.
The major fine art university is also close by to this area, by Ueno station, so it's a common spot for art students as well
During cherry blossom season, walking along the path next to this river and then having a picnic at this park was favourite thing to do! The blossom cover is similar to that in Naka-Meguro, but with waaaay less people
This garden is most popular in the autumn, when they stay open later in the evening and light up the autumn leaves - they usually host this from mid-november until early december, so look up online and and confirm that it's happening before you go (websites like time-out usually list these events).
The garden is nice at other times of the year too, and there are a few small tea houses where you can get matcha and other traditional snacks. There's a fee to get in, but it's not very much
Located in the artist’s old home/studio, you can see lots of Taro Okamoto‘s sculptures, paintings and other artworks here, as well as explore the beautiful home he lived in
The architecture along this street is amazing, and the Prada store was my personal highlight - don't be shy to go inside. A trip into the Omotesando Hills department store on this same street is another architectural recommendation, as is the the Tokyu Plaza at the end of the street near Harajuku for the fantastic mirrored entry way (and the Starbucks mentioned above!)
A small section of this store is dedicated to "Girls Side" a brand started as a collaboration between disk-union and Sumire Taya, a local dj and author. You can find zines, handmade crafts, t-shirts, caps and other things related to indie music
This is a popular place to go for tokyoites to go for a weekend hike, especially during Momiji season - the area is very sweet and has a nice countryside feel despite still being within Tokyo. Most people get the ski-lift up the steepest part and then walk the rest of the way, and walk back down. There is a cool shrine at the top, and places to get some basic snacks, as well as some nice soba and mountain vegetable restaurants at the bottom
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Onsen within Tokyo City
In the cold, and especially while jet lagged, heading to an onsen for the evening was always one of my favourite things to do. The nicest onsen in Tokyo are located in fairly residential areas, so getting to them can be a challenge, however they have reasonably priced restaurants attached to them, so you can easily make an evening of soaking in all the different baths on offer, with a dinner break in between. Relaxing in an onsen would also be a great option if you arrive in Tokyo early and can't check into your hotel until the afternoon.
(If you have small tattoos, it's fine to cover them with plasters or kinesthesiology tape, but if you have larger tattoos, you're not allowed to go into most public baths).
The most beautiful onsen in Tokyo! The complex has at least 9 different baths, both inside and outside. There's also the option to book a private bath, so it can be a great way to try out the Japanese hot spring culture, without having to be naked in front of strangers.
The staff are used to interacting with foreigners and usually at least one English speaker will be available to help with any misunderstandings. They also have detailed instructions for what to do printed in English around the changing rooms, so you won't be completely thrown in at the deep end if it's your first time trying an onsen.
Entry varies based on the time of day, and whether it's a weekend or a weekday, but is around 800-1200 yen last time I checked. There’s a restaurant attached which uses vegetables from the owner's own farm, as well as serving homemade soba. The restaurant overlooks a stunning Japanese garden with raked pebbles.
Going for a first dip in the onsen, then changing into the comfy pyjama type outfit that you can hire at the front desk and going to have dinner and a beer, and then finally heading back into the onsen was always my favourite way to spend the evening!
They also have sauna rooms and simple relaxation rooms where you'll see people just lying on the tatami floor and taking a nap
This onsen is on the Yamanote JR line, so is much easier to get to than the one above and is also very beautiful. I prefer the other one because the outdoor baths are much more extensive and beautiful, but this onsen is also wonderfully relaxing and the food at the restaurant is delicious.
If you go here, you might also like to take a wander around Sugamo - it’s known as ‘Grandma Harajuku” and is full of traditional sweets and random nik-nak shops (I used to work close by)
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Day trips from Tokyo
Kamakura
An easy day trip from Tokyo to an area right next to the sea with plenty of hiking and beautiful temples to visit
Beautiful temple, not to be missed if you head to kamakura. There’s a tea house overlooking the bamboo groove too. The bamboo grove is much smaller than the famous one in Kyoto, but it’s very peaceful
The upstairs seating basically consists of mattresses covering the floor - a modern take on tatami maybe. Regardless the coffee’s good and it’s a cute stop off if you’re in the area
The major Shinto shrine in kamakura with a big complex and garden. The shrine is at the end of a long shopping street leading up to the shrine with lots of traditional shops.
The temple with the daibutsu, or 'big buddha' is probably the most well known place in Kamakura, and absolutely an impressive sight
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Zushi
A beach town close to Kamakura, and easily accessible from Tokyo. There are beautiful canals and hikes, as well as the beach itself. There’s also a film festival with an outdoor cinema on the beach in the spring. Perfect if you want a little escape from the crowds
Both an adorable cafe/bar and an art house cinema. One of my friends took me here for dinner and drinks and we spent the last part of the evening trying to figure out how we could move to Zushi
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Saitama: Chichibu
Another easy day trip from Tokyo - there are lots of gorgeous hikes to do in this town. I only did the hike up to Mitsumine Shine, so I’m biased, but it was really beautiful.
It’s a pretty decent hike up to this beautiful temple if you want a walk in the countryside
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Kawagoe
About an hour and a half away from central Tokyo on the train. The main attraction is the major Shinto shrine specifically for Love. Every time I visited I saw a wedding taking place! In the summer the shrine is covered with beautiful wind chimes, which attracts massive crowds from all over. The town itself has a lot of maintained or rebuilt traditional Edo buildings which are beautiful to see. There’s also a ‘candy alley’ which is filled with stores selling retro-sweets
Going to Nikko as a day trip would definitely we be a stretch, but it's a great place to go for one or two nights to get away from the city. Autumn is an especially popular time to go, as the valleys are full of beautiful changing leaves, although anytime of year is good to visit!
If it's chilly, definitely try an onsen! If you can't make it to a dedicated onsen, sometimes ryokans will let the public use their baths during certain hours for a small fee - ask your accomodation about this!
This is a good site for an overview of the onsen options
The most famous dish in Nikko is yuba, which is made from soy milk and is delicious! Lots of local restaurants in the town will offer yuba courses for you to try for lunch and dinner. I especially recommend the sweet yuba manju from the stall right in front of the tobu-nikko station
The most famous shrine in Nikko, and in a much more lavish and colourful decorative style than you would typically see. You can see the 🙈🙊🙉 monkey carving in this complex!
This is where I stayed when I visited with a bunch of my friends - it was very cheap (at the time, not sure about right now!) but came with breakfast provided and was very clean. The accomodation feels like you're staying as a guest in someone's house rather than in a purpose built hotel or a sterile airbnb which I found charming, thought it may not be for everyone. If you're able to splash out on accomodation, Nikko would be an amazing place to try staying in a ryokan.
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If you do want to go to Nikko in one day, I found this very detailed suggested itinerary
I’m only not including the major sites that most travel guides will tell you to visit in this list because you probably already know about them, not because I don’t recommend them - I do! I love Kyoto so much, whether it’s the extremely overcrowded places that everyone knows about, or the smaller lesser known (kinda.. some not really) places I’ve listed here.
Also, if the weather’s good, I highly recommend getting around Kyoto by hired bike - the subway there is comparatively limited, and biking around is such a fun way to see everything. Biking along the river is especially lovely.
If you want to see Geisha/Maiko in Kyoto, you might get lucky if you go to the Gion area at night time, especially Pontocho - it's beautiful regardless
As well as beautifully presented traditional Japanese food, Kyoto is famous for of cafes and bakeries that mix old Japanese aesthetics with modern western design. I've included
Gojo "mall" is a collective group of artisans selling handmade items in an old converted house in the old red light district of Kyoto. The opening days and hours can be a bit unpredictable, so see if they have any translatable info in their instagram before you go, or get a hotel staff member to call ahead for you
Kikunoi Honten is a 3 star kaiseki michelin restaurant. The Salon de Muge location is considered their more casual and affordable option, and is listed in the Bib Gourmand (high quality, affordable) section of the michelin guide.
The food is amazing, it was one of the best meal I had in Japan. Be warned though, we had to book on their website several months advance to get a reservation for lunch!
It can be hard to find places that offer a traditional Japanese breakfast outside of ryokans or homestays, but they have a popular traditional breakfast option here. They're also open for lunch and snacks
A tofu specialty restaurant overlooking a beautiful garden. I remember the tofu here tasting particularly fresh and delicious. You can also get dengaku here which are skewers of grilled tofu, gluten or eggplant with different miso-based sauces on top.
A bit out of the way, but the garden here is really incredible.
I went here on a school trip on a day where students were allowed to form groups and independently explore the city. A big group of teachers convinced me to come along with them to this temple.. though partially I think the reason was because they assumed no students would decide to visit this temple so we could explore in peace! It was absolutely stunning though and I'd love to go back
🌟 Probably my favourite cafe in the whole of Japan. It's inside an old bathhouse, and retains many beautiful original features, including the tiling, and segments of the walls separating the mens and women's baths. They have lovely casual lunch and dinner options as well as coffee and cake. Sometimes the space upstairs is used for pop-ups by local designers
Right next to Sarasa Nishiji cafe is this collective of independent crafts people. The entrance can be easy to miss as it's a very small door leading into the corridor of a renovated traditional Japanese house, but don't be intimidated. Walk right in and you'll find some unique handmade wares, and the artisans who make them.
There are 2 entrances, one on Kurumaguchi-dori, next to Sarasa, and the other is on Chiekoin-dori, which has a slightly more obvious entrance.
All the different small stores have different opening times, and but from their website, most of the store seem to open between 10-11, and close from 4.30-6pm.
Beautiful, ideally located hotel, run by monks and connected to the temple next door. They have private bathing facilities in each room, as well as an onsen on the ground floor for guests to use. I stayed here on a school trip (so got to partake in the classic foreign teacher culture-shock experience of having a bath with your colleagues haha), and remember the plain rice and pickles that you get with breakfast being insanely good for some reason. The rooms are beautiful and very comfortable, with western style beds
After bailing on our plan to “sleep” on a night bus, instead opting for the comfort of the shinkansen, we ended up booking a last minute room here. The rooms are traditional Japanese tatami mat rooms with futon beds. The price seemed extremely cheap (at least a few years ago, I’m not sure about now) so we were a bit sceptical, but everything was clean, modern and comfortable. The owner was absolutely lovely, and gave us plenty of recommendations. The location is perfect - right in the centre of things, while maintaining a very traditional feel. I’d definitely stay here again
I never made it here, but my friend from Osaka always raved about this place - she said they had a really vast array of veggies, and apparently you can get all you can eat salads and brown rice with your lunch
This place was also recommended by my friend from Osaka! It feels very cheap and cheerful, and the okonomiyaki is delicious, of course! There are a few different Fugetsu branches around the city (I'm sure all the okonomiyaki places in Osaka will be amazing though tbh). I saw they have a ‘potato, rice cake and cheese’ option on the menu, so it could be promising in terms of finding options without overt meat being present - just make sure you ask for them to leave out the katsuobushi - the dried fish flakes that they loooove to pile on food in Osaka especially
This discount supermarket has a few branches over Osaka - the main reason to drop by is the checkout their crazy neon signage for the different sections of the store - I remember visiting one that wasn't too much of a walk from the central area - I'd definitely say it's worth a detour to see
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Wakayama
Mainly places on the Kumano Kodo track - a 5 day pilgrimage trail through various small towns in the mountains, ending at the Kumano Shrine and the Nachi Falls
Since our train was passing through Wakayama city on the way to the start of the Kumano Kodo track, we decided to jump out and head to this place, which is what some ramen connoisseurs consider to be the best ramen place in Japan (this is very contested, of course).. Unfortunately when we showed up it was closed!! We figured that since the city is full of famous ramen places, we should just go to the next place we came across before we had to return to the train station.. unfortunately, the next place we saw just happened to serve the worst ramen I ever had in Japan! So if you happen to have a stop in Wakayama city, try going to this place and tell me how it is
Out of all my trips in Japan, this was the best accomodation I experienced! The owners are a wonderfully friendly couple and the rooms so cosy.
The husband is a professional chef with a career working in major restaurants in the big cities. Now working in the remote countryside, he serves guests an eight course kaiseki dinner using local mountain grown ingredients. The dinner here was one of the best meals of my life!
The breakfast is also absolutely incredible, and the packed lunch they give you is so wholesome.
Given how expensive kaiseki meals are in a restaurant, the price of staying in this guest house with meals included is an amazing deal!
The biggest waterfall in Japan, and the end point of the kumano kodo
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Kawaguchi-ko
This lake town at the foot of Mt Fuji is a beautiful spot to (hopefully) see the mountain. There are also hikes, and walks/bike rides around the lake that you can enjoy. The insanely scary Fujikyu Highlands roller coaster park is also here, which is absolutely not recommended for people who don’t enjoy feeling like they’re about to die! I got taken along here by a rollercoster fan, and by the end of the day I was having a great time! I wouldn’t have gone by my own volition though, and won’t be returning! Travelling to see Mt Fuji specifically is not recommended, as the mountain is almost always covered in fog, so most likely you won’t see a thing, or perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse for 5mins out of your whole trip. Unless you have another reason so visit the area, I’d recommend just hoping you get lucky while going past on the shinkansen, or from some of the look-outs in Tokyo where you can occasionally see Mt Fuji in the distance (such at in the Sky Tree or the free look out in the Shinjuku Tokyo Metropolitan Government building). Having said that, when I came to Kawaguchi-ko we were insanely lucky - we had a glorious clear view of Mt Fuji for 2 days which is almost unheard of (sorry to brag!!)
Hearty noodle soup, famous in the area surrounding mt Fuji
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Kashiwaya
This is a small Onsen town that’s fairly simple to get to from Tokyo - you can get a bus directly to the Onsen from Tokyo station and spend a night in a ryokan, enjoying the hot pools and escaping the cold winter.
Such a nice Ryokan - you can get a room with your own onsen on the balcony, or there are also 3 private onsen that guests can use, as well as gender segregated larger public baths that guests and people who pay a day fee can access. We always just used the private onsen - there was never a wait to get in, or any pressure to get out. The rooms also come with an amazing dinner served in your room, and a very substantial breakfast in the morning!
Going to small towns in Japan can be a mixed bag, they could either be vibrant small communities, or towns that have basically been abandoned, save for a a few remaining old people. Gujo hachiman is one of the most beautiful examples of the former, the town is small enough to walk around in a few hours, with people congregating in the public spaces, and swimming and fishing together in the river. The town is famous for water and has water features all around the city and a religiously important spring. I spent 2 nights here one summer which seemed like a good amount of time, though I could easily have stayed longer.
The garden in this temple is one of the most beautiful and tranquil places I’ve ever been. Because the town is so remote, you can sit inside the temple and view the garden undisturbed for basically as long as you want. I saw it in summer, and the main monk who was in charge of things encouraged me to come back every season, because it always looks different
I fell in love with Hiroshima when I visited! The size of the city, the centrality of the peace park, the delicious food and the friendliness of the people, everything felt so genuine and harmonious. I went in May and the weather was incredible, although most people would recommend going in autumn, as visiting Miyajima when the autumn colours are coming out is an iconic Japanese experience.
If you go to Miyajima and want to go hiking, there are several trails - I'd recommend making sure you take the easy one - the walk is lovely and scenic and there are a couple of places to stop on the way for a green tea and snack. I accidentally walked down the hard trail once and it was a very challenging steep stair trail, and my quads were not happy for several days afterwards! You can also get the cable car one or both ways, or just stay on in the main town as it's stunning and there's plenty of nature to see without having to go uphill
Naoshima and Teshima are far away, but still in the general region of Hiroshima, and should absolutely be visited! I spent one night on Naoshima and it seemed like enough time to see everything, although another night would have made it a bit more peaceful and less rushed.
Picturesque hike, easy to get to as a day trip from Sendai
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Notes:
Japanese restaurant rankings
Generally, Japanese people do not rate restaurants the way people in the rest of the world do - they’re harsh, and reserve 5 star reviews for absolute perfection. It’s typical to see restaurants in the Michelin guide still only have a 3-4 star rating when ranked by the Japanese public. Basically, if you’re looking at the reviews, if the rating is 3+ it will usually be very good!
Ready to eat food
Japanese convenience stores are famous for their high quality, and delicious selection of cheap and kiiiiinda healthy-ish ready to eat food. After a while, it can get a bit same-ish to eat from the convenience store, so if you want to branch out, look around the stations for ‘handmade’ onigiri shops - they’ll be a tiny bit more expensive, but you can taste the difference. Also inside the stations and in the basement floors of department stores there will usually be stalls selling various bento boxes that you can take away. Supermarkets are another great place to get bentos, and plenty of other good ready to eat Japanese food, and they can become heavily discounted later in the evenings.
Yaki-imo
The way Japanese people roast sweet potatoes is unreal! If you get a good one, it’s almost like eating caramel! Look out for the yaki-imo makers in the supermarkets. There are also speciality shops, and even trucks that drive around selling them, but honestly, the supermarket ones were always my favourite. The makers will look like this, and you can just grab one and pay at the checkout - feel free to give them a squeeze through the bag to check they’re nice and soft. You can also sometimes see the natural sugar caramelised on the surface of the skin.
When you go to eat them, it should be easy to just peel off the skin with your fingers. They’re usually more of an autumn/winter thing, but you can find them all year around.. and you should!
This location in Tokyo is a more upmarket way to try yaki imo, and it looks amazing, though I've never been there
If you go to an izakaya restaurant at dinner time, they will usually bring you a small dish that you didn't order when you sit down. This is called 'otoshi' and the price you pay for it is considered the service charge for the meal. It's usually abut 300-500yen per person. Depending on the kind of place you're at, the otoshi may be a speciality appetiser made with seasonal ingredients, or it may be something very basic.
Goshuin: Shrine and Temple stamps
One of the most beautiful mementos that you can bring back from your trip to Japan are stamps from the Shines and Temples you visit. The stamps are stunning and include handwritten calligraphy of the name of the temple and your date of visit. The first time you get a stamp, you’ll need to buy a special dedicated notebook at the shrine or temple, and after that there is just a small fee for each stamp. If you’re worried about the cultural acceptability of collecting goshuin as a foreigner, in my experience, as long as you show basic levels of respect, the locals were always happy to see foreigners engaging with Japanese religion and culture in this way. The following link gives much more detailed information on what to do at the temples and shrines:
Cherry blossom season in Japan is soooo fun! Because the blossoms usually only last a week or so, people really go crazy making the most of the season. To join in, you just need to go to daiso and get a blue tarp, go to the combini or another place to get food for a picnic, some beers (hanami picnics can range from cute family picnic time to friends get waaaasted in the park time) and go have a picnic! The major cherry blossom picnic spots are always really crowded, so finding a place to lay out your tarp can be a challenge - usually we’d just end up perching somewhere to eat, and then walk around enjoying some people watching while looking at the blossoms. There’s also always lots of fun cherry blossom themed foods and drinks to try, which will also disappear soon after the blossoms have fallen off.
Off the top of my head, the most famous spots to see the blossoms in Tokyo are:
Ueno park - you can sometimes have a picnic there, but it gets very crowded
Naka Meguro river - walking along the river, is spectacular! At night time they light up the trees and have street food stalls open. This isn’t a picnic spot because it’s super crowded - never come here on the weekend! You will be crushed
Yoyogi park - this is a great spot for a people watching picnic
Shinjuku Gyoen - there’s a small entrance fee for this park, and the grounds are extensive. There’s more of a family vibe rather than drunken vibe here. I remember the nearby department stores having a great selection of sakura themed bento boxes
Inokashira park - probably the most pretty of the major picnic spots, at least as I remember it! It’s a bit of a mission to get to, but it’s near the ghibli museum if you’re heading there, and the surrounding Kichijoji neighbourhood is awesome to explore too - lots of vintage stores and cute little bars
Sumida park - nearby Asakusa! I never went to this spot but I’m sure it’s beautiful.
Yanaka cemetery - sooo pretty here! It’s mostly a walking around area rather than a picnic area (for obvious reasons!)
.. There will be lots of others if you search them, but those are just the ones that came to mind
Momijigari
Similar but perhaps less well known than hanami, “autumn leaf hunting” is another popular seasonal activity in Japan. Many areas of the city are well known their autumn leaves. Parks will often host events where they stay open late and light up their trees, and some of my friends would even take special weekend trips specifically to see towns famous for having beautiful foliage.
Since autumn leaves last longer than sakura, there’s not the same frantic energy that you feel during hanami to get out and see the flowers before they fall off the trees, but there’s still plenty of excitement and social pressure to go “leaf viewing.”
You can look for specific events in Tokyo, and other major cities on the time-out website, but I can recommend the light up evening events at Rikugien gardens which take place from mid-November-December. I also took a weekend trip to Nikko which is a famous autumn leaf spot, as well as having beautiful historic temples and waterfalls. Kyoto is an amazing place for evening light up events - I went to an evening light up at Shoren-in which also had music by koto players.
This website has a good overview of the most famous spots in Tokyo
Meibutsu means famous thing, and it's mainly used to describe regional dishes. It seems like every town, if not every suburb in Japan has it's own 'meibutsu' that tourists are obliged to try, and locals are obliged to love. Some dishes I can think of off the top of my head include beef tongue from Sendai (not bad!), Yuba in Nikko, Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki in Osaka, Tofu in Kyoto.. etc. It's a good idea to look up the regional specialty of the area you're visiting so you don't miss out. In Tokyo I think one of the meibutsu dishes is monjayaki, which is kind of like okonomiyaki, except bad - give this one a miss!!
Omiyage is an obligatory small local gift that people bring back from their trip for colleagues and friends. At major train stations or tourist areas, you’ll see boxes with individually packaged cookies, crackers, cakes, mochi and other things that people can buy and distribute at work. Locals don't usually eat the famous omiyage from their region very often, and some of the snacks seem to be modern inventions rather than traditions from the region. Usually though the omiyage is traditional and really good! I always loved getting a box for myself and another to bring into work.
Probably the most famous example of omiyage is Yatsuhashi from Kyoto, which is a triangle shaped mochi. There's also a famous shop in Kyoto called Malebranche that makes amazing matcha and white chocolate Langue de Chat - several of my friends requested a box when I went to Kyoto!
There are a lot of karaoke places around, and a they’ll often have signs outside that make them seem much cheaper than they end up being in reality. There can be a lot of hidden costs - especially at the ubiquitous Karaoke-Kan chain, they always managed to rip me off somehow! My most trusted karaoke chain is called Utanohiroba - they’re very cheap, and they come with all you can drink self-serve soft drinks, There’s also an option to have all you can drink alcoholic drinks.. which can be dangerous.. when I went, I think it was 1500 yen an hour for that option and between 300-500yen an hour (per person) for the non-alcoholic option, but the price has probably gone up a little. The more sensible option would be to order single alcoholic drinks to the karaoke room and pay for that at the end - you can also order food (though it’s usually not good..). If you want to do karaoke just make sure you understand the room rates when you go in so you don’t get caught out
Mister Donut
The pon-de-ring (pon-de-ringu) donut at Mister Donut it made out of mochi rice flour, giving it the most amazing slightly chewy texture. I miss these donuts so much! You should definitely eat plenty! You can tell which is a pon de ring from the shape. (7/11 and other convenience stores also sell donuts in this shape, but they’re not made with mochi flour, or if they are, they’re no where near as good!) The other donuts at mister donut are good too, but not as unique
Cremia soft serve
You can find shops selling this ice cream all over Japan - it's made from Hokkaido milk and somehow has a lot more fat than most ice creams makeing it deliciously rich and creamy. The cone is a light sugar cookie and accompanies the ice cream perfectly!
If you can’t find a store selling this ice cream, I could only find a list of locations written in Japanese, but the link should at least take you to the Tokyo branches, and you can click the map-links from there
My favourite places to shop for skincare were drug stores and Loft. Don Quijote (or Donki) also has a good selection, and sells a lot of other random stuff - the narrow aisles and loud music can be fatiguing though. @Cosme stores and Istu Demo are also good places to look for make up and skincare.
@Cosme release a ranking of the top products based on sales and user-ratings on their website, so if you see products with a sticker saying @Cosme, it's probably very popular in Japan.
There's also a good blog that translates these rankings, and the author provides her own reviews in English if you want to research ahead of time
There are a few places that have either been overly impacted by tourism, or they're just a bit gimmicky and overrated. This is just my opinion though, feel free to disagree :)
- The number one place I avoid is Golden Gai. It is cool to see this area from the outside, but if you go into a bar it's almost always full of random foreigners, plus you have to pay a pretty high entry fee so you can't really bar-hop, unless you're loaded and want to waste your money. Some of my Japanese friends used to go to Golden Gai, but they don't anymore because it's become more of a tourist museum than a real place to hang out. Some of the bars try to combat this by saying they don't accept foreigners, though this doesn’t seem like the best way to address the issue, having said that, I don't have any better ideas myself..
- Character cafes: they're over priced and have bad food! I don't care how much of an otaku nerd you are, don't waste your money or the space in your stomach that could be used on delicious real Japanese food! Looking in from the outside, and taking photos of the model food should be more than sufficient if you're an adult.
- The TeamLab exhibitions are another place I would avoid - they're not bad, and I do recognise the collective's artistic merit and creativity.. but there's definite artificial-instagram focused feeling to these exhibitions. Also, the one in Tokyo takes quite a long time to get to, and the area that it's in (Odaiba) feels a bit sterile and soulless (it is an artificial island afterall!) TeamLab would be a great thing to do with kids, but as an adult, it feels a bit childish and social-media-brained.
- Cat cafes: Usually the cats seem grumpy and stressed from being patted so going to one of these cafes can be a bit dull and underwhelming. Although if you have your heart set on going to one, I have heard that they're very good about making sure the cats aren't "overworked" at in Temari no Oshiro in Kichijoji, Tokyo so they're more friendly and playful. (This is also the location that Shoshana worked at in one episode of Girls)
