Britt FabelloJapan

Road Trip, Japan

Britt FabelloJapan
Road Trip, Japan

We have been long overdue for our first to Asia. The pieces finally came together, and what better place to jump in than Japan? There’s a pretty well-trodden path for first-time visitors—and for good reason—so we [mostly] stuck to it. And we, like so many others that came before us, fell in love with the place.

ITINERARY

LOGISTICS

  • There are far too many cultural nuances, points of etiquette, and logistical notes to list out here. We’ll call out some stuff, but we urge you to consult a Japan travel guidebook for all the details.

  • If you couldn’t guess, there’s a large language barrier. We did come across some people who spoke English, but for those that didn’t, gesturing and miming usually did the trick. When even that failed, we used Google Translate on our phones. We had multiple conversations with people where we would translate English to Japanese, show them, they would translate Japanese to English on their phone, show us, so on, so forth.

  • There’s a joke amongst visitors to Japan that you’ll rarely come across public trashcans and thus will have to carry around your trash all day. We found this to be mostly true.

  • There’s another joke that you’ll rarely come across benches, especially in Tokyo. We also found this to be mostly true.

  • Japanese bathrooms and toilets are amazing. It’s true. Don’t fear the bidet—embrace it. One thing to keep in mind though: paper towels or other means of drying your hands are rare. We carried around our own hand towels.

  • We spent a lot of time (and money) in Japan’s convenience stores. We tried every kind of candy we could get our hands on. You can also find tasty meal sets for meals out and about.

  • We also stopped at nearly every vending machine we walked by. We tried lots of drinks. Our all-time favorite was the CC Lemon Peach soda.

  • Yes, the intercity trains in Japan are great, and we did take advantage at times, but we enjoyed the flexibility of renting a car for a portion of our trip. (We did not have the car while in Tokyo, where the excellent metro system met all of our needs.)

  • Beware of temple/shrine fatigue in Kyoto. We were very deliberate about which (and how many) shrines to visit.

Day 1 & 2: May 13 & 14, 2023

Day 3: May 15, 2023

Day 4: May 16, 2023

Day 5: May 17, 2023

Day 6: May 18, 2023

Day 7: May 19, 2023

  • Breakfast from Natural Lawson.

  • Snack from Burdigala at the train station.

  • Tōkaidō Bullet Train from Toyko to Mishima.

  • Picked up our rental car from Toyota Rent a Car.

  • Drove from Mishima to Fujikawaguchiko via Route 139 and Route 71. Even the boring, plain parts of the Japanese countryside are somehow beautiful.

  • Lunch from Natural Lawson.

  • Checked into the Mizno Hotel.

  • Dinner at the Mizno Hotel. Japanese pickles and asparagus, fresh veggies and waffled potatoes, mushroom soup, tofu with red sauce and radish, shaved ice, mushroom and mashed potatoes, strawberry matcha tart, ice cream mochi. Our stomachs almost exploded.

Day 8: May 20, 2023

Day 9: May 21, 2023

  • Breakfast at the Mizno Hotel.

  • Chureito Pagoda. It was cloudy when we woke up, so we figured we were going to have to leave without having seen a full view of Mt. Fuji. But just as we arrived here as a last ditch effort, the clouds parted as we raced up the [many] stairs to the top. We won’t even try to describe the view as we emerged at the top; just look at the pictures.

  • Lunch from a rest stop.

  • Tsumago-juku. Beautiful historic town. Ate chestnut ice cream from a local shop.

  • Magomejuku. Another beautiful historic town. (If we had more time, we would have done the little hike between the two towns.)

  • Checked into Hotel Wood in Takayama.

  • Dinner at Sushi Dining Nob. Veggie California roll, avocado tempura rolls, garden veggies with mayo roll. Really good.

Day 10: May 22, 2023

Day 11: May 23, 2023

  • Breakfast at Hotel Wood.

  • Shirakawa-go. Historic remote mountain village. Parked above the town to see the view. Crowded spot, but nice for a wander. Grabbed ice cream from a shop.

  • World Heritage Suganuma Gassho-zukuri Village. UNESCO World Heritage Site with Gassho-style houses. Much quieter than Shirakawa-go. Beautiful views of the Shō River.

  • Lunch from FamilyMart.

  • Ainokura Gassho-zukuri Village. Quant mountain village with Gassho-stlye houses. It was nice, but not as impressive as the other two. The best part was walking up to the viewpoint above the town.

  • Checked into Guest House Takazuri-Kita in Toyama.

  • Dinner from FamilyMart.

Day 12: May 24, 2023

Day 13: May 25, 2023

Day 14: May 26, 2023

Day 15: May 27, 2023

  • Breakfast at Kyoto Granbell Hotel.

  • Drove from Kyoto to Nara.

  • Nara:

  • Walked around near Hōkan-ji. Buddist temple. Cool streets nearby with great views of the pagoda. It was too crowded and the light wasn’t right, so we decided to return the next day.

  • Dinner at RECIPE All Day Cafe.

Day 16: May 28, 2023

  • Up early to see the area around Hōkan-ji without crowds.

  • Breakfast at Kyoto Granbell Hotel.

  • Ryōan-ji. Buddist temple. Got there before the crowds and enjoyed the peaceful rock garden.

  • Kinkaku-ji. Buddist temple. Insane crowds.

  • Saga Toriimoto. Car-free area with traditional homes. We parked up the street, and inadvertently got swept up in the parking lot attendant’s family’s rush to see a local festival (which we had no idea was happening). Despite the language barrier, we joined them for the [unexpected] festivities.

  • Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Nice, but really crowded. The rural area north of here was really pretty and quiet though.

  • Kameyama Park.

  • Lunch at Dangoro. Fried tofu hot soba noodles.

  • Otagi Nenbutsuji. Buddist temple. Smaller and less crowded. Loved all the mossy stone heads.

  • Dinner at Gyosa ChaoChao (Shijo-Kawaramachi). Tasty dumplings.

  • Don Quijote. Bought so much candy to bring back home.

Day 17: May 29, 2023