A Week Itinerary in Japan: Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Osaka
Early November 2017
Tokyo > Mount Fuji > Kyoto > Hiroshima & Miyajima > Osaka First things first, Japan is expensive—even just for a week! We tried to stick to a “backpacker budget,” but prepare for even hostels & buses to be very expensive (but very nice!).
Like any travel, researching in advance helps to avoid unexpected costs. (For example, we booked our overnight bus ticket in person the day before from Mt. Fuji to Kyoto and had to pay $80 instead of an already expensive $60). There are a lot of train/metro passes that you can purchase for an area in advance online, but these passes have numerous limitations, so do the research to see if it is worth it for your plans (we had good luck with the online ticket we purchased in advance!).
Also, as you’ll see below — Japan in winter is SO SO COLD. Prepare & pack better than I did!! At least for Americans, there was no visa application ahead of time. Flying from the Philippines kept our flight costs low with Vanilla Air. Day 1: Tokyo
Stay at: Anne Yokozuna ($20.50/night!). My friend & I joined our other friends late for this trip (we were coming from the Philippines), so our day in Tokyo was quite a whirlwind! You could spend a week just in this city, but this is how we maximized our one full day. The transit/metro system in Tokyo worked pretty well, with reasonable costs and fairly intuitive touch screens where you could choose your destination station — how we got into the city from the airport and got around efficiently while there.
Tokyo Tower: we didn’t pay to go up it, but worth a visit up close still.
Meiji Temple & Harajuku: these two are right next to each other, so you can do it together. So beautiful — we happened to be there when a wedding procession came through the temple!
The Shibuya Area was insanely cool, just people watching and popping into shops! The “cool Tokyo cafes” (and giant teddy bear stores) are in this area. You can take the transit system here.
The Shibuya Crossing in this area was also worth checking out; we hung out in the Starbucks up above the intersection and watched the hundreds of pedestrians cross all at once.
...Then we crossed it ourselves to eat at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant right around the corner. (There is also one in Atlanta now). You order your sushi on the screen, then it zooms to you on the conveyor!
We also did a good bit of wandering in Tokyo; ramen from a coin machine in the basement of a mall was a big hit, as was almost stumbling into a movie set, having a group of decked out Mario Kart “racers” zoom by and tracking down some really neat art installations (Roppongi area- check out Maman, the giant spider).
My friends who were in Tokyo longer also recommended the Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and the Asakusa Block. Day 2-3: Mount Fuji
Stay at: K’s House, Mount Fuji Branch. $28/night!) Busing to Mount Fuji was very affordable with the comfy Shinjuku Expressway Bus at $20 for the 2 hour bus from Tokyo. Once you arrive, there is a ticket you can buy for a bus loop (1,300 yen) which takes you to multiple stops around the entire Fuji area, and is a 2 day pass. We took a morning bus so we got in around 10am, had that day, had the full next day, and then took an overnight bus to Kyoto. 2 full days felt like the perfect way to do it!
Mount Fuji is GORGEOUS. We took our time at different stops: along the lake, the maple corridors, temples, pop up craft shows, restaurants with steamy udon & many different views of main attraction, including a ride up to the top of a nearby mountain.
The leaves had changed for fall when we were there, which was insanely beautiful. I imagine the cherry blossoms would be just as stunning, if you have flexibility in your travel dates!
You must go to an Onsen at least once while you are in Japan; we went twice just while at MF. Onsens are public bath/hot spring houses where you get (completely) naked with a bunch of strangers and sit in splendidly warm water. It's insanely nice/warm/wonderful, and a unfamiliar feeling (as an American) to be with so many people comfortable in their bodies! Read up on onsen etiquette before going so not to disturb the people who are regulars there. It was also VERY cheap, and a wonderful experience.
Then, the fated late-purchased $80 overnight bus to Kyoto, which ran 9pm-6am. Like all overnight buses, it’s not the best night’s sleep but it gets you out of accommodation cost for the night AND hefty bullet train prices (though other friends highly recommend the experience if you have the $$$!) Day 4-5: Kyoto
Stay at: J Hopper’s (don’t remember the price; also expensive but the place was fine!) We booked the JR-West "Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass" ahead of time ($131), which sounds like a steep price—but it did include the whole area so our train to Osaka, trips to Hiroshima, ferry to Miyajima and our transit to the airport. It however did NOT cover any metro use in Kyoto/Osaka; for these tickets/area passes you really need to read the fine print to decide if it’s the best idea for you and your plans. Make sure to make note of your “pick up location” especially if you’re trying to use it for the first time in the early morning!
We went to a temple that was advertised at our hostel and gleefully wandered through a craft fair for an absurd amount of time, racking up souvenirs and listening to the music from inside the temple. We spent the bulk of our day at the famous Fushimi Inari temple, which features the hundreds of red gates. In addition to being beautiful and expansive, there were tons of food vendors outside (TRY: EVERYTHING - see bottom for food details!) and we met a family of kittens.
We actually visited the Nijo Castle at night: attending a BEAUTIFUL art exhibit featuring neon lights and tanks of live fish throughout the night-covered castle. I’d definitely recommend to have a set idea of what you’d like to see, then look out for exhibits or events that are happening in these cities!!
I was insanely sick by this point in the trip so I slept and downed bowl after bowl of ramen most of our second day in Kyoto, but we did visit the Kyoto National Museum which was incredible — both art and historical artifact detailing Japan’s prolific past — and the most crowded museum I’ve ever been to. It was really neat to experience a museum/curated (“austere”) setting with so many excited people, foreigners and locals!! Day 6: Hiroshima + Miyajima
We did this as a day trip from Kyoto, using our JR West passes (ended up being our least expensive in-person day). We left our hostel around 7:30am, and returned around 9:30pm, so seeing both was logistically doable though definitely heavy emotionally. The Hiroshima Peace Museum (200yen) was both historically frank (addressing the many not always discussed (in the US) motivations behind the use of the atomic bomb as well as the long term destruction), and was very geared towards the future — advocating for nuclear regulation now. After visiting the many outdoor memorials, the museum was worth the visit for better context. I've written a lot about being an American tourist, especially to countries that have been in conflict with or negatively effected by the US; I find it necessary to spend at least some time in a country's museums since they often present a historical narrative different from what we learn in a American-centric curriculum. I've also found that this has slowly helped me be more aware of how complicated "tourism" is, especially cheap tourism -- understanding how economic systems and histories effect who gets to "tour" and who is a cheap destination (less applicable in Japan of course, but the issues of differing historical narratives still stand!).
The last “scenic” ferry route for the island Miyajima from Hiroshima is at 4:10, and the views while approaching the island were worth rushing a bit.
The deer really were very friendly (no people food!!), and the arch was breathtaking as the water rose and the sunset reflected from below. Day 7: Osaka
We had a flight out of Osaka-Kansai at 10pm, so only had the single day once we arrived early early in the morning. Random tip: if you find yourself with a single day like this, ask a hostel if they’ll hold your large bags for you? I’m also surprised by how often they are totally cool with it even if you’re not staying there?? Save your back! We went to the Osaka History Museum and it was pretty underwhelming, though the bunraku puppets were neat to see. Can’t say I’d recommend. We spent most of our time eating sushi otherwise.
Dotonburi, however, is a must!! Arriving at night, all the neon lights were lit up and the entire street was packed in street food vendors. I ate SO MUCH and I regret NONE OF IT. Speaking of, while in Japan you must eat:
Sushi (duh) - conveyor belt and at least one nice meal (go for the eel!) Sushi from the gas stations (the gas stations are AWESOME as are the super markets — so much interesting stuff to try inexpensively!) We ate at Japanese gas stations a LOT during our week.
Ramen (glorious, so many different kinds)
Udon (delicious thicker noodles, still soup based) Takoyaki (octopus balls) Inari (tofu wrapped sushi; I hated, my friends loved)
Dumplings (of course) Crepes (next level!) Wagyu beef (lol try it at Dontonburi, $$$) Veggie tempura Mochi (rice powder turned soft outside shell to delicious red bean paste!) Sesame balls (sesame seed exterior tastes like peanut butter!) Saki (I didn’t try since I was deathly ill, but my friends enjoyed it!)
Taiyaki (fish-shaped, warm CUSTARD FILLED CAKE; my favorite!!!)