Land of the Rising Sun Japan Chapter

June, 2019

7 day itinerary

City Tours, Cultural Places, Shopping, Trains and Food

photo gallery

Sight Seeing
Food
Transportation
Activities
Culture

Duration: 6 days, 7 nights

Tokyo & Surrounding places, Kyoto and Surrounding Places

Airline – Singapore Airlines

Port of Entry and Exit – Tokyo Narita Airport

Budget: $1500 per person excluding airfare

Ever since I read about the “Land of the Rising Sun” in my middle school, I had been hooked to Japan..

For the past couple of years, my web searches would have been focused on Japan at least once a week, a place that I have been longing to visit for as long as I can remember.

Our initial plan was to visit Japan for Olympics 2020 so we could watch Olympics and also indulge in sight-seeing. Fate had other plans for us and a cheap return ticket from LA to Chennai with a stopover in Japan for a week for less than $1000 was on offer from Singapore Airlines and we grabbed it instantly.

An itinerary for the 6 days was soon planned and firmed with all the bookings.

Best Food & Drink

1. Oagari

A very cozy 16 seater restaurant in the Gion district of Kyoto. Good vegetarian options and serves traditional Japanese food.

2. Soranoiro Nippon

A very busy ramen restaurant in the ramen street under the Tokyo Station. There may be a wait time up to 10 mins here to get a seat.

3. Ain-Soph Journey

Good vegan and vegetarian fusion food in the heart of Shinjuku district.

Day 1

Tokyo surprised by being both cosmopolitan as well as a cultural city. The land of the Rising Sun did rise us at 3.45 with its bright daylight and compounded by the Jet Lag (+16 hours), we were up fresh and ready to get out by 7.00 AM.
Tokyo Station, one of the busiest train stations in the world, posted us some challenges with its maze of pathways and shopping district.

Don’t miss a trip to the famous Asakusa area to visit the Sensoji Temple and the shops around the temple (slightly overrated is what we felt!!)

Our next halt was the Jimbocho area for their old book stores on offering. Naturally, there weren’t many English language books on offering as compared to the Japanese ones, but it did give us an opportunity to get replica of the traditional Japanese paintings dirt cheap.
We also walked the length and breadth of Takeshita Dori – the teenage shopping district.

Day 2

Having booked our seats the day before on the Shinkansen to Kyoto, we took the 8.05 AM train to Kyoto arriving at 10.45 AM in the busy Kyoto station.

Taking another local train, we visited the Fushimi Inari temple (famous for its Orange-Black wood pillars), probably the most photographed site in Kyoto.

We had a wonderful and delicious lunch at Oogari restaurant in the Gion district (very cozy restaurant that can accommodate only 16 patrons at a time). Call ahead to book your table. We relished on some authentic dishes of Kyoto here.
Yasaka Shrine was next on our list and there were many street vendors selling street food here at the shrine adding to an festive atmosphere (just like in the Fushimi Inari, but in a small scale).

Day 3

Taking the same 8.05 AM service to Kyoto, we then visited Arashiyama (about 30 mins from Kyoto on local train).

Arashiyama is famous for its bamboo garden (we felt it was overrated) and you can see many hand-drawn carts here ferrying tourists.

After walking about 4 miles up and down from the Arashiyama station, we returned to Kyoto city for lunch and this time tried a food court opposite the Kyoto station.

Having booked a Samurai museum visit and the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony experience, we headed to the Kawaramachi Dori area ( famous for its shopping).

The Samurai museum and the included activities were a let down for us, and the Tea Ceremony was just about ok.

We returned back to Tokyo that evening taking a late evening Shinkansen.

Day 4

This was a day that I had dedicated to the rail fan in me. With us starting a visit to the famous Nippori station where you can see 14 tracks ( up and down ) and with constant train activities on them.

Our next stop was the Saitama Train Museum, we did not get a chance to try out the train simulators as there was a 2 hour wait on them.

We then headed to Kawagoe to see its preserved warehouse district ( a long walk from the Kawagoe station). Candy Alley was crowded with tourists and locals alike.

We returned to Tokyo ( about 75 mins) by taking local trains.
Evening was set aside for a visit to the Odaiba area – An High Tech Entertainment district on an Artificial Island accessed by the Rainbow Bridge.

Day 5

Our plan was to visit the Kamakura area and we did lots of walking here. The tall Buddha statue definitely was beautiful and amazed us on how it was constructed when machinery were definitely not heard of.

That evening was spent on night photo opportunities at Asakusa and Tokyo Station.

Day 6

Our last day was spent on shopping with us visiting the Akhihabara electronics district and the Ginza area for deals.

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Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustav Flaubert

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Kon’nichiwa Nihon..