Goals of Trip: Experience Japanese culture for the first time, soaking up all of the experiences, from the bullet train to the food and beautiful sights.

Keywords: Sakura, Shinkansen, Sashimi

Time visited: Spring (Early April)

Don’t forget to pack:

External battery pack
Foldable reusable bag
Travel medicine kit (My personal MVP’s for this trip: ibuprofen, sea-bands for nausea, gas medicine, tums)
Compression socks
Foldable duffle bag

Travel

Tokyo has two major airports, Haneda (HND) and Narita (NRT) – which one is best for you depends on where you want to stay when you first arrive. Generally, Haneda is closer to central Tokyo and Narita is about an hour away from the city’s center.

Play around with the flights from your point of origin and find the best deal for you. For me, with my initial destination as Nagoya, I landed at NRT and took a short local flight to Nagoya (NGO). I then took 2 trains from Nagoya station to reach my final destination, Kariya Station.

Research ahead of time was invaluable in realizing that 1 train was Japan Railways (JR) and the other was run by Meitetsu – Google Maps is key for navigating in the moment, but realizing these bigger concepts is essential to know ahead of time. Your brain after 20 hours of flying does not process information at its normal speed!

Accommodations:

Comfort Hotel Kariya (Nagoya) – picked solely because it was where my husband and his coworkers were staying for work, so it’s off the beaten path. I would still recommend and enjoy staying in Kariya again, as this hotel was close to the station, had a clean and efficient coin laundry, and had delicious restaurants nearby. Nagoya station was a quick train ride away for even more attractions. The price point was great (about $93/night) and included a balanced and enjoyable hotel breakfast.

Intercontinental Tokyo Bay – A dream. This was a financial splurge, but I do not regret it. We wanted the iconic view of the Tokyo Bay and rainbow bridge- and we GOT IT!!! Honestly, who even needs Tokyo tower, Shibuya Sky and Tokyo Skytree when you can watch this view from the toilet???

Every night, this view was a reminder that our dream of traveling to Japan had finally come true, and every sunrise and sunset was an event on its own. (Upwards of $600 USD per night, cue the sweating emoji, but this did include a palatial breakfast, afternoon tea, and cocktail hour)

Day 1 – Arrival

3pm - Arrival at NRT, made my first purchases in Japan – Pocari Sweat and a seaweed onigiri.

Using the SUICA card on my iphone was easy and convenient to load currency and make this purchase at the airport. I am not exaggerating when I say this combo revived me. Boarded the plane to go from NRT to NGO.

8pm - After a total of 3 planes and 2 trains later, I arrived at Kariya station and checked into the hotel immediately, then it was time for my first real meal of the trip – a ramen place (Ore No Yume) where my husband and his coworkers had just enjoyed their dinner. I got the black tonkotsu ramen and I began to feel as if the 20+ hours of travel was truly worth it.

Stopped at Family Mart (Konbini/convenience store) for a tiny tub of haagen dazs green tea ice cream. Headed back to the hotel, showered the plane gunk off, and forced myself to listen to a sleep meditation to go to sleep.

Day 2 – Jessica’s Day in Nagoya

5am – Benefits of jet lag… my eyes popped open at 5am every morning, giving me plenty of time to leisurely get ready, visit the Family Mart, and pick up some novelty food (addicted to onigiri already) and got cash at the ATM in the store.

7am- Hotel Breakfast time! I was here for fruits, vegetables, and coffee. Hung out with my husband and his coworkers before they departed for their day.

8am – Komeda’s Coffee. I originally wanted to try a Japanese breakfast set (toast with egg or red bean paste) but at the last moment decided to go for a fanciful coffee drink and light-as-air cake. No regrets. #secondbreakfast.

This was a cute and quiet chain cafe with many older folks reading newspapers and enjoying coffee and pastries. I then double and triple checked my google maps before setting out for Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

9am – So the very first thing I did was get on the wrong train. Luckily, at breakfast I had received the sage advice that getting on the wrong train is a learning experience and a rite of passage, so accept that it will happen and simply get off at the next stop and go back in the other direction. I had taken the local (Meitetsu) line instead of the JR line. I would have gotten to the zoo and Nagoya proper eventually, but it would have taken hours. Went back to Kariya station, exited the Meitetsu area and got on the JR line and successfully made it to the zoo.

10am-1pm- Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens. I severely underestimated how large this zoo was! Exhibits I enjoyed the most were the Red Panda and the Hippopotamus. I got the ticket that included the observation deck of the tower in the park, and rode that up to see a view of Nagoya.

Finally, after getting lost within the zoo multiple times, I made it to the botanical garden (and rhododendron forest in full bloom!). Botanical gardens are a must-stop for me at every destination, and this one did not disappoint. The sheer scale of the cactus room was insane.

1pm – Headed back to Nagoya station to try to make it in time to go to a famous Eel restaurant called Ibasho.

View of the peaceful indoor garden from my seat at Ibasho.

Hitsumabushi – one of the regional specialty dishes for Nagoya (one of the Nagoya Meshi) – is an eel bowl with seasoned rice. You can enjoy it on its own, with green onions and wasabi, or with green onions, wasabi, and green tea. The green tea gives it this gentle savory flavor which I love!

3pm Headed back to Kariya to join my husband and his coworkers for their farewell dinner (a Yakiniku/barbecue place which was enjoyable, and where I tried beef tongue for the first time).

11pm-2am Stayed up until 2am doing laundry in a panicked manner in the hotel – some of my airplane clothes smelling toxic. The machines were neat combination washer/dryers. We ran into problems because we overloaded the machine and it didn’t dry in the appointed time. It ended up being fine because I painstakingly hung everything possible to dry overnight in the bathroom, then used my 5am jet lag wake up time to do another load of laundry which finally redeemed the most hazardous smelling clothes. Smart features of the machines included the ability to set a PIN to lock the machine so no one can steal your clothes, no need to buy laundry detergent since it auto-dispenses, and the wash time on the machine was accurate.

Day 3 – Bullet Train to Tokyo (aka this is what dreams are made of)

8am Hotel Breakfast

9am Depart Kariya Station and make our way to Nagoya Station

Ate more hitsumabushi in the shop at Nagoya Station! In general, this dish is more expensive than the other Nagoya meshi (specialty Nagoya dishes aka Kishimen Ramen and Miso Katsu), but I loved it so much I didn’t care. Below, you can see it served with all of the options, so you can customize each bite.

12pm Bullet train from Nagoya to Tokyo

We booked tickets ahead of time for the Green Car (reserved seats only!) on the left hand side and were lucky enough to see Mount Fuji during the journey! This was quite special as usually Mt Fuji is covered up in clouds. Everyone on the train was gasping and taking photos and it was incredibly cute.

2pm – Arrived at Tokyo station and took local subway to reach Intercontinental Tokyo Bay, where they checked us in in time for afternoon tea with the view of the bay!

4pm – Wandered around Tokyo and simply enjoyed being there.

6pm – Dinner at an Izakaya – unfortunately this is when I realized I had an ear infection and I was out of commission for the night, but my partner greatly enjoyed walking around Tokyo this night- from Nissan Crossing to views of Tokyo Tower, Tokyo was lit up and beautiful! I did get a custard-filled fish pastry before turning in. My 7pm bedtimes don’t make for an exciting tale, but sickness can strike at any time!

Not a bad view for an invalid with an ear infection on their first trip to Japan…

Day 4 – Tokyo Tower

8am - Absolutely dreamy hotel breakfast by the bay!

12pm – Tokyo Tower – we did book these tickets well in advance and had decided to do Tokyo Tower and Shibuya Sky in the daytime, and do Tokyo Skytree as a night view for the finale of our trip.

I really enjoyed mailing postcards and getting souvenir stamps in my journal from the special post box in Tokyo Tower! There was some shopping inside but it wasn’t anything to our taste.

4pm – Dinner (unfortunately more ear pain), this was when we decided (with help from the hotel concierge) to go to the Saisekai hospital nearby the next morning.

First time trying uni (sea urchin) which is the orange part on top! Unfortunately I was so out of it at this point that I did not collect this restaurant’s details.

Day 5 – The Hospital (sadly) + Shibuya

8am to 11am - Saisekai General Hospital

Although it sucked that I had an ear infection, this hospital was a textbook on efficiency! I was in and out of the hospital AND the pharmacy in under 3 hours.

As I am a pharmacist, I had actually planned this trip to be sickness-proof – we had both checked with our insurance beforehand to know how we would be covered if we became ill during travel (both of ours treated it as out-of-network), and worst case scenario, if we had to hole up in the hotel room we knew we’d enjoy it with our out-of-this world Tokyo Bay view and great food.

12pm - Shibuya

We went over to Shibuya in preparation for our 1pm Shibuya Sky reservation and had arguably the best meal of the trip at this Sashimi Place (Seafood Misakiko Shibuya East Exit). Amazing price, crazy good quality, and we enjoyed ourselves to the maximum! Ordering is on a tablet and water is in a dispenser in the corner. 100% would visit this place again. I would go every day if I could.

Did some shopping in the Shibuya complex for souveneirs and were able to find items for most of the special people in our lives (and ourselves!).

Matcha break during our shopping in Shibuya Scramble Shopping center.

1pm Shibuya Sky

Very artistic experience, the style of this observation deck is really interesting. Through the decor, staff uniforms, and music, they cultivate a futuristic vibe.

You do have to stash most of your items in a locker before being permitted on the observation deck. Enjoyed all the levels and atmospheric feel of this attraction. Enjoyed a small treat at the café with a view.

3pm Shopping at Shibuya Scramble Square, Crossed the infamous crosswalk, and caught a glimpse of Hachiko Waits (read about him and cry, thank me later).

7pm Tokyo Skytree

We planned Skytree as the luxurious endcap to our trip - and the glittering nighttime views of Tokyo stretching away from us did not disappoint.

Recommend booking tickets ahead of time and there are great novelty stores in the Tokyo Skytree complex we we wish we had time to peruse.

Post boxes and stamp stations at Skytree.

9pm Scarf down an assortment of foods from the convenience store to use up our leftover yen

Day 6 – Departure

5am – This wake-up time was always a good result for me. As we were leaving that day (big thank you to the Intercontinental for letting us have a later check out!), I wanted to get out and explore another area before our departure.

6am – I took one last walk around the bay and got on the local subway to Ginza, where I simply walked and looked around, accidentally finding an adorable garden with a statue dedicated to Japan’s first-ever service dog and a beautiful Kabuki theatre.

Her name was Chirori, and she was almost abandoned with her litter of puppies - then it was discovered how she could cheer and soothe people in hospitals and she became Japan’s first-ever service dog. With her impact, she ended up changing laws on animal abuse in Japan, and even obtained an honorary doctorate of philosophy in social welfare.

3pm – Return flight from HND. This airport was actually really cool! There was a lot to explore, from exhibits about the airport to an observation deck with views of the planes, and of course many vending machines and restaurants.