Travel Diaries: Japan (Part 1)
- Brooke
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
It was this time last year we were flying home from Japan, realizing just how sheltered we were in our small Nashville bubble, and how BEAUTIFUL other countries could be. We talk about our trip as if it happened a month ago. It’s hard to believe it was a year ago! But as I think about the trip and what an amazing experience it was, I realize I never broke down our itinerary or told you all the details about where we stayed, what we ate, how we got there using points, the places we toured, etc.
Soooo, better late than never! Here are all the details of our trip – Here's hoping you find yourself in Japan soon and that this helps!
OVERVIEW
We broke our trip up into 3 parts. We stayed in Toyko for 4 days, Kyoto for 4 days, and then back to Tokyo for 4 days.
We did this for multiple reasons:
1. Where we were staying, at the Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel (where Lost in Translation was filmed) was closing their doors for a one-year renovation, so we stayed until they literally closed the doors for the last time.
2. The time frame we were visiting was Japan’s “golden week” so there were more people in the city than normal. A lot of businesses were closed, and restaurant reservations were booked out 6+ months in advance so it was difficult to get in to good restaurants.
We also mixed in a day trip to Osaka, so we've included that in the journey as well.
TOKYO
1ST LEG OF TRIP
DAY 0 (TRAVEL)
FLIGHT TO JAPAN (LAX to NRT)
Our flight on Singapore Airlines was amazing. There are only four seats in first class so we felt extra lucky to take two of them. Brice and I both wanted window seats so we were on opposite sides of the plane, but we could walk over to each other easily and hang out.
We each had our own separate flight attendants. It was so nice! I was quick to get into the pajamas they provided and then slept, but Brice stayed awake the whole flight.
IN-FLIGHT DINING
We ate SO much food on the flight, which we selected ahead of time. If you were following along on Instagram, you may have weighed in via the polls I posted for voting!
If you'd like to see more about our in-flight dining experience, you can click on the menus below to take you to the Instagram highlights of all our food. We included it all!
Singapore Airlines In-Flight Dining
ARRIVAL LOGISTICS
Prior to arriving to NRT, we reserved two pocket wifi’s online via Ninja Wifi and picked those up by baggage claim. It was a pretty seamless process really. We both got one, but in hindsight, we only needed one. They’re kind of bulky and only one would fit in our little crossbody with our phones and selfie stand.
Here's the link to reserve one if you're headed there!
We had the hotel car service pick us up from NRT, which was a bit pricy, but it made the most sense. After a 12 hour flight, we landed in a foreign country that we knew very little about, and it was nighttime when we arrived. So yeh, no random or public transportation for us.
We lost a whole day with the time change. We checked in and went straight to bed because it was almost 9pm local time by the time we got into our room.
HOTEL (TOKYO - 1ST LEG OF TRIP)
We stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. The hotel was definitely overdue for some upgrades, but the nostalgia of the place was worth every penny. You can view the room tour via our IG highlight below!
Our hotel - Park Hyatt Tokyo
DAY 1 (TOKYO)
I woke up at 4:30 am because the time difference is insane, and we were out the door by 7:30. Nothing opens early in Japan, so we were STARVING by the time we had breakfast! We took the train everywhere (subway/metro), and it was actually super easy to get around and understand where to go!
Adventures in Tokyo - Day 1
We toured around the Asakusa neighborhood, tried Japanese French toast, went to the Ueno Zoo. We got food in the basement of the shopping malls. Everyone told us to do this, and it did NOT disappoint. Then we went to Tempura Yokota Shinjuku Betti for dinner and had to tell the chef we didn’t want the last five courses because we were sooo full, but of course, we still had dessert to end the night.
Adventures in Tokyo - Day 1
Here are some screenshot glimpses from our first day that you can click to find on our IG.
Adventures in Tokyo - Day 1
Highlights:
DAY 2 (TOKYO)
We started the day with Shibuya Crossing (known to be less crowded in the morning), then went to the Meiji-Jingu Shrine, walked to A Happy Pancake which had the fluffy pancakes Brice wanted and he LOVED them.
We met up with a local friend (that we met through another friend) and she took us to a beautiful old house (Sarugakucho) to check out the architecture and Brice had to duck under all the doorframes. lol.
We had some delicious ramen at Afuri for lunch, went shopping in Ginza, strolled through Omoide Yokocho and finished the night with some Izakaya food.
Adventures in Tokyo - Day 2
Highlights:
The pancakes at A Happy Pancake!
Knowing someone who lives in Japan and could give us the “locals” tour. lol
DAY 3 (TOKYO)
I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep so I took a long, relaxing bath and then went up to the restaurant with glass walls to watch a Tokyo sunrise.
Relaxing bath and sunrise over Tokyo
Because we were up so early, and no one else was, we would go to the 7/11 and get a snack on the way to wherever we were going...Brice LOVED the fruit sandwiches!
Adventures in Tokyo - Day 3
We went to the Tsukiji Outer Market (fish market) where we tried the freshest tuna and Kobe beef breakfast. Yes, fish and beef for breakfast – it was amazing! Then we walked to the Imperial Palace & the East Gardens, back to Shibuya for crepes, Totti Candy Factory for a cotton candy umbrella, and shopping!
Adventures in Tokyo - Day 3
Then we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit, changed and went to dinner. Our Ubers had these amazing vans that I could have gotten so much work done in!
To our happy surprise, when we got back to our hotel room and looked out the window, we got to see Mount Fuji!
This was definitely a very cool way to be greeted back at the hotel after a very long day of walking and site seeing.
Learn more about Mt. Fuji here.
Our teppanyaki dinner at Ginmeisui in Ginza hit the spot and we went back to our hotel for the last night of it being open until Fall 2025.
Dinner at Ginmeisui in Ginza
Highlights:
Tsukiji Outer Market (fish market)
Shopping in Shibuya
Dinner at Ginmeisui in Ginza
Brice just couldn't check out of our hotel before using the swim cap they gave him. lol. Although in hindsight, I think he probably regretted that choice after it completely exhausted him first thing in the morning.
We checked out shortly after this from the Park Hyatt Tokyo and headed to the train station to catch our bullet train to Kyoto!
Ready for Japan Part 2?!
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