Prime Journey Suggestions for Tokyo and Kyoto

It’s the land of the rising solar. And in addition the place the place the solar rises in my coronary heart. As a result of the folks, environment, meals, the tradition and structure have one thing about them that makes you are feeling fully comfortable.

Each step I absorb Japan makes me really feel protected. Each place is clear, the folks you meet are well mannered and respectful and the structure radiates calm and power. For me, it’s a particular place within the midst of a wild and more and more careless world.

I used to be there 22 years in the past and now I wish to present this place, which I then selected as one of the lovely on the planet, to my household.

From my expertise, listed here are my journey suggestions for Tokyo and Kyoto.

Right here is an outline:

Language in Japan

The Japanese language is difficult and takes a very long time to study fully, particularly due to the characters, that are a combination of Japanese and Chinese language characters.

However figuring out just a few phrases will enable you to to talk to folks within the nation in a respectful manner. That is extremely beneficial.

These embrace:

‘Kon’nichiwa’ – this implies ‘hey’ and is the Japanese greeting.

Additionally it is crucial to say thanks. The Japanese say thanks again and again. In Japanese, you do that with the phrase ‘Arigato’. ‘Arigatogozaimasu’ is a stronger manner of claiming ‘thanks’.

If you wish to draw consideration to your self within the sense of claiming ‘excuse me’ since you wish to make a request, for instance in a restaurant, you utilize ‘sumimasen’.

You must also know the phrase for goodbye – ‘sayonara’.

Now you might have all of the well mannered types of handle at your disposal that can assist you to maneuver round Japan respectfully.

Journey Suggestions for Tokyo

Our journey begins in Tokyo. There are many direct flights to a number of airports round Tokyo.

Haneda Airport is a little bit nearer to town and Narita a little bit additional away. Each are splendidly related to the centre of Tokyo by public transport.

A really particular tip for anybody travelling to Japan: Purchase a ‘Pasmo’ or ‘Suica’ cross on the airport or at one of many main subway stations. This cross lets you journey freely on all subway or bus traces via most cities in Japan. There are merchandising machines the place you possibly can prime up your cross and at each subway exit you possibly can see the present steadiness of your credit score while you take a look at. It’s also possible to use these passes to pay in some outlets or merchandising machines.

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Whereas we’re with reference to ‘paying’: you possibly can pay with a bank card wherever within the vacationer areas. Nonetheless, this isn’t all the time the case in additional unique locations or smaller eating places. Due to this fact, be sure you journey with some money and verify along with your bank card firm to just remember to can withdraw cash from ATMs in Japan along with your bank card.

Ueno

Ueno is a really unique, enjoyable and colourful district with loads of life and exercise always of the day and night time, and a spacious park that provides temples, a lotus flower lake and area for festivals and culinary discoveries.

Reverse the Ueno practice station one can find the pedestrian space of Ameyokocho. Right here you possibly can instantly immerse your self in Japanese tradition. The colourful sea of night, the scrumptious smells and the number of Japanese specialties within the numerous eating places are an actual El Dorado for all explorers.

The particular spotlight when touring is when you recognize individuals who stay within the nation and you may see the nation from their perspective.

So we had the chance to have a good time at an actual Mikoshi competition in one in all Tokyo’s suburbs. The massive shrine is carried via all the city by many women and men all through the day.

Within the night, the Mikoshi carriers arrive on the competition’s massive shrine and celebration website. They’re accompanied by conventional Japanese music and the nice pleasure of all members.

Shibuya

Once you consider Tokyo, you mechanically consider the well-known Shibuya Scramble Crossing. Crossing it’s a actual spotlight. So is watching others cross it.

You get a very good view from the Starbucks proper on the intersection. From right here, you possibly can movie, {photograph} or simply watch the hustle and bustle on the road beneath.

Associated learn: A Information to Nightlife in Shibuya and Shinjuku, Tokyo

Hachiko

Right here additionally, you will discover the well-known statue of Hachiko, most likely essentially the most loyal canine on the planet. He accompanied his grasp to the practice station each morning and picked him up once more within the night.

Even when his proprietor all of the sudden died, he continued to attend for him each night – for nearly ten years. He was given this monument in reminiscence of this. It’s a touching story that has even been made right into a film. These days, the monument of Hachiko is a good assembly place.

Omotesando

The Omotesando within the Harajuku/Jingumae district is a superb place for procuring and strolling.

Simply observe your instincts and discover the small alleys to the left and proper of the primary avenue. You should definitely plan a cease at Takeshita-dori on this route, with its many outlets full of colourful, loopy garments and equipment.

Asakusa

Asakusa is a usually Japanese and genuine district, centered round Senso-ji, one of many oldest temples within the nation.

It extends over a big space and is bordered by quite a few conventional outlets and eating places on the favored Nakamise-dori procuring avenue.

Asakusa is situated on the Sumida River and may be simply explored on foot or by rickshaw, passing fantastic bridges and colourful lanterns. Not removed from there, additionally, you will discover the Tokyo Tree, a lookout tower from which you’ll be able to see all the metropolis.

Right here in Asakusa, you will discover conventional arts and crafts, similar to do-it-yourself knives or Japanese paper, alongside typical sweets or scrumptious snacks such because the tasty rice crackers, the well-known dorayaki, stuffed egg pancakes, fried manju rolls or motchi skewers.

The full of life streets of Denpoin-dori, Kannon-dori and Asakusa Chuo-dori are notably charming and stuffed with the environment of previous Asakusa.

Sensoji

The Sensoji might be essentially the most well-known and most photographed temple in Tokyo. It was inbuilt 628 and is due to this fact additionally one of many oldest Buddhist temples within the capital.

The historical past of the temple can also be very thrilling. Legend has it that two fishermen within the close by Sumida River caught a golden statue of Kannon – the goddess of kindness and mercy – of their nets. They tried a number of instances to return the determine to the river, but it surely saved coming again to them. Lastly, they determined to construct a temple for the statue. This was named Senso-ji.

The trail to the temple is lined with white lanterns bearing Japanese characters.

Would you might have thought that? The crimson lantern within the middle weighs over 400 kg, the opposite two copper lanterns every weigh about 1000 kg.

Conventional pagodas all the time have an uneven variety of flooring. Do you know that the 5 ranges of Buddhist pagodas symbolize the 5 parts? Earth, water, fireplace, air and vacancy.

Kokeshi Dolls

These Kokeshi dolls are given as a fortunate allure for the beginning of a lady, a marriage, a enterprise opening or as a memento from Japan. They’re made by hand to a excessive commonplace and principally from fruitwood.

However additionally they have a tragic historical past. In Japanese custom, kids as much as the age of about 9 years belonged to God; this view got here from the time of excessive toddler mortality. When a baby died, the household took consolation in the truth that God had taken the kid again. These dolls have been thought of to be reminders of the kid who had been taken again “by God”.

Shintoism

Shintoism is a captivating and really open faith and, together with Buddhism, an important faith in Japan. The Japanese don’t find out about their religion in school, as is the case with many different religions. Typically, the religion is handed down from mother and father to kids.

Shinto means “manner of the gods”. Greater than 100 million folks, or 80% of the Japanese inhabitants, are Shintoists.

The shrines are devoted to varied deities. Everyone seems to be allowed to hope at a Shinto shrine, no matter their faith. I like the openness of this faith, which exhibits nice knowledge and power.

Ritual cleaning

You possibly can usually see water basins, temizuya with ladles, close to the shrines, that are known as hishaku. Right here, earlier than approaching the deity on the shrine, folks carry out the ritual of misogi, a purification of physique and thoughts.

First, you pour a little bit water over your left hand after which over your proper hand with the ladle. Subsequent, you rinse your mouth with water, however don’t swallow it. Lastly, empty the water from the ladle over your left hand and the deal with.

Praying in Japan

When you’re standing in entrance of the shrine, first throw some cash into the slot. 5-yen cash are very appropriate for this as a result of they sound like “go-en”, which implies luck. Then pull on the thick rope to ring the bell. The sound of the bell retains evil spirits away.

Once you arrive, you greet the god by bowing twice, then clap your fingers twice. After that, you pray in silence, categorical your want and maintain your fingers in entrance of your chest in prayer pose. On the finish, thanks with a deep bow.

The respect that may be felt all over the place in Japan can also be evident in its faith.

There are numerous actions devoted to luck on the shrine grounds. Omikuji are small Japanese paper strips that predict the long run.

The great factor is, when you draw a paper strip that predicts dangerous luck, you possibly can tie the strip to a small rope or, as right here, to a tree and thus eliminate the dangerous luck instantly.

For prayers and needs, there are wood plaques often known as ema that may be held on the shrine. That is how the gods are stated to obtain the prayers and fulfill the needs.

When leaving Japanese temples and shrines, the identical guidelines apply as when getting into. This ensures that the go to is a closed circle, which can also be stated to carry good luck.

Colourful and Various Neighborhoods in Tokyo

Tokyo is a large metropolis with 9.6 million inhabitants. It consists of many very totally different neighborhoods, so it doesn’t appear that massive.

Above all, it appears relaxed and calm to me as a result of the Japanese mentality may be very elegant and reserved on the surface. To ease the visitors scenario, there are sometimes footpaths constructed over the roads or, conversely, massive roads and even railroad traces on stilts one degree increased via town. And if you’re standing at a visitors gentle in Shinjuku, for instance, one of many busiest practice stations on the planet, the twittering of birds or the gentle music from the loudspeakers is extremely stress-free.

I counsel anybody who’s afraid of crowds to make a journey to Tokyo, as a result of there isn’t a place the place crowds of persons are extra stress-free than there. No one is loud, no person jostles, no person pushes, all the pieces is mild, orderly and stuffed with mindfulness, even at rush hour. That is an artwork that I discover admirable.

What I’m describing is just one aspect of the coin, as a result of no tradition has just one dimension. As protected, as well mannered, and as orderly as all the pieces seems, I’ve by no means seen a extra vibrant flip aspect wherever on the planet. The other pole of this construction is the colourful, the wild, the loopy, which is clear within the bars and playing halls within the neighborhoods of Tokyo that come to life at night time.

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The outfits of many Japanese girls particularly are something however reserved or boring; they’re a firework of potentialities and quite a lot of braveness is required to put on many outfits.

The exhibits that you simply see while you zap via the Japanese TV program in your resort room additionally present the wild range inside this strictly ordered world.

At night time, the Shinjuku district is dazzling. You should definitely go to the well-known Omoide Yokocho alley of bars. If you’re alone or in a pair, you could possibly get a desk within the quaint, tiny bars of this small alley.

In any other case, simply stroll on to Kabukicho Tower. You’ll find a variety of specialties in a colourful setting, both on the best way in Kabukicho-Ichiban-gai avenue or within the tower itself.

Culinary Japan

I discover it fascinating that while you consider Japanese meals, you instantly consider sushi, however there are such a lot of totally different delicacies that haven’t but made their technique to Europe.

Sukiyaki or Yakiniku, to call only a few.

It’s unbelievable how a lot meat, and never simply fish, dominates the menus. Wagyu beef is on the prime of the recognition scale right here.

I love the Japanese capability to have a good time all the pieces that has to do with consuming and having fun with meals. Within the numerous eating places, you possibly can put together your individual meal on a small built-in desk grill or you may get a pot of broth on a hob on the desk, much like a Chinese language fondue or sizzling pot, in which you’ll be able to put together every kind of greens and meat specialties that you would be able to get on the buffet.

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Shabu Sai Ueno is one in all our favourite sizzling pot spots. And Tokori Japanese Yakiniku in Ueno serves up some incredible yakiniku.

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Yakiniku

At a yakiniku meal, there’s a small, positive grill constructed into the tables on which you’ll be able to fry the assorted meat specialties which might be served in skinny slices. Rice and numerous sauces are served as aspect dishes. It’s notably cozy while you enter eating places and take off your sneakers and garments on the door.

The Wagyu beef on the Narita Airport restaurant Yakisuki Yanma was an actual deal with. Uncooked meat that is delivered to the desk on sizzling stones, the place it’s poured with a scrumptious sauce accompanied by a wide range of elements in small bowls, creating a terrific hissing sound, is an actual deal with.

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki was additionally new to me. It’s a one-pot dish by which the meat is cooked slowly on the desk, both earlier than or after the noodles and greens which might be additionally within the stew. Earlier than you benefit from the slowly roasted meat, you dip it in a uncooked egg. Scrumptious!

Onigiri

And to not overlook the favored Onigiri, rice balls with numerous fillings, which schoolchildren and workplace employees pack as a sandwich. So scrumptious and assorted that I actually miss them right here in Germany.

The wax fashions of the dishes at many of the eating places are additionally notably typical.

Resorts in Tokyo and Kyoto

A resort on the Yamanote Spherical Line is price its weight in gold. It’s a fast and simple technique to get to essentially the most well-known, genuine and attention-grabbing locations in Tokyo.

I can extremely suggest the accommodations of the Nohga group. We stayed on the Nohga Lodge in Ueno, however they’re additionally out there in different districts similar to Akihabara or different cities similar to Kyoto or Saporro.

This group additionally gives lodging in ryokans, the standard Japanese inns.

The Mitsui Backyard accommodations are additionally beneficial and a bit extra worldwide than the Nohga accommodations. We additionally stayed just a few nights on the Mitsui Backyard Jingugajen Tokyo Premier, however there are 12 extra accommodations on this group even in Tokyo and so they additionally provide nice lodging in Hiroshima, Yokohama, Osaka and numerous different cities.

On the “Prepare”

If you’re planning to journey round Japan, I like to recommend the Shinkansen, the quickest practice on the planet. It’s going to take you from Tokyo Station to Kyoto in simply over 2 and a half hours.

There’s an additional journey tip with suggestions only for the Shinkansen. I additionally suggest reserving a JR Go, which works completely and permits limitless practice journey in Japan.

Be sure you don’t miss Mount Fuji in your manner from Tokyo to Kyoto. The Shinkansen passes so near it that you would be able to {photograph} and admire it via the practice home windows, surrounded by clouds of mist or, relying on the season, even with its peak coated in snow.

Kyoto Journey Suggestions

I like Kyoto. I can’t say it every other manner.

Kyoto has develop into extraordinarily fashionable within the 22 years since I final visited. However the unique corners, the geisha district and the enchanting temples nonetheless inform of the magic of instances passed by.

The Higashiyama district, with the very conventional lanes of Sannenzaka and Ninnenzaka, which lead off from the Kiyomizu-dera temple, continues to be so unspoilt that you simply get the sensation that Kyoto will not be a metropolis however a small, touristy mountain village.

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Kimono

A particular expertise is to borrow a kimono for a day from one of many many kimono outlets. It’s a fantastic feeling to immerse your self within the historical past of this metropolis, the place the geishas have been at residence.

Strolling round in a kimono on a temple tour could seem touristy, however as with all experiences, it relies on your perspective. If you’re curious and have a need to immerse your self in a sure feeling, to grasp higher and expertise extra intensely, then it’s a profound expertise that you shouldn’t miss.

For the Kinomos, I can suggest the rental store proper on the bus cease on Higashioji Dori, throughout from the Seven Eleven. However you can even discover different rental outlets to the left and proper of it, similar to First or Kyokomachi. We didn’t have a reservation and simply walked in. For 4500 yen and 1600 yen for the coiffure, you possibly can remodel your self into a beautiful geisha for a day.

Nittai-ji Tempel

The previous streets across the Kiyumizu-dera Temple are undoubtedly price exploring.

Sadly, over the previous 22 years, all the pieces right here has not solely develop into extra crowded but in addition extra tourist-oriented, and the previous originality is not really easy to find.

Don’t miss out on following your nostril, wanting into inviting archways, letting your self drift and following your eye. This fashion, you’ll uncover abandoned temples, small subtleties, deserted courtyards and particular locations past the tourist-lined alleys. Like this lovely Nittai-ji Temple, which is situated instantly on the best way to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and is totally ignored by most. It’s lovely and abandoned.

Kiyomizu-dera Tempel

The Kiyumizu-dera Temple is among the actually spectacular temples in Kyoto.

Good to learn about visiting Kyoto

Admission to the temples is normally free or, within the case of the well-known temples, prices just a few euros per individual.

Don’t e book a tour upfront by way of Viator or GetYourGuide simply since you are afraid of not having the ability to get tickets to the temples on the spot. You may get the doorway ticket spontaneously on the spot, which provides you way more freedom and suppleness.

In case you completely wish to take a guided tour and be accompanied by a information, you might be after all welcome to e book such a tour via these platforms or domestically.

Fushimi Inari Schrein

The Fushimi Inara Shrine within the Fushimi district is among the most magical locations in Japan for me.

Throughout the day, the decrease walkway is especially busy, however as quickly as darkness falls, it turns into a little bit quieter. There’s something magical about getting into this highly effective shrine within the moonlight.

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When approaching a shrine, the very first thing you see is the crimson torii, or gate. The crimson colour is alleged to beat back evil spirits and hazard.

To indicate respect, you need to bow earlier than the gate and solely then enter the shrine.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is a Shintō shrine. It’s thought of the primary shrine of about one third of all Inari shrines in Japan and is essentially the most well-known Shintō shrine in Kyōto.

When you have seen the film “The Geisha”, you will notice little Chio strolling to this very shrine to hope for her biggest want. It got here true, and guess what? So did the want I expressed there. For me, this shrine is among the strongest locations I’ve ever visited.

An exquisite Japanese girl, whose mom is from Kyoto and really spiritual, explains the facility of this place to me as follows: These shrines are the gateway to the world of the gods, of which there are greater than 800 in Shintoism, every assigned to a subject and due to this fact all needs are in good fingers there.

The avenues of torii, the gates manufactured from wooden or stone and normally painted crimson, are notably attribute of this shrine. They symbolize the transition between the world of people and the world of the gods.

The Fushima Inari Shrine consists of a mess of those torii, all of that are donations from people, households or firms. She tells me that it is crucial to not stroll close to the posts or within the center, as these are reserved for the gods.

Greater than 1000 of those crimson gates may be discovered at this spectacular shrine.

There’s a small half-hour path and a big round route up the greater than 230-meter-high Inari Mountain, which takes 2-3 hours and lots of stamina.

Attribute of all Inari shrines are the fox statues, the messengers of the goddess of fertility Inari, who normally put on crimson bibs round their necks.

Ginkaku-ji

Ginkaku-ji is one in all my private favourite temples in Kyoto. For one factor, it’s not as overcrowded as different temples and since it accommodates a wide range of magnificence in a small space.

There’s an space with Zen sand artwork, a lake with a typical Japanese wood pavilion within the background and a phenomenal backyard.

Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion Temple) is a Zen temple and in addition a UNESCO World Heritage Website.

Nobody actually is aware of why the pavilion in the course of the property is known as “Silver Pavilion”, regardless that it’s manufactured from wooden. Legend has it that the pavilion’s jet-black wooden shined silver within the moonlight, therefore the identify.

Possibly there’s a much less magical clarification. The Pavilion by the Lake, the Kannon-den, was constructed within the fifteenth century by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa as a retirement residence and was purported to appear like a smaller model of the well-known Golden Pavilion, Kinkanku-ji, which his grandfather had constructed on the time. As an alternative of gold, it was purported to be silver, but it surely by no means occurred.

Earlier than the shogun’s villa grew to become a temple, it was the middle of Higashiyama tradition, residence to tea ceremonies, flower arranging, poetry and No theater. These days, Ginkakuji is among the most well-known temples in Kyoto and much much less touristy than its “golden” brother, Kinkaku-ji, particularly simply after opening or simply earlier than closing time.

Ginshadan

Proper in the course of the advanced is the sand backyard and an roughly 2-meter-high sand sculpture.

The sand backyard is known as Ginshadan, which interprets as ‘sea of silver sand’. In Buddhism, a sand backyard is a part of meditation. The waves within the sand symbolize water and the sand cone known as Kogetsudai symbolizes Mount Fuji.

You possibly can stroll alongside small paths via the moss-covered and hilly backyard panorama, previous a splashing waterfall that flows right into a stream, and as much as a lookout level the place you possibly can catch a glimpse of Kyoto. The association of the totally different shades of inexperienced, the interaction of sand and stones in opposition to the backdrop of the wood temple is a feast for the eyes.

You must plan about an hour on your go to to the temple. From there, you possibly can attain many different well-known temples and shrines alongside the Thinker’s Stroll, a small path that runs alongside a stream. These embrace the Chion-in Temple and the Nanzen-ji Temple.

Arashiyama

The Arashiyama district is price visiting, as it’s residence to the well-known Arashiyama bamboo forest, the Arashiyama Monkey Park and the Tenru-ji Temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Website. All the district may be very well-liked with guests.

Arashiyama – Bamboo forest

In case you don’t wish to share the bamboo forest with so many individuals, you possibly can e book a rickshaw tour in a separate space. It’s finest to e book properly upfront, as these are sometimes booked out days upfront.

The bamboo forest is gorgeous and the environment is spectacular.

Tenryu-ji Temple

The doorway to the Tenryu-ji Temple is true subsequent to the doorway to the bamboo forest. It is among the 5 most well-known Zen temples in Kyoto and has been a World Heritage Website since 1994.

The Sogenji Backyard behind the primary corridor, laid out by Muso Soseki within the 14th century, is especially lovely. Muso was a grasp of backyard design and a Zen grasp who developed the Japanese tea ceremony.

The backyard, with its watercourses, moss and delicate hills, has been preserved on this technique to this present day and frames a lake that may be seen from the steps of the primary home.

Arashiyama – Primate park

The Arashiyama Monkey Park is a specific spotlight for youngsters, the place they’ll watch child monkeys swing via the bushes from the branches or teams of monkeys chilling within the meadow.

In Kyoto, as in Tokyo, it’s straightforward to get round from place to put by subway or bus. If it is advisable to get someplace sooner, most of the temples shut as early as 5 p.m. within the fall, so taxis or Uber are additionally out there.

Culinary Kyoto

The place to eat in Kyoto is the well-known Pontocho alley. Right here, one restaurant follows the opposite.

The alley is car-free and just a few meters vast. One aspect of the eating places faces the river that flows via Kyoto, the Kamo. In summer time, it’s fantastic to take a seat and eat on the spacious terraces by the river. In winter, the motion strikes indoors.

If you’re curious, you possibly can attempt typical Kyoto dishes in one of many eating places, together with eel, snails, radish and fish.

Within the aspect avenue of Pontocho Alley, which can also be crossed by a small river, there may be one other row of eating places across the bridges and alleys.

In addition to all of the temples and the geisha district with its alleys, Kyoto additionally has different sides. Fashionable skyscrapers, procuring streets and the big Nikishi Market.

Karaoke

What is unquestionably worthwhile is a go to to a karaoke bar. We went to Manekineko on Karamachi-dori and actually had lots of enjoyable singing in our sales space.

There’s nonetheless a lot to find in fantastic Japan. When you have a little bit extra time, you possibly can actually go to different cities there or calm down on the attractive Okinawa archipelago.

Okinawa is among the 5 Blue Zones on earth. Individuals right here stay longer than somewhere else on earth.

My private insider tip!

Right here: Okinawa – Japan’s oasis

For me, it was undoubtedly not the final journey to this excellent nation. “Matane”, which implies “see you quickly”!