Time: May 3rd to 9th, 2025
Place: Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka)
Company: Wife & daughter
Highlights: I had never imagined I would visit Japan! Wifey was interested, hence the planning and research began for Summer vacation! In fact, she had planned to combine Japan and China together but it would have been extremely cumbersome to plan the itinerary (especially because we were going by ourselves and not through any agent) and submit passports to the two countries' embassies for visas. So, decided on Japan, since China visa was harder to obtain (at the time of research).
After deciding on 'Japan-only', researched on all that Japan had to offer and the timing. We had many other things to attend to during summer, so we had a short two weeks availability during first two weeks of May and we had to make it click somehow. I researched that getting Japan visa was fairly easy (within 5 days), so did not think too much about it - a big mistake! Instead, I concentrated more on the itinerary planning, ticket booking, etc. and pushed out the 'getting visa' to the end.
We finalized on three main places to visit in Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. We left out the Hiroshima and Nagasaki (since it was too depressing) and the Northern section (since we wanted to keep it short as we were not aware if we will get pure veg Indian restaurants). So, itinerary was fairly straightforward once we decided on these three cities - either we went from South to North or the other way round. So, had to check upon the flight tickets and North to South was cheaper, so booked them.
Then, when I was checking the details about the visa, got to know that we had to book appointment (mandatory) at the VFS consulate after which it will take 5 days, and the earliest appointment date (thank God) was just 10 business days from our date of departure. This was touch-and-go, and in case there was 'further questions', we would run out of time to get the visa - and I came to know that this had happened for some tourists. However, we were were left with no option now since there was no expedited visa processing either. I repented that I should have done some checking on visa formalities before booking the flight tickets. Even via agents, reviews were not good, so decided to take the chance and apply.
Thankfully for us, there was no delays and we were able to secure the visa in 6 business days. We got the visa delivered to our home just 2-3 days before departure - too close to comfort and a lesson to not repeat such things in future, although I remember something similar had happened even during our trip to Brazil, hence essentially no lesson learnt this time around!
Anyways, thank God that we received the visa and we quickly finished our packing, got some Japanese yen just the day before our trip since I had heard that currency is more in circulation in Japan than cards. Finally, we were all set to travel!
Day 1 - May 3rd, 2025: Reached Tokyo
The Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong was at 1:20 am. Layover of about 6+ hours. Watched Sonic movie, roamed around, window shopped, had Starbucks coffee, conversed, etc. never got bored one bit. Reached Tokyo at 9.30 pm. Both were smooth flights. Immigration was quick and easy. Took the metro to the nearest point where our hostel was located. Figured out the metro map and familiarized myself with it. A 10 min walk, and we reached the hostel just before midnight. It was clean and superb. To book a hotel/hostel in Tokyo, I had spent hours and hours. There were so many options, so many rates. The winning factor was Pure Veg Indian restaurant nearby. I booked one hotel, cancelled it and chose another. Again cancelled it and chose another. After multiple bookings and cancellations, finally had decided on this hostel. This was good option thankfully.
Day 2 - May 4th, 2025: Tokyo
This day was dedicated for Tokyo sight-seeing. We first went to the Indian restaurant, had nice breakfast and then took a taxi to Tokyo SkyTree. We had pre-booked the tickets for the morning slot, so had a shorter line. The elevator was not as fancy as Bangkok. View from up top was good. There was entertainment too, with Japanese animes, and one could line up to take pics. Had nice macha ice-cream too. We did the 360 degree view and soaked in Tokyo from everywhere. Unfortunately, we could not see Mt Fuji due to cloud cover. After spending a lot of time, we then took the elevator back down, and then took metro to Sensoji temple which was close by.
Walked through the bustling streets towards the Buddhist temple and spent some time visiting the shrines. Incense sticks were burning furiously at the entrance and some sort of prayers were going on inside. We roamed around the entire campus. There was a small nice stream with ducks. After a little bit of shopping, we were on our way back. We had to re-trace our steps back to Tokyo SkyTree via Metro and then take another metro line to Shibuya Crossing.
We had done extensive research on which metro exit to take, where to go, etc. It was really cool to come to the middle of the road when all signals turned red and there was this sudden rush for people to snaps pics, selfies, etc. and crossing the road when there is no real need! We crossed over multiple times at multiple places just to enjoy it. Took pics in different modes and Hyperlapse was the best of the lot. Next we headed to the famous Starbucks on the first floor! Ordered some eateries and coffee and took our position near the glass windows to see the magic unfold every few minutes. It is really a great experience although it is as simple as road-crossing!
With this, we were pretty much done with Tokyo. There were couple more places which we'd've liked to visit like the Ashikaga Flower Park, Shinjuku Garden, Rainbow bridge, Tokyo Tower and TeamLab Borderless but that'd've extended our trip. Anyways, we caught sight of the Tokyo Tower in light, there was not much Cherry Blossom trees at the Shinjuku Garden at this time of the year and there were no tickets at the TeamLab Borderless, so it was alright. Went back to the hostel in Metro and retired for the night. But before that, went to a different Pure Veg Indian restaurant nearby, had good dinner and packed parathas for the next day.
Day 3 - May 5th, 2025: Roof of Japan
This was an important day, since we had to cover a lot and be on time throughout. Had spent a lot just for this day too! Got up by 4 am and went to the Metro station. We then took the bullet train at 6 am from Tokyo to Nagano, this was our first time in bullet train. Although it didn't feel much with great speeds and it is an Engineering Marvel, it seemed pretty normal somehow! We reached Nagano at 7.30 am, and our tour guide reached on time at 8 am. We had booked Alpine Tour for the entire day to take us to the 'Roof of Japan', an itinerary that is open only for few weeks in May & June for the entire year.
The guide took us to our comfortable bus. It was a two hour ride to Ogizawa station. We had great sights of snow-capped peaks all around even from here. Few trees still had cherry blossom left in them. We then stood in line and took the electric bus to Kurobeko station. It was a good 15-20 min journey inside a deep tunnel. Once we came out of the tunnel, we could see that we were on the Kurobe dam. We walked along the dam road and then entered another tunnel to join a line for a 'cog train' which took us on a steep ascent up a mountain.
As soon as we reached Daikanbo station, it was freezing and there was snow all around. We played with snow, took more pics of the snow covered alps, the dam, etc. and then it was time to go in the cable car further up to Murodo station aka Snow corridor. There was huge crowd at Murodo station. The guide guided us well on what to do, where to eat, where to meet, etc..
Our first destination was the Snow Corridor itself. Huge walls of snow up to 16 ft were carved on either sides of the road. We walked about half a mile on such road and the walls seemed increasing in feet! The road turned adding charm to the whole thing. Buses were plying on the road too, and this gave perspective of how high the snow walls were. Once we felt satisfied, we returned back but this time on snow instead of road. It was hard but fun. There were people skiiing, roller-blading, etc. and good to see all around. Thankfully, the sun was shining and it was not too cold. We were in fact very lucky because the days before and after were all cloudy/rainy - and we had booked this months in advance with no clue on weather, since this was the only day which was working out for us.
Upon reaching the Murodo station, we walked past, on the snow on the top floor since there were more things to see. But then walking on snow was slow, so we went some distance and aborted and returned back. Instead enjoyed just being in the snow, building snow man, etc..Finally it was time to head back. From Murodo, we took the cable car back to Daikanbo. There, we had quite some time, since a previous batch were yet to depart. So we spent some time having our lunch and chatting with the guides - one was from Australia and another from US. They enjoyed the Parathas which we shared with them!
Next was the Cog train down to Kurobe dam. We climbed up the 200+ steps to visit the viewing gallery on the dam just when they were about to close it. Grabbed quick pics and then rest of the journey was uneventful and smooth - electric bus to Ogizawa station and our tour bus to Nagano Station. Our return bullet train was unreserved but I was expecting seats. Instead we had to stand and come for more than an hour until we got seats near Tokyo. Even booking the Shinkansen bullet train was a novel experience, since I was researching and trying out different websites on the way from India in Hong Kong. Reached our station at about 10 pm, walked along some 'night-life' streets and reached our hostel and retired for the night.
Day 4 - May 6th, 2025: Reached Hakone area
This was a relatively easy and relaxing day. Got up late, checked out of the hostel, went to the same Indian Pure Veg where we had gone the first day, had a full nice sumptuous meal, ordered parcel for the night too and then took the Metro to another station called Shinjuku station which is World's busiest railway station apparently. From there, took the Metro to Odawara. After reading reviews, we realized Romancecar is overrated and not worth it. Anyways, we had the whole day just to reach Hakone area, so took it easy. Upon reaching Odawara, walked to our Odawara Terminal hotel which was just a few minutes away. Checked-in, freshened up and then we thought we will walk to the Odawara castle.
It was a pretty big area and maintained more like a museum with full history of kings and their sons, and how they fought but got captured, etc.. At the top floor, one can walk the full 360 degrees and view the entire city of Odawara. Took some pics, and walked through the garden back to the city. Grabbed a donut for the daughter and coffee for the wife, and then returned back to the hotel. Had our dinner from the morning's take out and retired for the night.
Day 5 - May 7th, 2025: Hakone, and reached Kyoto
The D-day for Mt Fuji viewing. Thankfully it was not raining. We took the Hakone Tozan line train from Odawara to Gora. At Gora station took the cable car to Sounzan station and then ropeway to Owakudani station. Saw huge fumes of smoke coming out of the mountain at different parts, basically volcanic/lava embers emitting sulphuric smell. It was a fascinating scene and one really has to appreciate constructing the ropeway right on top of the volcanic smoke, emitting 24/7!
At the station, we got down, roamed around different view points to see the smoke fumes. At times, the smell was nauseating. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't see Mt Fuji. This is supposedly the best viewing spot for Mt Fuji but there was a huge cloud cover. It is said that Mt Fuji creates its own weather, and today it had covered itself completely in cloud. Only barely we could see the base of the mountain. In fact, we could not even figure where it was until we saw some pics which were kept on the road side, right opposite to where the smoke fumes were coming out. We decided to wait for some time, and ended up waiting for more than an hour. Many did the same too. Grabbed an ice cream to pass the time. Despite the wait, nothing much changed, and we left without the view of Mt Fuji.
Continued our journey on the ropeway to Togendai port. Just as we entered, the cruise departed. So we had to wait for the next one in the line. After about 30 mins, it was our turn. Quite a fanciful pirate ship. The lake Ashi was peaceful. There was some slight hope that we could get a glimpe of Mt Fuji from here at least, but alas, no. The cruise to Moto Hakone port took about 30 minutes and we de-boarded. Trekked up to Peace Torii, which was like Floating Torii. On the way, there was some sakura trees, late-blooming cherry blossoms, so took some pics and then finally took a bus to Hakone. It was jam-packed with tourists.
From Hakone, took train back to Odawara and then took our luggages from the lobby (we had checked out in the morning itself), and took the Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto. We had not booked the tickets in advance since we were not sure what time we could get back. So, this one was really hurried. It was like 4.30 pm and I was at the ticket vending counter punching in all details like how many people, where to get down, which train, which coach to board, etc. while the train was already at the platform waiting to depart at 4.35 pm. Grabbed the tickets and ran with our luggages up the escalator to board the train. On hindsight, I am wondering how I took such a risk! If we had missed the train, we should have taken the next one but that would be unreserved coach - basically can sit on seats only if its unoccupied.
This was a 2-3 hour bullet train ride traversing through the Japan countryside from mid-North to mid-South. Slept for some time and at other times, tried to gauge the speed with which we were traveling. We were going at about approximately 300 kmph. It didn't seem all that overwhelming actually. More like sitting in a flight. Pretty expensive too. One learning was that I didn't find one reliable website to buy Shinkansen tickets. Each website was trying to market it's own lines. So I couldn't find a direct train from Odawara to Kyoto on some portals whereas it was available on other portals. Anyways I was able to get it in the station on the ticket vending machine itself. So if I had relied upon that one portal alone, then I would have pre-booked tickets on 1 train till Nagoya and another from Nagoya to Kyoto instead of enjoying a direct train to Kyoto. Anyways, reached Kyoto at about 7.30 pm.
Figured out how to go to our hotel. It was about a km away. Took the metro to get to a station closer to our hotel - just 1 stop away. The hotel was nice and clean but wife and daughter immediately felt allergic to the ambience instead. Checked-in and went out walking to a nearby Indian restaurant. Couldn't find pure veg Indian restaurant here but the one we chose wasn't too bad either. It seemed homely. Good food with nice bollywood songs on TV. Walked back to our hotel and retired for the night. On the way back while walking, we caught sight of the Kyoto Tower as well.
Day 6 - May 8th, 2025: Kyoto and reached Osaka
We had shortlisted four main places to see - Arshiyama in the East, Kinkakuji in the North, Kiyomizu-dera in the West and Fushima Inari in the South. Our hotel was right in the middle. So had a hard time finalizing on the order since the metro/subway train connectivity to all four was not very convenient. Finally, we decided on the same order given.
Took metro to a place where we could get tram train right to Arshiyama. Just a few meters of walking and we were at the Togetsukyo bridge. Pretty nice and relaxing atmosphere with the river passing by. Then we walked towards the Arshiyama Bamboo forest. On the way, we went through a shrine. But the Arshiyama Bamboo forest was something else altogether. Tall towering bamboo branches welcomed us and it was a great feeling walking through them. Took many pics. In fact, we did a loop of walking, so it was quite a bit indeed.
We got back to the same tram train station and then took another tram train which took us very close to Kinkakuji. Still, we had to walk about 15-20 minutes to reach the temple premises. There are about 10-12 points of interest to be seen in the temple premises but the main and the first attraction is the Japanese temple on the lake. Rest of them were pretty much pastime. The trail goes through nature and many other man-made settings. A bit hyped, I felt, this shrine. We were quite exhausted due to the heat, so had macha ice cream.
That done, we then took a bus which dropped us off at another metro station from where we took the train which took us very close to Kiyumizu-dera. We had to walk uphill for about 10 mins from the station and finally we entered the temple premises. This one is a plain vanilla Japanese temple, nothing much to write about. We entered the temple, meditated for some time, and after that there was nothing much to do. Later felt we could have skipped it altogether. Nothing much to do nor see here, in fact.
Then we took a taxi to Fushima Inari. This one is worth visiting. This is more of a hillock that one can climb if interested, and all along the stairs, they have decorated the columns in their traditional red, and that is worth a picture. As we climb higher and higher, Kyoto can be seen in its entirety and it is beautiful. Probably a beautiful place for sunset too but we had to keep moving. At the summit, there is a loop trail that one can further trek if interested but we gave it a pass. Just admired the scenery of Kyoto and started descending. Got back to the metro station, and it was packed with tourists.
Took the train to Kyoto station, and then another metro that took us back to hotel where we picked up the luggage and got to Shijo station via metro to finally take the subway to Osaka. This journey took a long time - almost an hour. This track was completely through city limits so we got a chance to see Osaka and Kyoto while the train moved.
Once we reached Osaka, we walked to the hotel which was close by but not too close either. Finally checked in to the hotel. Thankfully, the hotel was really good. We were really hungry, so we decided to go to an Indian Restaurant. Booked a cab but once we reached the only Pure veg Indian restaurant, it was full of people. We had to wait more than 30 minutes to get seated. It was worth the wait, the food was good.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel via the streets of Doutonbori. It is really a nice place with good night life - bustling even at 11 pm, full of lights and decorated across many streets. It was like Christmas except that it was not. The walk was also beside a canal and that added to the charm. Took many pics and finally retired for the night. It really was a long day!
Day 7 - May 9th, 2025: Back to Bangalore
Booked a cab that took us to the main metro station in Osaka which had direct train to airport. Ran into slight issue with my debit card not working at the counter but finally was somehow able to arrange the cash to buy the tickets to the airport. Caught the train, and it was another one hour ride via to the airport.
Reached airport, checked in and boarded our Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong. Another long layover at HK. We contemplated going out of the airport and visiting the city. If not the city, at least the cable car which was inviting from the airport. Did some internet research too on how to go but then decided it was not worth taking the risk. Rightfully so, because it started raining and that meant they would have closed the cable cars. Imagine being stuck at the top of the mountain and a flight to depart to home soon! So, just relaxed at the airport, ate at some eateries, window-shopped, played with the consoles at the terminal, played chess, re-watched scenes from Sonic movie and finally it was time to board.
Rest of the flight back to BLR was uneventful but the return to home via cab was eventful indeed! The electric car shutdown 3 kms from our home at 2 am in the night and added to that, the driver was very amateur and unprofessional. While it seemed we were stuck, thankfully an uber driver nearby accepted our request and dropped us off home safely. Felt good to be back home after the week-long trip to Japan.
Epilogue: Well, as I mentioned earlier, had never imagined I would visit Japan! But, actually, it is indeed a very beautiful country, with nice people and fantastic metro-train connectivity. It is mind-blowing how a country that was devastated by the Nuclear bombs in 1945 has been able to stand on it's feet and become so advanced so quickly. We were happy that we went, and I guess that is what matters the most, isn't it?
There are of course several weeks of places to see in Japan, but we had to cut it short to 1 week, and we made the most of it. It costed about INR 4L for the three of us to visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka for 1 week. While there are several reasons to enjoy Japan, one of my daughter's favs happens to be the toilet bidet! Extremely innovative, indeed! All in all, the memory of the trip to Japan always gives us a reason to smile..!
