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mkilleen2 · 5 years

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Japan

Wow, Japan, this might be a bit long so I’ll break into a few key sections :-)

Cities, accommodation and sightseeing

Fukuoka probably wouldn’t be on an ordinary itinerary for Japan but its a nice city with decent bars and restaurants, I’d imagine its a nice place to live. We stayed at an airbnb apartment just by Hakata station. Perfect location for this trip with the matches and the space wasn’t too small - bonus of having a washing machine.

Okayama, we visited family here - again this wouldn’t be a standard city for a Japan trip but was nice to see somewhere smaller and we visited the charming gardens and castle, using the city bikes to get around.

Osaka - this is one of the food capitals in Japan so there’s loads of choice for restaurants and bars here. The Dotonbori area is pretty crazy, properly neon so you can wander here for a while and check out the gaming arcades which sometimes go on for six or seven floors! As a non gamer I was still entertained with some drumming, dancing and air hockey - but can imagine its a treasure trove for anyone with an interest. It’s also fun to watch the dancing and drumming pros - I mean some seem to visit the arcade solo, it's almost like a gym workout! During the day, we visited the Osaka castle, Shitennoji temple/shrine, Shinsekai area and the aquarium. Nothing out of this world but worth a look. Night time is where this huge city comes alive.

We stayed in an apart-hotel near Kujo station so it was quite easy to navigate the city is easy with trains/metros.

Kyoto- this should definitely be on the list for a Japan trip. On arrival, we headed to the canal area by Kiyamachi-dori and Gion areas where the buildings and streets are so much prettier than anything else we’d seen in Japan. There are plenty of restaurants around here although some are quite expensive; we usually strolled nearer to Nishiki market area to find some cheaper deals. Nishiki market is open during the day til 6pm and it was very busy when we were there - but we had some tasty snacks. Gion is where you might see some Geisha or Maiko but I think you need to book with a tour if you want to see a show/have tea. We met some guys who had been to one and they weren’t too impressed but would depend on your interest in such things. We didn’t bother. The Yasaka shrine/temple at Gion is nice and we took a stroll at night when all the lanterns were lit up.

For day time activities, we went to Arashiyama area for the temple and gardens leading to the bamboo groves and then onto the monkey park. Some nice views along the river here too and the hill up to the monkey park will work up an appetite for lunch. We also went to the famous Inari shrine and hiked through the red gates that afternoon. It’s mostly steps and it took us less than two hours to do the full route although we aren’t ones to stop for too long taking photos :-)

We stayed in another little apart-hotel called Japaning hotel near Nishioji station, one stop from the main Kyoto station, so this was pretty handy for getting around. Much along the same lines as the other places we stayed, compact but had a fridge and washing machine. I think we even cooked eggs on a tiny hob one morning!

Tokyo- So massive! Mostly this was focused around matches but we managed to see a couple of places on the off days too. The first weekend we stayed in Akihabara area. Hotel3000 - not great, we had a bunk bed in this mostly empty place, the only early night we needed, a crowd of noisy people arrived into the dorms on our floor. But it did the job for our trip, just wouldn’t recommend for a relaxing stay! Akihabara is called electric town and looks very grey in the daytime, but full of neon, anime and arcades at night. Also you can visit one of the numerous maid cafes off the main streets.

On the second weekend we stayed in Ginza, a perfectly adequate hotel called Via Inn. Ginza looks quite fancy and modern with lots of designer shops on the main streets and much less neon - more of a western vibe about the place. We popped to Tsukiji famous fish market nearby - I think you have to be up at 5 am if you want to see the Tuna auction - but we strolled and bought some snacks (as usual!). We took the train to Haranjuku to check out the Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park. Park was lovely on this sunny day and then we explored the quirky Haranjuku with its crazy outfits and numerous creperies to taunt your sweet tooth. We had to of course take a visit to the Shibuya crossing and popped into Starbucks for a birds eye view. We were even crossing during Friday rush hour and it was pretty crazy to see the volumes of people that arrived to cross between the quite frequent lights. A great representation of the crazy busy Tokyo.

Food

General point, we found the food here delicious and we were doing the budget options. Even getting a 4EUR ramen from the ticket machine places turned out pretty well for us.

So a few highlights....

Yakitori - As David has visited family in Fukuoka before, there was one (food related ovs) item on the top of the list! Yakatori or meat on a stick as we've been calling it. The word means grilled chicken on a skewer, but normally you can get lots of different meats, vegetables and fish too. The restaurant we visited was called Tenjin Nobunaga Nishidori shop; it was packed when we arrived to the welcoming shouts of the staff! If you are lucky you can sit along the bar and watch the chefs cook and pick your next "sticks", this time we had a table in the corner. The menu was only in Japanese, no pictures, so we had to go up to the bar/counter to point out what we wanted, as usual not a clue what half the things were! But everything was delicious, I think my favourite was asparagus wrapped in pork. We also visited Torikizoku in Tokyo, which is a chain, but this 4th floor restaurant had a good atmosphere and tasty, reasonably priced food. My highlight was the wafu potato salad.

Sushi - It actually took a few days before we remembered to prioritise sushi for our visit! I did a little research and found a few places in Osaka. Genrokuzsushi is on one of the busy streets in Dotonbori so you can soak up some of the craziness while waiting in line for this popular and cheap conveyor style restaurant. We had loads of little plates -I think the highlight was a crab salad roll. There’s a menu with pictures so you can order extras that are freshly put together by the chefs, if you want to try something that you miss on the conveyor. Highly recommend, spent about 20EUR for the two of us here. Sushi became our travel lunch when getting the Shinkansen so we didn’t really explore any more restaurants with this as a speciality. Maybe I will regret this! :-o

Ramen - I don’t think you can go wrong here, even the cheapest places are pretty good but one of the places under Hakata station (I can’t find the name) in Fukuoka and Ramen Zundo-Ya Shinsaibashi in Osaka - both with machine based ordering, provided extra tasty bowls of this staple.

Katsu curry, home cooked by David’s sister in law, delicious! I'm going to attempt when I get home.

Octopus from Nishiki market in Kyoto - we didn’t try that much crazy stuff in Japan, but these little octopus looked like a challenge and we’d seen similar ones in Korea too. There’s actually a quails egg in the body of the octopus (or is it the head??) so it was a pretty tasty combo with the sauce and texture.

Tempura pork/shrimp/chicken - varying types that come with miso and rice. We had a few across the trip and it’s that lovely tempura batter which makes everything taste so good! The giant shrimp/prawn ones are probably my favourite. Easily picked up in markets as a snack either.

Things we missed...

More sushi :-o

Osaka is famous for crab and we debated going to Kani Doraku Dontombori Honten which is a reknowned chain. Definitely would be on the cards for a treat or a regular holiday but we weighed up the price this time and opted out.

Kobe beef - just missed on this trip due to other expenses but I was pretty happy with my Ramen lifestyle :-)

Getting around

Transport was definitely our biggest expense in Japan. We checked online before hand and as we planned to do five train journeys on the Shinkansen (bullet train) in two weeks it would be more economical to get the two week Japan rail pass (at nearly 450EUR each, ouch) than paying around 120 for each journey. Just check the website before you purchase based on your planned itinerary and it will do the maths for you. The rail pass can also be used for some of the city train lines - called the JR lines - so in Tokyo and Kyoto we were able to flash our rail passes on entry and use instead of buying single fares. We did purchase the Pasmo cards which we could top up and use for the other subway/metro lines. There is also an option called Sucia, I don’t think there’s much difference, the Pasmo was the first machine we saw.

The Shinkansen is an impressive beast - I saw someone say that all other trains shame in comparison! When waiting on the platform, seeing the trains that were just passing through, the speed was actually unbelievable, scary I would say. I assume it’s similar to sitting on a cloud watching an aeroplane pass. The trains look cool and inside they are spacious and have plenty of room for luggage and toilets etc are available. We reserved seats for our journeys in advance, but actually took a couple of different trains when we arrived at the station early etc. and there was always loads of space in the unreserved sections.

Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto all offer a pretty complex public transport system with combinations or metros/subways/trains/JR lines/buses, but the station names are all printed in English on the trains or maps and the locals and staff are very helpful if you are confused. We found it relatively easy to navigate on our own, using google maps and the maps of the lines in the stations. Our biggest problem was often finding our way out of the giant stations in Tokyo in particular. Arriving in Shinjuku and trying to find an exit to the outdoors was difficult, most exits seems to lead to other entrances e.g of shopping centres which isn’t so great when you are trying to get your bearings. Also a word to the wise - don’t ever say “I’ll meet you at the ticket machines” at at Tokyo station!

Last mention is important, (maybe we should’ve checked in advance) the Tokyo subway/trains finish up around midnight, so if you are out late taxis are expensive! Fair enough when you getting dropped to the other side of this huge city, but maybe something to consider in your accommodation options.

Rugby, drinks and karaoke

Obviously the major attraction for this trip was the Rugby World Cup! The first match we attended was Ireland vs Samoa in Fukuoka, where a serious Irish contingent made their mark. The Fanzone was just outside Hakata station (where the train to the stadium embarked), so it was packed with green on the sunny day of the match. A pint of beer was about 6EUR which turned out to be a bargain on prices in Tokyo! Fukuoka put on a great show with endearing presenters going through some rugby moves on stage and entertaining the crowd with local culture (some kind of samurai dance I think) and a Japanese band playing Irish music which was brilliant. Match went well of course and we continued celebrating in Fukuoka, rounding off with a karaoke session (90 mins, is that really necessary :-o). Our machine had some issue (maybe it was us) and we somehow ended up singing Bruce Springsteen on repeat. This is a scar that was deepened in Tokyo and still fresh today! :-)

The next weekend was a bit of a mess up, considering most Irish fans had tickets for the Sunday Quarter final. Numerous Facebook groups and Twitter conversations urged swaps with the Japanese fans but David shelled out for two online in the hope that a third one would be easier to get on close to match day. (Plus we now wanted in on the Japan vs South Africa experience, and didn’t want to swap if possible). I took the hit for the Irish match and sacrificed the second ticket to David's brother. There were no signs of touts or any options coming up to the game, in the Fanzone (which was a bit rubbish) or at the RWC superstore. But sometimes if you are patient.... I went out to the stadium anyway and about five minutes before kick off, I was chatting to a couple of South African guys who were also looking to buy when a random Japanese man came over. He had one ticket to sell at face value! The South Africans had seen that David and Brian had gone in already so they said that I should definitely take the offer. I couldn’t believe my luck - and on the advice even brought the poor Japanese guy to swipe the ticket at the entry before I’d give him the money. But it worked and I literally sprinted to my seat with the biggest smile plastered on my face! *I’m not going to talk about the match.

Afterwards we grabbed a snack and a drink before getting the train back to Shinjuku. We bumped into a few people we knew from Ireland and then proceeded to explore the amazing little bars in the Golden Gai area. Similarly to the previous night, the area was packed with rugby fans with Ireland jerseys a very common sight! I have to recommend coming here - the bars are tiny, I mean some have four or five chairs around the bar and thats it. But you will be forced to have a chat with new people, you may love or hate, but it’s something I haven’t really experienced anywhere else. Although possibly draws a more similar line to Irish pub culture than a lot of places I’ve visited. Of course some post match karaoke was required and with some newly acquired friends we proceeded to belt out the classics with some decent views of the city in the background. We were glad to hold onto our tickets for the Japan vs SA match and probably enjoyed this one more, less pressure - and the Japanese fans were great. Safe to say it was a mad weekend all round! We had our final weekend when the semis were on and decided to watch in some of the sports bars - there’s a couple in Shinjuku so we looked till we found a spot in one called Sector 7G. For the second one we watched in a place called Hub in Ginza near our hotel as we were having a quieter one before our flight.

Overall, this country has so more to offer than we even had a chance to experience like the iconic Mount Fuji or some of the traditional villages. We had an amazing time here and even if you are on a tight-ish budget you can find accommodation, food and entry to tourist attractions at reasonable prices.

Finally I want to mention that although we didn't get caught in any typhoons while we were visiting, Hagibis caused much damage including taking lives in northern Japan. Such a tragedy, my condolences to those affected.

#japan #tokyo #kyoto #shinkansen #rugbyworldcup #okayama #fukuoka #osaka #travel #japantravel

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