11 days in Japan- Tokyo, Hakone, Shibu Onsen and Kyoto

Japanese breakfast in Mt. View at Hakone

I always want to travel to Japan! It has a lot to do with a long and popular Japanese TV series that played in China when I grew up and of course, Japanese food and in general Japanese influences in the regions where I grew up.

With the last minute blow-up with FF, an otherwise "passed" travel idea (to Japan) suggested by my friend TMack suddenly appeared to be appealing. We quickly planned everything. We have 11 days in Japan. I came up with an itinerary packed with metropolitan and small mountain towns, historic temples, shrines and onsens (hot springs) and various food plans of course. 7 days before our travel date, Mike found he had shingles on his forehead and he was in the pain. We decided not to cancel the trip just because we were really really determined not to let the vacation-medical issues spell defeat us this time.

We had a wonderful trip. What an amazing experience in 2018! We already talked about returning to Japan some day.

Here is our travel route: Tokyo, Hakone, back to Tokyo, Nagano and Shibu Onsen, Kyoto and back to Tokyo. Throughout the trip we were able to navigate the country effortlessly thanks to the smart google map. We stayed at a hotel, a guesthouse and ryokans (a type of traditional Japanese inn that has existed since the eighth century A.D). We visited temples, shrines, onsens, snow money park, fish market and crazy busy wards in Tokyo. We took local trains, subways, buses, ropeway, cable car and of course shinkansen high-speed trains. We ate Sushi at fish market, Sukiyaki, Japanese grilled skew chicken and veggies, street food, lots of noodle dishes and sweets. We traveled and lived like a local. The only slight agony we had, which reminds us of our traveler status, is the tiny hotel room we had in Tokyo. The wonderful and nurturing Japanese toilet, insisted by Mike, however outweighs any inconvenience caused by the lack of space in Tokyo.   

Tsukiji fish market

Sensoji Temple

For Tokyo, I planned a full 3-day itinerary packed with all the tourist sites and activities. We accomplished half of them.  We visited Imperial Palace, Meiji Shrine, Sensoji Temple, Tsukiji fish market, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Akihabara, Metropolitan Office Building and the robot restaurant. The best part in Tokyo is the our walking tour through the city with the aid of Google Map. We really enjoyed the Imperial Palace, Tsukiji fish market, Shinjuku Garden and the metropolitan office building. The extent we enjoy a site is in the reverse relationship to the amount of crowd. The less crowded a site is, the more we enjoy it. We can not talk about touristy Tokyo without talking about the robot show. It's a wild, cheesy, dazzling, loud and non-sense frenzy. It's fun though except Mike was suffering the fatigue from the shingles in the days when we were in Tokyo.

My love and I at Lake Ashi

From Tokyo we took a day trip to Hakone. Haknoe is a lovely mountain town near Tokyo and  Mt. Fuji. It's not the season to climb Mt. Fuji. We planned to view the peak of Mt. Fuji in the distance either on the lake of Ashi or on the ropeway (cable car). The plan fell flat due to the weather although we did enjoy a variety of transportation from train to ropeway to cruise boat and scenic areas around lake Ashi and the ceder forest. Did I mention scenic? The beauty of autumn is displayed well here.

My beloved Shibu

Shibu Onsen is our favorite stop in Japan. It's an ancient and intimate onsen town lined up with many traditional Japanese inns (ryokans). This small town has 9 onsens that beckon visitors to use and evidenced by the stamps on a towel. At Shibu, we took time to stroll through every single narrow cobbled streets and alleys and check out every single cute Japanese shops and ryokans. We stayed at Shibu for only one night. It was drizzling the next morning. I put on my Japanese robe and geta. I walked into the mist and spirit of ancient Japan- the Samurais, the inn keepers, the old and tiny Japanese ladies and their life. The backdrop is the colorful autumn foliage and mountains. It was an empty street. Time stopped and I felt I was part of the past, here at Shibu. Then I saw my love holding an umbrella smiling at me across the street. He brought me back to the present. It's a love story in the end. The love for this town, the love for my best friend and husband. We stayed at Yudanaka Onsen Yamazakiya with Okie and his family. He treated us like his family. Again our stay at Shibu is very loving and lovely. I would like to come back and visit again.

Tourists and girls in Kimono

Kyoto was the capital of Japan hundreds of years ago. Understandably it's one of the top tourist cities in Japan. It turned out to be just that- very touristy. Like most of the tourists, we visited Gion, Yasaka Shrine, Higashiama, Arashiyama/Bamboo Forest, Fushimi Inari Taisha, golden Kinkakuji, Sento Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle. Most of the tourist sites were packed with bus loads of tourists. Young Japanese girls in Kimono is a beautiful scene. Apart from the sightseeing, we had enjoyed our stay at Ben's guesthouse and long walks across the city!

Japan is the easiest foreign country I've ever traveled to. It's friendly and convenient with a well structured system. The scenery is breathtaking. Outside Tokyo, you will experience a low key, natural and authentic Japan. Japanese culture and tradition are ubiquitous. Food is beautiful and presented in such an elaborate way. Things are cute in this country.

I was expecting one or two episodes of the annoyance, agonies or aggravation that usually take place on a foreign trip. None. Nothing. I was awed. 

Japan is a beautiful country in and out despite its disgraceful history. We love to go back and check out other regions.