My itinerary (3 weeks)

I was looking for a slightly “off the beaten track” experience in Japan. I did Tokyo (3 days), Kyoto (2 days), Naoshima/Teshima and Inujima (2 days), Shikoku road trip (3 days), Osaka (1 day), then to Koyasan to sleep in a monastery for the night. I ended with a 3 day trek along the pilgrimage route of Kumano Kodo and a few last days in Tokyo.

General advice

• I made the mistake of not booking my JR Rail pass beforehand. If you’re coming from an international country, you NEED to get it sent to you and then you validate it upon arrival in any station. It saves a lot of money.
• In general, the trains are incredibly efficient and you just go with your JR pass to any JR counter in the station and they book you the tickets there and then. If you know your plan for the next few days, get them all at once to save the queues. You can also rock up to the trains without doing so but you go to the “unreserved seats” cars and sometimes they can be full.
• When it comes to passing the barriers in the stations, go to the attendant on the side and show him your JR pass with the individual tickets. Saves you getting stuck in the machines and they just check and let you pass.
• In terms of logistics and getting around, cabs can be expensive. Try to take trains and public transport as much as possible. It’s fun to try and figure it out. Station maps can be confusing and Google Maps has done an amazing job at helping you to plan getting from A to B – just type in your point of departure and arrival and click on the public transport icon and it gives you all the routes. I found it to be very accurate (but as I’m a bit OCD I often reconfirmed quickly with some attendant at the station). The trains are VERY punctual so don’t be late.
• Not everyone speaks English, very rarely at times, so be ready for that. Even what you perceive as ‘basic’ body language often doesn’t get across (pointing your watch and shrugging to ask what time the train is, didn’t seem to work, for example). Having a piece of paper with basic translations or your addresses in advance helps a lot.
• ATMs: When in doubt, look for the post offices. I found myself stranded at times in small towns running from machine to machine, which don’t read international cards and have no English and then missed trains and it can be a little bit of a mess. Not many take cards from abroad. So when you can, stock up on cash or in my experience the Post Office ATMs always worked.
• In hotels, ask explicitly for Western breakfast unless you want fish and rice every morning. I tried it once or twice and its very good, but can be tough when its many days in a row haha.
• No tipping required. People will decline.
• Phone cards: You can buy a SIM card with prepaid GB/MB in many places (7/11, train stations, airports) and then just activate it with your phone.
• I used a Lonely Planet to help organizing, and I find they generally always work well for overall planning, walking tours, explanations of places and history, hotel ideas which you can then double check online.

 

Tokyo

I stayed with a friend so didn’t try any hotels. In terms of neighborhoods, I’m a big fan of just walking and browsing the streets and alleyways, so I’m surely missing key things here but I wanted to get a general feel for the city and its people. These were the areas I found to be particularly cool.

Areas:

Jimbocho at night for jazz

Shimokitazawa and Daikanyama – Hipster vibe (they’re in two different parts of the city), check out the T site bookshop in Daikanyama. AMAZING. Very cool cafes, stores and restos in both areas. Shimo feels like a Japanese Brooklyn.

Ebisu – Martha records for drinks at night, Fukuwarai (hidden resto), Sacra Izakya restaurant

Shibuya – Spain zaka (all Spanish inspired places), Dogen Zaka (love hotels), at night amazing fish restaurant (fun vibe and delicious food) called Kaikaya, and bars (Red Bar, JB jazz and blues, Nanbeiyokocho small streets with 3 tables each). My German friends opened a delicious German gourmet sausage and burger place called Schmatz, its all organic, they make their own Japanese beer, the vibe is fun and relaxed, I highly recommend as a lunch stop.

Roppongi – Jomon Teyandei (fun dinner), 21 21 Design Site (a museum by Tadao Ando), Honmura An (amazing ramen lunch place, casual elegant, by Roppongi Hills). Get the sweeping city view from here. Mori Art Museum and the Observatory.

Omotesando – Retail architecture (many luxury stores done by names like Herzog and De Meuron, etc)

Yanaka/Oedo – Walking tour of this old town (Lonely Planet). Cute but not essential. There’s one street called Sunshine street which has some old markets and sells many trinkets (oddly cat obsessed trinkets).

Golden gai bars in Shinjuku – Yakuza controlled 6 parallel streets with many tiny bars, but now they say it’s a little corny and not worth it. I didn’t go… Avoid maybe.

Meji shrine

Ginza – This is like NYC 5^th Avenue. Not a lot of soul. They say one of the best sushis in town is here though, called Kyubey.

Kagaruzaka – Old pleasure quarter

Asakusa –  Great place to go buy traditional souvenirs, lots of choice and I discovered this leather store that sells the most beautiful (if a little expensive) wallets and leather goods called Bunko-ya OOZEKI (just off Nakamise street, their website is www.bunkoya.com). A major shrine is here but its crowded.

Cherry blossom spotting: Meguro gawa (Naka meguro canal), Ayoama Rei en (cemetery), Ueno Koen, Yoyogi Koen

Jazz: All the cool jazz bars are in an area called Jimbocho. Big Boy, Grauers are the ones to start with (and Ralph &Sunnie). The subway stop is Jimbocho and you should get out of exit A7.

Go to Martha in Ebisu.

Grandfathers is a great place, it is in Shibuya

PB is another great record bar in Nishi Azabu.

 

Kyoto

Getting there is a quick train ride from Tokyo.

When I arrived in the afternoon I went straight to the south of the city by train (25 mins) to go walk along the Fushimi Inari Taisha (a complex in the mountains amongst all the torii gates. Stroll off into the mountains and go further up to avoid the crowds. I went just before sunset and it felt very mystical). I then strolled around the streets of Gion at night (the old geisha quarter), and ate classic Okonomiyaki pancakes at Issen Yoshoku. It’s a slightly cheesy place but the food was very good and I felt it was part of the whole Gion experience. Minami-dori is a lovely street here. They also have these amazing squishy rice desserts along the main street which I became addicted to (cherry blossom flavour and Green tea… mmmm). 

The next day I went Arashiyama, which I feel divided about because its quite far to get to, the bamboo grove was packed and I knew in a few days I would go into desolate nature anyway, but if you do go, stop on the water to get a coffee at Arabica %. Here you also have the Tenriyu Ji temple, and try to book lunch beforehand at the Kaiseki Kikunoi on your way back. Back in more central Kyoto, the walk around the Shorenin temple in Southern Higashiyama is charming and iconic. The streets are busy but it’s still quite quaint and they sell some really nice stuff. Check out the recommended Lonely Planet walking tour, it helps not to miss some side streets. Other temples here are Kiyomizu Dera and Kenninji.

My highlight was Northern Higashiyama. I took a brief taxi from South Higashiyama. There’s a beautifully atmospheric sunset walk here along the canal called the Philosopher’s Walk. I actually started it quite far down and walked up up up, so try to do that as it makes it last longer and it’s the kind of walk that you never want to end. It was cherry blossom season and the flowers were flying everywhere and it has many little cafes and boutiques. You also have Honen In here and the Ginkaku Ji silver temple.

I didn’t have time to go see the Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) further away in the city but everyone says its a must. Pontocho has some cool places at night.

I stayed in a very well placed Ryokan in Gion called Yuzuya Ryokan (http://yuzuyaryokan.com/). And the second night I wanted to try something weird and a little spooky and I moved to a capsule hotel called 9 hours Kyoto. Its an experience. Maybe try it. I wrote about it here.

 

Naoshima / Teshima / Inujima

These places blew my mind. They expose art in a way I had never experienced before. Go.

From Kyoto I took the train to Okayama and then on to Uno, and from there you take a ferry to Naoshima. They can help with all this at the train station. It takes about 2 hours.

Naoshima

You have two main ports here (probably you’ll arrive to Miyanoura), and the whole island is linked by very well organized buses. You can sleep in one of the three or four small towns. I have the complete map, as many are just phone numbers so maybe get a local or your previous hotel to call for you. Online there isn’t much but this map gives many options.

I slept in this AMAZING Mongolian Yurt on the beach, right next to the Benesse Art House, in a camping site called Tsutsujiso. It must be very special to stay in Bennesse, but its more expensive and these yurts had so much charm, I think I would have done it regardless. For around 30 dollars you can sleep 4 people and they’re right on the beach. Check their website. Naoshima has many other small places to stay in if not these two.

The main sites are all linked by bus (so just check closing times of museums to make sure not to miss any) and its easy to walk around. They are built into the small fishing villages and its all very organic and approachable. Small restaurants are everywhere.

• Art House Project (Honmura Area)
• Ando Museum (Honmura Area)
• Chichu Art Museum (Museum Area)
• Lee Ufan Museum  (Museum Area)
• Benesse House Museum (Museum Area) – these last three are all walking distance from each other
• If you have time, take a bath in the Bath House near the Miyanoura port. Its weird and cool…

Teshima

Take a ferry from Naoshima. Its about 20 minutes. Be careful not to miss the last return! Move around by bus. I did this and Inujima on day two.

• Yokoo house  – I was underwhelmed…
• Les Archives du Coeur
• Teshima Art Museum – wow.
• Art Setouchi

Inujima

From Teshima I took a ferry to get here. This is really worth it. There’s an old copper factory with some cool installations and you wander around the abandoned plant, feels a little post apocalyptic. They also have converted art house projects like Naoshima which rotate and are really cool.

Then there are many other small art islands, depending on the time of year there will be something on (I was there during the Trienalle, by chance, so it was super busy). Megijima is another one I was recommended but I only went to these three.

 

Shikoku

I took a ferry from Naoshima to Takamatsu to hit up this part of Japan. I wanted to find something far away and a little remote. If you do find yourself in Takamatsu, they have some gardens here called the Ritsurin Gardens, where you stroll about and jut watch families and lovers and old people enjoying a sunny afternoon. It warms your heart and people are so friendly. Takamatsu in itself is not great and I just used it as a base to rent a car and set off.

I drove from Takamatsu to Matsuyama for the night (they have some large onsen here for the real experience), and the next morning drove onto this amazing road called Route 381 which goes into valleys alongside a river and down into the southernmost tip of Shikoku (Tosa Shimizu) where you have surfers and temple routes and you can swim in the sea. From there I drove up to the Iya Valley and stayed in Oboke (a long days drive, around 7-8 hours in total).

There’s rafting and steep mountain valleys in Iya. I don’t think I would necessarily go again to the whole thing, but it was a very cool experience as I don’t think many foreigners go around here at all and often I felt like the only foreigner who had ever stepped foot here (romantic thinking). If you do want to try to get out here for a day or two, maybe go straight to the Iya Valley and stay in the Chiiori Trust houses, which are cosy traditional restored thatch houses in the mountains with stunning mountain views.

 

Osaka

I had heard bad things about Osaka, but I actually kind of liked it. I found it crazy and weird and fun, colorful, loud, vibrant, full of life even on a Monday night. After the past few days of remote temples and nature it was good to have a stop off in a place like this, shop, have some drinks in sake bars and go to random clubs and indulge in all you can eat street food (Osaka is home to some delicious, guilty pleasures like friend octopus balls, yakitori, sushi belts, etc). The area around Namba is the fun area and kind of epitomizes all the images of Japanese cities you imagined with a cacophony of lights and sounds and people, and there are actually some VERY cool boutiques along Orange Street. Check out Bio Top – café, cosmetics, plant nurseries, rooftop, concept store, great design. In conclusion – a fine stop off for a night and half day if you’re in the mood.

 

Koyasan

Do this. It’s south of Osaka in Kansai and you take a cable car up a mountain to arrive to a silent, peaceful monastic town which is the base for the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Email the main tourist website ahead of time and they can book you into a monastery accommodation for the night. The monks cook amazing vegetarian cuisine (such attention to detail) and you can watch their morning ceremonies. There is also a cemetery here…. Needs to be seen to be understood. A highly charged, palpable, spiritual place. I think you’re ok with just a night and a morning’s stroll around the temples. Brush up on your Buddhism and Shintoism beforehand.

I stayed in the Daien-in monastery and would highly recommend it.

 

Kumano Kodo

This was a first for me – I had never done any sort of multi-day hike nor pilgrimage route, and what a way to start… This is a thousand year old pilgrimage trail across the Southern mountains of Kansai, and brings you through some ancient isolated forests, along mountain trails, rivers and small towns. I loved it. It’s also very well marked and you come across many pilgrims and small groups of travellers.

There are MANY ways to do the route, and the local government has one of the best websites I’ve ever come across to help you organize your trip. There are one day, two day, three day and multi day treks, all going and starting from different locations depending on what you are in the mood for. Book accommodation ahead as some of these places are remote. http://www.tb-kumano.jp/ . You can walk straight from Koyasan actually but that’s the hardest of all.

I started from Kii Tanabe Station (arrived by train from the north) and then took a bus to sleep in Takahara for the night. I recommend the hotel I stayed in (Takahara Tanabe), with its morning mountain views and delicious food for dinner. From there, I set out on the trail and walked most the day towards Chikatsuyu, a charming tiny town in a valley where I stayed in a rental house called Happiness Chikatsuyu (they don’t have food so arrive before 6pm, buy groceries and cook. Its fun). The next day was a long 7 hour walk to Hongu, the final culmination town for most of the trails and has a major shrine. Most people sleep here for a night or in the surrounding towns that have ‘onsen’ – geothermic hot pools – which is a good way to decompress. They’re called , all about ten minutes from Hongu by bus. I slept here and then from Hongu I took a bus (2 hours) back to Tanabe and back up north to Osaka the next morning.