Where and When: Japan, October 2024
I first visited Japan in 2017 – it was a work trip, so sightseeing opportunities were limited. A sightseeing holiday to Japan has been on the cards ever since, and after two failed attempts (2019 – work related reasons and 2020 – Covid) I finally made it back to Japan earlier this month. I will do day-by-day detailed posts in the coming weeks, but to start with, these are the itinerary and highlights.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo and TeamLab Borderless digital experience
Day 2: Tokyo History Walking Tour
Day 3: Visit TeamLab Planets and Asakusa Walking Tour
Day 4: Shinkansen to Kyoto and Tea Ceremony
Day 5: Full day tour of Kyoto, visiting Arashiyama Bamboo grove, Kinkaku-ji (Golden Temple), Ryoan-ji, Kiyomizu-Dera and Gion District
Day 6: Travel to Nara to see the Great Daibutsu, deers in Nara park and then to Osaka.
Day 7: Osaka walking tour and Osaka Castle
Day 8: Day trip to Koyasan (from Osaka)
Day 9: Travel to Hiroshima and onto Miyajima Island
Day 10: Hiroshima peace memorial park, museum and A-bomb dome. Back to Tokyo in the evening.
Day 11: Trip to Kamakura, shopping in Akihabara and evening in Shibuya.
Day 12: Tokyo Tower, Imperial palace tour and Meji shrine.
Highlights
Tokyo Teamlab
Teamlab Borderless is an immersive museum with colorful, futuristic digital art installations. Being digital, the art work is constantly moving and changing.
The Japanese teahouse within the museum was my favourite – you can watch the digital chrysanthemums bloom in your tea cup whilst you enjoy your drink.
Kyoto Tea Ceremony
A late addition to the itinerary, but easily one of the best things I’ve done in Japan. We got to wear a traditional kimono, see a demonstration of the tea ceremony, have a go at making our own Matcha tea and finally learn how to write our names in Japanese Hiragana calligraphy. There are countless tea ceremony experiences in Japan, but this has to be one of the best. The hostess Hiromi-san and her team were so welcoming and friendly and made sure we felt right at home and had a great time.
Kyoto Temples
There are so many temples in Kyoto so we had to pick and choose. We picked the most famous (Kinkaku-ji (Golden Temple), Kyomizu-dera temple and Fushima-Inari shrine) and we were not disappointed.
Deer in Nara Park
The deer in Nara park wander freely and bow to tourists in return for biscuits. The deer are not constrained in anyway, and I have never seen such a peaceful existence between people and wild animals. (Well, you might get headbutted by an impatient deer if you don’t get the biscuits out on time!)
Miyajima island at Night
Staying overnight at the island of Miyajima was one of the best decisions of the trip. Not only did we get to experience the island in the quiet at night (and early morning) and see the floating Torii gate lit up, by pure chance, we happened to stay overnight on 15 October when they had the autumn Chrysanthemum ceremony at the Itsukushima shrine. We got to see “bugaku”, a repertoire of dances of the Japanese Imperial court performed during the ceremony.
Okunoin Cemetary
This is a famous cemetary in Koyasan, Wakayama. It has over 200,000 memorials, in amongst towering cedar trees and the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, founder of Shingon Buddhism, making it one of the most sacred places in Japan.
Hiroshima
A-bomb dome, memorial peace park and museum. This was not an easy experience but it was a highlight. The dome is a striking reminder of what happened here nearly 80 years ago, and the museum brings to life the full horror of the bombing and the aftermath and reinforce why it should never happen again.
Osaka
I loved the big, bold, larger than life Osaka – especially at night. The centre of Osaka with the Glico man is every bit as impressive in person as you imagine it to be.
Shibuya at Night
It was my second trip to Shibuya, but it was no less impressive than the first. If anything, it was more impressive; the 3D billboard with the howling Shiba-Inu is really something.
Food
We made time for local food on this tour and I am so glad we did. We did a vegan food tour in Tokyo, Kuromon food market in Osaka, famous Japanese curry rice, numerous snacks and last but not least plethora of food from the famous Japanese convenience stores.
From next week, I will start with the day by day posts.
Diary of a Tourist 
Great article. Helped me with planning. Thank you.
Could you please provide more info on the Tea Ceremony in Kyoto? Where was it and how did you book it? We are planning a trip in next two weeks and would really love to try that.
Thanks.
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Hi Anjali, thank you. The tea ceremony was with Eclat Japon. I booked it via GetYourGuide. Link below. Hope you have a wonderful trip!
https://www.getyourguide.com/kyoto-l96826/kyoto-table-style-tea-ceremony-at-a-kyo-machiya-t418986/?utm_source=getyourguide&utm_medium=sharing&utm_campaign=activity_details
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Japan is super high on my must-see list (but will probably wait until retirement so we can go in autumn), so I’m eager to read your individual posts.
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Japan is well worth the wait. And autumn is definitely a great time to visit – I was hoping to see some autumn colours, hence the reason for booking the trip for October, but they are having an extended summer this year, and the trees were only just starting to change colour when we left.
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Was it terribly crowded with tourists?
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It wasn’t too bad actually – Kyoto was probably the most crowded – but even then it was no worse that London or Paris. BUT, the thing with Japan is that the big cities are crowded with locals more than tourists. But at the same time they have really good ways to manage crowds in busy places and everyone is very considerate, the crowds weren’t really an issue anywhere.
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