Two Weeks in Japan

We started our year of travel by taking a preliminary trip to Japan with Carey’s younger brother. We got to celebrate Carson’s graduation, test out our travel gear, and explore an amazing country with direct flights from Denver.

There is so much to see and do in Japan, which can make planning a trip a slightly daunting task. We spent about 2 weeks there but could have spent 2 months without running out of amazing things to see.

In the end, we decided to spend time in Tokyo, the area around Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Miyajima. Each area had its own personality and they were the perfect introduction to this fascinating country! We’ll definitely be back to explore some more.

Tokyo Highlights

• Team Labs – the most creative museum I’ve ever experienced. If you ever venture to Tokyo, it is well worth the time.

• As I’m sure no one is surprised, we explored a lot of delicious FOOD! 🙂

• Tokyo National Museum – home to beautiful art and fascinating artifacts (including 1,000-year-old samurai swords that are in pristine condition).
• Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience – we basically found a tasting menu for Japanese tea and it was lovely.

• Wandering the city – Tokyo is the largest city in the world. We wandered shopping streets, the famous Tsukiji Fish Market, enjoyed bento boxes in Ueno Park, watched the sunset by Senso-ji. It is a city worth wandering (and stopping for street food along the way).

Mt. Fuji Highlights

• Carey took this photo right outside of our hotel. The area around Mt. Fuji is full of beautiful views!

• Lake Kawaguchi is an adorable town at the base of Mt. Fuji. They have a lovely view of the mountain, delicious noodles, and a fun sake brewery.

• Fujiyoshida has a short hike up to a shrine with a pagoda and a view of Mt. Fuji. It is a fair number of stairs, but worth the climb.

Kyoto Highlights

• Kyoto was my personal favorite. It is a gorgeous city, full of temples and shrines dating back hundreds of years. We spent most of our time in Kyoto visiting temples and shrines.

• Many temples and shrines serve fully vegan meals for lunch. Ryoan-ji is particularly famous for its tofu. We stopped there for lunch and it was the best meal of the trip (and the best tofu we’ve ever had). If you’re ever in Kyoto, make sure to go for lunch. They also have a beautiful garden and a famous rock garden.

• The Fushimi Inari Shrine is one of the most famous in Japan and as a result, it gets quite busy. We woke up early to do the 3-mile hike and managed to avoid most of the crowds. If you plan to visit, it is worth getting there by 7 am to avoid the crowds.

• While in Kyoto, Carey and Carson started collecting Goshuin. These are large stamps, handwritten by monks, that you can purchase at the majority of shrines and temples. Each is unique and we found some incredibly elaborate Goshuin at some of the less-touristy temples and shrines.

• Nara day trip – it is easy to get to Nara from Kyoto (~1 hour via train). Nara has multiple temples that are well worth a visit and deer that have learned to bow to humans.

Hiroshima Highlights

• The Peace Memorial Museum is incredibly well done.
• Okonomiyaki – I had never experienced okonomiyaki, but it fast became my favorite Japanese dish. They are savory pancakes that are usually served with seafood and/or pork, cabbage, other veggies, noodles, and a BBQ sauce adjacent sauce. Many places also serve delicious vegetarian versions. They are best Hiroshima-style. We went to Nagata-ya for Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and they were fantastic.

Miyajima Highlights

• Floating Shrine – the famous Floating Shrine is in Miyajima. When the tide is low, you can walk out to the shrine.

• Momiji Manju – this part of Japan is known for maple-leaf-shaped pastries that are filled with various sweets (red bean, chocolate, cream cheese, etc.). They are my favorite Japanese sweet and you can get them fried on Miyajima (which makes them even tastier, in my opinion).

Back to the USA

We’re back in the States for a couple of weeks to pack up our apartment and get things finalized for our year abroad. While the direct flight and compression socks made it a much more pleasant experience, 11 hours on a plane and a 15-hour time difference led to the worst jet lag I’ve ever experienced. So, for anyone planning a trip to explore the wonderful country of Japan – prepare yourself for an amazing time and to have to work your way back to a normal sleep schedule.