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Japan

Japan is great. You should visit if you can. We just did and this is a little bit about what we experienced there.

The image shows the exterior of Tokyo Dome, a large stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The dome has a distinctive curved roof and is illuminated with green signage that reads
Killer venue to watch a game. It's the legendary spot in Japanese baseball. The area surrounding it is what every baseball team owner promises to deliver with their new stadiums right up until they get the public money. Tokyo Dome info: https://jerz.us/z/37k
The image shows a brightly lit sign spelling out
A LOVE sign with the Statue of Liberty, the Rainbow Bridge, and Tokyo Skytree in the background? Of course.
The image shows two large statues inside a temple. The statue on the left is golden and intricately detailed, depicting a seated figure with multiple arms and an ornate headdress. The statue on the right is a large, dark-colored Buddha in a seated position
The Great Buddha, in Nara, Japan. https://jerz.us/z/qa1
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Iconic view of the Peace Memorial, with the A-Bomb Dome in the distance. Hiroshima was an incredible place to visit, and we wish we had two more days there. https://jerz.us/z/1oz
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We took a brief walk through the bamboo forest in Kyoto. https://jerz.us/z/l3h
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This Shinto shrine in Ueno Park was the first we laid eyes one The gold is beautiful.
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Another part of the Kyoto walking tour. Apparently this was built without using a single nail. https://jerz.us/z/bjk
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A statue of Godzilla in Hibiya, Tokyo. https://jerz.us/z/3j9

The Itinerary

  • Arrive Sunday afternoon (3/16)
  • Tokyo 3/16-19
    • Baseball 3/18 7pm
  • Kyoto 3/20
  • Osaka 3/21-23
  • Tokyo 3/24-26
    • Disney Sea 3/25
  • Leave 3/27

What I liked best

It’s pretty tough not to like just about everything. Japan, and Tokyo in particular, offer what I think I want most in a place to live—freedom to move around. The public transportation situation is so good. From anywhere in the city, you can get anywhere else in the city, move around all day, then just get back on a train or bus and get home. You never have to worry about where your car is. I wish I had that here. We took cabs on a couple of occasions—very tight time tables and late night rides from the train to the hotel. I would also prefer to ride the train if I lived there. The roads are bonkers.

The food was incredible, and not just because it’s different. No matter which town we were in, the ability to find something very good, quickly and cheaply, is always present. There were three places within a 300 foot walk from my hotel in the quiet area of Kyoto open past 1am. The variety is so funny compared to what we know of Japanese cuisine in the US. Or, at least what I knew of Japanese cuisine. I ate sushi exactly one time, and only because I felt like I had to. That’s because I know sushi, so I didn’t care to go out of my way to try it out. I wanted to try the new things and the things I heard were done exceptionally well in Japan (like pizza, for instance). I wasn’t disappointed a single time, and had two meals I won’t forget anytime soon (This gyoza place was tremendous and Tonki probably belongs on lists).

What I liked least

The most disappointing thing we did was Disney Sea. It wasn’t a bad experience, but it wasn’t a great Disney experience. I actually think theme parks are losing the plot a bit and need to reel back in the app use and reservation requirements. One particular thing that bothered me about Disney Sea is that if you went there specifically to ride on one ride, it’s possible you never even get a chance. Most rides required either a paid entry pass or a standby pass that must be reserved in the app. That means if you access the app at the wrong time, the passes may already be gone for that time period and you have to wait. We waited all day for three different rides to become available and we never rode them. There was no option to simply get in line to wait. We weren’t allowed to get in line without a pass from the app. Bad system.

Outside of that, there wasn’t a lot that was a tough experience. Things take quite a bit longer than you think. We missed trains because we were confused a few times. Or we took too long to get from one platform to the next, so we had to wait. We once tried to set up a morning that consisted of several sightseeing stops and a trip out of town. That was a brutally tough day to accomplish. Take your time.

Here are some of the things we did that were fun:

  • We rented a dog to walk.
  • We went to the Tokyo Skytree, but the wait was too long to go up—plan.
  • We rode at the front of the Yurikamome Line train that goes over the Rainbow Bridge. There’s no operator on that train so the front is a big window.
  • Shibuya Crossing – it’s wild there, but it seems to me like half the people crossing are doing it because they ned to take pictures of people crossing.
  • Walking tours – we did them in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima. All three were outstanding. They were free with a gratuity for payment, and the guides were locals. I want to go back to Hiroshima mostly because of how well our guide described the place.
  • If you can go to see cherry blossoms, do it. We did not get to see them, but we walked many of the areas where that are popular during their season. We saw one tree bloom the night before we left. Just missed it.
  • Visit Kappabashi Kitchen Street – Need a knife?

If you’ve got questions, hit me up.

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April 11, 2025