Walking across Tokyo and Riding the Rails to Mt. Fuji and Sendai

Why yes, we did walk across Tokyo. Our feet were complaining a bit the next day but at least we only walked one way and could take the train back. I’m dividing up Tokyo into about 1 week chunks but we did quite a bit of adventuring so hopefully these won’t be too long winded. This first week starts with a red eye from Bangkok and a layover in Osaka, then two nights in Tokyo, one night by the shy Mt. Fuji, and ends with two nights in Sendai in the north.

Tokyo, Part 2

The Journey Back

At our hotel in Bangkok, we were able to get late checkout thanks to my hotel credit card (2pm!) so we took the time to call our parents during our stay and finish and upload the second Vietnam post while we had good internet. We ended up staying in the lobby all afternoon to work on the Cambodia post, upload more pictures, and wait for a package we really needed to get our rail pass in Japan. Thankfully we were in the lobby when the package appeared!

We had a 1am flight to Osaka so we left the hotel at 8pm. I was thankful they didn’t mind us hanging out all afternoon. It took a bit to get checked in to the flight since we had a ferry instead of a flight out of Japan and I think it got lost in translation, we should have said “cruise”. I find it interesting that the airlines have been more concerned about bookings for leaving the country than the arrival customs agents so far.

We got to eat dinner at a lounge in the airport, it was delicious! Our flight was pretty easy and we had another meal in the morning just before landing. The last hour or so of our flight we were blessed with an above cloud sunrise from our window. 

We landed at 8am in Osaka, breezed through customs, and checked into the next flight. There weren’t any lounges we had access to in the domestic terminal so we used the Priority Pass at a restaurant. It gave us 6800 yen (~$46) and even without overspending we ordered way too much food: fried chicken, gyoza, and a bowl of ramen a piece. Mr. Wander’s white miso was the clear winner to my umami.

Once we arrived at Tokyo Haneda airport, the fun really began, because we needed to hunt down 2 types of train passes and then board a few trains to get to our hotel. The first is the same pass we got before, the Pasmo passport, which is a reloadable card to use at just about any subway or bus all across Japan. It does have a time limit of 28 days so we had to get a new one since our old ones had expired. The other is the JR Rail Pass that lets you on most trains between cities including most of the Shinkasen trains, or bullet trains. I think it took us a good hour to find both stalls, it would have been a bit easier had we arrived in the international terminal since we had to take a shuttle there anyway to find the JR Rail station.

Three trains and 1 hour of standing in crowded trains later, we made it to our hotel at about 6pm. After checking in and dropping bags in our room, we went across the street to a Family mart (very similar to 7-Eleven) to get goodies for dinner and breakfast. Check out the haul.

The favorite was the “moist” curry rice chips eaten with the cheese “candy” (called that because they were individually wrapped like candy pieces. With full bellies it was easy to fall asleep and we were both out for nearly 12 hours!

Walking Across Tokyo

After a shower and a bit of sink laundry, we had our breakfast from our trip to Family Mart the night before. It consisted of 2 different types of filled buns, one with red bean paste and whipped cream, and one with chocolate. I, of course, had to get more milk tea and Mr. Wander had some sort of coffee.

We managed to make it out of the hotel before noon and started walking towards the gardens by the imperial palace, but just before we got there we saw the Yasukuni Jinja shrine and decided to walk around a bit.

Then we walked around the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. It was interesting seeing some of the ways the walls were built or had been restored. There was also an area full of cherry trees that were budding and a few that had started to bloom. So many different colors too!

I especially loved the little waterfall in the back of the garden. We found a stone bench to sit on and look out over the gardens. In the pond below there were many colorful Koi fish. There was a spot where a different tree was planted for each prefecture of Japan, as well as an orchard full of different fruit trees from the Edo period, when the castle was first built.

Feeling like I needed a bit of a pick-me-up we stopped at a 7-eleven to get “energy jelly”, these little pouches we had heard about from a Youtuber now living in Japan. They claim they give as much energy as a rice ball. They were good but we couldn’t figure out the flavor, at least it did seem to help my energy a bit.

We kept heading west and found the smallest Ikea I’ve ever seen.

We then made it to the Meiji Jingu shrine, about 25 minutes before it was to close, which unfortunately meant the gardens were already closed. We walked up to the shrine along the main path which had quite a few people, but found a more secluded way back out. 

Heading south, we eventually made it to the famous Shibuya crossing. To be honest, I was expecting it to be bigger. It was definitely a mass of people going at every angle, but it just seemed like the streets were much more narrow than I had expected.

We headed into a nearby mall up to a robot cafe, intending to have dinner but it closed at 6pm so they were only serving drinks. We were escorted to our table by a robot just carrying trays and sat down. You ordered with your phone on a QR code, so we ordered a few beers and started to interact with the human shaped robot by our table. One dance we tried, we felt bad, I had no idea how loud the music would be! We decided to try a game and it asked you your favorite color and gave you your fortune based on that. Mine was a bit better than Mr. Wanders since my favorite is blue.

It would start chatting with you a bit after giving the fortune but sometimes it got confused and would randomly give a fortune even though it didn’t interpret what we said as a color. We had it go to the chat feature which did work a bit better for our questions but sometimes my Software engineer of a husband decided to poke a bit for bugs, and found several. The hardest part was if it asked you a question, and if you just answered it without stating part of the question it got confused or completely changed the subject as if it forgot the question it had asked before. We were entertained for a bit, anyway.

On our way to dinner, we found a group of Mario Karts, making their way through Shibuya! Now truly hungry we headed up towards Ichiran, the same chain as the Ramen place we had gone to back in December. It was a bit of a wait but we figured it was about the same to get to our hotel and find another place so we just decided to wait it out, and I think their estimate was high.

If you don’t remember, you purchase tickets for ramen, beer, etc at a vending machine just before you are able to get seated, and you hand in your tickets after you get a table. The setup was a bit different since all the seats were in individual cubbies instead of at tables. It was all electronic too, outside they had a screen that showed the host which seats were occupied, being cleaned, or were ready for new patrons. You could get all your food, beverages, order extra noodles, and get water all without actually talking to the servers.

There was a button to call a server too, or if you were ordering your noodles you set the metal tray on the sensor, they gave you the metal tray when you first gave your tickets from the vending machine. We did decide to order a dessert using the extra order sheets but you have to pay cash. It was just as delicious as the last time and we got the dessert, Matcha Almond pudding with Green Tea syrup. I really liked the syrup especially.

Finally full and exhausted we walked back across the major scramble to the JR train station and a few trains later we made it back to the hotel. My watch said we walked 28,000 steps (estimated 12.9 miles), which I think is a record for us for walking around a city, our trips to Boston, NYC, Denver, and London only had us get up to 22,000 in any one day.

Team Labs by the Sea

The next morning we took it a little easy again since our feet were tired, hmm wonder why. We had a reservation for Teamlabs: Planets which was easier to reserve just a few days ahead since Borderless had just opened again in February. We took a few quick trains and got there early enough to walked around the seaside. Planets is located on one of the manmade islands on the South East part of the city, not too far from where we saw the Statue of Liberty back in December.

If you are unfamiliar, Teamlabs is an interactive art experience and if you have seen anyone travel to Japan they likely had a picture or two from here. For the entire thing they have you walk through barefoot, there is one section where you actually walk through water up to about mid-shin, but between the exhibits its pretty dark. I do wish they let fewer people in at once, it definitely distracted from the experience in some of the rooms.

We found a late lunch in the subway station, our first international McDonalds! I had a Teriyaki chicken burger and Mr. Wander had the Samurai big Mac. It was good and other than the flavor options I didn’t notice too much difference.

We relaxed in the afternoon, still a bit tired from the day before and found dinner at small underground eclectic bar near the hotel. There were only ever 1-2 other people in the bar with us and they had a limited menu. We had a flatbread pizza and an omurice which is a rice filled omelette with a very delicious sauce. I had a tea cocktail, Mr. Wander tried some Japanese whiskey, and at the end she gave us what she called the “best snack” peanuts and rice crackers that are pretty addicting.

Trying to find shy Mt Fuji

We left fairly early to catch an express train from Shinjuku station and heading west. We had to transfer to a local train at Otsuki to get to Kawaguchiko on the north side of Mt Fuji. This last local train was themed Thomas the train, both inside and out!

We grabbed lunch at a restaurant on the way to hotel and each had a kebab bowl that was quite delicious. We walked around the lake a bit until we reached our hotel, but it was still pretty early, only about 1pm, so we asked them to store our bags until we could check-in after 3pm. By the end of our time in Japan we learned its better to sleep in a bit, take a later train, and try to get in closer to check-in then it’s less time to wait.

Instead of taking the ropeway, we decided to walk up the trail to the top of Kawaguchiko Tenjozan park. It was about 2 miles to the overlook and shrine. On a clear day this should be an excellent view of Mt. Fuji, and much less busy than the famous pagoda picture, but as they say she’s shy, and the clouds didn’t clear for us. I still enjoyed the view of the lakes from above and it was great training for a future adventure we have planned.

Finally it was time to check into our hotel, which is actually a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel. You leave your shoes in the entryway to your room, then there is a step up and a door that opens to the main area that had the tatami mats, a table, and our futons for sleeping. We didn’t order any dinner or breakfast services so the table was off to the side and the futons were already set up. By the window we did get a table and chairs at a normal height so we could look out at the lake.

To reward ourselves after a hike well done we found a cookie shop that sold many flavors in the shape of Mount Fuji. Here’s the view from our window where we had to provide our own Mount Fuji thanks to the clouds.

We went to restaurant just a few doors down for hoto, which is sort of a noodle soup dish but unfortunately it wasn’t Mr. Wander’s favorite.

I had a bowl of rice with Gyudon and a soft boiled egg, that you put into the bowl and mix the yolk to help make a rich sauce. It was very delicious! We both also got some pickled vegetables and miso soup.

That evening we tried on the sleep wear they provided, which is also what you could wear to the public onsen they have on the top floor, since you do not wear swimsuits in onsens. We were also gifted with a wonderful fireworks show across the lake with two discharge sites that were timed together, and a third we could see over the trees on the next lake.

Northward Bound, to Sendai

The next morning we took an earlier local train and just as we were checking out, we managed to get a little peep of Mount Fuji.

We took and earlier local train early and got breakfast at small cafe in the town of Otsuki since not too much was open yet in Kawaguchiko. I think this was my first time having salad at breakfast and it really hit the spot. They insisted we take these cute origami cranes home with us.

We boarded our reserved train and got to change at Tokyo station, which was extremely busy, but then we got to board our first Shinkasen (bullet train)!

Using Google maps it says its a 5 hour drive, and we arrived in Sendai from Tokyo in less than 3 hours! The ride is so smooth though you barely feel like you are going that fast, and most of the lines are built up in the air so you are never close enough to the ground to realize just how fast you are going.

Our hotel was just two blocks away, so we checked in and dropped off our bags and came back to the station to make a few train reservations using the machines. Previously we had gone to a ticket counter but this was nice because we could pick our own seats and adjust the time if the train was really full. We also wanted to try this soybean shake we had heard about from that Japan YouTube channel and I found a place inside the station. It’s like a slightly salted vanilla shake, its dangerously addicting.

For dinner that evening we went to a ramen place nearby that is part of a local chain with Chashumen (special pork ramen). This place gave you unlimited free rice so you could soak up all the last bits of broth after you finish the noodles, which I really enjoyed.

Matsushima by the Sea

Our hotel provided a breakfast buffet it was quite amazing, really enjoyed the salad and fruit.

We took the local train to a town called Matsushima, which was also suggested by that YouTuber in his video “24 hours in Sendai”. There are 3 islands with temples you can walk to but unfortunately one was closed for restoration. The first temple was free to visit and was very old, had many ruins.

The second was across a much larger bridge and included a coffee shop and garden. It was too early in the year for many flowers yet (except the one tree) but instead they had an exhibit of origami, all of the works shown were each made from a single sheet of paper!

Had a quick lunch from a convenience store and then went up the hill to visit one last temple that was also recommended, Entsuin temple. We had to try a few of the flavors at the ice cream stall just outside the temple. Mr. Wander had Black Sesame and I had Sake, the black sesame was very tasty

The last stop was getting matcha, coffee, and 3 seasonal desserts from a 400 year old tea house by the sea. What a view.

Inside the tea house in the room over from where we sat had beautifully painted panels and walls.

Once back to the Sendai station, we popped in an electronics store we had walked by a few times because I was curious. It is a bit intense, the number of advertisements and displays trying to grab for your attention.

Sendai is one of the top 10 regions for Wagyu beef, and we had heard Shabu-Shabu is one way to try thin slices of this deliciously marbled A5 variety. Shabu-Shabu is an Onomatopoeia, named for the swishing sound of the beef cooking in the broth.

After picking out the meats and a few sakes we were served a few starters, including my first snail.

The waiter did explain how to eat this, but since he didn’t speak much English I did Google a bit to fill in a few gaps. There is a pot of simmering water in between you on a hot plate built into the table. You are also given a plate full of vegetables that you are to put in first (but not all at once) to help flavor the water into more of a broth. Eventually when you are ready you take one slice and swirl it through the hot water until your desired doneness, I took it out when there was still a tiny bit of pink. Then you immediately dipped it into a bowl of a runny sauce and the beef absorbed the flavor, and then you eat it.

The sauce you could customize with garlic, green onions, and spicy sauce if you would like. The white sauce was amazing with the vegetables and was similar to one you’d get at a teppanyaki in the US.

At the end they gave you a bowl of either noodles or rice (we chose noodles) and you put a ladle of the water used for cooking the beef, now full of fat from the marbling, and add it to your noodles. Next level!

We of course had to try a bit of the ice cream for dessert since they had pistachio and that has become one of my favorites, and Mr. Wander had a blueberry cream cheese. It was covered with a small piece of thin mochi.

Pleasantly full we turned in for the night with sweet dreams of that marbled beef!

Snow bound

While it had been pretty cool where we were, the ocean kept it fairly warm. However, we are heading towards the northern/western coast of Japan into a few ski towns and monkey onsens, plus some people onsens. I hope you have enjoyed the first installment of Japan! Let me know what your favorite part was, and what would you add to your trip to Japan?

Until next time, Sayonara!