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Japan
For years I’ve wanted to travel to Japan. I think I fell in love with the idea after watching Lost In Translation – with all its glitz and colourful lights, the craziness and the tradition.
In May 2023, we spent 10 days travelling around Japan ticking off all the main locations from Tokyo to Osaka, then a traditional experience in Koyasan, on to Kyoto, then back to Tokyo.
It was a lightning quick visit with a lot crammed in, so I would love to go back one day soon.
Here are some of our highlights.
Getting There
Our trip was booked about six months in advance, using a wicked Qantas Frequent Flyer deal that meant travelling to Japan for the equivalent of a return trip to Melbourne.
Given our limited time we decided to push ourselves on our first day, making our way from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Osaka by bullet train. We arrived at around 5am and after clearing customs and immigration, we were foiled by Japan’s notoriously late opening hours. Queuing for around an hour for the Japan Rail office to open, so we could pick up our JR pass.
Osaka and Hiroshima
Osaka is the third largest city in Japan with a population of around 3 million people. It’s a modern and easy to navigate city. For us, it was a real surprise packet.
Our hotel, the Swissotel, was located in the Namba district which is thriving with shops and businesses.
The hotel bar was a real surprise, looking out over the glittering lights of the city as the sun went down. And it had a killer negroni to boot.
The nearby Dōtonbori district lights up at night, with colourful advertising signs and restaurants along the canal. A walk down the street is a feast for the senses, almost as much as our Okonomiyaki at a local restaurant where you queue for about an hour then sit at the counter where your meal is cooked right in front of you.
From Osaka many people do the day trip down to Hiroshima. The city was buzzing because the G7 summit with President Biden and others was about to roll into town. So security and police was everywhere to be seen.
We started our trip to Hiroshima with a visit to Miyajima Island, which has one of the most iconic views of Japan with a torii gate seemingly hovering over the water. It was a little different when we saw it, surrounded by mud and hundreds of tourists walking out to grab to selfie.
Of course, the main reason people visit Hiroshima is for its more modern history. Seeing the Peace Dome, where the Atomic Bomb detonated in the sky above, was moving. But not as much as the nearby museum. It’s confronting, with photos, videos, accounts and keepsakes of some of the nearly 250,000 people who died on 6 August 1945 and in the days, months and years after from the ongoing effects of that day.
Some of Osaka’s other sites include the Osaka Castle and the Osaka Aquarium where they have two whale sharks. I have always wanted to see whale sharks but it was a little sad to see them in a tank.
Koyasan
Mount Koya is a very special place in Japan, one of the most spiritual places in the country.
Koyasan is home to many traditional temples where you can stay and experience a monk’s lifestyle, ranging from prayer time to traditional food and living arrangements (such as sitting and sleeping on the floor).
The food? Well, there was tofu. Lots of it. We opted mainly for the rice with soy sauce.
You get to Koyasan by train, then a steep cable car. The town itself is small but charming. At night, we walked the streets which were deserted. We found a small Japanese diner which from the outside looked like a house. Inside, one of the most cheerful cooks you would ever meet. Even if some of the menu items (including horse meat tartare) were a little unusual for our Western tastes.
One of the most interesting sites in town is the Okunoin Cemetery, home to more than 200,000 tombstones along a long and windy trail.
Kyoto
Like many, Kyoto was our favourite city – due to its fascinating mix of old and new.
The old includes historic shrines and temples like the golden Kinkakuji Shrine and Hanamikoji Street. The new including the bright lights of the Pontocho district and its nightclubs, hotels and restaurants.
If you want to get the good pics in Kyoto you have to plan and get up early. Fortunately the sun is up at around 4:15 each morning – so I ventured back over to the historic streets to get a rare pic of the temples with no people. Then onto the Torri Gate shrines, climbing the mountain well before the tour groups and crowds arrived.
We also travelled to nearby shrines, including one that is decorated in gold, and to the nearby bamboo forest (again, get there early if you want photos without Instagram influencers in every shot).
Kyoto is a beautiful city, full of rich history and colour.
Tokyo
Bright lights, big city – it’s an assault on the senses when you arrive in Tokyo. The size of the city is astounding, stretching out as far as the eye can see.
Our first stop was Japan’s massive sumo wrestling tournament. 11,000 people crammed into a former Olympic stadium to watch the country’s big wrestlers battle it out. It’s incredible how the crowd gets into it, waving banners and chanting for their favourites.
That night, we went to a highrise building where you venture onto the roof, alongside a helicopter landing pad, to see the glitzy lights come to life.
Tokyo is full of iconic places, from the scramble crossing to eating districts, and we even ventured into one of the kookier attractions – a pig cafe!
On our last night, one of the true highlights – the New York Grill at the top of the Park Hyatt hotel, 57 stories up in the sky. It’s the iconic bar from Lost In Translation. A warning – you pay for the privilege but a once in a lifetime opportunity that we won’t forget.
