12 Days In Japan

Having a SIM card is so useful. We used this service where we also got our JR Passes and it worked beautifully. The heat is no joke. I got heat exhaustion partway through the trip. Definitely have an umbrella to block out the sun, a hat, or wear long-sleeved clothing to prevent direct sun. Mosquitoes are savage. That, with the heat, it's no wonder the fashion trend in Japan is long, loose, and flowy clothing. They definitely cover up there.  Osaka is full of music.  Don't eat in Dotonbori. See it, but for food, head over to Shinsekai.  Shinjuku Golden Gai is so fun A++ recommend.  The JR Pass does not cover Nozomi trains.  Rush hour is intense, try to avoid as much as possible especially if you're like us and don't like squeezing in to trains.  There are a lot of tourists in Kyoto, and they come in large tour bus groups. Pick areas you REALLY want to see, and go early. Nara Park, Fushimi Inari Shrine, and Arashiyama without tourists are gorgeous ...

We begin our adventure to Japan. We flew Singapore Airlines, and I really hyped them up to Moose because I knew they had amazing food and service. We had Japanese meals on the flight! Curry and soba noodles! We landed in Narita Airport at around 7, activated our JR Passes and took the JR line to the nearest station to our hostel, Bakurochou Station. The train floors are so clean. We stayed at  Planetyze Hostel . Very cool AirBnb. They have events going on on the main floor. One night was movie night and they were showing Howl's Moving Castle (in English!) We woke up at 5:30am as we were very excited to see Japan. Out first stop was Senso-ji and Asakusa Shrine. We purified, and prayed. We got our omikuji. I got The Best Fortune while Moose got Bad Luck Fortune and I tied it up on the rack for him. It was really nice seeing the area without people, and seeing the locals start their day. It was very quiet. I found myself whispering when I spoke. We experience...

Another early day for us. We head off to see Gotokuji Temple. The area with the little lucky cat statues are off to the side. We learned from a shopkeeper at Nakamise-dori that a lucky cat with its left paw up is waving for money, and right paw up is for happiness. Unfortunately, the lucky cats didn't give us much luck, as we ended up being devoured by mosquitoes. The area surrounding Gotokuji Temple is quiet and residential, like the backdrop of anime we watch. As we walked along the streets, we bowed to the people sweeping the front of their house. We visited Meiji Jingu, and walked through the large forest landscape that envelops it. The long walk, and unforgiving terrain made me cranky ( curse you, Adidas Superstars), and I asked Moose if we could switch shoes, and eventually purchase ones that I could walk in. After me and my feet stopped complaining, we visited Otome Inari and Nezu Shrine for a mini version of Fushimi Inari's torii gates. I foun...