Wonderful Japan

All my acquaintances who had been to Japan never stopped praising and praising what they had seen. I asked myself whether I should visit Japan, a distant and expensive country, just another country on the long list of countries I had already visited. But my curiosity never let up. I remember movies about Japanese toughness, rigid behavior, and heavy traditional clothing that piqued my curiosity, and recommendations from friends who had visited there. And so I found my wife and me on the Dreamliner on the way to Japan.

Planning

 We consulted a Japan expert for help with planning. The information and preparation we received was worth every shekel we paid her. In fact, thanks to her, we knew every detail we needed to know. From the moment we landed until the end of the trip and the departure back to Israel. For example: how to get from place to place, which transportation tickets to buy, which trains from which station, how to behave, what is allowed and what is not, and many other details that you need to know before traveling to Japan. Basically, we wanted to visit the big cities – Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and we wanted to add a visit to the Mount Fuji area. Thus, we added to our trip a visit to interesting islands and a trip to a slightly northern area in traditional-style towns and a visit to attractions along the way.

The beginning  – Tokyo

The first shock. From the airport we boarded the Narita Express train to Tokyo. Already getting off the train at Shinjuku station, we were washed into a sea of ​​people running in the corridors, each to their destination. Now go look for the desired exit from the station. Somehow we found ourselves outside and to my surprise Google Maps worked perfectly and led us safely to the hotel. Here I will refer to the requirements for a hotel in Japan – they rent a room according to the size of the room, according to the recommendations we asked for 18 square meters and a shower in the room. (There are still hotels with shared bathrooms). We can say that we were pleased with the result. In every hotel we stayed in, there is a table in the lobby with equipment such as toothbrushes, sponges, cleaning sticks, coffee and tea. Everything is free for the guest.

Tokyo is the most populous metropolis in the world (about 40 million inhabitants, including the suburbs). The city is a combination of modern areas and traditional Japanese architecture. On every corner you can find temples, gardens and attractions worth visiting. We focused on the largest and most impressive temples. Tomiaka Shrine – with its fire ceremony, the Lucky Cat Shrine, Meijishirine located in a forest. The impressive gardens of Gyoen Park, an avenue of cherry trees that are illuminated every evening when they bloom along the Meguro River, and viewing the world’s largest video art on the wall of the Metropolitan Government Building – takes place every evening.

What’s special about the Land of the Rising Sun – the kindness and willingness to help was above and beyond my expectations. As a tourist, you will always need help, and surprisingly, everyone we asked for help with didn’t leave us until they were sure we had found what we were looking for.

Everywhere we traveled, there were people dressed in traditional clothing, when I asked to take a picture of them they happily agreed, later I learned that you don’t even have to ask, when they saw me with the camera they just stood there, made a nice pose and waited for me to finish taking pictures. The most amazing thing is that in the end the assistants, the people being photographed, bus drivers, waiters, hotel clerks, in short everyone, bow when they say goodbye, it’s just wonderful.

It’s important to know that the number of tourists in Japan is huge, so you have to book places in advance for many of the attractions.

Information about every place we visited is abundantly available on the Internet, so I won’t go into detail. I’ll leave it to you, the readers, to investigate, but I will give a list of places we visited and show the results in pictures.

  • Tokyo’s temples and gardens:
  • Sensoji Temple
  • Tomioka Temple – Fire Ceremony
  • Lucky Cat Temple
  • Meijishirine Temple located in a forest
  • Gyoen Park
  • Sumida Park
  • Kappabashi Shopping Street
  • Akihabara District – Electric District
  • Skytree Tower
  • Asakusa
  • Love Hotel Hill
  • Yoyogi Park
  • The rajako for the young at heart.
  • Government Building – Art video the largest in the world
  • Shibuya – Shopping area, Sky tower View from above the city. The busiest intersection in the world.
  • Traveling with the Shikansen train from Tokyo at 300 km/h
  • Kiyomizu-Dera (Pure Water) Temple, the most beautiful in Japan
  • Geisha district,
  • Manuyama Park Cherry blossom trees at the entrance to the park
  • Yasuka Shirine Temple
  • Mori Tower (54 floors in the center of Roppongi)
  • The giant spider (bronze statue).
  • Meguro River – walk in the evening, lighting on 2 km of cherry blossom avenue.
  • Ebisu district Alleys of restaurants and small izayakas
  • Golden Temple. Ryoan-ji Zen temple for meditation
  • Travel to Arashiyama Bamboo forest and monkey park. Tenaryu-ji Temple
  • Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace (Kyoto Imperial Palace)
  • Kitano Temple Flea Market
  • Silver Temple (Higashiyama Jisho-ji)
  • Philosophers’ Path
  • Nara, home to Todai-ji Temple (probably the largest wooden building in the world).
  • Deer Park – Deer bow in exchange for a biscuit (purchase on site, no other food allowed!)
  • Fushimi Inari Shrine (Fushimi Inari Shirine) The temple with thousands of gates leading to the sacred Inari Mountain.
  • Hiroshima, Peace Park
  • Sake Brewery (Kamotsuru Sake Brewing Co)
  • Meijima Island and the Floating Gate, Hondori Street An interesting complex of shops and restaurants.
  • Naoshima Island – Sculptures, museums and artisan houses.
  • Kurashiki – a charming historical town with a canal in the center, along the canal are scattered colorful umbrellas. Ohashi House – a traditional house of a merchant family.
  • IVY Square – a building for events with a huge courtyard whose walls are covered with vegetation
  • Okayama – a visit to Okayama Castle and Kurokan Garden, one of the three most beautiful landscape gardens in Japan.
  • Himeji City, a short walk along the main street decorated with statues, at the end of which is Himeji Castle – a relic from the feudal era. Enter the castle and climb the stairs to the top floor, a beautiful view of the surroundings. It should be taken into account that the ascent is slow with an endless line of visitors
  • Osaka is the economic capital of Japan.
  • Namba District Food and shopping center, Koromon Market, Rikuro’s vibrating cheesecake,
  • View from the 300-meter-high Abeno Harukas building
  • Shinsaibashi – indoor shopping street.
  • Shinsaibashi – indoor shopping street.
  • A walk along the Dotonbori River and Umeda District
  • A railway bridge passes inside a building (gate tower).
  • Kanazawa – Omicho Market
  • Kanazawa Castle of the MAEDA house from 1583, opposite Kenrokuen Garden, considered the most beautiful garden in Japan
  • Samurai Quarter and Ninja Temple,
  • 21st Century Museum
  • Geisha Quarter.
  • Rent a car and drive to Ainokura Village – Washi Paper Makers (Traditional Japanese), Observation Point, Fine Hida Beef Restaurants.
  • Takayama Market,
  • Guro Town – Onsen Town (Communal Baths)
  • Yomori Park with its waterfalls and wooden hanging bridges.
  • Nagi Castle Ruins located on a cliff with a beautiful view of the river.
  • Nakasando Post Office Town
  • Magoma – Restored Houses.
  • Tsumego Town – a restored town above the Atara Valley – a picturesque gorge with a stream and clear water
  • Stop at the Nezama no Toku Gorge – an interesting rocky landscape formation near the Kiso River with an art garden in its center.
  • Drive on the Singing Road.
  • Drive to the Five Lakes and view of Mount Fuji.
  • The Open-Air Museum
  • The Ice Cave.
  • Train back to Tokyo. A trip to the Ginza district. Gado-Shita – food and small, welcoming bars.
  • A trip to the Hama Rikuof Garden, one of the most beautiful in Japan.
  • Drive to Odaiba – an artificial island, Miraikan Museum – inventions of the future,
  • For dessert – the Teamlab Digital Museum

In conclusion

 We left Israel on 03/17/2025 and returned on 04/08/2025, this is the ideal time to see the cherry blossoms in all their glory. At this time of year it is still cold there, luckily it only rained two days out of the trip and from what I learned you don’t need umbrellas – the hotel lent us umbrellas when needed. It also rained lightly at the open-air museum at the beginning of the tour, they lent me an umbrella there too which I returned at the end of the tour. Luckily, shortly after the tour started, the sun compensated us with its warm light.

A total of 23 days gross at a cost of 50,000 NIS. The big surprise was when we discovered that Japan is cheaper than Israel. It’s a shame that the plane tickets are so expensive (15,000 NIS for two). For those interested in getting a lot of information about markets, restaurants and alcohol, 

I recommend reading Mira Eitan’s article at the following link: https://food.walla.co.il/item/3743989