Our first trip to Japan was amazing!

Japan | Jan 2 - Jan 11, 2025

Very helpful staff. Rooms were nice. Breakfast from the menu was delicious and you could also get more from the buffet. Had dinner at the hotel once and it was also very good - they have different performers during dinner and we saw a music performance. There was a beautiful lounge on the 10th floor that was open from 7 - 10 at night where you could get a hot or cold drink and try some Japanese snacks. Loved the location of this hotel as it was right along the Asakusa strip - just down the way was Don Quijote (a store that had everything and was open 24/7) and lots of places to eat. Even Lawson's (like a 7-11) had great, fresh food. There was always a gentleman standing outside helping tourists with their suitcases when their ride showed up. We left Tokyo for 5 days and were coming back so the hotel let us leave our large suitcase and had it in our room when we came back. They also let us leave all our suitcases in a secure room when we had checked out and wanted to go shopping for a couple of hours before leaving for the airport.

Beautiful resort hotel way up in the mountains. Staff were very helpful - girls in kimonos brought luggage up to your room. Rooms were large and beautiful with an onset tub on your balcony. You can't wear a bathing suit in the public onsen so having a private one was nice. Guests walked around in the kimonos and slippers provided in your room. Musicians were performing in the lobby, special juices, sparkling wine and ice cream were offered in the evening. There's a family pool, convenience store, bar, spa in the resort and other restaurants to go to nearby. The buffet breakfast was unbelievable! So much fantastic food to try. The grounds and view were picturesque. We only got to stay there one night - would've liked to have stayed at least 2 nights.

This hotel was very nice. The rooms were nice and just big enough for 2 people and 2 carryons. We were too early to check in but were able to leave our suitcases in a secure room while we went to the Tea Ceremony and Samurai Museum. This hotel was located very near the train station. You could spend a whole day at the train station shopping and eating. The Samurai museum is located in a shopping district so we went back there to shop the next day. Taking a taxi or bus back to the hotel or Kyoto station was easy. The buffet breakfast was excellent with so many things to try. A robot went around for you to put dirty dishes on. The staff were very friendly, announcing your arrival at breakfast with the chef and serving staff welcoming you out loud. They had a lounge area where you could get hot or cold drinks whenever you'd like.

This was a beautiful hotel right in the city. The staff were very helpful as we needed their help getting our passports that we left in the Kyoto hotel - they did all the calling and arranging for us to pick them up. The rooms were beautiful (the shower/tub encased in glass weren't very private but you could make one wall opaque) and the view from the room overlooking the city was breathtaking. The breakfast buffet was good but not outstanding like some other hotels' buffets. The hotel held our suitcases after we checked out so we could shop for a couple of hours before catching the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. We took a taxi to the shopping district which cost around $15 - we thought having 5 people would make getting a taxi a problem but they let us cram 4 in the back.

Having a guide take us to the Meiji Shrine was so advantageous because it was Jan 3rd and the shrine was filled with Japanese locals who were coming to celebrate New Years. Allan taught us all the traditions and reasons for doing what the locals were doing. It was so fun to be a part of it. The Imperial Palace was beautiful - it was open to the public the day before so all the barriers were being taken down (the palace is only open to the public two times a year). We missed it, but apparently it was crazy busy! Seeing the Harajuku district was very interesting. It was very busy and not a very wide street so it was slow going. Very interesting stores, very interesting fashion and lots of fun street food.

This was a really fun morning! We got dropped off in a residential area and went into an apartment building. We were a bit early but the ladies let us come in, get ready, and wait in a large dining area (the apt was renovated so that there was one big room instead of a bedroom and a living room). Two other people joined us and we got started. The first instructor had us help make broth and miso soup. Then we made side dishes like rolled egg, cucumber salad, potato salad, and a pancake for dessert. The second instructor had us make a chicken/veg stuffed lotus root and the sauce for the shabu shabu. We also learned how to make the carrot and mushroom decorative for the meat dish. Once we cooked everything and had all of the food plated on nice dishes, we got to eat our lunch! It was delicious!

Unfortunately, this was the only rainy day of our trip and it was on our Mt Fuji day! We watched the video at the Mt Fuji information centre and got to use the virtual reality goggles to see what Mt Fuji looks like up close which was cool and informative. We still did the boat cruise but it wasn't much fun because it was so windy and rainy. Our guide Allan took us to a little village as plan B which turned out to be one of our favourite places in Japan! This village gets Mt Fuji water and as a result grows the best food around. They mill their own buckwheat and make their own soba and udon noodles - we had both for lunch and it was fantastic! We had grilled mochi and manju, hand made rice crackers and manju stuffed with a strawberry. The trout swimming in the ponds were huge and the village store had lots of local products to buy. I would ask to go to this village (don't remember the name) even if you do get to see Mt Fuji.

Didn't know we were going to be put in traditional kimonos and have our hair put up for the ceremony - the guys looked great in their traditional wear as well! The staff took pics for us in the garden. It wasn't easy sitting in a kimono on our knees for an hour but we were allowed to sit any way that was comfortable. The host was very informative and took pics for us. She let us try Japanese treats and taught us the proper technique on how to make the tea. Not many liked the matcha but you only had to take four sips to complete the ceremony. Our tour guide at the Samurai Ninja museum was really good. He was easy to understand, was very informative and there were lots of artifacts to look at. We also got to try throwing ninja stars which wasn't that easy. We didn't try on the costumes at the end.

Both temples were beautiful and both were completely different. The Fushimi Inari Taisha has the 10,000 red gates and the Kinkakuji Temple has the most beautiful gardens and grounds. Would recommend seeing both of them.

The bamboo forest was beautiful because we don't see bamboo in Canada. Don't have to spend too long here unless you want to see every shrine. It was funny how a local train would go barreling through the part of the forest every once in a while. The Tenryuji Temple had beautiful gardens even in January.

Loved Nara and seeing the bowing deer in the park. The shrine has beautiful lanterns all around. There's a store that makes the best mochi and if you're lucky you might get to see the men pounding the rice. The Temple in the park is huge but we didn't go in to see the big Buddha.