mkjr

i was recently in kyoto for my 4th time and managed to do things on my 3 days there that I had not done on any of my prior trips. i accepted long ago that there is WAY more things in this city than i could ever possibly do in one or 10 trips.

my favorite ramen place in the kyoto station complex, which was also the most unique, was the place from tokushima.

http://www.picrumb.com/best-restaura...ion/tokushima/

sure, ramen is a preference/style thing but i still don't think i have had anything that comes close in style to this place.

Tokushima Ramen Toudai (徳島 ラーメン東大)

Finkface

I hear you about not being able to do it all. I had way too many things and wanted help to pare it down. We'll definitely be back, so I want to hit the highlights this time.

And I love, love, love ramen so Tokushima is most definitely on the list now. Food is a big enjoyment for us, for sure.

MastaHanky

I also agree that it's easy to get "templed out". I'd pick a few that you think you must see and drop others. I wouldn't bother with the Imperial Palace tour - I found plenty of things much more interesting around Kyoto.

That said, there is one temple that I rarely see get mentioned and yet I find more fascinating than just about any of the others: Otagi Nenbutsu-ji. You'll find over 1000 rakan statues (some of which are quite humorous - such as a tennis player) throughout the small grounds. It's in the northwest part of Arashiyama, and the bus that goes up to Kiyotaki (#67?) stops there. There is a nearby tunnel that leads up to Kiyotaki and some of the locals say that you will see ghosts should you choose to walk through it.

Also if you are into nature, I think the Bamboo Forest (also in Arashiyama) is worth a visit. If you can go early in the morning you'll find the light very pleasant for photography and very few people around. I visited it just a few days ago at about 7:30a and the only people there were two other photographers, so we were careful to stay out of each other's shots.

Finkface

Thanks, never heard of Otagi Nenbutsu-ji. We can do that one on our free half-day. And I had considered the bamboo forest but wasn't sure. If jet lag is killing us and we are up at the crack of dawn the first day, that might be a nice time-killer.

psychoidiot

Wow everyone is so helpful here and kind instead of just saying No, you have too much crap do your own research. =) (I don't mean that sarcastically, other forums have literally said that to me.) Glad Flyertalk is much nicer, I may ask for advice on my itinerary too... (should I ask in this thread or make a new one?)

mkjr

A new one probably. I think as long as you have thought about your trip and looked at places like japan-guide etc and have a idea of what you want to do, people are here to help. Asking for a sushi restaurant choice in tokyo is not going to get much in the way of help.

abmj-jr

Please start your own thread when the time comes.

Agree with the above. We can help you best when we have something to work with. Time of year of visit, how long, what you want to see and do, things like that. One of the things I, and others I am sure, really dislike is when we have to pull every little detail out of a requester, bit by bit.

Finkface

I would agree. I read every single thread I could find and used japan-guide extensively and made a list of the things I thought I wanted to see, then asked for help in eliminating ones that were duplicates etc. from the members here. And there are tons of food suggestion in the threads. I found the Trip Reports extremely helpful as they were from people who were recently in Japan, especially for food suggestions. And yes, the members on this board are super helpful and patient.

jib71

It's usually not so bad until you start with the thumbscrews.

Finkface

Just to round out this thread, I thought I'd report back in case anyone else has similar questions. We have just returned from a fabulous 2 weeks in Japan (after a week in Beijing) and I once again have to thank all of you. Without your help, we would never have done half the things we wanted to and also discovered new, amazing things thanks to your suggestions. We followed your advice pretty much to the letter and it went kind of like this:

Kyoto:
Day 1 - Went to Nijo-jo as soon as it opened at 8:45 (great advice!) and spent a fabulous couple of hours there. This proved to be Mr. Fink's favourite in Kyoto. Found the little garden abmj-jr suggested and had a little rest for a bit. Then on to Nishi Hongan-ji and after that, had a wander around some cool little neighbourhoods, alleyways and niches that we discovered. On to Kyoto Station for a peek from the 10th floor observation deck and a late lunch at a great ramen place recommended by another FT-er. It was pouring rain by then so spent the afternoon at the museum and then a quick visit to Heian Jingu but saved the gardens for a nicer day. Finished off at the Kyoto Handicraft Centre. Spent the evening wandering around Gion.

Day 2 we spent in Hiroshima, which we loved. And ate my new favourite thing - Okonomiyake. I could live on this!

Day 3 was the day of Jidai Matsuri so we got to Ginkaku-ji right at opening, then onto Ryoan-ji and finally, Yasaka and Nanzen-ji and lunch in Gion before watching the awesome parade.

Day 4 was beautiful and sunny so we spent the morning at Heian Ginju and the gardens, which turned out to be my favourite. Then to Nara for the afternoon, which we loved, and back for a fabulous dinner at another FT-recommended place.

The last day was just spent wandering around, soaking up the local atmosphere and then we were off to Tokyo, having sent our bags on ahead by Takkyubin. This is by far the best thing I learned on here - use this service. It is crazy to drag your stuff around with you, and we only travel with carry on. Our bags were in our room when we arrived in Tokyo and we were free to explore from the second we arrived rather than having to go right to the hotel and check in.

In Tokyo, we again followed all the advice we were given. When we arrived, we took a nice walk around the Imperial Palace ( a bit meh in my opinion as you can't really see much, but a nice walk nonetheless), then had lunch at Rokurinsha in Tokyo Station before heading off to the Park Hyatt Tokyo. The view from our 49th floor corner suite just blew me away. We had full length windows on the full two sides, overlooking Yoyogi Park and a full on view of Mt. Fuji. We could see all the way to Shibuya on one side and the Ueno area on the other. It was awesome so no need for the Tokyo Metropolitan Building observation deck. It was tough to leave the room at times, I'll tell you. Between our room and the spa, I could live at the PHT! Anyway, off we went for a nice walk to Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine where we were lucky enough to catch a wedding procession. Dinner in Ginza and then to Shibuya to witness the sea of humanity that is Shibuya Crossing by night.

Day 2, we spent the morning at the Edo Tokyo museum. Awesome suggestion and we really enjoyed it but sadly, the Sumo museum was closed on the weekends so we missed it. Then a little exploration of the neighbourhood and off to Asakusa and more exploration. Fought our way through Nakamise and snacked on octopus puffs and senbei crackers (thanks abmj-jr!) and visited Senso-ji. Then off to the river to catch our breath and to see the 'golden turd'. WTH? Who came up with that idea?!? Anyway, got some great photos. Made our way to Ueno park for the remainder of the afternoon, which was really great.

Day 3, Tsukiji was closed as it was Sunday but it wasn't that high on my list anyway. Instead, we headed back to the Ueno/Nippori area as we loved it so much. We discovered the Yanaka Cemetery which is truly amazing and I could have spent hours there. It should be on everyones must-see list for Tokyo. Then the Yanaka Temple and the giant Buddha, which turned out to be my favourite of all the shrines and temples we saw. Spectacular and peaceful. Then we poked around the neighbourhood of YaNeSen/Yanaka Ginza for a few hours. Thanks, LapLap, these are now my favourite parts of Tokyo as well. Truly special. Had some more Okonomiyaki and LapLap was so right; we had Hiroshima style, Kansai style and now Tokyo style and they couldn't be more different. And all delicious. Then we did a complete 180 and headed to Harajuku for a crazy, awesome Sunday afternoon.

Our last day, we explored Shinjuku before the Limo Bus to Narita. An afternoon in the JAL First Class Sakura Lounge eating sushi, the most awesome beef curry, getting a massage and drinking far too much champagne and Yamazaki whisky before settling into our F pods for the flight home.

So you see, without your help in organizing our itinerary for us, we would have been totally lost. I'm sure I've left out a few things we did and saw but we loved every bit of it. And we discovered so many amazing things that we would never have known about if it wasn't for all of you. I hope others find this thread and follow your advice. We didn't see even half of what is out there but that just means we have to come back again. Plans are already in the works for a return next year and isn't that really the best part? We can't wait to go back. It is a magical place and I thank you all so much for all the help you so generously offered.

LapLap

Thanks very much for the wonderful report. Of course, I'm delighted you enjoyed Yanaka and the areas around it.
Thanks also for the reminder to prod people more on WHEN they intend to embark on their Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 itineraries. Certain days of the week involve closures, but they do sometimes give other opportunities. Glad your plans were full and flexible enough so you could adapt.

mkjr

Thanks for the update. Glad you had fun.

As to Hiroshima style okonomiyake, the thing that you will find is that most places don’t make it that way outside of japan. In fact, I have yet to find a place that does in NYC even…I love this style because I find it far less eggy than the other style. I do recall that every once and a while, a Hiroshima transplant in NYC sets up shop at a local place in NYC that some chefs can rent and makes the Hiroshima style....

ksandness

The ones that really bug me are the people who say, "I'm going to Tokyo next week. What should I see and do?"

(But my all time favorite was a question to the U.K. forum of another travel site: "We're thinking of going to London for Thanksgiving week, but we're afraid that nothing will be open on Thursday.")

abmj-jr

Happy to hear you had an enjoyable visit. Thanks for the report back.

Finkface

Part of my cunning plan in reporting back was to hopefully enlighten other newbies to Japan to a huge mistake I would have made without all of you. Namely, trying to pack in each and every shrine, temple and museum that I had heard of and cramming far too much in to too few days.

As I said, we didn't do half of what was on my original list and that was completely ok and the advice I needed. I see other people on here with hour by hour itineraries, running from one place to the next, just to say they have seen every last thing and eaten at every recommended restaurant. Not only is it just not that simple or fast to get from one spot to another, but trying to cram too much in just dilutes the enjoyment of each place. It becomes more about 'I must do X, Y and Z and my trip will not be complete if I don't' rather than just relaxing, having a loose plan of attack and letting the day take you where it will. Having the flexibility to linger at places we loved and not worry if that meant missing one or two temples was very freeing. Or if we were just too tired for that last place on the list for the day and just wanted to hang out in a park, there was no feeling that we were missing something. That's the best advice I got - don't try to do it all. There will inevitably be another visit.