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My first trip to Japan was 12 years ago. The country has a mix of very modern cities, old temples and shrines, unique culture due to long isolation and, not at least, eminent food. Japan has fascinated me ever since and I have been back a couple of times before I decided to spend a main part of this years holiday in Japan this year as well. I split the trip between some new parts of the country I hadn’t been to before as Fukuoka (south east of Japan) and Kanazawa (east of Japan) and a revisit to Kyoto and Tokyo.

Itinerary
Oslo – Frankfurt - Osaka, SK Plus/LH Business
Fukuoka
Kyoto
Kanazawa
Tokyo
Tokyo- Frankfurt - Oslo, LH Business/SK Plus

My trip started on SAS business lounge at Oslo Airport. I had some light food in form of cold cuts which basic is the offering at this lounge in addition to beverage.



Oslo – Frankfurt – Osaka, SK Plus/LH Business
The SAS flight to Frankfurt was a Boing 737-800. There is no business class section in form of different seats than economy or empty middle seats in the SAS plus section. On board the only difference from economy is that you get to select food and drinks from the menu for free (coffee and water is free for everybody). I selected a salad which was quite good. The flight was on time.



LH Frankfurt – Osaka was with Boing 747 with the old business class cabin.



I had selected seat 2H at booking as I prefer the seat in the front of the cabin (first 4 rows). There were two serving on the flight with a choice of western and Japanese menu. I ended up selecting the western menu as I thought there would be plenty of Japanese food later when I arrived.





















In flight entertainment:




Breakfast:






The food was overall quite good and the crew on this flight was very good. I didn’t sleep much as we left Frankfurt just after 1 PM and landed in Osaka just as I started to get really tired, i.e. just after midnight “German” time. The local time was 07.20 am which meant I was supposed to be awake for another 14 or 15 hours… The flight took by the way place during the FIFA soccer world cup final between Germany and Argentina. Since there was wi-fi available onboard some were able to see the match on their phones or tablets Including my young female neighbor, so I actually got to see most of the game and the decisive goal. A lot of cheering of course on a LH flight after the victory was secured.

Osaka- Fukuoka by train
From Kansai airport I found that is seems to be the best solution to take the train to Fukuoka. I found the JR ticket office at the airport and bought the tickets. First there is the 50 min trip with JR Harakuru Airport express train to Shin-Osaka station to transfer to the Shinkansen.





JR Harakura Airport express train is also convenient if you want to go straight from Kansai Airport to Kyoto. From Shin-Osaka station the train continues directly to Kyoto station.

To get to Hakata station in Fukuoka I took the Nozomi shinkansen which is the super express train set up with the N700 series of the Shinkansen trains with top speed of 300 km/h or 186 mph (for the train geeks). I traveled in the 2. Class compartment but it is also a 1. Class onboard. The trip was another 2 hour. Needless to say the train was on time.



Lining up to board the train:







This is just before we arrived at Hakata station, not so many people left in my wagon.

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Fukuoka
The train ended at Hakata station in Fukuoka. Hakata was one of the two cities along with Fukuoka castle town that merged to become the city of Fukuoka in 1889. “Hakata” is still used for the JR station and the area around the station.
Fukuoka is situated in south east of Japan. It is the biggest city in Kyûshû region with a population of nearly 1.5 mill. It is a lively and vibrant city and is also a center for computer game industry in Japan. The city hosts a number of festivals including the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Matsuri festival each July. The main event is where large portable floats are carried by a team of men in a 5 km race.







I didn’t get any picture at the race itself but this drawing bought at the local history museum will give you an impression:



I stayed at Grand Hyatt Fukuoka. The hotel is centrally located in Canal City, a shopping and restaurant complex, about 10 min walk from the train station.

Hotel entrance in evening:



Lobby:



Room:




View from my room:



Bar area:



Hallway:



Before check-in I went to get my first meal after arriving in Japan. It was some chicken (fried) with omelett and a soup. Very delicious.





The main sights in Fukuoka includes Fukuoka Asian art gallery which holds both a permanent collection of contemporary Asian art and special exhibitions.



And an interesting local historic museum.



There are also temples like Kushida – jinja (central sponsor for the Hakata – Gion festival) and Shôfuku-Ji. The buildings in Shôfuku-Ji temple are normally closed for the public but the temple area makes a nice retreat from the city.

Kushida – jinja:





Shôfuku-Ji






Rivers and canals run through the city and separates Hakata from other central parts as Tenjin.



Tenjin area has shopping centers and a bustling night life. After dark stalls selling skewers with grilled meat and so on are popping up along the canals and the main roads.










Fukuoka also had a castle once but it no longer exists, only the remains. The former castle grounds have a nice view over the city though.



Fukuoka is also a portal city, both for commercial ships and cruise ships.

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Fukuoka continued
Images from Fukuoka:











Vending machines selling beverages, cigarettes and so on are everywhere in Japan:



Street view in Hakata part of the city:



View from the roof of Hakata station:



Former Prefectural Hall


Chef and guests at a Izakaya (Japanese “pub eatery“):







More food
No trip to Fukuoka without the local specialty of ramen



Japanese fried chicken:





Starter


Hmm, what to select as main course…?



I left the decision to the waitress who picked the fish in the top left corner which turned out be this, not so good looking, grilled fish in soy sauce. It tasted very good though.



Teriyaki burger

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Kyoto
The next stop on my journey was Kyoto. From Fukuoka I also took the Nozomi shinkansen.





The trip from Hakata station to Kyoto took nearly 2 hours and 50 min.

Kyoto is many ways Japan concentrated in one place. It has a total of 17 UNESCO heritage sites including ancient temples, shrines and gardens. It was Japans capital for many hundred years until 1868 and has therefore an essential position in Japans history. It is a modern city with a wide variety of accommodations (both western style hotels and Japanese style ryokans), dining and shopping options. But also old neighborhoods still prevails. Kyoto should be on the itinerary for any visit to Japan.

This was actually my third visit to Kyoto. The last one was 8 years ago. But I decided to include Kyoto this time as well since the city has so much to offer. This visit I split my time to see some new sights and rediscover some previous visited sights.

I stayed at Hyatt Regency Kyoto located in southern Higashiyama part of the city.

Hotel entrance:



Room:









Trattoria sette Italian restaurant



Kiyomizu-dera is an impressive temple in the Higashiyama part of the city. It was first build in 798, while the present structure is a replica dating from 1633.







Next to the temple there is old neighborhoods with shops, restaurants handicraft and so on.









The first night I had dinner at Touzan restaurant. I tried some Japanese white wine that was very good. The meal itself was IMO fantastic.















Teriyaki chicken in foil was the main course:






Jelly with fresh fruit as dessert:

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Kyoto continued
The next day started with more temples in Northern Higashiyama area.

Nansen-Ji. Regarded as one of the finest temples in Kyoto. The present buildings are from the 17 th century.





Viaduct next to the temple





Leaping tiger garden











On the way to Eikan-Do



Eikan – Do




Path of Philosophy is a idyllic 1.8 km path going between Eikan -do temple to Ginkaku-ji temple. The path takes it names from the philosopher Nishida Kitaro who is said to often have wandered the path lost in thoughts.



Ginkaku-ji was the last temple I visited this day. It was originally build at retreat for a shogun (Ashikaga Yoshimasa) and it known for its pavilion and garden.







Then it was time for some lunch, rice with beef and vegetables.



I headed down to the city center.





Among the sights here is the Nishiki Market. I really like to explore markets when traveling to places like Japan.







Japan is still a “cash society” so don’t expect credit cards to be widely accepted. It may also be a little difficult to find an ATM accepting foreign cards. I found that 7-11 convenient stores, as this in center of Kyoto, where the easiest solution as the Japanese 7-11 bank is connected to international systems.



After the market I ended up at Kyoto station which is a large, modern structure with shopping center, hotels and cafes.

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Kyoto continued
Next day I first went to the Arashiyama area. This is an area I previously hadn’t visited. From my hotel I took three different trains to get there. Each ride was very short though. This is from the last transfer to the local train ending at Arashiyama.






Tenryû-ji which main attraction is its zen garden.






Next to Tenryû-Ji temple is the Arashiyama Bamboo Groove with its special atmosphere.









Further northwest is the Kinkaku-ji temple with the magnificent golden pavilion. This temple is two short train journeys from Arashiyama followed by a 20 min walk (also possible to take a taxi…). It was original build as a retirement villa for a shogun by name Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397. It was later turned to a temple that was burned down in 1950. The 1955 reconstruction added a gold-foil covering on the lower floors.









For dinner the last evening I went for “non- Japanese”; pizza Carbonara together with some Italian red wine and Italian ice cream for dessert.







If this was my first visit to Kyoto I would have stayed some longer. There were sights I’ve seen before that I didn’t revisit this time but that should be experienced. Among them the Imperial palace garden, Nijô-jô and Kyoto National museum.

Images from Kyoto:





Sushi









Kyoto by night

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Kanazawa
The journey from Kyoto to Kanazawa was by “Thunderbird” train. The trip to Kanazawa situated on the western part of Japan took a little more than 2 hours.





Scenery from train window



Kanazawa, with a population of little over 462.000, is also a mix of old and new. It has old temples and very good preserved old samurai and geisha neighborhoods, several museums (some with striking modern architecture) combined with a modern city center.

City center













The top attraction though is the Kenroku-en garden which is considered to be one of the top gardens in Japan (ranked number three).



















Next to the garden is Kanazawa castle and the castle garden. The castle was originally build on 1580 to house the Maeda clan. It was later destroyed by fire. Some parts are from late 1700 while other parts where restored in 2001.













The storehouse (Sanikken - Nagoya) and Ishikawamon gate are among the structures dating from the 17 century.

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Kanazawa continued
In Kanazawa I stayed at the modern and centrally located Hotel Resol Trinity. It is a 15 min walk from the train station and about the same for the main attractions. The room was very compact, but the Japanese are good at making much out of small spaces, so the room was quite comfortable anyway.









Kanazawa is also known for its well preserved old samurai and geisha neighborhoods. These areas are located throughout the city and consist of some streets or blocks. Special after dark when it was fewer visitors the wooden houses in the soft light created a special mood.

Nagamachi samurai area:









Higashi geisha district





Shima geisha house, now museum








Near by bridge



Omicho marked is the main market in Kanazawa. It has plenty of see food as well as fruit and vegetables and also houses several restaurants with excellent sushi.





Lining up in queue for the best sushi.

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Kanazawa continued
The food was, as all places I visited, very good in Kanazawa. Since the Omicho marked specialized in see food some more sushi was mandatory. Below are also more samples of excellent meals.






Lunch with starter and risotto with a Japanese twist






Dinner. Rice topped with raw salmon and roe. Soy sauce with wasabi added to your own liking.



Grilled beef, mix of sirloin and tenderloin.







Rice topped with different kinds of raw fish




After all this healthy food I needed a donut and a coffee provided by Mr. Donut. The donut tasted just as good as it looked like



Ishikawa prefecture is known for its handicraft. Some beautiful samples are displayed at Prefecure museum of art and in shops in the city.



The more modern and striking architecture in Kanazawa includes the railway station.






Modern is also 21 st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. It houses a permanent collection and houses special exhibition in a circular formed building from 2004.







“The man who measures the clouds”, artwork by Jan Fabre




A recent addition is the D.T. Suzuki museum opened in 2012 to tribute the Buddhist philosopher Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) who was born in Kanazawa. The museum is concrete complex with a zen garden. Very tranquil.






At the hotel in afternoon, after the sightseeing, I occasionally both some maki rolls at a convenience store, drank green tea and watched Sumo wrestling tournament on television. Then you know you’re in Japan…

Kanazawa is known for its wet weather. I must have been lucky as the only rain I experienced was some light rain when I walked to the station the morning I left for Tokyo.

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Kanazawa continued
Images from Kanazawa:



From Oyama Jinja shrine (“fortune teller notes”)



Platic display of food offered at restaurant. Makes it easier to find what to eat without knowing any Japanese

















Teramachi temple district



Osaki jinja Shrine

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Tokyo
There is, at least by summer 2014, no direct train from Kanazawa to Tokyo. However the shinkansen is scheduled to be extended to Kanazawa in 2015 after what I read. I needed to take the Hakutaka train to Echigo-Yuzawa and change to the Jôetsu shinkansen for Tokyo.








The journey took a little over 4 hours including 11 min transfer time at Echigo-Yuzawa. Actually the train from Kanazawa was nearly 10 min delayed so we also delayed the departure for the shinkansen by 5 min for everyone to make the transfer. We arrived at Tokyo station on time though.

Tokyo is one of the world largest urban areas and seems almost endless in size. It feels more like several cities that has “grown” together and where each part has its some of its own distinct vibe.

I stayed in Shinjuku which is a modern, neon lite part of the city with some old quarters in between.













I splurged and stayed at the Park Hyatt hotel my last days in Japan. For many the hotel is known for the “Lost in Translation” movie. I had actually my first stay here some years before the movie. So I’m among them that can say I saw the movie because I had stayed at the hotel rather stayed at the hotel because I had seen the movie. Anyway it is IMO a tremendous hotel.


The building



Room






Aesop amenities



Nespresso machine



View from the room (corner room on 50 th floor)



Hallway



Peak lounge and bar




Panini and ice cream at Peak Lounge






Library



Tokyo Skytree opened in 2012, after my last visit. When the weather was really nice my first day, I decided to go to experience the view. Tokyo Skytree is 634 m high and has two viewing platforms, one at 350 m and one at 450 m (451,2 m to be precise). It has vibration control system build in to make it endure earthquakes and is in all a Japanese engineering marvel.




It was rather hazy due to the hot weather so no view of Mount Fuji. But still the view was really great all around.







Long way down…









As it was very hot (35 C or 95 F) I didn’t do too much sightseeing this time. But I was in the outer areas of the Tsukij fish marked to among other thing have some excellent sushi (was inside the market on previous trip, recommended).






Sushi chef

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Tokyo continued
I strolled the Marunouchi/Tokyo station and Imperial garden area. This area has many high rises , exclusive shops, cafes and so on.






















And visited Meiji-jingû shrine after strolling up shopping street Omote-sando.















Japanese wedding at Meiji-jingo




Images from Tokyo



Dinner, Korean style







Rainy night in Shinjuku

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Tokyo- Frankfurt – Oslo, LH C/SK plus
The flight from Tokyo was with a Boing 747.




As with the flight to Osaka this was the old LH business class. I therefore still have to experience the new LH business class. The flight was comfortable though. Since it was a daytime trip, I didn’t sleep this much anyway. I spend most of the time reading magazines, watched some TV and listened to music. The food and service on this flight was overall good, especially the meal before landing.



























The SAS plane for the trip back to Oslo.




Final
All in all, my Japan trip was a very memorable trip. Travel in Japan is safe and easy even if you don’t speak Japanese. However, Japan sometimes feels like a different world. So just expect to feel a little lost the first day or two.

DaveNCL

Wow, I've booked to go to in March and just from your photos I can't wait.

I think I've narrowed it down to Tokyo for 4 days and Kyoto for 2.

Did you use the JR rail pass for your train travel?

TOMFORD

Wonderful report, wonderful photos!

However, I don't agree that traveling in Japan is easy if you don't speak Japanese. The train is relatively easy, but asking for directions, and asking for food at shops was a little challenging when I went.