Eileen and I went on a nine day tour of Japan.
Three nights in Tokyo, three nights in Kyoto, and 1/2 night in Osaka, and two nights aboard aircraft!
Take aways:
1. Their system of trains and subways is amazing. Their train stations are a city in themselves.
2. Their hotel rooms are small but toilets are all sophisticated/high tech.
3. Their 7-Eleven or other stores are in every other block, never far away and well stocked with healthy food, with minimal candy (usually one candy bar – a Snickers). NOTE: Japanese style 7-Eleven is planning to come to the USA
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/business/7-eleven-ceo-stephen-dacus.html
4. They have wonderful Shrines, Tea Houses, and Temples, yet 60% of the population are atheist.
5. This was mostly a self guided trip, we had to figure out how to get where we needed to be every day. Walking, subway and/or taxi.
6. This was a walking trip, we hiked more than 50 miles, and climbed innumerable stairs!
&. Using the word “arigato” was very helpful and got many smiles.
9. I saw very few Japanese flags, I think that they uncomfortable flying them.
Day 1
9/10 and 9/11/2025 Getting to TokyoFlying into Tokyo we could not land due to weather, so went to another airport, put on fuel, waited and then flew to Tokyo.
We had circled for s half hour, then landed at the second Tokyo International Airport 37 miles away. Sat there while they refueled our plane, then waited in line to take off again and landed 3 hours later than expected. We met a very nice flight attendant Susan and talked politics and everything with her. She said that she was 72 and had been a flight attendant for 50 years, while we waited we watched the tv screen where in real time they displayed all of the planes on the ground. They looked like ants – about 50 – all over the huge airport.
When we got to the right airport they were reporting trains and subways that were delayed by the storm. We were supposed to get to our stop in about 30 minutes but must have gotten on the wrong transport – it took 3 hours
We then took a subway to the main station in Tokyo, what a huge place that is!! Many levels for trains and subways to enter at many levels:
When we got here we were 100 feet underground, and no elevator. Three kids (two boys and a girl in their early 20’s) were coming down the steps. They saw us and grabbed our bags and helped us get up the flights of stairs!!!
Then the young girl plotted our route to our hotel and loaded the route onto Eileen’s phone so we had guidance to the hotel, about a mile away. There is a convenience store about 100 feet from the front door where we purchased dinner. We are in Tokyo and I have plotted three walking routes for tomorrow. We plan on breakfast here in the hotel and walking all over for 8 hours before getting back on the subway to meet up for a two hour tour, the dinner and subway back and another mile walk to the hotel. Should be fun to see a lot of Tokyo!
The train stations are about 1/2 mile long, and they have many exits. We exited one and had to walk about a mile to get around the station to get to where we were going (on the other side). We could have left using another exit but finding our way through the station was a challenge.
Three bullet trains entering and leaving at one time, and this is just one level. Amazing machines!
Go to the Keikyu Lines bound for Shinagawa, Higashi-ginza and Asakusa after arriving at Haneda Airport.
Check the platform and departure time of trains bound for Shinagawa, Higashi-ginzaand Asakusa on the departure information board. Take the Kyoko subway then walk to Agora Place hotel.
The temperature is perfect however – in the 70”s
Day 2
9/12/2025 Agora Place Hotel
Eileen also found an app (Suica) where we electronically moved money to the app and when we went to the subway station, we just passed the Apple phone across the scanner, and the subway fare is recorded. The phone does not even have to have the app up as long as the phone is on it works! When we exit the subway, we passed it over it again and then it calculates and deduct the proper fare!
First walk to Asakusa Shrine then walk through the shopping district,
Then take the subway to join the tour.:Tokyo Shibuya District Walking Tour
Explore Shibuya on a guided tour through Tokyo’s iconic
district. See Taro Okamoto’s powerful mural, experience
Shibuya Crossing’s energy, stroll Nonbei Yokocho, relax in
Miyashita Park, and visit the loyal Hachiko Statue.
Agora Place Hotel
Asakusa Shrine
Take the subway to the starting point for the guided walk.
Guided Walk
Hachikō, the famous dog in Tokyo who waited years for his master’s return.
Hachikō was an Akita dog owned by Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Each day, Hachikō would wait at Shibuya Station for his master to return from work. After Ueno unexpectedly died at work in 1925, Hachikō continued to wait at the station every day for nearly 10 years, until his own death in 1935. People fed and took care of him.
His loyalty made him a national symbol in Japan. This is the bronze statue of Hachikō outside Shibuya Station, which is one of the most popular meeting spots in Tokyo
This mural in your photo is “Myth of Tomorrow” (明日の神話, Asu no Shinwa), a large-scale painting by the Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto.
- It’s located in Shibuya Station in Tokyo.
- The mural depicts an atomic bomb explosion and its aftermath, symbolizing both destruction and humanity’s resilience.
- Originally created in the late 1960s for a hotel in Mexico, it was lost for decades before being rediscovered by his widow and restored. In 2008, it was permanently installed in Shibuya’s subway concourse, where it’s now a famous landmark.
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Shibuya Scramble
Tokyo is amazing, the Tokyo Shibuya Crossing is like Tyrone mall times thirty. It’s very easy to get lost here!! We had a very delicious lunch for $5, mine was shrimp and rice covered with cheese, Eileen’s was spaghetti with clams!
Many subway and railroad lines come here, it is 17 story tall on each side of the many tracks. Awesome!
The world famous Scramble! 1.7 million people cross here on a good day. We crossed twice, in fact we walked about 8.5 miles today! It did not rain at all and the sun was out for a while.
We are getting the hang of the subway system too, I got Jim a tee shirt and a bracelet ($5) for myself .
We went to the red light district where the hotels rent a room for one hour, three hours, five hours, seven hours, or whole day!!
We are at a bus station that is more like a huge mall a seven story building with restaurants and all kinds of stores on all the floors plus the buses pull in at the bottom two levels and you don’t even see them unless you’re standing in front of them !
Most of the shops are closed this early in the morning we’re here at 6:30 so we just had breakfast at the 7-Eleven. I had an egg and tuna fish for two dollars and Eileen had an egg omelet for a dollar. ! The egg sandwich was on one side and the tuna was in the other side.
Subway back to Agora Place Hotel
Day 3
9/13/2025 Subway to bus terminal
Mount Fuji & Lake Kawaguchi tour: Experience the majesty of Mt. Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, on this hassle-free day tour from Shinjuku. Visit popular spots like Lake Kawaguchiko, Oishi Park, and
Arakurayama Sengen Shrine.”
We went up 1/3 the way to the top of My Fuji, in the rain. Cannot see a thing, but Eileen purchased a tee shirt!
I purchased this antique Japanese doll for $3.12.
Our guide at Mount Fuji said that the goddess that lives on the mountain is very conscious of who’s coming to visit. If there are a lot of good looking ladies that are coming to visit then she pulls the clouds down to cover herself so that she won’t be compared to the beautiful ladies. If there are a lot of gorgeous hunks of men coming, then she chases the clouds away so that the men can see how beautiful she is.
I thought that that was a clever way to explain why you only see Mount Fuji 100 days of the year !
Then off to the Arakurayama Sengen Shrine.
The sign above the torii gate reads:
三國第一山 (Mikuni Dai-ichi San)
三國 (Mikuni) → literally “Three Countries/Provinces,” but here it is a place name in Japan.
第一山 (Dai-ichi San) → “Number One Mountain” or “First Mountain.”
So, this gate is marking the entrance to a shrine or sacred area on Mount Mikuni (三国山), which is a mountain located on the border of Kanagawa, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka prefectures near Hakone.
The name Mikuni (“three countries”) refers to the fact that the mountain historically sat at the border of three provinces (Sagami, Suruga, and Kai) — that’s why it’s called “Three Countries Mountain”,
In short:
The sign is naming the sacred mountain called Mikuni-yama (“Three Provinces Mountain”), which is considered important in the Hakone area.
Bus walk, then subway and walk back to Agora Place Hotel
Day 4
9/14/2025
Walk to subway, subway to train station, off on the bullet train to Kyoto. then subway and walk to Hearton Hotel.
Then walk to subway and walk to Nijo Castle.
Inside no photos were allowed, but it was a disappointment as there were many rooms with a few painted walls but no furniture or anything!
Next was a Buddhist temple where they had 1000 full-size statues and another dozen different kind of statues. It’s pretty amazing.
We made it to the Tokyo station in time. When they say take the Bullet train it may seem simple enough but there are 83 bullet trains coming and going from here!
Our directions were car 14 seats 11 a and b. 9:30 heading for S…… xxxx21.
Unfortunately there were a number of trains going the same way! We asked directions but were told to go up one flight, wrong. Then we were told go to platform 18. Down a flight and up another way. I have no idea where we should have found the notice to go to platform 18 rather than any of the hundred other gates here!!
At least we made it and are traveling at 200 mph across the country!
In the country there are many two story homes and no one story!
Day 5
9/15/2025
Hearton Hotel, Kyoto
We took a taxi to Kiyomizu-dera.
On the right is Kiyomizu–dera Temple, with over 1200 years of history. It is one of the signature World Heritage sites in Kyoto.
The gray in the middle is a cemetary.
Kyoto National Museum
Kodai-ji Temple and Bamboo Forest
NEXT
In the evening, take part in a guided walking tour of Gion, Kyoto’s most iconic geisha district. This is the time when geishas—known locally as geiko—and maiko (apprentices) begin to appear as they head to evening appointments, offering a rare and authentic glimpse into this refined world of traditional arts and entertainment. Wander through atmospheric alleyways lined with teahouses and wooden machiya townhouses, as your expert guide shares stories and insights into Kyoto’s unique cultural heritage.
Geisha charge $400 for a 2 hour attendance at a meal. They earn 2m yen ($13,000 per year) to 6m yen ($41,000).
The toilet here in our room is another fancy one, when I sit down warm water circulates and it is warm on your buttocks! Then there are warm water jets front and back at the push of a button. Five levels of water pressure!!! And five water temperature options!
Day 6
9/16/2025 Kyoto & Nara Full-Day Tour:
- Begin with a visit to Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This stunning three-story temple is covered in gold leaf on its upper floors and reflects beautifully in the surrounding Mirror Lake.
- Next, walk through the famous Senbon Torii at Fushimi
Inari Taisha, where thousands of deep red torii gates form a captivating tunnel through the forest.
- In the afternoon, explore Nara Park, a vast area home to cultural treasures such as Todai-ji Temple
(housing the Great Buddha), Kofuku-ji Temple, Kasuga Shrine, the Nara National Museum, and the
ancient Kasugayama Primeval Forest. The park is also known for its approximately 1,300 friendly
wild deer that roam freely among the trees, gardens, and historic landmarks.
The “Todai-ji Temple Buddha” is
the Daibutsu, a monumental bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana housed in the Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) at Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. Constructed in the 8th century, the Daibutsu is a colossal, seated statue, nearly 15 meters high and weighing about 250 tons, and remains a significant cultural and religious icon.
The deer decided to walk along with Eileen for a couple of minutes!
I had broken my insulin injector so I went looking for a replacement, but to no avail. Meanwhile eileen went on a walk.
Day 7
9/17/2025 Travel to Osaka aboard the Shinkansen (bullet train)* for a short 15-minute ride to the final city on your itinerary: vibrant, modern Osaka. We got in so late and had to get up at 2 AM on the next day that we just crashed.
Day 8/9 was the travel back to Florida. Flight from Osaka to Tokyo, second flight to Washington DC, third DC to Tampa. Another 27 hours of travel.
Note:
If anyone has a photo of their pet and wants a painting of it, I am looking for a change from painting just birds!
