Posts Tagged With: Japan

Japan 2020 Day 16+17: Niseko to Sapporo to Osaka to Kuala Lumpur to Sydney to Canberra! Phew

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Mel

I was so excited to see my fur babies again today!

Our trip home was a bloody long one! It’s always challenging coming home/going to Niseko due to the Japan domestic travel legs but because we were flying Air Asia it was even longer than usual. On the plus side, the flat beds were once again very comfortable and I had no knee issues because we didn’t spent 12-15hrs in economy.

We left our lovely Freedom Inn hosts with a parting Australian gift of caramello koalas. While we love this accomodation, I am not sure if we will ever return. The large attraction here for B is that you have access to Hanazono lifts early every day and there is very little accomodation on this side of Niseko so its super quiet until around 11am….however as of yesterday a GIANT Park Hyatt hotel has opened on this side of the resort. That, combined with the increase in smaller accomodation venues nearby, means those quiet lift days will be long gone as Hanazono just doesn’t have the infrastructure to support an influx of that many people. It’s just so pretty though! And I really like the small, no drunken idiots feel they accomplish most of the time.

We departed Freedom Inn for Sapporo using a 2hr private transfer as the coach was going to be problematic in terms of timing. It cost a fair bit more than the coach but the stress was hugely reduced around making flights etc. The transfer dropped us at Sapporo’s New Chitose airport and then we flew on a domestic JAL flight to Osaka.

We accessed the public landside lounge there and it was great for a few hours rest while we waited for the air Asia checkin to open. I really wanted to buy duty free in Osaka (ummm hello sake and umeshu!) but had read a lot of things online saying Australian laws now say it will be confiscated if you are transiting in between where you buy it and your Australian destination. Dammit. I used our 6hr stop over here to sit on hold to NRMA insurance in Australia as both our cars have been damaged in a hail storm back home. I did eventually get through. Position 20 was a great improvement from the day before where I was position 189 and the wait time was over 16000 minutes.

From Osaka we flew with flat beds to KL overnight, then had a brief stop before we transited on to Sydney. The air Asia lounge at KL is pretty shit, we highly recommend the SamaSama lounge if you can afford the $30AUD. You get bette power point access, free food and more comfortable chairs. Plus better toilet and shower facilities. This time around we stuck to our included air Asia lounge access since it was only a short stop over. We also got some duty free here – yummy umeshu (plum wine)!

At Sydney we had planned to try something new. Because our flight got in just as the last flight to Canberra for the day left, we were faced with an overnight stay and then an early flight the next day (lots of $$$) or the 11pm bus which meant a 3 hr wait, then a 3hr bus trip and then a 40 min Uber ride home at 2am. Ergh. So we were going to give RoadJet a go. Basically a private car picks you and your luggage up in Sydney and drives you to your house in Canberra. I booked and paid for it about 3 months ago and they have been great with checking in with me beforehand, reassuring me about road closures due to the fires etc. However when we landed, I got an email telling me our hire car in Canberra had been cancelled and there were literally NO HIRE CARS left within two hours of Canberra. So we cancelled road jet at the last minute, hired a car at Sydney airport for 3 weeks and drove 3hrs home.

We finally arrived home just before 1am this morning. Our next few days will be filled with continuing to sort out insurance as it seems there is a good chance both our cars are likely to be write offs….but at least no bushfires came through!

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Japan 2020 day 14: Rusutsu and Otaru day trips from Niseko

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Mel

Today B went off to Rusutsu (a different powder ski resort about 30 mins from Hirafu) to meet some Australian friends and ski for the day while I navigated the local train system to make my way to Otaru for a day trip.

B used the “Donan” bus service which had a special one running from Hirafu Welcome Centre to Rusutsu and back for the day – we just got our accomodation to call up and book a spot for him since we don’t speak Japanese fluently. The bus was about ¥1000 each way and was fairly easy to use. He liked Rusutsu because it was a bit quieter than Hirafu and the hotels had lots of weird critters.

I had worked out where the local “Niseko United” bus stop at the welcome centre was yesterday so we caught a local bus together from Hanazono Base (a 5 min walk from our accomodation) and then I got on the Kutchan bus while he departed on his day trip with a busload of other snow people. I got off at Kutchan Station (¥400) where I discovered they don’t accept the ICOCA card because they are classified as “rural”. Dammit. It was ¥1290 each way so about $17 and I bought my tickets at a ticket machine. Local trains are waaaaay smaller than usual and this one was pretty full.

The internet tells me “Otaru is a port city known for glass works, music boxes and sake distilleries. They were originally an important fish processing area in the 1920s so the cities series of local canals is a point of difference to other nearby towns.”

I got off at Otaru station and walked down to the canal bridge known as “Chua bridge”. The short walk from here to “Asakusa Bridge” is apparently the most popular for the canal and there were a lot of tourists taking pictures – me included.

From there, I walked about 100m back up to Sakaimaich Street where I started my walk along one side towards the music box museum. I had decided to start at one end and head towards the music box museum, then work my way down the other side of the main street back towards the canal viewing station….checking out all the cheesecake shops as I went. There were a lot of cheesecake shops. And sushi shops. If only I ate sushi! I definitely eat cheesecake though and I enjoyed free samples at every single branch of Le Tao I walked past haha. I also bought some Otaru handmade glass as that’s another thing the area is known for. These were the snacks I brought back for B from the cheese shops.

The music box museum looked cool on the outside but I missed the steam clock out the front by a whole 2 mins and there were A LOT of people inside. I had a quick look through but nothing really stood out as awesome. Apparently there are sections you can go in to where the older music boxes are displayed but there was no signage for this and I gave up trying to find it after doing a few laps.

I then walked back down the other side of the main street and caught the train back to Kutchan Station (it’s worth noting the train both ways is insanely busy and some people had to stand the whole 1hr 20 mins) and then the local bus back to the Hirafu Welcome Centre. I arrived about an hour before B was due back from Rusutsu so I checked out the Niseko Alpen Hotel Onsen while I waited for him. It does not have a no tattoos sign but I had mine covered with white bandage tape today. The outside onsen here also looks on to a ski field which was a nice way to pass the time. Costs ¥1000 which is pretty standard tourist pricing.

For dinner tonight we ordered what one of the workers calls “Japanese McDonald’s” which is known as Hotto Motto. They are all over japan and do cheap bento boxes and curry as take aways so our accomodation arranged to collect it for us and we ate in the room. Not bad for ¥590.

Last day on the snow tomorrow before we start the long trip back to Canberra!

Japanese food eaten: weird breakfast pastry, katsu pork curry, triple cheese cheesecake, cheese biscuits, petit almonds and strawberries from LeTAO

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Japan 2020 Day 13: Niseko (Hirafu Village and Kutchan)

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Mel

This morning I got up with B and caught the shuttle bus from Hanazono to Hirafu with a mission in mind! First – onsen time. I went back to Hirafu-tei and once again had the onsen to myself just before it closed for the lunch break. I then made my way back to the Hirafu welcome centre, purchased a delicious baileys hot chocolate and began a concentrated look out mission for the local bus. There are no labeled bus stops at the welcome centre – it’s a bloody bus/van free for all – and my plan tomorrow is to catch the local bus to the local train station and then catch that train to Otaru for a day trip….but I need to know where the local bus stops first! It was scheduled to arrive at 11:07am and I furtively noted its arrival and departure spot (relatively punctual because this is japan) from my coffee shop location. I also got pretty photos of Mt Yotei which was finally not fogged in.

After playing bus spotto, I wandered down the road to Tozanken ramen and grabbed a number. I was first in line! Woohoo. Their pork ramen is really good although only one slice of pork in the standard dish whereas Nakama (the place we ate last night) had 5 slices in their standard one and it was cheaper. I had the “set” this time which had really good gyoza and was ¥1100. I swear the ramen was better this time than the other day but I was really hungry….

When B got back from the snow we used the private hot bath at the accomodation again so he could relax his muscles and I could float around like a garden fairy while drinking vending machine hot chocolate….coz that’s what hot baths are for right? I also secretly love they are calling him B Smith as his name since I booked all the accomodation this time under my surname haha.

For dinner, we went to Izakaya Nidaime Samurai which was once again recommended by our accomodation. It was kinda like Japanese tapas! Bs friend who was also here skiing from Australia joined us. They had a lot of drink options here and apparently match really well to what dishes you order, we mostly stuck with beer and umeshu though. This place was super reasonably priced – we had 6 shared dishes and 9 drinks for ¥11000 between us all.

The food was excellent – sashimi, pork, chicken, salmon, Japanese omelette and sablefish were all delicious. There was nothing we tried we didn’t like! Except for me who tried sashimi for the first time haha….you can see below for how that went!

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Japan 2020 Day 12: Niseko (dinner in Kutchan)

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Mel

B went off to ski again today and I basically just napped, ate snacks and watched the snow fall out of the bedroom window.

In the afternoon we tried again for the private hot bath at the accomodation and this time we had more success! It’s interesting that they have styled it just like an onsen even though it is not an onsen and really is just a hot tub (water is from the tap, not a geothermal source).

Dinner was booked at our most fondly remembered Niseko restaurant – Nakama. Last time we came (6 years ago) Nakama was a hole in the wall place down a back street mostly frequented by locals in Kutchan. They didn’t speak any English but had a great reputation and were recommended by our accomodation. This time around they have moved to a “Kutchan Main Street” venue and are much busier since they received a mention in the Michelin Star guide book. I was next level excited to revisit the place where I first had ramen and gyoza….I ate so much I had a ramen baby belly! It was good. Really good.

Japanese food eaten today: katsu curry, ramen, gyoza, vending machine got chocolate

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Japan 2020 Day 11: Niseko (Hirafu Village and Kutchan)

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Mel

It snowed like crazy all last night and today!

Today B went out to ski and I continued my non-skiing adventures. We actually had decent snow fall overnight and today so he has had a great time skiing around Hanazono and Hirafu:

I am currently spending my days at local onsens and also trying out different food places in Hirafu Village! Hirafu-tei onsen has been my default onsen as its right near the shuttle bus stop and when I go in the morning I usually have it all to myself. I did try to access The Vale onsen today but despite what their advertising claims, they are not open to local visitors. Hirafu-Tei in the mornings is pretty quiet though, so I really enjoy sitting out in the hot bath and looking at Mt Yotei on my own. I have now worked out not to sit to close to the right side of the outdoor bath though as it’s next to a bloody chairlift! Don’t want to blind any poor kids.

I had lunch at Tozanken Ramen on the Hirafu Main Street. They open at 11am and I was there at 10:45am and joined an already long line! When you eat here you collect a ticket to help them seat you in order.

Considering they are based in the main village where everything is very expensive, their prices are reasonable (¥750 for my bowl of soy pork ramen) and it was good ramen. Not the best I’ve ever had but so far above the crap I ate at a ski cafeteria yesterday!

When B got back to the hotel after his day in the snow we had reserved the hot bath downstairs for ourselves for an hour. This is not a proper onsen (the water is not piped up from a geothermal source) but it is still styled like a traditional bath – you get naked, wash beforehand, sit in the hot bath. The difference here is you can make a private booking so we could actually go together rather than be gender separated. Unfortunately….it was broken *insert sad face here* so instead we went for a very quick soak at the Mt Yotei Hotel one before dinner.

For dinner tonight, our accomodation booked us into a Japanese bbq place that comes highly recommended called Orench. They said we needed a decent booking time there (it’s not a quick eat and run place) so allocated two hours to us between drop off and pick up.

You basically order small plates of different meats and then cook it yourself on a personalised bbq at your table. Awesome! The wagyu special rib was a highlight for us but we also tried beef tongue and chicken necks which were yum. Below is the sequence of me trying the beef tongue.

After we finished, we wandered next door to Sasa sake bar. They didn’t speak English but through pointing and lots of nodding we were able to try a bunch of different sake liquor flavours including:

– strawberry

– plum

– suzu

– orange

Japanese food eaten today: ramen, katsu curry, Yakitori (Japanese bbq), sake, umeshu (plum wine)

P.S. B’s friend discovered crab popcorn today. They are literal tiny crabs deep fried 😱

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Japan 2020 Day 10: Niseko (Hirafu and Hanazono)

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Mel

These next few days are going to be much of a muchness really! Day 1 of skiing saw B up bright and early at our accomodation in Hanazono – Freedom Inn. We like it here because it is off the beaten track so way less drunk muppets and bogans. B was at Hanazono at 8:30am on the dot ready to ski!

I caught the free shuttle bus from Hanazono to Hirafu upper village and went for a wander. I enjoyed the onsen at Niseko Prince Hotel which is a 5 min walk from the welcome centre. In winter it is open from 7-10:30am and 3-9pm at a cost of ¥1000. The outside bath view was stunning.

I then wandered around to some local shops and did some people watching while enjoying a baileys hot chocolate before I walked back (with a lovely view of Mt Yotei!) to enjoy an afternoon of reading at Freedom Inn.

B arrived back off the slopes just before 4:30pm and we headed off to the Hotel Youtei onsen together so he could enjoy a hot soak. Dinner tonight was quite late as we had to make a reservation to get into Steak Rosso Rosso in Lower Hirafu village and this was the only time they had. They are not a cheap option but are lovely for a treat meal. We went with their seat meal option which included a starter, entree, steak of your choosing and dessert. We chose the ohmi 150g steak which is a type of wagyu beef (A4 for anyone really into their steak) and it comes served medium rare with a hot stone so you can cook it to your own preference. The beef was delicious – so tender. I also had some Japanese plum wine called ‘umeshu’ which came served with soda water and was really nice.

Steps not counted today

Japanese food eaten: terrible ramen at a snow cafe, pocky, wagyu beef, Hokkaido scallops and uneshu plum wine

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Mel’s handy guide for westerners using an onsen (Japanese bath house)

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Mel

TATTOOS IN ONSENS: are controversial and that’s putting it fairly mildly. Tattoos in japan traditionally signalled that you were part of the Yukuza and therefore are not well received. Despite an effort by the government over the last few years to shift this mentality within tourist operations, it still holds true in many places. Nearly every onsen will have a sign saying no tattoos allowed – what you need to work out is how tolerant they are. Will they not care at all? Will they be okay as long as you cover them? Is it a big no-no regardless of if you cover them? I usually cover mine with sticking plasters like those in the picture. Note that you have to be fully naked in the bath so clothing won’t help you!

Reading up to date online reviews helps a lot with this, as does asking at the front desk. I have been to a few onsens throughout this trip and will update my list of tattoo friendly ones below as we progress. For Mel’s handy onsen guide for westerners, please look below this list.

Manneyu Onsen, Tokyo (¥480) – very tattoo friendly, no coverage needed. I confirmed on entering here I had a tattoo and got a thumbs up. Tattoos allowed is plastered all over their website and entry signage.

LaQua, Tokyo (¥700+) – based on a number of recent reviews these guys will not allow tattoos unless they are covered and if they are covered, it can still be hit and miss based on staff and if someone complains. We avoided this one after I read numerous online recounts of security escorting western women off the premises because they had tattoos

Hotel Youtei, Kutchan (¥800) – has a sign saying no tattoos allowed but based on our experience no coverage is needed. There is a high number of Japanese users within the onsen so if possible, use coverings to be polite. I had no issues and on the male side, B told me there was a guy with full sleeves who also had no issues

Hotel Weiss, Hanazono (¥900) – has a sign saying no tattoos allowed but they are very tourist friendly so doesn’t seem to be an issue, many westerners in there with visible tattoos

Hirafutei Onsen, Hirafu (¥1000) – I went in with coverings and had no issues although signage states no tattoos allowed. This is a very tourist heavy onsen due to location so likely to be less of an issue here

Hotel Niseko Alpen Onsen, Hirafu (¥1000) – TBC, signs do not say “no tattoos”

Hilton Niseko Village (¥1200) – in 2014 I went to this onsen without covering my back tattoo and an older Japanese lady abused the hell out of me, hit me with a towel and basically chased me out of the change room. Given that they cater mainly to westerners I don’t think this is the norm! We haven’t been back to this one since as I was a little stressed out

The Vale Niseko Village (¥1000) – could not enter as not available to non-guests in Dec/Jan however signage says no tattoos

Mel’s handy onsen guide for westerners

1. There is always an entry fee unless you are staying at a hotel which has an onsen on site that is free for guests. In major cities like Tokyo and Osaka you are looking at ¥350-¥500 but once you head to tourist areas like Niseko expect to pay more like ¥800-¥1000 (around $11AUD based on the current exchange rate). You pay this at the entry to the onsen or at the hotel front desk. Some places have ticket machines as well which is handy when their English and your Japanese aren’t great.

2. Some will tell you to bring your own towel, some will loan them for free and some will “rent” them to you for ¥200. It’s up to you what your personal preference is but you are expected to have some form of towel with you to dry off with before re-entering the change area. Note that it should not be dunked in water or used as a wash cloth. I can manage with a small towel, B needs a regular sized one to dry off with.

3. You will enter into separate male and female areas – blue flags for men, red flags for women. There is generally no cross gender bathing although a few tourist ones offer a “family friendly” bath now.

4. You will enter a small change room where there will either be lockers or baskets to put your stuff in. This is where you strip off EVERYTHING. You must be totally naked. There are no bathers allowed in the onsen. You strip off all your clothing here and then enter the onsen with just your towel (and locker key if one is available).

5. You will enter the onsen and see a row of small shower cubicles with little seats available. Grab a little seat and pull it up to a shower stall. You then need to completely and totally clean yourself from top to bottom with the provided soaps. And I do mean COMPLETELY and TOTALLY….you need to clean all of your bits thoroughly. You are also meant to wash your hair although many westerners choose to tie their hair up instead. Make sure not to use anyone’s personal cleaning products (Japanese women will often bring these) and to only use the generic ones provided.

6. Now you can relax in the hot bath! There are usually three types – hot indoor, hot outdoor and cold indoor. Sometimes there is a medium temperature one as well. My favourites are the hot outdoor ones as the feel of the warm water plus the cool temperature is glorious. You can submerge just from the waist or go all the way to your neck depending on your tolerances and how you feel about sitting in it up to your waist with your boobs out. You can stay as long as you want to – you will notice Japanese people tend to stay for shorter times than westerners and that’s usually a case of relaxation versus practical use of the bath house, especially in ones used by locals rather than tourists. It is acceptable to bathe, hop out and have a cool shower to cool off, then re-enter the baths if you want to. Women with long hair need to tie their hair up so it is not floating in the water.

7. When you are finished, it is polite to quickly shower again using a cubicle shower (it’s not required though) then dry off before going back into the change room. Once in the change room, you get dressed again and also use any of the facilities available eg the toilet, hairdryer, combs, moisturiser etc

8. Often when you leave the change room and return back to the mixed gender area there is a small seating area and vending machines for you to have a drink and wait for your family members. In traditional onsens you should not take anything in with you except perhaps a bottle of water. In tourist onsens, often people will bring in a can of beer but there is a strong expectation of QUIET in the onsen – no rowdiness allowed. No glass either. Remember the water is 40C or higher in temperature so that combined with alcohol is not a good mix.

Onsen do’s and don’t’s!

DO get naked, no bathers allowed

DO cover your tattoos if you can or ask it if is okay for you to enter with them

DO bring a small towel in with you and rest it on a dry space next to you or on your head if no space is available

DO dry off before you enter the change room area after your bath

DO tie your hair up if it is long so it does not float loose in the bath

DON’T put your towel into the water under any circumstances

DON’T just jump straight in, you must shower and wash thoroughly first

DON’T stare at others in the baths, it is very rude

DON’T be loud or noisy in the baths. If you are able to take a drink in, be sensible and don’t take in glass

DON’T under any circumstances take photos! These photos are all from accomodation posts. Cameras and phones should not be taken into the bath under any circumstances

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Japan 2020 Day 9: Tokyo to Niseko

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Mel

Snow time starts now! We left the hotel at 8am and caught a metro (total freaking nightmare with luggage) a few stops to Ginza where we got on the “airport limousine” bus. Trying to work out train lines to the domestic airport had been problematic and this was much easier. Next time I would research more and try to find an airport limousine stop near our hotel so no metro was needed.

We arrived at Haneda Airport with plenty of time and checked in with JAL airlines with minimal issues. The JAL global app was very useful and I recommend it if travelling with JAL domestically. Bye bye Tokyo!

We were about 30 mins late departing which meant we were cutting it very fine in terms of meeting our coach to Niseko. We landed safely and relatively on time despite this in Sapporo 1hr later and hopped on a whiteliner transfer coach for the 2.5 hour journey to Niseko. The coach ride provides some amazing scenery.

We then arrived at Freedom Inn, our home for the next 7 nights! Here’s a stock photo since it was dark by the time we got here.

Annnnnd here’s a photo I took the next morning. So pretty!

We dropped our stuff off and headed out to our second onsen of the trip at a Japanese Inn located near Kutchan called Hotel Youtei. This is another one that has a sign saying no tattoos but is tattoo friendly to foreigners. After a lovely soak, we headed out for dinner. Unfortunately our first two preferences tonight – Nakama and Gaishin – were closed so we visited Vatten Ramen. We walked in just as they were closing (which we didn’t realise) so felt like jerks. The ramen was quite good but it is all chicken based and I think we prefer pork.

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Japan 2020 day 8: day trip to Mt Fuji, Hakone and Lake Ashii

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Mel

Today we went on a pre-booked day trip to Mt Fuji and surround with Viator. I did look into doing this on our own but without a car it’s almost impossible to do. This is the link to the specific tour we took: https://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/Mt-Fuji-Lake-Ashi-and-Bullet-Train-Day-Trip-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_F800_F820. Make sure to read the terms and conditions carefully – if weather is shit, it still goes ahead and you will see NOTHING. We were very lucky we fluked good weather.

We used the metro to make our way to the Ginza pick up which was easy to find. We were picked up early and it turned out very awkwardly there was another person with the exact same first and last name as me – that caused a lot of confusion. We hopped on a 40 seater bus and did a few more pick ups before heading to our first stop – Mt Fuji.

Our bus was mostly Americans with some French and a few other nationalities thrown in. Usually I avoid Viator tours for this reason – the travellers on these sorts of things can be very entitled. This group was pretty good though. Our guide was Yabe-San and he did a great job explaining local history and telling us about the area we were driving through.

After about 2.5hrs driving from Tokyo we arrived at Mount Fuji fourth station. There was hardly any traffic going out of Tokyo it up the mountain as today was a government holiday – we paid the return price of that on the way out though!! We couldn’t go up to the highest accessible point by vehicle (fifth station) as it had snowed and the roads weren’t clear. We hopped out here for half an hour and looked at the gorgeous view of the southern alps. I also appropriated a rock….now I have one from Mt Vesuvius and Mt Fuji for my collection!

From here we drove for another hour (lots of bus time on this trip but we were prepared for that) to a Kawagachi lakeside lunch. It was a traditional hot pot style and it was really good, I was happy I paid a bit extra for it to be included.

We then drove for another hour (yep, lots of bus time haha) to go on a Lake Ashi boat cruise. This was only a short cruise of 15 mins but it was really pretty and it got us to the base station for the ropeway.

At Mount Komagatake ropeway we climbed into a cable car and everyone squished in like little sardines. I picked the wrong side so didn’t get a view of Mt Fuji going up.

Once we arrived at the top we realised the fog and clouds had started to come in and unfortunately this meant we couldn’t see Mt Fuji from the look out! Noooooo. Time for cute selfies instead.

We traipsed around a bit at the top and then instead of going up to the shrine, we elected to be first in line to come back down the ropeway to try and get good shots of Mt Fuji that way. Success!

Yabe-san then told us it would be 40 mins to the Odaware Shinkansen station where they dropped us to get a 40 min bullet train back into Tokyo rather than spending 2+ hrs on the bus. Unfortunately 40 mins turned into 90mins as the traffic coming down the mountain was super busy. We eventually got back into Tokyo at 7pm and then had dinner at the same place as last night because the ramen was just so freaking good

Viator trip rating: 3.5/5 the service was excellent but there is SO MUCH driving and you are so rushed in some parts but then in others your wandering around a gift shop for 45 mins. If you want to see Mt Fuji and you can manage 6-7hrs on a bus or train with minimal effort….it’s a winner. I did a lot of research on this tour as I was determined to get out there on my own and it really is just about impossible without a vehicle.

Steps today: only 2382! Lots of sitting on my ass haha

Japanese food eaten: hot pot, Sashimi, katsu sardines, pickles, ramen, revolting sour lollies, pocky

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Japan 2020 day 6: Osaka to Tokyo on the Shinkansen and dinner at Kobe Beef Kaiseki 511

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Mel

Booking Shinkansen tickets before you arrive in japan has previously been tricky. This is something you want to do a few days beforehand (at least) so you can get good seats – we found the smartEX travel app to be awesome. You need to authorise your credit card on it and make sure you take that card with you to Japan but all we had to do was stick the credit card in a machine and it gave us our tickets (both base fare and reserved seat in one) which we had booked a week in advance! We also made a last minute change to a slightly earlier train with different seats and it was very easy to do in the app.

Be aware of new rules from May 2020 about travelling with luggage, they are cracking down hard on it, especially oversized stuff. Luckily this didn’t impact us, we just got on and stowed our suitcases behind our seats in row 1 – a very good reason to choose the last row in a carriage! The seats are spacious, there are snacks available on board and scenery is awesome even when you fly past at over 250km an hour.

You can buy snacks and bento boxes at the little kiosks before you board the train and on the train, B bought this pork cutlet box for ¥900 before we boarded. I also like the fact that the Shinkansen trains have seated toilets (not squat ones) and lots of leg room at the seats. Something to be aware of is the location of the smoking room on each train – as a non smoker it stinks and the doors opening and closing only contains some of the smell.

Our hotel in Tokyo is in Akasaka (considered a bit of an upmarket district quite close to the city centre) and is a 2 min walk from Akasaka-Mitsuke metro station. The hotel is called Hotel Risveglia Akasaka and I picked it because it was close to the same price as APA hotels but definitely not an APA. We previously stayed in an APA hotel in Tokyo and the room was so small B couldn’t stand up straight or lay on the bed straight! So APA are cheap rooms but not great if you’re 6ft tall. This room is still small – only 16 metres square – but it has enough space to move around in and a full shower. It also has a gloriously SOFT bed! Our room looks over a cute little alleyway.

Dinner tonight was at my favourite restaurant ever in the whole wide world Kobe Beef Kaseiki 511 in Akasaka. I’ll be honest, it’s the main reason we came to Tokyo, It was a 2 min walk from our hotel and it serves some of the best Kobe beef in the world in a degustation format. The ‘511’ in the name of the restaurant comes from their mission to use only the best – A5 grade beef with a beef marbling standard value of 11. As a result of the beef quality, it’s not cheap – about ¥17000 for one person – but it is absolutely amazing food and the service and wine pairing are great.

B says “everytime I come here I think is it worth it…then I eat the steak….and it’s so good”.

Steps taken: 7000 (nap day today!)

Japanese food eaten: pocky, bento box with katsu pork, weird Japanese hot chocolate, Kobe beef and all sorts of other oishii (delicious!) food at A511

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