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When Japan opened up in October 2022 I was there and I went back again in November, 2023. I love that time of year, the leaves are changing, the weather is getting cooler, but there are sill plenty of warm sunny days, although last November in Kanazawa I was so cold I had to stop in at a 7 eleven to buy some gloves. One of many of the great things about Japan are their convenience stores, 7 eleven, lawson and family mart to mention a few. There you can buy almost anything, and some sell tickets for events.
The food is sensational, from ramen, and trying to find “ramen street” underground Tokyo station is not that easy but the ramen is worth the effort, to karaage chicken with some cold, or hot, sake in an izakaya or a kaiseki meal, which can be incredibly expensive in one of the many michelin star restaurants or pretty reasonable. One of my favourite ones is near the Tokyo station and is about $90 for the food, some 20 odd pieces of fish and a few other interesting bit and pieces over 2 hours.
Tokyo is huge, home to 37 million if one takes in the whole metropolis and in 2022 I spent 2 weeks just wandering around different parts of the city, staying in two different areas.
In 2023 I ventured to the hot springs of Hakone and stayed in the two Kai properties, part of Hoshino hotels. Whether you are happy for a public onsen or want your own private one you have a great choice. Many of these onsen hotels provide dinner, and the food is both colourful and delicious.
One thing people should keep in mind is that many hotels in Japan have a check in time of 3pm and a checkout of 11 am or noon. It is the 3pm check in that can be a bit confusing and cause some angst- you can always leave your suitcases and start wandering.
The shinkensen trains are world famous and known for their punctuality- last year one of mine was delayed by 10 minutes, generally unheard of. The trains don’t generally have room for large suitcases which is why so many people have small ones and use the forwarding service provided by hotels etc- you send your luggage on, it arrives the following day and you just need a small case will things you will need for one night. This makes the travel onwards much easier, particularly if you are also using the metro.
Do your research, sign up to Time Out Tokyo which is a great provider of information about Tokyo, go to https://www.japan.travel/en/au/ and reach out to a travel agent who can help you plan your amazing adventure.
