9 Days in Japan: A Travel Guide to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo

Travel
Written By Christina

Japan is a captivating blend of ancient traditions and cutting-edge technology, offering a unique cultural experience. From the bustling streets of Tokyo to the serene temples of Kyoto to the historical significance of Hiroshima, the country is brimming with diverse attractions. Renowned for its delicious cuisine, breathtaking landscapes, and polite hospitality, visitors from all over flock to Japan to indulge in its rich history and modern innovations.

In January 2023, my family and I booked a $280.85 RT ticket to Japan. Here we are 4 months later, where I recently returned from spending 9 days exploring Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo, on a trip my family affectionately dubbed as "The Amazing Race” (remember the tv show?). However, if I was to throw my vote in on a theme, it would be Planes, Trains and Automobiles, as the various modes of transportation we took to explore Japan equaled the number of days we were there - taking everything from trains to public buses to ferries to cable cars! I made my own cup of noodles, viewed Mt. Fuji in the nude from a private onsen, held and fed a hedgehog, went bar hopping in the tiniest of places, ate soul food and so…much…more!

Here is a comprehensive guide based on my experience to help you plan an amazing trip. Interested in a TLDR version, jump to my itinerary. It’s important to note that I traveled during Golden Week, so my experience may differ from yours when it comes to recommendations for reservations or early arrivals.

Best time to travel

The best time to visit Japan is in the Spring (March - May) or the Fall (September - November). If you’re looking to choose between the two seasons, I’d recommend traveling in early Spring as this is the best time to catch the cherry blossoms.

Preparing for your trip

To adequately prepare for your trip to Japan, consider the following tips: 

  • Japan Rail (JR) Pass: This is the very first thing I researched after purchasing my flight. If you’re going to travel between cities, it is more cost efficient to purchase a JR pass. For example, if you plan on traveling between Osaka and Tokyo, the cost of the JR pass is less than the cost of a roundtrip ticket between both cities. I purchased mine directly from Japan Rail Pass, however, Klook offers the same pass with less fees.  Something to be mindful of is that the cost of the JR pass is expected to increase by 70% around October 2023. Another thing to note is that the JR pass is only available for foreign tourists. You can purchase a pass once you arrive in Japan, however, it is much cheaper to purchase it online ahead of time and trade in the voucher for the physical pass once you arrive in Japan. A list of FAQs can be found on the JRP site.

  • Airalo: If you’re not lucky enough to have international data included in your cellular plan at no additional charge, such as T-Mobile or Google Fi, you’ll want to make sure you download an e-sim. I highly recommend Airalo for a quick and painless way to ensure you’re connected while traveling. I purchased 10 GB of data for $18, which was enough for my entire trip. Use code ‘CHRIST1322’ for $3 off your first purchase.

  • Passport: Make sure your passport is valid for at least six months and has at least one blank page available for an entry stamp

  • Necessary visas: Research any necessary visas. If you are a US national, you do not need a visa if staying in Japan for less than 90 days. If you are not a national of the US, you can reference this site to see if a visa is required for entry.

  • Travel insurance: I always have travel insurance when traveling internationally. Whether it’s via one of my credit cards, or through a travel insurance provider, having coverage while abroad in case anything unexpected happens (delayed or damaged luggage, medical insurance, car accident, delayed flight, etc…) is a must for me. I personally alternate between World Nomads and HeyMondo.

  • Electricity: Japan uses a Type A and Type B socket, which is compatible with the United States and Canada. The standard voltage is 100 V so you may need a voltage converter.

  • Cash: You’ll want to have local currency on hand when shopping at the various markets and purchasing street food. For more established places such as restaurants and grocery/shopping stores, cards were readily acceptable. I suggest changing a small amount of money at an ATM at the airport first, just to get you on your way. Once you’re in the city, you can exchange more money at any of the atms near you. The 7/11 atms had one of the best exchange rates. There were a few times when the exchange rate was only a few pennies off from what was shown in my Currency Converter app! Pro tip: When asked at the ATM (or whenever paying with a card in general), always choose the local currency and not your home currency. This ensures you receive the exchange rate determined by your bank instead of the exchange rate of the other institution, which usually has a larger variance in order to make a profit.

  • Entry Requirements (2023): I visited Japan at the end of April/beginning of May in 2023, at which time it was required to have three vaccine shots - two shots and a booster OR present a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of departure. As of April 29, 2023, this requirement has been lifted. Please check out this page to stay up to date with the latest requirements.

Arriving to Osaka

Depending on where you’re flying from, it may be more common and cost efficient to fly into Tokyo. I flew into Kansai International Airport (Osaka’s international airport) because I was notified of a $280 fuel dump fare from LAX that I simply couldn’t pass up! Btw, if you’re not subscribed to notifications from Secret Flying, I’d suggest you go check them out. In 2021 I booked a $250 error fare to Tokyo from Dallas, with a departure date of January 2022, however Japan didn’t reopen for tourism until later in the year. By the way, Osaka also has a second airport, Itami Airport, but it is used solely for domestic flights.

$280 fare to Osaka

$250 fare purchased in 2021 from Dallas to Tokyo

Since there are several ways to get to your hotel from Kansai airport, I’m only going to highlight the three most common routes - train, taxi/uber or reserving private transportation. Kansai airport is about an hour away from the city center, so you’ll want to keep this in mind when considering which transportation option is the best choice for you.

  • Train: Depending on the location of  your hotel, you’ll probably need to first take the train from Kansai airport to Shin-Osaka or Osaka station, before transferring to another train. The Haruka Express train is covered by the JR pass and offers a straight shot from the airport, arriving in 1 hour and 1 hr and 5 minutes respectively.  If you choose not to purchase a JR pass, you can also use an IC card to get from the airport to the city center, as this card will also be necessary for your travels throughout Japan.  This is how you’ll pay for your intracity travel, whether it’s via subway, train, tram or rail. An IC card can be purchased in its physical form at one of the many kiosks located in each train station, or if you have an iPhone, you can add it to your Apple Wallet. What’s great about an IC card is that it can also be used purchase food and drinks from vending machines as well as various vendors and stores such as 7/11. 

  • Taxi/Uber: Taxis and Ubers are readily available from Kansai airport and varies between 14,000 - 19,000 yen

  • Private transportation:  As there were 6 of us traveling, this is the option I chose. I booked a 10-seater private transfer with KKday for comfort, and to ensure there was enough space to accommodate everyone’s luggage.

Where We Stayed in Osaka

Osaka is a large city, so choosing an area to stay in is crucial to your planning. You’ll want to ensure you’re centrally located, which is why I recommend staying in/near either the Kita or Minami areas.

  • Kita -  A huge shopping, dining and entertainment district with several sights nearby. The main station here is Umeda Station. 

  • Minami - Also a huge shopping, dining and entertainment district known especially for it’s nightlife, street food and late night shopping. The main station is Namba Station.

We stayed at The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Osaka Midosuji, which is in the Chuo ward, close to Minami. I absolutely loved our hotel! This was a great pick due to the 5 star service, amenities and the location! The entrance to the train station was 3 minutes walking away and we were only two stops away from Dotobori and Shinsaibashi Suji shopping street! 

Exploring Osaka

I spent 4 nights in Osaka, using it as my home base to not only explore Osaka, but to also travel to Kyoto and Hiroshima on day trips. First things first though, after taking the first night to recover from a long travel day, we headed to Osaka station to exchange our JR voucher for a ticket. Remember, in order to use the JR pass, you must first exchange it for a physical ticket. 

Osaka has its own notable highlights such as Osaka Castle, Universal Studios, Horikoshi Shrine, Shitennoji Temple and Shinsaibashi Suji shopping street. However, we treated our free day in Osaka as a chill day and instead chose to visit Umeda Sky Building and the Cup of Noodles Museum just outside of the city center. The Umeda Sky Building offered a dreamy view of the entire city of Osaka but it was the Cup of Noodles Museum that made my day. We were able to see every cup of noodle ever made, as well as customize and decorate our own cup of noodles to bring back home with us!

Additional Activity Recommendations for Osaka

My customized cup of noodles

Day Trip to Kyoto

We were able to get from Osaka to Kyoto in less than thirty minutes on the Haruka Limited Express train, which was covered by our JR Pass. Since we were only in Kyoto for a day, I booked an 8 hour private day tour through Kyoto Daily Tours and was matched with an amazing guide named Eriko. Seriously, if you happen to book with this company, ask for Eriko! I was able to fully customize this tour to accommodate the various ages and interests of our group. We only had enough time to visit the Tenryu-ji temple, Bamboo forest, Nishiki Market, Yasaka Pagoda and Fushimi Inari. If we had more time or were able to shorten our time elsewhere, we would have also visited Kiyomizu-dera and Sanju Sangendo. For the best pictures, I recommend visiting the Bamboo forest and Yasaka Pagoda before 9a. Unfortunately, we arrived at both locations after 9a and needless to say, there were people everywhere!

Looking for a private tour to accommodate less people, try this tour that’s priced per person.

Additional Activity Recommendations for Kyoto

Fushimi Inari Torii Gates

Day Trip to Hiroshima

What’s a trip to Japan without visiting the historical Hiroshima? Located a scenic two hour train ride away from Osaka (which our JR pass covered), our half day trip turned into a full day experience. Our first stop was Itsukushima island (also known as Miyajima island) in order to see the famed Itsukujima Shrine (Grand Torii Gate), known for its iconic orange gate that appears to float at high tide. Getting there from Hiroshima station was pretty straightforward. After we arrived at Hiroshima station from Osaka station, we took a 30 minute subway to Miyajimaguchi Station, walked across the street and then took the JR Ferry across the bay to Miyajima Island, which, if you couldn't tell by the name, was also covered by our JR pass (see where I’m going here?).

The Itsukujima Shrine is a short 1 km walk from the ferry terminal, passing by food vendors and a small market area full of shops selling souvenirs along the way. It was low tide at the time we arrived, but by the time we left, high tide was very much present and we were able to see the floating illusion.

While on Miyajima Island, we also took the opportunity to ride the cable car up to the top of Mt. Misen, via the Miyajima Ropeway, in order to get an aerial view of not only the island, but also the entirety of Hiroshima. If hiking is more your speed, you can also hike to the top rather than take the cable car. It’s important to note that if you miss the last cable car down at 4:30p, you will have to hike down! Speaking of hikes, just getting to the line for the cable car is a mini hike of its own and we were not prepared. Luckily there were signs like the one below that let us know when we were near. After hiking 20 minutes uphill to reach the line, an hour wait in line and paying a round trip fare of 2,000 yen, the view at the top made it all worth it. 

Visiting Mt. Misen ate into our time more than anticipated, so unfortunately we were unable to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum but we were still able to see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which left me temporarily speechless. It’s one thing to read about the first atomic bomb drop in books, but to stand in the presence of the only building left standing after the atrocity was a sight to see.

Should you visit Hiroshima, I highly suggest making visiting the park and museum a priority. If I had more time, I would have also visited Hiroshima Castle and Shukkei-en Garden.

Getting from Osaka to Tokyo

On Day 4, we packed up our things and headed to Tokyo for the second half of our trip. Using our JR pass, we boarded the Shinkansen train from Shin-Osaka Station and had a smooth 2.5 hour ride to the largest city in the world, arriving at Tokyo station. 

Earlier in the trip when we exchanged our JR voucher for a physical pass, we reserved our seats with the ticket agent, so as to ensure we not only had a guaranteed seat, but also a seat that could accommodate heavier and larger luggage, as was necessary for all of the luggage my aunts brought on this trip. There is also the option to reserve a seat from a JR kiosk. If you’re a go-with-the-flow person and would prefer to leave whenever the wind blows you to do so, you can also just show up, rather than reserve a seat ahead of time. There are train cars designated for unreserved seats.

Where We Stayed in Tokyo

With Tokyo being the largest city in the world, choosing a central location to stay in is vital. The best rule of thumb is to stay near one of the major stations, which are - Tokyo Station, Shinjuku Station, Shibuya Station, Shinagawa Station, Ueno Station and Ginza Station. Asfar as areas go, I was able to narrow the “top” areas to call your home base down to 5 areas, with Shibuya and Shinjuku standing out as the prime area for first time visitors.

  • Shinjuku - Home to the city’s busiest railway station, Shinjuku Station, this area is known for its skyscrapers, department stores, entertainment venues, restaurant/bar options and most notable - Golden Gai and Omoide Yokocho (aka Memory Lane). When you think of Times Square, think of Shinjuku. 

  • Shibuya - Known for its iconic pedestrian crossing with as many as 3,000 people crossing at a time, this area offers a similar feel to Shinjuku, but with more nightlife offerings. 

  • Tokyo Station area - Staying in this area is great if you’ll only be in Tokyo for a few days, as it is a central area for sightseeing and is the primary stop for Shinkansen bullet trains transporting to/from neighboring cities. You can easily get to Tokyo Disney from here.

  • Roppongi - Perfect location if you’re looking to be near art, nightlife and late night eats.

  • Ginza - This area is known for its high end luxury shopping as well as its restaurants.

  • Honorable Mention: Asakusa - The oldest area in Tokyo, people flock here for Nakamise-dori Street, an avenue full of street food and authentic crafts.

With so many options as to where to stay, it was hard to narrow down the “perfect location”. After weeks of research, I finally settled on staying in Shinjuku due to its location and nearby offerings - choosing Keio Plaza Hotel as our home base. I loved the location of our hotel as it was walking distance from everything we needed in Shinjuku, plus there was a tunnel that ran directly from our hotel to Shinjuku Station. Though Keio Plaza Hotel is a five star hotel, I must say I wasn’t super impressed with the hotel itself, rather finding myself still spoiled from our hotel in Osaka. The lobby is lovely but some of the rooms were a bit dated, making the hotel seem more deserving of a 3.5 - 4 star rating rather than 5. They’re in a slow process of renovating the rooms, so you can pay a bit more for the renovated rooms if interested.

Exploring Tokyo

There is so much to see and do in Tokyo that 4.5 days was not nearly enough time. I’ve listed some of my favorite activities below, as well as additional recommendations that I didn’t have enough time to do.

  • Hop On/Hop Off Tour : On our first day arriving into Tokyo, we opted for a Hop On/Hop Off tour in order to “quickly” see the city and gauge which areas we wanted to visit over the next few days. These sort of tours are a great way to get to know a city and plan out places to visit if you’re not much of a pre-trip planner.

  • Food Tour: I can’t recommend this food tour enough. I chose Sena as our guide and the tour held true to it’s title. We visited 10 different places to have 10 different tastings ranging from suchi to mochi to matcha to fried octopus balls to yakitori. Though I’m a picky eater who doesn’t eat pork or seafood, while my friend is a pescatarian, Sena was able to seamlessly cater to both of our dietary preferences.

  • Private Mt Fuji Tour - The best thing about this private tour was that I was able to fully customize the stops. We were able to move at our own pace - staying longer at Oshino Village to enjoy the food while skipping Mt. Fuji’s 5th Station altogether. We also opted to spend time relaxing in an onsen with the perfect view of Mt. Fuji, rather than a visit to the Gotemba Premium Outlets, which seemed to be pretty standard for most tours to the area. 

  • Onsens - An onsen is a natural hot springs/bath with geothermically heated water thanks to the volcanoes in the area. Most onsens will require you to enter the springs (or baths) nude, meaning bathing suits are not allowed. Most onsens will also require that you’re tattoo-free, or require that your tattoos are small enough to cover, as there’s still a bit of a taboo surrounding tattoos where they’re affiliated with gangs. There are tattoo and bathing suit friendly onsens in Japan, you’ll just want to do your research ahead of time. Fuji Yurari Hot Spring was recommended by our Mt. Fuji guide due to the view of Mt. Fuji and the semi leniency of allowing visitors with smaller tattoos that can easily be covered.

  • Animal Cafes - What’s a visit to Japan without a visit to an animal cafe? Interested in seeing a micro pig? Eager to pet an owl? Want to channel your inner Harry Potter and talk to snakes? Or have you ever wondered what a hedgehog looks like in real life? You name it, Japan probably has it! I had my heart set on visiting an owl cafe and hedgehog cafe during my time in Japan, but due to the busy week that is Golden Week, unfortunately I was only able to visit a hedgehog cafe, as there were no more reservation slots available for the owl cafe during my 4 days in Tokyo. Nevertheless, the hedgehog cafe did not disappoint! I was able to hold, pet and feed an animal I’ve only ever seen depicted in cartoons (Sonic the Hedgehog). To my surprise, hedgehogs are in fact, not blue!

  • Team Lab Planets - This immersive museum marries digital art and the beauty of nature into an experience you don’t want to miss!

  • Shibuya Crossing: The iconic pedestrian crossing where as many as 3,000 people cross the street at a time

  • Soul Food House - Owned and operated by fellow southerners The Whitakers, this restaurant offers up a taste of good ole’ soul filling soul food, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options perfect for every diet.

  • Golden Gai: Located in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku, Golden Gai consists of six narrow alleys packed with more than 200 intimate bars. From what I saw, the bars can sit anywhere from 3 - 15 people. Some of them are very tiny but it was such a cool experience.

  • Omoide Yokocho: Formerly known as “Piss Alley”, and affectionately known as “Memory Lane”, Omoide Yokocho is an alleyway crammed with small restaurants known for their ramen and grilled “yakitori-style” meats.

  • Recommended Markets

    • Asakusa Market

    • Tsukiji Seafood Market

    • Nakamise Shopping Street

    • Ameyoko Market

    • Harajuku Shopping Street

If you’re still here, thanks for sticking with me during this very lengthy blog! I honestly didn’t expect to love Japan as much as I did but that’s my favorite part of traveling - when the least expected happens. There’s so much more that I could (and probably should) cover about Japan, but for the sake of your sanity and mine, I’ll wrap this up and will save it for another post. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hop in my comment section below. For those who skipped straight to the TLDR section, no worries, I forgive you! 

Until we wander again,

Christina

Fuji Yurari Hot Spring

My Itinerary 

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Christina https://www.travelgypsy.co
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