Kyoto – Part II

Kyoto has been consistently listed as one of the best places to visit in the world (most recently ranked #1 by Travel & Leisure). As a result, the serene and majestic city has become quite crowded and most sites get overrun with eager tourists from around the world. Visiting Kyoto was one of the first times we really felt like tourists during our time in Japan, which I didn’t love. To try to beat the typical tourist and get some alone time with the city, we were up and out of the hotel by 7am each morning. Our first stop on our first full day in Kyoto was the neighborhood of Arashiyama, which is home to the famous bamboo grove:

It was amazing to wander alone into the grove just as the sun was peeking through the soaring stalks of bamboo.

We wandered around Arashiyama a bit after exploring the bamboo grove but most everything was closed so we decided to leisurely make our way toward Kinkaku-ji temple. This is one of the most popular and iconic destinations in Kyoto. A lot of the guide books recommend visiting this site early but honestly I don’t think that makes much of a difference here. As a visitor you are unable to enter the inside of the golden pavilion, which sits at the edge of a beautiful pond. The space around it is roped off so you are able to get a beautiful view of the temple and it’s reflection in the water – there are always crowds who get their photo and move along and I think you would be hard pressed to truly find a time of the day where it’s not crowded.

Although the crowds were really quite cute – I love the uniforms that Japanese school children wear:

We then walked to Daitokuji for a delicious vegetarian lunch at Izusen Daijinten, which was recommended to us by one of Andrew’s co-workers who attended Kyoto University, it was a bit challenging to locate considering all of the signs were in Japanese but it was worth the extra walking through the temple grounds:

After lunch we took a break from site-seeing for a few hours and had some afternoon tea at the hotel before venturing out for dinner:

On the recommendation of Andrew’s co-worker we visited Sukiyaki Iroha in pontocho (a narrow alley filled with restaurants between Sanjo-dori and Shijo-dori parallel to the river). Sukiyaki is one of my favorite meals – we had it a few times before with Andrew’s co-workers, it’s a fun hot pot meal experience and I think it’s much more flavorful than shabu-shabu. The atmosphere here was wonderful and we enjoyed having our own chef prepare the sukiyaki in our private dining room:

We wandered along the river and back along the philosopher’s path to our hotel, it was a busy and delicious day in Kyoto!

Tokyo’s Greatest Hits – Part II

This is the second post chronicling our friend’s recent visit to Tokyo, which represents the way we would see Tokyo in four days. For part one, see my previous post. A summary of our itinerary as well as some additional recommendations are available at the end of this post.

Having gone to bed close to sunrise the night before, Saturday morning was a slow and lazy one. We walked to the Tokyo Tower to pick up rental bikes from the Minato-ku Community Cycle, which is a great program similar to CitiBike in NYC. If you’re a first time user (and don’t speak Japanese), be sure to use Google Chrome to register before you go and again to log-in when you are picking up your bike so you can utilize their page translation service to help navigate.

We biked from the Tokyo Tower to the Imperial Palace. On random days (we thought it was Saturdays but maybe it’s Sundays) they close down the street parallel to the Imperial Palace and it’s filled with pedestrians and cyclists enjoying their extra space. Its loads of fun and Andrew and I had done this before.

Unfortunately the road wasn’t closed down this day but we were still able to ride along the side walk and catch some great views of the Imperial Palace:

We then biked our way to Marunouchi for tea at Ippodo. I had written a post about Ippodo a while back so if you’re interested, click here:

From there we biked into Ginza where the main road was shut down and filled with pedestrians enjoying a leisurely shopping experience. We grabbed lunch in the basement of Mitsukoshi (a department store with fantastic food options on B1F and then ate on the rooftop (another great option for this is nearby Matsuya). We then wandered down the street and in and out of some shops, including my personal favorite, Itoya.

We biked ourselves back to the Tokyo Tower to rest before making our way to Daikanyama for dinner. We had had loads of Japanese food by this point and thought our guests could go for something familiar so we headed to King George, which is a hip sandwich, salad, and cocktail restaurant spread over two small floors and a quaint roof deck.

After dinner we walked to the Daikanyama T-Site to explore the massive Tsutaya and then enjoyed drinks at the cafe on the top floor of building two to cap off our low-key evening.

On Sunday, we enjoyed another low-key breakfast before hopping on the train and heading for Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the Sumo Grand Tournament. I had secured us seats as soon as they went on sale in August (the Grand Tournaments almost always sell out but are especially difficult to get on the weekends.

We arrived at the stadium around 1:30 to catch some of the amateur wrestlers compete. The event goes on from 8am-6pm but the main events don’t start until around 2/2:30 so the stadium was pretty empty when we arrived.

By getting there a bit early we were able to learn quickly and were ready when the professionals arrived:

After sumo we took a cab to Asakusa to walk down Nakamise Dori and towards Senso-ji Temple, grabbing ice cream along the way.

For our friend’s last dinner in Japan, we met up with their friend who also lives in Tokyo and headed for Shinjuku for shabu shabu at Kisoji, which was quite tasty.

On their final day in Tokyo, Andrew and Justine woke up early and headed to Tsukiji Market for the tuna auctio and some breakfast sushi before a nap and catching the train back to Narita for their flight back to San Francisco. It was great to host our friends close to the end of our time in Japan as we have definitely established some favorites, which allowed us to be better tour guides while simultaneously experiencing those favorites for the last time before our six months is up!

4 Days in Tokyo:

Quarter Day 1: Arrive

• Arrive in Tokyo (Narita Express, Keisei SkyLiner, etc) from Narita Airport
  • Haneda Airport is much closer to the city and easily accessible via the monorail – definitely the best way to fly into and out of Tokyo if your travel plans allow for it!
• Sushi at Ginzo Sushi, Sushi Zanmai, or any walk-in place that looks moderately crowded – we have never had bad sushi in Japan!
  • For a VIP sushi experience, make reservations at Kyubey like we did for our anniversary

Quarter Day 1: Shimokitazwa & Shibuya

• Train to Shimokitazawa – explore the neighborhood a bit!
• Dinner at Shirube Shimokitazawa (reservations recommended) – order the mackerel, the sashimi, and the cheesy tofu but everything is delicious
• Drinks at Bar Piano – get there early!

Half Day 1: Tsukiji

• Tsukiji Fish Market (cab & arrive by 3:40 for the tuna auction)
• Sushi Breakfast at the Market -or- make reservations at Lauderdale in Roppongi for brunch if you can’t stomach fish before 8am

Day 2: Harajuku, Omotesando, & Roppongi

• Breakfast at Bills in Omotesando (usually there is a wait so it’s best to arrive when they open at 8:30 or around 9:30 to catch the second wave)
  • Alternate: Reservations at Two Rooms – good brunch set and great views
• Yoyogi Park & Meiji Shrine
• Shopping in Harajuku & Omotesando – wander up and down the main road
  • Takeshita Dori: mash-up of Tokyo teen style – a must see
  • Souvenir shopping: Oriental Bazaar
  • Aoyama Flower Market: beautiful flowers and a great tea house
• Lunch/Snack: Harajuku Gyoza Lou – delicious and cheap gyoza; best as a late-lunch (2/2:30pm to avoid the crowds)
• Coffee: Omotesando Koffee – tucked away and worth the search
• Dinner: BBQ/Teppanyaki at Shinsen Horumon Rambo in Azabujuban (reservations recommended)
• Drinks: 1967 and the Andaz Rooftop Bar (reservations recommended for both)
• Club: Ele

Day 3: Marunouchi, Ginza, & Daikanyama

• Rent bikes and head toward the Imperial Palace Docomo Minato-ku Community Cycle
• Visit the Imperial Palace East Gardens
• Tea at Ippodo in Marunouchi
• Lunch in Ginza:
  • Mitsukoshi & Matsuya: head to B1F for a-la-carte items or to the top floor restaurants
• Shopping in Ginza:
  • Mitsukoshi: Massive department store that is worth the visit
  • Itoya: Stationary and paper goods
• Dinner in Daikanyama: King George for salads/sandwiches
  • Upscale alternative: Ivy Place (reservations recommended) – also great for brunch!
• Drinks in Daikanyama: T-Site

Day 4: Sumo, Asakusa, and Shinjuku

• Buy sumo tickets well in advance! If you can’t get them while you are visiting Tokyo, spend more time in Asakusa & Shinjuku
• Asakusa: Senso-ji
• Shopping in Asakusa:
  • Nakamise Dori – crowded stall-style market with souvenirs leading up to Senso-ji
  • “Kitchen Town” – great affordable kitchen items, ceramics, knives, etc
    • Be sure to visit one of the great knife shops like Kamata
• Lunch: Sushi at Magurobito or Tempura at Daikokura
• Beer: Drinks in the Asahi SkyRoom
• Shinjuku- Gyoen – beautiful park in Shinjuku; if you have more time get some lunch from the Isetan food floor (B1F) and take it into the park for a picnic
• Dinner: Kisoji Shinjuku for ShabuShabu or Sukiyaki
• Entertainment: Robot Restaurant
• Drinks: Golden Gai

Some neighborhoods left off of this list that we would definitely recommend include Ebisu and Meguro (dinner at Tonki, dim sum at Le Parc, etc). It’s also great to get out of the city to explore nearby Yokohama or Kamakura!

This is certainly not an exhaustive list and there are SO many other great places in Tokyo to see but if you are cramped for time these are some diverse neighborhoods and foods that will give you a great sense of the city!

Tokyo’s Greatest Hits – Part I

This post is a two part series outlining a four-day (ish) itinerary for visiting Tokyo. A summary of the places we visited will be available at the end of Part II!

Our friends, Andrew and Justine, came to visit us for our last week/weekend in Tokyo and we took them all around the city to some of our favorite places. I think what we did with them is a great itinerary if you are only visiting the city for three or four days but want to get a feel for a number of different neighborhoods and cuisines.

They arrived on Monday afternoon from Narita and got settled in before we took them to our go-to sushi restaurant for dinner, Sushi Ginzo. It’s not fancy but is an affordable and tasty way to satisfy the immediate need for sushi right upon arrival. Similar to Sushi Ginzo is Sushi Zanmai, which is also a chain offering affordable sushi throughout the city.

They took the shinkansen to Kyoto from Tuesday to Thursday, which is a great idea for visitors to do because it allows them to miss a lot of the crowds that flock to visit during the weekends.

Thursday night our tour continued with a visit to Shimokitazwa. While not exactly convenient to where we live, it’s worth the trip as it’s a unique neighborhood with an absolutely fantastic izakaya (Shirube Shimokitazawa). Reservations are recommended but you only need to call a few days in advance. They offer an English menu in a Japanese environment with delicious plates – our particular favorites include: mackerel (cooked at your table), cheesy tofu, sashimi, tuna avocado, beef & potatoes, the shrimp, and chicken karaage. You can’t go wrong with anything on their menu – it’s all incredibly delicious.

We left Shirube with full bellies and headed toward Shibuya Crossing for a visit to Bar Piano, located in Nonbei Yokocho bar area. Andrew’s coworkers had taken him there a number of times and he had wanted to take me there for months so I’m glad we were all able to visit together. You enter to see a bar with seats for three and a very steep staircase to your right that leads you into an ornately decorated red room that comfortably seats about 6 people and uncomfortably seats about 15 people. It pays to get there when they open around 9/9:30 because it fills up quickly and you won’t be admitted otherwise.

On Friday we started our day with brunch at Bills in Omotesando before wandering through Takeshita Dori:

and then  into Yoyogi Park to visit the Meiji Shrine – we took selfies throughout the day as we had just invested in our first selfie stick (!)

We spent the rest of the day wandering around Harajuku and Omotesando, taking a brief break at Omotesando Koffee:

And the beautiful Aoyama Flower Market:

That evening we enjoyed BBQ/Teppanyaki at Shinsen Horumon Rambo in Azabujuban, which is one of our regular spots for some tasty grill-your-own food and then made our way across the street for cocktails at rooftop bar 1967:

Our night kicked up a notch at that point as we headed to the Rooftop Bar at the Andaz for some tasty cocktails with some Tokyo friends and a beautiful view of the city:

Since we had not visited a club in Tokyo yet, we decided to visit Ele, which was a lot of fun – great music and robot dancers (!) all made even better by having our great friends there:

A busy first few days in Japan for our friends and a great intro to a few of our favorite places. Part II coming soon!