Thanksgiving in Japan, Part 2: Another Side of Honshu

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From Tokyo, we took a 2.5 hour bullet train to Kyoto, where we were staying for the rest of the trip. While I hadn’t gone into the trip planning on trying to see Mount Fuji, since that seemed like a great way to be disappointed, the weather was amazingly kind to us, and for several minutes on the train we had an amazing view of the volcano out the window. 

The gorgeous snowcapped mountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

Kyoto is one of Japan’s oldest cities, and it has so much cultural and historical significance that it was considered and then thankfully dismissed as a target for an atomic bombing during WWII.

We arrived in Kyoto in the afternoon on Thanksgiving. We walked to a small miso ramen shop for dinner, and then watched a traditional maiko performance at our hotel. I’m not going to pretend to understand all the cultural significance of the dances, but every element was incredibly deliberate, graceful, and precise, and it was a good introduction to the different feel of the city.

Watching the maiko performance with other tourists (photo/Jason Rafal)

Kyoto was very beautiful and incredibly crowded. We hadn’t fully realized that we were going to hit high time for Kyoto’s fall foliage visitors. We normally try to avoid the crowds of high season, so it was a bit frustrating, but the leaves were absolutely beautiful. Everywhere we went, from temples to shrines to parks or just streets, were surrounded by green, yellow, orange, and red accents. 

On our first full day, we went to Fushimi Inari-taisha, the famous shrine with 10,000 torii gates, early to try to beat the crowds. The bottom was annoyingly crowded despite our best efforts, but as we climbed further up the mountain, the crowds thinned and we were able to have small moments by ourselves among the bright orange gates and the beautiful fall leaves. 

The beautiful main hall of the shrine (photo/Jason Rafal)

A typical crowded scene near the base of the gates (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of many hanging lanterns (photo/Jason Rafal)

A typical scene as we walked up the mountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

Small mossy details at the top of some torii gates (photo/Jason Rafal)

A row of Omikuji (paper fortunes) tied along a string (photo/Jason Rafal)

The gates led to groups of small shrines all over the mountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

Tiny torii gates at one of the small shrines along the path (photo/Jason Rafal)

More tiny gates (photo/Jason Rafal)

Foxes are considered messengers of the god Inari and were everywhere at the shrine (photo/Jason Rafal)

Lots of fox faces (photo/Jason Rafal)

A fox in the forest (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our afternoon excursion, after fighting some more crowds at the other side of the city, was a climb up the mountain to Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama. After a beautiful hike, we arrived at a viewpoint that had both beautiful views and dozens of wild macaques.

Even beyond the wildlife, the hike up the mountain was beautiful (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view over Kyoto (photo/Jason Rafal)

The monkeys on the mountainside aren’t contained in any way, but they do hang out at this overlook during the day because they get fed there, and then go back up in elevation at dusk. There were lots of rules about giving them space, not making eye contact, and keeping all your belongings in your backpack, and there were also several rangers making sure that people didn’t get too close, which made me feel better about the safety of the animals. There was an option to buy snacks for the monkeys (to feed the monkeys safely, the humans went inside a big cage), but we just walked around the area and took pictures and were generally entertained.

Aside from being adorable, the macaques are highly social, and it’s fascinating to watch them interact with each other while they groom, cuddle, and chase each other off when they get annoyed.

A handsome monkey on a rooftop (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cuddling monkey family (photo/Jason Rafal)

Hanging out on the roof (photo/Jason Rafal)

This one spent a lot of time grooming its foot (photo/Jason Rafal)

More family grooming (photo/Jason Rafal)

While the adults were snoozing, these young monkeys spent some time playing on the fence (photo/Jason Rafal)

Playing protect the stick (photo/Jason Rafal)

Monkey mountain had the most amazing foliage of the trip (photo/Jason Rafal)

A handsome monkey posing in a tree on our walk down (photo/Jason Rafal)

People boating on the Katsura River against a beautiful backdrop (photo/Jason Rafal)

The next day we took a day trip to Nara, which had two draws for us: the largest bronze Buddha in the world, and a whole lot of very friendly deer. I went into this excursion with pretty open expectations, and I had a great time. The deer, which are just…everywhere, are wild but also very used to getting fed by visitors (people could buy cookies to feed them at official stalls), so they’re not really nervous about humans. They were laying all over the park, following tourists around looking for treats, and just generally hanging out.

A buck smelling Jason’s camera (photo/Jason Rafal)

Saying hi to some of the deer (photo/Jason Rafal)

The bronze Buddha, which was completed in 751, is in a giant building at the Tōdai-ji temple. The great hall that houses the Buddha (like many fancy buildings in Japan) has burned down and been rebuilt multiple times. When it was built, the original building was the largest wooden structure in the world. Both the current Great Buddha Hall and the statue itself were incredibly impressive.

The Great Hall from the outside (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking through the entrance of the Great Hall (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking up at the massive 500 tonne Buddha (photo/Jason Rafal)

A model of the original structures of the Tōdai-ji complex (photo/Jason Rafal)

A buck acting like a statue in front of Tōdai-ji (photo/Jason Rafal)

A doe in the sunlight (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nara was filled with deer imagery, which I loved (photo/Jason Rafal)

Something about a deer crossing the road (photo/Jason Rafal)

The next day we took an afternoon trip to Osaka, where our plans were to wander around the ornate Osaka Castle and find some good food. Immediately upon getting off the train, we walked straight into a Santa Parade, which was unexpected and kind of amazing. There were hundreds of Santas mulling around, and a band playing rock covers of Christmas songs.

Santas filling Osaka Castle Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some dinosaur Santas enjoying the band (photo/Jason Rafal)

We saw people carrying owls a few times over the trip (photo/Jason Rafal)

The main attraction we went to in Osaka was the Castle, which was built in the 1580s and was originally the largest castle in Japan. We didn’t go in since the lines were so long, but the grounds are beautiful and the outside of the castle is ornate and commands attention every time it’s visible.

Looking up at the castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view of the castle over a garden pond (photo/Jason Rafal)

Beautiful leaves in the garden outside the castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

The moat around Osaka Castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

Shrine buildings and fall leaves (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also spent some time walking around the Osaka waterfront, which is a feast for the eyes. The Don Quijote (an amazing Japanese everything store with casino vibes) even had a ferris wheel. Osaka seems like a very cool city (including all the locals, who were definitely cooler than me) and I’d like to spend more time there.

Looking out over the Osaka river walk (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the giant animal models adorning restaurant facades (photo/Jason Rafal)

I’m not even sure what is happening here (photo/Jason Rafal)

I love this combination of Japan’s obsessions with claw machines and food models (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the downtown shopping streets, complete with giant food models (photo/Jason Rafal)

Tasogare Coffee Stand, which had delicious coffee and an incredible commitment to their rustic decor theme (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our last morning in Kyoto, we spent some time wandering around the city before heading to a tea ceremony we had booked.

A Kyoto temple (photo/Jason Rafal)

A couple taking photos at Maruyama Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the peaceful canals running through Kyoto (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our tea ceremony was at a cultural center with two other couples, one from Finland and one from Germany. Our instructor, Suzuki, told us about how she joined a tea ceremony club in school because it was the only way to eat sweets while at school, and then fell in love with the art and teaching ceremonies.

Matcha and sweets (photo/Jason Rafal)

Suzuki showing us how to mix matcha (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the many courtyard gardens (photo/Jason Rafal)

I will always remember the incredible fall colors of this trip (photo/Jason Rafal)

We had a wonderful time in Japan, and we’re excited to come back (next time, we want to head north and explore Hokkaido). Until then, I have memories of blue skies and red leaves to get me through this winter.

Thanksgiving in Japan, Part 1: Tokyo

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Jason and I had been planning to go to Japan for years - he had visited as a kid and wanted to go again (when he was more willing to enjoy all the food on offer), and I was excited to visit for the first time. The pandemic, of course, slowed things down considerably, but when I saw a points deal in January 2024 for a trip over Thanksgiving, I jumped on it. This was before I knew that 2024 was going to be a huge year for tourism in Japan; I know several other people who went before we did.

We began our trip with five days in Tokyo. I’d been curious to see how overwhelming I’d find the massive city, and it was both just as overwhelmingly large as I’d imagined, and much easier to navigate. This is mostly due to Tokyo’s gold standard transit systems, which we used every day while we were there (we didn’t get in a car the whole time we were in Japan). Aside from having a lot of lines and stops, trains are frequent, and we rarely waited more than 3 minutes in the city center. Each train line also has a letter and a numbering system for the stops, so we could just remember that we needed to go toward A14 while trying to navigate. Our transit cards worked for trains, buses, and even many vending machines, so we didn’t have to think about which method of transit we were allowed to take. It was just all pretty seamless (though we did get lost in a couple of train stations - I’m not even embarrassed to admit that, it’s a second city under the ground level).

Tokyo is both very busy and utterly quiet. We spoke in whispers pretty much the entire trip, and when Jason (who is quite a loud human) forgot and spoke at normal volume a couple of times, he got some disapproving looks. It’s so interesting to be in a city of 10 million people and have everything be so…quiet. It’s simultaneously nice and unnerving.

A quiet moment next to a busy area (photo/Jason Rafal)

Everything in Japan was cute, short, and narrow, and most restaurants were either tiny or stacked. I was right on the edge of having to duck constantly, but Jason was always either in danger of hitting his head or actually hitting it. There are also signs all over Tokyo, warning against all sorts of things, including many parking rules and regulations which made me very glad I didn’t have to park a car.

A small sliver of the huge span of Tokyo Station (photo/Jason Rafal)

We attempted to prioritize food, coffee, parks, Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and some general attractions. Despite the amazing train system, we also walked a lot, averaging about 10 miles per day. Tokyo, as well as the other cities we visited, has beautiful green spaces, whether it’s a giant park or a tiny street corner. We also had amazing timing for fall foliage; the ginkgo and maple trees were all amazing.

The fountain at Hibiya Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

Amazing ginkgo leaves at Hibiya Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our first big excursion was to the Imperial Palace, where the sitting emperor lives. We didn’t go in, but spent a while exploring the beautiful grounds.

The bridge to Sakashita-mon Gate at the Imperial Palace (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Sakurada Tatsumi Yagura against the backdrop of the city (photo/Jason Rafal)

Ninomaru Garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

More views of Ninomaru Garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Touka Gakudo concert hall on the Imperial Palace grounds (photo/Jason Rafal)

We went to the Sensō-ji temple, and though it was crowded and touristy, I had a great time. The grounds are in the middle of a bustling neighborhood, and there were shops and food stalls set up all around the temple.

Approaching the temple (photo/Jason Rafal)

A giant red lantern (photo/Jason Rafal)

We spent some time walking around the neighborhood next to the temple, which has a lot of the knives, kitchenware, and food models.

One of the many shopping streets (photo/Jason Rafal)

High levels of excitement for matcha ice cream with small bears (photo/Jason Rafal)

I have a great love of miniatures and food models, and Japan had a ton of both (photo/Jason Rafal)

Tokyo Skytree in the distance (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also caught the beginning of a parade as night fell. There was drumming and light up floats and announcements we couldn’t understand and it was very fun.

Approaching some amazing parade floats through the crowds (photo/Jason Rafal)

I have no idea what was happening, but it was fun (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Sensō-ji pagoda (photo/Jason Rafal)

Ornamental lantern

We decided to go to the Shibuya Scramble Crossing at night to get the full effect of the lights, ads, and crowds.

Two very different buses (photo/Jason Rafal)

A very tall and pretty train station (photo/Jason Rafal)

The classic Shibuya crossing photo (photo/Jason Rafal)

We pretty quickly got overwhelmed by the crowds at Shibuya and decided to go to Omoide Yokocho, a famous street full of casual food stalls, to get something to eat. We stopped at Kameya, a soba noodle shop with a line, but were seated almost immediately because the process of eating took about 10 minutes - you sat down, handed the guy some coins, got your noodles a couple minutes later, ate quickly, and got up. It was delicious and also just fun to watch them work.

Tiny seasonally decorated streets (photo/Jason Rafal)

So excited for noodles (photo/Jason Rafal)

The noodles (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Golden-Gai, quiet early on a weekday evening (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went to the giant Meiji Jingu shrine, which was finished in 1920 during the Meiji period in the midst of a huge forest. While I’m not a spiritual person, there’s something very magical about a deliberate, special place inside a huge forest in the middle of a massive city.

The Meiji Jingu Consecrated Sake Barrels (photo/Jason Rafal)

A lot of wine barrels from Bourgogne, where we spent our honeymoon (photo/Jason Rafal)

Bonsai trees in Meiji Jingu Gyoen (photo/Jason Rafal)

An offering of vegetables (photo/Jason Rafal)

People writing prayers on small wooden plaques called ema (photo/Jason Rafal)

We had been looking forward to the coffee in Japan, and it did not disappoint us. There’s coffee everywhere, from chains to traditional coffee lounges to the third-wave shops that we love most. The care put into every step of the coffee experience is amazing, from roasting the beans to brewing the coffee and steaming the milk. We found a lot of great coffee shops, and a couple of amazing ones.

Coffee for sale at one of our favorite coffee shops (photo/Jason Rafal)

Swamp was an incredible coffee shop - tiny, amazing coffee, and great jazz playing (photo/Jason Rafal)

The peaceful atmosphere at Bongen Coffee, where we waited an hour and the coffee was amazing (photo/Jason Rafal)

The original specialty coffee shop in Tokyo, Cafe de L’ambre (photo/Jason Rafal)

Not my favorite type of coffee, but the atmosphere and experience was wonderful (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also really enjoyed going to Tsukiji Market, which is covered in tourists (earlier is always better for fewer crowds) but has a lot of fun food to try. I had my favorite piece of tuna in my life cooked in front of me with a shallow cast iron pan of oil and a torch.

My favorite tuna (photo/Jason Rafal)

I also had a grilled scallop (photo/Jason Rafal)

My favorite park that we visited in Tokyo was the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It’s absolutely stunning, with a lot of unique areas and beautiful ponds and amazing trees.

This park had incredible trees (photo/Jason Rafal)

There was a formal, more manicured area of the garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

A beautiful row of trees (photo/Jason Rafal)

Crazy plants in the greenhouse at the garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

A very cool flower (photo/Jason Rafal)

Japan loves rules and signs (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some more cool flowers (photo/Jason Rafal)

I can’t really express how amazing the golden ginkgo leaves were (photo/Jason Rafal)

We spent a couple of hours exploring before heading to a tiny (and amazing) udon restaurant nearby, and then we went back to spend some more time in the park. It was especially magical with all the yellows, oranges, and reds of fall.

Jason’s lunch (photo/Jason Rafal)

Perfectly kept gardens and ponds (photo/Jason Rafal)

The photogenic Taiwan Pavilion (photo/Jason Rafal)

A typical scene around the park - pretty leaves and lots of people taking photos (photo/Jason Rafal)

We had been going back and forth about whether we wanted to go to Tokyo Skytree, which is very similar to the Seattle Space Needle (but much taller - I found out after our trip that it’s the tallest tower in the world). I eventually booked tickets for sunset, figuring that would be one of the more interesting times to visit, and after walking through a very surreal European-style Christmas market, we headed up the 450 meters to the top deck.

A very surreal moment of fake snow and European sausages (photo/Jason Rafal)

It’s so much taller than it looks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sorakara-chan, one of the official characters of Tokyo Skytree, taking photos with fans (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking north over the Sumida River (photo/Jason Rafal)

I had been a little disappointed because it was such a hazy afternoon, and I knew it wouldn’t be clear enough to see Mount Fuji. However, to my amazement, once we got up there we could see the setting sun highlighting the outline of the volcano. We all stared at it for several minutes and tried to take photos around the other tourists.

Taking in the sunset in the top gallery (photo/Jason Rafal)

Mount Fuji casting a mountain shadow across the sunset (photo/Jason Rafal)

Alright, time for some random photos from Tokyo that didn’t really have a section.

At one point, we went into a mall to get dinner (all of the malls are full of amazing food, especially in the basement), and while we were walking around a clothing store waiting for the restaurant to open, we started hearing a loud fan noise and smelling burning plastic & rubber. Mildly concerned, we went up on the roof garden (also almost ubiquitous to malls) to avoid breathing fumes. When we went in half an hour later, the noise was gone and the smell was dissipating, so we went and ate. On our way out, we saw the fire department examining…something in one of the shops.

We’re glad we braved whatever small fire was happening for this delicious tonkatsu (photo/Jason Rafal)

Examining the issue on our way out (photo/Jason Rafal)

This city also has a minor obsession with cats and I’m here for it.

Various things I loved in Tokyo: hot drinks from vending machines, beautiful autumn leaves, great parks, and gashapon.

We had a wonderful time in Tokyo. Five days was the right amount of time for us this trip, though it would be easy to spend weeks exploring the different areas of the city. We stayed busy, but also made sure to not load up our days with too many activities.

Next, we boarded a Shinkansen to travel to Kyoto for the next leg of the trip, which you’ll be able to see in the next blog (and if you thought the foliage was good in Tokyo…it gets better).