Japan 2024
In October 2024, Dennis, Lennox and Lindsay travelled to Japan. It was the first time we’ve ever travelled together to a place none of us have seen before. We were able to overlap some of our trip with Dennis’ family: his parents, his sister Sam, her husband Jordan, and their baby Cecilia.
We spent 13 days in Japan (plus two for travel) and saw Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Our primary goal was to eat all the foods: sushi, ramen, gyoza, yakitori, takoyaki, karaage, etc, and one of my favourites was taiyaki—a fish-shaped waffled filled with custard (always my choice) or red bean paste. We also wanted to bring home some handmade Japanese knives, locally crafted chopsticks and all of the Japanese beauty products, mostly sunscreen.
Please enjoy a selection of our favourite photos, and our highlight film.
Our recommendations as well as our simplified itinerary are below for your reference.
Our recommendations
Lindsay recommends
Sushi Dai in Toyosu Market (Tokyo). This was one of my favourite meals of the trip. I love omakase because I get to try some foods I might not have ordered, and I like a variety of flavours in a meal—that’s why Dennis and I are usually sharing a few dishes when we go out. My favourite piece of sushi was the black throat sea bass, which is apparently quite rare. We also ordered the monkfish liver, and Dennis and Sam tried the oyster, uni and codfish sperm sack.
*Note: Make sure you get there early on the day you want to eat to make a reservation, and be flexible with your timing. ¥1000 is required as a deposit (about $10CAD). The meal comes to about $100 per person.Ichihara Heibei Shōten (Kyoto). There are lots of places to get chopsticks in Japan, especially in the touristy areas, but I found this place recommended as a source of locally made artisan pieces. Prices range from approximately $4 CAD to $50 CAD (that I could see). My favourite were a set of beautiful ebony chopsticks for $35 or so but I picked out a few cheaper pairs for myself and for gifts. Kyoto isn’t a large city and the shop was easy to find from the city centre.
TeamLabs Planets (Tokyo). I loved this place! I want to live in the LED room. The flower room has hundreds of live orchids hanging from the ceiling, suspended over a mirror, making it look like thousands of flowers. I could have spent hours in here, trying in vain to capture it on my camera.
Don Quijote. Some day I need to look up how a massive, loud and colourful department store was named after a 17th-century novel. But if you search “Don Quijote Japan” on Tiktok, you’ll find endless videos on which skincare products to try here. My plan was to buy a handful of the most recommended ones, try them for the two weeks during our trip and then stock up before going home. It’s definitely possible to overspend here, but easily justified by reminding oneself that all of these would be double the price and half the quality at home. I got a lot of sunscreens (face, stick, spray), sheet masks, hair treatments and Vitamin C creams.
Dennis recommends
Knife shop, Kikuichimonji (Kyoto). This business has been family-owned for nearly 700 years since it made katanas for the emperor. Today, this small shop in Nishiki Market sells handmade stainless steel and carbon steel blades. They’ll even translate your name and engrave it on the knife. Hands down, this is my favourite souvenir.
Oeno District, Tokyo. This place has a really cool vibe. Side streets with vintage shops and jeans, a lot of street food. The people were all super friendly and we had a great dinner there.
Golden Gai, Tokyo. This is another neighbourhood of narrow streets, but this one is lined with the tiniest little bars you ever saw. Seating 3-6 people max, some are members-only, some have a cover charge, some are smoking, some non-smoking—you’re bound to make some new friends when you’re squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder on the barstools. Our bartender was an older lady who matched us drink-for-drink until she started nodding off.
Harujuku, Tokyo. I guess my favourite parts of the trip are mostly neighbourhoods that I liked the vibe of. We got off the train here to walk to Shibuya, and did a little shopping. We’d have liked to come back to see more of it, but that’ll have to wait for the next trip.
Toki Sushi. Our last meal in Japan might have been among the best we had. We wanted sushi, and we found this corner shop a few streets away from the touristy area of Osaka. The chef/owner was the kindest person who recommended some sake from same town as his father and gave Lennox a Japanese fan before we left. It felt like eating a home-cooked meal in his kitchen, and the food was incredible. Five stars; no notes.
Lennox recommends
Egg sandwich from Family Mart. This sandwich is a good and cheap option for when you need a snack on the go. I recommend getting a fried chicken filet on the side, and putting it inside the sandwich.
Ten Yen Cheese Coin (Osaka). This is good! But it doesn’t cost ¥10, it’s actually ¥500 (about $4.75CAD). It’s a waffle stuffed with cheese!
Brûléed millefeuille pastry from Grenier Patisserie (Osaka). This is delicious! One of the best pastries I’ve ever had. It’s about $10 each, so it’s on the pricier side, but worth it.
Don’t come to Japan unless you have money. That’s all.
ITINERARY
DAY 1: Travel
DAY 2: Tokyo
4:25pm Land in Tokyo, Narita airport (Toronto time 3:25am)
Limo bus to Hotel Gracery. Meet at Terminal 1 Arrival Hall, near Gate S2
Check in to hotel: Hotel Gracery Shinjuku (aka Godzilla Hotel)
Dinner: Ramen shop near the hotel
DAY 3: Tokyo
Breakfast: Family Mart
Shopping at Don Quijote
Lunch: Sushi bowls in a small restaurant under Tokyo Station
1:30 Imperial Palace Tour
Snack: Shaved ice at Kurogi on Chuo-Dori Avenue
Dinner: A patio in the Oeno District
DAY 4: Tokyo
Breakfast: Smoothies at 7/11
AM Toyosu Market
10am TeamLabs Planets
12:15 Lunch @ Sushi Dai Omakase (in Toyosu Market)
Shopping in Ginza
Dinner: Small noodle place whose name is lost for all eternity
DAY 5: Tokyo
12:30 Lunch @ Yurakucho Kakida - Samurai Course
Shopping in Harujuku, walk to Shibuya Crossing
Dinner: Beef bowls under the train station
Evening walk around Golden Gai
DAY 6: Travel to Kyoto
AM Shipped luggage to Kyoto
Breakfast: Matsuya
12:39 Shinkensan bullet train from Tokyo Station to Kyoto. Arrived just before 3pm.
STAY: Airbnb with Sam, Jordan, Cece, Gina and Alfredo
Snack: Takoyaki @ Gion Kimutako
Dinner: Wagyu tonkutsu at Kyoto Katsugyu
DAY 7: Kyoto
AM Walk around the neighbourhood
Luggage delivered around 11am
Lunch @ Ten no Mishi - Tempura Omakase menu
PM Bamboo Forest
Dinner: Kyo no Miyako Burger
DAY 8: Kyoto
Drop luggage at hotel.
AM Nishiki Market for lunch
PM Nara Park
Check into hotel: Kyoto Granbell Hotel
Dinner: Sushi bar near the canal that I don’t know the name of
DAY 9: Kyoto
Walk to Nishiki Market for shopping:
Knives: Kikuichimonji
Chopsticks: Ichihara Heibei Shōten
Lunch: Kyoto Tonkatsu Katsuta Shijo
Snack: Ice cream, matcha and salted cherry blossom flavours
Dinner: Oribe Izakaya
Drinks: Ishimaru Shoten
DAY 10: Kyoto (today, Den and I both felt sick so it was pretty lazy and we didn’t eat much)
9:30 Samurai Museum Tour
2pm Free walking tour of the Gion District (Geisha District)
Late lunch: Ramen and gyoza at Dotombori Kamukura - Gion-Shijo Station
DAY 11: Travel to Osaka
AM Shipped luggage to Narita Airport
Noon Checked out of hotel
Train to Osaka
Check into hotel: Cross Hotel
Lunch: Kappa Sushi
Dinner: Yoshiniya
DAY 12: Osaka
Breakfast at the hotel, McDonald’s for Lennox because he woke up too late
Got a new wedding ring for Dennis at Glanta Osaka
Rented bikes at Veloya
Snack: Brûléed millefeuille, stuffed with custard at Grenier Pattisserie
Biked to Osaka Castle
Lunch: Genrokuzushi Dotombori
Dinner: Some place I can’t find anymore!
Visited the arcade at GIGO Osaka
DAY 13: Osaka (rainy day)
Walk to Kuromon Ichiba Market.
Breakfast: Okonomiyaki and wagyu skewers
Snack: Patisserie Ordinaire
Dinner: Noukou Ramen
Late night snack: Takoyaki at Acchichi Honpo Dotonbori
DAY 14: Osaka
Brunch: Yakiniku Kitan
Dinner: Toki Sushi
DAY 15: Travel home