When in Japan, try everything you can get your hands on.

Their ability to use minimal ingredients to create jaw-dropping plates makes every bite precious.

You certainly don’t have to eat a lot, but you will.

Osaka

Sights

• Dōtonbori: The iconic bustling district filled with shops and lots of people. The nearby Uniqlo and Takashamia are must-visits, as well as a walk along the river. No shortage of delicious snacks here.
• Osaka Castle: The grounds are massive and stunning, great for exploring and walking around the impressive moat. You can book your tickets ahead of time to enter the castle or wait in line there.
• Tennoji Park & Isshin-ji Temple: These two spots neighbor each other. It’s so peaceful at both locations. The park has a striking red bridge, and lots of stray cats, which the locals seem to feed at a rate that would be envied by most domesticated cats. The temple is wonderful and has a small citrus tree. It’s also close to Horikoshi Jinja Shrine, which is super small, and there are lots of shrines around, but we enjoyed stopping in.
• Community Art Gallery: Right next to the Green Hill Hotel Tennoji Ekimae, there’s a community art gallery that you’ll miss if you don’t look for the sign. Walk up the three flights of stairs and go into a little room with a ton of community art. They’ll want you to vote for your favorite, and you’ll likely be the only person there in addition to the non-English speaking but very friendly attendant.
• Sumiyoshi Taisha: A wonderful park that has an iconic Japanese torii arch. Also has the Sumiyoshi Taisha Sorihashi Bridge in the park, which is stunning. The water under the bridge is so reflective.

Eats

• Family Mart: FamiChicki – get the spicy one. Tuna Mayo onigiri. Custard.
• 7/11: There’s no country I’d be so happy to indefinitely eat out of their 7/11s. Tuna Mayo onigiri, vanilla mochi, and pastries are the essentials.
• Mr. Donut: Pon de Ring, the classic mochi donut and Snorlax favorite. I cannot begin to describe to you how light this donut is. It transcends description.
• Kuromon Sanpei: Such a cute area with a market feel. This shop is half fish shop and half restaurant with a wide variety of seafood. There’s an area with chairs and tables so you can eat what you just bought. They had amazing miso soup, some amazing grilled eel and rice.
• Ueshima Coffee-Ten Toranomon: The cutest coffee shop. Two stories with a great view of the streets. Wave to the Mario Kart racers as they go by. Easily the best coffee ice cream I’ve ever had. EVER.
• Menya Ageha: Insanely good ramen, seating is Japanese core. Meaning, you can maybe fit 10 people in here. They have the smallest bathroom sink I’ve ever seen; it’s truly remarkable. Ramen was incredible; perfect pork belly. Cash-operated vending machine to place your order. Very cute.

Nara

Sights

• Nara Park: Feeding domesticated deer?! When else are you going to get to live your Snow White dreams? Yes, yes, please.

Eats

• Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu: Wonderful Katsu spot. Fantastic price for value.
• Grocery Sushi: The sushi at every grocery store is so cheap, the lasagna there is more expensive than the sushi, and it’s of restaurant quality in the US. Amazing. Eat it at every opportunity.

Kyoto

Sights

• Tenryu-ji Temple: Stunning garden, entrance fee, and you can pay to enter the house, which I wouldn’t recommend since it has no walls and you can see through it. Right before the bamboo forest.
• Bamboo Forest: This was surprisingly disappointing in my opinion. It’s a walkway with a lot of bamboo and a lot of people trying to take photos. You can’t even go into the bamboo forest; you’re sequestered to a dirt path.
• Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama: Amazing intimate experience with beautiful monkeys.
• Kyoto Station: Such an impressive building with varying levels; it’s so fun to explore! I’d recommend going to Ramen Street, tons of good food options, and explore the shops.
• Kyoto Imperial Palace: Make reservations to go into the palace if that’s important to you beforehand. Otherwise, you can walk around the grounds, which are massive.

Eats

• Sakaki: This is one of the best meals we had in Japan. There’s an izakaya run by these three best friends. They speak maybe 10 words of English and have an English menu, which changes every week, that they’ll airdrop to you. Their hours are a bit weird, so check that beforehand. We got their uzu ice cream, pork donburi, and beef over rice. 259 Hinokuchicho, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, 602-8425, Japan.
• Sushi Naritaya: AMAZING sushi, wonderful staff. There’s also good street Kobe around here.
• Mendokoro Kobayashi: Udon noodles that were fire.
• Ramen Todai: In Kyoto station, there’s an amazing ramen shop. They also offer unlimited raw eggs; you’d think salmonella doesn’t exist in Japan. Hang out to see how the locals eat it.

Tokyo

Grouping in areas near Tokyo, like Yokohama.

Sights

• Shibuya Scramble Crossing: The iconic busiest intersection in the world. Revel in the chaos.
• Sensjo-ji Temple: Most temples just have a temple, not a “market” around it as well. Sensjo-ji is bustling during the day and at night. Great area to walk around Asakusa.
• Ginkgo Tree Street: A super cute street with shops and people sitting around drawing the ginkgo trees.
• The National Art Center Tokyo: This art gallery is top-tier. There are probably 10 different art galleries within this mostly glass building. The majority of them are free, but some have an admission price. You can tell people come here to just hang out. Overpriced cafes, so you know the hipster vibe is complete.
• Yokohama Park: A park with a neighboring stadium. The pond is filled with turtles, so fun to watch.
• Osanbashi Pier: A lovely pier that serves as a kind of interactive art piece, taking on a modern and futuristic look. Great to watch the sunset from.
• Hamarikyu Gardens: Looked beautiful, didn’t go in because it was against my religion to pay for a garden entrance at the time.
• Kyu Shiba Rikyu Onshi Garden: Was beautiful, did pay to go in because my resolve had been broken.
• Tokyo Tower: Some people think the Tokyo Tower is ugly. I’ll let you be the judge of that.
• Tsukiji Fish Market: Apparently, the fish market post-COVID is a lot smaller than it was before. I’d still recommend going and finding yourself some good eats. In the Tsukiji Fish Market, near Sushi Zanmai, there’s a grocery store-type vibe that also sold amazing fatty tuna for under $5 a piece.

Eats

• Nabezo Asakusa: Amazing all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu, and the Japanese beef was a great price.
• Maguro-to-Shari Shibuya: High-quality fish and rice.
• Tensei: High-end tempura that will make every other tempura pale in comparison. We had a Japanese friend call in a reservation ahead of time; not sure how you’d get into this place if you didn’t speak Japanese, to be honest.
• Best Melon Pan: This one is a bit of an adventure. First, go to Ishikawachō Station and take the north entrance, e.g. just act like you’re going to Chinatown. Two stores down from Nihonchozai Ishikawacho Yakkyoku, there is a bakery. Stop in and get yourself a melon pan. They sell out, so the earlier the better.
• Yokohama Chinatown: This Chinatown feels like you’re walking past the same stores and food options after the first block. Still fun and good eats to be had though.
• Onigiri (おにぎりと豚汁 いたる): The best tuna mayo onigiri I’ve ever had, can’t recommend the cod roe onigiri though. The name of the restaurant is only in Japanese, so here’s the address: 138 Yamashitacho, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0023, Japan, right next to Hoshou.
• Tsukiji Itadori Bekkan: I’m playing the “we found this band before they were popular” card because since coming home I’ve seen this place blow up on social media…that said it was probably already pretty popular before and it’s just taken the algorithm a minute to recommend all of the Japanese spots. All that to say, this place did not disappoint, such an intimate experience. We got the omakase.