Visited Tokyo, Hakone, and the Disney parks in December - here’s our all around tips
Map
Sections
6
Tokyo food
Tokyo places and things to know
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
Hakone
Osaka
Kyoto
Tokyo food
Another great mall place. Got a sampler plate of sashimi, delish
Sushi no Midori Shibuya · Shibuya, Tokyo
We LOVED the take away curry pan from here. Warm and delicious.
CURRY HOUSE CoCo ICHIBANYA, Japanese-style Curry Specialty Shop
Don’t sleep on mall restaurants in Tokyo. Great pork tonkatsu here. Nice to have unlimited cabbage and miso soup and rice, not that we needed it.
Tonkatsu Wako Sunshine City Ikebukuro · Toshima City, Tokyo
Small menu, big flavor. Order from the nifty machine outside and wait your turn for a seat.
MENYA NAKAGAWA · Toshima City, Tokyo
Cool place to try a variety of sake!
WASAKE Sake Experience · Taito City, Tokyo
Also wish we made it here, but honestly convenience store sushi is amazing and accessible
Onigiri Shop Mamma · Shinjuku City, Tokyo
Okinomiyaki is living. We like any with pork, basically bacon, often mixed with seafood like shrimp or squid.
Sakura-tei · Shibuya, Tokyo
We so wish we made it here. Fondue looking burger looked insane
American Diner Andra · Taito City, Tokyo
Didn’t get a chance to make it here but it looks great
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo · Meguro City, Tokyo
If you’re into bruleed cheesecake, go here
Cois Espresso Club Shinjuku Gyoemmae · Shinjuku City, Tokyo
Tokyo places and things to know
The subway was more complex than what we were used to. Some trains share tracks, so make sure you’re boarding the right line and direction, not just the next train to arrive at your platform.
Tokyo Metro/Subway for Beginners : r/JapanTravelTips
We used luggage lockers multiple times. They’re easy to come by at train or bus stations and sometimes malls like Lumier. They often only take 100 cent coins and are between 700-800cents for a large locker.
Luggage storage : r/JapanTravelTips
Beautiful park in Tokyo. Made in the late 1800s to remember the emperor; when he passed away, provinces from the entire country sent a tree/plant to grow here. Feels like you’re not in a big city at all.
Meiji Jingu
Beautiful temple area to walk around
Kaminari mon · Taito City, Tokyo
Fish market area
Tsukiji Uogashi · Chuo City, Tokyo
Rooftop view of Tokyo Bay. Fireworks in the summer and in December.
AQUA CiTY Odaiba · Minato City, Tokyo
Tokyo has some unique cafes. Here, you can make a reservation or not, but there are owls that you can interact with.
Pond Owl Star Coffee Shop · Toshima City, Tokyo
Bought a pricey Japanese knife and a piece of pottery from this area
Kappabashi Hondōri Shopping Street · Taito City, Tokyo
Create your own dashi stock spot!
Dashi Okume Azabudai Hills · Minato City, Tokyo
Saved place to try whisky of choice
Shinjuku Whisky Salon · Shinjuku City, Tokyo
Check out their instagram page for specials and more info
Aloha Whisky · Toshima City, Tokyo
The variety of vendors makes this walking area worth a visit
Yanaka Ginza · Taito City, Tokyo
We like to use our membership to get a feel for what’s abroad and maybe get a cheap meal or something different. There are multiple locations in Tokyo, but this one is easy to get to and walkable to a subway station.
Costco Wholesale Makuhari
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
Tokyo Disney’s app is incredibly accurate and wonderful. You can only buy one premium pass per ticket every 120 minutes, I think, or after you’ve used your premium pass that you purchased. Gives others a chance. They’re pretty affordable in compariso...
[Official]Disney Premier Access (available for a fee)|Tokyo Disney Resort
We had a reservation here and weren’t disappointed. Regardless, you can walk up and wait. Or even just walk on the top deck of the boat for a nice view of the park and Tokyo Bay.
Would be worth it to buy a fast pass if you can manage it, but worth it to wait. Incredible ride.
Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast
Crème brûlée and chai tea sugar churros were our favorites
Creme Brulee Churro - Tokyo Disney Resort
So many fun flavors of popcorn between the two parks. We mobile ordered from here to get a popcorn bag, although the popcorn boxes were all so cute! Enjoyed the curry and white chocolate popcorn the most, but I’m sure you can’t go wrong.
The Big Pop
Yes. Yes they do. You can even mobile ordered alcohol for pickup. I liked the seasonal hot wine.
Do they serve beer in Tokyo Disneyland? : r/TokyoDisneySea
There’s so much to enjoy just walking around these two parks. People get spots for the parades way ahead of time also.
Tokyo Disneyland FULL TOUR | Is This The MOST PERFECT Disney Park ...
Hakone
This Airbnb was the perfect escape from the city. Onsen, indoor and outdoor option, with a view of Mt. Fugi and Lake Ashi, our room had a balcony with the same view. Kind people. Further away from the town but there’s buses, the boat, or walking furt...
Nice views of the mountains along the way, took about 1.5hours and then the buses are right outside the station if you need
Limited Express “Romancecar” from Shinjuku to Hakone: Ticket Details
The Shinkansen was so fun to take! IMPORTANT NOTE! ~we had reserved seats and missed our train by a few minutes because our bus was stuck in traffic. Didn’t matter because you can use a ticket, reserved or nonreserved, to go on any of the next trains...
Odawara to Tokyo Shinkansen Tickets & Schedule
There’s a lovely walking path through the forest to get closer to it. There was a line to take a picture under it.
Hakone Shrine
Seemed like there were lots of times to take the boat to the other side of Lake Ashi, be nice and scenic. Probably don’t need to book a ticket in advance.
Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
Good baked goods with a view of the lake and the shrine. We enjoyed the curry pan and Hakone bread.
Bakery & Table Hakone
Osaka
Good summary of the places to go in Osaka
Osaka | Kansai | Destinations
We’ve enjoyed visiting different theme parks and trying their foods and rides!
Universal Studios Japan
Kyoto
Still hard to believe that this is made of gold!
Kinkaku-ji
Somebody feed Phil gives us a good vibe for a place and some food options. He had a good Kyoto episode
