Japan has always been a country we dreamed of visiting. It was simply a matter of time and opportunity. So when the time finally came we were absolutely ecstatic! Now looking back we are so proud of being able to visit and experience this amazing country as a family. It is one of the most important trips we ever did! Japan changes you in various ways. You get a different perspective on life, culture, and society.

We stayed for about two weeks. We landed in Tokyo. Stayed there for a few days and moved to Hakone for one night. Then to Kyoto from where we did various one-day trips. The final destination was Osaka from where we flew back home. This will be a summary of the entire trip. For more details on the specific locations click on the “read more” link next to it.

Tokyo

Hard to describe Tokyo in a few sentences. If we have to I would say that it is a magical city. We tried to explore it as much as we could and the crowds allowed. The streets were almost all the time full. The metro and train stations were an insane super organized madhouse! Everything just works. Everything is on time and life does not stop for a second. We stayed mainly in the Shinjuku District. That was the most optimal since the hotel was right next to the metro/train station which we utilized for every day trip we went on. / read more

Hakone

After the few day trips, we did from our hotel in Tokyo next on the list was Hakone. We stayed in a traditional Japanese ryokan hotel where the rooms were in their tatami style setup. We wanted to truly experience the culture and we absolutely loved it. The food was amazing and we never needed anything more than what we had in the room. We also had in the hotel one of the many hot springs (also known as onsen) on the island which we truly enjoyed. If you have a chance to experience it do it. It is a very similar experience to Iceland and its Blue Lagoon. / read more

Kyoto

Our second “base” was Kyoto and from here we did a series of day trips to various landmarks and must-see places. The city itself is beautiful and if you stay in a hotel close to the train station you can really visit a ton of places quickly. Everything in Japan is connected via the train line. Or at least almost everything. We visited here the famous Fushimi Inari shrine and many others. We also dressed in traditional Japanese clothing while exploring the city as many Japanese people do. It was tons of fun! / read more

Tsukushima aka Miyajima Island

Miyajima was a day trip from Kyoto and it is 30 mins ferry ride from Hiroshima. We spend most of our time that day in Miyajima and enjoyed the amazing views and food there. Island has so many traditional Japanese buildings, shrines, and little shops that even one day felt hard enough to see everything. / read more

There are many souvenir shops, tiny restaurants, and various attractions. Just offshore, you can see the giant orange Great Torii Gate. The gate marks the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine, built in the 12th century.

Osaka

Another day trip we did from Kyoto made us realize that Osaka needed a lot more time than one day to be truly appreciated. Just exploring the amazing Osaka Castle requires more than half a day so we ended up spending most of ours there and around it :). / read more

Kobe

Our Kobe experience did not start great. The day we visited the city it was raining, windy and cold. We walked under the rain from the train station around the city until our reservation time was up for an authentic Kobe beef experience. After which no one cared about the weather, the wet clothes, or the cold. We thought we had an idea what a high-quality steak was but we were wrong. So … so … wrong. Nothing we have tasted before came close to this. Truly amazing! / read more.

Nara

Our last day trip was to Nara from Kyoto where we spent the majority of the day exploring the Kofuku-Ji Temple and the surrounding areas. This is also where we had the best shrimp udon soup by far. The temple was quite busy but its sheer size and layout make it a great place for pictures. There are deers everywhere in Nara. They are considered the “messengers of the gods” and if you visit Nara Park you can feed them and pet them as much as you like. / read more

Overall Japan was an adventure we will remember for the rest of our lives. We liked it so much that we are planning to visit again the first opportunity we get!

Here is our second video compilation of the trip. We hope you enjoy it:

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We only had a day in our schedule so we did what we thought would be the best time-wise. However, looking back you can easily spend 3-4 days in Kobe just visiting the attractions and eating Kobe beef daily. Some of the attractions we had on our list were: Arima Onsen, Mount Rokko, Sōraku-en gardens, etc. Number one however was as expected the authentic Kobe beef experience.

The Kobe Beef Experience

Plenty of restaurants offered Kobe beef and most of them were fully booked. We got quite lucky to make a reservation online the week before. The best restaurants there are very expensive and booked way in advance. We did not care about the price that much since how many times in your life you would actually eat an authentic Kobe beef? Unless you live in Japan this is a very rare and unique experience.

The restaurant we ended up going to was Royal Mouriya in Kobe. It was everything we hoped for and more. We had our own room with a personal chef who was very polite and dedicated. We had a salad and a soup while the chef was preparing the Kobe beef and the vegetables. Every single part of the main meal was cooked to perfection in front of our eyes. The steak looked like nothing we have ever seen with perfect distribution between the meat and the fat. The so-called marbled texture was like nothing else we have ever tried.

Kobe beef (神戸ビーフ Kōbe bīfu) is Wagyu beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle, raised in Japan’s Hyōgo Prefecture. The meat is a delicacy, valued for its flavor, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef is generally considered one of the three top brands (known as Sandai Wagyu, “the three big beefs”), along with Matsusaka beef and Ōmi beef or Yonezawa beef.

The entire experience was about a few hours and remains the best meat we have ever tasted. We have tried plenty of filet mignon stakes etc but nothing comes close to this. It feels weird that you can point a finger at an entire city like Kobe and what you remember the most is a meal. But everything else just pales in comparison.
If you are going to Kobe make sure you have a reservation to try it. You would thanks us I assure you later.

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