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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Itsukushima (厳島) is an island in the western part of the Inland Sea of Japan, located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay. It is popularly known as Miyajima (宮島), which in Japanese means “Shrine Island”. The island is one of Hayashi Gahō’s Three Views of Japan specified in 1643. Itsukushima is part of the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Getting There

Getting to the island is quite easy and convenient from Hiroshima Bay. In a typical organized way, you get in a line waiting for the ferry to arrive. You are on a boat for no more than than 35 minutes. Everything is very quick and nicely setup so you do not waste time. In less than an hour, you can be on the island ready to explore.

Itsukushima shrine

The “floating” tori gate that welcomes you on the island is part of the Itsukushima shrine and probably one of the most famous tori gates worldwide. The shrine is quite popular partially due to the great combination of scenery and location. Have in mind that the island is overall quite busy and there were lines to get inside of the shrine. We walked around it and got as close as possible without getting wet to the Torri gate. It was low tide.

The shrine looked absolutely beautiful from the outside and if we were not short on time we would have gone inside. At the time we were there however it was quite busy and we did not want to spend much time waiting. We tried the local cuisine (for which also you had to wait in most of the places) and just enjoyed exploring the areas around the shrine. It turns out it has tons of history and religious significance which we did not know at the time. There were boats full of people passing through the tori gate almost every hour.

The shrine complex itself consists of two main buildings: the Honsha shrine and the Sessha Marodo-jinja, as well as 17 other different buildings and structures that help to distinguish it. The complex is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and six of its buildings and possessions have been designated by the Japanese government as National Treasures.

The temple was designed and built to look like it is floating on the water. As a matter of fact, it would have been if we did not have a low tide when we were visiting. Overall a great looking attraction and cultural treasure which we highly recommend. If we had at least a day more to spend at the island we would have visited it in combination with the Toyokuni Shrine.

Toyokuni Shrine

Another shrine that made a great impression on us was the Toyokuni Shrine. You can see it from the ferry when arriving at the island with its five stories high pagoda (Gojunoto). The temple is built 500 years ago and is dedicated to the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (one of the three unifiers of Japan in the 16th century).

The Streets

The streets around the island really made an impression on us. The ancient temples on one side and the cherry blossoms on the other. Plenty of small cozy boutique/souvenir shops and restaurants. The deers who were running around not bothered by the people at all were the last ingredient to make this place one of our absolute favorites. Just make sure you protect your belongings from them. They ate almost half of ours! 🙂

As a matter of fact, we have it actually documented in our Japan trip video where the deer started eating various papers from our bag while we were enjoying the views. It did not bother to stop ever after we repeatedly tried / “asked” hereto. Pay attention and enjoy this beautiful island. We surely miss it already!

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