Travel
He said, she said: Was a first-time holiday to Japan a hit for both husband and wife?
He was super keen to go, she was ‘interested enough’… So did Japan turn on a great holiday for both our travellers?
By Leonie Jarrett and Andrew Jarrett
Andrew had long wanted to tour Japan, having previously been on a couple of brief business trips. Leonie was interested but not desperate.
“Japan has been on and off Leonie and my travel bucket list for years. We’d been talking about going but, for various reasons, other destinations would jump in at the last minute and bump Japan down our travel list,” explains Andrew. “Finally, in a post-Covid world, an opportunity came to visit Japan and we grabbed it with both hands.”
For their 13-day first trip to Japan, they decided to stay only in Tokyo and Kyoto and to use Kyoto as a base to visit Osaka, Hiroshima and Nara. “We were lucky to travel in April and found the spring weather warm and perfect for sight-seeing,” says Leonie.
To get around the pair bought a Japan Rail Pass (also known as a JR Pass) before leaving Australia and so used the super-efficient train network to travel between cities. They also used the subway system in each city, but mostly walked to get around.
So, what were your first impressions?
Andrew
Unlike the great cities of Europe like London, Paris and Rome, that are literally built around hordes of tourists, Tokyo is not. In fact, I didn't find Japan to be particularly focused on foreign tourists at all, which for me was actually part of its charm and appeal.
From the moment we arrived until the moment we left I felt we got a true insight into genuine modern Japanese culture. I never felt that Japan attempted to dress up or be something that it’s not in order to impress or cater to tourists. Japan is who it is and as a visitor you need to embrace the uniqueness of the Japanese way of life. Such raw authenticity was my first impression and my strongest take away from my visit.
Leonie
I’m not sure I’ve been anywhere else where you feel like you are crossing into different time periods depending where you are. In Tokyo, for instance, some of Ginza could be New York City or a European city or the Paris end of Collins Street in Melbourne… and then in contrast you have ancient “old Japan” juxtaposed against futuristic anime Japan.
The people were unfailingly polite and the traffic somehow flowed without a car horn being used.
Where did you stay?
Andrew
As it was our first ‘real’ visit to Japan and we weren’t sure how we’d deal with the inevitable culture shock, we opted to stay in western-brand hotels. These hotels afforded some level of comforting familiarity in a country that is very different to Australia (where we're from). We knew that the room and food options at these hotels would offer some respite from the ‘foreignness’ of Japan should we need to retreat.
As it turned out, an escape sanctuary wasn’t required and we won’t exclusively seek out western hotels on our next visit to Japan.
Leonie
We chose two “brand” hotels, the Mercure Tokyo Ginza and the Mercure Kyoto Station as we wanted a slighter bigger hotel room and a western option for breakfast. As I type those words, I sound old and staid but I am just being honest. I was happy with both hotels, especially the central locations. The rooms were still pretty small though!
Basing ourselves in Kyoto was an unexpected stroke of genius! You can be in Osaka by bullet train in 15 minutes, Nara in 30 minutes and Hiroshima in 2 hours. We stayed walking distance from Kyoto Train Station (although the subway system is excellent anyway) and visited all three cities without having to haul our luggage and waste time checking in and out of hotels. Even Tokyo is only a 2 ½ hour fast train trip away, so we were able to leave Kyoto in the afternoon, train to Tokyo and fly home to Melbourne that same night.
What did you think of the food?
Andrew
If I’m honest, I found the food to be a bit hit and miss. I’m a big teppanyaki fan in Australia and I probably had unrealistic expectations that every meal would be comparable to this. The fact is that the vast majority of restaurants we found and ate at in Tokyo and Kyoto were very small, authentic, traditional, family-run restaurants primarily servicing locals and catering to the local palate.
Food on the whole was inexpensive and it was simply a matter of wading through the menu (often with Google Translate) to make sure that we weren’t ordering "horse mane" or some other type of offal in our yakitori (grilled meat skewers).
Having said that, I think I probably tasted the best steak of my life in Japan which was from a pretty unassuming restaurant in the station area of Kyoto. This miso wagyu beef melted in my mouth and was the food highlight of the trip for me. Although a degustation lunch we had in an historic building in Kyoto at a Michelin restaurant in Kyoto, MOTOÏ, was a close second.
Leonie
People rave about the food in Japan. We probably should have done more research instead of “winging it.” We seemed to find a lot of dishes that weren’t quite to our taste – many of them featuring horse meat! Thank goodness for English translations on menus and also for Google Translate.
We did have some real highlights though. My favourites were the mouthwatering wagyu steak and the always-delicious gyoza dumplings.
We had also heard that Kyoto has a lot of Michelin starred restaurants so we pre-booked lunch at MOTOÏ. It was half the price of dinner and it was amazing – all 10 courses of it. There’s a hot tip for you – book lunch at special restaurants as the prices are so much cheaper than the same meal in the evening.
Overall, I thought the food was great value – much cheaper than I expected. I was also stunned at how many Starbucks outlets there were and how popular they were. I wasn’t expecting that.
What did you most enjoy?
Andrew
There were so many more castles and temples than I had imagined. Interesting history, beautiful, serene gardens and traditional architecture were the highlights for me. Everyone goes batty over the annual cherry blossom bloom and, although we missed the bloom in Tokyo and Kyoto, we were lucky enough to see the tail end at higher altitudes around Mt Fuji where big crowds were still going gaga!
Mt Fuji was something I really wanted to see and we organised a day trip to do so. The problem is that Mt Fuji is only clearly visible through the clouds somewhere between 60-90 days a year. Sadly for us, we didn’t get a proper view on our visit (except for a brief glimpse from the moving bus). This would be my warning for others – realistically set your expectations if viewing Mt Fuji is important to you. Research the best days to go and give yourself plenty of time.
As a fun aside, I would highly recommend the sumo exhibition in Tokyo. Fun and informative, the training session was impressive and we got a great photo at the end of the session with the giant sumo wrestlers in their traditional costumes.
Leonie
I loved the ancient temples and gardens. I loved feeding the deer in Nara Park and I loved wandering between different time periods in Tokyo and Kyoto (that’s how it felt anyway).
I was very keen to visit Hiroshima and I am glad that I saw the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum but a warning that the museum is deliberately graphic and I found that disturbing. Definitely important to see though.
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What were your highlights?
Andrew
One of my highlights was getting to experience the fantastic Japan Rail. For me, it was the most impressive rail system I have ever experienced anywhere in the world. Before arriving, I had big expectations but the precision of the rail system and the pride in which Japan Rail staff have in providing such a high level of service exceeded my expectations.
Time and time again, we would see the fast trains pull into the platform precisely on time with the train drivers sitting atop their magnificent, streamlined engines in cockpits that reminded me of fighter plane cockpits.
Often, the bane of train travellers is being allocated a seat facing backwards to the direction the train is heading. Not in Japan – the staff rotate each seat around so that all seats in the carriage face forward.
I also loved the train stations and the huge array of onboard food and beverage options. The pre-packaged bento boxes were exquisitely displayed and proved irresistible. We enjoyed them on multiple journeys.
Leonie
Everything in Japan was so well ordered and clean (despite there being no rubbish bins visible anywhere). The public toilets were pristine, even at the train station.
Speaking of which, as Andrew says, the trains were amazing! There were profuse apologies in Japanese and English if a train was running even a minute late.
Our kids organised a ramen cooking class in Kyoto for us which was really fun.
We also had lunch and watched a sumo demonstration in Tokyo. That was also a lot of fun. It was interesting too as we learnt about the life of a Sumo wrestler.
What are your lasting impressions?
Andrew
My lasting impression of Japan is that, even today, it remains uniquely Japanese, almost defiantly resisting the pull of westernism.
For me, the trip was a ‘rare fly on the wall’ experience. I felt I had the privilege of seeing and experiencing how real Japanese people live, rather than being served up a version of a country’s culture that they think tourists want to see.
Leonie
Beautiful and serene temples, palaces and gardens. Orderliness despite hordes of (very polite) people. Bullet trains and subways that ran like clockwork!
Anything you would do differently?
Andrew
I wouldn’t change a thing, but I look forward to going back and seeing a lot more. This trip just scratched the surface for me.
Leonie
Except for the tour to see Mt Fuji, we travelled independently and I feel we missed out on cultural and historical information along the way. So I would like to do a tour (either a land trip or a cruise) next time we go to Japan. I think that we would have a better foodie experience that way too.
Leonie and Andrew’s trip to Japan was entirely self-funded.
About Andrew and Leonie
Married for 32 years, Andrew and Leonie are huge travellers with so much more to see.
Andrew is 56 and before retiring he trained in marketing and owned several businesses. His mission for the rest of his life is to have fun and catch as many fish as he can!
Leonie is 56 and semi-retired. She trained in law and has also owned several businesses during her working life. Her mission for the rest of her life is to write another chapter – she’s just not sure what that is yet.
Andrew and Leonie played tennis together as teenagers and have been married for 32 years. They have four grown children and two furbaby Golden Retrievers. They’ve travelled to all seven continents and over 50 countries. Their mission for the rest of their life is to make the most of every day and travel until they get tired of it!
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