12 Things We Loved About Japan

We blasted through Japan traveling from Osaka to Takayama to Tokyo. While there is a nearly unlimited list of things to do and sights to see in Japan, here is what we did in the 9 days we had.

Osaka

1. Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. Our friends recommended we make the aquarium a must visit and we are so happy that we did! We spent hours here admiring the “Pacific Ocean” center aquarium which holds 5,400 tons of water and houses two whale sharks! We started on the 8th floor and spiraled our way down to the 4th floor getting different views of all the fish the entire time. Afterwards, we pet stingrays and watched the sea lions play. For 2,300 yen (~$20 USD), this was well worth the stop!

2. Beef Sukiyaki (Or, just food in general). Our Thanksgiving dinner was spent eating beef sukiyaki. Another one of our non-traditional modifications that we’ve made along this adventure. If we had planned ahead, we could have made a reservation to have a turkey dinner, but why not try something new? We also tried some sweet treats from a market and learned how to order our food from a ticket machine. Sometimes we lucked out and there were English instructions, but there were plenty of times we closed our eyes and hoped for the best. It always worked out! 

3. Dotonbori Market. This outdoor market was sensory overload. After visiting the Shilin Night Market in Taipei I thought we were prepared for something like this, but the volume of people, food, lights and smells was a lot to take in. Of course we went back every night we were in Osaka to taste our way through the market especially after trying the Melon Pan Ice Cream that’s sold in the green truck. Oh, and how can I forget the Takoyaki!

Takayama

4. Free Outdoor Foot Baths. While we were up in the mountains in Takayama, it was quite chilly. I was a little disappointed to see snow flurries because we definitely didn’t pack for cold weather! We were happy to find a couple of free hot spring foot baths located throughout the town that are shown on the tourist map.



5. Dinner at Kyoya. Recommended to us by our hostel, we cooked our own meal on a charcoal grill in the middle of our table, and had to sit cross legged on the floor. We loved this experience cooking our own food while trying the local hida beef. We had a reservation - this place was phenomenal.

6. Explore the Town on Foot. We mainly just walked around and checked out the morning market and a park with some hiking trails. We had a matcha and red bean paste bun and a hida beef with minced veggies bun for lunch on the street at a little market shop. Both are recommended!

Tokyo

7. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It’s a mix of a Japanese garden, a French garden with a beautiful rose garden and an English landscape garden with huge sycamore trees. We spent several hours here one afternoon where we tried matcha tea and lounged in the grass enjoying a bit of quiet.

8. Ramen Jiro. You know we love our food, but this was seriously the best bowl of noodles we had the entire time in Asia. The constant line out the door was a good indicator. We ate it so fast I never took a photo. Guess you'll have to try it for yourself!

9. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings. A free 360 degree view of Tokyo out of two different buildings. We went up the observation decks on the 45th floor two times (once during the day and once at night) but we really enjoyed the night view!



10. Meiji Jingu Garden. While in this garden, we also visited the Meiji Shrine. We found a great walking path throughout this area where locals seemed to step away from the craziness of the city for some peace and quiet.

11. Tsukiji Fish Market. I’m not a fan of fish if you’ve learned by now, but I still had a lot of fun walking around this market!



12. Toyota Mega Web. This was one of Ricardo’s picks, and I was honestly not looking forward to walking around a car museum/showroom, but this was so much fun as you can see from our photos :) 

We had a fantastic blur of a time in Japan, and I'm sure I'm leaving a lot of details out, but you get the idea! We left Japan at the end of November on a wonderful business class flight (for free of course) and landed in Mexico City many, many hours later...