Two weeks in Japan: Tokyo Disney, Kyoto and Nara

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Lucy and I have just come back from two weeks in Japan, travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto and back, with Disney, deer, temples and a lot of food along the way. Our hotels went up a star every time we moved: two, three, four, then five. The four-star one in Kyoto turned out to be our favourite.

We started at ibis Styles Tokyo Bay, which was two stars when we stayed. The room was tiny, but comfortable, and we were pretty happy with it. We'd chosen it for Disney, and there was a bus to take us to and from the parks. We ended up walking instead so we could stop at the convenience stores along the way.

Three days at Disney#

We spent two days at Tokyo DisneySea, with a day at Tokyo Disneyland in between. Tokyo was our third Disney resort, after Paris and Walt Disney World in Florida, so we were halfway to checking them all off.

We also managed to meet up with our friend David at Tokyo Disney. He was in Japan on a work trip and happened to be at the park on the same day as us. What a coincidence.

DisneySea gave us canals and gondolas, the colourful towers of Mermaid Lagoon, the Indiana Jones temple and the imposing hotel of Tower of Terror. Walking between them was part of the day: there was always another waterfront or elaborate building to stop beside.

We also made it into Fantasy Springs, which had opened that June. The characters carved into the rocks were an early stop, and we ate at the Snuggly Duckling, the tavern from Tangled. There were plant-based burgers and Rapunzel's Magical Milk Tea to go with the setting.

At Disneyland we stopped at the Monsters, Inc. desk and took the obligatory castle photo, this time with Lucy in her pink Mickey hat, complete with Mickey Mouse ears. We stayed into the evening, when the castle lit up blue and purple and the parade came through. Genie was a mass of coloured lights; Cinderella's carriage looked as though it had been drawn in white light against the dark.

We thought the merchandise was really good quality, and cheaper than at the other Disney parks we'd visited. We bought quite a bit, including matching Tokyo Disney T-shirts that are now our favourites.

We also tried the Little Green Dumplings shaped like the Toy Story aliens, ordering them on both DisneySea days alongside Mickey-shaped cinnamon churros.

Tokyo: sushi, fortunes and Asakusa after dark#

Our next base was HOTEL MYSTAYS Ueno East, taking us up to three stars. There was a slight improvement in amenities, but the room was really, really small. It was probably our least favourite hotel of the trip. We'd mainly picked it for the location: close to the sights we wanted to see, with plenty of stations and transport options for getting around.

We spent a morning at Ueno Zoo, watching the elephants resting together and a tiger walking through the water, then found ourselves at a sushi counter with plates steadily stacking up in front of us. Food arrived along the track beside the seats.

Later we walked along the shopping street in Asakusa to Sensō-ji. It was busy all the way up to the red gates. We both had a go at drawing a fortune from the numbered drawers. Lucy got the best possible fortune, which felt like a very lucky draw.

The following day brought another sort of food delivery: individual wooden booths, a tablet to order from, and dishes arriving on the little track beside us. We had the partition between our seats open, and finished with a large bowl of shaved ice.

That evening we had a drink looking out over the city, then went back through Asakusa. With the shops closed, the painted shutters along the street became much easier to see. The huge red lantern at Kaminarimon was lit, and we could walk through without the afternoon crowds.

The convenience-store debate#

Some of our favourite stops in Japan were the convenience stores. We loved the jingles, and the food and drink were incredibly good for how little they cost. Melon soda, Famichiki and burnt pasta are all firmly part of the holiday memories.

We were constantly debating which convenience store deserved the crown. I think FamilyMart had my vote at the time, while Lucy preferred Lawson. We both loved Seven Eleven too, so there was no real loser.

Kyoto: markets, bamboo and the Golden Pavilion#

We took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and checked into Hotel Grand Bach Kyoto Select, our four-star stop. It had much more character and charm, with a music theme running through it. The name was a bit of a clue.

After the first two rooms, having enough space to move around without feeling cramped was lovely. It wasn't huge; it was just a comfortable size. Everyone was friendly, check-in and check-out were quick, and everything felt clean, modern and well thought out.

There were little touches that made staying there easy. We had vouchers for free drinks from a machine, and downstairs there were locks a bit like bike locks for securing luggage. We could leave things safely and come back for them without having to find someone at reception each time.

Kyoto was also our base for days out to Nara and Osaka. We started with a wander through Nishiki Market and a stop for a snack.

We fitted a lot into our first full day in Kyoto. We began at Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, with blue sky overhead and the building reflected in the pond. From there we went to Arashiyama and walked through the bamboo grove. Along the main path we were among plenty of other visitors; looking up, there were just the tall stems and the light coming through the leaves.

Down by the river, the view opened out to the bridge and wooded hills. We would be back on the other side later in the week, up at the monkey park.

We went on to Fushimi Inari and walked beneath the rows of orange torii gates.

By late afternoon we were at Kiyomizu-dera, looking across Kyoto as the sun dropped towards the hills.

Afterwards we walked through the streets around Yasaka Pagoda in the evening light.

An onsen in Arashiyama#

During our stay in Kyoto, I also went to an onsen near the bamboo grove in Arashiyama. It was incredible, and I think it only cost about ¥1,000 for admission, including a souvenir towel.

Getting in took a bit of figuring out. The ticket machine was entirely in Japanese, and an older lady helped me work out how to buy admission and a towel. Once inside, it took me a moment to find my way around. I'd already read up on the bathing etiquette, including washing thoroughly before getting into the water, so at least I knew what to do there.

There was a net for scooping bugs out of the water, and I noticed another bather using it whenever one landed. When I spotted a bug, I did the same and got a few approving nods. I felt I'd won them over.

Feeding the deer in Nara#

Feeding the deer in Nara was one of my favourite experiences of the trip. There were ladies selling deer biscuits nearby, and the idea was to bow to a deer, have it bow back, then give it a biscuit as a reward.

The deer had their own ideas about how quickly the biscuits should be handed over. As soon as Lucy had some, they were after her. They seemed to have her pegged immediately as a soft touch, and absolutely hounded her. We found it hilarious, but the biscuits didn't last long. We ended up buying more about four or five times before we got the bowing moment we'd been hoping for.

We saw a few tourists being a bit unkind or doing odd things around the deer, so we tried to be gentle with them. Once we managed the bow, bow back and biscuit exchange, it was incredible. There were quieter moments too, sitting beside a deer in the shade while the others wandered through the park.

We continued to Tōdai-ji and its Great Buddha Hall. The building is enormous even before you go inside; then you stand beneath the seated Buddha and look up at the gold details around it.

Back in Kyoto that afternoon, we visited the Botanical Gardens. We walked past the ponds and into the conservatory, with water lilies beneath the glass, before spending some time beside the river. It made a gentle finish to a morning spent being pursued for deer food.

Osaka, then back to Arashiyama#

Our day in Osaka started at the castle, under much greyer skies and with the umbrella out. There was another meal arriving on a little train, and we spent the evening among the illuminated signs around Umeda.

We also caught up with JT, a friend I went to school with who now lives in Japan. We saw him once in Kyoto and again in Osaka.

The next morning we returned to Arashiyama, this time for the monkey park. Up at the top, monkeys sat on the roof and moved around the trees, with Kyoto spread out below.

We both fed them from inside the hut, passing food through the wire while they reached in from outside. Lucy held her hand out flat, and a monkey took the food straight from it. I had a go too, with a small hand coming through the mesh towards mine.

We spent the afternoon at Nijō Castle, starting at the ornate black-and-gold gate and walking through the gardens.

Before leaving Kyoto, we fitted in a meal with an omelette over rice and a stop for matcha. Then it was back on the train to Tokyo for the final hotel of the trip.

Five stars back in Tokyo#

The New Otani was a huge step up, including in price: it cost more than twice as much as any of the other hotels. We arrived on public transport and had to walk up a very steep driveway. It seemed better suited to arriving in a fancy car than on foot.

The room was enormous, and even the bed felt about three times the size of the others we'd had in Japan. The hotel had its own Japanese garden, too. It was really good, but we didn't need all that extra space or all the extras. Compared with Grand Bach, it felt more old-fashioned and a little worn in places.

It also wasn't as close to the places we wanted to visit. Our way in and out took us through the garden, which was beautiful but added to the walk. We could appreciate the five-star hotel and still prefer the simpler, more modern four-star one.

Making noodles in Yokohama, then on to Kamakura#

We went to the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. We began among the walls of noodle packets, then made our own cups: decorating the outside, choosing the ingredients and watching them go through the sealing and wrapping machines.

The staff held up our two cups so we could see what was going into them. Afterwards we pumped up the inflatable bags that protected them, complete with a cord to carry them over a shoulder. I left with a personalised cup of instant noodles hanging at my side.

From Yokohama we went on to Kamakura. The Great Buddha here sits out in the open, against the trees and sky. We went inside it too, looking up into the bronze shell and seeing the construction from the other side.

At Hasedera we walked past the rows of small stone figures and up to the view over the town towards the sea. We finished down on the beach. The sun had come out, people were in the shallows, and we took a photo together with the coast behind us before returning to Tokyo.

The garden below, Tokyo above#

We spent some time in the New Otani garden before heading into Shibuya, stopping by the red arched bridge and waterfall. With the hotel buildings rising behind the trees, it was quite a setting to have on our doorstep.

Then we went from crossing Shibuya at street level to looking down on it from Shibuya Sky. From up there the crossing becomes a small set of white lines, surrounded by buildings that keep going in every direction. We had blue sky and long streaks of cloud above us.

Back down in Shibuya, we stopped at the Pokémon Center, where Mewtwo stood in its glowing tank, and at the Hachikō statue outside the station. By evening we were in Shinjuku, beneath the bright signs and the Godzilla head peering over the buildings.

By the end we'd worked our way from two stars to five, but Grand Bach was the hotel we liked best. Enough space, a bit of character, friendly people and little things that made coming and going easy. That suited us perfectly.