Discovering Japan: Sushi, 7-Eleven, & Don Quijote
- Bailey K. Childers
- May 11
- 8 min read
Updated: May 18
Japan! Where to start? It was overwhelming in the most positive and surprising ways. You could spend months here and never get to everything it has to offer, especially the food. I’ll start here with an overview of our trip, some of my top highlights and tips, and go into more depth in future posts.
Top tips
Take 2 pairs of high quality tennis shoes. I only took 1 because I wanted to save suitcase space; this was a mistake. We averaged 15,000-18,000 steps a day - or according to my fitbit weekly report - 45 miles in one week. You’re constantly going up and down stairs into the metro, temples, stores, etc. and the 15-18k doesn’t really capture the time you are actually spending on your feet browsing stores or standing to admire sights. Midway through our time in Kyoto I started taking advil before bed to help the aching. My shoes were in such bad shape at the end of the trip I threw them out. Being able to rotate shoes would have been a huge help to my feet.
Take the advice of everyone and pack a carry-on size suitcase inside your larger suitcase so you have an extra bag to fill with Japanese souvenirs. If you don’t, you will likely either 1) buy a second suitcase in Japan or 2) come in at exactly 1kg under the baggage weight limit. If you are able to get through a Japan trip without doing one of those two things, please contact me and explain how you avoided all the shopping.
Most hotels have coin laundry so I did laundry halfway through the trip at the Hyatt Place Kyoto; the laundry machines were quite busy but I was waking up early from jet lag and able to get the 6am slot.
To save your feet, just use Uber sometimes. A lot of travel forums warned about how expensive cabs were in Japan, but this wasn’t my experience. To/from Haneda Airport was about $85 and the cabs we took in Tokyo and Kyoto averaged $12-15.
Download and use the smartEX app for the bullet trains (Shinkansen). You can assign IC cards like Suica or Passmo to the bullet train tickets in the EX app and then use the IC physical card or app on your phone to swipe through ticket gates.
Google maps is a wonder. Make sure you have a data plan so you can use Google Maps to help you navigate the vast train, subway, and bus network.
Jet lag for me on this trip was brutal. It probably took me a week to fully adjust. I have no solution for this other than make sure you include hotel breakfast when you book so you have something to do when you wake up at 5am.
The egg salad sandwich at 7-Eleven and Family Mart are as good as everyone says. Many nights we were exhausted (see tip one) and got an egg salad sando, drink, and dessert from 7-Eleven and it was a $4.85 dinner.
Japanese toilets are amazing. Go to as many bathrooms as possible to enjoy the variety and crazy bathroom signs.
If you can avoid shopping (see tip two) you could do Japan very cheaply. I did not.
Thoughts on eating in Japan
There is so much good food, including at the 7-Eleven and Family Mart. I would opt to try new places rather than making return trips to places we ate, even though some were amazing. Exceptions are Sushi Sagane in Tokyo, Sakura Burger in Nara, and the Izakaya we found in Kyoto. In the itinerary below, I linked to restaurants worth a visit if they’re convenient for you when you go.
Most places in Japan are TINY. One of our omakase restaurants had 6 seats. If there are places you feel you must go, make reservations ahead of time. Otherwise, we had good luck walking into places. You do have to search sometimes because places are small and fill up.
Google maps/reviews was very helpful to us in locating good spots to go like the Izakaya we found in Kyoto that literally translates to Enjoy Food. A lot of bars and restaurants are not on the ground level in the busier sections of Tokyo, so make sure to look up to see all of your options.
Two Weeks in Japan: Our Itinerary
Monday, April 21: depart USA
Tuesday, April 22: arrived Tokyo. Attempted to eat at Ramen Street in Tokyo station (failed) and ate egg salad sando from 7-Eleven instead. First of many.
Wednesday, April 23: Hotel served sashimi at breakfast, cementing my love for Japan on day 1. Visited Senso-ji shrine, “kitchen street” shopping, wanted to go to Euno Park but it was raining so we went to Wendy’s for soy & butter fries instead, ate a second meal at Muji cafeteria, designed our own bags at Uniqlo, visited some stores in Ginza, drink at Bar Four Seasons, omakase dinner at Kyubey Okura Hotel branch, drink at RC Gate Pub below our hotel.
Thursday, April 24: Tsukiji Fish Market tour, Kyukyodo stationery store, Ginza beer hall, TeamLab Borderless, nap, dinner at Hotel Ryumeikan.
Friday, April 25: Tokyo National Museum, Euno Park, Tsujita Ramen Nihonbashi, bullet train to Kyoto, dinner at our Ryokan Nanzenji Sando Kikusui.
Saturday, April 26: Breakfast at Ryokan, walked to Tenjuan Temple gardens, Nanzen-ji temple, Eikan-do Temple, moved to Hyatt Place Kyoto, lunch at Mr. Maurice’s, bus to Gion area, Yasaka Shrine, Gion Corner show, drink at Gion Finlandia bar, cab back to hotel.
Sunday, April 27: Hired a driver to take us to major Kyoto sites. 7.5 hour tour that included Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Tofuku-ji Temple, Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion), Kinkaju-ji (Golden Pavilion), Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji Temple gardens. Dinner at tiny mom & pop Izakaya near the Hyatt Place Kyoto.
Monday, April 28: Train to Nara, tourist bus to Nara Park, fed deer, Todai-Ji to see Great Buddha, Nigatsu-do, Kasuga Taisha shrine, lunch at Sakura Burger, train back to Kyoto, walked through Nishiki Market, Teramachi shopping street, first visits to Loft and Don Quijote. A separate post on shopping will be devoted to these.
Tuesday, April 29: Train to Osaka for World Expo 2025. Osaka street food tour with Ninja Food Tours. Train back to Kyoto.
Wednesday, April 30: Bullet train to Hiroshima, tourist bus to Atomic Bomb Dome, Memorial Peace Park & Museum, food hall lunch, tourist ferry to Miyajima, walked to shrine that floats during high tide, tried Momiji Manju snacks, regular ferry back to mainland, street car to train station, 7-Eleven for dinner, bullet train back to Kyoto.
Thursday, May 1: Tea room Toka for traditional tea experience, shopping in boutique Kyoto shops, Sushiro revolving sushi for lunch, hours of shopping, Apero bar, cab back to hotel, Family Mart for dinner.
Friday, May 2: Bullet train back to Tokyo, cab to Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, yakatori (food on sticks) lunch, leg/foot focused massage at Arona Spa (the thing I said about how bad my feet hurt was serious), omakase at Sushi Sagane, Rockaholic bar.
Saturday, May 3: Breakfast at McDonalds, Meiji-jingu shrine, @cosme shopping (I may dedicate an entire post to this store), Takashita shopping street, passed a pig cafe, British India Cafe 1930 for lunch at top of “Cat Street,” shopped all the way to the end of Cat Street, coffee break at City Shop, visit to Tower Records Shibuya, Shibuya Crossing and famous dog statue, dinner at Yakiniku Motoyama, walk through Golden Gai but all the bars were packed, Takopippi sports bar.
Saturday, May 4: Breakfast at McDonalds (stop with your judging), found a random flea market at Hanazono Shrine (I don’t know if this is a regular thing, but it was wonderful I found the last few items I was looking for like woodblock prints and pottery), stopped in Disney Store for Star Wars Day, May the 4th be with you, $15 lunch at Michelin starred Ramen Matsui (amazing ramen, 30min time limit to eat), cab to Yayoi Kusama Museum, coffee at nearby Cafe Soseki, cab back to hotel, Kaiten Sushi Hibari revolving sushi for dinner, Don Quijote Shinjuku.
Monday, May 5: 7-Eleven egg salad sando for breakfast, final shopping, COOKIN’ for pizza lunch, cab to Haneda airport, one more egg salad sando at the 7-Eleven Haneda airport.
Favorites
Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo - was close to Tokyo Station, rooms were affordable enough we each got our own room, served sashimi at breakfast, had a very good dinner service, nice British pub at street level, very quiet. This area is incredibly convenient to get anywhere else you want to in Tokyo or for bullet trains to other parts of Japan. I absolutely loved this hotel and will only stay here on future trips to Tokyo.
Hyatt Place Kyoto - although the staff left a bit to be desired when it came to being helpful at all, the room was large, breakfast was good but repetitive, and I really like the quieter part of town the hotel was in. It was sitting above a subway station that was 4 stops from Kyoto station, making it easy to do our day trips too. An Izakaya we found 2 blocks away was one of my favorite meals of the trip.
TeamLab Borderless - we had a really wonderful time at this museum. It’s an interactive, always changing art museum and you have to search for rooms. These are worth the search as they were some of the coolest installations.
Tea Room Toka - what a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful experience. They have a tiny 6-person tea room. You can choose 2 teas and 2 snacks. I marveled at the precision and care given to the tea service. I had a ton of questions about the different pieces they were using and they were patient in their explanations. The teas were diverse and lovely.
Osaka Street Food Tour with Ninja Food Tours - This tour took us to an Izakaya, octopus ball stand, and a grill in the middle of the table restaurant for Nara and Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. The tour came with plenty of food and drinks and was a great introduction to Osaka.
Tokyo National Museum - worth it just for the museum shop.
Best Kyoto Temples
Things I would do differently in Tokyo
You don’t need a guided tour of the Tsukiji Fish Market. It’s small enough that you could do self-guided and most of the vendors have food out for you to buy/try. Our tour also leaned a bit too heavily on pushing us to stalls to shop, rather than focusing on trying foods. Do this one on your own.
We did 3 nights in Shinjuku when we got back to Tokyo after Kyoto - I would not stay in the Shinjuku area again. It’s definitely worth a visit for shopping and bars, but stay somewhere else.
In Golden Gai the bars are so tiny it’s hard for me to even describe how tiny they are. They were full when we walked through but I don’t think I would have enjoyed it even if we had gotten in. I had fun at the other bars I found in Shinjuku, so probably unpopular opinion here, but you could skip Golden Gai.
If you can hold yourself back, save your purchasing until your final days. Bags have to go overhead on the bullet trains, even large bags you would normally check on a flight, and they get heavy. Many more shopping tips to come in a separate post.
Things I would do differently in Kyoto
Even though our Ryokan was incredibly nice, I would skip that in future because it’s so expensive ($1200/night). The experience wasn’t worth that to me and I could have spent my half of the Ryokan cost buying another knife or more pottery.
Skip the Gion Corner show - wasn’t a great show and the audience was super annoying.
Our guided tour of Kyoto day was very ambitious and I wish we had more time at a few of the temples and shrines. No way to solve this other than staying longer in Kyoto or doing fewer sites, and it’s hard for me to say which site I would have cut. Probably the Golden Pavilion because it was crazy crowded and the Silver Pavilion was similar and much nicer.
The popular temples get very crowded so if you’re willing to get up early, it would be worth it. Especially at Fushimi Inari-Taisha which is open 24 hours. Take advantage of the jet lag early wakeups!
I absolutely loved Japan and hope I can get back soon to see more.
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