Japan take 2

sartoric · 2025-11-25T00:28:53Z

It was May 2024 when we took our second trip to Japan.

Note, I had a break from the EG community due to slow internet and low patience at our previous house. We’ve moved, I’m back.
The trip was 18 months ago, so my memory may be hazy, chime in and correct me if you know better.

The occasion was our 30 year anniversary and I made the decision to go about 3 weeks prior to the date. Because of this I engaged a travel agent friend to organise the trip, giving her broad parameters and a budget. She spent a lot of the budget on high end hotels which I wouldn’t normally choose, and a 5 day JR pass for our various Shinkansen rides.

The trip started in Tokyo, then to Hakone for a stay in a traditional ryokan (the anniversary), then on to Kyoto and a night in Hiroshima.
All in it was 11 days and we saw two new places and revisited two, being Tokyo and Kyoto.

We stayed in luxury in Tokyo, the Keiko Plaza Hotel. It is close to the ginormous Shinjuku Station, wherein we got lost numerous times, and directly opposite the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. This building has a nightly light show and we had prime viewing from our spacious 27th floor room. It also has a free observation deck with views over Tokyo all the way to Mt Fuji.

We had a daytime flight from the east coast of Australia, arriving at Narita late afternoon. There’s only a 2 hour time difference, so we hit the ground running and went out to snack our way around the area. It was a bustling and packed with dining choices.

This is basically step out of the hotel and here you are.