Here’s the travel diary of our Japan October 2019 trip. As promised, on this Japan Travel Guide we’re going to share COMPLETE TIPS about JR Pass: How to use JR Pass? What is Reserved & Non Reserved Seat of Shinkansen? How to maximize the use of JR Pass? Plus detailed ITINERARY of Fukuoka, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Sanrio Harmonyland, Huis Ten Bosch Nagasaki, Osaka, Nagoya, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Hitachi National Seaside Park, & Tokyo: where to go, what do do, what & where to eat, how to go there.

Since our trip is long, we decided to divide blogpost about this trip into 2 parts:
Previous post is Part 1 (Day 1 – 6): JR Pass Tips + Itinerary Fukuoka, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Sanrio Harmonyland, Huis Ten Bosch Nagasaki, Osaka
This blogpost is Part 2 (Day 7 – 12): Itinerary Nagoya, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Hitachi National Seaside Park, & Tokyo

Please note that in this blogpost we feature some of Klook’s products that we have tried, tested and approved by us, we only share products or activities that we think worth recommending based on our experiences 🙂

From Fukuoka to Tokyo, our trip was 12 days in total, here’s the main list:
Day 1: Fukuoka
Day 2: Miyajima Island & Hiroshima
Day 3: Sanrio Harmonyland & night stroll at Fukuoka
Day 4: Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki
Day 5: Fukuoka – Osaka
Day 6: Universal Studios Japan, Osaka
Day 7: Nagoya
Day 8: Shirakawa-go & Takayama village
Day 9: Nagoya – Tokyo
Day 10: Tokyo
Day 11: Hitachi National Seaside Park
Day 12: Tokyo, flight back to Jakarta

For Part 1 from Day 1 to Day 6, here’s the link https://anakjajan.com/2019/12/01/japan-jr-pass-tips-itinerary-fukuoka-miyajima-hiroshima-nagasaki-osaka/

Here’s the complete itinerary from Day 7 to Day 12.

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DAY 7 – NAGOYA

08.30 Check-out Hotel, proceed to Shin-Osaka Station
09.16 – 10.25 Shin-Osaka Station to Nagoya Station (by Shinkansen)
10.45 Drop luggage at hotel
11.00 – 12.00 Explore Shikemichi & Endoji Shopping Street
12.00 – 13.30 Lunch at Maruya Honten Meikeiten
14.00 – 18.00 Explore Nabana no Sato
19.00 Shopping at Sakae Street, Nagoya
20.00 Tebasaki dinner at Yamachan/ Furaibo, Nagoya

Next destination is Nagoya. From Osaka to Nagoya, it takes 1hour of shinkansen ride.

WHERE TO STAY IN NAGOYA?
We stayed at Richmond Hotel Nagoya Shinkansenguchi, located around 700m from Nagoya Shinkansen Station. Our hotel was really nice, the room was bright with great room layout and complete amenities, breakfast was also delicious with many local specialty dishes.

MARUYA HONTEN MEIKEITEN
Our favorite dish UNAGI HITSUMABUSHI is originated from Nagoya, of course we couldn’t miss the chance to try it. One of the popular restaurants is called Maruya Honten Meikeiten, one of their outlet is located in Nagoya Station (near McD) so it’s easier to visit.

Unlike other unagi dishes, Unagi Hitsumabushi is usually grilled until crispy on the outside, served on rice and can be enjoyed in several ways (as it is, with nori and other condiments, and then with soup or ochasuke). It was easily the BEST HITSUMABUSHI we’ve ever had, perfectly grilled, beautifully seasoned, A MUST HAVE IN NAGOYA!

SHIKEMICHI & ENDOJI SHOPPING STREET
After lunch, we headed to this historic street called Shikemichi, the old buildings reminds us of Kyoto vibes.

Located nearby (by walking distance), there’s Endoji or Nagoya’s oldest shopping arcade, it’s mostly occupied by cafe. Not as lively as we expected but nice to visit for cafe break.

NABANA NO SATO
The flower garden is famous for their winter lights illumination, but sadly we were a few days too early before the winter illumination starts.

Nevertheless it was still a nice and relaxing experience. Beautiful and colorful flower gardens and autumn lights illumination on the garden.

SAKAE STREET
For shopping, Sakae street is filled with so many shopping malls including Don Quijote (lotsa Yamachan snacks spotted there).

TEBASAKI (SEKAI NO YAMACHAN RESTAURANT AND FURAIBO RESTAURANT)

Another favorite dish that happens to be Nagoya’s specialty dish, crispy deep fried chicken wings glazed in sweet savory glazed and then sprinkled with salty peppery seasoning. It’s FINGER LICKING GOOD!!

Sekai No Yamachan is a big chain, it has so many outlets at many cities, we always visit Yamachan every time we travel to Japan. Their Tebasaki remains out top 1 fav, crispy with salty peppery seasoning.

We also tried Tebasaki from other local brand called Furaibo, it was good but not as salty as Yamachan, if you prefer less salty seasoning, you can try visiting Furaibo.

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DAY 8 – SHIRAKAWA VILLAGE & TAKAYAMA

07.00 – 07.30 Go to Meitetsu Bus Center
07.30 Meet up with the tour guide at tour meeting point
08.00 – 19.30 “Join A Day in Shirakawa Village and Takayama” tour

TAKAYAMA

As we have shared for so many times, 1 Day tour option is a great and convenient option for anyone who doesn’t want to join full tour trip, you can plan your own itinerary based on your interest, plan a few days to explore the country on your own, and then join 1 day tour for certain destination for hassle free option.

It feels good to just sit and relax in the bus and enjoy the trip without the need to read map and plan the itinerary once in a while. We’re glad with the fact that Klook offers so many 1 day tour at many destinations. Since we had great 1 day tour experiences with Klook at South Korea, we decided to join Shirakawa Village & Takayama 1 Day Bus Tour www.klook.com/id/activity/2598

The plus point of booking any product or activity at Klook is the detailed instruction and information. For the tour meeting point, we simply need to follow the detailed guidance from Klook.

The tour started from Meitetsu Bus Center, Nagoya. Our first destination was Takayama old town. The whole streets of old houses from edo period are beautifully preserved, we can see why it’s a very popular destination.

The tour guide gave us map and explained to us some popular must visit spots and stores, and then we can walk around on our own before the calling time. We tasted several delicious local food such as hida beef bun, sake ice cream, and the incredibly delicious Hida Beef Sushi served on edible cracker plate.

After that, we had lunch at hotel buffet for 1 hour (included in the tour package).

SHIRAKAWA-GO

For a nice view of Shirakawa-go from above, Tenshukaku Observatory is definitely worth checking. We were glad that this spot is included in the tour even though we only had 15minutes.

Our last destination is Shirakawa-go, traditional village filled with traditional buildings known as gasshō-zukuri that happens to be one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.

There are 3 houses that we can enter, the tour provided us with 1 ticket to visit any of the 3 houses.

Surrounded by mountains with fresh air, we really enjoyed the relaxing walk in this village. Hopefully someday we can visit Shirakawa village again on snowy day.

The bus by Meitetsu tour company is really nice, spacious and comfy with power plug provided, tour guide also tried her best to share some information in english. Hot tea and coffee are served by the end of trip as well. It’s easily one of the best and well organized bus tour we’ve ever joined.

MISO KATSU YABATON, NAGOYA
After the tour, we headed back to Nagoya. For dinner, we planned to have another local specialty called Miso Katsu. At first, we planned to visit Misokatsu Kano but sadly it was closed so we tried the dish from this big chain restaurant called Yabaton.

The dish is basically pork katsu drenched in savory miso based sauce, savory and very rich in flavor.

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DAY 9 – TOKYO

08.00 – 08.30 Check-out Hotel, proceed to Nagoya Station
09.00 – 10.45 Go to Tokyo (by Shinkansen)
11.00 – 12.00 Drop luggage at hotel
12.00 – 16.00 Lunch and shopping in Tokyo (Ginza, Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesando, or Shinjuku)
16.00 – 16.45 Go to Shinjuku Kabukicho area for Robot Restaurant
17.00 Exchange ticket at Robot Restaurant and enjoy the show
20.00 Dinner

From Nagoya, we finally moved to Tokyo via Shinkansen (Nagoya Station to Tokyo Station 1hr 44m). The cost of shinkansen ride from Nagoya to Tokyo is pretty expensive, JPY 11,090 per person, lucky us we have our JR Pass so it’s free. As you can see, if you travel a lot with shinkansen like us, JR Pass is a good investment, we surely saved quite a lot of money on transportation.

ROBOT RESTAURANT
Located in Shinjuku, Robot Restaurant is a unique and different experience to try. For ticket purchased via Klook www.klook.com/id/activity/631 they have Klook Priority Counter so the entry process is easier. The ticket includes drink, popcorn and souvenir.

Robot Restaurant is basically a singing and dancing show with all the unique costumes and robots, the quirkiness will leave you speechless, one of a kind experience you can only get in Japan.

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DAY 10 – ASAKUSA & TEAMLAB, TOKYO

10.30 Depart to Asakusa to Kimono Rental Place
11.30 – 12.30 Arrive at Kimono Rental place + choose Kimono + hairstyle
13.00 – 14.00 Tokyo Asakusa Rickshaw Tour
14.00 – 15.30 Explore Sensoji Temple + Nakamise Street
15.30 Return Kimono
16.00 – 19.00 Teamlab Borderless
19.00 Dinner

KIMONO RENTAL

Me and Mr. Jajan have tried kimono rental experience several times in Kyoto but we never tried it in Tokyo so we decided to get full touristy experience exploring the vibe of an older Tokyo at Asakusa with kimono.

We rented our Kimono from Klook www.klook.com/id/activity/2125 and the store is located in Asakusa area as well. We picked the couple package which includes hair do for woman, bag and sandal.

We are free to walk and explore anywhere all day in kimono before returning it in the afternoon. The traditional vibes around Asakusa makes it suitable to walk with kimono.

TOKYO ASAKUSA RICKSHAW

To complete our touristy experience and answer our curiosity, we decided to try rickshaw ride too. We booked the Rickshaw session via Klook www.klook.com/id/activity/1033 and we were surprised by the warm welcome, the staff printed huge sign with Mr. Jajan’s name 😀

The ride was fun and we think it’s a nice experience to try at least once in a lifetime, as the rickshaw guy will bring you around some of his secret spots, sharing you some stories and also help you take picture.

TEAMLAB BORDERLESS

After Asakusa, we continued our trip to teamLab Borderless since we were curious of it. It is very practical to have our tickets booked in advance, we don’t need to queue at ticket booth and can simply enter by scanning the QR Code from Klook’s voucher www.klook.com/id/activity/20707

Upon entering, we can instantly get the magical vibes from teamLab Borderless Tokyo. It is so spacious with many different interactive spots to explore.

Our most favorite area is called Forest of Resonating Lamps. It’s so beautiful and magical we can clearly feel the borderless concept, somehow it kinda reminds us of Rapunzel’s scene.😍🏮✨

teamLab Borderless Tokyo is seriously worth visiting. Since it is spacious and you can try doing to many things inside, make sure to spare enough time to explore around before the closing time.

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DAY 11 – HITACHI NATIONAL SEASIDE PARK TOUR

07.00 Arrive in Shinjuku Center Building
07.20 – 18.30 Join Hitachi National Seaside Park and Mito Kairakuen Park Tour
19.00 Back to Shinjuku, Dinner

Hitachi Seaside Park has been on our bucketlist for long time but we always feel hesitate to go there since it’s quite far from Tokyo and there is no direct transportation from Tokyo to Hitachi Park. Finally our concern was answered after finding out Klook offers 1 day bus tour Hitachi National Seaside Park and Mito Kairakuen Park, an easy and hassle free option for us. Please note that the exclusive Klook Hitachi tour is available for limited time on autumn only www.klook.com/id/activity/20013

The tour started early in the morning with meeting point at Shinjuku. Our first destination was Mito Kairakuen Park.

After that we had a quick stop to fruit orchard to pick some chestnut and pear as souvenir for free, but since it was raining, the orchard already helped us pick the chestnut and pear.

All You Can Eat Yakiniku lunch buffet is included in the tour, we had full happy tummy session enjoying all the grilled meat and dessert, tasty with great selection.

After lunch, we headed to Hitachi National Seaside Park, the main star of this tour. We were extremely happy to see that the kochia trees have started to change its color to red. Just in time for autumn view. BUCKETLIST CHECKED!!

The hilly ground condition makes it even more beautiful both for the eyes and pictures. Besides red kochia trees on autumn, Hitachi Park is also famous for blue nemophila flowers on spring, hopefully someday we can see it too.

The park is very spacious and there are many other flowers as well.

Our last stop before going back to Tokto is Mentai Park Oarai where we can try free mentaiko samples and products, mentaiko is a spicy cod roe and it’s usually enjoyed with rice. We tried Mentaiko ice cream and surprisingly it tasted quite good, sweet and salty, kinda similar with cheese ice cream.

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DAY12 – NARITA

Our flight back to Jakarta is from Narita airport. With JR Pass we can ride Narita Express from Tokyo Station to Narita Airport (54mins). You can to make seat reservation at least 1 or 2 days before since Narita Express doesn’t have non reservation seat.

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Thank you for reading. We hope Part 1 & 2 Travel Guides are complete enough to help you plan you trip 🙂
Simply leave comment below if you have any questions regarding the trip or tips.

Check link below for more Japan Travel posts↓↓↓
https://anakjajan.com/category/location/japan-location/

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