It has now been a year since we came back from our Japan trip on our honeymoon, and I finally sorted all our photos to put in an album. Follow along to learn about the matcha tea ceremony, temple rituals, incredible food, onsen (naked!) public baths, and more !
Organising Our Honeymoon in Japan
We had a very busy year last year, we got married (hence the honeymoon), had only just moved from the UK, and were traveling for work all the time. So it’s no surprise that I only bought the Lonely Planet guide on the day we were flying to Japan, oops.
We had booked our flights a year in advance (with LOTS of points so we traveled in business), and my husband had already been online to check what we’d want to see, to have an overall tour in mind so we could plan hotels, things to do and places to visit. We left the day-to-day to plan for every morning during breakfast, I also read the guide in the plane (13-hour flight, that kept me busy).
We started in Tokyo for three days, then took the train to Osaka for another three days. We went on to spend a night in a temple, then visited Nara for a day (city of deer and doe), and headed toward Kyoto. We finished with Hakone, before going back to Tokyo for our flight home.
I don’t think we needed more preparation. I had checked a couple of “experiences” in AirBnb, then we relied on our guidebook to learn more about locations, history, and that was perfect. You can always do more of course, but that suited us perfectly.
Starting in Tokyo
One of the best things we did was to purchase a Japan Rail Pass that we could use everywhere for the 13 days we were there. It is worth it if you know you are going to travel across the country, but you might want to compare it against prices for each journey because it can sound quite pricey. For us it was cheaper to have that single train ticket that allowed us to go everywhere. It even worked on some tube lines in Tokyo!
The capital city is big, it’s noisy, it’s exactly like you imagine Japan. People are incredibly respectful – it makes you wonder what’s wrong with us in the West. We tasted the best sushi we’ve ever eaten, and tried some foods which we couldn’t identify.
We visited several temples, and every time the ritual is the same. There is incense burning next to the temple and you can waft it onto to you to “purify” yourself. Then you queue to give your offering. You do not enter a temple, but you can observe the altar from outside, which is what everyone is doing. When it’s your turn, you come forward, clap your hands twice, throw your coins (the offering) in the wooden box in front of you, clap again, and bow. And it’s time for the people behind you to come and perform the ritual, so you move aside.
I booked us into a matcha tea ceremony, where we were dressed in kimonos before attending the most peaceful tea ceremony. Men and women were separated initially to get dressed in the kimono of our choice, after we’d been wrapped and tightened into the different layers that come before the actual kimono. Let me tell you, no need for Spandex there, the way they dress you leaves barely any space to breathe. I’m used to drinking matcha (more on the benefits of matcha here) but having a woman tell you about the tradition and mindset that come with it, has changed my matcha ritual at home. Ichi Go, Ichi E, or Once in a Lifetime, as a mantra, invites us to take our time as we whisk the matcha. Powerful.
We also had drinks on a rooftop, gyozas in a little restaurant where we were the only Westerners (good reference point), tasted matcha ice cream, bought ceramics from a very old lady, enjoyed Teppanyaki where they cooked the lobster alive (erh), walked up to look at the busiest crossing in the world where people looked like a million ants, ate in a restaurant that only had 4 tables (you have 15mn to eat, and then let the other people come through), and got scared at street ads that scream at you. Fabulous Tokyo. It was the perfect first stop of our honeymoon in Japan.
Going to Osaka
We took the Shinkansen to go to Osaka, and the punctuality of the trains is mad and wonderful at the same time. It goes fast, but as someone who grew up in France where the trains go at 330km/hour, it wasn’t anything unusual. Osaka was as busy and noisy as Tokyo, so I was glad that we’d planned a day-trip in the middle of the three days there.
We visited the aquarium in Osaka, 5th biggest in the world, which is something I hadn’t done in decades. I know some might find this disgusting to put fish of all sizes in a tank, but it was so beautiful and peaceful. We saw dolphins play with a basketball, the biggest shark I hope I’ll ever come close to, and a myriad of beautiful fish. Let’s just say I do hope their memory isn’t that good because I could have watched them for hours, it was extremely calming and meditative.
We walked a lot, and visited a castle park – we walked around so much we missed visiting hours. But the outside itself was grand enough, with its typical upward roofs. We went out in the madness of Osaka central, with its neon signs and noisy advertising. Also, you must be aware that a vegetable dish does not prevent you from getting pork, that was a surprise !
We visited the lover’s sanctuary, ate some peanut-powdered ice cream, tasted the octopus pancakes, discovered the freshness of supermarket foods, sampled fried avocado (!), made friends with a pond turtle, trusted the street food. In Japan, you can be assured that the food is of a superior quality so you can feel adventurous, even in the street.
The World Stops at Hiroshima
We traveled to Hiroshima on the Shinkansen from Osaka, and walked straight to the epicentre of where the nuclear bomb dropped. As you walk there, you almost forget what happened there almost 80 years because the entire city has been rebuilt. But once at the place of impact with the bomb, everything stops. There is one remaining building from before, the metallic structure half melted, half destroyed. A few signs to explain what happened on 6th August 1945, a memorial, and a museum. They’re called the Peace Memorial, and the Peace Museum, which was thought-provoking I felt. In our Western world, we have War Museums in London and Paris, but here it’s for Peace.
The museum is the place that left its biggest mark on me. It retraces Hiroshima’s timeline on that dreaded day, form 8.30am where life continued as normal, even though there was a global war happening, and then from 8.45 where the inhabitants lives changed forever. I will not go into too much details here because I don’t want to put you off, but let’s just say that it’s the first time I realised what a nuclear bomb actually did. Intense and insane heat, people catching fire if they were not dead instantly, a nuclear black rain that descended onto the city 30mn later, and all sorts of cancers and horrible deaths that followed for years.
It leaves a bitter taste once you’ve read and seen testimonials of locals, burnt clothes and artefacts. It has the intended impact I believe. It probably shakes you in the same way that Auschwitz or the 9/11 Ground Zero Museum. The world has gone through, and continues to go through, absolute horror.
I would still definitely recommend it, because it’s a part of history, our history. I am squeamish so it took me a while to feel “normal” afterwards and stop the urge to cry, but a must-see.
Heading to Kyoto
The order in which we did everything was perfect. After the busyness of Tokyo and Osaka, the shock at Hiroshima, I felt I could go home. I felt mentally exhausted, and like the cities were quite similar. We didn’t stop our honeymoon in Japan there thankfully, and just before we headed to Kyoto, we had planned to stay for a night in a temple. I thought it was quite common because I had read it online, but we were the only guests staying over night that day. Such peace and beauty, again like you imagine Japan, but another facet of it.
We were warmly welcomed, enjoyed some downtime and had a little nap on feather duvet like you’ve never seen before (at least 50cm high), on a floor mattress. The walls were made of rice paper, and we were given indoor “flip flops”. We visited the grounds, and discovered the concept of the onsen baths, as they had the facilities for it. Yes, you’re stark naked in there.
Men and women are separate, and I was grateful I had read the guide before going in because no one was there when I went to the ladies’ side. You leave your clothes in the lockers provided, and go to the room with the 41* bath. On the side are shower heads with mini stools, soap and shampoos, and you basically clean yourself thoroughly on the stool. You then head over to the baths and stay in it, completely naked. Other people arrived afterwards. My husband got in on his side and old men were already in. Nobody talks, you just enjoy the warm bath and feeling utterly free.
Kyoto is called the City of the Thousand Temples, and it’s probably accurate. It is one of the rare Japanese cities that weren’t bombed during World War II because American President Eisenhower had honeymooned there and had ordered not to damage the city. We went to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a “complex” of temples that overlooks a valley of trees. After the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and Osaka, I love that we went for a night in the temple then Kyoto. It was the perfect respite for the soul to continue our honeymoon in Japan. Walking from temple to temple was bliss, taking time to fully take in another side of the country. We did some water rituals, more temple claps and bows, walked a lot.
We walked through the orange gates that are quite typical, dedicated to the rice goddess Inari. It’s like hundreds of meters of them on this little mountain, asbolutely incredible. We later found another rooftop for drinks and dinner, visited a gold temple, went for a sake tasting, had the ultimate beef Wagyu I have and will ever have in my entire life (I wanted to order a second portion it was that good), bought more ceramics from people who couldn’t understand me apart from Paris (ooooh Paris), and watched a geisha dance (if we can call it dancing), or rather entertain a little crowd.
Going Home from Our Honeymoon in Japan
We went to one last place in the mountains, Hakone, before heading home. The hotel was nestled in the mountains, I won’t tell you about the bus journey that lasted an hour and we weren’t even sure we were in the right bus … They had onsen in this hotel so we had another session of naked baths with strangers, and then went for the open-bar option by the fire. It meant free champagne and snacks for 2 hours, perfect. We had not been really crazy on this trip with food or drinks – apart from early champagne in the airport lounge, oops – so we had the best time reminiscing about all the things we had done and seen during that trip, with the champagne slowly making us sleepy and tipsy.
The next day we took cable cars to get closer to Mount Fuji, which was why we were in this town in the first place. The cable cars took us to a lake, we had great views of Mount Fuji, saw and smelt sulfur mines (imagine rotten eggs, that’s what it smelt like), walked around the lake, and came back. We went back to Tokyo, had one last night there and headed to the airport early the next morning.
This was an incredible honeymoon in Japan, the trip of a lifetime, such a different and fascinating culture. We were so lucky that we could go, I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves being in a new environment where they don’t know the language, the culture, people who are open-minded and can try new foods, (I haven’t mentioned the food that looked like dead worms one morning, couldn’t try it), who can be ok with jumping on a tube and not be 100% sure they’re on the right direction (it’s translated into English in Tokyo, not really in other places). The people are genuinely respectful and helpful, there are people employed to hoover the floor at tube stations and clean ramps in shopping centres. They also leave their bikes unlocked or smoke in designated places. What’s not to love?
I’ll put my recommendations below, the places we loved and the restaurants that are totally worth it.
Recommendations :
Tokyo
- Japan Rail Pass
- Temples Meiji Jingu; Senso-ji
- Best sushi place (you have to queue, up to an hour, in a shopping centre) in Shibuya : Sushi Nomidori
- Shibuya Crossing
- Tepanyaki in Chiyoda: Tepanyaki 10
- Matcha tea ceremony
- Rooftop bar Andaz
- Gyozas address somewhere next to the Shimbashi tube station
- Best ramen place: Kuyshu Jangara Ramen
Osaka
- Osaka Aquarium Kayukan
- Osaka Castle Park
- Places to go out: Dotombori district
- Sanctuary’s lovers Ohatsu Tenjin
Hiroshima
Night in a temple:
- Ryosen-ji Temple (we had to ask a Japanese friend to book for us as I couldn’t figure it out on the website). Absolutely recommend to book with the 5-course meal and breakfast
Kyoto:
- Temple complex: Kiyomizu-dera Temple
- Orange gates: Fushimi, Inari
- Gold temple: Kinkakujicho
- Rooftop for dinner and drinks K36
- Best Wagyu katsu beef : Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsuguy Pontocho Honten
- Ceramics shop in Fushimi shopping gallery
- Sake tasting
Hakone
