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Tokyo youkoso!
Day 1 · Narita Airport, Chiba
After nearly 14 hours in the air, watching the sun barely set and rise again the next instant, we set foot in Narita Airport. Honestly it wasn
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Yumiko's Apartment
Day 1 · Harajuku, Tokyo
We found Yumiko’s apartment on airbnb while looking for something relatively inexpensive and yet close to Shibuya, but at the time we didn’t know we were also getting Yumiko herself as part of the ...
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Electric Shinjuku
Day 1 · Shinjuku, Tokyo
After finding and checking-in at our first home base in Japan, we were pretty tired from all the traveling and sweaty from the Japanese summer humidity, so we took a shower and laid down for a bit....
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Busy Shibuya
Day 2 · Shibuya, Tokyo
After a well deserved night of sleep we decided to spend the day in Shibuya, but not before exploring beautiful Harajuku further.
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Street market
Day 3 · Ueno, Tokyo
Waking up early with the Japanese sun leads to many nice and surprising trips. We could start using our JR passes today, so we decided to make good use of them and ride the train to visit Ueno, Aki...
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Electric city
Day 3 · Akihabara, Toyko
After visiting Ueno in the morning, we hopped on the train again to visit the electric city, Akihabara, known for its anime, manga and game stores and the maid cafés.
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Tsukiji market
Day 4 · Tsukiji, Tokyo
When we arranged for a guided visit to the Tsukiji market we had in mind that we were going to visit the biggest fish market in the world, but we had no clue of exactly how big it really was.
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Spiritual Kamakura
Day 4 · Kamakura, Kanagawa
After hectic Tsukiji we decided Kamakura would be a good half-day trip from Tokyo, and it couldn
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An evening in Yokohama
Day 4 · Yokohama, Kanagawa
Before heading home on the 4th day, we stopped by Minato Mirai 21, a large modern area in Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan.
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Be one with Nikko
Day 5 · Nikko, Tochigi
After a hefty, Hawaiian-themed breakfast, we hopped on the Shinkansen to visit some of the UNESCO World Heritage temples and shrines of Nikko.
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Piss Alley
Day 5 · Omoide Yokocho, Tokyo
When we got to Tokyo after visiting Nikko we were starving, and what
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High up in Roppongi
Day 6 · Roppongi, Tokyo
Roppongi is a big shopping district and from Roppongi Hills, a 50 something story high building, you can see Tokyo from above, and it
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Matsuri in Asakusa
Day 6 · Asakusa, Tokyo
On the last Saturday of July the yukatas got out of the closets and headed to a summer festival in Asakusa. Without knowing it, we did the same (without the yukatas, though) and celebrated our firs...
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Fun at DisneySea
Day 7 · DisneySea, Tokyo
The plan was simple: take the train to Odaiba and spend the day there, taking in the Tokyo Bay area sights. But Disney Tokyo was on the way, and we had to take a quick peek, even if there was no re...
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See you later, Tokyo
Day 8 · Shibuya, Tokyo
This was our last day in Tokyo before going to Kyoto, and it couldn
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Yokoso Kyoto!
Day 9 · Kyoto, Japan
It was time to get on the train and head to Kyoto for a break from hectic Tokyo. The Shinkansen is definitely the way to travel — it
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9h sleep
Day 9 · Kyoto, Japan
The concept is simple: 9 hours. One hour to check-in and shower, seven hours to sleep in your pod, and an additional hour to get ready in the morning.
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Nijo and its gardens
Day 10 · Nijo Castle, Kyoto
On the first full day in Kyoto we dragged ourselves through the streets, under the scorching sun, with the goal of visiting the Imperial gardens and Nijo castle.
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Memories in Maruyama
Day 10 · Maruyama Park, Kyoto
Despite an amazing sightseeing walk, the morning had been rough. Relaxation was in order and Maruyama park was our place of choice.
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Eastern Kyoto
Day 11 · Ginkaku-ji, Kyoto
By the third day we knew Kyoto is a big city. The rhythm is very different from Tokyo but things are more spread out and you have to walk a lot more to get to things. We made the most of it, though.
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Magical Kiyomizu-dera
Day 11 · Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto
A few hours later, walking from Ginkaku-ji, we got to Kiyomizu-dera, a temple in the middle of the mountains that leaves everyone in absolute awe with such beauty.
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Bamboo & Monkeys
Day 12 · Arashiyama, Kyoto
By the third day in Kyoto we knew already that everything was pretty spread apart, so we needed to rent bikes to see what we wanted to see.
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Precious Kinkaku-ji
Day 12 · Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto
After seeing the macaques we pedalled for 40 minutes until we reached the Kinkaku-ji, a golden Japanese temple that is quite the view.
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Visiting Osaka
Day 13 · Osaka, Japan
The plan was to go to Osaka and spend the day there, but we were completely defeated by the sun and heat. We did, however, managed to visit the mighty Osaka-jo.
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Fushimi Inari Shrine
Day 13 · Inari, Kyoto
Guarded by foxes, the messengers of Inari, we hiked the path of the thousand red torii, exploring Mount Inari and its inner shrines, unveiling their secrets and its beauty.
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Tanabata Festival
Day 13 · Kamogawa Bank, Kyoto
The Milky Way separated the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, but they are allowed to meet once every year, which is of course the perfect time for a street fair and lots of fun. Welcome to the Tanaba...
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Shiraume ryokan
Day 14 · Ryokan Shiraume, Kyoto
The art of welcoming guests is very present in the Japanese culture. Whether you are just a confused tourist at the station, or you need something at a store, or you are a non-Japanese speaker at a...
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Kaiseki Dinner
Day 14 · Ryokan Shiraume, Kyoto
After the amazing bath experience, we felt refreshed and new, so we got into our yukatas and headed to the dining room for our twelve course dinner, never knowing what wonders were expecting us.
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Rise and shine
Day 15 · Ryokan Shiraume, Kyoto
After a well-rested night we were ready for a second round of the gorgeous and delicious Japanese traditional cuisine. And then Shiraume gave breakfast a whole new meaning.
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Peace at Shoren-in
Day 15 · Shoren-in, Kyoto
The original plan for the afternoon after coming back from the ryokan was to take the train to Nara, but Tomoko-san and Satoko-san gave us so many good suggestions of temples to visit, that we thre...
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Deer Nara
Day 16 · Nara, Japan
The night before, we had talked about day 16 being our last in Kyoto and, although something was missing, we couldn
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Hi again, Tokyo
Day 17 · Akihabara, Toyko
The last days of our trip were reserved to fully enjoy Tokyo without any type of pressure and to get some shopping done.
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Newfangled Odaiba
Day 17 · Odaiba, Tokyo
After the previous failed attempt to visit Odaiba, the afternoon was dedicated to wander around the huge artificial island in Tokyo Bay, while the evening was topped off with a delicious sushi meal.
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Tsukiji lush
Day 18 · Tsukiji Market, Tokyo
This was our last full day in Tokyo and the plan was simple: head to Tsukiji market early in the morning, for gift shopping, head to the Imperial Palace and back to Shinjuku.
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The last stroll
Day 18 · Chiyoda, Tokyo
We got our market stroll and shopping done before the morning was half gone, so walked to the Imperial Palace gardens to try to see the palace.
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Mata ne, Nippon
Day 19 · Narita, Tokyo
Our last day in Japan would have been uneventful, if not for the last minute hassle. We nearly missed our flight, which wouldn