JAPAN
November & December 2025
This was our second time visiting Japan. Our first visit was in 2019 and we spent two weeks on a cruise that circumnavigated the entire country. We literally visited all the major cities, towns and sights in the country. For this trip, we kicked off our incredible Asian adventure by flying direct from Denver to Tokyo. We spent three nights there before flying on to Vietnam. This was a great way to break up a very long leg of travel, and see some sights that we didn’t see on our first visit to Tokyo. Tokyo is an incredibly clean and efficient city. We stayed in an area called Chiba. It sits on a peninsula just southeast of Tokyo, and was an easy train ride to any of the districts within the city. We stayed at The Hotel Manhattan on both ends of our trip. We particularly liked how quiet and laid back this area is, but it’s still close to all the sights.
We spent our first full day exploring. We took a leisurely stroll through Mihama-en Garden then continued down to Makuhari Beach. We wandered through a couple stores, enjoying all the bizarre snacks and foods. We learned on our last trip that the Japanese love adding dried fish to just about anything. I always stock up on all the yummy matcha snacks. We took a much needed nap that afternoon and still slept well that night. The following morning we were picked up bright and early for a full-day private tour of the Mount Fuji area. I’ve mentioned before how wonderful it is to book private tours whenever you can. Yes, they are a lot more expensive but in most instances, totally worth it. Just being able to stay as little or as long as you want makes for a much more enjoyable experience. I will say that I was a bit disappointed when our tour guide arrived and he wasn’t Japanese. He’d been living in Tokyo for five years but I would have preferred a local. I just prefer learning from someone who has lived in the location for all or at least most of their lives. Thankfully, he knew a lot about the area we visited.
When we booked this tour, we were really hoping that there might still be some beautiful fall colors, and boy did we luck out. It was stunning. I’ve never seen such deep, bright red leaves before. Every where you looked were bright pops of red, gold and greens. It exceeded all our hopes and expectations for fall colors. Then you add the spectacular sight of Mt. Fuji and you have such a magical day. Mt. Fuji is gorgeous all on its own with the snow capped peak looming far and wide in front of you. As you might imagine, it’s a popular place for tourists and locals to visit. That’s why we left so early in the morning. The earlier in the morning you get there, the better. It takes nearly three hours to drive from Tokyo, so plan accordingly.
You can see beautiful views of Mt. Fuji from anywhere in the valley but our tour guide told us the most picturesque views were to be found by making the 400 step climb to the Chureito Pagoda in Arakuruyama Sengen Park. The shrine within the park dates back to 705. It was great to get moving since we’d been in a car all morning. He wasn’t kidding about the view. It’s a beautiful hike up the hillside, surrounded by tons of shade trees and beautiful colors. From the top, you see the incredible shrine with Mt. Fuji floating in the background behind it. If you happen to visit in April, you would get the extraordinary experience of seeing the 300 cherry blossom trees in bloom throughout the park. That has to be so beautiful.
The area around the pagoda was already quite crowded by the time we reached the top. If I were to visit Mt. Fuji again, I would make it an overnight trip and stay somewhere nearby. You could make the climb super early and beat the crowds, and possibly come back again in the evening to enjoy the sunset too.
To get an alternate view of Mt. Fuji, we drove just across town to take a boat ride on Lake Yamanaka. I still can’t believe what clear and sunny weather we were blessed with that entire day. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The boat ride was chilly but we really enjoyed all the incredible views we got to take in.
It was a long day, with lots of hours spent in the car but I would do it all over again. Seeing Mt. Fuji in all its glory was something that I’d really wanted to experience, and I’m glad we did it. The next afternoon we boarded our six hour flight to Vietnam. For the next 3+ weeks, we were on the go exploring our way through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Check out my full breakdown of that portion of the trip here. On our way back to the U.S., we returned to Tokyo for a few more days of activities that you really can only do in Japan.
We slept in, after nearly a month of jam packed days of travel, we were exhausted. Vic enjoyed the complimentary nightgown back at The Hotel Manhattan. We also enjoyed the delicious French Toast Station at breakfast, more to come on the food. We took a train into Chiyoda Prefecture. We wandered around a bit and found a fabulous Ramen House for lunch and then we came upon Shimiduzani Park. There is a memorial stone there that was erected in 1888 for Ōkubo Toshimichi, who was assassinated in 1878. He was a statesman and a samurai. He is regarded as one of the main founders of modern Japan. The park was so lovely, and surprisingly still full of fall colors even though it was now December. I loved that this beautiful space was nestled right there in the middle of a busy neighborhood. You’d never know it unless you happened upon it.
We made the trip into Chiyoda for a very special reason. We were going to attend a SAMURAI CLASS!!!!! I know, crazy! When we started planning this trip, Vic came upon this class and could not be deterred. I was a little weary, not because I thought it wouldn’t be interesting. I just worried about making a complete ass out of myself in front of a bunch of people. Thankfully, we discovered they offered private lessons…Hallelujah! I don’t mind making a fool of myself in front of my husband, no problem.
We started the class by getting dressed in the multi-layered and somewhat complicated, traditional outfit of the Samurai. There were seriously four different layers and lots of tying and wrapping required. The whole thing was pretty heavy but we got used to it pretty quick. Our instructors were so cool, and they did a great job of not making us feel completely hopeless. They made everything look effortless. Believe me, it takes a lot of coordination just removing your sword from your waistband. The class lasted two hours and it turned out to be a pretty good workout. I felt pretty spazzy doing all the attack segments but Vic made it look easy. He’s definitely one of those people who could probably pick up any sport if he tried.
Clearly, I played the role of the Crazy Samurai while Vic played the Happy Samurai. They taught us how to hold the sword, sheath & unsheath it, how to do different swings and fight stances. The fight sequences were a little tough to remember, so much so that I forgot to make all the attack noises as I was concentrating so hard on the moves. We did have a lot of laughs, and we learned a lot about the culture. It definitely gave us an appreciation for the art form. Pretty crazy to think that this used to be something that large parts of the community practiced as part of their every day life.
After the lesson was over, they let us do some posing with their actual steel swords. I was surprised by how heavy they were. They were also very sharp, so we had to be ultra careful not to cut ourselves or each other. Overall, it was such a memorable experience. Definitely something I would recommend to anyone who wants to do something out of the box, unusual and not something you can find in very many places in the world.
Not too surprisingly, we’d worked up an appetite after our lesson. We walked around some more and found a nice steak house for dinner. It was very expensive and the cost of a glass of wine made me a little nauseous. I had to remind myself that imported things are very costly. Needless to say, I didn’t drink anymore wine while I was there. After dinner we came upon some beautiful buildings and some spectacular Christmas decorations. This was the first week of December and they did not disappoint in their festive decor. This Christmas tree was one of the coolest holiday decorations I’ve ever seen. The color looked different depending on the angle you looked at it. Up close we discovered that the interior was filled with disco balls. I LOVED it.
We slept in again the next morning and took our time getting back into the city. We had another amazing activity planned for that afternoon. What better place in the world to take a sushi class than Tokyo. This class was so much fun and we learned so many interesting things about sushi. Our instructors were all young and very excited to be teaching us. It was really interesting to talk to them and ask them questions. They were really interested in asking us questions too. Surprisingly, one of the young men told us that he had visited L.A. the year before and he loved it. His favorite part was how loud, colorful and boisterous everything was. That’s very opposite to what you primarily find in Japan. The younger generation seems to want more personal freedoms of expression than their parents & grandparents explored.
I will never again wonder why sushi is so expensive. It is a true labor of love, and something they take very seriously in Japan. Our sushi rolls and nigiri turned out pretty good and they tasted amazing. There were eight of us in the class and we all came from different parts of the world. I love having experiences like that. It really demonstrates how food brings us together and that we can truly appreciate everyone’s different perspectives. Learning opportunities like that are something that stays with you for a long time.
Each couple was provided a beautiful platter of fresh shrimp, salmon, tuna and white fish, along with a variety of condiments and vegetables. They walked us through the process step-by-step. I think we did pretty good, especially with it being our first attempt at making sushi.
We brought a package of soy paper with us, as Vic has a severe aversion to the taste of seaweed. It worked great and our instructors were thrilled when I gave them the leftovers. They were super curious how it would roll and taste. It worked perfectly. We left there with full bellies and a definite appreciation for the complexities of sushi making.
Okay, so now it’s time to talk about the food in Japan. Food, glorious food! If you know me at all, you know I’m passionate about food. One of my favorite things about traveling is experiencing what people eat around the world. Japan has a very vibrant and diverse food culture. My husband is gluten and dairy intolerant, and he had no problems finding things to eat. I know most people think of sushi, rice and noodles when they think of Japan, but there’s so much more. My favorite Japanese dish is ramen. Some people would be perplexed by this because when they hear ramen, they think of the little plastic squares of compressed noodles that many of us grew up eating. Traditional Japanese ramen is so much more than that. I love that ramen shops are popping up more and more in the U.S. I ate ramen as much as I could while we were in Japan. I love how many variations there are and every place you find it, puts their own spin on it. I love traditional Tonkatsu, which is a deep, salty pork broth style. I also loved the spicy version and a chicken version too.
I even got the chance to try a Michelin Star ramen in the Tokyo Airport of all places. It was so yummy and satisfying. You’ll find dozens of variations when it comes to noodles, broths and proteins. For me, it has to have a soft boiled egg in it. The process of ordering also varies from shop to shop. If you ever go to Japan, you’ll quickly realize how much they love vending machines of all sorts. Many ramen shops use this technology for ordering. The place where I found the spicy ramen had a machine out front where you placed your order. The shopkeeper was kind enough to come out and help us order, since it was all in Japanese. Most ramen shops only a have a couple tables and a bar where people eat. I find a bib extremely helpful when eating ramen as it tends to splash when you slurp the noodles. Slurp away, it’s a sign of good eating!
Being an island nation, seafood is everywhere. You can expect to find menus very heavy in seafood and veggies. Noodles and rice are served pretty much every place you go. There were times when we ordered something not quite knowing what it was, and it turned out great. Don’t worry if you aren’t very adventurous when it comes to food. You can find all sorts of different cuisines, especially if you’re in a bigger town. Something that surprised me was the love of all things pastry in Japan. You can find so many delectable treats pretty much where ever you go. They have lots of interesting things that they call donuts, both sweet and savory. Of course they have so many options for matcha flavored foods as well. I love the matcha ice cream. Strangely enough, they have the most incredible variety of flavors in KitKat candy bars. Just amazing.
Near our hotel and inside the same massive building as the train station there were literally a dozen different shops that sold all sorts of food items. We found a cafe/bakery that sold an inspiring variety of fresh baked breakfast, lunch and snack items. The picture below shows their beef curry donut and two lunch rolls. Everything was so tasty and fresh. We headed that way anytime we wanted a snack or meal. Everything was very reasonably priced too.
The costs of things across the board were quite reasonable. That’s not to say that you couldn’t plop down a massive amount for a meal (our steak dinner for example). They have lots of options in all different price ranges. The train prices were quite inexpensive and you can get a card to use for the whole duration of your stay. This is very economical if you’re going to use the train a lot. Car services can be quite expensive, you’re definitely paying for the convenience of it. We used a car service/taxi going to and from the airport because we didn’t want to deal with all the stops/changes on the train with our luggage. They also have a lot of bus services you can look into too.
My overall takeaways from this trip to Japan confirm what I thought the first time. Japan is an absolutely beautiful country with so many things to explore and discover. Once again, our overwhelming opinion is that the Japanese people are some of the kindest, most generous and polite people on the planet. If you are interested in traveling to Asia I would hands down recommend Japan as your first destination. It is the calmest and easiest place to get around that we’ve travelled to in Asia. It is very, very different from China, Thailand and Vietnam. If you want to see a lot of places outside of Tokyo, I highly recommend a cruise like we did during our first visit. It allows you to see so many places and not have to worry about all the transportation issues or finding a place to stay. It’s a great introduction to someplace new. Another wonderful thing about Japan is that we always felt safe, no matter where we were or how late we were out. That’s always a comforting thing when you are far from home. We loved every moment of our time in Japan, and who knows, maybe we’ll head back that way again someday. Enjoy!