Nippon Express - Part One

I’d first planned to travel to Japan back in 2020 for the Olympics but the world had other ideas back then. It was another four years before we could make our inaugural trip to this most fascinating of countries - it didn’t disappoint.

There’s nothing quite like arriving in a foreign city for the first time and they don’t come more intense than Tokyo. Having successfully negotiated the monorail and metro from Hanaeda to Akihabara (£2.50 using the Suica pass) we made the short walk to our hotel a little overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a busy Saturday in the city. Our hotel was great with a classy bar and restaurant downstairs, we stopped for a lunch and a Heartland beer before hitting town. First off we headed up to Asakusa and the Senso-ji shrine - we weren’t the only ones, it was completely mobbed so soon after arriving we moved on to the nearby riverside. We’d planned to take a water bus down to Odiba but arrived 5 mins after the last boat of the day, instead we wandered down for a while taking in the sites including the Tokyo Skytree and the ‘Golden turd’

With evening approaching we headed to Ginza, one of the premier shopping districts (there are many as we soon discovered) and a visit to the flagship Uniqlo, all 13 floors of it. By now we’d worked up a thirst so popped into an old-school cocktail bar on the 4th floor for a perfectly acceptable Negroni then southwards for dinner to a quiet neighbourhood close to Tokyo Tower. Neopolitan Pizza is big in Japan and no-one does it better than PST, it was spectacular.

The next morning brought cooler, rainy conditions, perfect for a trip to some museums in and around Roppongi. First up the National Museum of Art followed by the exquisite Nezu Museum and it’s stunning garden. We picked up a great lunch at Ypsilon Aoyama followed by a wander around the leafy streets and high-end stores nearby including the iconic Prada store.

With evening drawing in it was time to head over Shinjuku, perhaps the most hectic of all Tokyo’s many entertainment districts and home to busiest railway terminus in the world. We needed a strong drink by the time we’d found our way out of there which was duly provided by Bar Composition. Onwards then to ‘Memory Lane’, Omoide Yokocho - a narrow alleyway packed with tiny yakitori joints. It was predictably packed but very atmospheric with decent food and cheap beer, we eat well at stall 26. I stopped by the Whisky Kingdom for a browse and a bottle of Nikka from the Barrel before making the short stroll over to Golden Gai, a warren of small streets packed with bars with room for 6-8 people, sometimes even less. It’s a fun place with an interesting history having been established to service the American troops stationed there after the war. We headed here, it was ok but nothing remarkable.

The next day, Monday saw a return to hot, humid conditions but we decided to walk the 40 minutes down to the Imperial Place via the Kanda district and a pitstop at this excellent coffee shop. The Imperial Place was suitably impressive but the gardens were shut (a lot of places are shut in Tokyo on Monday) so we had to settle for a walk along the walls taking photos. With the heat of the day rising we took in some shade and a little shopping in Maranouchi including the wonderful Tradmans Bonsai shop.

Next stop was the tsukiji fish market, an busy warren of stalls selling knives, kitchen gadgets plus a plethora of sushi offerings. We opted for Itadori Bekkan for a plate of superbly fresh sushi in quaint surroundings, a steal at £20 for two. The curse of Monday struck again as we’d planned to rest and avoid the afternoon heat in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden but it was closed - all of it, all day. Instead we headed over to the State Guest House Akasaka Palace, a rather grand neo-classical building and formal gardens used for visiting dignitaries. We whiled away an hour but still had time for a quick visit to the Tado Ando designed 21:21 Design Sight museum in Roppongi featuring an exhibition of cutting-edge product design. I’d booked an early dinner at Kanagari in Shinjuku, an 8-course bbq izakaya recommended by Time out, an excellent feast with unlimited beer, sake and sochu for £26 per head. We tottered out into the night and one last stop taking in the famous ‘Shibuya Scramble’, reputed to be the busiest street crossing in the world.

It was time to leave Tokyo, early the next morning we headed back to Shinjuku to pick up a morning Shinkansen to Kyoto. All was pretty straightforward, tickets were £67 per person for the 2 hour, 350 mile trip. The trains itself are pretty impressive although the interiors are pretty drab. Kyoto is still a large city of approx 1m but the scale is more human, less vertical than Tokyo. We stayed in Gion, the historical centre at the Granbell Hotel, a discrete but elegant option. We headed out on a walk around Hagashiyama taking in some of the prettiest streets, predictably (and understandably) it was very busy. A surprisingly good lunch was taken at the Kyoto Bistro before heading out to visit the imprerssive Kiyomizu Dera temple and later, a great coffee at % Arabica. Kyoto was simply stunning - the quaint buildings, the magnificent temples and a general air of calm and order.

We crossed the river for an evening apertivo at Bees Knees, a great little cocktail bar on a street with plenty of other options before heading back to Gion and a special 8-course kaiseki dinner in a private dining room at the rather lovely and tranquil Mamecha.

Aa the new day dawned we headed off to Fushimi Inari Taisha, a little south of the city, for the hike up to the top of Mount Inari and the famous orange Tori that line the route. It’s a gentle 8km circular route, busy at the bottom but peaceful at the top with good views back towards the city. A train back to Kyoto and a bus took us next to the Ginkaku ji temple and it’s stunning gardens complete with sand sculpture in the shape of Mount Fuji. After a pit-stop lunch we took the Philosophers Path walk alongside a canal back into town, a low-key but charming stroll which ended in another of Kyoto’s multitude of temple complexes. We made our weary way back to the hotel for a soothing onsen bath before heading out for drinks and dinner. Alas, the Bees Knees was full so we had to make do with drinks at Hello Dolly, an old-fashioned jazz bar. The street running alongside the river is crammed with restaurants, it’s tough to make a decision as to where to eat. When we eventually did and chose en-en it was superb, a Korean bbq with several cuts of Waygu and Kobe beef on offer. Cold beer, great staff and a lively atmosphere made for a fun evening. I’d discovered the Galaxie 500 bar (a tribute to the early 90’s indie luminaries) but sadly it was shut. We found an able deputy for our digestifs in the Finalandia bar. Kyoto, you were beautiful, magnificent and serene, I hope we can return one day.

Another day, another move - this time we were headed to Naoshima Island, the ‘art island’ in the Seto Inland Sea. Getting there involved a Shinkansen, two local trains and a ferry from Uno Port to the island. Getting around Japan is pretty straightforward, with it’s superbly integrated public transport and google maps to hand it’s hard to go wrong. By early afternoon we were on the Island and installed in our digs for the night - a yurt on the beach, part of a slightly shabby low-key holiday park. We headed first to the Benesse Museum with it’s world class collection of modern art, sculpture garden and buildings designed by Tado Ando. More art and small but beautifully-designed museums were to be found on a winding route through the island and beaches, it’s quite a unique proposition, you could spend days here. The weather was cooler, rather damp and grey but I found time for a sea swim before heading out to dinner. Options were very limited but we caught the local shuttle bus to a village 1km away and had a very jolly okonomiyaki supper at Umikko.

The next morning greeted us with heavy rain, it felt more like the Lake District than tropical Japan. Undaunted, we headed over to the art house project, a collection of six historic houses that have been converted into art installations. The damp conditions only elevated the sense of uniqueness, the art of variable quality but we particularly enjoyed the James Turrell light installation in the Tado Ando designed Minamera art house. A personal highlight was visit to the Ando Museum, a low-key but exquisite small building showcasing the great mans work. It was a shame to have to leave but Hiroshima, our next destination beckoned. A 7-eleven lunch (not too bad actually) was taken on the train and by late afternoon we were in Hiroshima and the rather funky Kiro Hotel.

No trip to Hiroshima can evade a visit to the Peace Park and museum, we walked the 20 mins from the hotel over to the iconic symbol of the city, the atomic bomb dome before continuing on through the peace park towards the Peace Memorial Museum. It’s an astonishing and sombre experience, never judgemental but explains in simple, precise detail the effects of the bomb on the city and the local population. A lighter postscript was a smaller side exhibition detailing the 2023 G7 summit held that year in Hiroshima. A busy day rounded off on a much lighter note with a drink at the raku beer brewpub before heading round the corner for a Hiroshima speciality, the okonomiyaki - a kind of pancake prepared with greens, shellfish, egg and brown sauce, cooked on a hotplate right in front of you. There’s a food hall on the 3rd floor with back-to-back operations all offering variations, it’s a lot of fun. Later we discovered some local gins and whiskeys at the discrete Top Note Lounge, Hiroshima was proving to be an youthful, lively and friendly city.

An early start the next morning as we retraced our route back to Onomichi and the start of the Shimanami Bike trail, a 70km route across 5 islands in the Seto Inland Sea. I’d pre-booked the rental bikes so before 10am we were off on the trail, a short ferry ride took us onto the first island. We stopped for a great coffee at this cycling and ice cream cafe, and after a couple more islands connected by impressive bridges, each with dedicated bike lanes, we found ourselves in Setodacho Setoda, a lively little place with a friendly bike shop and a mellow spot for a lunch of mixed beef & chicken curries. We’d covered 40km and it was time to turn back, we could have continued to complete the trail but it would have meant a very late return back into Hiroshima via ferry and train. As with everything we’d experienced in Japan, the route was perfectly signposted and maintained, the scenery varied and interesting - it was a fine day out a’wheel.

Back to Hiroshima in time for a large higball at a friendly locals bar before heading down the road to 45 for a decent yakitori dinner. It was our last night in Hiroshima so we celebrated at the rather wonderful MAC bar with it’s extensive CD collection and chatty clientele, a mix of expats and locals. We probably had a couple too many but with a flight Okinawa and a couple of days R&R to look forward to we drank into the night. Our short stay in Hiroshima was at and end but what a town, a great finish to our first week in Japan.