Japan || Bite-sized travel guides for Tokyo, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto

If you haven’t been to Japan yet, make plans to do so. I promise you, you WILL NOT regret it. It will change your life and inspire you in ALL of the best ways.

It’s taken me awhile to process my whole experience in Japan. I’ve been having trouble putting the right words to it.
Overall, one of the most amazing things for me was the people-watching. It shocked me how most people there were so civil to each other (at least in the public eye). They each had a quiet presence, depth and strength about them. Total vibes.

Anyway, here’s a breakdown of each city I visited in Japan:

TOKYO
For being such a sprawling city with a large population, it was as clean as the people were orderly, gentle, respectful. Imagine New York City. Now imagine it completely spotless and people walking in straight lines. Yeah. That’s Tokyo for you.

I stayed at Hoshinoya in the heart of Tokyo (5 star hotel) and K’s House Hostel (2 star hotel). Honestly, both were amazing experiences. Hoshinoya would be more your style if you like luxury and private amenities. K’s House is also a great choice because you get to meet other awesome travelers and it encourages you to go out and explore the city more (anddd… it’s like 500% less expensive)

Wanna watch sumo wrestlers like I did? Booking tickets for a sumo event is difficult and the wrestlers are not on tour all of the time. Instead, watch a morning practice at a sumo stable! For mine, I got to watch them AND the sumo wrestlers made lunch for me. (No joke, watch my Japan Instagram highlights here)

NARA

Two things— 1) Do the bowing ritual with the deer in Nara Park. Watch my viral deer bowing ritual video on my Japan Instagram highlights!

2) Sake flight at HARUSHIKA Sake Brewery.

OSAKA

This city is ALL about the Japanese street food. Honestly if you did nothing else but eat here, it would totally be worth it. From okonomiyaki to yakitori and Japanese curries to sashimi bowls, get them here. So delicious!

KYOTO

Blast from the past traditional Japanese classical era here. Temples, villages galore… my personal favorite was the Fushimi Inari.

Want to dress up in traditional Japanese attire? Plenty of opportunities to do that here. You can even learn how to use samurai swords and ninja stars at the Kyoto Samurai & Ninja Museum. (I actually got pretty good at my samurai skills! There’s a video of it in my IG stories, haha)

Want more travel inspiration? Watch my Japan story highlights here.