April 19, 2026
Arrival
ZIPAIR SFO to Narita. Economy business class with lie flat seats but none of the other frills. Checked into Onsen Ryokan Yuen Shinjuku. Tiny room but clean and functional with a lovely onsen on the roof of the hotel.
Midnight onsen after arriving the evening before. Tokyo is surprisingly quiet at night from the roof of the hotel. The red lights on the top of all the tall buildings were striking.
The iPad was left on the plane. Thank goodness for good Japanese customer service and easy/efficient delivery services! Zipair got back to us the very next day and offered to deliver the iPad or have us pick it up at Narita. One of the most refreshing things about traveling in Japan is the ease and efficiency of luggage delivery — the same goes for parcels. It cost $10–15 to have the iPad shipped to our hotel in Kyoto, which was fortunate because we watched two Ghibli movies on it and I got to keep working through the Showa graphic novel series about Japanese history during the Showa period (the reign of Hirohito, 1925–1989).
April 20, 2026
Shinjuku, Meiji Shrine, and Harajuku
Arienne had a morning Onsen soak and Ammar watched Man City Arsenal. We walked to Aaliyah Cafe Shinjuku: delicious fluffy French toast and coffee. Walked through Shinjuku Gyoen garden. The cherry blossoms had wound down but there were beautiful azaleas, and some fruit trees still blossoming.
Walked to Meiji Jingu and did an Airbnb tour with a Sri Lankan tourgide named Laki. We learned about the Meiji Emperor and Shinto shrines. Gave offerings and got poems written by the Meiji Emperor and his wife Empress Shoken. They were prolific writers of the Tanka form (5-7-5-7-7). Ate soba and tempura for lunch on Takeshita St.
Walked around Harajuku and did lots of shopping. Lots of thrift stores and shoe stores. I bought some black leather Clarks. The otter/hedgehog/chinchilla cafe we popped into was gross. Smelly and seemed inhumane. One of the hedgehogs kept trying to escape.
Onitsuka Tiger, the predecessor to Asics, is now a super popular fashion sneaker. The store was packed but Arienne persevered and got two awesome pairs: hot pink trainers and a more classic looking leather pair with the Onitsuka logo. Afuri Yuzu Ramen for dinner - such an interesting and different broth from Ramen we've had in the US. Evening soak back on the roof.
April 21, 2026
Ueno & Omakase
Morning soak. Arienne wore her pink sneakers. Breakfast at 7-11 right across the street from our hotel — this became our go-to almost every morning in Tokyo and Kyoto. Yogurt, a couple of onigiri (always the pickled plum one), some fruit, maybe a marinated egg, a smoothie if they have it, and surprisingly good 7-11 coffee. Went to the JR rail station and figured out our train tickets for the rest of the trip.
Tokyo National Museum: The early ceramics (dancing figures), samurai outfits, and woodblock prints were particularly impressive. Walked toward Ueno station and shopped around Ameyoko Market. Lunch was Gyukatsu Motomura, a famous hole in the wall for grill-your-own Gyukatsu (breaded beef). Took a break at the hotel in the afternoon. Arienne hadn't slept much due to jetlag.
Omakase sushi at Iwase. The food was delicious but we were a little bummed that the Japanese customers seemed to get more courses. The staff played dumb when we brought it up. Notable dishes: uni with rice, sea bream and liver used in sauce for cuttlefish, hokke, chlorophthalmis, raw mackerel with shiso paste, blowfish roe.
Nice post-dinner drinks at Spincoaster listening bar. I had whiskey and Arienne had plum wine. The DJ was spinning R&B and played Cherise, Hikaru Utada, and Sade.
April 22, 2026
All over the city
Morning Imperial Palace tour. interesting to learn about all the fortifications that were never used because the Imperial Palace was never invaded. Also interesting to learn about the royal family lineage drama: male-only succession must occur through the male line, women who marry outside the imperial line leave the royal family, and there aren't many royals because many branches of the imperial line were abolished by the US military occupation.
Tried fami-chiki, the Family Mart fried chicken. Delicious. Walked up to Glitch Coffee Roasters, a delicious artisanal coffee house with super interesting light roasts. Got super buzzed on a 3-coffee flight. We were pleased to learn that this is a favorite of our good friend and coffee guru Michael. Walked to the book district Jimbocho — so many cool used bookshops. Bought Idris a Japanese picture book. Had gyoza in that area.
Back to Harajuku. We were honored Geoff asked us to visit and clean his grandmother's grave. We were greeted by a very friendly caretaker who helped us light the incense and did not at all question why we were there. We brushed the grave off with water and then wandered around to find a flower shop. We found a really nice one nearby and the staffer there made us a gorgeous set of two bouquets to place in the vases at the grave. It was such a special experience to be able to connect with Geoff's heritage that way.
We then walked to one of Geoff and Lyka's favorite sushi places, Tsukiji Tama Sushi in Omotesando Hills. The laid-back atmosphere and ordering à la carte through a QR code was quite the contrast compared with our omakase. You could definitely tell the difference in the quality of the rice and the elaborateness of the dishes — but the fish was still delicious.
On our way to the sushi place, we stopped into a little vintage boutique and in a moment of madness I bought probably the ugliest piece of clothing I'll ever own — a vintage grey Yves Saint Laurent collared sweater-shirt with the craziest teal and yellow stripes. It felt like a good idea at the time, while we were swept up in the vintage shopping, but when I wore it the next day, every look in the mirror was filled with buyers' remorse.
April 23, 2026
Shimokitazawa morning
Ugly shirt day. Checked out, forwarded luggage to Kyoto, wandered around Shimokitazawa — the capital of thrift/vintage shopping, and also a cute, quieter, hip neighborhood. Arienne bought a couple of basics but overall we struck out. Thrift shopping is kind of exhausting — you really have to have the energy to find the needle in the haystack. And it's not cheap in Tokyo, especially for American brands which come at a premium.
There's a lovely greenway through the neighborhood. We saw an adorable mother-baby yoga class and stopped for a Totoro-shaped cream puff at a very charming cafe above Shirohige's cream puff factory, which is run by Miyazaki's sister-in-law, licensed to make the Totoro-shaped pastries. What a delight.
For lunch, we sat at the counter of a delicious tiny little Japanese curry spot with an amazing sound system spinning folky Japanese pop/rock. It was cool to learn about a band called Happy End, notable for singing western folk-inspired music in Japanese.
We had stored our backpacks in lockers at the station, but Arienne accidentally threw away the receipt with the code and we stupidly didn't take a picture of it. Without the code we probably would have had to go through some convoluted process to open the locker, and we were cutting it close for our train to Kyoto! We ran back to the thrift shop where Arienne had thrown some stuff away and had to awkwardly ask the clerk to let us dig through the trash. He refused to let us and did it himself. We found the receipt and raced back to get our luggage in time to catch our connection to the Shinkansen at Shinagawa.
On to Kyoto.