6 weeks. Countless train rides. Thousands of kilometers. One unforgettable journey across Japan. It has been hubby's bucket list to slow-travel all around Japan, and we are glad to finally make this a reality. From vibrant cities to quiet countryside, snow-covered mountains to coastal towns, ancient temples to modern skylines — we are grateful for the opportunity to experience and see so many different parts of this country. We were also fortunate to experience the cherry blossom season this time around. Arigato gozaimasu, Japan, for the wonderful experiences and memories, and for showing us again what a unique country you are, with amazing culture and people.
6-Weeks Around Japan
24 Feb - 2 Mar 2026: Tokyo
2-3 Mar 2026: Hakone
3-5 Mar 2026: Nagoya, Nakasendo Trail
5-8 Mar 2026: Kyoto, Uji
8-12 Mar 2026: Osaka
12-17 Mar 2026: Sapporo, Niseko, Hakodate
17-18 Mar 2026: Akita
18-22 Mar 2026: Sendai, Ginzan Onsen
22-25 Mar 2026: Kanazawa, Shirakawago
25- 29 Mar 2026: Hiroshima
29 Mar - 4 Apr 2026: Kokura, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Nagasaki
4-6 Apr 2026: Beppu
6-7 Apr 2026: Fukuoka
8 Mar 2026 (Sun): Kyoto - Osaka
After 3 nights in Kyoto, it was time to continue our journey to Osaka. Checked out at 10.45am and then took the 11.37am train to Osaka. Btw, I am very impressed that my Amazing Race backpack is still going strong and working great after 14 years. I actually switched bag with hubby coz he needed the larger bag for more stuffs.
After 2 train rides, we arrived Osaka at 1pm and walked 10 minutes to our hotel.
Stayed at Garner Hotel Osaka Honmachi Kita Semba for 4 nights. Booked this stay for a total of 21,000 IHG points and used the 4th night free benefit for this stay. The location of this hotel was not as convenient (8-10 min walk to the closest metro station) but the award price was great. This hotel is very new and clean. Same as the other hotels we've stayed on this trip, it had everything we needed for a comfortable stay.
There is also a nice lounge area at the ground floor where we could get coffee and tea for free all day, and they also had a microwave which we could use.
After dropping our luggages, we headed out at 2pm to explore Osaka. First stop was retro game shopping for hubby.
Btw, this Japan trip was hubby's dream trip. Hubby shortlisted all the places he wanted to go (all around Japan) and I mapped out all the routes, transportation, and detailed itinerary. Being a Type A traveler, I was the trip planner, tour guide, navigator, photographer, luggage packer, treasurer, trip reporter, for this trip. Yes, I'm a good wife. Hubby was the travel prince and his job was to follow the itinerary, carry his own backpack, enjoy the trip (and no complaining)...lol!!
Early dinner at 4.30pm at Ikinari Steak at Namba. We had Ikinari for the first time in 2017 and hubby had been wanting to try it again on this trip. Happily put on our bibs for this meal. We learnt that some Ikinari serves wagyu beef. Brantyn and Anna enjoyed their wagyu beef and hubby regretted not ordering it this time.
Went to Dotonbori after dinner to see the night lights. We were too lazy to venture out at night when we visited Osaka in 2023 so we made it a point to see Dotonbori at night this time around. There were soooo many people in Dotonbori probably coz it was a Sunday. This is probably Osaka's most popular place to visit in the evening for the neon lights and lively nightlife.
Quick stop at GIGO Dotonbori and spotted a guy with multiple Doraemons...lol!
Classic Dotonbori humongous store signs.
Hubby was tempted to get more souvenirs with the famous Osaka clown, Kuidaore Taro but had to control himself coz we still had a few weeks to travel with limited luggage space.
Strolled along Dotonbori canal and of course gotta take a photo with the famous Glico man. My goodness so many people!
Stopped by the supermarket to grab some snacks before returning to the hotel. We bid goodbye to Brantyn and Anna the night before as they were leaving Osaka for Tokyo today to fly back to Canada.
9 Mar 2026 (Mon): Osaka
Slept in till 9.30am and collected our free breakfast bento box from the front desk.
Returned to the same places we were yesterday as hubby wanted to buy his video game. Going shopping on Monday morning was much better coz it was a lot less crowded.
We then stopped by Shinsaibashi to window shop at Uniqlo then went to Ichiran (again) at 2pm for late lunch before calling it a day.
10 Mar 2026 (Tues): Universal Studios Japan
Early start for the day at 6am as we were on a mission today...to get into Universal Studios and Super Nintendo World without Express Pass and Timed Entry Ticket.
There were already people standing in line when we arrived at 6.30am but we were still relatively close to the front of the line. P.S. The official US opening time on the day of our visit was 9am. We bought our tickets on Klook on Jan 8 (2 months in advance) for 9,900 yen ($60) per pax.
It was chilly in the morning so we dressed in layers to brace the cold while we sat on the floor to wait.
You can see how far the line got by 7.30am. This was on a Tuesday, which was supposed to have less people but it was spring break in Japan so there were lots of students visiting USJ.
After waiting for 1.5 hours in 0°C weather, the gates for the bag check was finally opened at 8am. As soon as we got through security check, we quickly ran to the ticket gate (on the left). Successfully made it further ahead in the line as we went straight towards the line on the far left.
And yes we had to stand in line and waited again until they finally opened the ticket gates at 8.55am. Scanned our printed PDF ticket and it was race time.
Absolute chaos as everybody started running as soon as we got into USJ. Obviously everyone ignored the "Please Walk" signs that the staffs were holding. This was more gin jiong than Amazing Race...hahaha! We had 'studied' the route to Super Nintendo World and Donkey Kong Country beforehand so we knew exactly where to go. We paced ourselves and ran the whole way (6 minutes). A lot of people gassed out half way so we were able to cut a whole lot of people and were the first ones making it into Super Nintendo World. Our fitness level not bad ok...lo!! It was pretty cool seeing an empty SNW and being the first guests greeted by the staffs. Kiasu for the win.
Successfully made it to Mine Cart Madness at 9.01am and we were #2 and #3 to get in (didn't mind letting that lady cut in front of us at this point.
Mine Cart Madness with zero wait and escorted in like VIP. No express pass needed. It was absolutely worth running 6 minutes to save at least an hour waiting in line. Getting there early paid off.
Btw, the wait time for this ride usually goes up to 2-3 hours. There was already a long line for Mine Cart Madness when we finished the ride at 9.08am. Yes this was only 7 minute after we entered. For reference, this ride lasted for 2 minutes. Imagine standing in line for 2 hours for a 2 minute ride. Once again, this reinforced that being early and running that 6 minutes was absolutely worth it.
Our mission was not over yet. We had one more ride to get to...Mario Kart, which is another popular ride with long wait time. We headed straight to Mario Kart and when we arrived at the entrance at 9.10am, it was showing a 40 min wait, and 30 min for single riders. We didn't mine riding this separately so we headed for the single riders lane.
Surprisingly there was zero wait for the single riders line and we were able to cut everyone in the normal line and got on the ride without waiting at all. We were given goggles to wear and the goal of the ride was to race against Team Bowser, collecting coins and throwing shells in a multi-sensory experience. I had no clue what I was supposed to do so this 5-min ride was kinda boring for me.
Mission complete at 9.20am. Pretty impressed that we finished both popular rides that we wanted to get on within 20 minutes of entering the park.
Now we have all the time to slowly explore, take photos, and enjoy Super Nintendo World.
Borrowed the Power Up bands from our niece and nephew which surprisingly still work after 3 years. Obviously Nintendo was a big part of hubby's childhood so this was his place to shine.
We went back to Donkey Kong Country to explore the area since we totally breezed through it earlier.
The mascots (Peach, Donkey Kong, Toad, Luigi, Mario) came out around 10-10.30am to take photos with visitors. We could have gotten photos with them if we wanted (we didn't see a line) but we just stood close by to take photos. My favorite is Toad and Yoshi (coz they are cute) but we missed Yoshi.
We left SNW at 11am and saw the line for the timed entry as we were leaving. I checked the app and saw that it was still possible to get the timed entry for SNW on the spot.
Went to Jurassic Park next and decided to queue for The Flying Dinosaur ride. It was showing 90 min wait and 60 min for single riders. Once again, we went for the single rider line. We started waiting in line around 11.15am and were done with the ride at 12pm. I'm not a roller coaster fan but this ride was pretty cool.
Finished our Jurassic ride in time for the Waterworld show at 12.30pm. The last time I watched this show was in 2006 in Universal Studios Hollywood. This show is still going strong 20 years later. We couldn't understand what the performers were saying but we were there for the stunts so the language barrier didn't matter. The main female performer was an ang moh speaking Japanese.
After the show ended at 1pm, we went to the Discovery restaurant at Jurassic Park for lunch.
After lunch, we went to catch the "No Limit! Parade". Universal Studios Japan is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with a year-long event titled "Discover U!!! This special anniversary version of the parade just debuted on March 4th (6 days before our visit) so we came just in time to catch it. The parade featured Hello Kitty, Snoopy, Minions, Sesame Street...
Mario & friends. This parade also featured 25 different Pikachus celebrating the anniversary.
Rode on Space Fantasy ride and surprisingly enjoyed it more than we expected.
Bought some Pokemon merch for big bro.
went back to Hollywood area to check it out since we just ran through it in the morning.
Stopped by the Studio Gifts store to get tax refunds for items we purchased in USJ.
Spotted few more characters that came out at 4pm to take photos with visitors.
Visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at 4.15pm to explore the area.
Didn't get on any rides here since we've been on them before in Orlando.
We noticed so many people (including guys) wearing characters headbands/hats in USJ, which isn't something we see as much in other Universal imo. I do like seeing everyone fully enjoying the experience though.
As mentioned earlier, it was spring break so there were lots of Japanese students visiting with their friends. Another thing we observed was that Japanese students love wearing school uniforms to theme parks. I was all bundled up because it was chilly but those girls with short skirts and heels, no way....lol!
After a successful day exploring USJ, we left the park at 5pm. Thank you USJ for this wonderful day. So glad we visited in March when the weather was nice and cool. Can't imagine doing all these in the summer.
Took the train back to our hotel and stopped by the supermarket to grab bento dinner and ice cream.
11 Mar 2026 (Wed): Hanshin Tigers Baseball
Hubby enjoyed our 2023 Hanshin Tigers experience so much that we decided to return to Koshien stadium to watch another game this trip.Bought our tickets online on Feb 1 for 3,000 yen/pax ($19.60) and collected the physical tickets at 7-11.
Hubby was determined to find another Hanshin Tigers t-shirt this time as the one he bought last time was a little too small.
We were still early in the year so this was just a pre-season game between Hanshin Tigers and Saitama Seibu Lions.
It was cold so we bundled up for this game that went from 1pm - 3.45pm.
We were impressed with the turnout for this pre-season game. FYI, this game was at 1pm on a Wednesday. Japanese baseball fans are amazing. The Hanshin Tigers fans were chanting and singing the entire game. Hanshin Tigers won the game btw.
The game ended at 3.45pm and it was time to brave the train crowd to head back to Osaka.
Decided to make a detour in Umeda to check out the Pokemon store (for big bro) and video game shopping for hubby.
This Surugaya store in Umeda wasn't on our list to visit but hubby unexpectedly found a few games that he wanted, and officially opened the floodgates of his video game shopping. We still had 4 weeks of traveling to go so good luck to hubby for lugging one more bag around Japan.
Btw, we found our favorite ice cream in Japan...Coolish. It's basically a soft serve ice cream without the cone and mess.
12 Mar 2026 (Thurs): Osaka - Sapporo
After spending 4 nights in Osaka, it was time to continue to our next destination. Checked out at 8.30am, took the metro to Namba to catch the 9am Itami-Airport Limousine Bus to Osaka Itami airport. Yes we are flying to our next destination (not taking train). As mentioned earlier, hubby opened his shopping floodgate the night before so now he has an extra bag to lug around.
The shuttle bus dropped us off at the North Terminal (for JAL) at 9.45am.
This was our 2nd time at Itami airport so we were somewhat familiar with it. This airport is smaller than the main Kansai airport with less people so check in was quick and easy.
We had about 1.5 hours to wait before our 11.45am flight. Glad we were able to use the JAL Sakura Lounge thanks to my OneWorld Sapphire status (before it expired on Mar 31). There were no food in this lounge, just rice snacks and drinks. Of course I've gotta use the beer machine whenever I visit a Japanese lounge.
That's a wrap for days 1-17 (part 1) of our Japan trip with friends. Part 2 of our trip will just be the two of us. Next stop...Sapporo!
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