Three beautiful weeks during the Japanese autumn (page 3 of 4)

Day 18: Heading to Koyasan 2.5 hours of various transports to reach the small village of Koyasan nestled in the heart of the Koya mountains. A train, then a cable car, then a bus to get to Koyasan, a tiny village with hundreds of temples and monasteries, more than half of which welcome visitors to stay overnight.



About our accommodation, a small downside: we found the price excessive. Even though our shukubo Hojo-in was among the cheapest in Koyasan, it was the most expensive lodging of our trip (380 € for the room, dinner and breakfast included).





Apart from the vegetarian meal, which was good, our room was freezing cold, only heated by a gas convection heater—not great for your health. No interaction with the monks. Just a quick fifteen minutes listening to a meditation chant at 6 AM. The bath wasn’t heated either. In short: expensive for what it was in the end. You’re really paying for the experience. In the “town center,” we first tried some delicious Japanese curry before starting our visit at Kongō Sanmai-in temple with the beautiful autumn colors since we’re at a higher altitude.

Day 18: Koyasan (continued):

We continued our visit to Koyasan by strolling peacefully through the immense, stunning cemetery in the middle of the forest toward the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, one of the founders of Buddhism. A magical place.











We returned to our shukubo at the end of the day. We were served a vegetarian dinner called "shōjin ryōri," more than half of which was made up of ingredients we’d never tried before. It was good but a bit disorienting.

Day 19: Koyasan then back to Osaka Very cold night (5 degrees). Early rise to attend the monks' prayer. Actually, just one monk reciting mantras for 15 minutes before leaving. We would’ve liked a bit of explanation about the ritual. We explore Danjogaran early in the morning.









Then we visit Kongobu-ji temple. The interior paintings in the various pavilions are particularly lovely. We finish the temple visit with Banryutei, Japan’s largest rock garden.



Back to Osaka in the late afternoon. We treat ourselves to another sushi train at Kura Namba.

Day 20: Back to Tokyo in Asakusa Took the shinkansen in 2.5 hours to Tokyo Central Station. But what a maze of corridors to get to the Asakusa subway line! Not obvious at all. Luckily, the subway exit is right in front of our hotel (APA Ekimae), perfectly located for visiting Asakusa, for tomorrow’s train departure to Nikko, and for the direct train line to the airport on our last day. We find a little restaurant serving good gyozas before diving into the crowd on the famous Nakamise Street toward the Asakusa Shrine. Okay, okay… We encounter a dense crowd, the stalls are clearly tourist-oriented, and there are much more beautiful shrines elsewhere. We also grab a coffee at the top of the visitor center for the view over Asakusa.





We stroll through the alleys of Hoppy Street and the Don Quijote department store before heading to see the skyline (Tokyo Tower and Starck’s “sculpture”) on the other side of the Sumida River.





We treat ourselves to a kaiseki meal at a renowned spot (Kappou Tonbo). We paid 33,000 Y in total for the four of us. The 6,050 Y menu included: appetizers + sashimi + sukiyaki beef + chawanmushi + tempura + a fish + dessert. More than enough. FYI: the most expensive menu was still 22,000 Y per person.



Evening stroll. Same street, but no crowd.

Day 21: Excursion to Nikko Departure from the train at Asakusa at 7:50 AM to arrive directly in Nikko in 2 hours. We’ll spend the whole day wandering around to discover various temples in the middle of the woods. First, the Rinno-ji temple, then the grand and beautiful Toshogu shrine, which contains the mausoleum of the military leader Tokugawa.









Oh, those beautiful red colors. I never get tired of them!

We wrap up the visit with the Futarasan shrine and the Taiyuin temple.



We pull ourselves away from the temple area and head toward the Kanmangafuchi Abyss, where we find a little spot for a late lunch to enjoy a delicious fish gratin at Café Restaurant Bell.



The return train leaves at 4:20 PM. The train schedule allowed us to enjoy a relaxing discovery of Nikko. A fish barbecue at Asakusa wraps up the day (at Sakurada restaurant).

Day 22: Last day in Tokyo Another beautiful sunny day in November. We had breakfast at "Tully’s Coffee" near Ueno Park before spending an hour and a half at the National Museum.









Then we strolled toward the Yanaka neighborhood via the cemetery. Lovely shops here. And one last delicious ramen.

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for this lovely autumn travel journal—I just discovered it as it’s wrapping up. I was already a fan of your South America journal.

This one is just as delightful, with a special shout-out to the Moss Temple—absolutely stunning! 🙂

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for this lovely autumn travel journal that I discovered just as it was ending. I was a big fan of your South America travel journal.

This one is just as delightful—special mention for the Moss Temple, which was absolutely stunning. 🙂

Thank you! It’s true that being able to take two such amazing and different trips in 2025 (Argentina and Japan) was pretty exceptional.

Day 22: Last day in Tokyo (continued and concluded) One last ramen before taking the subway to the south of Tokyo to visit TeamLab Planets museum. Wow!! A burst of colors and diverse sensations. A wonderful experience.







Last subway ride... it's over.

Back on the subway to Asakusa. We still have time for dinner. We make the Japan-Europe transition by going to eat duck at "La Manie Beans." The chef spent a year in a restaurant on the Île d'Oléron and brought back ideas he cooks to perfection. We go back to pick up our luggage at the hotel, use up the last yen on our ICOCA card by buying a bottle of sake at 7-Eleven, then take the direct train to the airport. Takeoff at 11:30 PM to arrive in Munich the next day. A 2-hour layover. Arrival in Brussels at 10:20 AM.

I hope you enjoyed this trip to Japan as much as we did.

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I’ll be following your travel journal with pleasure.

Carmen

Conclusion: A varied trip. We tasted some excellent dishes. The weather was perfect (except for rain 2 days in Tokyo and 1 day in Osaka). If we did it again, we wouldn’t change a thing. Budget per person for 3 weeks: Flight: 1180 € Accommodation: 1200 € Transport: 360 € Entry fees: 180 € Food: 800 €

Thanks so much, Patrick, for this travel journal. I really enjoyed following it and I’ll definitely be revisiting it when Japan is on the agenda! 😊

Thanks for this trip report—I really enjoyed reading it. The many photos illustrating the story are also super interesting.

Thanks Patrick for this autumn travel journal. I’ve only just finished reading it—I didn’t have time during the holidays. 😊

I have to admit that Japanese cities don’t really appeal to me. I hate crowds. Our son rented a van and they traveled around Japan sleeping in it. They mostly visited off-the-beaten-path spots. I think I’d prefer that way of traveling. But for now, Japan isn’t part of our plans.

Conclusion: A varied trip. We tasted excellent dishes. The weather was perfect (except for 2 rainy days in Tokyo and 1 in Osaka). If we did it again, we wouldn’t change a thing. Budget per person for 3 weeks: Flight: 1180 € Accommodation: 1200 € Transport: 360 € Admissions: 180 € Food: 800 €

I just skimmed your story—it blew me away! What an amazing trip! I’ve never been to Japan except for 2 days on a business trip to Tokyo, but that doesn’t really count. I’m planning my first *real* 2-week trip to this country that’s fascinating me more and more, from late September to early October (after 2 weeks in Taiwan), but it’ll be more ‘classic.’ I’ll come back to your story to pick up some ideas for Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and even Matsumoto. And it’s not out of the question that I’ll return to Japan next year!

Among other things, I’m noting the budget you mentioned, which I’m translating as 2540 € per person for 3 weeks, excluding flights—that works out to 850 € per person for 1 week, right? So for a couple, I should budget around 3400 € for 2 weeks? That’s cheaper than I thought until now...

It’s not the most exciting question, but you’ve got to look at the financial side of the trip—Japan isn’t a cheap destination!

Ah, so you're the ones who got all the sunshine! 😉 We were there the second half of October, and the sun wasn’t really on our side—just white skies and rainy spells. 🤪

Lovely varied itinerary you took the time to share all the way through! 🙂

Japan isn’t exactly a budget destination!

Apart from the cost of flight tickets, Japan is actually quite reasonable price-wise. It all depends on the activities you do, the sights you visit, and the accommodation you choose. A few prices that surprised us: - the cost of a bottle of water from vending machines: 100 yen - the cost of entry to a temple: 150 yen - the cost of stamps to France: 140 yen

I didn’t break down all our expenses, but our budget for 15 days came to 3,500 € per person, including flights (2,000 €), and we visited theme parks (Universal and Disney).

Conclusion: A varied trip. We tasted some excellent dishes. The weather was perfect (except for 2 rainy days in Tokyo and 1 in Osaka). If we did it again, we wouldn’t change a thing. Budget per person for 3 weeks: Flight: 1180 € Accommodation: 1200 € Transport: 360 € Admissions: 180 € Food: 800 €

I just skimmed your story, and it blew me away. What an amazing trip! I’ve never been to Japan, except for 2 business days in Tokyo—but that doesn’t really count. I’m planning my first *real* 2-week trip to this country that’s fascinating me more and more, from late September to early October (after 2 weeks in Taiwan), but it’ll be more ‘classic.’ I’ll revisit your story to pick up some ideas for Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and even Matsumoto. And it’s not out of the question that I’ll return to Japan next year!

Among other things, I’m noting the budget you mentioned, which I’m translating as 2540 € per person for 3 weeks, excluding flights—that works out to 850 € per person for 1 week, right? So for a couple, I should budget around 3400 € for 2 weeks? That’s cheaper than I thought...

It’s not the most exciting question, but you’ve got to consider the financial side of the trip—Japan isn’t a cheap destination!

Yes, excluding flights, which are a big part of the budget. I booked our accommodations 8 months in advance to get good hotel choices at reasonable prices. As for meals, you can stick to good ramen for 1500 yen or go for more sophisticated meals at 4000–5000 yen per person.

Japan isn’t exactly a budget destination!

Aside from the cost of flight tickets, Japan is actually quite reasonable price-wise. It all depends on the activities you do, the sights you visit, and the accommodations you choose. A few prices that surprised us: - the cost of a bottle of water from vending machines: 100 yen - the cost of entry to a temple: 150 yen - the cost of stamps to France: 140 yen

I didn’t break down all our purchases, but our budget for 15 days came to 3,500 € per person, including flights (2,000 €), and we visited theme parks (Universal and Disney).

The entry price for temples was more like 500 to 1,000 yen

Hello again,

At last, I can finally read it. Computers have some secrets I’ll never uncover.

Have a great day! Best regards,