Japan Photo Diary 2017

September 09, 2017

Japan Photo Diary 2017

Hello!

Here’s part 2 of photos of my holiday this summer as promised (see PART 1 here). The second week was spent in Japan; this was my third time there and every visit just increases my love for the country by so much! If you haven’t been, you should because the whole country is so big, diverse and beautiful in its own way.

Now let’s get started on the pics:

8^th Aug

First day, didn’t really do much apart from having a little look around the area
Checked into Hotel Musashiya in Moto-Hakone
Had lunch at this really cute café which I swear was run single-handedly by one woman – props to her!
After dinner served in our room we went to the in-hotel onsen – hot spring (more info in a post coming soon)

Beautiful views of Lake Ashi and Mt. Fuji in the clouds

Traditional Japanese dinner

9^th Aug

Breakfast (with multiple ‘courses’)
Took a pirate ship to the point where we took the cable car to the top of the mountain where the volcano, Mount Hakone, was; it was so cool to see the fumes coming out of the craters (but not so cool to smell the eggy sulphur)
Hakone Open Air Museum which was UHMAZING, can’t say enough good things about it!
Hot spring (yet again)

Pirate ship (port just a few mins walk from the hotel)

Cool sculptures!

10^th Aug

Hot spring in the morning before breakfast – there was no one there so I could take a few pics for y’all!
Travelled from Hakone to Tokyo
Checked into the Nishitetsu Inn in Shinjuku – extremely convenient location and good service
Dinner at Ootoya in Shinjuku

Stunning views from the hotel's onsen (hot spring)

Last minute visit of Hakone Checkpoint - lots of interesting history behind this place

11^th Aug

National Museum of Modern Art (MOMAT)
Lunch at Pizzeria Zio Poppo (really cute Italian restaurant)
Shopping in Shinjuku

12^th Aug

Asakusa – lots of kitchen and homeware shops, fake food!
Lunch at Ito Kacho (offeres Wagyu beef among many other mouth-watering varieties)
Dinner at Sushi-Go-Round in Shinjuku
More shopping!

Heaven for people who love kitchen utensils and the like

Outside Japanese restaurants, there is often a vast display of fake food, shops like the one above supply restaurants with the (fake) food they need to entice customers in!

Rickshaw guys in Asakusa

Wagyu beef

Taiyaki

Sushi-Go-Round (Shinjuku)

A rare spot not teeming with tourists off the main street of Asakusa

13^th Aug

Church at Tokyo Baptist Church
Lunch at Marugame Seimen udon restaurant in Shibuya
Shopping at Harajuku (soo many people, not great if you’re claustrophobic but gets better if you’re not on the main shopping street)
Dinner at Teke Teke, Shinjuku – uses tablets to order which is really cool, made us pay for bitter lettuce that cost £5-7 (which apparently all customers get "on the house"), yakitori chicken was very good, probably would not recommend purely because of the lettuce situation