For our first real family trip outside Korea, we decided to hop the quick 1.5 hour flight to Japan over New Years Week. With plans to visit Kyoto and Universal Studios in Osaka, it ended up being a very busy week. Here is what we did right and what I wish we had done instead.

Getting There & Getting Around

Getting to Kyoto from the airport in Osaka doesn’t seem that far on the map, but what you quickly learn is that everyone travels by train or public transport. So our trip to our hotel took about 2 hours using Japan Rail Express Train(yes, the Hello Kitty train) and a 30 minute cab ride from Kyoto Station. We stayed at The Prince Kyoto Takaragaike which was on the outskirts of town, and that did make travel times slightly longer. We enjoyed the quiet of the location and it did have a subway stop quite close, so that was helpful. 

Because we have been using subways and public transport in Korea, using the Japanese systems wasn’t too difficult. You prepay for your destinations, so as long as you know where you are going, it isn’t too confusing.  It isn’t the most convenient or stress free, but cabs and shuttles are very expensive, so it quickly becomes your best option. Helpful to note that Google Maps works just fine in Japan, unlike in Korea.

Kyoto, Japan

First up was exploring the City of Kyoto, the Nishiki Market and Gion district. Because of the New Years Holidays (which extend to January 3rd in Japan), there was larger than usual crowds, but we made do. Weather was warmer than Korea, so we were able to walk around all day with no problems. Much like Korea, Japan is clean and safe, both are equally wonderful as tourists. Most public restrooms are in great shape, and have heated toilet seats, which I appreciated! We ate some street food treats, Tonkatsu and had lots of different teas. Food was generally very good and easy to come by. 

Universal Studios – Osaka, Japan

We traveled back to Osaka (4 different trains) and made our way to Universal Studios Japan. It was a major highlight of this trip. With Harry Potter Land, Jurassic Park, and Super Nintendo World, it was just the dose of fun we needed. We all had a great time and would go back again given the chance. We should have stayed in Osaka our first 2 nights and done this at the beginning of our trip to avoid the travel back and forth from Kyoto, but now we know.  

I will say it is difficult to get tickets on Universal Studios Japan website, you needed a Japanese credit card, so all tickets had to be purchased from Klook. This was not my first choice as we had less options when picking our timed access to certain areas of the park. Nonetheless, the USJ app was fairly similar to what I have used in the past and we were able to navigate the park just fine. We really loved the park experience and would definitely go back again if given the opportunity.

Temples, Shrines & Arashiyama

Kinkaku-Ji Temple

For the next day exploring Kyoto, we hired a private tour guide with a van. This was mainly to help with ease of getting around to the various sites all over the City. It was also nice to enjoy the day without worrying about how to get around, checking maps while also getting a personalized experience. It was the best decision, we got picked up at our hotel, and our first stop was the beautiful UNESCO heritage site, Kinkaku-Ji Temple. The temple was beautiful, peaceful and the I’m glad we were able to see it before the crowds. 

Arashiyama

Next we headed to Arashiyama. Here we visited the Monkey Park (it sits at the top of that little mountain with a view of the whole city). There are guides at the top monitoring the monkeys and you can pay a small fee to feed them some fresh fruit. For the most part, there isn’t much interacting. We then walked through the Bamboo Forest, which I felt was the most overrated portion of our trip. We were told it used to be much bigger, but has been cut down significantly in recent years. After that we shopped around town for lunch and goodies. Matcha, Mochi, lots of Ramen and delicious food everywhere. 

Fushimi Inari

Lastly, we headed to Fushimi Inari, a very large and popular shrine (with the orange gates). While I am glad that we got to see it, the crowds made it much less enjoyable than our other experiences. We did get to walk through the surrounding neighborhood and I really enjoyed the people watching. It was so helpful to have a flexible guide and transportation system on this day of multiple stops. We learned some history, culture and enjoyed being tourists.  

All in all, we really enjoyed our first trip to Japan. It gave us the perfect first taste of Japanese culture and made us want to come back for more. I’m not sure I would travel to Kyoto over New Years again if given the choice. While it all worked out, there was lots of extra local traffic in the area due to the extended holiday and closures as well.