Eleven days. Mostly Tokyo and Kyoto. Every meal will involve sitting down with a Pokemon obsessed 10 year old and a 17 year old strict vegetarian. None of us have been to Japan before. How would you navigate this?
We’re open to recommendations of specific restaurants, general categories that would accommodate this mix of diners, or any general tips.
Thank you in advance for your wisdom!
will get back on some more specifics later, but first thoughts:
this can be a bit of a challenge but not a complete dealbreaker. a very wide amount of Japanese food is prepared/cooked with dashi base which uses fish (yes there are rare exceptions).
with that said, you may look for:
definitely visit the Pokemon Center in Osaka. i think there’s 2, both in Daimaru malls, nearby the main shopping area Shinsaibashi, which you’ll probably go to if it’s your first time to Osaka anyway. i went to pick up some gifts for friends’ kids and i think your 10 year old will have a blast.
i’m confident you’ll have a great time. you’ll probably fly into Haneda to stay in Tokyo for the bulk of it. definitely go to both Osaka and Kyoto (but don’t rush them in the same day). they’re reachable easily by the Shinkansen bullet train. reserve in advance particularly if you are moving there with your luggage and want the seats you can store your luggage at (instead of just taking a day trip). it’s about 2.5-3 hrs each way, so note that if you make a day trip from Tokyo to the Kansai region (where Osaka and Kyoto are), your day will be a bit time-limited. Osaka is a wonderful place to eat, anyway. Kyoto’s tourist attractions are largely quite busy. i recommend going early in the morning for the more famous attractions or you’ll spend a lot of time in crowds and waiting.
For the vegetarian in your group: Shojin ryori is “devotion cooking”, and is basically traditional plant-based buddhist Japanese cooking. There are restaurants in Japan (and even LA) serving this style. A bit of pre-trip research will help.
Hot tips re: seat reservation and luggage. Following tip not food related but I am compelled:
Not sure how heavy of packers you are but if I count at least three people by your post, then being apprised of this might be worth it. If you’ve got huge/many bags you can pay extra to get them forwarded separately along the Shinkansen. This will require some advanced planning, compromise on what you’re keeping on you, and taking the risk that you may arrive at your destination before the bags. We (2 people) did not do this for our shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo, but we did do it at our hotel from Tokyo to Haneda, as we’d procured and filled two extra luggages for all the shopping we did…
Shinkansen forwarding info can be found on JR Rail Pass website.
Hotel forwarding was through the hotel.
Also, on the topic of bags, it is not wrong that public spaces are generally smaller in Tokyo, e.g., luggage lockers. Their standard sizes are not ours, as expected, so traveling during busy public transit times with bags could be…uncomfortable. Uber app worked off of my phone and I did not experience any difficulty with language barrier nor booking.
Ok because this is FTC, I’m also thinking maybe MUJI cafes have some veggie-friendly dining! As we are no longer privileged to have MUJI in LA, I went as often as I could. The food wasn’t bad for a lunch recharge to continue explorations (of MUJI!)
Exciting! I recommend you add a Suica transit card to your mobile phone for each of you. You can add money to it before you arrive in Japan and it makes the metro a breeze.
Ah yes! I still had my physical Suica from 2019 trip so did not need it on my phone. Vague recollection that it didnt work well on Androids (could be diff now), but my girlfirend’s iPhone was great. Didnt like her debit card, but topping up with her credit card was fine. Both VISA
To my understanding, a US-purchased Android still doesn’t work. Still pretty much just an iPhone thing if your phone is from US. Haven’t had issues with US credit cards. Heard there were issues a while back that got resolved a couple years ago.
I will note Uber can be more expensive. I looked at Reddit and apparently GO Taxi and S Ride are more popular. I used GO Taxi for one ride and it was significantly cheaper than Uber, very convenient, and a great ride. But I heard you can’t really set that one up while States-side. I thought I remember reading that Uber in Tokyo contracts with a more luxury service? I don’t know which is better if you’re going with a group of 4 (my advice is generally from solo experience). If you need a larger capacity ride you might want to look that up in advance.
No comments on vegetarian-friendly dining but I’m sure there are many Reddit threads that discuss this. With so many foreign tourists with various dietary restrictions, it is likely a common question. I immediately found a thread which reinforced Pomodoro’s recommendation of HappyCow.
I ran across another thread that reminded me of tofu-focused meals. Big question for me there is whether they are true vegan/vegetarian and what they do with dashi (also as Pomodoro has highlighted). There should be plenty in Tokyo but I think if you’re in Kyoto it’s worth looking for there.
I recall Kyoto and tofu being a thing and Yudofu Sagano and Tousuiro being easily bookable tofu-focused menus for that. Haven’t been to either though (I went to Shoraian which was more annoying to book way back when though a really interesting experience) and again I have no idea what they do for dashi.
This is one Reddit thread I spotted with actual recommendations: https://www.reddit.com/r/Tokyo/comments/13kjxv3/tokyo_recommendations_thread_vegetarian/
Good luck!
GO Taxi app is essential IMHO, unless you want to navigate the Tokyo Metro System (which is very user friendly).
Hmm. That does track – the two Ubers we took in Kyoto (to/from shinkansen station because bags) were really, really nice. Didn’t think too much about the price because we two were pretty settled on not taking cars very often, so we chalked it up to our indulgence.
Not to divert but I did want to mention earlier my experience with Tokyo metro.
I’m likely just a dumb-dumb but I have found that Tokyo Metro has been less user friendly than I would have thought. I’ve gotten stuck twice because of a missed/extra swipe (necessitating a visit to the agent kiosk), and it was either in Ginza or Shibuya where the signage for my transfer rivaled the confusion of someone just meeting the northbound 5/101/10 interchange – which lane? And when should I merge? Other than that I love Tokyo metro
Sorry that happened to you. Maybe I should further say that augmenting with Google Maps is very helpful in telling me exactly how I should navigate the Tokyo Metro from point A to point B.
Tokyo metro is very difficult to me without an apps map. Also need to pay attention to electric signboards. I once had too many drinks and was on my way to the airport. Initially headed the right direction but for my specific train I needed to get off at one station and wait for the next train at the exact same platform. It’s fine if you’re in the city and build in some extra time or are on lines without varied types of trains (rapid, express, rapid express, etc).
If you get further from the city, the train system gets even more confusing in places where you need to buy a separate special ticket to ride special express trains. Google will tell you to take the train and build in the cost but won’t give you that extra step of buying a ticket at the kiosk. I just saw what others did and guessed I needed to do it too. I had extra time but if I was cutting it close on a transfer I’d be a lot more anxious.
I find it an amazing metro but it has its complexities. Which is not surprising given it’s such a massive system. Having said that, I use public transit in Tokyo almost exclusively. Taxi I only used for luggage when my accommodation is far from transit and I don’t want to sweat or get drenched dragging it to the next destination.
FYI it’s not THAT big a difference. My 15-20 minute ride to Haneda airport was probably only $5 cheaper at most. You won’t break the bank unless your whole trip is taxis with uber lol.
I know you mentioned Pokemon, so if anyone in your group is interested in Nintendo I highly recommend the Nintendo museum (very near) Kyoto. Super fun, great company history, and a fun and yummy make-your-own hamburger cafe for lunch.
Just check soon on the tickets if you are interested because the process is a little involved and they release them on a schedule.
In Kyoto, I can highly recommend Chao Chao Gyoza in the Kawaramachi neighborhood. There’s a second one in a different part of town, too.
They have a pretty wide selection of gyoza that can make both meat eaters and veggie eaters happy. The regular vegetable gyoza were pretty tasty, but I’ll be honest we loved the pork, chicken, and shrimp gyozas they had on the menu. They come boiled, fried, and with soup. We came in for a snack and left very happy.
We then strolled down the street to Nishiki Market for more delights.
Also Google Translate will be your best resource to communicate with restaurant/stall staff about your dietary needs. I just typed in English and it spits out in Japanese for the other person to read.
I find Google Interpretor to be even more facile - Just speak into the phone, and the phone will spit out your thoughts out loud In the target language. No typing!