Japan trip 2026

I had a long pending wish to visit Japan. My father had been to Japan as part of British Indian Forces that stayed in Japan post surrender of Japanese Forces in 1946-47. He had brought an album that contained photograph of important places of Japan. He had stayed in areas closer to Hiroshima in Camp Hiro. Since childhood we had seen those photos. Twice , enroute to USA I had change of flights at Tokyo but never got chance to venture outside. My son son and daughter visited Japan at different timings. They were all the praise for Japan and it's people. So, better late then never. 

 Plan

Trip was planned by my son and daughter who had earlier visited Japan. I wanted to visit two places namely Renkoji Temple Tokyo where mortal remains of Netaji Sobhash Chander Bose are kept and Hiroshima where first atomic bomb was dropped. Other places were visited out of curiosity..

Visa

Hotels were booked in advance through app Expedia . Based on itinerary the visa was applied by downloading the application and physically submitting to VFS Global Chandigarh. We got the visa within ten days. Visa was applicable for 90 days with single entry of fifteen days.  Our trip was as of 12 days duration.

Arrival 07 Mar 2026 Saturday

We arrived in Tokyo Japan from Delhi on seven hours Air India flight. Immigration was hassle free. We arrived at APA Hotel & Resorts through Airport Limousine Bus, available right next to exit gate. Bus seats were booked online in advance.

Japan overall is very neat & clean. Every thing is so orderly. Japan is costly, quite costly. Officially one Indian Rupee is equal to 1.71 yen. Indian currency is non negotiable in Japan. Dollor is welcome. Forex card is ideal. However at places cash has to be given. Better to get cash in Yen from India though hard bargain.Taxi service is costly. Most of the Japanese walk or travel on cycles which are  easily available for tourists as well. That may also be the secret of their longevity. We hardly found any obese person. 

Most of the cars on roads are of small size. Rooms of hotel are small. Beds are small. Besides creating extra space,  it appears to tailor made for average Japanese folks. 

Japanese are stickler to rule. Rules are rules. No deviation . They are not flexible. One cannot enter hotel room half an hour or an hour before the check in time. If you want to enter your booked room, an hour before time you got to pay extra. We reached early for Limousine Bus timing. They did not allow us to board two buses that left for the same destination, right in front of us. Every additional service or even part of service comes at a cost. There are no tips. Nobody expects tips. People are very well disciplined. 

WiFi is available everywhere, free of cost. All restaurants, hotels, buses , stores, public places have free WiFi. One can buy a free WiFi dongle to connect all members of the group. It can be deposited back at any store, on way back..

Electric plugs are of USA type. Better get the adaptor along. USB plugs are fewer. 

APA Hotel & Resorts, Tokyo

A good 4 star hotel in downtown area. https://maps.app.goo.gl/WBwqKDmFtuEAA5jT8 

Rooms were compact. Cleanliness good. 

One has to be careful while booking rooms. Suitable bed sizes  should be chosen,  maybe at extra cost. 

Renkoji Temple

Mortal remains of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are kept at this temple. We reached there through public transport. It is non-descript temple . 

Netaji's bust and inscription in black granite lies on left side of the entrance of the main temple. We paid our homage and wrote comments in the visitors book lying there. There was hardly anyone at the temple. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as PM has visited this place. His homage, etched in black granite is displayed as well. No other Indian PM has visited this place. There is lot of controversy about Netaji's death. Mortal remains are required to be bright home to India. But our politics had denied the rightful place to the remains of our national hero. Anita Pfaff, the daughter of Netaji has appealed to Government of India , more than once to get the mortal remains to India. She has not received any reply from the Government. 

08 May 2026 Sunday

Had a conducted tour of Tokyo on a tourist bus. 

First was visit to Meiji Shrine. Nestled in a jungle right inside concrete jungle of Tokyo high rise. It is worth the visit. 

Visited imperial palace. Very spacious place. King and his family stay there. Tourist are allowed to hv a look at palace from outside, just like all other palaces in India or elsewhere. 

Sensoji Temple was next. Heavy rush there. One can give it a go by. 

Tokyo Skytree is worth the visit. One should not skip it. It gives bird's eyeview of entire Tokyo. One can see Mt Fuji as well . 

Had a boat ride in Tokyo Bay area. 

Tokyo has expanded towards the sky. Full of highrise buildings. Indian restaurants are available . Can be easily found on Google maps. However the taste of food may not be same as way back home. 

Visited a mall. Uni Clo store. Most of the clothes on sale are in Small and Medium sizes. Few Large sizes. XL size is hard to find. 

Most of the Japanese faces one sees are expressionless. Do not wish. Do not smile. Exceptions are there. 

Public places like roads, pathways, corners, washrooms, parks etc are spotlessly clean. Shows the efficiency of the upkeep staff and, of course, the civic behaviour of the general public. Everybody carries their used bottles, wrappers, etc and disposes of them at the right place 

09 March 2026. Monday 

Too much rush at the railway station in the morning. People were rushing to work. Mostly use the metro lines to go to work.

 Travelled by Odakyu Romancecar en route to  Hakone up to Odawara station. Tickets have to be booked in advance. Got to buy a separate ticket to enter the railway station. It was a good ride. Thereafter, boarded a public bus to Hakone. It was a good ride through semi mountainous area.

Hakone is a mountainous area,  a hill station. Old Charm City. 

Stayed at Yu Yu Onsen Hakone hotel. Traditional room to stay. Beds on floor. Shoes outside. Got Yakuta and Kimono (traditional Japanese dresses) to wear.

Took a Hokone sightseeing tour in Pirate Ship in Lake Ashi.  It is basically a ferry designed like a pirate ship. Gives a nice view of the surroundings. 

YuYu hotel has the traditional Japanese rooms.  One can experience sleeping on Tatami mats Shikifuton matresseses. They say that these are food for your health. Low table with low chairs are kept in the rooms for visitors to enjoy typical Japanese room set up. Natural sulphur spring bath tubs are available on a price. These are not very rejuvenating.  

Check it out 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/izQjucUPBEe4ipz96

10 Mar 2026 Tuesday. 

Cold and chilly in the morning. Travelled on ropeway (Gondola) to Owakudani. Owakudani is a, active volcanic valley in Hakone, Japan, created 3,000 years ago by the Mount Hakone eruption. Known for its intense sulfuric fumes, hot springs, and panoramic views of Mt. Fuji, it is a premier tourist spot, often called "Hell Valley" in the past. There is museum here which gives information on the surrounding volcanos and how hot spring water is produced. 

Took a tramcar to Gora where Hakone Open Air Museum is located. The museum has some of the world famous sculptures/ replicas. It has dedicated gallery to the works of Pablo Picasso. The museum is very well maintained. One must visit it. 

As we moved out it started snowing. By morning it was white all around.

11 Mar 2026 Wednesday 

We moved to small hilly town named  Fujikawaguchiko in the foothills of Mt Fuji. It was one hour ride through picturesque country side. 

As we arrived at the town Mt Fuji top was covered in the clouds. It top became  visible for sometime..

We moved to a vantage point through a cable car to get a better view , but no avail. Returned back. 

Had lunch at Indian Restaurant named Taj Fuji. The food was good. Very well prepared. The owner had proudly displayed Tiranga inside and beautiful painting on the walls. 

Checked in the hotel Shiki-na-Yado. A four star hotel. On the bank of lake Kawaguchi. We got rooms facing Mt Fuji. 

See-saw game kept playing between Mt Fuji and clouds. 

It was quite blissful walk around Lake Kawaguchiko. Well laid out pathways.

Japanese are art lovers. 

For the dinner we again hut the Taj Hotel. Met the owner, from Mohali, Punjab. 

12 March 2026 Thursday 

Weather cleared in the morning. Had full view of Mt Fuji while we waited for the next ride from Fujikawaguchiko to Misimo station. As we moved out in bus, Mt Fuji came into full view. It was visible for most part of the journey on expressway. 

Having arrived at Mishima, we took bullet train to Kyoto. Platform and railway lines are clean. No junk or garbage anywhere. No crowding. Everyone stands in line to board the train. Bullet train is just like Shatabdi or Vande Bharat Train back home. Low in height windows are smaller . Speed is more, cleanliness is good and all seats are good, nothing is broken or damaged or non functional. In fact in public buses also seats are good. Every fitting and nut n bolt is at place. Unlike our AC buses seats where some or other part is broken or lose and cleanliness worst. 

Arrived at Koko Hotel, Kyoto

13 -14 Mar 2026 Friday Kyoto

Koko hotel was good. Good buffet breakfast. 

Went about shopping in Kyoto. 

Lunch in the famous food joint  Nishiki Market. Almost all food is predominantly non-veg. Sushi, dumplings, etc etc. Got to watch out for the well-being of your stomach. Mostly, food is deep-fried. Too oily.

Saw this in the washroom. 

Great idea to save water. As you flush, the water starts in the hand-wash basin area on top of the water tank. 

In the evening watched one hour Japanese art and culture show. No photography was allowed. 

Check it out.  https://www.kyoto-gioncorner.com/global/en.html 

It included Japanese art of tea making, Kyomai Dance, Ikebana Flower Arrangements, Koto music, Kyogen comedy show and Noh Opera show. It was of one hour duration. The show was good. Worth a watch..

On 14 March visited famous Fushimi Inari Temple  known for its innumerable Taori Gates. Check this ....  https://maps.app.goo.gl/dU6chceLZAdXUfNv9?g_st=ac 

There was a heavy rush of tourists. There are many other famous temples also located in Kyoto. 

Kyoto is also known for shopping malls and famous Japanese products. However, famous brands are very costly. Surprisingly number of products being sold are made in China. Once upon a time, Made in Japan used to be a rage. 

15 Mar 2026 Saturday Hiroshima

Travelled in the Bullet Train from Kyoto to Hiroshima. It is the fastest train. It goes up to the speed of 320 km/h. Trains, buses, taxis, etc. are punctual to the second. 

We arrived at hotel THE KNOT.  

The hotel presented a good a view of  Hiroshima Peace Park and the museum. After checking in, we had a guided tour of the Peace Park. The guide, a migrant Pakistani (now Japanese), a PhD scholar at Hiroshima University, was very knowledgeable. Starting from the joining of Japan into 2nd World War, he explained the bombing of the city rebuilding, the making of the Peace Park and took us around the various monuments and sculptures of the park. Some of the descriptions and information that he gave is not available on the internet. The guided tour was worth it.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing.

There is a bust of Mahatma Gandhi also on the bank of Motoyasu river , near Atom bomb done. 

It was inagurated in 2023 by PM Narendra Modi. 

It is outside the Peace Park.  

Peace Memorial Park is very well laid out. 

There are a number of sculptures, busts and inscriptions that depict the horrors of the atomic bomb attack as well as hope, yearning for peace and love. 

This saddle-like dome is cenotaph for atomiv bomb victims. A box lying underneath contains regusters bearing names of all the victims. As new names are found, the register keeps getting updated. 

There is three sided clock mounted on twisted angle iron tower. Mounted on the tower is a bell which is sounded everyday at 8.15 AM in the morning, the time at which Atom Bomb exploded over the Hoemrishima City. Approximately 2,00,000 citizens  died. 

16 March 2026 Monday

We had a walk in the morning in peace park and were there at the location of the twisted clock at 8.15 am. The alarm bell went off. There were number of tourists at that place at that time. Some of them had tears in their eyes. The mood was soleman. 

After breakfast we visited the  Hirishima Peace Museum. 

After peace Museum we took the ferry ride to Miyojima Island. Miyajima Island is a magical and remote Japanese island located in Hiroshima Bay, said to be one of Japan’s most beautiful and best kept secrets. Also known as Itsukushima, Miyajima Island is famous for it’s towering torii gate, a massive wooden shrine and UNESCO World Heritage Site standing 55 feet tall and painted in vibrant vermilion. At high tide, the red gate appears to rise from the water, creating one of Japan’s most iconic and magical views.

Itsukushima Shrine located on Miyojima Island s a renowned UNESCO World  Heritage site, famous for its "floating" vermilion torii gate and shrine buildings that appear to sit on the water during high tide. Built in the 6th century and refined in the 12th, it represents ancient Shinto architecture and scenic beauty.

My daughter purchased a wall hanging from a shop. It was nearly $300. The shop owner invited us for tea. We were honoured by traditional tea presentation and the lady also played a composition on koto,  the traditional Japanese thirteen stringed instrument. It was a blissful experience. 

Miyojima Island is also known for Miyojima Beer and Oysters.we had the taste of it. 

Returned from Island by 5 PM. 

We had last dinner together as a family in Japan..

17 March 2026 Tuesday 

We boarded the bullet  train to Osaka. One of the fastest train. It's top speed goes upto 320 Km/h. Needless to say that it it arrived in time at Hiroshima as well as at Osaka. We arrived at Cross Hotel Osaka at 12 Noon. Cross Hotel is the best possible location in Osaka. Lot of night life here. Plenty of eating places. 

 

18 March 2026 Wednesday. 

We shall be catching flight back to India from Osaka..... 

Hotels do keep slippers to wear. At places, separate slippers for toilet. Separate towels for wiping head and face. 

There are no big bill boards, hoardings or flex boards of politicians or advertisements of products . There are no temples or religious places on roads. There are no beggers . 

Traffic is very orderly. No one overtakes. No honking of horns. Not heard any sound of horn. Most of the vehicles on road are of Japanese origin, Toyota being predominant. Drivers are very well dressed. Mostly wear suit and tie . They do not overcharge . One can blindly trust them. Every driver and almost every public department worker wears mask. 

To be continued ....... ......... ........