Kanto Region, Japan (Winter) 2019

benjaminjozef.deleon

We have been waiting for this family trip to Japan for a while now. I will be leading this expedition as this is my third Japan trip and second in Tokyo. It helps that I am a Japanophile.

family

2nd visit

map

itinerary

highlights

gallery

Narita, Taito

Day 1 Itinerary

Places visited: Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) - Senso-ji Temple

Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT)

We got miles! So we rode Delta for this trip. Having ridden only Jetstar for the past two trips, all the small perks in this trip is absolutely worth it.

Visiting the Sensō-ji Temple Illumination

We arrived in our Airbnb a bit later than I planned but we had enough time to enjoy the Senso-ji illumination and an empty but well lit Nakamise-dori.

During my first trip to Senso-ji, I was still finding my bearing. It was only now I truly got to full appreciate the temple grounds.

This is not a bad first visit with the destination for the family.

Taito, Sumida

Day 2 Itinerary

Places visited: Senso-ji Temple - Nakamise Shopping Street - Ueno Park - Benten-dō - Hanazono Inari-jinja Shrine - Starbucks - Ueno Toshogu Shrine - Ameya-Yokocho - Nakamise Shopping Street - Tokyo Skytree

Visiting Sensō-ji Temple in the Morning

I want to make the most of my trips to Japan so I often start very early. Like 4:00 AM early.

Thankfully, we are a family of early risers so waking up at 4:00 am is a piece of cake.

Since Senso-ji is right beside Asakusa Station, it would make sense to see the temple during the day before the crowds descend upon this place.

I showed my family how to purify yourself and how to find get your Omikuji Paper Fortunes.

Once we got those instaworthy shots, we headed to Ueno.

Nakamise Shopping Street

Visiting Ueno Park

Asakusa and Ueno have always been a pair destination for me. I always make sure to visit Ueno Park when I am in the area.

Coming fro a country with very small to no greenspaces, I appreciate areas like Ueno Park.

The place holds tons of temples, shrine and memorials and sometimes there will be small set ups.

Benten-dō

Hanazono Inari-jinja Shrine

After that quick visit to Benten-do, we visited one of the many shrines dedicated to inari.

It really looked like a miniature version of Fushimi-Inari Shrine. The shot of the torii pathway looks really awesome!

Starbucks

We need to get out of the cold and to warm ourselves up. Since we haven’t had our coffee for the day, it would be perfect to sit down, admire the park while warming up.

Ueno Toshogu Shrine

One of the many shrines dedicate to Tokugawa Iyeyasu but this particular shrine has a golden facade.

This shrine survived the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II.

Ameya-Yokocho

Forget shopping. This is a place to eat. Most of the things they sell here you can find in other shopping streets.

Nakamise Shopping Street

The ultimate tourist trap but its a great place for first or second time visitors to try the variety of Japanese snack and tradition items. Here are some of the items I found here:

1. Furoshiki (wrapping cloth)

2. Bokken (wooden training sword)

3. Furin (windchime)

4. Hashi (chopsticks)

5. Sensu (folding fan)

6. Uchiwa (non-folding fans)

7. Festival Masks

8. Tabi Socks

Tokyo Skytree

If you want to see some view but don’t want to pay the fee to reach the very top. There is a viewing deck attached to Tokyo Solamachi and Sky Tree itself.

Tokyo Solamachi offers a wide range of products from character merchandise to samurai stuff. Explore it from top to bottom.