These are the official and unofficial subway maps of Japan, available as high-resolution images and PDF downloads.

After compiling a list of subway maps of Tokyo I was wondering about other subway maps of Japan. Like Tokyo though, there are official and unofficial maps that show metro systems combined with other transit lines.

Some cities have multiple railway operators, and regional railways also act as urban rail transit in some cities. There is also the blurred definition of metro/subway, and there are trams, light rails, and monorails that are also included on maps.

The Japan Subway Association has a list of subways in Japan, so that is a good base to begin.

I have included a map of Niigata, which doesn’t have a metro but has regional railways that acts like a transit system. I’ve also included the Okinawa Monorail, just so I can put Okinawa on the map. With that precedent, I should put tram lines here as well, though I might make that a separate post.

This is not a user guide for metro systems in Japan, as that is already comprehensively done at Wikipedia and other sites. What I wanted was to be able to see every subway map on one page. I’ve started with subway systems, but as I progressed into this project I realised I should cover all urban transit systems.

Cities in Japan with subway systems

Index

Map of cities in Japan with metro systems
Hokkaido
Sapporo
Honshu
Sendai
Niigata
Tokyo
Yokohama
Nagoya
Osaka
Kyoto
Kobe
Hiroshima
Kyushu
Fukuoka
Okinawa
Naha and Urasoe

Map of cities in Japan with metro systems

Map of urban rail systems in Japan.]

Hokkaido

Sapporo

View map at Sapporo transit maps.

Honshu

Sendai

View map at Sendai Subway map.

Niigata

View map at Niigata rail transit map.

Tokyo

The urban rail systems of Greater Tokyo consists of the Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway, the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and several other railway operators. I have another article about Tokyo subway maps that lists the official and unofficial maps.

The most complex rail map of Tokyo is published by JR East.

[View full resolution map | PDF.]

Yokohama

View map at Yokohama Subway map.

Nagoya

View map at Nagoya Subway map.

Osaka

View map at Osaka transit maps.

Kyoto

View map at Kyoto Subway map/

Kobe

View map at Kobe Subway map.

Hiroshima

View map at Hiroshima transit maps.

Kyushu

Fukuoka

View map at https://urbanrailtransit.com/fukuoka-city-subway-map/

Okinawa

Naha and Urasoe

View map at https://urbanrailtransit.com/okinawa-urban-monorail-map/.

The Tokyo subway system is one of the world’s largest mass transit networks. There is not an official name that represents all of the lines that serve Tokyo, though Tokyo Subway is often used to refer to all lines.

Technically, the Tokyo subway is just one part of the urban rail transit network. The Tokyo subway consists of the Tokyo Metro and the Toei Subway. The East Japan Railway Company (JR East) operates lines, as well as several other railway operators serving Greater Tokyo.

With so many operators running lines in Tokyo, there is no official website listing every line, and there is no official map. Maps are provided by the operators, and they are among the most complex subway maps in the world.

This guide lists all of the network maps issued by the operators, along with independent maps that show all lines.

All maps are the English version of high-resolution maps that can be downloaded. I have left out maps of operators that only show their own lines.

Official Tokyo subway maps

Tokyo Metro

[View full map | PDF.]

Website: tokyometro.jp

Tokyo Metro has an online searchable map of the Metro lines.

The subway map is also downloadable as a PDF file. This includes Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines in bold, with other lines depicted with thinner lines.

Toei Subway

[View full map | PDF.]

Website: kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp

Toei Subway uses the same “Tokyo Subway Route Map” as Tokyo Subway. The Toei Subway map shows all of the station names, while the Tokyo Subway has a map that shows numbers for some stations.

The map can be viewed on the Toei Subway map page and as a PDF Map.

JR East

[View full map | PDF.]

Website: jreast.co.jp

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) operates commuter and long-haul trains throughout the Greater Tokyo area. JR East operates the Yamanote Line, which encircles central Tokyo and is a defining feature on many metro maps. The circle (which is not a circle in real life) forms a foundation upon which transit-style maps are drawn on.

The JR East Tokyo map (above) shows how extensive their network is, though it’s not much use from a passenger’s perspective without the subway lines.

JR East has a system map where their lines are shown in bold, with the subway lines shown as thinner lines.

[View full map | PDF.]

JR East also publish a full network map, which is labelled as Suica/PASMO Network Map. This map shows areas where Suica/PASMO (the stored-value cards) can be used. This is the most complex rail map of Tokyo.

[Download full resolution map | PDF.]

Visit Tokyo Map

[View full map | PDF.]

Go Tokyo is the official website of the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau. While this is not a map by one of the railway companies, this is the official Tokyo travel guide so I will place it in this category of official maps. This map has shaded the area inside the Yamanote Line in light green, which helps you find your bearings on the map.

Independent Tokyo Subway Maps

This section includes independent maps from private companies and railway enthusiasts. The maps show all lines in the Greater Tokyo area.

Greater Tokyo Railway Network by Kzaral

[View full map | view on Flickr.]

The Greater Tokyo Railway Network by Kzaral shows every line equally, so it truly shows the entire network.

Tokyo Subway system by UrbanRail.Net

[View full map.]

UrbanRail.Net has a map of all lines on one map, with details of each line.

Tokyo Subway Map by Sergio Mejia

[View full map.]

Tokyo Subway Map by Sergio Mejia was submitted to Transit Maps.

More Maps

Subway maps of Japan: High-resolution maps of every metro system in Japan.

Here at Nomadic Notes I like to make lists of cool independent cafes to visit in cities of Asia. I’m not against visiting chain cafes either, so when I saw that the world’s largest Starbucks store opened in Tokyo I had to pay a visit.

Before this visit I had been to what was at that point the second largest Starbucks, at Central World in Bangkok (the previous biggest being in Shanghai). The Bangkok branch was impressive, but it now looks like a small branch store compared to the Tokyo edition.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo is about 20 minutes walk from Shibuya station, which was where I walked from. There are closer train stations though, because there are train stations everywhere in Tokyo. The Shibuya area would have been a more desirable area, but after you see the size of the property you would not be wanting to be paying for Shibuya rent on a place this size.

The property is in a stand-alone building by the Meguro River, and it occupies the entire building.

Arriving at The Reserve (as I will now refer to it as) there were people out the front getting their photo taken, as this place has become a tourist destination in itself.

The Reserve isn’t just a regular Starbucks that’s been embiggened. This is a complete coffee experience.

True to its title there is a roastery on site, with beans represented from around the world.

If Willy Wonka swapped cacao for coffee and went corporate, this is what his new factory might look like. There are tubes running all over the place shuttling coffee beans.

And you can watch the mesmerising process of coffee bags rolling down the production line.

You will need time to visit all the floors and see all the design details.

Throughout the building I kept hearing a very distinct sound that is pleasing to my travel-worn ears. The sound was of departure flipboards, technically known as a split-flap displays. Melbourne Airport still has a departure flipboards, and that sound is forever associated with the anticipation of going somewhere. Now there will be a new generation of people who will associate this sound with having a coffee.

After wandering around the many floors with my jaw half-open it was time to get a coffee.

There are a few Starbucks Reserves in Saigon now, but they are just a section in a regular Starbucks. I never go because they are more expensive than the regular coffees, and I would rather buy an expensive coffee at a hipster cafe. At the Tokyo Reserve there is no regular Starbucks menu, unless there is a secret menu I didn’t know about.

Whenever I go to a new cafe I get a cafe latte as a unit of measurement to compare with all other cafes, so I got the cafe latte here. There is a separate bar dedicated to cold brew coffee that looked tempting, but I am stuck in my ways with espresso-based milk coffee.

The price was 734 JPY ($6.80 USD). I paid on my Australian debit card that charges no fees, so I was able to see what the converted rate was: 9.74 AUD for a cafe latte! By comparison a cafe latte in Melbourne is about $3.50 to $4.00 AUD per cup. With the weakening Australia dollar it’s probably cracked 10 dollars by now.

The coffee was much better than a regular Starbucks latte, mainly because Starbucks give you such giant cups that the coffee/milk ratio is never right. Here the cup size was right, and it had a stronger coffee flavour. I would have preferred a glass cup though so you can see the colour of the coffee.

And the presentation is also a different experience than your regular Starbucks, which is just as important when you have followers to feed.

I can’t really tell you much more about the coffee though. Some people think that I’m a coffee snob given the amount of time that I spend in cafes, but my palate is not refined enough to be able to distinguish the subtleties of different coffee flavours. I also do not have a broad enough vocabulary to be able to write about the many tastes of coffee. I tip my hat to the food and beverage writers of the world who don’t run out of superlatives for their subject. I could not tell you what notes and accents were in my coffee.

If coffee isn’t your thing there is a level serving tea under the Teavana brand.

There is also an in-house bakery, and you can watch the process of fresh bread and pastries being made.

Usually every Starbucks looks like every other Starbucks, which makes The Reserve even more unusual. It is worth going just to see the interior design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

I visited in July 2019, and at the time of my visit it was the world’s largest Starbucks. Records are made to be broken though, and there will eventually be a bigger one. I would have guessed that Dubai or the home of Starbucks in Seattle would be the next biggest. It turns out that the future largest Starbucks is going to be in Chicago. So if you’re reading this from the future and have reached my site by Googling “world’s largest Starbucks”, note that this is an archive of my travels and not an updated list of current largest Starbucks. No need to comment to tell me that Tokyo isn’t the home of the largest Starbucks.

Overall it was fun to visit such a coffee concept store. even if you don’t like coffee the building is worth a visit. It’s somewhere you would go as an experience rather than to get your daily cup of joe. With my 3-to-4-cup-a-day coffee habit I would be up for nearly $1000 AUD a month.

After experiencing The Reserve I was content to go back to my cheap but good coffee from Japanese 7-Eleven’s. The convenience stores of Japan are on another level, so I will have to write about those another time.

Kyoto is one of the most popular destinations in Japan, to the point that it has become a global symbol of the overtourism phenomenon. I’ve been to Japan a few times now but had not visited Kyoto. The thought of fighting my way through crowds wan’t appealing, but I knew I had to see for myself.

I nearly went last year when I was in Osaka. I had four nights there and I thought I could sneak a day trip to Kyoto during my stay. After some online research it soon became apparent that one does not simply visit Kyoto on a day trip.

What makes the many temples of Kyoto so special is that they are spread out in the hills on the edge of the city, rather than being in a compact old town area in the middle of the city.

Even though Kyoto has a good public transport network, there is no outer ring railway that unifies the main sites. With so many temples and no direct way to get to all of them, visiting Kyoto requires precision planning. For someone like me who likes to roll out of bed and just start wandering around, this is an affront to my usual travel system.

While I was interested to see the famous temples, I also was just as curious to see what Kyoto the city looked like. Most of the photos you see of Kyoto are of someone posing in front of a lonely temple. Kyoto though is a proper city with a population of 1.5 million people. Getting the train from Kansai Airport you see it’s one big urban area from Kansai/Osaka to Kyoto. The Keihanshin metropolitan area (of which Kyoto is part of) has a population of nearly 20 million people, putting it second behind the Greater Tokyo area.

I had three nights in Kyoto, with two whole days to explore. I split my time between visiting temples and urban exploration.

Visiting the temples of Kyoto

Before visiting any temples you have to research first, and also accept that you aren’t going to visit every temple. I learned a while ago what my “templed-out” threshold is, and I was cool with not seeing everything.

I kept finding blog posts that proclaimed to be “the ultimate guide to Kyoto”, written by someone who went there for a day. I used a dedicated Kyoto travel guide to pick out some places, and grouped them into areas so I didn’t back-track.

Everyone will give you an opinion on what the best temple to visit is, but I don’t think there is a single “must see”. In the end I just picked a few famous ones and some nearby those.

The first one I visited was Kiyomizu-dera. This a popular one due to its size and location overlooking the city. Leading up Kiyomizu-dera is Kiyomizu Michi, is a long street filled with all sorts of tourist-trap temptations. If you are trying to kick a mochi or matcha soft-serve ice cream habit, then this street will be a problem for you.

Kiyomizu-dera temple is one of the 17 UNESCO World Heritage Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. If you wanted a temple list to work though, then the UNESCO list would be a good quest list.

This turned out to be a great temple to visit first as the view gives you an idea of how the city looks. Here you can see the city of Kyoto in a valley, with the surrounding mountains where most of the temples are located.

Even in the busiest of places you can find yourself in pockets of calm where you have the place to yourself.

If you’ve ever wondered why Japan is so clean, they have people scrubbing rocks by hand.

I didn’t see any geishas’, and I wouldn’t have taken a photo anyway as tourists are making geishas’ lives difficult. I did see plenty of tourists in rental kimono which I think is a fun idea. There are rental shops near the major temples.

Near Kiyomizu Dera is Kodai Ji. I picked this mainly because it was within walking distance. These smaller temples are often just as nice.

Here I discovered the Temmangu Ox, who will bear your suffering for you.

Doesn’t hurt to try, right?

My next stop was Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is possibly the most famous temple in Japan. It’s best known for its passageways formed by red torii gates. I had read that you should go early to avoid the crowds. I turned up around midday and there was a sizeable crowd there.

I had considered getting up early, but I was staying in such a comfortable bed I couldn’t bring myself to set an alarm.

Going through the first gates were like going through the gates of tourist hell. The gates at the start are smaller and I couldn’t get past anyone to overtake. I was starting to regret not getting up early.

Fortunately things get better after the first section. The pathway of torii gates goes all the way to the top of a mountain.

After a while the crowds thin out, and there were moments when I had a clear path with no one ahead of me.

If you wanted to get that Instagram moment were you pretend you have the place to your self then this is your time.

While the gates were as aesthetically pleasing as I hoped they would be, I was pleasantly surprised to find what a great nature walk it was.

I was there in summer and it was hot and humid, so if you are affected by heat then getting up early would be sensible. For me this was what I’m used to everyday, so I embraced the sweaty walk up the hill.

It was cloudy and had rained earlier, adding to the atmosphere of the mossy stone shrines along the way.

The next day I went to Tenryu Ji Temple not really knowing what to expect.

There is a separate ticket for the Sogenchi Garden which is attached to the Tenryu Ji Temple. I would have been ok just visiting the garden. I was templed-out by now, but this garden is something else. It’s so picturesque, and a perfect example of a zen garden.

These immaculate gardens do not happen in a vacuum. There are grown adults out there hand-picking weeds (and like the other temple they probably wash the stones as well).

Next to the Tenryu Ji Temple is the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. I’ve seen so many images of this garden and I never realised it was in Kyoto. Here is an image I saw of it recently.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yu-ya (@yu_ya____1173) on Aug 20, 2019 at 3:09am PDT

And here is the reality. This pathway was absolute mayhem and there was no way I was going to get a clear shot here. This would be the one you need to get up early for if you want to do photography.

Near the bamboo forest is the Okochi Sanso Villa, where a famous actor spent 30 years building a villa and garden.

My next stop was the Kinkaku Ji Temple, which involved two trams and a long walk. I could have got a bus but I liked the added bonus of walking in suburban Kyoto.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) is covered in gold leaf and is set in a beautiful zen garden. This was the most photogenic temple out of the temples I visited.

I spotted some pink mushrooms in the gardens.

If you want the premium Kinkakuji experience there is gold leaf soft serve ice cream for 950 JPY ($8.85 USD).

Random observations while wandering the streets of Kyoto

I rarely see photos of Kyoto the city in travel articles, so I wanted to spend time in the city. Apart from Kyoto Tower there isn’t a landmark in the city that you could identify as being from Kyoto.

What I like about Kyoto are the streetscapes such as alleys like this.

There is a river that goes through the city with good walking paths.

This stream was so clean it was like having a slice of the mountains running through the suburbs.

Apparently this is in the “beautification enforcement area”. If this is what beautification looks like then I for one welcome our beautification enforcement overlords.

I’m also all for the enforcement of picking up your dog’s poo. It helps that they make fun signs like this.

In addition to the cleanliness is the orderliness, such as these designated smoking areas which are observed by every smoker.

You can buy cigarettes from vending machines here. I wonder what Che would have to say about his likeness being on cigarettes.

One thing you would never see in Australia is alcohol sold freely on the street from vending machines. Young people like my former young myself is why you can’t have nice things (sorry about that).

While I no longer partake in the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol, I did hit the soft drink vending machines hard. These drink machines are everywhere and the icy-cold soda waters were a great relief in the heat. They take coins, but I wonder how long it will be before it will only be by payment apps like Line (the most popular chat app in Japan).

Line is huge, but somehow Yahoo! has managed to defy its global decline by remaining popular in Japan.

I went by this bubble tea place called Mot Tram, which is Vietnamese for one hundred. Vietnam isn’t famous for bubble tea, so this was the first time I’ve seen a store randomly using a Vietnamese name.

I didn’t take enough food photos to warrant a mention of my favourite eats. I had my fair share of ramen and sushi, and I especially love the standing bars.

One thing I wanted to try was the humble egg sandwich from Lawson’s convenience store. I saw that Anthony Bourdain had posted about it, so I was curious to try for myself as a way to pay homage to the man.

The Unnatural, Inexplicable Deliciousness of the Lawson’s egg salad sandwich #Tokyo @PartsUnknownCNN pic.twitter.com/g5MxQ7BSRC

— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) November 4, 2013

I was more nervous to eat a convenience store sandwich than most of the raw fish I consumed. This turned out to be so delicious that I had to stop myself from getting one every time I walked by a Lawson’s (which are everywhere). This was the second Bourdain sandwich recommendation I’ve had (the first being the banh mi in Hoi An).

Visiting temples and cultural sites is good and all that, but half the fun of Japan is marvelling at technology and infrastructure. I was impressed with this automatic underground bike parking system at Kyoto Station.

And seeing things like designated bike lanes with dedicated bike parking is the right way to make a city.

Free wifi across the city is another tick in the civilised city column. With the free city wifi and convenience store wifi I didn’t bother getting a Japanese sim card.

And of course the toilets of Japan are the pinnacle of civilised society. I was at a Starbucks where I found this one, so I dared not use the fourth button (the “Go Nuclear” option?) It looks like the seated person will be blown off the toilet seat, so it’s best to try such special features at home rather than in a public toilet.

Speaking of going to the toilet and things Number 2, there are a lot of details going on in this #wtfjapan advertising poster.

Shopping malls and arcades are also tourist attractions in their own right.

Unfortunately for the Nishiki Market it’s too beautiful for its own good, and tourism has all but destroyed it as a traditional retail market.

Near where I was staying I found the Zest Underground Mall at Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station. I’m interested in these underground plazas at metro stations as there is one being built for the Ho Chi Minh City Metro by Japanese contractors. I’m hoping that one day there will be standing sushi bars under the streets of Saigon.

I call my trips to Japan (and East Asia) “infrastructure holidays”. I come here to marvel at functioning metro systems that are seamlessly integrated into the urban environment. The subway maps of Japan give me inspiration for future metro maps for Southeast Asia.

What I liked about Kyoto was that it’s big enough to absorb the tourists crowds and you can walk around feeling like you are in a normal city.

Where I Stayed

I stayed at the Piece Hostel Sanjo where I got a private room. This is a modern hostel experience in a great location.

Here is my review, or search for more hotels in Kyoto.

Books

Kyoto: A Cultural History (Cityscapes) by John Dougill.

Kyoto, the ancient former capital of Japan, breathes history and mystery. Its temples, gardens and palaces are testimony to many centuries of aristocratic and religious grandeur. Under the veneer of modernity, the city remains filled with countless reminders of a proud past. John Dougill explores this most venerable of Japanese cities, revealing the spirit of place and the individuals that have shaped its often dramatic history.

Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital by Matthew Stavros.

Kyoto was Japan’s political and cultural capital for more than a millennium before the dawn of the modern era. Until about the fifteenth century, it was also among the world’s largest cities and, as the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, it was a place where the political, artistic, and religious currents of Asia coalesced and flourished.

Hostel Name: Piece Hostel Sanjo
Address: 530 Asakura-cho, Kyoto, Japan.

I stayed at the Piece Hostel Sanjo in Kyoto. This was my first time to Kyoto so I didn’t have a feel for what the best area would be. After a little research it looked like the area west of the Kamo River looked like a good spot, so I picked this hostel.

I booked a private room with bathroom for the rate of ¥5433.33 per night ($51.55 USD). I didn’t want to stay in a dorm or a capsule, so that was about the cheapest room I could find that had a private bathroom. I didn’t know what to expect for that price as the last time I got a cheap room in Osaka it was run down.

Another reason for booking this room was to be close to public transport. It was about a ten minute walk from the metro station to the hostel, and the metro goes directly to Kyoto Station.

The hostel is in a typical side street where there are no gutters or sidewalk and you walk on the road. The hostel is is a modern structure that is about 3 times the width of the little houses on this street.

I liked the vibe of the building the moment I walk in.

The reception area is bright and spacious, and at the front there is a mini-sunken garden which leads to the basement cafe lounge (where breakfast is served).

At the reception there are printed maps with a list of restaurants and essential services. The map had recommended ramen and sushi places, alongside vegetarian options. I arrived in the evening and I was dreaming of having ramen for my first meal back in Japan. This saved a lot of time on wandering around the wrong streets in search of food.

I wasn’t expecting much space in my room so I was surprised to see how spacious my room was. I was thinkin of the room I stayed in last year where there was barely enough room to place my bag.

The room had a double bed with a smaller bed on the bunk. The mattress was so soft and comfortable that I was in danger of just staying in my room and chilling out when I was meant to be out exploring. I actually lifted the sheets to find a mattress label, but I was too lazy to lift the whole bed over in search of the answer of who made this mattress. It was the best mattress I’ve slept on this year.

At the head of the bed is a little area to place items, and there is a power outlet and reading light. There is free wifi in the hostel, and I got a good connection on every floor I visited.

I was happy with the bathroom as well as it had a good walk-in shower, and no awkward Japanese bathtub.

There is also a Japanese toilet, or as they say here – a toilet. This shouldn’t be a big deal but I’ve stayed in places that don’t have the fancy toilets and I’ve felt let down by not have this quintessential Japanese experience. And that place I stayed at in Osaka last year had a squat toilet.

To save space in the bathroom area they have put the sink outside the bathroom, opposite the bed. I don’t mind this, but the floor directly below the sink should be tiled and not carpeted.

In the hallway there is a shelf full of spare pillows and slippers.

There is a free breakfast service consisting of basic western and Japanese options. It was good to start the day without looking for breakfast before sightseeing. They only had instant coffee though, so I went to a cafe a few doors down for my coffee fix.

The breakfast area doubles as a bar and hangout area at night, and they had live music while I was staying there.

There is a rooftop bar and chill-out area, “Piece of Sky”. It wasn’t the best weather when I was there so I didn’t see it in full operation.

Overall this was a great place to stay in Kyoto. I’m a fan of staying in private rooms in hostel, as you get the privacy of a hotel with the options of meeting travellers if you want to be social. I was very impressed with the purpose-built building as well. This modern and spacious building felt like I was staying in a cool hotel. It’s a good location for tourists as well, being walkable to plenty of cafes and restaurants.

Book the Piece Hostel Sanjo online or search for more hotels in Kyoto.

My trip report is here: Notes on Kyoto – temple hopping and urban wanders.

My first visit to \Osaka in 1999 was as a stopover en route to the USA. I was there for less than a day, so it barely counts as a visit. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was the first day of my expat life. I was on my way the the US, and then the UK to begin my 2-year working holiday visa.

Since that brief taste I’ve always wanted to go back and have a proper look. When I found some cheap flights from Vietnam via Hong Kong I booked in a mini break. I had four days in Osaka, and my main purpose was to go urban exploring and enjoy the food.

Being based in Southeast Asia and writing about transport development in the region, coming to Japan is like having an infrastructure holiday. Arriving at the airport, I was immediately in awe of the integrated train station next to the terminal. I drooled over the greater Osaka subway map, which is inspiring for my own metro map projects.

I visited some cultural attractions in Osaka, such as the impressive Osaka Castle. It’s one of the most famous landmarks of Japan, even if it’s only a facsimile of the original which was destroyed.

There are random temples throughout the city, which I discovered along the way rather rather than by actively seeking.

Apart from the castle, the other best known landmark is the Tsutenkaku Tower.

For the most part though Osaka is an urban playground, which makes it just the sort of place I like to go wandering.

You can see Osaka in all its urban glory along the Dotonbori Canal. The area around here is lined with oversized signs advertising restaurants and shops.

The Don Quijote Ferris wheel is the stand-out landmark of the area.

From Osaka Station I could see the Umeda Sky Building. Its unusual design was enough for me to make a detour.

An “only in Japan” building I wanted to see was the Gate Tower Building. This building has a highway offramp that passes through the building like it’s no big deal.

This video from ONLY in JAPAN is a good summary of how this came to be.

After spending so much time in Southeast Asia, things like pedestrian crossings are something of a novelty. Even when there is no traffic on the road people obey the traffic signals. I get a bit twitchy waiting for the light to turn green. Japan also makes good use of the pedestrian scramble.

For eating I didn’t do much research for this trip as I planned to just eat whatever appealed to me. I did employ a lazyweb outreach to a friend who visits Osaka frequently on business. He told me about an okonomiyaki place and dropped a pin for me.

The place was down a little alley off one of the main pedestrian food streets. I overshot the alley the first time as it didn’t look like there was much down there. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for.

The blue dot on my Google Map was hovering close to this doorway.

The place was packed, so at least I ended up somewhere that was popular. I found a seat, feeling confident that something delicious was about to happen.

The chef had an English menu stashed away so I pointed to the first okonomiyaki, which appeared to be the signature dish of the house. With my seat at the bar I could watch him prepare my meal in front of me.

I must confess that I am relatively new to the delights of okonomiyaki. I could count on one hand how many okonomiyaki I’ve had, so I have no way of judging if this was a great okonomiyaki. To paraphrase that old adage about art, I don’t know much about okonomiyaki, but I know what I like, and I liked this. There was also an extra satisfaction in my meal knowing that I come to Osaka dreaming about finding tasty meals down little side alleys, and here I was.

[Okonomiyaki – 800 JPY ($7.20 USD).]

Japan has a reputation of being an expensive place, and for sure I would have burned a hole in my budget if I was here for a month and ate the way I did every day. As I was only here for four days I wasn’t keeping a tab on my expenditure. Not that I was eating at fancy places, but I wasn’t hunting out the cheapest place for each meal either. If I saw an appealing place I would stop there.

One thing I didn’t get to do was to pay homage to Bourdain with Lawson’s egg salad sandwich.

If I come back to Japan for a longer stretch (and I do plan to do that), then I suspect I would be eating out at the wonderful convenience stores across the nation to control the budget. For this trip though I had no calories to spare for an egg sandwich snack in between my ramen and sushi binges.

[Pray for James – A not inaccurate approximation of what I looked like at the end of this trip.]

The budget traveller in me did wonder if there are cheap ramen bars, and I did find a place that was cheap and oozing in character. As usual, the ramen bar was hidden behind a curtained door. I would have walked right by it if I didn’t stop to investigate.

Many of these hole-in-the-wall restaurants have a vending machine menu, which has a picture of the meal and the price. I picked the one that was most visually appealing and took my seat at the bar.

I don’t know what it is about these places, but I love sitting in these bar-style restaurants. Maybe it’s the retired drinker in me that likes the familiarity of sitting at a bar. I like sitting there and watching my meal being prepared in front of me.

[At 320 JPY ($2.90 USD) this was the cheapest meal on my trip.]

I didn’t get a name for this one, so the best way to find it is to go to the Starbucks near Namba Station. It’s at the start of an arcade, and the ramen bar is opposite the Starbucks.

Sushi was also on the menu every day, even if it just involved a few plates from a conveyor belt restaurant.

While I was enjoying urban exploration above ground, it was underground that I was seeking sushi and ramen bars. One of the interesting features of Osaka are the underground shopping complexes below the main train stations. The two biggest networks are under Osaka and Namba stations. I walked around different passageways looking out for busy ramen and standing sushi bars.

This ramen bunker looked especially appealing, and indeed it was everything I hoped it would be.

[Underground ramen – 800 JPY ($7.20 USD).]

These passageways radiate out over several blocks from the station. It’s very confusing the first time you visit, and it took a few goes until I remembered where the exit to my hotel was.

In addition to all the little eateries, there are plenty of useful shops down here as well.

[A UNIQLO and Muji side-by-side in an underground shopping mall is probably peak modern Japan.]

In Ho Chi Minh City the first metro line is being constructed by Japanese contractors, and there has been a proposal for an underground shopping complex as part of the main station area. If it resembles anything like what is in Osaka then I would welcome such a proposal in Saigon.

Another curiosity about Japan that fascinates me are the amount of vending machines for drinks that are on the streets. I was there during July, and it was thirsty work walking around all day. I try not to drink sugary soft drinks, so I was happy to see that there were lemon-infused mineral waters.

[ Lemon squash 100 JPY ($0.90 USD).]

What is cool about these vending machines are the sheer variety of drinks. In Australia in the the old days you could go to a milk bar and there would dozens of drinks to choose from. Now it’s either all Coca-Cola or PepsiCo drinks. The worst-case scenario is when they have Coke, Diet Coke, and water (bottled by Coke).

There is plenty of variety in the canned coffee drink department as well. If I come back for a month I might make it a mission to try every one. These are stacked with sugar though, and like my food calorie count I had to stay within my daily coffee intake limit. I tried the UCC Coffee, mainly because UCC has recently opened a branch in Saigon so I wanted to try the canned version.

When in Japan, always be on the look out for manhole covers. Every city should aspire to make ordinary things beautiful. Here is a good Flickr group of Japanese manhole covers.

So that was my taste of Osaka, 2018 edition. I suspect I won’t be waiting 19 years again until my next visit.

[Tokyo – it’s a jungle out there.]

I was a guest of the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau, and I spent a day visiting gardens and green spaces of Tokyo.

Todoroki Valley

It’s hard to believe that Todoroki Valley is within the Tokyo city limits. It’s only 20 minutes by train from Shibuya, and 20 minutes on a train doesn’t get you outside of Tokyo. Still, I had to ask if we were still in Tokyo as it seemed unbelievable that this slice of greenery had escaped development.

From Todoroki train station, the valley is a few minutes walk away. Upon entry the temperate is noticeably cooler, and they even have a temperature display showing inside and outside the valley. At the start of the walk is the picturesque Golf Bashi bridge.

[Golf Bashi Bridge.]

The valley has a stream running through it that looks more like a mountain stream than a city waterway. I was amazed by how clean it was given it urban location. The valley is about 1.2 KM so a 2.4 KM walk in total.

[Todoroki Valley.]

Near the end of the walkway is the Todoroki Fudoson Temple. It’s above the valley in the forest, and it makes for an interesting place to break up the walk.

[Todoroki Fudoson Temple.]

Meiji Jingu

Another remarkable park of Tokyo is at the Meiji Shrine. I say remarkable because I don’t ever recall visiting a central city park that has such a dense forest.

The Meiji Shrine is located in Shibuya, which is on the Yamanote circle line in central Tokto. This Shinto shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine is in the middle of this forest which contains over 120,000 trees.

[Grand Shrine gate.]

On the way to the shrine the is an impressive array of barrels of sake wrapped in straw. Each barrel is a gift that has been ornately decorated. I’m guessing this is highly tagged on Instagram.

[Barrels of sake wrapped in straw.]

Th park is big enough just to wander around for a bit of a green break in the city, but you should of course visit the shrine if you haven’t been.

[Meiji Jingu.]

Yoyogi Park

Next to Meiji Jingu is Yoyogi Park. On the map they look like one big park, though they are two separate entities. Yoyogi Park was famous for hosting U.S. military barracks after World war II, and then an athletes village for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

[Yoyogi Park.]

These days Yoyogi is best known for being a congregation spot for entertainers and various subcultures. If you can time your trip it’s best to visit on the weekend when cosplayers descend on nearby Harajuku Station. It’s the ultimate Tokyo people watching spot.

And if you really want to time your trip, come here in April when the cherry blossom trees have bloomed during sakura.

[Yoyogi Park walkway.]

[This trip was sponsored by Tokyo Metropolitan Government.]

Aomori Prefecture is at the northern tip of Honshu (the largest island of Japan). Like many casual visitors to Japan with no ties to the country, I had never heard of Aomori. There are 47 prefectures (like a province or state) in Japan, and Aomori is one of the lesser visited of Japan.

[Map of Aomori Prefecture, Japan.]

I visited Aomori Prefecture as a guest of the tourism board, in conjunction with a visit to Tokyo. This was part of a campaign to highlight interesting places to visit beyond the most well-known destinations in Japan. There is more to Japan than Tokyo and Kyoto, so here is Aomori Prefecture as another place to consider.

Lake Towada

Lake Towada is the largest crater lake in Honshu island, and the lake reaches a depth of 327 m deep. There are excursion boats that crusie around the lake, and more active visitors can canoe or camp around the lake.

Oirase Stream

The Oirase river flows from Lake Towada to the Pacific Ocean. The first 14-kilometre section from the lake is known as the Oirase Mountain Stream. The bus from the train station to Lake Towada travels along a road that follows the stream and stops along the way. It would have been cruel to drive along this road and not stop.

The best thing to do is to start from Lake Towada and walk or cycle along the path. The road hugs the stream so you get the view when cycling. There is also a dedicated walking path, so you get off along the way to explore further.

There are numerous waterfalls along the way, and the forest surrounding the stream is stunning.

As someone who is based in Southeast Asia what I was most impressed with was how clean the stream and surrounds were. I became conscious that there was no rubbish in the stream, to the point that I kept on the lookout for the odd bit of rubbish.

The other notable point was how relatively easy it was to get here. I usually associate such pristine natural environments with an arduous journey. So even city-folk like myself can enjoy the goodness of nature in comfort.

Tsuta Onsen

Onsen are hot springs and baths that is can be found throughout Japan. Being a land of volcanoes there are onsens everywhere. Tsuta Onsen is one the most well-known in Aormori. The facility is over 100 years old, and people have been known to bathe here since the 1100’s.

You can visit an onsen in Tokyo, but I think if you are experiencing one for the first time then go for one in a more natural setting. The Tsuta Onsen is surrounded by a forest and has walking paths to a nearby lake called the Tsutanuma Swamp (which looks nothing like a swamp I am used to – i.e its clean).

Mount Hakkoda

Mount Hakkoda is between Aomori City and Lake Towada. There are ski runs here in the winter, and in September/October it’s popular for autumn foliage spotters. We were there at the end of September and the leaves were starting to turn yellow, with more autumnal colours the higher up we went. Ahh if only I could have seen it in mid-October.

There are walking paths, or take the easy and scenic way with the Hakkoda Ropeway. It started raining just as we got to the top, so I didn’t get to walk the trails on the peak.

Aomori City

Aomori is a sleepy prefecture capital city, yet for one week a year it hosts one of the most famous festivals in Japan. Nebuta is held between August 2nd and 7th, where illuminated paper lantern floats take over the city streets.

If you can’t make it to Nebuta (or like me, didn’t know about it until you got here), the next best thing is to visit the Wa rasse Nebuta Museum. This stunning purpose-built museum houses Nebuta floats from previous festivals and has information and exhibits on the festival.

Aomori Prefecture is also famous for apples, with the region being the biggest apple producer in Japan. You will see apple-related products everywhere, but the best place to go is the A-Factory food hall. There are lots of unique gift items here as well as a variety of non apple related food products. Cider fans should check out the on-site apple cider brewery.

The A-Factory is near the train station (not the Shinkansen station) so it’s a good spot to hang out before getting a train.

Where I stayed

We stayed at the Hoshino Resorts Oirase Keiryu Hotel which is next to the Oirase Stream, and the start of the walking path to the lake. Read my review here.

Getting to Aomori

The best way to get there is by Shinkansen. We got the train from Tokyo which takes about three hours.

To get to Lake Towada we got the bus from Hachinohe station. I wasn’t enthused to get a bus, but then I had never caught a bus in Japan before. The bus to Lake Towada was waiting at the station, timed to meet the train from Tokyo. Like every other travel experience I had in Japan, the bus was easy and efficient.

Returning to Tokyo we got the Shinkansen from Aomori City.

An itinerary suggestion would be to stop in Aomori before continuing to Hokkaido via the Seikan Tunnel.

JR-EAST (the Shinkansen railway operator) have also put together sample itineraries for Aomori.

Japan Travel Resources

Aomori – Official prefecture tourism site.

Aomori Prefecture – Official information from the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Japan Travel Insurance – Japanese hospitals are world-class, but it’s not something you want to pay for yourself should you find yourself in need of medical assistance.

For researching Aomori and other prefectures you might not thave thought of, go old-school and get the Lonely Planet Japan. I still prefer guidebooks when preparing for big trips to places I don’t know anything about.

[This trip was sponsored by Tokyo Metropolitan Government.]

Flight: All Nippon Airways NH 880
From: Sydney (SYD) To: Tokyo Haneda (HND)

I flew with ANA from Sydney to Haneda Tokyo. My flight was arranged by the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau who provided the flight for my trip.

This was my first time flying with ANA so I was looking forward to trying them out. All Nippon Airways (ANA) are a Tokyo based airlines with hubs at both Tokyo–Haneda and Tokyo–Narita. They are rated with a 5-Star Airline Rating by Skytrax, which is the biggest airline rating site in the world.

I went to check in online the night before the flight. I usually check in to book a preferred seat, but in this case there was only one seat available – a middle seat! Did everyone already have a seat allocated? Rather than booking my seat I bailed out and opted to try my luck at the airport.

The Sydney – Haneda service operates overnight, departing SYD at 20:55 and arriving HND at 5:25. The originating flight from Tokyo is also overnight and arrives in Sydney in the morning, so the aircraft is parked for most of the day. I presume that overnight flights are preferred on both legs, otherwise they would sent the flight back in the day time.

I got to the airport early so I could sort out my seat. The check in staff were super helpful and reallocated my seat to an aisle.

ANA fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on this route. The seats are in 3-3-3 configuration in economy. The seats are the new slimmer seats which I find comfortable to sit on.

The first thing I noticed when I sat down was how much leg room there was. This month I had also flown with fellow Star Alliance partners (Singapore Airlines, SWISS, and Lufthansa), and ANA felt the most roomiest in economy.

I don’t think in numerical dimensions so here is my hand to display the space between my knee cap and the back of the front seat.

The other noticeable difference in the flight are the big windows of the 787. I’ve only flown on a 787 once before so I am still amazed by how much of a difference the bigger windows make. Who needs a window seat when you can get a view from the aisle.

Not sure if it was a new Boeing thing or an ANA feature, but the flight tracker had more details than the usual. I was annoyed that it was showing in miles until I realised you can set your preference to metric.

Wingspan is the inflight magazine of ANA.

Checking out the magazine route map is always required.

Dinner was served not long after take off, and I got the beef and salmon combo.

I can’t sleep on overnight flights so I usually don’t even try. Sometimes I look around incredulously at how other people are able to sit in their chairs for 8 hours without even a toilet. I resign myself to having a movie night.

The ANA Sky Channel has a selection of Hollywood, Japanese, and world movies.

ANA also have their own original programs featuring stories from around Japan. A good way to get in the mood for your upcoming trip to Japan.

During the flight a snack pack containing a pastry, cookie (biscuit in Ozspeak), and a nut-mix pack.

With the dinner and snack pack served during the flight there was no breakfast service before landing in Tokyo. There was another drinks service before landing so I got a coffee.

The flight arrives at Haneda at 5:25am. With other long-haul flights arriving in the early morning it took about half an hour to go through immigration. With the early arrival you can get into Tokyo before the morning peak. I was impressed with Haneda airport and how easy it is to get to central Tokyo.

Overall this was a great flight to Tokyo and I would be happy to travel to Japan again with ANA.

[A review of my stay at Capsule Inn Akihabara from my 2007 visit to Tokyo.]

Tokyo offers a wide range of accommodation options, but nothing is as quirky as a capsule hotel. The first capsule hotel opened in Osaka in 1979 and they can now be found in major cities across Japan.

I stayed at the Capsule Inn Akihabara, in Akihabara, Tokyo. This area seemed like the appropriate place to stay in a futuristic capsule as Akihabara is the big electronics and manga shops area of Tokyo.

Upon arrival you take your shoes off, as you would in a Japanese home, and place them into a shoe locker at the front entrance. Hand the locker key to reception and once you are done with check in formalities you are given another locker key attached to a wristband. The number on your wristband is your locker number and capsule number.

The hotel slogan is “making the best of a small space”, and they really mean it. The lockers aren’t built for long haul travel. The locker is “L” shaped with room for hanging suits and jackets, and a shelf big enough for an overnight bag.

Capsule hotels are mainly frequented by business people staying in town overnight and people who have missed the last train home, so accommodating for bulging backpacks and unwieldy wheelie bags is not usually required.

If you have larger bags you can leave them on a luggage rack in the foyer. A security wire and padlock is provided.

When you are ready for bed you go to the locker room and change into your usual nightwear. If you go to bed au naturel, you are supplied with a yukata (Japanese bathing robe). You are also supplied with a bath towel which is about the size of a tea towel.

Now it is off to capsule. The capsules are located on multiple levels, separated into male and female floors. Climb in and draw the bamboo blind at the entrance hole and you are in your little Tokyo bolthole for the night.

The capsules are the width of a single bed and are high enough for you to sit up in. A TV is built in to the roof and everything is designed as to not get in your way should you awaken suddenly in the night. A control panel with clock radio, alarm, TV controls and light switch is built into the side with a small ledge for personal items.

There are toilets on each level and the bathroom can be found next to the locker room. The bathroom is in the style of Japanese bath houses. There are showers and a large public hot bath. You are required to shower first before using the hot bath (of course).

Down in the foyer there is a common area with vending machines and newspapers. You won’t find copies of The Japan Times or International Herald Tribune here though, it’s all Japanese language papers. Like everywhere else in Tokyo there is wireless internet available.

Capsule hotels encapsulates (pun intended) the hi-tech, limited space image of Tokyo. So if you are looking to do something a bit different, then a stay in a capsule hotel could be for you.

Search capsule hotels near Akihabara or if this sounds too claustrophobic look for normal hotels in Tokyo.