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Travel Reports by italybound01 view profile of italybound01   index   May 21, 2011 - Back from 2.5 wonderful weeks in Japan! Hello everyone, My friend and I had found some amazing fares on Japan Airlines from Vancouver to Tokyo in January for a trip from April 21 to May 10th. I spent the next couple of months doing intense research on the internet, especially japan-guide.com and hanging out on various travel-related forums. When news of the March earthquake/tsunami came out, friends and family wanted (and expected) us to cancel. Our scheduled trip was 6 weeks away at that time, so we told them we would "wait and see", but in the hearts, we were always going to go. Instead of reading media reports, we spent more time reading personal blogs of people in Japan at the time and monitoring Tokyo's progress that way.  One site I visited every day was japan-guide.com and I would like to thank the webmasters for doing an amazing job with the updates, and all the people who took the time to post personal updates of Japan post-earthquake.  It was because of all of you that I knew it was ok to go ahead with our travel plans. I started a blog and updated while we were there for a couple of main reasons. One, it was a way to let our friends and family know that we were safe. And secondly, I wanted to do my part and spread the word to people to know that it was safe to travel to Japan. We did feel one tiny earthquake while in Tokyo that lasted a few seconds long. It was because we had just gotten into bed so it was quiet. It felt like a train just went by with a couple of creaks but then we realized we were on the 32nd floor so that wasn't possible. But that was it. If we were out and about, I am sure we wouldn't have felt it. Here is a summary of our Itinerary: Tokyo - 5 nights at Century Southern Tower Hakone - 1 night at Fukuzumiro Ryokan Takayama - 2 nights at Hida Takayama Ouan Kyoto - 7 nights at Hotel Mume (originally 2 nights in Hiroshima but extended Kyoto stay last minute) - Daytrips to Nara, Uji, Hikone, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island Kyoto - 1 night at Shiraume Ryokan Tokyo - 2 nights at Hilton Tokyo Bay (Disneyland/Disneysea) I read through Tripadvisor reviews thoroughly before picking out these hotels and all of them were just amazing, especially Hotel Mume in Kyoto. We extended our stay there and cancelled our Hiroshima hotel and ended up doing one long day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima Island instead. We did try out the luggage delivery service twice and for 2500 yen, we shipped our 2 suitcases between hotels from Tokyo to Hakone, and from Kyoto to Tokyo. Not having to navigate Shinjuku station with a suitcase was luxurious and so well worth the money! We had an incredible trip. Some of the highlights: Sushi breakfast at Tsukiji Fish Market Ryokan experiences in both Hakone and Kyoto Relaxing in the onsen (Japanese hot springs) Experiencing Golden Week mayhem Nishiki Market in Kyoto Miyako Odori in Kyoto - http://www.miyako-odori.jp/odori_en.html Dressing up like a Geisha in Kyoto - http://www.maiko-henshin.com/english/index.html Having an in-room shiatsu massage...wow! All meals: Hida Beef in Takayama, grilled oysters in Mayajima, Hiroshima-styled okonomiyaki, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, kaiseki, venturing into an izakaya, and all the snack and sweet stops we made along the way... Here is a link to my blog: http://travel.suejchiu.com/ The lack of tourists in Tokyo was definitely noticeable, and I hope my blog can help reassure people that it is safe to travel to Japan! Thank you to all the wonderful people of Japan for an absolutely wonderful and memorable trip.  We will be back!   index   List of Posts: 2011/05/21 - Back from 2.5 wonderful weeks in Japan!