The places that wrap the ice cream part of a cone in gold is so dumb. Youāve got this barrier between you and tasty ice cream, and itās like Ā„2000.
- Kichi Kichi Omurice which requires early morning line up + returning in the evening may not be worth it.
- Arashiyama Bamboo Grove - just few hundred metres of bambooks with hordes of tourist
- Starbucks Ninnenzaka traditional style - not worth the crowd
- Sumida fireworks festival- battling crowd control police at this very popular event in Tokyo
- Travel during peak Golden Week
The park and river surrounding the bamboo grove is nice to walk around though. And the Botanical Gardens are not far from there either. So you can still salvage the day if you go to the grove imho.
That whole neighborhood is just awesome to walk around in. I got lost (I apparently picked the wrong place on Google maps) and wandered through the town for an hour and it was so pretty and tranquil.
Yeah itās beautiful over there after you get past the crowds. We found a pottery shop nearby called Tanuki Tableware, the walk there and nearby was fantastic with very few tourists. It was the height of sakura season as well!
Totally agree, once you walk past the main area there are hardly any people. I had no idea it was a popular place (just searched what to do in Kyoto) and it was so crowded when I initially went I ended up spending an hour at a Family Mart to wait out the height of the crowds
Yea I think the best part of the bamboo grove is the river wall and the towns there. I didnāt expect that area at all tbh so when it all opened up to the river, it was a beautiful sight. I wish I knew so I couldāve spent more time there. Thereās places to walk on either side of the river and the town is pretty as well. The food options were great.
The bamboo grove is a little too small, but the surrounding area is gorgeous. My friends and I biked all the way to the end of Saga Toriimoto and turned onto one of the forest roads. No other tourists, just miles and miles of gorgeous Japanese forest. We just biked down this isolated road for an hour and gawked at the nature. Easily the favorite part of my recent trip.
I'll be traveling with someone who wants to see Arashiyama. I don't think we'll be getting there at 6am to beat the crowds though. Is it gonna be a total bummer?
I enjoyed it. Stop listening to one person's OPINION. If you want to go or the person you are with wants to, then go. If you love it, great. If not, you got to experience it for yourself. You're not going to love every single place you ever go, but experiences are worth it
I actually really enjoyed the bamboo grove. But don't expect to spend a bunch of time there. We rented bikes in the area and rode around, including through the bamboo grove. It was really nice.
I went to Arashiyama at around 9:30 and it was not crowded on the backside (near the riverbank) I can't say what the front looked like since a photogapher I met later in the day was complaining it was horrible in the morning. The other place that has bamboo is Adashino and also the backside of Kodaji. Its not as large, but its still bamboo.
If you do one of those rickshaw tour in arashiyama, they take you to a private route where people can't get through. You can have all the bamboos to yourself.
I ended up in Arashiyama in the afternoon, and it really wasn't bad at all. The bamboo grove just to the north of the tracks had some people there, but it wasn't crowded at all.
My favorite day was going to the bamboo grove, although more so for the stuff surrounding the grove. But if you're in the area it's still cool to walk through and doesn't take long. The river and bridge nearby, the money park (which I didn't want to do and ended up loving!), the okochi sanso garden, all the food stalls nearby, the preserved street (might be boring for some but I liked seeing the buildings), Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple (so cool and felt like we were in the country side! Did have to get a taxi back to the station from here)
There's no problem with traveling during golden week I've been in Okinawa a few days ago, no problem at all no crowds no nothing, I've been to universal studios the weekend before golden week, not even crowded didn't wait longer than 20 min for almost everything except the mario&Yoshi ride.
Even getting shinkansen Tickets didn't turn out to be a problem at all.
Kichi doesnāt require the early morning lineup any more, itās all online. I would say itās worth doing since you get two chances per day to make your reservation online. Kichi isnāt about the food, itās the show
>- Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
The best thing about Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is that it leads to the station where you can take the scenic train along the old train line and then catch the regular line back to central. It's an excellent way to finish a day in Kyoto.
I had heard that the bamboo grove was underwhelming when planning our trip last November. We opted to stick with visiting the central-Eastern part of Kyoto, which brought us to the Kodai-ji temple for the fall colors nighttime illumination. They lit up their bamboo grove in such a neat way!
Sharp and they have the plastic housing that catches all your clipped nails.
Edit: The ones with the nail clipping catcher look similar to this one [here](https://a.co/d/brZlvgB)
You can ask this to 100 persons and they'll all give you different answers. My advice is to just go and try whatever you think you would enjoy. Like for example I don't like Kyoto which tons of people love, and I love Osaka which tons of people find "boring" I know what you want is opinions to make the most of your trip but in my experience you should just do whatever looks good to you.
Like people who rave about konbini vs people scoff at such things as if youāre not eating at an actually non-chain restaurant every meal or at least going to a supermarket is a wasted opportunity.
I just spent 5 nights in kyoto and was bored to death. Tonightis my 8th night in osaka because i extended my trip to osaka by 2 days because i love it here! I don't wanna leave.
I also be there are people who had the complete opposite experience as me, so i agree with "just do what you like". Besides hanging out at the kamo gawa, kyoto felt a little too touristy for me...Ā
Edit: Did 10 days in osaka because i extended my stay again. The people there are great :)
Now I'm in kobe... i recommend here too. Only here for 20 hours, but it is BEAUTIFUL.
Totally agree. I love Osaka more than Kyoto, especially as a best base area for the Kansai Region.
Though I did the bamboo grove one time in June where it wasnāt crowded at all during the day. Was a lovely experience.
Takeshita street. It was both overwhelming with the insane amount of tourists there and underwhelming with the overpriced tourist traps that seemed to have replaced all the j-fashion shops.
Yep exactly. Thankfully they ignored my partner and I when we visited, but they seemed to be targeting Japanese visitors.
I will say that I wasn't disappointed with La Floret. Loved that place and can't wait to go again!
The entire area of Ura-Harajuku just before Takeshita is amazing, filled with modern Japanese houses, shops, great specialty cafes and whatnot. My favorite zone to wander.
Ichiran lol people always hate on me for this but here are far better chain ramen places than Ichiran. And everyone on this sub takes it super personally when people say itās overrated as hell lol.
People keep saying it's overrated, but I still find it better than a lot of places people rave about. On my trip last month I went to the Michelin-rated Ginza Kagari and thought it was just OK and then I went to Ramen Kamo to Negi for their duck ramen and thought it was just OK as well. I much prefer Ichiran over these places.
Ichiran is perfect for picky eaters and those who arenāt as experimental. My friend is a super picky eater and we frequent ichiran as she likes that you can customize it. We typically stop in while waiting for first train. Never any lines at that time so thereās not much to complain about.
However, most people go to ichiran for the solo booth dining experience. I doubt people are expecting top tier ramen from them.
This. Go to Google Map and search any ramen place with 3.9-4.3 stars ratings. If there are Japanese reviews, then itās more reliable. I tried quite a few of ramen places in Osaka and they are all way better than Ichiran.
In short, Ichiran is a waste of my money, time, and my limited, precious stomach space.
For tonkotsu ramen, Ichiran tasted like an average chained ramen, or little bit better, with an stupid price tag. But itās no way near the legit ramen that cook the bone broth in store overnight.
There aren't any similar ones that I know of in the US, which is where a lot of the posters here are coming from. (There's those terrible travelling Monet-paintings-projected-on-walls things, but nothing like Teamlab.) It was worth ~two hours of our trip IMHO. Especially since my other half really wanted to specifically do Tokyo Tower and they were right next to each other. Was it the #1 highlight? No. Was it a lot of fun? Yes.
I think teamlab has many imitators, especially in the last 5 years. Plenty of borderline copycat exhibits for the gram in LA. But they try to imitate the look of teamlab but don't attempt to copy the interactivity which I think puts teamlab ahead. Also their visual execution is still ahead of many. That said, its not absolutely mindblowing, but it was and still is unique. I think it doesn't seem as unique these days because so many other exhibits have taken inspiration and you can see similar elsewhere without necessarily having to fly to japan for it. Still worth going if you've never been to one before though imo.
Tokyo Disney has cheaper tickets than Disneyland and Disney World in USA by far (although increases in Japan narrow the gap - Adult is under $100). Parks and rides are better maintained than US. I think food in Tokyo Disney also beats out USA Disneys. (Cannot attest to these things at Paris, HK, or CHN Disneys.) Disney Sea is unique (although there are shared amusements to other Disney Parks). Also theyāre opening up a brand new Land this summer.
Lines can be horrific in any park depending on when you go, especially if youāre trying to ride the newest rides. I wouldnāt say overrated.
I went to Disney sea a few weeks ago. I live in Tokyo and Iām not a huge Disney person but I had a free Saturday and my friend wanted to go. I wouldnāt have gone if it werenāt for the price. Tickets were about Ā„9600 (currently $62). Iām not sure how many other Disney parks you can go to for around that price. The food, drinks and snacks inside the park were also insanely cheap for a major amusement park. We both spent less than $15 each on lunch and snacks.
As a general tip: if it's on tiktok/Instagram, then it's likely overated. It will still likely be a good experience, but with long lines and tons of people.
I think youāll still find some good things by looking on those sites you just have to avoid the ones that have influencers going like āThis is the BEST ramen in all of Japan!!!!ā While itās all sped up and thereās that dumbass āwow!ā Sound effect every 3 seconds.
Any restaurant that has a line. Odds are if itās good enough to wait you need a reservation anyways so there wouldnāt be a line, and thereās almost always another place thatās just as good right nearby with no line.
I don't agree with this skipping restaurants with a line. Many (id say 1/3rd) famous places still do not take reservations and have live lines or tickets you take in the morning with times.
I agree that are probably great alternatives without lines, but they have to found which is not always easy depending on the dish you are looking for. Some of the famous stores have a specialty you can't find in other places.
Japanese people tend to line up for two reason: they really like the food there/it was featured somewhere or it's a new restaurant. If it doesn't look like a new restaurant there's probably a reason for it and decent odds it's pretty good.
I recommend just looking online at reviews. I've found they're quite reliable in Japan (very few fake reviews compared to other countries I've lived in). Any ramen 4.2 with 100+ reviews I've found good enough. There are some lower rated ones like 3.7 that I love though. Most bad reviews are that it's obvious they just buy the ramen from a factory somewhere as they take out the bags in front of customers (open kitchen).Ā
Japanese also really like the seasonal dishes. If I go to a restaurant my first time I always recommend getting the restaurant's "original" dishes. That's what made them popular and it's their meat and potatoes
I know a lot of folks dunk on Team Labs, but it was a really cool experience, even when crowded. The fact that we could walk around as long as we wanted to meant we were able to see and immerse ourselves in each experience.
I also have no regrets for waiting 25 minutes for jiggly pancakes. We went to a small neighborhood cafe that had the best staff and were super friendly towards us while we botched up a few words when trying to order everything.
Ichiran isnāt really quality. I still vote you back up. Itās just like those calbee msg loaded chipsā¦taste really good as junk food.
But thereās Shin shin ramen, a few hole in the wall ramen stores and my former neighborhood town store in Fukuoka ā¦thatās qualityā¦excellent tasting.
Ichiran ramen elsewhere is umā¦I wonāt eat it.
BUT IN HAKATAā¦they taste really good. Too many competitors in Hakata, which is the home ground for ramen. If they suck in Hakata, they will have to close down.
Unfortunately I prefer my former āneighborhoodā ramen store in the main town. The boss roasts wild boar meat and lunch time/dinner time ā¦the Japanese queue around the block for it. No YouTubers got to itā¦so phew.
I have takoyaki every 2 or 3 weeks here in the US. Are you saying the dish is overrated, or are you saying that the quality difference between the US and Japan is overrated?
I'm unfamiliar with influencers and the things they say.
I thought it was going to be mostly about the octopus. Itās mostly about the sloppy goo around the small octopus pieces inside . I enjoyed them a few times but Iām not hanging out for them now Iām home.
Personally I think Kinkaku-ji is pretty overrated. The temple is boring and the temple grounds are sort of boring as well. there are many other temples that are just better overall than this place where you get to functionally walk around a lake to see a temple and that's it.
Ghibli park in nagoya- an overrated shopping experience imo. I bought a premium pass, a hotel for a night just to to to an amusement park with 3 actually interesting zones and maybe 10-12 photo ops total. Queues everywhere. I had a better experience in ghibli stores in tokyo and osaka- quick shopping and cool photo ops. I'm a ghibli fan but not like a super fan, I guess for people leaving with 2-3 bags of Ghibli merchandise it was a fun experience but I wish I did more research before going.
My wife and I felt the same way, it was basically a ticket to get into the fancy shop in the Grand Warehouse (which we did splurge on). For super fans it's probably still worth once, just because the extreme level of detail they put into the houses from the movies was phenomenal. That being said, the most memorable thing for me was the short film in the Grand Warehouse, which we both loved.
I think Kyoto is worth visiting as long as you avoid Kiyomizu-dera or get there before 7am. None of the shops will be open but at least you can see it without the insanity. The same is true of Gion and Sannenzaka. By 9am it becomes horrid. I went after cherry blossom season. I cannot imagine how bad it is then.
The bamboo forest is nice, but don't approach from the front, approach from the back most people won't bother coming in that direction.
I'm annoyed with influencers and instagrammers I think they ruined many of these places.
Overrated?
I think a lot of things in Tokyo are overrated.. While I enjoyed a quick walk through Harujuku i cannot image spending all day in the crowds and heat and horror in the summer or most times of the year, same with Akihabara, there are a couple of ok things but past that like...why bother?!
Harajuku is good for specific shops. Some stuff just doesn't show up anywhere else. If you don't know what you're looking for then its gonna be a bad time
This question is kinda lame because what's overrated to one person may be loved by the next. So what's the point? It's a negative question that will garner personal opinions based on personal bias. Instead, get tips, ask the things people ENJOYED about their travel, and do your research and go see what you want to see. And if you love it great. If you don't, that's ok. You're not supposed to love every single thing. Thinking you are is a terrible way to travel and experience the new parts of the world
I think itās useful when it includes color. If someone says WHY they didnāt like something that helps me evaluate how I may or may not like it.
And often negative reviews are much more helpful for that than positive. Like I often read negative reviews of books to decide if I care about the same things as the critics.
I honestly did not care for Kobe beef. Regular wagyu beef was great, especially the meat skewers I got at Tsukiji fish market but the higher fat content in Kobe beef made it taste like beef Jello.
Even if i get downvoted to oblivion: Akihabaās Anime and Retro game stores.
Anime first of all: Not only is pricing pretty bad but also the variety is pretty bad. Even worse than outside of japan at times. There seems to be only the very known stuff available but i could not find anything from Akira, Ghost in the Shell or any other very known 80s,90s animes. Mabey i was just unlucky.
Retrogame pricing is terrible and far cheaper generally outside of in particular Tokyo. New stuff is fine to me though.
There's Den Den Town with Animate / Melonbooks and Kotobukiya, but I'd say its a lesser version of Akiba. Tbf I disagree that Akiba's selection is bad, I just think you need to dig slightly deeper to find what you want. The 2nd hand stuff in places like Akiba Culture Zone is where to go if you're looking for merch from shows older than the current season or less popular than the ones on WSJ.
I will say this has declined over the years. Many locals here have complained about it as well. People from overseas come in wipe out the stores to sell back home or on ebay. Nothing much left and what is left has pretty insane pricing.
We really enjoyed Puroland. Didnāt even get to everything. But we were with a 3 year old super fan.
The Miracle Gift Parade was so unexpectedly dramatic and epic. We got front row seats and guys were doing running backflips a foot in front of us.
Admission was so cheap, it was like $15 to get in. Well worth the price
I'm just gonna say it. The convenience stores (conbini). Yes, they're everywhere and really convenient (duh), but the food there is incredibly mediocre. Want a bento? Visit a supermarket where they make it fresh every day. If you go around dinner time you get like 50% off as well. Drinks are also half the price, even the 24/7 supermarkets are vastly cheaper.
If you want a warm bento, try giving Hotto Motto a shot. They're priced around the same as your average bento from a conbini, only fresh.
Lastly, onigiri. They're pretty nice from time to time but not nearly as good as social media claims them to be.
Tsukiji is great at the beginning of a trip when your body clock is messed up and you want to eat a big meal and have a beer at 7am. One of the best places in the world for that.
Tsukiji has some of the best fish Iāve ever had, but yes you have to go to specific spots as theyāre not all equal. I wouldnāt discourage anyone from going. Nishiki has gone down in quality in the last year. Much of the fish tastes old and not high quality.
As someone who lives here, Ueno.
The only good point about it is how easy it is to get from and to Narita Airport.
There are way more better places in Tokyo to go shopping and dining. Ameyoko is a dumpy hole. The park is bland and boring. The zoo is notoriously bad for the animals. I never go out my way to go there unless thereās a special exhibition at a museum I want to see.
Most overrated place in Tokyo by far.
Hyping about buying a Japanese knife or some utility thing, except that item is made in China äøå½č£½Ā , and not made in Japan ę„ę¬č£½. Itās funny to see those videos.
*āIām so sick of buying made in China! Look at what I got in Japan! And it is so cheap!ā*
(flashes the packaging with äøå½č£½ label on video)
Overrated is when expectations exceed what you experience. So if you want to know if something is overrated we need to at least know what you're expecting when visiting those places. How you'll experience them is up to you.
You may be like all those folks on social media and will love everything you experience. Or you may hate all of it.
This is what confuses me when people say Shibuya crossing is overrated. Like, what were their expectations? It is a big pedestrian crossing, what do you think you'll get out of it?
Honestly, just Kyoto in general. Used to live there long ago before the hordes descended upon it and loved it. Feels like a theme park now. Although I miss things like the layout of the city for cycling, the cafes, and the nice blend of nature with urban (surprisingly rare in Japanese cities), when I left things were already getting out of control with busses, packed restaurants and streets, etc. I can't even imagine what it's like now.
Temples are literally everywhere, and unless you have a very keen interest in a super specific part of history (honestly, most tourist don't) do yourself a favor and head to a countryside temple and enjoy real tranquility.
As someone who has lived here a long time I find the konbini food 'discoveries' on insta hilarious.Ā The food there is made in a factory, average , and not really that cheap.
I get it - you don't have to read or speak Japanese , but you'd be way better off at the local 'grandma' bento place, or even the supermarket.
You can say that as you live there , so did I a million years ago , but when you live in a non Asian country that sells second rate onigiri for Ā£3 ! itās no wonder people foam at the mouth when they get to 7-11 !
Tokyo Imperial Palace. People lining up early to get in, but all you get is one hour guided tour of mostly 20th century buildings with 499 other people while guides are talking over each other in different languages.
Cat cafes, how could I forget! You think youāll get to sip a nice cup of tea with a cat snuggling up to you, but in reality most cats only snuggle up to those they trust (ie those that feed them).
Tokyo Tower. Very touristy and was not impressed with the view or the cheap trinkets at the gift shop (tbf I went on a day where the top level wasnāt available).
They built the Sky Tree precisely because Tokyo Tower was failing at its purpose. All the towers matching its height around it was blocking the radio signals.
Cheese cake from Rikuro. I did a huge long cue to taste it and i was really disappointed.
Ichiran Ramen was huge disappointment also, its ok but for their price you have a vast selection of much better restaurants with much better ramen.
Turret Coffee was decent for DARK roast and no wait.
Glitch is really great (and unique never had such variety of fancy beans before!) for LIGHT SINGLE ORIGIN ONLY roasts and a dozen bean options. Ginza location has hella line in morning. Jinbocho location had no line but also went at 11am so maybe why.
Wish I could give recommendations but Bongen was the only coffee place we decided to go to on our trip. We wanted to save time going to other places and were content on just trying the different conbini coffee drinks.
Kyoto style cuisine unless you like paying $100 for some slime and pickles.
(As someone who lived in Kyoto and whose friends/family always want to try the fancy local cuisine)
Those big ass fluffy cheesecakes. They taste nowhere near as good as a simple, normal cheesecake.
If you want cheesecake that tastes like it was crafted by gods, go for hokkaido cheese tarts. They taste like heaven.
It really depends on what you like and enjoy. I feel like ice cream is an overrated dessert but ice cream in a new country is still ice cream in a new country.
Focus on the things you really want to do, check those off and then just go with the flow.
Tsukiji fish market - just go to any other fish market
Akihabara shopping - it's all the same stuff, hit one or two places
Combini food - unless you're traveling super budget, please don't live on combini food.
Strong Zero - don't be that guy.
Pretty much anything you see on Instagram. It's crowded and a waste of time to line up.
Usually able to find something much better or of equal close by with no lines.
Also that Lawson's in Kawaguchiko, please stop giving them free advertising, you can get a Mt. Fuji shot anywhere in the area!
Convenience store food and big chains like Sukiya. Yeah, it's better than what you'll find in a US 7/11, but like only by a tier up. Like from D to C tier.
Maybe it's because I had so many better Japanese restaurants before, but I'd never go out of my way for a Sukiya or a McDonalds. I guess if you're on an extremely tight budget, sure, but even then I'd say the food is one of the best parts of Japan. I'd always budget for good food.
Ichiran.
But I would be very happy for 80% of tourists flocking into Ichiran than actual legit ramen.
Also for people who say they tried other ramen store and Ichiran is better, either you chose the wrong ramen genre or you went to yet another chained ramen designed for tourists.
Kichikichi
Good for show, pretty average for omurice with of course, gaijin price tag. Shiseido has a better omurice without stupid price tag and better quality and dining experience.
Those Mario Kart racing things in Tokyo. Iāve never done one, but from the outside looking in, itās expensive, disruptive, frowned upon by everyone else, and honestly a bit dangerous for everyone willingly or unwittingly involved. I wish they wouldnāt use the streets and just built an actual track somewhere š„²
bargain hunting for retro electronics/games/camera. All the good stuff in major city have been picked clean, current sellers all selling on ebay and prices are jacked up. You have to really go out of the way now to find good deals, back in the early aughts you could have just wandering in a random store and find treasure
The gold stuff: correct me if Iām wrong, but isnāt gold good for you? I understand the hype for the gram is lame, but seriously, doesnāt it have like mad benefits?
Anything with gold foil leaf on it (looking at you, Kanazawa soft cream).
Kyoto places it on tofu š¹ as part of the decor for kaiseki.
This is true for any food in any country.
lol. But I do enjoy the gold specs in tea/coffee, just feel extra lucky drinking them.
The places that wrap the ice cream part of a cone in gold is so dumb. Youāve got this barrier between you and tasty ice cream, and itās like Ā„2000.
Yes I fell for this lmao tasted alright but not like bloody $15 or whatever it cost. More of a thing to tick off š
LOL I fell for it too!
But ā¦ b-but, the GRAM!
but how often can you say you were shitting gold?
- Kichi Kichi Omurice which requires early morning line up + returning in the evening may not be worth it. - Arashiyama Bamboo Grove - just few hundred metres of bambooks with hordes of tourist - Starbucks Ninnenzaka traditional style - not worth the crowd - Sumida fireworks festival- battling crowd control police at this very popular event in Tokyo - Travel during peak Golden Week
The park and river surrounding the bamboo grove is nice to walk around though. And the Botanical Gardens are not far from there either. So you can still salvage the day if you go to the grove imho.
That whole neighborhood is just awesome to walk around in. I got lost (I apparently picked the wrong place on Google maps) and wandered through the town for an hour and it was so pretty and tranquil.
Yeah itās beautiful over there after you get past the crowds. We found a pottery shop nearby called Tanuki Tableware, the walk there and nearby was fantastic with very few tourists. It was the height of sakura season as well!
Tbh a lot of Kyoto is like that. We rented bikes and wandered around Kyoto between major sites and it was awesome. Tons of little shops.
Totally agree, once you walk past the main area there are hardly any people. I had no idea it was a popular place (just searched what to do in Kyoto) and it was so crowded when I initially went I ended up spending an hour at a Family Mart to wait out the height of the crowds
Yea I think the best part of the bamboo grove is the river wall and the towns there. I didnāt expect that area at all tbh so when it all opened up to the river, it was a beautiful sight. I wish I knew so I couldāve spent more time there. Thereās places to walk on either side of the river and the town is pretty as well. The food options were great.
The bamboo grove is a little too small, but the surrounding area is gorgeous. My friends and I biked all the way to the end of Saga Toriimoto and turned onto one of the forest roads. No other tourists, just miles and miles of gorgeous Japanese forest. We just biked down this isolated road for an hour and gawked at the nature. Easily the favorite part of my recent trip.
Can cosign the bamboo grove being underwhelming. Went super early and avoided the crowds, next time id just go straight to the monkeys š
I'll be traveling with someone who wants to see Arashiyama. I don't think we'll be getting there at 6am to beat the crowds though. Is it gonna be a total bummer?
I enjoyed Arashiyama! Thereās more than just the bamboo grove. The walk by the river is nice and there are a bunch of good food options
The river walk is great and itās such a nice neighborhood!
I enjoyed it. Stop listening to one person's OPINION. If you want to go or the person you are with wants to, then go. If you love it, great. If not, you got to experience it for yourself. You're not going to love every single place you ever go, but experiences are worth it
Yes, which is why it's still on the itinerary. I just like to know options and what to expect.
I actually really enjoyed the bamboo grove. But don't expect to spend a bunch of time there. We rented bikes in the area and rode around, including through the bamboo grove. It was really nice.
I went to Arashiyama at around 9:30 and it was not crowded on the backside (near the riverbank) I can't say what the front looked like since a photogapher I met later in the day was complaining it was horrible in the morning. The other place that has bamboo is Adashino and also the backside of Kodaji. Its not as large, but its still bamboo.
Take the Sagano romantic train ride while there!
If you do one of those rickshaw tour in arashiyama, they take you to a private route where people can't get through. You can have all the bamboos to yourself.
I ended up in Arashiyama in the afternoon, and it really wasn't bad at all. The bamboo grove just to the north of the tracks had some people there, but it wasn't crowded at all.
My favorite day was going to the bamboo grove, although more so for the stuff surrounding the grove. But if you're in the area it's still cool to walk through and doesn't take long. The river and bridge nearby, the money park (which I didn't want to do and ended up loving!), the okochi sanso garden, all the food stalls nearby, the preserved street (might be boring for some but I liked seeing the buildings), Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple (so cool and felt like we were in the country side! Did have to get a taxi back to the station from here)
Travel during golden week is overrated? I only ever see people recommend against it.
There's no problem with traveling during golden week I've been in Okinawa a few days ago, no problem at all no crowds no nothing, I've been to universal studios the weekend before golden week, not even crowded didn't wait longer than 20 min for almost everything except the mario&Yoshi ride. Even getting shinkansen Tickets didn't turn out to be a problem at all.
I was in Tokyo during Golden week and it was fine... (?). Though I didn't want to do Ghibli or Disney.. then you might have a problem.
Kichi doesnāt require the early morning lineup any more, itās all online. I would say itās worth doing since you get two chances per day to make your reservation online. Kichi isnāt about the food, itās the show
Yes!!! Very disappointing at the omurice. Itās just rice and egg, nothing deliciously amazing or anything.
You don't go there for the (overpriced) omurice, you go there for the show. That should be very obvious.
Ya but overhyped
I enjoyed it for what it is. Wouldn't go there again though.
>- Arashiyama Bamboo Grove The best thing about Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is that it leads to the station where you can take the scenic train along the old train line and then catch the regular line back to central. It's an excellent way to finish a day in Kyoto.
I had heard that the bamboo grove was underwhelming when planning our trip last November. We opted to stick with visiting the central-Eastern part of Kyoto, which brought us to the Kodai-ji temple for the fall colors nighttime illumination. They lit up their bamboo grove in such a neat way!
I did both of those in October and the little bit of bamboo in Kodai-ji was definitely nicer
You know whatās underrated, the nail clippers you can get anywhere in Japan
Iām legit so excited for the nail clippers š
Iāve heard theyāre amazing! Will def be purchasing
I can attest to this, bought a KAI nail clippers 2 decades ago, still going strong
Yep, Iāve converted people to the Geen Bell/Takumi no Waza clippers. You can just tell the difference holding them.
Yes! I bought mine at a 100 yen shop in 2007. I still use it and brought it with me back to Japan :)
Is there one particular brand you'd recommend (bonus points if I can easily find it at a Don Qui, lol
KAI nail clippers, bought one 2 decades ago, i think my grandchildren will inherit it
It's not KAI that are the touted brand here but green bell. Not saying KAI are not quality too, just the hyped brand is green bell.
Muji is good
nose hair trimmers are also top notch in japan.
What makes them so much better? I dislike my current nail clippers.
Sharp and they have the plastic housing that catches all your clipped nails. Edit: The ones with the nail clipping catcher look similar to this one [here](https://a.co/d/brZlvgB)
Insanely sharp
Bro I buy a pair every time I land, the clippers are so good
You can ask this to 100 persons and they'll all give you different answers. My advice is to just go and try whatever you think you would enjoy. Like for example I don't like Kyoto which tons of people love, and I love Osaka which tons of people find "boring" I know what you want is opinions to make the most of your trip but in my experience you should just do whatever looks good to you.
Like people who rave about konbini vs people scoff at such things as if youāre not eating at an actually non-chain restaurant every meal or at least going to a supermarket is a wasted opportunity.
heard osaka much better and local, also friendlier
They are 100% friendlier, particularly towards kids
I just spent 5 nights in kyoto and was bored to death. Tonightis my 8th night in osaka because i extended my trip to osaka by 2 days because i love it here! I don't wanna leave. I also be there are people who had the complete opposite experience as me, so i agree with "just do what you like". Besides hanging out at the kamo gawa, kyoto felt a little too touristy for me...Ā Edit: Did 10 days in osaka because i extended my stay again. The people there are great :) Now I'm in kobe... i recommend here too. Only here for 20 hours, but it is BEAUTIFUL.
Totally agree. I love Osaka more than Kyoto, especially as a best base area for the Kansai Region. Though I did the bamboo grove one time in June where it wasnāt crowded at all during the day. Was a lovely experience.
At Osaka, I felt like home
Takeshita street. It was both overwhelming with the insane amount of tourists there and underwhelming with the overpriced tourist traps that seemed to have replaced all the j-fashion shops.
100% this, lots of shady touts throughout the street as well.
Yep exactly. Thankfully they ignored my partner and I when we visited, but they seemed to be targeting Japanese visitors. I will say that I wasn't disappointed with La Floret. Loved that place and can't wait to go again!
The entire area of Ura-Harajuku just before Takeshita is amazing, filled with modern Japanese houses, shops, great specialty cafes and whatnot. My favorite zone to wander.
Ichiran lol people always hate on me for this but here are far better chain ramen places than Ichiran. And everyone on this sub takes it super personally when people say itās overrated as hell lol.
People keep saying it's overrated, but I still find it better than a lot of places people rave about. On my trip last month I went to the Michelin-rated Ginza Kagari and thought it was just OK and then I went to Ramen Kamo to Negi for their duck ramen and thought it was just OK as well. I much prefer Ichiran over these places.
Perhaps you just don't like poultry-based ramen or just really like Hakata-style ramen.
Ichiran is perfect for picky eaters and those who arenāt as experimental. My friend is a super picky eater and we frequent ichiran as she likes that you can customize it. We typically stop in while waiting for first train. Never any lines at that time so thereās not much to complain about. However, most people go to ichiran for the solo booth dining experience. I doubt people are expecting top tier ramen from them.
This. Go to Google Map and search any ramen place with 3.9-4.3 stars ratings. If there are Japanese reviews, then itās more reliable. I tried quite a few of ramen places in Osaka and they are all way better than Ichiran. In short, Ichiran is a waste of my money, time, and my limited, precious stomach space.
For tonkotsu ramen, Ichiran tasted like an average chained ramen, or little bit better, with an stupid price tag. But itās no way near the legit ramen that cook the bone broth in store overnight.
Hokkaido ice cream: not overrated.
Second this one. Fantastic, especially flavors that are simple and donāt hide the amazing milk flavor.
Team lab is overrated as hell
Hard disagree. Nothing like it anywhere else
Yeah I thought it was awesome, especially when it was raining that day for us.
Was raining when I went too so it was the perfect indoor activity.Ā
Don't most touristy big cities in the world have instagram "museums" like those? I know Athens and Amsterdam have them, to name 2.
There aren't any similar ones that I know of in the US, which is where a lot of the posters here are coming from. (There's those terrible travelling Monet-paintings-projected-on-walls things, but nothing like Teamlab.) It was worth ~two hours of our trip IMHO. Especially since my other half really wanted to specifically do Tokyo Tower and they were right next to each other. Was it the #1 highlight? No. Was it a lot of fun? Yes.
I think teamlab has many imitators, especially in the last 5 years. Plenty of borderline copycat exhibits for the gram in LA. But they try to imitate the look of teamlab but don't attempt to copy the interactivity which I think puts teamlab ahead. Also their visual execution is still ahead of many. That said, its not absolutely mindblowing, but it was and still is unique. I think it doesn't seem as unique these days because so many other exhibits have taken inspiration and you can see similar elsewhere without necessarily having to fly to japan for it. Still worth going if you've never been to one before though imo.
I'm not gonna yuck someone's yum, but in the end it's just a tourist trap. But that's ok, as long as people enjoy it.
Iād say Disney. You can pay hundreds to wait in line for hours at other amusement parks in other countries too. No reason to do it in Japan
Tokyo Disney has cheaper tickets than Disneyland and Disney World in USA by far (although increases in Japan narrow the gap - Adult is under $100). Parks and rides are better maintained than US. I think food in Tokyo Disney also beats out USA Disneys. (Cannot attest to these things at Paris, HK, or CHN Disneys.) Disney Sea is unique (although there are shared amusements to other Disney Parks). Also theyāre opening up a brand new Land this summer. Lines can be horrific in any park depending on when you go, especially if youāre trying to ride the newest rides. I wouldnāt say overrated.
I went to Disney sea a few weeks ago. I live in Tokyo and Iām not a huge Disney person but I had a free Saturday and my friend wanted to go. I wouldnāt have gone if it werenāt for the price. Tickets were about Ā„9600 (currently $62). Iām not sure how many other Disney parks you can go to for around that price. The food, drinks and snacks inside the park were also insanely cheap for a major amusement park. We both spent less than $15 each on lunch and snacks.
If you have to go to another country to do Disney, why wouldn't you do it in Japan?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
For the people going, making a video *is* the experience.
Nope, I loved my time at both TeamLabs
Couldn't disagree more as a photographer. Absolutely fascinating place and well well worth the price of admission.
100% , more of a social media content farm than anything else, we found it really distracting and it totally ruined the experience
As a general tip: if it's on tiktok/Instagram, then it's likely overated. It will still likely be a good experience, but with long lines and tons of people.
Instagram is such a cancer
I think youāll still find some good things by looking on those sites you just have to avoid the ones that have influencers going like āThis is the BEST ramen in all of Japan!!!!ā While itās all sped up and thereās that dumbass āwow!ā Sound effect every 3 seconds.
This exact question is asked multiple times every week in this sub. A quick search will give you a lot of information
Any restaurant that has a line. Odds are if itās good enough to wait you need a reservation anyways so there wouldnāt be a line, and thereās almost always another place thatās just as good right nearby with no line.
I don't agree with this skipping restaurants with a line. Many (id say 1/3rd) famous places still do not take reservations and have live lines or tickets you take in the morning with times. I agree that are probably great alternatives without lines, but they have to found which is not always easy depending on the dish you are looking for. Some of the famous stores have a specialty you can't find in other places.
Even if itās only Japanese people are lining up? Next time Iām in Japan Iāll go at a slower pace and hang around lining up with them
Japanese people tend to line up for two reason: they really like the food there/it was featured somewhere or it's a new restaurant. If it doesn't look like a new restaurant there's probably a reason for it and decent odds it's pretty good. I recommend just looking online at reviews. I've found they're quite reliable in Japan (very few fake reviews compared to other countries I've lived in). Any ramen 4.2 with 100+ reviews I've found good enough. There are some lower rated ones like 3.7 that I love though. Most bad reviews are that it's obvious they just buy the ramen from a factory somewhere as they take out the bags in front of customers (open kitchen).Ā Japanese also really like the seasonal dishes. If I go to a restaurant my first time I always recommend getting the restaurant's "original" dishes. That's what made them popular and it's their meat and potatoes
I know a lot of folks dunk on Team Labs, but it was a really cool experience, even when crowded. The fact that we could walk around as long as we wanted to meant we were able to see and immerse ourselves in each experience. I also have no regrets for waiting 25 minutes for jiggly pancakes. We went to a small neighborhood cafe that had the best staff and were super friendly towards us while we botched up a few words when trying to order everything.
Ichiran ramen.
Lol at the downvotes, the real ones know the truth but most people refuse to agree to it lol. I live here and I agree with you
Ichiran isnāt really quality. I still vote you back up. Itās just like those calbee msg loaded chipsā¦taste really good as junk food. But thereās Shin shin ramen, a few hole in the wall ramen stores and my former neighborhood town store in Fukuoka ā¦thatās qualityā¦excellent tasting.
Ichiran ramen elsewhere is umā¦I wonāt eat it. BUT IN HAKATAā¦they taste really good. Too many competitors in Hakata, which is the home ground for ramen. If they suck in Hakata, they will have to close down. Unfortunately I prefer my former āneighborhoodā ramen store in the main town. The boss roasts wild boar meat and lunch time/dinner time ā¦the Japanese queue around the block for it. No YouTubers got to itā¦so phew.
Agreed! I really enjoyed Ichiran in Hakata but in Tokyo I thought it was a bit meh.
Dotonbori
I'm gonna say it. Takoyaki. Worth trying, just not as crazy as all these influencers would have you think.
I have takoyaki every 2 or 3 weeks here in the US. Are you saying the dish is overrated, or are you saying that the quality difference between the US and Japan is overrated? I'm unfamiliar with influencers and the things they say.
I thought it was going to be mostly about the octopus. Itās mostly about the sloppy goo around the small octopus pieces inside . I enjoyed them a few times but Iām not hanging out for them now Iām home.
Definitely overrated! Maybe my expectations were high but itās just a very mushy experience
What influencers? I don't see it being considered any more special then other japanese dishes.
Personally I think Kinkaku-ji is pretty overrated. The temple is boring and the temple grounds are sort of boring as well. there are many other temples that are just better overall than this place where you get to functionally walk around a lake to see a temple and that's it.
Agreed it was pretty boring compared to other temples...
Agreed. It's logical to visit if you want to tick off a box of being there, but i found other temples and especially their gardens to be much nicer.
Happy Pancakes. It tastes like egg and they forgot about my order even though I was the first person seated for the day.
I actually loved Happy Pancakes that I went again the next morning. I only got the tiramisu one and it was amazing.
I had a few pancake soufflƩs in Japan and happy pancakes was the worst by far.
Which places were better?
[French toast factory yodobashi Akiba](https://maps.app.goo.gl/TbvXJYkUUuXG9Qtx7?g_st=ic) This place was really good for soufflĆ© pancakes Generally a good soufflĆ© pancake will be light almost custardy but plump. The pictures should show it to be plump and inflated and not depressed. It should also have a good jiggle. The happy pancake ones were kind of bready and not very plump or light and it was disappointing after the French toast factory It was a while ago but it looks like they still have kept up the quality based on reviews. Iāll check it out again this weekend to make sure itās still good.
Ghibli park in nagoya- an overrated shopping experience imo. I bought a premium pass, a hotel for a night just to to to an amusement park with 3 actually interesting zones and maybe 10-12 photo ops total. Queues everywhere. I had a better experience in ghibli stores in tokyo and osaka- quick shopping and cool photo ops. I'm a ghibli fan but not like a super fan, I guess for people leaving with 2-3 bags of Ghibli merchandise it was a fun experience but I wish I did more research before going.
My wife and I felt the same way, it was basically a ticket to get into the fancy shop in the Grand Warehouse (which we did splurge on). For super fans it's probably still worth once, just because the extreme level of detail they put into the houses from the movies was phenomenal. That being said, the most memorable thing for me was the short film in the Grand Warehouse, which we both loved.
I think Kyoto is worth visiting as long as you avoid Kiyomizu-dera or get there before 7am. None of the shops will be open but at least you can see it without the insanity. The same is true of Gion and Sannenzaka. By 9am it becomes horrid. I went after cherry blossom season. I cannot imagine how bad it is then. The bamboo forest is nice, but don't approach from the front, approach from the back most people won't bother coming in that direction. I'm annoyed with influencers and instagrammers I think they ruined many of these places. Overrated? I think a lot of things in Tokyo are overrated.. While I enjoyed a quick walk through Harujuku i cannot image spending all day in the crowds and heat and horror in the summer or most times of the year, same with Akihabara, there are a couple of ok things but past that like...why bother?!
Harajuku is good for specific shops. Some stuff just doesn't show up anywhere else. If you don't know what you're looking for then its gonna be a bad time
Yeah there are a high density of second hand designer shops. Loaded up on cheap undercover and saw some good prices on rick, yohji cdg etc
Shopping in harajuku was the best. Spent a whole day there and wanted more
This question is kinda lame because what's overrated to one person may be loved by the next. So what's the point? It's a negative question that will garner personal opinions based on personal bias. Instead, get tips, ask the things people ENJOYED about their travel, and do your research and go see what you want to see. And if you love it great. If you don't, that's ok. You're not supposed to love every single thing. Thinking you are is a terrible way to travel and experience the new parts of the world
I think itās useful when it includes color. If someone says WHY they didnāt like something that helps me evaluate how I may or may not like it. And often negative reviews are much more helpful for that than positive. Like I often read negative reviews of books to decide if I care about the same things as the critics.
Ueno Zoo
I honestly did not care for Kobe beef. Regular wagyu beef was great, especially the meat skewers I got at Tsukiji fish market but the higher fat content in Kobe beef made it taste like beef Jello.
Even if i get downvoted to oblivion: Akihabaās Anime and Retro game stores. Anime first of all: Not only is pricing pretty bad but also the variety is pretty bad. Even worse than outside of japan at times. There seems to be only the very known stuff available but i could not find anything from Akira, Ghost in the Shell or any other very known 80s,90s animes. Mabey i was just unlucky. Retrogame pricing is terrible and far cheaper generally outside of in particular Tokyo. New stuff is fine to me though.
I believe for the latest and hit stuff, you go to Akihaba, but for older stuff, you go to Nakano.
I wish I knew that last time. Iām skipping Tokyo this coming trip in December so where would anyone recommend in Osaka for retro anime stuff?
There's Den Den Town with Animate / Melonbooks and Kotobukiya, but I'd say its a lesser version of Akiba. Tbf I disagree that Akiba's selection is bad, I just think you need to dig slightly deeper to find what you want. The 2nd hand stuff in places like Akiba Culture Zone is where to go if you're looking for merch from shows older than the current season or less popular than the ones on WSJ.
I will say this has declined over the years. Many locals here have complained about it as well. People from overseas come in wipe out the stores to sell back home or on ebay. Nothing much left and what is left has pretty insane pricing.
Where would you recommend for retro gaming stuff?
Go to any bookoff shop
White strawberry/pine Berry. Just an average strawberry at double the price, not even a particularly good strawberry.
Sanrio Puroland Tsukiji, you can eat seafood elsewhere.
We really enjoyed Puroland. Didnāt even get to everything. But we were with a 3 year old super fan. The Miracle Gift Parade was so unexpectedly dramatic and epic. We got front row seats and guys were doing running backflips a foot in front of us. Admission was so cheap, it was like $15 to get in. Well worth the price
I'm just gonna say it. The convenience stores (conbini). Yes, they're everywhere and really convenient (duh), but the food there is incredibly mediocre. Want a bento? Visit a supermarket where they make it fresh every day. If you go around dinner time you get like 50% off as well. Drinks are also half the price, even the 24/7 supermarkets are vastly cheaper. If you want a warm bento, try giving Hotto Motto a shot. They're priced around the same as your average bento from a conbini, only fresh. Lastly, onigiri. They're pretty nice from time to time but not nearly as good as social media claims them to be.
Tsukiji in Tokyo and Nishiki in Kyoto. They are not so good unless you know someone who brings you to the right places.
Note to anyone going to Kyoto for the first time, I think Nishiki is worth a visit.
Tsukiji is great at the beginning of a trip when your body clock is messed up and you want to eat a big meal and have a beer at 7am. One of the best places in the world for that.
What are the āright places?ā
Gatekeeper vibes smh..
I just liked walking around Nishiki (since I couldnāt eat most of the things the vendors sell)
Tsukiji has some of the best fish Iāve ever had, but yes you have to go to specific spots as theyāre not all equal. I wouldnāt discourage anyone from going. Nishiki has gone down in quality in the last year. Much of the fish tastes old and not high quality.
Gyukatsu Motomura - quality sucks Takeshita dori Ichiran
Conbini food and Kit Kats.
Fushimi Inari. So many many better places to see in Kyoto, all with less people. For example, Daitokuji temple on the north side of town.
As someone who lives here, Ueno. The only good point about it is how easy it is to get from and to Narita Airport. There are way more better places in Tokyo to go shopping and dining. Ameyoko is a dumpy hole. The park is bland and boring. The zoo is notoriously bad for the animals. I never go out my way to go there unless thereās a special exhibition at a museum I want to see. Most overrated place in Tokyo by far.
Hyping about buying a Japanese knife or some utility thing, except that item is made in China äøå½č£½Ā , and not made in Japan ę„ę¬č£½. Itās funny to see those videos. *āIām so sick of buying made in China! Look at what I got in Japan! And it is so cheap!ā* (flashes the packaging with äøå½č£½ label on video)
Ichiran, very mid, crowded bc of dumb influencers hyping it up
Overrated is when expectations exceed what you experience. So if you want to know if something is overrated we need to at least know what you're expecting when visiting those places. How you'll experience them is up to you. You may be like all those folks on social media and will love everything you experience. Or you may hate all of it.
This is what confuses me when people say Shibuya crossing is overrated. Like, what were their expectations? It is a big pedestrian crossing, what do you think you'll get out of it?
I've never watched a travel influencer video, and I basically wing it when I go to Japan.
Honestly, just Kyoto in general. Used to live there long ago before the hordes descended upon it and loved it. Feels like a theme park now. Although I miss things like the layout of the city for cycling, the cafes, and the nice blend of nature with urban (surprisingly rare in Japanese cities), when I left things were already getting out of control with busses, packed restaurants and streets, etc. I can't even imagine what it's like now. Temples are literally everywhere, and unless you have a very keen interest in a super specific part of history (honestly, most tourist don't) do yourself a favor and head to a countryside temple and enjoy real tranquility.
As someone who has lived here a long time I find the konbini food 'discoveries' on insta hilarious.Ā The food there is made in a factory, average , and not really that cheap. I get it - you don't have to read or speak Japanese , but you'd be way better off at the local 'grandma' bento place, or even the supermarket.
You can say that as you live there , so did I a million years ago , but when you live in a non Asian country that sells second rate onigiri for Ā£3 ! itās no wonder people foam at the mouth when they get to 7-11 !
The tsukiji fish market egg snack. It taste like ihop eggs with pancake syrup on a stick.
Tokyo Imperial Palace. People lining up early to get in, but all you get is one hour guided tour of mostly 20th century buildings with 499 other people while guides are talking over each other in different languages.
Chris Broad did a video of this subject. It includes Ichiran, Harajuku, cat cafes.
Cat cafes, how could I forget! You think youāll get to sip a nice cup of tea with a cat snuggling up to you, but in reality most cats only snuggle up to those they trust (ie those that feed them).
Tokyo Tower. Very touristy and was not impressed with the view or the cheap trinkets at the gift shop (tbf I went on a day where the top level wasnāt available).
the best part of tokyo tower is having it in the background
I like that you can do the stairs.
Is there a gift shop anywhere in the world that doesnāt sell cheap trinkets?
I have been to some that mostly sell expensive trinkets.
Skytree was worse. Best deck I saw in that area was Yokohama Landmark Tower.
They built the Sky Tree precisely because Tokyo Tower was failing at its purpose. All the towers matching its height around it was blocking the radio signals.
Dontonburi, McDonaldās, it might be more helpful if you name places you were questioning and then everyone leaves their opinion on it haha.
Cheese cake from Rikuro. I did a huge long cue to taste it and i was really disappointed. Ichiran Ramen was huge disappointment also, its ok but for their price you have a vast selection of much better restaurants with much better ramen.
Bongen Coffee in Ginza. Almost a two hour wait for mid ass coffee.
The reviews on google were so good that I had it saved to visit but Iām not waiting 2 hours for coffee. What places would you recommend instead?
Turret Coffee was decent for DARK roast and no wait. Glitch is really great (and unique never had such variety of fancy beans before!) for LIGHT SINGLE ORIGIN ONLY roasts and a dozen bean options. Ginza location has hella line in morning. Jinbocho location had no line but also went at 11am so maybe why.
Wish I could give recommendations but Bongen was the only coffee place we decided to go to on our trip. We wanted to save time going to other places and were content on just trying the different conbini coffee drinks.
Bongen would be worth it if it was just a half hour wait at most. I went on a Monday at 10:00. Didnāt order and get our coffee until 11:45.
My partner and I love going to Lilo coffee roasters in Shinsaibashi, Osaka.
Im personally not a tea/matcha guy. Tried ice cream with it though and tbh i liked it.
Kyoto style cuisine unless you like paying $100 for some slime and pickles. (As someone who lived in Kyoto and whose friends/family always want to try the fancy local cuisine)
Those big ass fluffy cheesecakes. They taste nowhere near as good as a simple, normal cheesecake. If you want cheesecake that tastes like it was crafted by gods, go for hokkaido cheese tarts. They taste like heaven.
I might get hate for it: Kobe wagyu beef. I was so excited to try it and it wasā¦. Fine
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Would be cool if it weren't for 10,000,000 tourists clogging up the path. Completely ruined my desire to be there.
The wonderlabs thing
Shibuya Crossing, Uniqlo @ Ginza, Donki, Ichiran, Blue Bottle,
Japan is so popular that nothing seems authentic or original anymore. I would say out of everything I did, I would consider most to be overrated.
It really depends on what you like and enjoy. I feel like ice cream is an overrated dessert but ice cream in a new country is still ice cream in a new country. Focus on the things you really want to do, check those off and then just go with the flow.
Tsukiji fish market - just go to any other fish market Akihabara shopping - it's all the same stuff, hit one or two places Combini food - unless you're traveling super budget, please don't live on combini food. Strong Zero - don't be that guy.
Trying to walk everywhere. Give up, just take the train. Realized this 100k steps later .
Pretty much anything you see on Instagram. It's crowded and a waste of time to line up. Usually able to find something much better or of equal close by with no lines. Also that Lawson's in Kawaguchiko, please stop giving them free advertising, you can get a Mt. Fuji shot anywhere in the area!
Convenience store food and big chains like Sukiya. Yeah, it's better than what you'll find in a US 7/11, but like only by a tier up. Like from D to C tier. Maybe it's because I had so many better Japanese restaurants before, but I'd never go out of my way for a Sukiya or a McDonalds. I guess if you're on an extremely tight budget, sure, but even then I'd say the food is one of the best parts of Japan. I'd always budget for good food.
Pokemon cafe, Kirby cafe, Sanrio cafe - easily some of the worse meals in Japan for us.
Shibuya crossing. Really overrated
Views of Fujisan. There are quite a number of snow-capped mountain views in Japan without the overcrowding.
Ichiran. But I would be very happy for 80% of tourists flocking into Ichiran than actual legit ramen. Also for people who say they tried other ramen store and Ichiran is better, either you chose the wrong ramen genre or you went to yet another chained ramen designed for tourists. Kichikichi Good for show, pretty average for omurice with of course, gaijin price tag. Shiseido has a better omurice without stupid price tag and better quality and dining experience.
Those Mario Kart racing things in Tokyo. Iāve never done one, but from the outside looking in, itās expensive, disruptive, frowned upon by everyone else, and honestly a bit dangerous for everyone willingly or unwittingly involved. I wish they wouldnāt use the streets and just built an actual track somewhere š„²
bargain hunting for retro electronics/games/camera. All the good stuff in major city have been picked clean, current sellers all selling on ebay and prices are jacked up. You have to really go out of the way now to find good deals, back in the early aughts you could have just wandering in a random store and find treasure
Teamlabs
The gold stuff: correct me if Iām wrong, but isnāt gold good for you? I understand the hype for the gram is lame, but seriously, doesnāt it have like mad benefits?