Welcome to Part 3 and the final chapter of our Japan trip report. In case you missed them, here are Part 1 and Part 2 of the trip report:
- Visiting Japan for 19 days – our itinerary & experience (Part 1)
- Visiting Japan for 19 days – our itinerary & experience (Part 2)
After 10 days in Japan, let’s find out what we did for the remainder of the trip.
Day 11 – Heading to Nagano
Day 11 was all about departing from Fuji Marriott Lake Yamanaka and heading over to Nagano.
We wanted to visit Nagano because both Kid 2.0 and Mrs. T really wanted to see the snow monkeys. Although I have been to Nagano before for work, my visits were on the outskirts, so I was very curious about what central Nagano was like.
Since it would take us about three hours to drive to our hotel in Nagano, we didn’t feel the need to rush on Day 11. We used the hotel’s public onsens one final time after waking up. We spent about 1.5 hours in the onsens just relaxing, going between the hot onsen and the icy cold bathtub.
After checking out, we were off. The drive was quite easy as it was mostly highway driving..
Since there are no Marriott properties in Nagano, we stayed at one of the Japanese hotel chains – Mercure Nagano Matsushiro Resort & Spa. Three nights in a family tatami room cost $455.76. The hotel was a bit dated, but that didn’t bother us.
For dinner, we went to a local yakiniku (Korean BBQ) restaurant. The restaurant was very smoky upon entry (due to poor ventilation). When we sat down at our table, we found out smoking was allowed. With no other restaurants close by, we ordered and ate quickly. Fortunately, nobody in the restaurant smoked while we were there…
Day 12 – Jigokudani Monkey Park
The focus today was on Jigokudani Monkey Park and seeing the snow monkeys (Japanese macaques). Based on other people’s recommendations, we decided to go to the park early for a greater chance of seeing the monkeys.
It took us about 45 minutes from the hotel to Jigokudani Monkey Park. From the parking lot to the actual park, it was a relatively easy hike that took about 25 minutes. Along the way, there were a few signs with information about the park and the macaques.
Not knowing what to expect, Mrs. T and I thought the park was just a small hot spring where a few monkeys would bathe in it. When we got to the park, we were surprised to see hundreds of monkeys running around with many of them within an arm’s reach from us and constantly running between our legs.
Since the caretaker had just spread some food around the park, the monkeys were busy eating and playing around. Some were in the hot spring, swimming, soaking, and drinking water. Despite arriving early, there were already quite a few people in the park, and we were all busy taking pictures.
It was really neat to see the monkeys. Some of them were very playful with very cute facial expressions. We definitely took a lot of pictures while in the park.
After spending about 2.5 hours snapping pictures, we noticed more and more tourists arriving and the monkeys were starting to head back up the mountains. So we headed back down to the parking lot. Before heading back into Nagano, we had apple pies and coffee at Enza Cafe.
Because we didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day, we went into Nagano city centre to check out the Zenkoji temple. Founded in 642, Zenkoji Temple is one of the oldest and most revered Buddhist temples in Japan. Nagano is known for Oyaki (Japanese dumplings made from buckwheat dough with filling inside), and we found many shops selling different types of Oyaki (steamed vs. fried, and different types of fillings).
For dinner, we found a mom & pop izakaya restaurant near the hotel. The fried chicken wings, grilled fried tofu, and grilled stablefish were delicious. Although we ordered many different dishes, dinner was only 7,830 Yen or about $70 CAD.
Day 13 – Matsushiro Castle
We had planned for an extra day in Nagano so we could go back to Jigokudani Monkey Park if we didn’t see any monkeys on the first day. After seeing so many monkeys and getting the full “monkey” experience, we had an unplanned day on our hands.
Rather than sitting around in the hotel room, we used this opportunity to check out the hotel’s public onsens. Despite the building being dated, the public onsens were quite nice (slightly nicer than the one at Fuji Marriott Lake Yamanaka). After a nice soak, we took the car and headed to Matsumoto Castle. It was built in 1594 and is one of the oldest historical castles in Japan. Interestingly, when going inside, we had to take off our shoes and carry them in plastic bags during the tour. The entire castle had wooden floors throughout. Since all the windows were open, our feet got quite cold during the visit. There were many historical artifacts inside the castle so the tour was highly educational.
ompared to Oaska Castle, where the inside was all renovated, Matsumoto Castle was much more authentic.
For lunch, we went to Shiki and had different Japanese lunch sets. The food was superb and was one of the best meals we had in Japan. The four lunch sets cost 7,750 Yen or about $52 CAD.
After lunch, we went to the Matsumoto City Museum of Art to check out the Sanrio Kawaii exhibition. Mrs. T and I recognized many of the Kawaii characters like Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, Pochacco, and Hangyodon. We also checked out the Yayoi Kusama exhibition. Kusama’s art pieces were very unique; we especially liked Ladder to Heaven, God’s Heart, and Aching Chandelier. Our favourite was the Gleaming Lights of The Souls, which involved stepping into a mirrored room with hundreds of different coloured lamps hanging from the ceiling above you.
Instead of having dinner in Matsumoto and then driving for an hour in the dark, we headed back to Nagano in the fading light. We arrived back in Nagano around 6:30 and had dinner at a local sushi restaurant. The waiter was very friendly (we were the only customers). As the menu was entirely in Japanese, Google Translate was exceedingly useful. It wasn’t clear what the portion sizes were, so we ended up having a bit more sushi than anticipated. That dinner was 9,600 Yen or about $85 CAD.
Day 14 – The driving adventure back to Tokyo
On Day 14, we said goodbye to Nagano and headed back to Tokyo. The goal of Day 14 was to check into the Sheraton Miyako Hotel by Shinagawa Station, drop the rental car off, and walk around Tokyo. The drive from Nagano to Tokyo was about three and a half hours, so we left Nagano after a quick breakfast at a yummy fluffy Japanese pancake restaurant.
The drive was quite uneventful until we got into Tokyo. That’s when the craziness of Tokyo traffic started. It was a Wednesday afternoon, so we encountered more traffic than when we left Tokyo (on a Sunday). We tried to follow Google Maps for directions, but a few times we ended up taking the wrong road after a turn because there were three or four different possible roads next to each other when we took the turn. At some point, Google Maps told us to turn left, drive for one block, then turn right to get on a road. From Google Maps, it looked like we could have just turned right from the intersection to get onto the road, rather than following the complicated directions. We decided to follow the directions only to find out that when we finally turned right, there were three different roads we could get onto: one on the ground, one going above ground, and one going underground.
We had to take the road going underground. Once underground, we drove for about 15 minutes before finally getting above ground. Having been to Tokyo many times, I had no idea there was a highway that ran underneath Tokyo. Since GPS stopped working underground, we drove for several minutes without any idea where we were or if we should exit soon or not. Fortunately, we reestablished GPS when we drove by a few exits to know roughly where we were.
After checking in at the Sheraton Miyako Hotel and dropping off our luggage, we filled up on gas before returning our rental car. That drive was supposed to take 10 minutes but we took a few wrong turns (due to multiple possible roads to take when we turned) and it turned that short drive into almost 30 minutes. Oops. I sure won’t miss driving around in Tokyo!
After dropping off the car, we took the JR trains to check out Shibuya Crossing. We then walked from Shibuya Crossing to Ebisu Station. Along the way, we checked out the cherry blossoms.
For dinner that night, we decided to go to Tempurakushi Yamamotoya near Ebisu Station. I had dinner there a couple of years ago during a work trip. The food was so amazing, I told myself that one day I’d bring my family to check it out.
My second time to Temurakushi Yayamotoya was just as amazing as the first time. On our reservation, I stated that it was Kid 2.0’s birthday, so she got a special welcome from the waiter. She also got to sit next to the tempura station to see the chef frying tempura right in front of her. Although this was one of the more expensive meals we had on the trip, it still only cost $125 CAD!
Day 15 – teamLab & omakase
To make the surprise birthday trip really memorable, both Mrs. T and I did a lot of research and planning while keeping everything a secret. We had seen many teamLab pictures on Instagram and thought it would be a fantastic place to visit. For the Tokyo portion of the trip, we also wanted to try sushi omakase. Since omakase at popular sushi restaurants got booked up quickly, I booked Sushi Azabu for lunch a month before our trip.
Mrs. T and I were deciding between two teamLab locations in Tokyo and picked teamLab Planets as this location had more interactive things than teamLab Borderless.
Let’s just say that temaLab Planets did not disappoint at all. It was a blast for all your senses. The colourful, immersive, and interactive arts were a hit for all four of us. My favourite exhibit was the hanging orchids.
On my previous work trip, I walked by Sushi Azabu in Azabudai Hills and thought the lunch omakase at 4,800 Yen (~$42 CAD) per person was quite reasonably priced. We thoroughly enjoyed this dining experience, with both kids declaring this was the best sushi they had ever had. I was super happy with such a superb lunch experience, something which we all will remember for many years to come.
After the late lunch, we walked around Azabudia Hills and checked out the different fancy high-end shops. We stumbled upon %Arabica and decided to try this super popular specialty coffee chain brand. It was surprisingly smooth.
For the rest of the day, we relaxed in the hotel and had an easy dinner near Meguro Station.
Day 16 – Pizza pizza pizza
Did you know that Japan has some of the top-rated pizzerias in the world? I certainly didn’t! Since this trip was all about Kid 2.0’s 10th birthday, we wanted to have some special meals. The omakase lunch on Day 15 was one of them and Day 16’s dinner was another one.
Before the trip, I made a reservation for dinner at Pizza Marumo. This pizzeria is globally known for its 24-hour fermented Neapolitan dough with creative Japanese-Italian toppings. The restaurant was ranked #3 by Time Out World’s Best Pizza in 2025 and the chef and owner, Yuki Motokura, had been ranked #14 best pizza chef in the world in 2024 and 2025 by The Best Chef Pizza. We kept the plan a surprise until a few hours before dinner…
Before the highly anticipated dinner, we walked around Ueno Park to see if we could see cherry blossoms. The weather didn’t cooperate for us as it poured for about 30 minutes so we had to stand underneath a bathroom to shield ourselves from the rain.
Cherry blossoms weren’t quite in full bloom yet but we still saw some beautiful cherry blossoms in Ueno Park.
After Ueno Park, we went to Senso-Ji Temple. It was where we encountered a large crowd of tourists, making it extremely difficult and unpleasant to walk around. We tried to avoid the crowds by going to the surrounding areas and enjoying street foods and snacks like matcha ice cream, onigiri, cream puffs, and melon buns.
As the rain continued in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel to rest.
Since it would take about 30 minutes via walking and JR trains from the hotel to Pizza Marumo and about 35 minutes by walking only, we decided to walk. It was a nice walk in the expensive Shirokanedai and Ebisu neighbourhoods.
We reserved counter seats for dinner and had a great view of Chef Motokura and his team making delicious pizzas. It was really neat to see Chef Motokura showing off his mastery. We ordered lamb & cheese with harissa, wagyu bismarck with truffle paste, Japanese umami (cream of dried shiitake mushroom puree, mozzarella, pecorino cheese, dried mackerel, bonito flakes, green onions, sesame seeds, soy sauce), and Teriyaki Boys (kelp broth, bonito broth, soy sauce, chicken, homemade mayonnaise and corn sauce, mozzarella, and black shichimi spice). Each pizza was unique on its own. We liked all of them, but my favourites were Japanese umami and wagyu bismarck.
Sitting at the counter, we were able to talk with Chef Motokura and his team. The chef even took our plates and wiped our table. When we ordered desserts, the restaurant wrote “Happy Birthday” on the plate and the entire team sang ” Happy Birthday ” to Kid 2.0. That was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
Although Pizza Marumo was one of the top restaurants, it was reasonably priced. Four pizzas, two desserts, and drinks for everyone cost $156 CAD. Bellies full and full of happy memories, we went to bed extremely pleased.
Day 17 – The Making of Harry Potter
Since Kid 2.0 is a big Harry Potter fan, we booked a visit to Warner Bros – The Making of Harry Potter as yet another surprise. Mrs. T and I were debating whether to keep the plan a complete surprise or not. After a bit of debating, we decided to tell the kids the plan that morning. Needless to say, they were extremely pleased.
Located on the outskirts of Tokyo, it took us about an hour to get to Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo by JR trains. Although I had seen some pictures from this walk-through exhibition tour, I didn’t know exactly what to expect.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but we were completely blown away by The Making of Harry Potter! We spent around six hours at The Making of Harry Potter and probably could easily spend another couple of hours.
Day 18 – Cherry blossoms & disappointing omakase
Because everyone enjoyed the sushi omakase so much, Mrs. T and I thought it would be great to have sushi omakase again. After checking out some Instagram posts and Google Maps reviews, I reserved lunch at Kappo Shishikura near Ebisu Station.
Although the dishes were high-quality and tasted great, we left the restaurant rather disappointed. Having been to many sushi omakase before, all the restaurants would start everyone’s meal at the same time. This wasn’t the case at Kappo Shishikura. We sat down at the counter by ourselves and waited for about 15 minutes before another party sat down at the counter. When the chef started serving the other party and us, two other parties showed up. The chef welcomed them and started serving them. The flow of our meal was therefore a bit disruptive overall.
Furthermore, the serving order was a bit all over the place. Typically, miso soup would be served at the end, but at Kappo Shishikura, it was served halfway through our meal. At the end of the meal, we were given desserts, then shortly after, the chef served the final savoury dish. It was as if the chef forgot there was another dish. Overall, the dining experience certainly was a few levels below Sushi Azabu and the other omakase places I had been to.
Oh well, lessons learned… I shouldn’t have relied on foreign Instagram influencers and tourists leaving reviews on Google Maps when picking a restaurant.
After the disappointing omakase lunch, we went to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden to see cherry blossoms. When Mrs. T, Kid 1.0 (a toddler then), and I visited Japan 11 years ago, this garden was closed, so we wanted to take the opportunity to visit this beautiful garden.
Many locals and tourists had the same idea, so Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden was very crowded. Cherry blossoms were almost in full bloom and it was very pretty inside the garden.
Day 19 – Leaving on a jet plane
The last day of our trip. Our ANA flight was scheduled to depart just before 10 PM, so that meant we had the whole day to tour Tokyo one last time.
After talking about what we wanted to do and knowing we had a long flight ahead of us, we went back to Itoya to do some more shopping. We walked around Ginza after and went back to Tempura Abe Honten for another delicious tempura lunch.
After lunch, we walked by Age 3, a viral spot serving deep-fried sandwiches. But the line was wrapped around the block (probably at least an hour wait if not more), so we decided to skip Age 3 and had a matcha latte from Cloud Club nearby instead (extremely strong and delicious matcha latte. At ~$11 CAD per cup for the premium matcha latte, it certainly was expensive!).
We walked around Ginza some more to soak up our last bit of Japanese experience before heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready for our plane ride.
We all felt that we really enjoyed spending 19 days in Japan and loved all the experiences we had. We felt very fortunate to see Mt. Fuji clearly multiple times during the trip (Mt. Fuji is clearly visible only 70 to 80 days a year).
A memory 10th birthday trip for sure!
How much did our trip cost?
After reading this three-part trip report, some readers are probably wondering how much the trip cost.
Here’s the cost breakdown:
| Items | Cost | Comments |
| Airfare | $3,854.98 | Originally $4,834.98, as we redeemed $980 via TD travel credits |
| DisneySea | $322.94 | |
| Car Rental | $828.11 | A 10-day rental |
| Sheraton Grand Tokyo Bay | $0 | Redeemed 199k Marriott Bonvoy points. Would have cost $1,330.79 |
| Fuji Marriott Lake Yamanaka | $0 | Redeemed 127k Marriott Bonvoy points plus two 35k vouchers from having Amex Marriott credit cards. It would have cost $3,137.05. |
| Mercure Nagano Matsushiro Resort & Spa | $455.76 | $579.76 originally, as we redeemed some TD travel credits and the $100 TD Expedia voucher |
| Sheraton Miyako Tokyo | $0 | Redeemed 312k Marriott Bonvoy points for two rooms. It would have cost $5,979.37. |
| Warner Bros The Making of Harry Potter | $216.46 | |
| teamLab Planets | $117.74 | |
| Highway tolls | $138.89 | Drove over 1,000 km. ~85% was tolled |
| Gas | $103.26 | Gas was expensive in Japan |
| Dining out | $3,124.60 | We had free breakfast at the three Marriott hotels. Bought breakfast in Nagano. |
| Various vacation spending | $968.53 | Public transportation (~$250), gifts, cooking class, entrance fees, parking, etc |
| Total | $10,131.27 | $21,682.48 if we didn’t redeem any points |
In total, we saved $11,551.21by redeeming TD Travel Points and Marriott Bonvoy points. That’s the power of travel hacking! Now, we probably could have saved more money if I had done more optimization and skipped omakase and fancy restaurants like Pizza Marumo. But optimizing everything wasn’t the plan for this trip, so we were a bit “loose” when it came to trip expenses.
I hope you enjoyed reading this three-part trip report and have been inspired to visit Japan in the near future.
