Travel
The Hyatt in Kyoto is fabulous, too! The restaurant where you will have breakfast is off of the lobby and you should ask for a seat next to the window. It offers a view of their zen garden and is really peaceful and a nice way to start the morning. The lobby itself is gorgeous too, with the ceiling made out of this delicate carved wood. The breakfast at The Park Hyatt Tokyo, Kyoto and Hakone is really good at all 3. You can either do a buffet or order off of the menu. We did a buffet most mornings and it included hot items like eggs and sausage, but was mostly a lot of cheeses, muesli, croissants, fresh fruits, prosciutto, etc. My husband is a Hyatt Diamond member, so breakfast was free for us all days. I do remember that it is sort of pricey, but we would eat a later breakfast, snack for lunch and then go out to nice dinners. We (especially my husband) are big in to food, so we spent quite a bit of money on dinners. You could do fine eating noodles, etc. and not spend that much, but my guess is that we spent around $250 a night for food, some meals being less and a few being a lot more. I tend to do a lot of shopping and I felt like we spent money in general pretty quickly there. There are very few ATMs that accept American debit cards. If you need cash you should look for either a Citibank or go to an ATM inside of a Post Office. The Japanese bank ATMs won't work. If you have US dollars you can exchange them at any Japanese bank though. We used our credit card for purchases at department stores, restaurants and hotels, but you'll need cash for admittance in to museums, food at more casual restaurants, etc.
For some reason I thought that the name of the island that we went to was Meiji, but it was Miyajima. You'll take a quick boat ride there from a train station that is about 20-30 minutes from Hiroshima. When you arrive there will be a sort of welcome center and there are cabs out front to take you to your ryokan. I cannot remember the name of where we stayed there, so I will ask my husband when he comes home from a business trip tomorrow. My favorite thing about the island was the deer that run freely around it. They'll come right up to you. I specifically remember that there are very few dining options on the island, so you will probably want to get the ryokan package that includes your dinner. From the boat ride there and back you'll get a good view of the famous floating tori, too. While on the island we also hiked around a lot (lots of pretty little steams and foliage) and took another gondola ride up to this point where you have a great view of the island and surrounding water. I remember that you could take a bus to the gondola, but we hiked to it. I think that you probably could see everything on the island in one day, and more time than that might feel like too much.
The JR Line: Park Hyatt Tokyo- The closest train station is Shinjuku. There is a shuttle to get to the hotel from the station, but the station is MASSIVE and you'll never find it upon just arriving there. I would suggest taking a quick cab ride (maybe $10) to the hotel. From the hotel you can take the shuttle back to the station and then you'll know where to get on and off it for future trips. From Shinjuku you'll be able to get anywhere in Tokyo.Hyatt Kyoto- There is a train station a few blocks away that you can transfer to from the main station in Kyoto where the Shinkansen will drop you off. However, once again it might make sense to take a cab from the main station the first time. Once you get to the hotel you can then ask them for a map, and you can probably take the close train station back to the main station when you leave. Hyatt Hakone: I'll get in to more detail about this later, but from the gondola you would just exit and then call the hotel from one of the many payphones. They will come and get you immediately, at least they came and got us. You could walk back to the station later (although it is about a mile or so), or take the shuttle to it. Also, again there are cabs waiting there if you prefer.The JR line is really extensive in Kyoto and Tokyo, and it will take you to most places you want to go. If it doesn't take you exactly where you want, you can get on the city subway (often time at the same stations, but a different track or line) and it is relatively cheap. The JR line for taking the Shinkansen from city to city is great. It's clean, super fast, and it offers a lot of different trip times so you can go whenever it is convenient for you. You will just show them your pass and they'll offer you a ticket with an assigned seat for longer rides, and for shorter in one city rides you just flash the pass and they let you through.
Onsens- Our first experience was at the Hyatt in Hakone. We went before we were to have spa treatments. My husband had never had a professional massage and was more freaked out about that I think. He is really big in to Japan culture for some reason and knows a lot about it, so even though I think he was a little self conscious he wanted to try it. Jose (my husband) told me that he was the only person in the male one when he went. There were a lot of other woman in the female one, but I found it to be pretty private. There were these sort of small stalls where you would rinse off and clean first, and once you were in the water you were fairly well covered. They also gave you a smaller towel like thing that you could use to cover up when you were getting in and out. I thought that it was totally relaxing and my skin felt amazing afterwards. The place we stayed in Miyajima also had an onsen right there that we used. I think that if you're staying somewhere that doesn't offer the onsen right on site that they should be able to recommend to you one. I would just tell them exactly what you are looking for in terms of class.
What to see and do- My husband is a huge planner and I let him pick a lot of the things that we did. He read a ton of books, and he seems to be always picking up things that he wants to see and do. I'll ask him what resources he recommends. I'll also start a new email after this one with my favorite things to see and do in each of the cities, since this email is turning in to another novel.
Language- Most of the people at stores, restaurants and hotels will be able to speak enough English to at least figure out what you want, or help you with directions, etc. It gets trickier with cabs and some train stations. There is a map that you can find at most subway stations in English, and you can reference the Japanese characters to the English ones. If we were going somewhere we would have the concierge at our hotel write it for us in Japanese so that we could show it to whomever we might need to help us.
Hakone- Once you get off the Romance Car (or the regular train) you're right where you would get on the switchback train. It's in the same station and the track is actual parallel to the track that you'll arrive on. It's so simple. The switchback train looks like it (and I am sure was) made in the 1940's. The switchback train ride takes about 45 minutes and it will stop a few times and reverse direction several times. As you make your way up the mountain you'll be able to look down and see how high up you are. Once you get to the top of the mountain you'll exit the switchback, walk about 40 steps and you'll be right at the cable car. The cable car goes straight up another mountain, but this ride only takes about 10 minutes. At the top of that mountain you'll walk another 40 steps or so and you'll get right on the gondola. The gondola holds maybe 4 other people and it is split in to 2 segments, so you'll go half way, get off and get on another one to finish the ride. At the end of the gondola you walk 40 more steps and get on the boat. The boat ride takes maybe half an hour. At the end of the boat you can hop on a bus that will take you back to the area where the switchback trains are, or you can just turn around and take the boat and do everything again in reverse. In Hakone another thing we enjoyed was the Hakone Open Air Museum. It's an outside museum of sculptures, however, don't eat there as the food was awful!
Geishas- There is a specific park and area that you will see them. Again, another question for Jose as to what it was called and where it is.
Here are some thoughts about restaurants, etc....
Tokyo:
Birdland: This is a yakitori restaurant in Ginza. We did a tasting menu of maybe 10 or so courses of chicken. I think chicken is the only meat that they serve. It was some of the most moist and delicious chicken ever. Seriously, so good. It's tiny. You all sit around the main kitchen and watch all of the dishes being made. This is the website: http://ginza-birdland.sakura.ne.jp/
New York Bar in the Park Hyatt: We stayed here both times we went to Tokyo and it is a must do, especially if you are staying at the hotel. The bar is located on the 52nd (or so) floor and at night you can see lights for miles and miles. They have a live jazz band and singer that performs in the evenings (later, maybe starting at 9 or so) and the food is pretty good too. The hamburger was especially good. I think that you can wear jeans, but there is sort of a dress code and most people were at least sort of fancy.
Ivan Ramen: I heard about Ivan Ramen from a couple of people before we went on our last trip. It is one of the few (only, who knows?) ramen places that is owned by a non-Japanese person. The owner is actually American.... I know it sounds skeptical, but really, delicious. I had the 4 cheese ramen, but all of the choices looked so good. www.ivanramen.com
Ippudo: Ippudo is another really good ramen place. Both Jose and I really liked what we ordered. http://www.ippudo.com/
Maisen: Maisen is a tonkatsu restaurant with a few different locations around Tokyo. We went to the location in Aoyama, which I think is the main location. Jose had the whole meal and I had the tonkatsu sandwich, which was the same breaded pork with a really good spicy and sweet red sauce (kind of like a bbq sauce) and super soft bread. http://mai-sen.com/
L'Osier: I have no idea if you have any plans of splurging in Tokyo, but if you do this was probably the best (or one of the very best) meals of our entire lives. Everything was perfect. The cheesecart was to die for, every course was perfect, service impeccable.... http://www.shiseido.co.jp/e/losier/index.html
Les Enfants Gates: I am not sure if you like pate and terrines, but if you do then you should definitely go here. It is the only restaurant that we went to on both of our trips to Japan. There are different tasting menus where you can get 3 or 4 different terrines (lobster, vegetable, fois gras, etc.), dessert, etc. The service was really good, too. In fact, they remembered us from the year before on our most recent trip and even commented on what table we sat at the first time! http://terrine-gates.com/
Tapas Molecular Bar: This is a restaurant inside of the Mandarin Oriental. They serve 8 people at a time and a team of 2 chefs prepares all of the food in front of you. It's molecular gastronomy and some of the things are really bizarre, but it was all really tasty. It is like going to a show and out to eat at the same time. The chef talked with us a long time. He is half Japanese/ half American and used to work in Washington DC for a long time. http://www.mandarinoriental.com/tokyo/dining/molecular/
Chez Tomo: I really liked this restaurant, a lot. It is a french restaurant and we did the tasting menu. Two of the most unique and memorable dishes were a sea urchin soup that was served in the sea urchin's shell and a plate that had 25 or 30 different bite sized vegetables each prepared in a different way. http://www.chez-tomo.com/
For lunches, go to a department store. Really, any of them. Mitsukoshi, Isetan, Takashimya all have the most amazing food in the basements. The entire basement is set up with probably one hundred or more little shops and restaurants. You can get anything and there are several that will have a place to sit down, or you can take it to go. I could spend hours just wandering around the basements and not be the least bit bored.
One thing to not miss in the basement is in the basement of the main location of Mitsukoshi (which is my favorite of all the department stores in Japan) is a bakery called Club Harie. They have the absolute best baumkuchen, which is this pasty cake thing. Hard to describe, but it is so good and they serve it with fresh whipped cream and either tea or coffee.... Perhaps there are other locations, but this is the only one I am familiar with. http://clubharie.jp/
Masa's Kitchen: We went there for lunch and had the set menu. It is a Chinese restaurant, and it was very good. We had noodles, dumplings, etc. http://www.masas-kitchen.com/en/index.html
If you see any of the Manneken waffle shops anywhere, stop. They serve single waffles (but more like a pastry than the breakfast food) that are really good. The banana flavored one is especially good. I ate about 20 our first trip.
Andersen Bakery: This is a chain, based in Hiroshima, but with lots of locations. The bread in Japan is so good everywhere, but this is a favorite.
Mos Burger: This is like the Japanese version of a McDonalds (which you will see a lot of, and which I refuse to eat in the US and let alone especially on vacation), however, it is much better than McDonalds and I actually really like it. http://www.mos.co.jp/english/
Kyoto: We found that the food in Kyoto overall is very bland and that there isn't the most variety. A lot of the food is very traditional. I remember that we ate 2 out of our 4 dinners at the different restaurants in the Hyatt. The Japanese restaurant was really good and the Italian restaurant was good, too. I am sure that there are definitely other places to try, but both of the recommended places we went to were sort of bland and blah. That being said, I loved everything else about Kyoto. The temples, things to see, etc. are really great.
Miyajima: If you are going to Miyajima make sure that your inn includes food. There were zero food options on the island, with the exception of a diner looking place that happened to be closed when we were there. There is an area with a lot of shops and I remember seeing ice cream and smoothies, but no real meal options. Actually, there was a place that served steam buns that were pretty good, but I can't remember any real restaurants.
Hakone: Did you decide to go to Hakone? If so, go to the Open Air Museum, but don't eat there! We actually were eating there when we saw cockroaches running around the buffet. Clearly, we asked for our money back and left. Also, I was thinking about your husbands hesitation about the onsen. We went for lunch and a massage at an ryokan called Gora Kadan. It is really expensive to stay there (like $2,000 a night), however, you can have lunch and a private onsen for around $100 or so per person. It's beautiful, too. http://www.gorakadan.com/introduction/
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Japan suggestions
I meant to post this the other day, but forgot. This is cut and pasted from a series of long emails that I sent to a fellow nestie before her trip to Japan. Sorry there isn't more rhyme and reason to the way it is laid out.
We went for 3 weeks in May of 2009 for our honeymoon and then again for 10 days there and 4 days in Hong Kong this past September. We went to Tokyo and Hakone both times, and our first trip we went to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka, and Meiji too.
We really loved Hakone. It was probably the most peaceful place we had ever gone. We didn't stay at a traditional ryokan, but both times at the Hyatt (http://hakone.regency.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp?null) and it was pretty much the perfect stay. They have an onsen there, and most guests wander around the property in yukata (like a kimono) that they provide you as opposed to clothes. I also had the best spa treatments there. In the evenings they have a happy hour in this big great room area with complimentary wine, champagne, other drinks, etc. Both the French and Sushi restaurants were good, but I liked the sushi one a bit more. The tempura and tamago sushi were especially good. The rooms are also really nice.
Getting to Hakone from Tokyo is really easy. You can get something called the Hakone Free Pass (I think that is what it is called anyway) and it is good for either 2 or 3 days depending on how long you want to go for. I would suggest paying a few extra 1000 yen (it's maybe like $12 more) to go in the Romance Car, as opposed to the regular train. I can't remember how it worked with the JR Pass, but I can ask my husband. I am not really sure why it is called the Romance Car as it was not at all romantic, but it makes far less stops and travels much faster than the other train to Hakone. Once you get to Hakone you take a switch back train up the mountain. At the top of the mountain you take a rail car to your next point, which is a gondola ride over what I think is volcanos. The view is spectacular. After 2 different gondola rides you get on a boat (that for some reason looks like it is straight out of a Johnny Depp pirate movie) and it takes you all around a lake where you can view Mt. Fuji. Depending on the weather you might be able to see Mt. Fuji from the hotel (we did once) and from the train ride. You can either take the boat back, or there is a bus. Also, the hotel is located near the top of the mountain at the switch back train stop and they have a shuttle so you could check in first and then go do the sightseeing. I'm attaching a few pictures from Hakone.....
One of my favorite things to do in Japan is wander around the basement levels of department stores, my favorite being Mitzukoshi. On the bottom level there are hundreds of little food counters with the most perfectly packaged sweets, fruits, breads, etc. We actually met a man from Paris who told us that he thinks the baked goods in Tokyo are better than Paris, and I think I agree! There are a ton of great restaurants in Tokyo. Some of my favorites were: Les Enfats Gates (which is exclusively terrines, so if you don't like them, don't go--- if you do, amazing!), Birdland, which is a chicken yakatori restaurant, Andersen, which is just a bakery chain but with great breads, rolls, etc for lunch, Chez Tomo, where we had this dish of 30 vegetables each prepared a different way and sea urchin soup served in the sea urchin shell, and there are great ramen and other Japanese hole in the walls everywhere you look. On our honeymoon, we stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, and the views from The NY Bar at night on the top floor are to die for. You can see lights for miles and miles and they have live jazz in the evenings. Also, if you see a placed called Mannequin, stop! It is these sort of mini-waffle things that are so addicting. I would eat 4 of the banana flavored ones a day. Let me know if you want specific info on what neighborhoods and other things we did in Tokyo. I have a ton of things. If you think you want to go to the fish market, let me know, too. It was sort of tricky to figure out.
Hiroshima was probably the place that I am most shocked I liked so much, even though we were only there for a day. The museum dedicated the atomic bomb was so sobering, and the information they had about nuclear weapons in the world today really opened my eyes. I wouldn't say that I am a huge history buff, but to me it was beyond interesting and I am so glad that we saw it. It is crazy to see how much of the city was destroyed. They have the remaining structures (just the outline really) of the only 2 buildings that survived. The bomb was dropped directly above those buildings. In Hiroshima we weren't sure where to eat, so we just went to a restaurant we found. Nobody there spoke a word of English and we had no idea what we were ordering. It ended up being totally delicious. It was a place where they brought different cuts of meat and you grilled it yourself on this hot rock in the middle of your table. Still not sure exactly what we ate, but I loved it.
Kyoto is night and day from Tokyo. You'll see woman wandering around in kimonos all over, and even geishas if you are lucky. The pace there is slower and it just feels more simple. It is still really modern, but you can find stores that feel like they are 100 years old with hand made arts and crafts, fabrics, etc. There are tons of different shrines and temples to see there, zen rock gardens, etc. I think we saw a different temple each day for 5 days there. The most interesting one I cannot remember the name of, and will ask my husband tonight, but it had (I think) over 10,000 tories. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is also beautiful and stunning.
One really interesting thing about Japan is how nice EVERYONE is... Seriously, no matter what you do or where you go you'll be amazed by the level of customer service and politeness of people helping you. Also, everything is clean and works, like trains are always on time, etc.
For some reason I thought that the name of the island that we went to was Meiji, but it was Miyajima. You'll take a quick boat ride there from a train station that is about 20-30 minutes from Hiroshima. When you arrive there will be a sort of welcome center and there are cabs out front to take you to your ryokan. I cannot remember the name of where we stayed there, so I will ask my husband when he comes home from a business trip tomorrow. My favorite thing about the island was the deer that run freely around it. They'll come right up to you. I specifically remember that there are very few dining options on the island, so you will probably want to get the ryokan package that includes your dinner. From the boat ride there and back you'll get a good view of the famous floating tori, too. While on the island we also hiked around a lot (lots of pretty little steams and foliage) and took another gondola ride up to this point where you have a great view of the island and surrounding water. I remember that you could take a bus to the gondola, but we hiked to it. I think that you probably could see everything on the island in one day, and more time than that might feel like too much.
The JR Line: Park Hyatt Tokyo- The closest train station is Shinjuku. There is a shuttle to get to the hotel from the station, but the station is MASSIVE and you'll never find it upon just arriving there. I would suggest taking a quick cab ride (maybe $10) to the hotel. From the hotel you can take the shuttle back to the station and then you'll know where to get on and off it for future trips. From Shinjuku you'll be able to get anywhere in Tokyo.Hyatt Kyoto- There is a train station a few blocks away that you can transfer to from the main station in Kyoto where the Shinkansen will drop you off. However, once again it might make sense to take a cab from the main station the first time. Once you get to the hotel you can then ask them for a map, and you can probably take the close train station back to the main station when you leave. Hyatt Hakone: I'll get in to more detail about this later, but from the gondola you would just exit and then call the hotel from one of the many payphones. They will come and get you immediately, at least they came and got us. You could walk back to the station later (although it is about a mile or so), or take the shuttle to it. Also, again there are cabs waiting there if you prefer.The JR line is really extensive in Kyoto and Tokyo, and it will take you to most places you want to go. If it doesn't take you exactly where you want, you can get on the city subway (often time at the same stations, but a different track or line) and it is relatively cheap. The JR line for taking the Shinkansen from city to city is great. It's clean, super fast, and it offers a lot of different trip times so you can go whenever it is convenient for you. You will just show them your pass and they'll offer you a ticket with an assigned seat for longer rides, and for shorter in one city rides you just flash the pass and they let you through.
Onsens- Our first experience was at the Hyatt in Hakone. We went before we were to have spa treatments. My husband had never had a professional massage and was more freaked out about that I think. He is really big in to Japan culture for some reason and knows a lot about it, so even though I think he was a little self conscious he wanted to try it. Jose (my husband) told me that he was the only person in the male one when he went. There were a lot of other woman in the female one, but I found it to be pretty private. There were these sort of small stalls where you would rinse off and clean first, and once you were in the water you were fairly well covered. They also gave you a smaller towel like thing that you could use to cover up when you were getting in and out. I thought that it was totally relaxing and my skin felt amazing afterwards. The place we stayed in Miyajima also had an onsen right there that we used. I think that if you're staying somewhere that doesn't offer the onsen right on site that they should be able to recommend to you one. I would just tell them exactly what you are looking for in terms of class.
What to see and do- My husband is a huge planner and I let him pick a lot of the things that we did. He read a ton of books, and he seems to be always picking up things that he wants to see and do. I'll ask him what resources he recommends. I'll also start a new email after this one with my favorite things to see and do in each of the cities, since this email is turning in to another novel.
Language- Most of the people at stores, restaurants and hotels will be able to speak enough English to at least figure out what you want, or help you with directions, etc. It gets trickier with cabs and some train stations. There is a map that you can find at most subway stations in English, and you can reference the Japanese characters to the English ones. If we were going somewhere we would have the concierge at our hotel write it for us in Japanese so that we could show it to whomever we might need to help us.
Hakone- Once you get off the Romance Car (or the regular train) you're right where you would get on the switchback train. It's in the same station and the track is actual parallel to the track that you'll arrive on. It's so simple. The switchback train looks like it (and I am sure was) made in the 1940's. The switchback train ride takes about 45 minutes and it will stop a few times and reverse direction several times. As you make your way up the mountain you'll be able to look down and see how high up you are. Once you get to the top of the mountain you'll exit the switchback, walk about 40 steps and you'll be right at the cable car. The cable car goes straight up another mountain, but this ride only takes about 10 minutes. At the top of that mountain you'll walk another 40 steps or so and you'll get right on the gondola. The gondola holds maybe 4 other people and it is split in to 2 segments, so you'll go half way, get off and get on another one to finish the ride. At the end of the gondola you walk 40 more steps and get on the boat. The boat ride takes maybe half an hour. At the end of the boat you can hop on a bus that will take you back to the area where the switchback trains are, or you can just turn around and take the boat and do everything again in reverse. In Hakone another thing we enjoyed was the Hakone Open Air Museum. It's an outside museum of sculptures, however, don't eat there as the food was awful!
Geishas- There is a specific park and area that you will see them. Again, another question for Jose as to what it was called and where it is.
Tokyo:
Birdland: This is a yakitori restaurant in Ginza. We did a tasting menu of maybe 10 or so courses of chicken. I think chicken is the only meat that they serve. It was some of the most moist and delicious chicken ever. Seriously, so good. It's tiny. You all sit around the main kitchen and watch all of the dishes being made. This is the website: http://ginza-birdland.sakura.ne.jp/
New York Bar in the Park Hyatt: We stayed here both times we went to Tokyo and it is a must do, especially if you are staying at the hotel. The bar is located on the 52nd (or so) floor and at night you can see lights for miles and miles. They have a live jazz band and singer that performs in the evenings (later, maybe starting at 9 or so) and the food is pretty good too. The hamburger was especially good. I think that you can wear jeans, but there is sort of a dress code and most people were at least sort of fancy.
Ivan Ramen: I heard about Ivan Ramen from a couple of people before we went on our last trip. It is one of the few (only, who knows?) ramen places that is owned by a non-Japanese person. The owner is actually American.... I know it sounds skeptical, but really, delicious. I had the 4 cheese ramen, but all of the choices looked so good. www.ivanramen.com
Ippudo: Ippudo is another really good ramen place. Both Jose and I really liked what we ordered. http://www.ippudo.com/
Maisen: Maisen is a tonkatsu restaurant with a few different locations around Tokyo. We went to the location in Aoyama, which I think is the main location. Jose had the whole meal and I had the tonkatsu sandwich, which was the same breaded pork with a really good spicy and sweet red sauce (kind of like a bbq sauce) and super soft bread. http://mai-sen.com/
L'Osier: I have no idea if you have any plans of splurging in Tokyo, but if you do this was probably the best (or one of the very best) meals of our entire lives. Everything was perfect. The cheesecart was to die for, every course was perfect, service impeccable.... http://www.shiseido.co.jp/e/losier/index.html
Les Enfants Gates: I am not sure if you like pate and terrines, but if you do then you should definitely go here. It is the only restaurant that we went to on both of our trips to Japan. There are different tasting menus where you can get 3 or 4 different terrines (lobster, vegetable, fois gras, etc.), dessert, etc. The service was really good, too. In fact, they remembered us from the year before on our most recent trip and even commented on what table we sat at the first time! http://terrine-gates.com/
Tapas Molecular Bar: This is a restaurant inside of the Mandarin Oriental. They serve 8 people at a time and a team of 2 chefs prepares all of the food in front of you. It's molecular gastronomy and some of the things are really bizarre, but it was all really tasty. It is like going to a show and out to eat at the same time. The chef talked with us a long time. He is half Japanese/ half American and used to work in Washington DC for a long time. http://www.mandarinoriental.com/tokyo/dining/molecular/
Chez Tomo: I really liked this restaurant, a lot. It is a french restaurant and we did the tasting menu. Two of the most unique and memorable dishes were a sea urchin soup that was served in the sea urchin's shell and a plate that had 25 or 30 different bite sized vegetables each prepared in a different way. http://www.chez-tomo.com/
For lunches, go to a department store. Really, any of them. Mitsukoshi, Isetan, Takashimya all have the most amazing food in the basements. The entire basement is set up with probably one hundred or more little shops and restaurants. You can get anything and there are several that will have a place to sit down, or you can take it to go. I could spend hours just wandering around the basements and not be the least bit bored.
One thing to not miss in the basement is in the basement of the main location of Mitsukoshi (which is my favorite of all the department stores in Japan) is a bakery called Club Harie. They have the absolute best baumkuchen, which is this pasty cake thing. Hard to describe, but it is so good and they serve it with fresh whipped cream and either tea or coffee.... Perhaps there are other locations, but this is the only one I am familiar with. http://clubharie.jp/
Masa's Kitchen: We went there for lunch and had the set menu. It is a Chinese restaurant, and it was very good. We had noodles, dumplings, etc. http://www.masas-kitchen.com/en/index.html
If you see any of the Manneken waffle shops anywhere, stop. They serve single waffles (but more like a pastry than the breakfast food) that are really good. The banana flavored one is especially good. I ate about 20 our first trip.
Andersen Bakery: This is a chain, based in Hiroshima, but with lots of locations. The bread in Japan is so good everywhere, but this is a favorite.
Mos Burger: This is like the Japanese version of a McDonalds (which you will see a lot of, and which I refuse to eat in the US and let alone especially on vacation), however, it is much better than McDonalds and I actually really like it. http://www.mos.co.jp/english/
Kyoto: We found that the food in Kyoto overall is very bland and that there isn't the most variety. A lot of the food is very traditional. I remember that we ate 2 out of our 4 dinners at the different restaurants in the Hyatt. The Japanese restaurant was really good and the Italian restaurant was good, too. I am sure that there are definitely other places to try, but both of the recommended places we went to were sort of bland and blah. That being said, I loved everything else about Kyoto. The temples, things to see, etc. are really great.
Miyajima: If you are going to Miyajima make sure that your inn includes food. There were zero food options on the island, with the exception of a diner looking place that happened to be closed when we were there. There is an area with a lot of shops and I remember seeing ice cream and smoothies, but no real meal options. Actually, there was a place that served steam buns that were pretty good, but I can't remember any real restaurants.
Hakone: Did you decide to go to Hakone? If so, go to the Open Air Museum, but don't eat there! We actually were eating there when we saw cockroaches running around the buffet. Clearly, we asked for our money back and left.
Also, I was thinking about your husbands hesitation about the onsen. We went for lunch and a massage at an ryokan called Gora Kadan. It is really expensive to stay there (like $2,000 a night), however, you can have lunch and a private onsen for around $100 or so per person. It's beautiful, too. http://www.gorakadan.com/introduction/
Re: Japan suggestions
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
My Travel Blog
To add on to this, I did both Hiroshima and Miyajima on a day trip from Kyoto and never felt rushed. Personally, I wouldn't stay on miyjima since there's just not that much there.
There's not really a geisha park in Kyoto, but there is a park just outside of Gion, the main geisha district. I did see a few geisha while I was wandering a couple alleys, but mostly I saw just regular people in kimono dressed up for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). I even stumbled on a kimono parade.
While the OPs list of restaurants is no doubt excellent, I find I'm better off usually not planning around food, which is unusual for me. Tokyo in particular has so many fabulous choices you can find something wherever you are whenever you're hungry. I do have a few favorite places I'll seek out, like L'Atelier or Cicada, whenever I'm in Tokyo, but mostly I just have a guidebook with me and look for something wherever I am.
I disagree about Kyoto having bland food. I had a fascinating tofu meal, which doesn't mean vegetarian actually. It's tofu in all 5 courses. I also had the best sushi I've ever had, and that was a result of me seeking out an Italian place in my book, finding no seats, and stopping into the next restaurant I found b/c I was so starved. It's those found experiences like that that make Japan so wonderful IMO.
I don't know what your budget is, but 250/night for dinner can be easily avoided if you want. There is amazing (and expensive) food, but there's also amazing cheap eats.
Definitely! This was from an email directed to someone who asked especially about more expensive dinners. ALL of the food in Japan is good and I've liked some cheap street foods even more than the more expensive places.