My First Time in Japan 🇯🇵 | 6 Week Itinerary, Cost Breakdown & Cherry Blossoms 🌸 | Japan Travel

My First Time in Japan 🇯🇵 | 6 Week Itinerary, Cost Breakdown & Cherry Blossoms 🌸 | Japan Travel

We’re Rachel and Brody, and this is the story of our first time in Japan together. And if you’re thinking, “Didn’t I click on this video cuz I saw something about 6 weeks?” Then yes, you heard that right. We spent a month and a half exploring as much of Japan as we could. Over those 6 weeks, we stayed in 14 different hotels, got lost more than once, wandered through temples, shrines, and castles, and ate more bowls of ramen than we can count. We soaked in the culture, navigated the chaos, and captured every single moment. This is the full story of our 6 week adventure in Japan. Let’s get into [Music] it. Here is what we have. TV, cute little desk. View of the room. [Music] We have 50 minutes until boarding. So, I’m just checking in before our very long 13 and 1 half hour travel day. Morning. [Music] [Music] [Music] It’s so cute. Okay, here’s our first room. A bathroom. And we have a washer. [Music] Okay. [Music] [Music] More speech. That is so good. Good. Oh, pretty hard. It’s not what I expected, but it’s good. First top. [Music] [Music] [Music] We just got done at thei market and now we are headed to go pick up our pass and take a train somewhere else. I will say if you are planning on coming here, come as early in the morning as you can cuz it’s currently it’s 10:18 a.m. and it is so busy here. We were here around 8:00 a.m. and it was really nice. So that’s my advice for anyone that’s going to come here. [Music] [Music] Oh man, that French cocon is cute. Yeah, I think that’s this one. The French [Music] There is a life I lead in this city. Hurrying to cut my teeth. I can take what I need to get by. It doesn’t make it easy. The other piece of my heart moves slow somewhere in the great unknown. When I return from the afterlow, will you carry me like I am whole again? Wait, hold on. Want to carry it on the train. We should go [Music] and heads. You put your hundred yen in there. Grab that silver octagon cylinder and shake it a bunch, but plug this hole so you don’t get anything falling out. Now you want to tip it upside down until a stick falls out of that hole. Shake it. Now you got to match this stick up with the number that it corresponds to. Draw the paper out of the top of it. The best fortune. That is good. [Music] [Music] [Music] It is day three. Today we are headed to Egg in Shinjuku and then after that we have a photo shoot. [Music] [Music] [Music] Yeah, I think [Music] [Music] so. Is that good? [Music] We’re at the Aqua City Mall today in Oda and we are going to get some [Music] ramen. So, we just got ramen. Looks amazing. So, now I’m just waiting for Brody to get his last little snack and then we’ll be good. We’re sitting outside in this beautiful area overlooking this massive bridge that I guess you can walk for like three miles or something. So, let me show you. This is our view. Here is our ramen. [Music] Good morning. We are in Beex Coffee Shinjuku Station this morning. We’re taking a train to Hakone and just breakfast right now. That is good. I got to go find another [Music] After leaving board station ask you to please your seat belt. Please do not stop. [Music] We just made it to Kawaguchi. Should be able to see Mount Fuji, but unfortunately it is snowing. [Music] Ouch. I just [Music] Push it again. Weird. Very [Music] important. The bus just decided not to come. So, now we’re trying to figure out if we want to pay $70 for a cab or if we want to wait another 40 minutes until the next bus comes. [Music] [Music] [Music] I don’t know if I should [Music] Good morning. We had a bit of a travel nightmare yesterday. Essentially, our travels to Akone took a lot longer and were a lot messier than we expected. We’re walking to the Hwan notori shrine to get a picture of the Tori gate over there. And we’re just calling it a new day, right? Yep. [Music] [Music] This is where I can put something. [Music] forward and deeper. [Music] Go go go go go go. You think? [Music] Where is [Music] it? Finally. It’s huge. Glad you’re able to see it a little bit. Me, too. After doing everything that we can to see Mount Fuji, it finally decided to make an appearance. [Music] Hello from Nagoya. We just arrived at our hotel. We are staying at the travel lodge. It is our ninth day here and today we are just going to be exploring. It was a pretty light travel day. It’s currently 3:12 and tomorrow we’re going to Legoland. Here’s the view from our hotel. We are on the 13th floor, which is kind of fun. Something a little different for some of our stays. [Music] We are at Legoland today. Not cuz we’re huge Lego fans, but mostly because it’s kind of cool to see all the things in Lego size, right? Mhm. So, just going to walk around, show you a little bit of what we see, and then I don’t know what we’re doing for the rest of the day. I was like, I’m pretty sure it’s moving along a thing. Okay, apparently we are going to be going here in a few days. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh, okay. Let’s do it. 300. Okay. That’s the one you wanted. Yeah. [Music] You want to go up the radio? [Music] [Music] That’s [Music] Yeah, that’s cute. [Music] [Music] [Music] That’s cute. That one’s cute, too. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hey, [Music] You [Music] [Music] know, somebody [Music] What do you know? [Music] [Music] Good job. We just walked up partway to the Fushimari Shrine. We’re sweating and it’s no joke. But we’re headed back down and we’re going to show you some of the shrines and the red to gates you can see. pictures. [Music] [Music] [Music] Hello. [Music] 5:11. We just made it back to the hotel. We haven’t really had any breaks except for a cute little coffee break and coffee research break. Coffee and research break because today we got it in our heads that we are going to shop for a camera and we found one. So, I’m going to show you what we bought. It is the Olympus Pen EP7. I wanted a camera that was a digital camera but had like the vintage look to it. So, here’s what the back looks like. It just has an LCD screen and does not have a viewfinder. We did debate this, but I think at the end we decided it was fine not to have one. It also has the like selfie mode which is fun. Going to charge this and then we are going to play around with it. Good morning. We are at the bamboo forest and it’s pretty out here. Say good morning. Morning. right [Music] [Music] now. Come on. [Music] First beautiful. [Applause] It’s kind of fun to walk down these stairs, don’t you think? [Music] [Music] We’ve made it to Hiroshima and we’re just once again be hopping around. We’re going to go to the Hiroshima Castle and we’re just walking down this street that apparently takes us right to the castle and then Brody said that there’s also a park at the castle and we’re just taking it easy. We’re checking into our hotel. We’ll be here for four nights and we’re just going to show you everything that we do while we’re here. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Ladies and gentlemen, [Music] [Music] There you This is how people get addicted. [Music] Okay. Don’t Why did you study Japanese? Why do I have to get Have a nice Good morning. It is day 18 in Japan and today we’re doing something really fun and making custom rings. [Music] [Music] Okay, we just packed up the room for our next portion of the trip. [Music] We’re on the Miaima Island today and behind us is the Squishima Shrine Tour Gate. [Music] That’s probably [Music] [Music] the paid $25 to come up here and it’s very much worth it. So, when you get here, you immediately turn left to see some really cool views, but apparently there’s a whole section to explore up here. So, we’re [Music] exploring. I just want to know how far is it worth it. Watch your head. That was a lot more of a hike than I expected. [Music] Apparently, we’re staying in another Rioon tonight, which I didn’t think was going to happen. I just have to show you the view. Look at this incredible view. I we were literally driving up here and I said, “Well, we’re staying at Seaside Hotel, so we should probably have a seaside view.” And then Brody tells me he paid extra to have one. Two chairs that are facing the water. Something that is really cool is that I regretted not sitting on those chairs at the table. And now I have another opportunity. Okay, so eventually they’ll turn this into our bedroom. They brought our luggage here so we could call them to pick it up and they did. Here’s our bathroom. And the shower. Nothing insane, but wow. Good morning. We just had breakfast at our Miaima Seaside Hotel and now we are headed to Fukuoka to spend the next two days exploring the city there. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I want you to know you’re not the only one. Call me wherever you want. Just keep me entertained. Blame it on my ADHD. I can’t focus on you lately. I want you to know you haven’t been on my mind. You got to keep trying out. [Music] We’ve made it to our hotel in Fukuoka. We are actually staying at a um book cafe hotel. So, the lobby of this hotel is a bookstore and a coffee shop, which is really fun. [Music] How felt you honestly I probably should end with [Music] you. I really didn’t know how you honestly shouldn’t. Good morning. It is day two. Ah, good morning. It is day two in Fukuoka and we’re on the hunt for some cherry blossoms, but it’s been so cold here that I don’t think they are in bloom yet. Well, we found them. They’re not in bloom [Music] yet. [Music] Feel me like this is [Music] cheaper. [Music] Morning from Fukuoka. Today is our last morning here and Brody’s currently downstairs shipping our luggage and then we’re just going to be backpacking to Beu today. [Music] Okay. Are you kidding? This is so nice. Cute. [Music] coffee area. We have made it to Beu and we just checked into our hotel which is really cute and later we are going to an onen and then we’re going to have some dinner tomorrow. We have some really fun plans as well. So, we are walking to the onsen right now. And because I think we’re on a hill, you can hear the water flowing. And you can see the steam coming up from the It’s kind of like a sewer drain, but I don’t think it’s it’s just onen water. It’s kind of cool. So, right here, you can hear it. Anyways, I want to describe the way it smells a little like sulfur, a little eggy. It’s just kind of amazing to walk through here and to hear the water running down to smell it, to see the steam coming up. It’s really cool. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Good morning. We just got on the bus to go to Euphin. We are on a charter bus this morning because the trip to Euphin takes about an hour and 20 minutes. We made it to Euin Village and it is as cute as it looks online. Crazy. [Music] [Music] [Music] Good morning. We’re checking out in 30 minutes, but I just wanted to give a little update of everything that we are going to be doing today, which we’re trying to figure out right now. We’re getting on the Sunflower Cruise tonight, which doesn’t allow you to board until an hour before takeoff, which is 7:00 p.m. So, we can’t get on until 6:00, but we have to be out of the hotel until 11:00. And it’s a complete downpour today. We’re trying to figure out where we want to go in between. Good afternoon. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Let’s do it. Oh, cute. All [Music] right. What’s that? [Music] There’s dinner. [Music] Very cute. [Music] We arrived in Coobe this morning, disembarked from the Sunflower cruise at about 6:45 a.m. Dropped our backpacks at the hotel and day tripped over to Himeji. We are visiting Himeji Castle today, which is right there. It is the largest and most visited castle in Japan. [Music] [Music] [Music] I don’t even know which number hotel this is, but it’s cute. Shipped our luggages, so we got those ready. We have a cute little hallway. a place to put our bags and then a bathroom. Hello everyone. It has been a long day and it’s only 3:30. We just checked into our hotel and we’re staying in a really beautiful hotel actually. So, I’m excited about that. And I think we’re just going to relax. We went to Heji Castle this morning and then we found lunch at this chicken place and it was a 17-minute walk, which I feel like sounds really short, but here I feel like 17 minutes is kind of a long walk. Like you can cover a lot of ground in 17 minutes. Um, anyways, we tried to catch a cab and there weren’t any. And then on the way back to the area where Himeji Castle is, cuz we kind of went out into like the like neighborhoods to get dinner or get lunch, a very nice guy gave us a ride. He wasn’t a murderer, so that’s good. We’re still here. Um, but yeah, we just checked into our hotel. I took a fat nap on the train and I think we’re just going to take it easy for the rest of the day and now we’re going to be here for 3 days, which I think is going to be really fun. Tomorrow is supposed to be another rainy morning. So, we’ll just kind of see what happens. [Music] [Music] It is our second full day in Coobe and today we’re spending it at Naruto Park. Area that we’re in is called Nijien Namorei. We’re just gonna see what all there is to do here. We love Naruto. So, so that’s what we’re going to do. I think today’s gonna be a cute day. We got these little scrolls to complete a mission that we paid for. And you could actually see the costume. Yeah. We’re a little confused about what we have to do, but it looks like you just collect the stamps and do hand signal. [Music] Yeah. We did it. We are leaving Naruto Park now. It was definitely worth it. But at the end of the games we played, there was a riddle you had to solve. So, basically, you’re like playing a game, collecting stamps, and then you solve a riddle. Turns out we were overthinking it for sure. They ended up helping us a little bit. And so, now we have these two giant posters that we won that we don’t need, but it was like we were so close to getting finished that we kind of just wanted it to be done and wanted the satisfaction of having completed it. But now we’re stuck with these two giant posters. In case you are curious, here’s what those posters look like. They are pretty big. So, here’s this one and that one. Okay. Well, within the last 5 minutes, here’s an update on the posters. There was a family that was playing with us or alongside us and they were conveniently behind us. They have three little boys and so we just decided to give it to them. So now we don’t have to carry them and they were excited. So that’s perfect. Win-win. This reminds me of home on a summer day. Good morning from Coobe. As you can see, we are currently packing our bags. We’re leaving Coobe. Yesterday we went to Naruto Park and then when we came back, honestly, we just ordered a giant pizza and got a lot of snacks and then watched the last Harry Potter movie. We’re going to be heading to Osaka next, which is where we’re visiting Universal. And I’m really excited to go to Harry Potter World. This year I decided that I wanted to read all of the Harry Potter books and rewatch the movies. And last night was kind of the finality of that. So, it’s going to be really fun to go to Universal and really have an appreciation for every little detail that kind of surrounds the Harry Potter world. We have made it to Osaka. Today is kind of a half day, so we’re just exploring and waiting until we can check into our hotel. We’re currently at Osaka Castle, but kind of decided not to go in because Brody said he went through last year and it was pretty quick and the wait right now is 50 minutes. Broy’s taking some pics and honestly, I’m just enjoying 62°. It’s not raining. It’s a little cloudy, but the not raining part is very, very welcome. [Music] Aha. Our cute bed, nightstand. They brought our luggage up for us. Cute little sitting area. And then we also have a bathroom. Tokyo stay all has in room washer and dryer. So that’s a 10 out of 10. [Music] Okay, I’m picking a wand. This one. Oh, Ron. This is Harry Potter. A [Music] little. Good morning. Today we are at Universal Studios and our first stop was buying a wand and now we are headed to Harry Potter World. I know there were some really cool things here. Cute. It’s a little bit windy today. [Music] [Music] Trying butter beer for the first time. [Music] So, we just had lunch at the Monster Hunter Cafe and now we are walking around Jurassic Park. There’s like a crab sign over here. [Music] So cute. When that was first released, it was like chaos out here. It’s so cute. It’s cute. It’s so cute. [Music] Okay, we got our last snack, which is this Nesco churro, and we’re going to eat that. And then I think we’re going to go to the store again and then go to the Gap. A hard rock everywhere. [Music] Can I What do you mean? [Music] We’ve decided to go on a ferris wheel. [Music] [Music] Okay, this is cool. [Music] It’s so cool. Also, for any of you that want to do this experience, it was only 1,200 yen. Unless you have the Osaka amazing pass, then it’s 100 yen less. Okay, I think we’re descending. We are on the highest part that you can [Music] go today. I think we’re having another beep bop round shopping kind of day and tomorrow we are going to go to Nara. Good morning. Today we are spending the day at Nara Park where you can feed the deer. I’m assuming they’re wild. Yep. They’re wild deer. You can buy some cookies or crackers and you can feed them. And they appear to be a little aggressive cuz they’re always hungry. So that’s what we’re doing today. So we’ll see how it goes. There you go. might try not to move around and sit in the shade. Yeah, they don’t seem as aggressive today. Maybe they had a big weekend. It’s Monday and they’re like, I don’t want any Well, no feeding the deer today. [Music] [Music] Hi. Hi. Hi. [Music] Very good. So, this is what it’s supposed to look like when there’s cherry blossoms. So, we came to Nara Park, which is the park where there’s a lot of wild deer, and you can buy these crackers and feed them, and they will bow to you. You can bow to them. But none of the deer seem interested. They are refusing crackers. We didn’t buy any um because it kind of looked sad. So, now we’re just kind of walking around the park. There’s still so many beautiful things. But um yeah, that’s kind of interesting. Um five weeks almost 5 weeks into our trip and at this point we’re struggling with space. So here’s what it looks like now that we have packed. I had to put some things in this backpack. I’m gonna have to carry this one. My luggage is maxed out. And Brody hasn’t maxed his out yet, but his backpack is full. So, it’s a little crazy. Today, we are headed to Kanazawa. We’re going to be spending four nights there and then after Kanazawa, we’re going to Tokyo and that is going to be the last part of our trip. So, we’ve started buying some souvenirs and things and that has made our bags very full. But, it’s been really fun. This has been such a great trip. So, we’re excited to do a little more shopping. We might like buy another bag just to put things in to make it a little easier. Um, but yeah, so we are headed out of Osaka to Kanazawa. [Music] [Music] Okay, let’s do it. [Music] [Music] Good morning from Kanazawa. We are in our 13th hotel room and we’re getting to the end of our trip. Today we’re exploring the shopping side of Kanazawa because it’s supposed to start raining in an hour. So, we kind of just made a plan to do a little shopping. [Music] [Music] Or am I turning? [Music] I’m [Music] Listen to me. [Music] Today we are headed back to Tokyo. It is our last week in Japan, which is really sad. But I’m really excited about going back to Tokyo because at the beginning kind of talk about how my feet were hurting really bad. And I feel like I didn’t give myself the best shot in Tokyo. So this is like my redemption era, I guess. Um, so I’m excited to see Tokyo again and go to a couple more shops, see a couple more things. We saw pretty much like the big parts of Tokyo. So, it’s not as much sightseeing as it is just kind of doing some of the little things like we have the botanical Starbucks, the Starbucks Reserve. We want to go to a couple more vintage stores, which is what we’re actually going to be doing today. And the rest you’ll just have to see and find out what we end up doing. [Music] Super channel. [Music] [Music] Good morning. We have a couple more days and this morning we actually went to the Starbucks roaster. So, that was fun. So, I only have a couple more days here and we’re kind of using them to go back to some of the places we’ve been and to buy souvenirs. [Music] Came down over there. [Music] What is happening? [Music] We are at Tokyo Disney Sea and it was a very very rainy morning. But while our feet are soaking wet right now, it’s actually really fun here. We rode the Indiana Jones ride which was really cool. Got some cute ears. Brody got a cute hat. cute hat. Love it. And now we’re just kind of roaming around. At the end of the day, we’re probably going to just buy some souvenirs. And yeah, it’s been a fun day. [Music] within this place. The dream is taking flight. [Music] We are getting ready for the day. But this is the mess that is packing to go back home after 6 weeks. We did bring a extra duffel bag, so that was super helpful because now we have extra space for our clothes. Today is our last day in Tokyo. We fly back home tomorrow. So, we’re going to pack in as much as we can for our last day, which includes going to Shabuya Sky, which is something we haven’t done yet. And if you want to go, you have to get your tickets pretty early. I feel like we’re going to go to Saitama and check out our last and final book off. Apparently, this one is super hyped up on Tik Tok, so we’re going to see if we can find some cool like vintage games and maybe another bag. I did buy myself a little Louis Vuitton. From the research I’ve done, this is the Pette accessories. I’m going to do more research. I’m going to maybe try to get this cleaned by Louis Vuitton. There is a like authentification certification thing in the bag. So hopefully it works out. If not, it’ll be fine. Um but yeah, so we’re going to see if we can find a couple more treasures to get back. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Call me wherever you want. Just keep me entertained. Blame it on my ADHD. I can’t focus on you lately. I want you to know you haven’t been on my mind. You got to keep trying. [Music] on my AD. [Music] I wanted to share a little bit about how this trip has been and kind of just my feelings about it cuz I know at the end when I’ve posted all of these videos, I’m not necessarily going to remember everything that has happened leading up to this point. We have had the most incredible time traveling around Japan for the past six weeks. I don’t even know how else to say it. We are so sad to be leaving because it’s just genuinely been so fun. For the future, I think we do plan on coming back, but obviously not in this volume. We’re not going to be going from place to place and visiting like 14 different cities and spending several days there. I think going moving forward and coming to visit again. What’s nice about having done this for six weeks is that at this point we have seen it all like seen it all the the temples and the shrines and the places that we want to go or maybe over the course of the next year and a half. We’re planning on coming back maybe at the end of next year. But throughout that time we might be able to say, “Hey, this is kind of something that I really miss. This is something I wish I would have done more of and it’ll give us an idea of how to plan for our next trip. So, I’m genuinely so grateful and thank you so much for watching. There is a life [Music] I can take what I need to get by. It doesn’t make it easy. The other piece of my heart moves slow. Somewhere in the great unknown. When I return from the afterlow, will you carry me like I am whole again? Wait, hold on. Put me together. Take me back where I belong. I want it all. I had a feeling, but the feeling is all gone. Wait, hold on. Put me together. Take me back where I belong.

In this video, I’m sharing our full 6-week Japan itinerary, a detailed cost breakdown, and our favorite spring travel moments — including cherry blossom season in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, and more.

We spent over a month exploring Japan’s most iconic spots and hidden gems, and I’m giving you all the details:
✔️ Where I stayed (affordable + aesthetic)
✔️ What I spent on transportation, food, and experiences
✔️ When and where to see the best cherry blossoms
✔️ My honest tips for first-time travelers to Japan

Whether you’re planning a short trip or a long stay, this vlog is packed with Japan travel tips, inspiration, and real numbers to help you budget for your own adventure.

📍 Featured Locations:

Tokyo

Kyoto

Osaka

Nara

Hakone

Hiroshima

Miyajima Island

Kanazawa

Kobe

Beppu

📢 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more travel vlogs, itineraries, and budget breakdowns from around the world.

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