The Big Japan Guide
Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Stores, Strategies, etc.
A visit to Japan benefits from planning and spontaneity, from control and then letting go. You’re in a truly unique country and sometimes you have to let it wash over you. Like many people, I love Japan. I lived there for a year after I graduated from college and I’ve been back a dozen or so times since. I’ve written about Japan quite a bit: What to do in Tokyo for the FT, a visit to the Ama free divers, favorite Japanese tailors for Robb Report and a Tokyo Guide here on The Contender.
Going to Japan makes you aware of another way of doing things. Drivers don’t honk, people don’t jaywalk, there are no trash cans in public. Civilized. You don’t wear cologne to nice restaurants and don’t talk loudly at a sushi counter (unless the chef encourages it). You’re aware of your interactions with others and hopefully sensitive to local customs. With the mass of social media tourism we have to set the bar higher.
There’s pleasure in going outside your comfort zone, in feeling like you’re in a new place. Sometimes that means you’re served jellyfish for breakfast, which is probably not your thing (it’s not mine). But the payoff is immense. There’s a culture of service, an incredible attention to design and a mindful way of doing things that stays with you long after you leave.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
If I’m planning a trip to Japan I aim for eight days on the ground. Four days in Tokyo, three in Kyoto and then one in a ryokan or country hotel. If you’ve got more time then, by all means, expand your reach. But that’s a sound blueprint.
I start in Tokyo, the best place to deal with jet lag (tower hotels with soaking tubs, more going on in the morning) and it feels like the right energetic introduction to the culture. I also try to fly to Haneda airport by any means possible. It’s so much closer to the city than Narita. And, in a perfect world, I fly from the West Coast, it’s shorter, cheaper and the time difference is less disorienting.
TOKYO HOTELS.
Tokyo hotels are very good and very expensive. My feeling is that if you’re going to Japan for the first time then it’s worth using points or ye olde gold card and committing to a great Tokyo hotel. You’ll be jet lagged when you arrive and wake up early. If the hotel has a pool or soaking baths then that’s a great thing to do as the sun comes up.
Another benefit is that as soon as you book then the concierge can help you with restaurant reservations. This is important since it’s hard to make reservations from abroad and restaurants fill up long in advance.
Remember to ask for no smoking rooms!
-Aman Tokyo. For all time. An absolute blow to your platinum card.
-Peninsula Tokyo. Great location in Ginza with tasteful, understated rooms.
-Mandarin Oriental. High and mighty.
-Hoshinoya. More overtly Japanese. There’s an open-air onsen on the roof which you can use at night and it’s wild.