17-Day Honeymoon Japan Itinerary

My wife and I just got back from our 17-day honeymoon in Japan. It was a life-changing trip that combined incredible food, beautiful hotels, amazing shopping and breath-taking sites. On our trip, we visited Tokyo, Yugawara, Osaka, Miyakojima, and Kyoto. We explored big cities, small villages and an island resort. When researching Japan, we struggled to find the same level of detail as you would traveling in the US or Europe and could visit eater for food reviews or condé nast for reliable hotel recommendations. It wasn’t that information was sparse, just not as digestible as we were used to. Therefore, we wanted to create the ultimate guide for anyone looking to plan their honeymoon to Japan

Trip Overview

Day 1-5: Tokyo - Stay at The Tokyo Edition, Ginza

Day 5-6: Yugawara - Stay at Tsubaki Onsen (Ryokan)

Day 6-7: Osaka - Stay at Osaka Station Hotel

Day 7-11: Miyakojima - Stay at The Rosewood Miyakojima HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

Day 11-17: Kyoto - Stay at Hotel the Mitsui

Top Tips

The Food:

Food is 95% of the reason why we decided to celebrate our honeymoon in Japan, so I did a TON of research to find the best spots for every meal. We wanted to plan 50% of our meals and leave the other 50% for walk-ins. As I mentioned previously, it is harder to find restaurants - as many hole in the wall places don’t have an online presence AND are not on street level, so hard to find like you might in Europe, so this strategy was difficult. To help navigate, our two best resources became Tablelog and Michelin Guide.

Tablelog is Japan’s version of Yelp, but it’s ACTUALLY trustworthy. This is only used by locals and they give detailed reviews, pictures and ratings. On Tablelog, anything over a 3.5/5 is amazing, so DO NOT be alarmed. This was an amazing tool and helped us discover incredible, local spots where we were the only tourists.

The other resource we used was Michelin Guide. They had a guide for Tokyo and Kyoto which was helpful to have a reputable, Western description of top-rated spots. This had more high0end spots, but some neighborhood spots as well. We would recommend leveraging both when planning your trip. I would caution against the viral TikTok spots. While some of them were good, the lines were insane and not worth it, in my opinion. Many (as you will learn later on) had alternative ways to get the same great bites.

If you are gluten free, Japan is more difficult than you might expect. Almost every sushi spot uses soy in their rice, so you need to specify even if it doesn’t look like there is sauce in the dish. With that being said, people are EXTREMELY attentive to the issue. We recommend having your hotel write a small note card, describing your allergy which you can hand to the chef or waiter at each restaurant.

Tokyo: Day 1-5

The Hotel: The Tokyo Edition, Ginza

We stayed at The Tokyo Edition, Ginza. There are two Editions in Tokyo (the other is in a business district, so make sure you book the right one). The hotel is nestled in the heart of the Ginza shopping district. It is like the 5th ave or Rodeo drive of Tokyo. There are a lot of western stores, but the location is very convenient (10 min walk from Tokyo station), quiet and VERY clean. We upgraded to a superior king room which was gorgeous - especially the bathroom. Every day we got a fun snack (fresh fruit or chocolate) in our room. I not sure if that was just because it was our honeymoon, but it was a nice perk.

The Edition has two bars - the 2nd floor Punchroom and 14th floor rooftop bar. We visited both on our stay - preferring the vibe of Punchroom. We ate breakfast each morning at the Sophie restaurant on the 13th floor. Breakfast was included in stay, and was amazing every morning. You had the option between Western and Japanese entree + the extensive buffet selection. Very solid and amazing service.

The gym was small but functional. It had a technogym bike, and rowing machine, but no treadmill. Maybe an issue for some, but I preferred to run outside, around the Imperial Palace Grounds.

The staff was extremely attentive. They remember our names, dietary restrictions and needs and always followed up via email or WhatsApp.

The Food:

Food in Tokyo was incredible, if you know where to look. Many top restaurants and local spots are hidden on the 4th floor of office buildings or shopping malls. But WOW did we have some amazing bites…

Lunch:

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Dinner:

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