{"id":135606,"date":"2026-06-17T06:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/?p=135606"},"modified":"2026-06-17T12:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:44:43","slug":"tokyo-recap-and-why-i-love-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yorbestlife.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/tokyo-recap-and-why-i-love-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo recap and why I love Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharing a recap of what we did in Tokyo, where we stayed and already looking forward to going back.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Hi friends! How are you?? I hope you\u2019re having a lovely morning. I have a lot of content to record today \u2013 Healing Code re-launches on Monday! \u2013 and am going to catch an upper body workout and the massage chair at the gym.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m sharing the first of my Japan posts!<\/p>\n

Here are our Japan and Korea recap posts so far:<\/p>\n

Seoul recap, what we did and what we ate<\/a><\/p>\n

Tokyo recap and why I love Japan (this post)<\/p>\n

Kyoto itinerary and tips for travel to Japan<\/p>\n

What we ate in Japan (and gf picks)<\/p>\n

My Korean Head Spa experience<\/a><\/p>\n

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Tokyo recap and why I love Japan<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been avoiding writing this post because the reality is that I have Japression.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Usually I feel a little down after coming home from a trip, but this is next level. It normally hits me hard that I can no longer walk outside all day (it\u2019s way too hot here and Tucson is definitely not walkable), explore new places, spend uninterrupted time with the fam, eat incredible food, and shop all the livelong day. Instead, I\u2019m back to chores, feeding everyone, and cleaning up after feeding everyone lol.<\/p>\n

This trip feels different because Japan was unlike anything I\u2019ve ever experienced.<\/strong> The culture, the way of life, the deep respect, kindness, care, and professionalism, the clean streets, the cleanest food, the scenery\u2026 it honestly felt like another planet.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest things I noticed was the level of pride people take in everything they do<\/strong>. It didn\u2019t matter if it was a restaurant server, Uber driver, hotel receptionist, convenience store employee, or someone helping us at the train station. Everyone seemed committed to doing their absolute best, and it was inspiring to see. People were kind and welcoming, everything felt incredibly safe, and I felt the best I\u2019ve felt in a really long time while we were there.<\/p>\n

I also noticed how healthy and well-groomed everyone seemed. You don\u2019t really see people wandering around in pajamas screaming at each other lol. There\u2019s just this underlying sense of respect for yourself and for the people around you.<\/p>\n

What surprised me most was how calm my nervous system felt the entire time. Even though you\u2019re surrounded by bright lights, huge buildings, and tons of people, it never feels chaotic. Everything is so organized and orderly that your body actually feels like it can relax. I didn\u2019t realize how much I needed that feeling until I experienced it.<\/strong> Since we\u2019ve been home, I\u2019ve been trying really hard to bring pieces of that feeling back with me.<\/p>\n

I mentioned this in my Seoul recap, but Japan and Korea honestly weren\u2019t my first choice for a vacation. I knew it would be fun, but I felt overwhelmed by the planning and wasn\u2019t sure if they\u2019d be places I\u2019d ever want to visit again. Now I feel so naive because I had no idea how special these countries are. I already can\u2019t wait to go back.<\/p>\n

People keep asking if I preferred Korea or Japan, and I can\u2019t choose because they\u2019re so different while also complementing each other perfectly. If you ever have the opportunity to visit that part of the world, do both. I promise you\u2019ll understand the second you experience it for yourself.<\/p>\n

And if you do both, I highly recommend starting in Seoul and then heading to Tokyo. It was the perfect combo. \"\ud83d\ude42\"<\/p>\n

Here are some of the highlights of our trip:<\/p>\n

We stayed in two areas of Ginza.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first part of our trip was near the Tsukiji Outer Market, where the streets are lined with food stalls, seafood vendors, and the best sushi of your life. (The famous tuna auctions have moved to Toyosu Market, but Tsukiji is still absolutely worth visiting for the food scene!!)<\/p>\n

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After our Kyoto trip, we stayed in Ginza proper, which was a lovely location filled with luxury stores (including the multi-story Tiffany flagship), restaurants, department stores, and endless shopping.<\/p>\n

We booked the KOKO Hotel for both stays (same hotel brand, two different locations) using our Amex Platinum benefits<\/a>. I preferred the location of the Tsukiji property because it felt a little quieter and more local, but the actual hotel and amenities were nicer at the Ginza location. (We stayed at one location for a few days before our short trip to Kyoto and the other one afterwards.)<\/p>\n

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One thing I loved about Ginza is that it felt incredibly clean, safe, and easy to navigate. We could walk almost everywhere and just took an Uber when needed.<\/p>\n

Tokyo DisneySea<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I always say we\u2019re not \u201cDisney people,\u201d even though we go to the parks constantly and are about to go on Disney Cruise #8. We just don\u2019t have Disney decor in our house, but I think we check all of the other boxes. \"\ud83d\ude09\"<\/p>\n

Of course we wanted to visit a Disney property while we were in Tokyo. They have two options: Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. We chose DisneySea because it has unique rides and lands that don\u2019t exist in the U.S., and it\u2019s generally considered the better park for older kids and adults.<\/p>\n

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(the kids approve all of the photos I post and Liv asked me to put a heart on her face for this one)<\/p>\n

The rides were incredible.<\/p>\n

The animatronics, special effects, projection mapping, storytelling, and ride technology far exceeded my expectations. Peter Pan is one of my favorite rides and the Tokyo version completely blew the U.S. version out of the water. It\u2019s longer, more immersive (3D), beautifully done, and genuinely feels like you\u2019re flying.<\/p>\n

We also loved Journey to the Center of the Earth, Rapunzel was gorgeous (the lantern scene was everything), and Sinbad ended up being one of our surprise favorites. It\u2019s kind of like It\u2019s a Small World, but with a banger theme song and some impressive animatronics (like the green giant!).<\/p>\n

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The food was also so much fun.<\/p>\n

We completely fell in love with muscat-flavored everything while we were in Japan, and these frozen muscat desserts were a HUGE hit. I had two throughout the day and P had three.<\/p>\n

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They also have unique popcorn flavors everywhere. When we visited, the options included milk chocolate, soy sauce and butter, scallop and garlic (which was DELICIOUS),<\/p>\n

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caramel, and salted popcorn. Each stand has different flavors, so people literally collect popcorn buckets and walk around trying them all.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth mentioning that everything was dramatically less expensive than the U.S. parks. A giant chicken leg was around 800 yen (about $5 USD), compared to $15 \u2013 20 at home.<\/p>\n

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Our park tickets and even the paid ride reservations were a fraction of what we\u2019d normally spend in the States. I tell ya, that\u2019s worth the flight right there.<\/p>\n

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The only downside is that many of the ride reservation options (called DPA in the app) sell out quickly. I was able to purchase a few, but all of the free reservation options were gone shortly after we entered the park. Frozen and Indiana Jones were also closed during our visit, which was a bummer.<\/p>\n

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The park closed at 9 p.m. the night we visited, and many food locations stopped serving around 7-8 p.m., so I definitely recommend prioritizing rides early and planning dinner before things begin shutting down.<\/p>\n

teamLab Borderless<\/h3>\n

This was an absolute must-do.<\/p>\n

Tokyo has a few different teamLab experiences, and we chose Borderless. It\u2019s an interactive digital art museum where the exhibits are constantly changing. You can walk through a room, come back 15 minutes later, and it looks completely different.<\/p>\n

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We spent hours wandering through the exhibits, drawing sea creatures that came to life on giant screens,<\/p>\n

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(the Pilot did this amazing turtle!)<\/p>\n

getting lost in the light installations, and taking so many photos and videos.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of those experiences that\u2019s hard to explain until you see it yourself.<\/p>\n

I definitely recommend this if you\u2019re traveling with kids, but the adults were just as entertained.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also heard amazing things about teamLab Planets if you\u2019re trying to choose a location to visit!<\/p>\n

Multiple 7-Eleven and Lawson stops<\/strong><\/h3>\n

7-Eleven lives up to the TikTok and Instagram hype.<\/p>\n

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Every morning I grabbed something from the famous drink case. C1000 was my favorite and I miss it so much.<\/p>\n

We also stocked up on muscat treats, smoothies, onigiri, and so many tasty snacks. It became our breakfast stop, snack stop, and post-dinner dessert stop.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s funny because there are exactly zero things I want to eat at 7-Eleven in the U.S., but there were dozens of things I looked forward to eating at convenience stores (konbini) in Japan.<\/p>\n

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They have fruit sandwiches, egg sandwiches, onigiri, coffees, sparkling drinks, smoothies, and desserts that are super delicious and also inexpensive. The smoothies were the best!! The container is just frozen fruit and after you pay, you scan the bar code on the machine, put the cup inside, and it adds liquid and blends it on the spot. Like I said, Korea and Japan are living in the future.<\/p>\n

Riding the bullet train to Kyoto<\/h3>\n

I\u2019d heard that if you\u2019re already in Tokyo, it\u2019s worth taking the train to Kyoto or Osaka to experience a different side of Japan.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to travel all the way across the world and miss it, so we added Kyoto to our itinerary and I\u2019m so glad we did.<\/p>\n

Kyoto deserves and is getting an entire blog post of its own because it was truly magical.<\/p>\n

We rode the Green Car (the equivalent of first class) on the way there, which was lovely and comfortable. On the way back we rode regular reserved seats, and TBH, it wasn\u2019t a huge difference (and the regular reserved seats were about $120 less for the four of us).<\/p>\n

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The trains are clean, quiet, efficient, and ridiculously punctual. Watching the countryside fly by while eating snacks from the station was a unique memory that I loved\u2026 I\u2019d never really been on a train before (besides Polar Express!) and it was such a cool experience. Way less hassle than flying and felt just as quick!<\/p>\n

Vintage luxury shopping<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you love designer bags, watches, jewelry, or accessories, Tokyo is heaven.<\/p>\n

There are vintage luxury stores everywhere, and many of the pieces are in great condition and look brand new.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in the market for a Louis Vuitton bag, Gucci, Chanel, Rolex, or other luxury pieces, I would absolutely shop in Japan before buying elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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Also, bring your passport whenever you\u2019re shopping because many stores offer instant tax-free purchases for tourists so you don\u2019t have to deal with it at the airport.<\/p>\n

Shibuya Crossing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We had to visit the famous Shibuya Crossing.<\/p>\n

Pictures don\u2019t really do it justice because it\u2019s less about the crossing itself and more about the energy of the entire area. There are giant video screens, endless shopping, restaurants, lights, music, and thousands of people moving through the intersection in every direction.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s incredibly busy, but still feels orderly. People wait patiently, cross when they\u2019re supposed to, and nobody is bumping or pushing into each other.<\/p>\n

Outside the station is the famous Hachik\u014d statue, honoring the loyal dog who continued waiting for his owner at the station every day, even after his owner passed away. It\u2019s one of Japan\u2019s most beloved stories, and seeing the statue in person felt surprisingly emotional.<\/p>\n

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We took photos, wandered the surrounding streets, did some shopping, and just soaked it all in. It\u2019s touristy for a reason, and we loved it. If it\u2019s your first trip to Tokyo, I think it\u2019s one of those places you have to experience at least once!<\/p>\n

Turns out that this post did not help my Japression at all, but I have a few more to go. I\u2019ll be sharing all of the amazing food we ate (including GF options), a Kyoto recap and tips for traveling to Japan, and am happy to answer any questions, too!!<\/p>\n

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(dress from RTR<\/a> and my beloved Vejas<\/a> <\u2013 go-to travel walking shoes)<\/p>\n

So, tell me, friends: what\u2019s on your vacation dream list? Anything fun planned that\u2019s coming up??<\/p>\n

xo<\/p>\n

Gina<\/p>\n

The post Tokyo recap and why I love Japan<\/a> appeared first on The Fitnessista<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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