Four days in Tokyo, split into two stays that bookended a two-week loop through Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara — Shibuya, Harajuku, and a gluten-free omakase lunch on the way out; character shops and one last visit to that same omakase spot on the way back in. Flew into Haneda (HND) rather than Narita, which is a noticeably easier ride into the city center.
| Day | Focus | Dinner |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrival & Aoyama | Near hotel, kept simple |
| Day 2 | Ginza omakase & Harajuku | SUSHI KORIN Nishiazabu |
| Day 3 | Sushi class & Imperial Palace | Gluten Free T's Kitchen |
| Return | Character shops & one last omakase | Gluten Free Kushiage Su |
In on JAL from LAX to Haneda, a Suica card loaded onto my phone before I'd even left the airport, and a carry-on shipped ahead to Hakone.
Landed at Haneda and had a Suica card loaded onto my Apple Wallet before I'd even left the train station — Tokyo's public transit is remarkably easy to figure out once you can just tap to pay. The hotel had an in-room washer/dryer, which turned out to be genuinely worth it, though the location skewed a little out of the way except for a quick Shibuya connection — I'd try staying closer to Ginza next time. At check-in I arranged to ship a carry-on ahead to the hotel in Hakone, about $14 through a hotel-to-hotel courier service. It worked perfectly, but the bag takes 24–48 hours to arrive, so plan around a day pack in the meantime. Kept the first dinner simple and close to the hotel given the jet lag.
A five-course gluten-free skewer omakase in Ginza, HEATTECH leggings from the flagship Uniqlo, and a quick trip out to a lucky cat temple.
Lunch was a five-course gluten-free omakase skewer lunch at Kushiage Su in Ginza — it looked hard to find online beforehand but wasn't, in practice. It was SO good, though the reservation didn't come through clearly as pescatarian, so alongside otherwise excellent seafood and vegetable skewers I ended up with one wagyu beef skewer and one wrapped in bacon. Worth specifying more than once if you have both a GF and a non-meat restriction. Rebooked the same restaurant for dinner on the return leg later in the trip. In between, the flagship Uniqlo for HEATTECH leggings ahead of the cold in Hakone and Kyoto, then a walk through Harajuku and Shibuya — the Hachiko statue, the sake barrels at Meiji Jingu — before a short train out to Gōtokuji, the lucky cat temple. It's a quick trip (about 30 minutes each way, $2 in train fare) and worth it; I paid 100 yen for a fortune on the way out. Dinner was an omakase reservation at SUSHI KORIN Nishiazabu.
A sushi-making class with better instructors than fish, buckwheat crêpes that lived up to the hype, and one last quiet look at Shibuya Scramble before the train out.
An early loop through Shibuya and Shinjuku before the shipped bag had to be dropped off by 10am — checked Natural Lawson for gluten-free snacks on the way and didn't find much, though I didn't look especially hard. A sushi-making class at noon was more about the experience than the food; the fish quality wasn't great, but the class itself was fun and the instructors were genuinely sweet about it. Printed the Hakone-to-Kyoto ticket and bought the Osaka-to-Tokyo ticket at the JR station, then walked the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Lunch was BREIZH Café Crêperie Omotesando — 100% buckwheat gluten-free crêpes, and despite some reviews warning the staff could be curt, they were warm, patient, and fluent across English, Japanese, and French. Dinner was back at Gluten Free T's Kitchen: a GF Japanese beer and a good veggie ramen. Early the next morning, before the train out to Hakone, one last pass through Shibuya Scramble at 6am — empty and quiet compared to daytime.
Back in Tokyo after eleven days elsewhere in Japan — Tokyo Station's character shops, gifts to track down, and a final dinner at the omakase spot from the first week.
One last night in Tokyo after eleven days looping through Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. Tokyo Station's Character Street and its Pokémon Center and café made for an easy afternoon of gift-hunting, and a gluten-free strawberry daifuku from a shop in Ginza — recommended by another diner at Kushiage Su over lunch earlier in the trip — was a good excuse for a walk. Dinner went back to Kushiage Su itself, closing the loop on the omakase lunch from the first week. The last morning went to Tsukiji Outer Market before its early afternoon close, then Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, before leaving the hotel around 4pm to beat evening train congestion to Haneda for the flight home by way of Los Angeles.