Dreams Do Come True — Our Second Visit to Japan

We spent three weeks in Japan in 2018 and ever since we’ve attempted to jockey our itinerary for more, more, more! We tried in 2020, just before the Covid lockdown, with what was to be an albeit inadequate three night stopover in Tokyo between Thailand and Portland, Oregon USA. But that got nixed. What we did get was just an all-day layover at an entirely empty Narita airport waiting to catch what turned out to be the very last direct flight from there to Portland. Delta Airlines never resurrected that route post-pandemic.

So in late March 2024, after our eagerly anticipated west coast USA Archie 3.0 visit (our third visit with Rich’s Grandson, Archie, following his birth in 2022), we arrived in Tokyo for a second three-week visit, to this alluring, gorgeous country.

In addition to visiting Tokyo we took a Shinkansen (bullet train) south to Naoshima, a destination commonly known as Japan’s art island and also enjoyed several spots around Osaka/Kobe. Below are our hotel choices, with pics, followed by a selection of pics from our activities at each location.

TOP TIP FOR JAPAN TRAVELERS
Ship your luggage point-to-point within Japan, between airports to hotel (and hotel to hotel) with Yamato Transport. No need to schlep too much on the trains and buses! Very affordable! https://www.global-yamato.com/

We were here April 13 - 16, 2024. The Hotel Okura Kobe is a 33 story hotel tower at Harborfront in Kobe offering sweeping views of the harbor and city. There's frequent shuttle service to the hotel from Sannomiya Station and close enough to shops and restaurants. Also, just a short walk to Kobe's Chinatown and the Motomachi Station. Five star expereince! Thoroughly enjoyed our three day experience in mid-April 2024. We paid US$140/night including breakfast. This is our second Okura hotel stay in Japan. (We stayed at their Tokyo hotel in 2018.) Very well managed hotel chain.

It was an easy transfer from nearby Uno. Having shipped our two roller bags directly to the hotel — a great service we used repeatedly! — we stopped halfway, put our carry-on luggage in a train station locker and visited Himeji castle. Easily connected afterwards arriving just in time to check to the Okura. Easy transfer! Below are pics from the hotel. The second carousel of pics are our activites while visiting.