In August 2017, my friends and I went to Japan!

As always, these pictures are available in full resolution and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 license.

1 2017-08-11: arrival in Tokyo

Upon arriving, we grabbed a quick meal at Yoshinoya. It was delicious! We stayed in an AirBnB on Odaiba.

2 2017-08-12: Tokyo sightseeing

2.1 Asakusa

2.2 Tokyo University

Then we went to Tokyo University. One of my friends was interning there.

2.3 Shinjuku

We walked around Kabukicho.

2.4 Dinner: Izakaya

For dinner we went to Kaikaya.

3 2017-08-13: More Tokyo

Honestly I just followed my friends around and have no idea where we went. My only suggestion was to check out the soon-to-be demolished Nakagin Capsule Tower.

I bought the legendary Voigtlander Apo Lanthar 65mm f/2 at Yodobashi Camera. It was just released at the time. This lens is truly amazing and remained my favourite lens for many years until I had to sell it upon switching to the Fujifilm GFX system (which the lens is not physically compatible with). This lens is notable for its wonderful sharpness across the frame and complete absence of chromatic aberrations. As it is a 0.5x macro lens, it is also suitable for food photography.

3.1 Dinner: Loach

We went to Komakata dojou to eat loach. I had never eaten loach before.

4 2017-08-14: Sapporo

We flew to Sapporo!

For lunch we had a delicious ramen at a random spot that we didn’t plan on visiting. Unfortunately I forgot what it was called.

4.1 Dinner: Traditional

We went to Oga traditional, which makes traditional Hokkaido food.

5 2017-08-15: Otaru

We took the Hakodate main line to Otaru.

Otaru is known for its seafood.

5.1 Lunch: Kaisen don

We went to Kitano donburiya takinami shokudou in the Triangle market.

5.2 Otaru sightseeing

5.3 Back to Sapporo

5.4 Dinner: Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan, or jingisukan, is a genre of Japanese yakiniku. This one probably was at Daruma.

6 2017-08-16: Sapporo

6.1 Lunch: Soup curry

Sapporo soup curry is a famous dish of the region and said to cure colds.

6.2 More Sapporo sightseeing

6.3 Dinner: Crab

We went to the Michelin-starred Hanasaki for extreme crab eating!

We had an immense king crab. Arthropod meat degrades within minutes so it is imperative to eat raw crab quickly. The chef cut off the legs of the crab and we alternated between taking a bite of a segment and the chef dipping the remaining crab leg in hot water to cook it further. So the first bite was completely raw but the leg became progressively cooked with each bite. It was very delicious and I have never had anything like that before.

7 2017-08-17: Osaka

We grabbed a miso ramen and then flew to Osaka.

7.1 Umeda Sky Building

I went to take pictures from the Umeda Sky Building!

7.2 Dinner: Tasting menu

We went to the Michelin-starred Kamoshiya Kusumoto for dinner.

8 2017-08-18: Kyoto

Prior to going to Kyoto for a day trip, we had a quick bite of takoyaki.

8.1 Fushimi Inari

8.2 Various Kyoto sightseeing

8.3 Dinner: Kaiseki

We went to Soujiki Nakahigashi. It is known for traditional Kyoto cuisine with a focus on vegetables but it also has some meat/fish dishes.

8.4 Back to Osaka

9 2017-08-19: Osaka

Kushikatsu, or fried skewers, are a specialty of Osaka (which is generally known for their fried foods in general).

9.1 Dinner: Wagyu

We went to Wagyu Matsushita for wagyu!

10 2017-08-20: Himeji, Hiroshima, Fukuoka

10.1 Himeji

We took the Shinkansen to Fukuoka, with stops in Himeji and Hiroshima.

At Himeji Station, I took a line scan photo of an N700A series.

10.2 Riding the train

10.3 Hiroshima

10.4 Fukuoka

For dinner we had basashi, or raw horse meat! I am not a huge fan — it was chewy and much worse than wagyu beef in every way.

11 2017-08-21: Fukuoka

11.1 Lunch: Tonkotsu ramen

11.2 Dinner: Izakaya

We went to an izakaya called Kiharu no Gomasabaya.

12 2017-08-22: Ibusuki

For lunch we had Tousenkyou Soumen Nagashi but I didn’t take any photos since I was too busy catching noodles.

We enjoyed a great sand bath. However, sand is coarse and rough and irritating and gets everywhere so I didn’t risk bringing my camera.

12.1 Dinner: Ryokan

We stayed at the amazing Shusuien.

13 2017-08-23: Kagoshima

13.1 Lunch: Katsu

13.2 Kagoshima sightseeing

14 2017-08-24: Back to Tokyo

14.1 Dinner: Yakitori

We went to Torie for some really delicious and fancy yakitori.

15 2017-08-25: Tsukiji and Ginza

We went to the Tsukiji fish market.

15.1 Breakfast: fish

After lunch the fish market is relatively empty since it is busiest in the early morning. Still, there was a lot going on.

15.2 Second breakfast: tuna

15.3 Ginza

15.4 Lunch: Tempura

We went to the acclaimed and fancy Tenpura Kondo. Unlike lesser tempura places, this one gets its fish fresh from Tsukiji and lightly fries it so that the fish taste is preserved and the inside is exquisitely tender.

15.5 Roppongi

We went up Mori tower.

Then we somehow went back to Shinjuku.

15.6 Dinner: Teppanyaki

For dinner we went back to Ginza, at the amazing Ukai Tei.

16 2017-08-26: Tokyo

We hung out in Akihabara.

16.1 Lunch: Katsudon

For lunch I got a katsudon.

For dessert we got this bread thing.

16.2 Dinner: Tsuta

We went to the Michelin-starred Tsuta, probably the most famous ramen restaurant in the world. It was pretty good I thought but my friends were less impressed.

17 2017-08-27: Chiba

17.1 Lunch: Omurice

17.2 Chiba sightseeing

17.3 The flight back

Unfortunately, despite showing up hours ahead of time, they wouldn’t let us check in to our flight. Earlier, we also tried online check in but their website had a problem. As a consequence we had to take the next flight which necessitated a transfer in Hawaii. In fact, when we got to the gate, we found that our original flight hadn’t even began boarding yet, but oh well, more time for eating food!!!

We got a really delicious tekka don at the airport.

We were shocked that the Honolulu airport didn’t have air conditioning everywhere, and the food there was very bad.