richarddd

We are flying through NRT in November and thought we'd stay 48 hours in Japan - landing at about 8:00pm one day and taking off about 7:30pm two days later. We could take a night train somewhere, stay a bit more than a full day, than train back.

We've been to Japan twice, seeing Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji and Osaka.

What would be a good place to visit - preferably shrine/temple or a beautiful setting?
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W9London

Nikko or Hakone? In any case, you'll probably have to spend the first night in either Tokyo or Narita as you are arriving quite late in the evening.

Start early the next day, do an overnight, then come back to your connecting flight. I think Nikko would be slightly less travelling from Narita. In November, I think you might be in time for red maples.

kja

I agree that Nikko would be a good choice for temples in a beautiful setting, as well as for Lake Chuzenji and its waterfalls. As W9London suggests, you could stay at Narita or in Tokyo the first night and then have a day and a half to see Nikko before returning for your flight - perfect timing! Enjoy!

richarddd

We are leaning strongly towards Nikko.

Is there enough to do for a day and a half in Nikko?

We got a slightly earlier flight, so we should be landing at 6:45p.

Where would be a good place to stay in Tokyo for easy train connections from NRT and then on to Nikko?

hawaiiantraveler

I would take the airport limosine bus to a Shinjuku or Asakusa hotel and leave in the early morning for Nikko.

I would check into the Senhime Monogatari Ryokan early, leave my bags there, and go outside to the bus stop and catch the next bus to Lake Chuzenji. Get off at the Lake C bus terminal and walk around taking in the lake views and small town. Have lunch and check out the waterfall then take the bus back to Senhime to begin your ryokan experience. If you get back to early just cross the street of the ryokan and go uphill to the Toshogu Shrine

Here are some sites that may interest you:

http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/nikko/senhime.htm

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3805.html

easily done

Aloha!

richarddd

That sounds good.

However, the issue with a Ryokan is that I'm a vegetarian (no meat or fish). Unless it's serving Shojin Ryori, I'll have a problem with the meal, which seems a significant part of the Ryokan experience.

hawaiiantraveler

Not as much of a problem as you may think. You can discuss your needs and vegan wants with the ryokan ahead of time.

Nikko is famous for its many versions of yuba. I personally don't think the vegan menu a problem.... just ask

There is always the Turtle Inn or Turtle Inn Annex

Aloha!

kja

A small addition to hawaiiantraveler's suggestion: On the way to Lake Chuzenji, get off at the observation deck for the views!

KimJapan

The problem you may have with most Japanese dishes is the dashi (soup stock), which is made with fish 90% of the time. Even the tofu/yuba restaurants use regular dashi, and often include meat in the food as well, too, unless they specifically say they do not. Seemingly innocent foods like udon and soba are served with tsuyu, which is soy sauce mixed with dashi, which is made with fish.

Dashi can be made from dried mushrooms (shitake dashi), as in shojin ryori. You can also explain your dietary needs to the ryokan and ask if they can accommodate you...be sure to include in your explanation that even dashi is not acceptable for you.

Vegetarian is not difficult in Japan IF you know what to watch out for. You will need to be very careful of cooking method of everything...what looks like boiled vegetables and tofu is just that, but it has been boiled in dashi (which is what gives it its unique flavor). Snack foods like flavored chips and other salty snacks more often than not contain meat and/or fish extract for flavoring. The rolled egg (tamagoyaki) that you see in sushi restaurants and Japanese breakfasts contains dashi. The steamed custard dishes (chawanmushi) also contains dashi.

You will need to ask about every dish. A good ryokan will be able to accommodate your dietary restrictions and still serve delicious food to you, but don't assume anything. Many times we have encountered problems with vegetarian requests...salads with bacon served after specifically asking for no meat or eggs, vegetarian pizza with hot dogs (no kidding!), vegetarian lasagne - lovely eggplant and potato noodle substitutes but put together with meat sauce (served after twice confirming that it contained no meat), udon served in regular dashi after explaining a fish allergy...waitress said there was no fish, just dashi, and then was embarrassed when she realized that the dashi was fish broth. It's not that anyone is deliberately trying to undermine your dietary needs....it's that they just don't get it and just don't think about it beyond the surface.

I'm not trying to scare you or tell you it will be impossible to keep vegan, but I am telling you that you will have to be vigilant about confirming and reconfirming that food prepared for you will be ok for you to eat.

KimJapan

These links might be helpful:

http://www.geocities.com/outoftowntoby/expressions.html

http://www.veganjapan.net/index_engl.html

richarddd

On previous travels to Japan I've mainly eaten Italian, Subway (the sandwich chain) and other non-Japanese cuisines.

I've read too many times about people getting fish stock or bacon bits or whatever in vegetarian sounding dishes, even after long explanations about dietary needs.

KimJapan

That's exactly why I posted what I did. Indian is a good option, too.

TokachiM

Often a ryokan will give you a discount if you tell them you don't want to eat there. Then you'll have to find your own stuff, but . . . it might be worth the peace of mind.

I think there's enough to fill a nice afternoon and leisurely morning in Nikko -- it was lovely, and I wished I had more than one night there. If I remember right, the train connection is near Asakusa in Tokyo, and that's a great place to explore, too. It's a temple area.

Nikko, of course, is famous for the "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" monkeys. Get a good guidebook; IIRC, they aren't clearly marked . But the carvings are just really entertaining, and there's more than the three monkey boys there.