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Trip from US, Midwest to Tokyo, which airport?
Thanks. Appreciate any input. Plan on staying more centrally located, yes we will be tourists. But plan on other places like Kyoto etc. So maybe near trains that can take to other cities.
Thanks.
tbh the airport question kinda sorts itself once u book, the thing i'd actually think about is luggage. if u do tokyo then kyoto then maybe osaka, u dont wanna be hauling a big suitcase on the shinkansen every leg. use takuhaibin, the luggage forwarding, hotels and conbinis handle it, like 2000 yen a bag and it shows up next day. send ur big bag ahead to the kyoto hotel and travel with a daypack, changes the whole trip.
also dont sleep on where u stay in kyoto itself. near kyoto station is convenient but dead, the good stuff is up around sanjo and gion.
Coming from the Midwest, your routing usually decides this for you. Most Midwest hubs only have one direct Tokyo flight and it's almost always into HND, so check that first before you get attached to a specific airport. If you're connecting through Chicago or Dallas anyway, an open-jaw into HND and out of KIX is worth pricing since the connection cost often eats the savings from a cheaper NRT fare.
One thing on the central base: Tokyo Station and Ueno are solid, but if you're doing multiple Kyoto/Osaka runs, price the JR Pass before you commit. It went up a lot in 2023 and for a single round trip it often doesn't pay off anymore, so a la carte shinkansen tickets can be cheaper.
Since you're doing Kyoto and probably Osaka, think about which side of Tokyo you actually sleep on for the first and last nights. If you fly into HND, Shinagawa and Ueno both work, but there's also the Tokaido line angle people skip: you can base in Yokohama for the Kyoto leg and it's actually a nozomi stop, 15 min from Shinagawa, cheaper hotels, and a totally different vibe from Tokyo proper. For a tourist it's a bit of a detour though, so only worth it if you've already done Tokyo before.
The detail that bit me once: your JR Pass or shinkansen seat reservations open exactly one month out, 10am Japan time. Set a reminder, because Kyoto bound trains on a Friday or any holiday week fill up within a day or two, and unreserved cars on the nozomi are standing room only by Osaka. Booking the moment it opens costs nothing extra and saves the scramble.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.