Atami, Japan (October 24, 2025)
Leaving Tokyo, Japan was challenging emotionally (nobody wanted to leave), and relatively easy to do via public transportation. The biggest question was about Elena’s big-ass bag. She read all sorts of warnings about not bringing it on public transportation and the impossibility of having it on bullet trains.
None of that turned out to be true. It only cost us $16 to hedge our bets, so no big deal. For just $16, Elena was able to have her large bag taken door-to-door from our hotel in Tokyo to our AirBnb in Atami. Totally worth it (even if unnecessary).
Bill, Elena and Violet’s bag (in the background) on the bullet train
Just to be safe, I booked us “luggage seats” on the bullet train so that, if we were right about our assumptions, we’d see what kind of luggage space we had for the next few trains we’d be taking around Japan. And yes, there was plenty of room for our bags — even Elena’s largest.
We followed the guidelines and arrived 30 minutes before departure and got in line to board our train. Since we were at Tokyo station, we were at the very start of the train. Once this was clear, we looked around at all the vending machine options.
Can I just say, Japan’s vending machines are ON POINT. Clearly, they don’t have a problem with vandalism, because there are cameras and guards all around at most hours of the day. So therefore, you can buy just about anything from coffee to ice-cream to even FISH from a vending machine. Yes, you can get anything from a meal to snack 24x7 while waiting for your train. All reasonably priced.
When we got onto the train, what we noticed is that the seats were much, much better than many of the business class seats we’ve been on airplanes. Sure, they didn’t fully recline like the flatbed seats, but the comfort was amazing and the hour flew by. We could have stayed on this bullet train for many more hours vs. the one we actually used.
Upon our arrival, there were many things that stood out, but seeing a community of people soaking their feet in a public bath right outside the train station is what we zeroed in on. And yes, of course I needed to join in on this one.
Hot springs and a public foot bath right outside Atami train station
As this picture doesn’t do it justice, I’ll share a gallery of images so that you can see for yourself what I joined in on with my fellow travelers in Atami. You’ll also notice very few people were on their mobile phones. This is a wonderful trend and one I look forward to noticing more often.
And here’s where we saw the vending machine that served fish. Cooked fish as far as we could tell and as far as our Google Translate would inform us. I’ve heard of gas station sushi, but never a fish dispensing vending machine. I finally reached the edge of my comfort zone. Not ready to try this one out just yet.
My adventurous spirit apparently DOES have a limit. This is it!
But, I was totally willing to jump into all the cut out boards that Atami offered up for their social media campaigns and as part of their “stay in Atami” travel and tourism efforts.
In addition to all the cool mall-like experiences near the Atami train station, we did venture out to the main markets and do some grocery shopping. We are staying in an airbnb for the next few days and needed to get some supplies before hailing a taxi to our new home.
Our airbnb host gave us a picture in Japanese to show the taxi driver and also told us how to locate her spot on Google Maps. The roads going into the hills were windy (according to Google, it’s the same spelling to talk about a windy road vs. a windy day — which we had both in addition to rain). Thankfully, my Google Maps helped the taxi driver find our airbnb and we got there without too much trouble.
All the travel was worth it for the view:
View from our airbnb overlooking Atami, Japan
Despite the 3-day rain forecast (predicted to be non-stop with less than an hour break per day and always cloudy), we’re glad to be here — our next adventure together in Japan.
