to both your points, I was made aware of these points and had the cards prepped for our vegan family members. We had gone over it might just be a happy-cow dining only situation outside of temple food in Kyoto but figured if people had specific spots this thread may be the best! 
Thanks for the added context!
They actually did have vegan soft serve for 50 Yen at IKEA in Shibuya and it was quite good.
A vegetarian hot dog was also available for a very affordable price.
Excellent Dennis! Great pic of you and your son at Fushimi Inari Shrine. Looks like an amazing experience.
Does anybody know if Luonto still takes reservations via Instagram? I sent a message a couple of days ago looking for an April reservation and haven’t heard back.
I think they set up a different handle for reservation requests and its in their profile. I used this in May.
That’s the one I used. Do you remember how long did it took before you heard back?
A couple hours
Regarding Luonto Wine Dining in Tokyo:
It also took just a few hours for me as well (through the DM for their reservation account on IG).
Yes, as of Nov 10
I had luck with email fwiw; though our trip is not until April 2026 they gave me days/times and were welcoming of some accommodation requests. I just have to follow-up/remind a little closer to our trip.
Following all of this closely as we begin to map out and book our trip for the spring. We are likely going early March at this point. Should have airfare booked over the holiday break.
we arrive in Tokyo on April 10th for a 17 day trip.
hoping to visit Luonto around the 12-14th
Does anyone have any other recommendations in Tokyo for excellent wine BTG (besides Luonto)?
You can try Izakaya VIN and Legrand wine bar definitely fancier but has some great champagne and Burgundy btg but not cheap.
Perfect - I’ve got Izakaya Vin on our list for our trip in a few weeks. Tacking Legrand onto the trip as well, appreciate the rec!
So we are booking our trip over the holiday break. Already have airfare (direct flight in and out of Tokyo) and were thinking of the following breakdown of stays. 6 nights in Tokyo. 3 nights in Osaka (but losing travel time on the first and last day) and 5 nights in Kyoto and then taking the train from Kyoto on the morning we depart back to Tokyo for our flight home. Planning some day trips via train from Tokyo and Kyoto as well.
If anyone has any must see day trips, please let me know. We are definitely doing Nara. Any smaller towns outside of Tokyo with great views of Mt. Fuji? We are looking at hotels and restaurants now as well and hoping to have everything booked before NYE. We are experienced travelers with no kids so all recommendations welcome.
Thanks all!
A day trip to Kamakura from Tokyo. Lots of temples and history there; and there is a nice beach.
I would try to do Himeji Castle while you are in Kyoto. It’s a long day trip, but worth it. It is probably the best preserved castle in Japan. You can also stop by Kobe when you are returning from Himeji, which has a cable car that goes up to Kobe Herb Garden up in the mountains. You get a great view of the city (and there are actually pretty fun trails right next to the shinkansen station in Kobe).
I wanted to check out the tea fields in Uji, but didn’t have time to go. It also has Byodo-In, a UNESCO world heritage site.
Hiroshima from Kyoto was rewarding
For viewing Mt. Fuji, I think Moto-Hakone-Ko at the southern end of Lake Ashi would be a good spot. You can make a day trip there from Tokyo, or from Odawara (a gateway to Mt. Fuji with its own bullet train station, so you can make it an overnight stop on your way to/from Kyoto).
I believe there are multiple viewing spots there but, for me, the “Panorama Lounge” at Narukawa Art Museum is hard to beat.
And, if you have time, you can extend the visit to Moto-Hakone-Ko to the whole “Hakone Loop. It involves a ferry that is made to look like a pirate ship(!) to get to the north end of Lake Ashi, then two ropeways that travel above volcanic mountainsides with vents spewing sulfur-infused steam, and a cable car to get back to town. (Actually, that’d be a reverse loop since most people would come to Moto-Hakone-Ko at the end. But you may want to start there instead since you have the best chance of clearly seeing Mt. Fuji in the morning.)
