90 Instagram captions for Japan

travel

10 Jun

I've been to Japan more times than I planned. First as a wide-eyed graduate finally ticking off a trip I'd watched classmates talk about all through university.

That first trip involved autumn leaves in Nikko and a visit to Oshino Hakkai, where Mount Fuji cooperated just enough for photos.

Then again (and again) as a cruise ship crew member, squeezing as much as I could out of port stops in Tokyo, Osaka, Kagoshima, the islands of Okinawa...

It wasn't always deep exploration, but Japan has a way of being beautiful even in passing.

So if you're looking for Japan captions for Instagram, here's the list. One-liners, puns, quotes, and a few things to caption that photo from your Japan trip. Witty, a little dry, and hopefully more memorable than "land of the rising sun" for the fifteenth time.

The best Japan captions for your Instagram posts

A torii-fic view
Cherry-shing every moment
J.A.P.A.N – Just A Peaceful Aesthetic Nation
Took the train everywhere and arrived on time every single time. Unhinged behaviour.
The shinkansen: travel at 320 km/h, eat a bento, and not spill a drop of green tea
Hanami is just a socially acceptable excuse to eat snacks under trees
Petals are falling. Taking a picture before it’s just… twigs again.
Where the toilet has more settings than a laptop, located inside a centuries-old house
Loudly slurp noodles to show appreciation, but whisper on the train or face silent judgment. Japan's rules, not mine.
Thousand-year-old temples. Vending machines every ten steps. Japan contains multitudes.
Nothing says "recharged" like sitting in scalding water voluntarily
Onsen: get naked, get quiet, and get in
Found a shrine tucked between two vending machines. Only in Japan.

Food

Udon know how much I love Japan
Miso grateful, miso happy, miso here
Tempura-rily living my best life
Having a ramen-tic dinner for one
Sushi-ously though, Japan never misses
Life is gouda… wait, wrong country. Life is miso good
Ramen-ber this moment forever
Matcha made in heaven
I've got a real matcha problem and zero plans to fix it
Triangles have never meant this much to me
3am, a konbini, an onigiri. Peak Japan.
The konbini is the real tourist attraction
Tempura-rily forgetting all my problems
I’m tempured to stay longer
Bento there, ate that
Mochi in love with this country
Sake it all in
Let’s ramen-tise our love for this city
Onigiri: you don't know if it's salmon or sour plum until you unwrap it. Life's little gamble.
Bento: a packed lunch with higher standards and more food art than I will ever produce
I’m on a miso-n to eat all the noodles
Soba so good

Konbini

A convenience store that is actually convenient. Japan had to come and show everyone how it's done.
7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart: the holy trinity of not going hungry at 2am
Hot food, cold drinks, ATM, umbrella, existential peace — all under one roof
I have eaten better from a konbini at midnight than from restaurants I've paid three times more for
Japan's convenience stores are doing more for tourism than any guidebook
Spent ¥800, felt like a king

Places

Tokyo

Totemo into Tokyo
Tokyo drifted into my heart
To-go list: everything in Tokyo
Shibuya crossing: where everyone has somewhere to be and I have nowhere to be
Ueno what? I’m not ready to leave
The green light flashes and 3,000 people move at once. Somehow nobody collides.
Golden Gai: where every bar is the size of a secret and everyone's in on it
Tokyo Skytree: notably not a tree
Akihabara is what happens when a city fully commits to a niche. Every niche. All of them.
Shinjuku is exhausting, confusing, wildly expensive, and absolutely unforgettable.
Shibuya Crossing: a 45-second human stampede
The fashion in Harajuku makes me realise I have been dressing on the lowest difficulty setting
You can wear anything in Harajuku. The only wrong answer is boring.
Trains so punctual they hired professionals to push people into carriages

Kyoto

Gion with the wind
Bamboo-zled in Arashiyama
Having a torii-fic time
Just passing through... via 10,000 torii
A 1,300-year-old vermilion-painted stairmaster that tricks you into walking up a mountain

Nara

Nara deer have four moves: bite, kick, headbutt, and knock you clean over
A peaceful escape until you're surrounded by politely aggressive, cracker-fuelled wildlife
Where bowing lessons are taught by deer who will not wait for you to catch on
The deer are friendly. They're also not.
Todai-ji Temple houses a 15-metre bronze Buddha. And somehow the deer outside still steal the show.

Osaka

Where the motto is kuidaore — eat until you drop
Dotonbori: a district designed by someone who really loved food
Osaka Castle: 1600s on the outside, 2000s on the inside
The food is big, the signs are bigger, and the portions are biggest
Came for takoyaki. Stayed for everything else. Left nothing on the plate.

Fukuoka

Hakata ramen: tonkotsu broth so thick and rich I reconsidered every bowl of ramen I'd had before
Yatai stalls: plastic stool, river view, strangers on either side. Somehow the best dinner of the trip.
Fukuoka keeps getting called the most liveable city in Asia. Having been, I'm not arguing.
Mentaiko on everything. No complaints.
Fukuoka feels like Japan with its tie loosened

Hiroshima

A city that had every reason not to rebuild, and rebuilt anyway
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park will take up more of your day than you planned. Go anyway.
Hiroshima is not only its history. It's also, somehow, the best okonomiyaki you'll ever eat.
Itsukushima: a floating torii gate, free-roaming deer, and one of the better views in Japan

Hakone

Came for Fuji. Got clouds. Stayed for the onsen anyway.
If you see Mount Fuji on your first trip, you're lucky. If not, Japan is just giving you a reason to come back.
A volcano that regularly plays hide-and-seek with tourists behind the clouds, and wins.
Fuji-tive from real life
Showed up for the mountain. The mountain was not available.

Sapporo

Sapporo in February: beautiful, extremely cold, and full of people who flew in specifically to look at ice
Millions of people fly in to stand outside in minus temperatures and look at ice. Voluntarily. See you there.
Odori Park in winter: ice sculptures. In summer: beer gardens. Sapporo is consistent about having a good time.
Far enough north to feel like a different country. Close enough to Tokyo to have no excuse.
Walked into the woods and forgot I was in a city for a while

Okinawa

Okina-wow
Oki-noway I'm going back to work
Japan's tropical escape, where people live to 100 on purple sweet potato, pork belly, and 90% humidity.
The water is so clear it looks fake. It's not fake. I checked.
Where "island time" is less a pace and more a full philosophy
That shade of blue exists in real life. I was also surprised.