This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ssntipro182 on 2024-09-03 07:58:21+00:00.

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I think it's always important to give back to a community that helped me so much while making my itinerary.

My trip was a trip from Europe for 16 days in August, started on the 14th and we got back on the 31st.

First I'll start with some general recommendations:

1. Hotels near a station are a great resource and time saver even if they are a little bit more pricey, they save a lot of time.
2. Google maps was perfect, great directions, great suggestions of "train exits" and train wagon. Only issue can be with "subterranian" malls in which you might get disoriented.
3. Going in the summer might be a "bad" idea if you mind being constantly sweating and are planning to walk a lot and make a "tight" itinerary, if you have a lighter itinerary or plan to mix between walking and shopping (places with A/C) it isn't so bad, so don't fear the summer.
4. Any IC card will save you a lot of time, saw people lining up to buy tickets and I think that kinda takes a lot of time, we got our Welcome Suica at the airport (T3).
5. Konbinis are everywhere and food is good and cheap, but don't miss the opportunity of hitting local restaurants, everything I ate was great.
6. Cash is definitely necessary even more in temples and shrines, so plan accordingly, don't be without a little cash as you might need it and not have an atm nearby.
7. eSIM was really useful, I used 7gbs in 16 days and that is while forgetting to "not use it for social networks". Just have google translate and maps previously downloaded.

Our itinerary was like this:

Day 1:

• Arrive at Haneda and take a flight directly to Hiroshima (we did this because we were already in an airport and because we didn't want to take Shinkansens to and from Tokyo).
• Limousine bus to Hiroshima Station, send our luggage to Osaka (we took 2 days clothing in our backpacks)
• Hiroshima Castle
• Peace Memorial, Park and Museum.

Day 2:

• Day trip to Miyajima early:
  • Pagoda
  • Itsukushima Shrine and floating Torii
  • Mount Misen cablecar (one way as we walked down on our own, I don't recommend it if you are out of shape, it took a good toll on my knees)
  • Daisho-In temple
  • Floating torii with low tide
• Back to Hiroshima at 5pm to do some shopping (Ghibli store, Pokemon Center, souvenir and Uniqlo)
• Took Shinkansen to Osaka at 9:30pm
• Arrived in Osaka at 11pm and took subway to our Hotel

Day 3: (Osaka day 1)

• Osaka Castle
• Osaka Station comercial zone
• Yasaka-Namba Shrine
• Sennichimae shopping street
• Shinsaibashi (cookware street)
• Pokemon Center
• Dotonbori. (We ate at Ichiran ramen, 25 minutes queue)

Day 4: (Osaka day 2)

• Katsuo-ji temple
• Isshin-ji temple
• Shitenno-ji temple
• Tsutenkaku tower and commercial zone.
• Umeda Sky building (from before sunset until it got dark)
• Dotonbori (we ate some takoyaki and then went to a Okonomiyaki restaurant)

Day 5: (USJ day)

• We had purchased early entry USJ tickets (15 minutes before) but we arrived 1:45 hours before "real opening time" (the normally open 1 hour before). They have a separate line for "early entry" and they get in 15 minutes before everyone else, we were literally the 2nd couple in the park and the third into Mario World (people run ahead of us)
• The park was great but it was extremely packed, over an hour on every attraction minimum (the best ones had between 2 and 3 hours wait time), we got to see everything we wanted

Day 6: (Kyoto day 1)

• Early train to Kyoto, left our luggage at the hotel reception (without doing check in).
• To-ji temple
• Kyoto Pokemon Center
• Nishiki Market (tried my first kobe beef, it was glorious, there are pictures of my face that I won't share that express how great it was) we ate a few things more
• Nishiki Tenmangu (small shrine at the end of Nishiki Market)
• Nintendo Kyoto
• Hard Rock Cafe Kyoto (only rock shop for now)
• Pontocho Alley (we ate at a Gyukatsu store, I really liked the experience)

Day 7: (Kyoto day 2)

• Kiyomizu-dera really early
• Sannenzaka and Ninnenzaka streets and pagoda photos (luckyly we had great luck with this spots as they weren't as crowded as I had expected)
• Sanjusangendo Temple
• Heian Jingu Sanctuary
• Eikando Temple (we had this in our itinerary for the day, we got there at 4:05pm as the closing time was 5:30 pm, but they close admissions at 4pm, so we left it for the next day)
• Okazaki Shrine
• Walk in Gion and Miyagawacho

Day 8: (Kyoto day 3)

• Fushimi-Inari early (not as early as we had planned), we went to the top and down through the other part, honestly the top is not the best part at all, so if you only want good pictures, you can stop at the first "viewpoint" halfway to the top
• Nijo Castle
• Eikando Temple
• Kyoto Tower and Kyoto tower "food court"

Day 9 (Kyoto day 4)

• Arashiyama Bamboo forest (Honestly, just an instagram/photo location)
• Saga torimoto district
• Adashino Nenbutsuji temple
• Otagi Nenbutsuji temple
• Kinkaku-Ji temple (another instagram photo, but a much more stunning one than Arashiyama, it's a beautiful temple and gardens)
• Dinner at ChaoChao Gyozas (good variety, long of queue)

Day 10 (Nara trip day)

• Spent the day around deers and walking the park, checking the temples
• At around 4pm we went to the mochi shop, saw the shop, tasted some mochi and took a trip back to Kyoto
• Sent our luggage to Tokyo
• Pontocho again, but ended up eating somewhere else

Day 11 (Tokyo day 1)

• Early shinkansen to Tokyo (We left carry-ons and 1 backpack at Tokyo Station)
• Zozoji temple
• Tokyo tower "subway stairs" spot photos (there was a long queue as people took their time with them)
• Hard Rock cafe roppongi
• Ginza (it was a sunday so they make it a free to walk street)
• Pokemon Center Tokyo Dx
• Akihabara (our hotel was right beside the station)

Day 12 (Tokyo DisneySea)

• Really packed, we were lucky to get a standby ticket to Tangled attraction so we were able to see "Fantasy Springs"
• We walked the park, jumped on some attractions and stayed until the night show
• Beautiful park, but really packed everywhere
• I personally dislike the fact that you have to pay to enter some attractions after paying for a ticket, but I think that's the way Disney is doing it everywhere now

Day 13 (Tokyo day 3)

• Meiji Shrine and Imperial gardens
• Tokyo Metropolitan goverment building observation deck
• Shinjuku (daylight visit) cat, Godzilla, shopping streets
• Shibuya crossing (arrived early afternoon)
• Shibuya Parco (shopping mall)
• Shibuya Sky (we didn't get afternoon tickets so we only had the night view)

Day 14 (Tokyo day 4)

• Senso-ji temple
• Namikase street
• Turistic information center viewpoint
• Kappabashi cookware and knife shopping
• Hard rock cafe ueno
• Ueno Toshogu sanctuary
• Benten-do temple
• Tokyo Skytree (only the shopping part, we didn't go to the top)

Day 15 (Tokyo day 5 - Yokohama trip)

• Yokohama, Minato Mirai, trying to find some "pokemon manhole covers", red brick district, ramen noodles museum, ferris wheel and Chinatown (we ate a lot of things here)
• Hard Rock cafe Yokohama
• Pokemon Center Yokohama
• Trip to Odaiba
• Some photo spots: Rainbow bridge (we only saw white light as I think it's rainbow only in december), Unicorn Gundam. Fuji Tv Building and Statue of liberty

Day 16: (Tokyo day 6, last day)

• We had planned a walk through Chiyoda and the Tokyo Imperial Palace (Kokyo) but it was heavily raining, so we skipped it and went directly to Sunshine City
• Sunshine City shopping mall (Hard rock cafe, Harry potter, Pokemon Center, Ghibli, Bandai, Gashapon, etc)
• Shinjuku at night, same spots as daylight but added: Kabuchiko, Omoide Yokocho, golden gai and some arcades. We had dinner at a Yakiniku restaurant
• Some last arcades at Akihabara (near hotel)

Day 17 (Trip back home).

• Had our flight at 9am, we took a train at around 5:30am and monorail to T3, quite easy to do (with 1 fullsize luggage, 1 carry-on luggage and backpack). We just used as many elevators as we could and the transports were not full, so we didn't really bother anyone
• Went to terminal 2 for some last pokemon machine shopping
• There are some konbinis both before security and after if you want to do a little bit of last hour shopping

Feel free to make any questions or ask for clarification, I'm more than happy to reply.

This was a really packed itinerary, but we did almost all we had marked as "must do" and even some more things. We had done a really good itinerary and had made research on everything, so we had the "history of places" written and we could read it on the spot.

Sorry if I named a Shrine temple and vice-versa or if I made a mistake in any name.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/SweeterGrass on 2024-09-02 15:58:10+00:00.

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First time visitor, long time travel soloist. I've been waiting for this trip since 2020, when covid changed my plans. At this point the trip pretty much planned itself, and I am hitting all the major places from all my previous 'practice' itineraries. I know not everything will go as planned, but I've tried to keep my days reasonable, and have no problem taking taxis if needed (especially in Kyoto).

I have a feeling that I may not be giving Tokyo the justice it deserves, but I'll hit some highlights along the way. So here it is. I'd love ny feedback. Thanks!

Day 1 Tokyo (Day 18 of month 11)

• Arrival HND at 15:00
• Check-in hotel (Otemachi)
• Senso-ji
• Akihabra

Day 2 Tokyo

• Meiji Jingu
• Shinjuku Gyoen
• Kabukicho
• Omoide Yokocho
• Shibuya Crossing
• Shibuya Sky (sunset)
• teamLab Planets

Day 3 Takayama (**Relax Day)

• Tokyo to Takayama
• Check-in Ryokan (outside of town)
• Relax and Dinner at Ryokan

Day 4 Takayama

• Morning Market
• Higashiyama Walking Course
• Shōwa-kan Museum
• Takayama Jinya
• Dinner at Sakurajaya

Day 5 Shirakawa

• Takayama half-day
• 13:50 Bus to Shirakawa
• Check in at ꜱʜɪʀᴏʏᴀᴍᴀᴋᴀɴ
• Tour of Shirakawa @ 3pm

Day 6 Kanazawa

• Bus to Kanazawa
• Tea Ceremony in Kazuemachi Geisha District
• Check in hotel
• Higashi Chaya District
• Autumn Illumination at Kenrokuen Garden
• Dinner at Mekumi

Day 7 Kanazawa

• City Tour w/ Private Guide

Day 8 Kagaonsen (**Relax Day)

• Ryokan Stay (early check-in)

Day 9 Nara

• Train from Kagaonsen to Nara
• Kofuku-ji
• Sarusawa Pond
• Check in to ryokan
• Park and Todai-ji

Day 10 Koyasan (Road Trip)

• Car rental in Nara
• Horyuji Temple
• Yoshino and Mt. Takagi Observatory
• Check-in at Koyasan temple lodging
• Okunoin Temple and Night Cemetery Tour

Day 11 Koyasan to Kyoto via Nara

• Return car in Nara
• Train to Kyoto
• Check-in at hotel in Gion
• Dinner at Ryosho

Day 12 Kyoto

• Kiyomizu-dera
• Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka
• Kodai-ji Temple
• Maruyama Park
• Yasaka Shrine
• Bamboo Forest at Night Tour

Day 13 Kyoto (**Relax Day)

Day 14 Kyoto

• Fushimi Inari
• Kokedera (moss temple)
• Tea ceremony w/ Geisha

Day 15 Kyoto

• Kinkaku-ju
• Ryoan-ji (rock garden)
• Arashiyama
• Hozugawa River Cruise
• Sagano Romantic Train

Day 16 Hakone

• Open Air Museum
• Gora ryokan w/onsen

Day 17 Hakone

• Hakone Round Course

Day 18 Tokyo

• Nothing planned yet. I'll arrive around noon.

Day 19 Tokyo

• Imperial Palace
• Yanaka w/Cemetery
• Ueno Park

Day 20: Flight at 5:30pm (Dec 7)

• Half-day for last minute shopping

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/cahilljoe on 2024-09-01 10:58:44+00:00.

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Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone can clear up where I went wrong on my journey from my local station to Karuizawa and back over this weekend.

I dont understand how transferring to the shinkansen works if you've come from somewhere else by IC card and need to tap out.

1. I got on the JR train at my local (unstaffed, open ticket gate) station by tapping my pasmo, and headed directly to Ueno with no changes.
2. I arrived at Ueno station and, without leaving the train side of the station, tapped my pasmo at the same time as I entered my shinkansen ticket into the gate, and got on the shinkansen to Karuizawa.
3. I arrived at Karuizawa and put my shinkansen ticket into the exit gate, it was swallowed up as expected. I didn't do anything with my pasmo.
4. The next day, I put my return shinkansen ticket into the machine to enter Karuizawa station and got on the train back to Ueno.
5. I arrived back in Ueno, put my return ticket into the the shinkansen exit gate and tried to tap my pasmo but it flashed red - the gates opened and allowed me through however thanks to my shinkansen ticket.
6. Again, without leaving Ueno station, I headed home on my local JR train, knowing that I hadn't tapped in correctly and wouldn't be able to tap out.

As my station is unstaffed, I'll have to call them at the intercom tomorrow to explain what happened and figure out how to rectify it, as I assume my pasmo won't be working right now.

What did I do wrong? Where should I have/not have tapped?

Should I have tapped out and back in the next day at Karuizawa? Why did my pasmo flash red at the shinkansen gate Ueno if I was just trying to tap in to the regular train side to get home?

Apologies that this is so long! Japanese trains are confusing and I don't know how to explain this properly as I don't take the shinkansen more than once or twice a year.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/SiiiiiiiURo on 2024-09-01 13:01:40+00:00.

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【Tonight, all the 'I's are wearing 'E' masks】—borrowing a phrase from a friend. This is my first trip to Japan, and my original plan to visit Izu was canceled due to a typhoon, forcing me to buy a Shinkansen pass and head north. I ended up in Kakunodate, Akita, where I stayed at a random guesthouse. The next day, I unexpectedly found out there was a fireworks festival.

I exchanged cash, bought tickets, and searched for directions, finally finding my spot. The local couple next to me were very kind, wiping my chair and sharing edamame with me. Since they didn't speak English, we communicated through smartphone translation.

The hostess was a restaurant owner, and the host, upon hearing I came by Shinkansen, was very excited. He used to be a Shinkansen driver. I was intoxicated by the atmosphere of the fireworks festival. Local families, young and old, filled the streets, creating a bustling scene.

Food stalls were everywhere, and Japanese yukata attire was a feast for the eyes. People who didn't know each other toasted, shared delicious food, and cheered for the fireworks artisans together. This night was the highlight of my trip to Japan, and I had a great time (although I lost my wallet, the guesthouse hostess patiently helped me report it to the police).

I finally experienced the joy of Chinese anime fans who love Japan. I really love the culture and atmosphere of this country.

And as a Chinese person visiting Japan for the first time, I fell in love with Japan.

[I’m sorry that I made a mistake to use Japanese at R/japan without checking rules carefully.] Anyways, I love Japan and will definitely come here again.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Rasta_Lance on 2024-08-29 16:55:04+00:00.

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Had planned to leave from tokyo to kyoto on the 30th but was told the typhoon would cause the shinkansen to shut down. No worries we thought-we would leave on the 29th and beat the storm and get to stay an extra day in kyoto.

Got to the station, bought our tickets and boarded the train and it took off on time. About halfway through the route the train stopped and an announcement was made that the train was suspended due to the rain. However we did not stop at a stop we could actually get off at. Instead everyone was stuck in the train for over 10 hours.

Eventually the train reversed all the way back to tokyo station. I’m guessing it took so long because there may have been other trains behind us that needed to get out of the way.

The result was an adventure that led to nowhere except back to the hotel we started at in tokyo. makes for an interesting story nonetheless. talked to some other japanese passengers who said they’ve never experienced or heard of anything this bad ever happening to passengers on the shinkansen.

Can’t blame JR railways im sure they made the right call by suspending it. i’m glad we are all safe. it just sucks this wasted an entire day.

Edit: i’m trying to get to kyoto again right now is. round 2.

The area around nagoya station is flooded so we are taking a different route going from tokyo to Nagano, then from Nagno to Tsuruga, then from Tsuruga to kyoto. The train operator and our hotel reception confirmed this route is currently working absent any unforeseen typhoon changes. I’ll keep yall updated if we actually make it. If we do, we will be on schedule to make it to Kyoto which was the original plan.

edit 2: we made it to kyoto vis the route described above. it took much longer (5 hours vs 2.5) because it was the “long way” but it was nothing compared to being stuck on a stalled train for 10. Hotel/shinkansen adjustments and refunds have all been rectified and we are ready to enjoy kyoto!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/No-Plankton-7240 on 2024-08-27 10:26:51+00:00.

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TLDR: my childish dad made a big scene in Japan and showed me his immaturity. I don’t want to spend rest of time in Japan with him but unsure what to do. Do things alone(without mom and dad I’m 18)? Book flight home? Need advice

I’m in Japan with my mom and dad. Little backstory my dad is Chinese so he hates Japanese people. Before going on this trip I was very worried because he’s always upset and can never handle his emotions. Today we went to Chanel store in Japan, which the guy outside told us we need to wait at the store 12pm tommorow to get a reservation. Looking online, apparently foreigners need a reservation while locals can just enter. It’s definitely discriminatory but fine it’s unfortunate but what can be done. However, my dad started getting upset, and started swearing and everything making a scene in public. We decide to leave but my dad gets furious and starts wanting to go back and talk. I tell him to stop and just move on. He keeps swearing and making a scene and then decides to go up to the guy and press him about why we can’t enter. I pulled him back and I literally had to grab his bag and tell him to stop and move on. I told him to not make a scene out of this. He yells at me that he’s not making a scene. Bunch of swear words here and there and by this point everyone around is looking at us. He starts taking how they’re racist because we’re Chinese and that how come other ppl can just enter. I agree that it’s messed up but nothing we can do about it. He then gets furious and wants to head back again and I tell him to grow up. That he’s the dad and right now I’m taking care of him. This isn’t the first time this has happened he always gets furious at something then never admits that he is the problem. He’s trying to head back and I have to push him back to stop him from going, in which he starts swearing and swearing. I cannot believe that he is my dad and I feel embarrassed to be related to him because he’s everything I don’t want in a dad. I feel incredibly frustrated because I wanted a good vacation but the past 2 days, all his negative comments and remarks about Japan is making the trip gruelsome. I’m unsure what to do now. I want to have a good vacation but I can not stand being around him. I’m going to college in less than a month so it’s not like I’ll see him much either. I was thinking of booking a flight back home myself because I really cannot stand him. My mom would probably be willing to let me buy the ticket. I’m just unsure what to do because he never admits his actions were too much and I’m really frustrated with him. But I also had so much fun stuff planned to do, but I just don’t want to do any of it with him. Is solo tripping a good idea? I’m 18 have like $800 and I think my mom would probably be willing to fund me. I need advice idk what to

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/alyssaelman4 on 2024-08-25 16:12:30+00:00.

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I am hoping to get feedback on the itinerary I created. My husband and I are going to Japan in March 2025 for 12 nights. Flight are booked, as are hotels. However, hotels have free cancellation.

It has been so helpful reading other people's posts and we look forward to any additional comments / feedback! Of note, though we want to see as much as we can, we also dont want to hate ourselves and be utterly exhausted, so if you think these days are too packed, that would be helpful! Also, open to any restaurant or bar recommendations.

Thank you :)

~Tokyo (Day 1, Thursday)~

• 2:20 PM: Arrive HND
• Check into hotel in Shinjuku
• No plans this day, just doing whatever feels right

~Tokyo (Day 2, Friday)~

• Meiji Jingu Shrine
• Yoyogi Park
• Walk / Shop around Harajuku (Takeshita Street, Cat Street)
• Sushi lunch at Maguro to Shari
• Walk around Shibuya (Shibuya Scramble, Omotesando Street)
• Hoping to make sunset reservation at Shibuya Sky (sunset at 605 PM, reserve for 5 PM)
• Nonbei Yokocho
• Rainbow Karaoke

~Tokyo (Day 3, Saturday)~

• 7:00 AM: Tsukiji Outer Market (sushi dai or seagen; maruni)
• TeamLab Planets Museum (hoping for 9 AM reservation)
• Tokyo Imperial Palace (take taxi from TeamLab)
• Zojo-ji Temple grounds
• Explore Ginza (Ginza6, Ginza Itoya)
• Omakase dinner at XX

~Tokyo (Day 4, Sunday)~

• Sensoji Temple
• Walk around Asakusa
• Lunch on Hoppy Street
• Ueno Park
• Explore Akihabara

~Hakone (Day 5, Monday)~

• 11:00 AM: Check out of hotel, forward luggage to Kyoto
• Take Romance Car Train to Hakone
• Visit Open Air Museum
• 2:00 PM: Check into Ryokan and relax

~Kyoto (Day 6, Tuesday)~

• 11:00 AM: Check out of Ryokan
• Shinkansen to Kyoto
• 3:00 PM: Check into Hotel in Kyoto
• Nishiki Market (Horaido Tea Stall)

~Kyoto (Day 7, Wednesday)~

• Hire 10-hour private car charter to see the following:
  • Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
  • Nonomiya Shrine
  • Kameyama-Koen Monkey Park
  • Tenryu-ji Temple
  • Mikami Shrine
  • Gioji Temple & Garden
  • Ryoan-ji Temple
  • Kinkaku-Ji Golden Pavilion
• Dinner in Pontocho Alley

~Kyoto (Day 8, Thursday)~

• 7:30 AM: Fushimi Inari Taisha
• Cab to Philosophers Path Walk
• Walk around Geisha District (Higashiyama and Gion)
• ?Tea Ceremony somewhere

~Day Trip to Uji (Day 9, Friday)~

• Take train to Uji
  • Walk / Shop around Omotesando St.
  • Walk through Uji Park to Ujigami- jinja Shrine
  • Tsuen Tea House
  • ?tea ceremony (if not done day before)
  • Matcha Factory Tour at Marukyu Koyamean Factory
• Train back to Kyoto
• Drinks at Bar le Coq

~Osaka (Day 10, Saturday)~

• 12:00 PM: Check out of Hotel in Kyoto, forward luggage to Tokyo
• Train to Osaka
• 3:00 PM: Check into Osaka Hotel
• Osaka Castle (only viewing outside, skipping inside tour; considering skipping entirely)
• Umeda Sky Tower
• Yodobashi Camera Store
• Namba Shrine
• Shinsaibashi-Suji
• ?denden town (might have to skip this, seems out of the way, is it better than Akihabara?)
• ?Food Tour around dinner time
• this day is chaotic, i need to narrow down places

~Osaka (Day 11, Sunday)~

• Consider breakfast reservation at Happy Pancake
• Shinsekai
  • Tsutenkaku Tower
• 1:45 PM - 6:00 PM: See Sumo Tournament at Edion Arena (tickets on sale 2/8/25, use service to reserve)
• 6:30 PM: Dinner at Dotonbori

~Tokyo (Day 12, Monday)~

• 11:00 AM: Check out of Osaka Hotel
• Shinkansen to Tokyo
• 3:00 PM: Check into hotel in Tokyo
• Free afternoon in Tokyo
• Dinner & Drinks in Golden Gai and/or Omoide Yokocho Street

~Tokyo (Day 13, Tuesday)~

• 11:00 AM: Check out of hotel
• Free time for last minute errands
• 6:25 PM: Depart Tokyo from HND

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ben-southan on 2024-08-26 09:11:50+00:00.

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Here's my trip report from me and partners 33 day trip in Japan. We are currently travelling Asia so this is more towards keeping it low cost. I wouldn't say we scrimped our way through but there were moments we were could have spent tonnes but had to hold back. There were also moments we decided to spend a bit more as you never know when you might be back!

Not quite sure what the most effective way of detailing it is but I will break the itinerary up below and then go into further detail under each one. Unfortunately won't be able to remember each and every detail but will do my best to reply to anything!

Japan is part of our 4 month travel across Asia so we hadn't planned everything possible as we are also getting things sorted for other countries so didn't want to be constantly planning. This meant alot of stuff was done on the fly but I'd say all accomodation was sorted a month before and bullet trains a week or so.

We have also got a spreadsheet going from the last 2 years of traveling so i will be able to tell you every penny we spent in Japan below.

Total on meals & drinks: £1,893.83 Every meal or drink out.

Total on Other: £810.18 We count this as souvenirs, laundry, general shopping

Total on activities: £243 This included things like entering shrines and temples,Tokyo skytree, team labs etc

Total on travel: £810 From IC card top ups, bus tickets & train tickets.

Total on Accommodation: £1881.74 Includes all guesthouse on Kumano Kodo, and all hotels.

Total groceries (conbini trips haha): £289.78 This is mainly conbini trips & vending machines

Grand total for 2 people in Japan for 33 days:

£ 4,434.43 (excluding flights to Osaka)

Trip Itinerary

Osaka 5 nights ( arriving from Singapore late & includes a day to Nara)

• trip to katsuoji
• multiple trips to different ghibli stores
• Nintendo store
• okonomiyaki & takoyaki multiple times
• trying out all the different conbini stores (Lawson is the GOAT)
• exploring downtown Osaka day & night most days
• stumbled into amerikura
• having a whole rikori Cheesecake for dinner
• visiting the massive don quioti store at dontobori
• premium custard fish, absolute dream
• insane deep fried cream custard sandwich thing near JR Osaka station
• Nara - deer parks, numerous temples, fresh mochi and our first ramen.

Kumamo Kodo Hike 5 nights (one of the highlights of our trip)

• 6 day hike across the kii peninsula, (multiple options,.we did the nakehechi route) visiting multiple shrines, some of which are major ones.
• stay at guesthouses and countryside accomodations, sampling local food and onsens at accomodation
• without doubt one of the best things we did on this trip
• incredibly hot, would not recommend in summer haha
• the track itself is very shaded and in the forest alot so while it's not full of view after view its an amazing way to experience rural Japan and meet new people

Osaka 4 nights ( post hike recovery and day trip to Hiroshima)

• Hiroshima is well worth the trip especially with the Kansai wide Hiroshima pass, basically pays for the bullet train itself and the extra

Koyosan (1 night) - wonderful relaxed and spiritual place

• a little underwhelmed by our temple stay but that may be because we experienced similar cuisine / experience on the kumamo kodo
• okunuin cemetery was amazing and definitely recommend going at night
• visited various temples and significant sites such as the red pagoda, Daimon gate.

Kyoto 5 nights ( could have easily spent double the time in Kyoto)

• just a perfect city, plenty of places to escape the tourists
• recommend hiring bikes as it was super fun and allowed us to see lots of the city comfortably
• visiting fushimi inari at 6:00am, practically empty but the day before arrived at 5pm and crowds were perfectly manageable -old town area for sunrise
• Arashiyma Bamboo Grove, visited at 4pm and again crowds were fine
• nishiki market was a lovely wander, similar to the market in Osaka
• pottery class at donoma studio with Matcha soba at neighbouring restaurant
• lake biwa fireworks ( absolutely unreal)

Kanazawa (2 nights) - awesome city with loads of museums

• explored the castle ruins
• got a museum pass and went to over 10 random little museums
• hired bikes again ( the best way to explore imo)
• went to a local craft market and had some local food and did a few craft workshops
• had the best pizza of my life (perche)
• explored the small geisha district
• went to the massive japanese garden (forgot the name)

Takayama (2 nights) - great little old town area and just a nice relaxed feel

• beautiful train journey from kanazawa

• lovely old town which imo matches Kyoto

• Open air folk museum

---

Nagoya (2 night) - could have easily spent another day hear, massively underrated city imo

• We went to ichiran for the first time here and then subsequently went 7 times for the rest of our trip haha
• Toyota museum was fantastic and again, didn't really have enough time there.

Hakone ( 2 nights, with one day written off due to cyclone)

• Hakone open air museum
• Sadly no Mt Fuji views due to the cyclone but we used it as a gap before Tokyo to recharge our batteries.

Tokyo ( 5 nights)

Can't remember the exact days but will summarise what we did below across the entire time.

-Arrived around 17:00 on the first day so just went for a relaxed walk around asakusa. -Ichiran ramen again

• HEY arcade in Akihabara
• Visited Shibuya crossing and did a spot of shopping
• Shinjuku for the smalls lanes and bars. Also headed to the batting cage to embarrass ourselves at our attempt of baseball
• Teamlabs borderless ( worth a trip if you have spare time)
• Kura Sushi - conveyor belt sushi restaurant
• Torikizoku - restaurant chain where everything is 370 yen
• Tokyo Skytree at sunset
• Hit up round 1 in ikebukuro for some arcade gaming
• Stumbled upon the Kabuki Theatre and managed to get tickets. Highly recommend and you can get live English subtitles.

What's not mentioned on any of the above is the amount of time just wandering around and taking it all in! Me and my partner are keen photographers so we often spend a lot of free time just wandering around taking photos.

Our itinerary in hindsight wasn't perfect but I think it's important to mention this as you simply can't pre plan and do everything you want to do. We actual had a lull at one point on our trip because we were thinking we weren't doing enough as we could, but in reality, if we did any more we would just burn out.

A few added little tips that we feel should be mentioned:

Rucksacks on the trains ok - be considerate and book space for extra baggage on shinkansen. My 60L backpack actually fit above on most trains. Handy if you are on a budget and can't afford luggage forwarding

Summer Heat - Yes it is hot. And it is humid. But we didn't find it changed our trip too much. We actually found it gave us a reason to have a break as we were clocking well over 20,000 steps a day.

Instagram Perception - It's hard to ignore that Japan is all over Instagram and while that's amazing and really good for the country it, in our opinion gives you an almost unattainable image of Japan being this super futuristic country with endless amounts of fun and a constant dopamine rush. I guess it could be like this if you had unlimited cash but we felt that Tokyo for example was mainly shopping, but again when you aren't on a budget your approach could be different. We really enjoyed bar hopping around golden gai but between 2 bars and 3 drinks we shifted £50 between us, which for some would be fine.

Vending machines & plastic waste - We were genuinely surprised out of much plastic was being used so flippantly all around Japan. Conbinis giving you plastic cutlery, tissues in plastic wrapper, plastics bags. Temples giving you one time use plastic covers for your shoes.

We loved our time in Japan and wouldn't change a thing, yes we would ideally not go in summer but that in itself was an experience and on the whole was fine. We've already got a list of places we want to explore next time we come back!

Happy to answer any questions and would just like to say reiterate my advice isn't gospel and trips can be vastly different depending on your budget and how much you want to squeeze in!

EDIT: stupidly forgot to add accommodation into the budget.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/mithdraug on 2024-08-23 19:45:22+00:00.

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Typhoon Shanshan is currently predictly to land in Japan on the night or morning of 28 August JST with sustained winds of over 80 knotw and gusts up to 120 knots and torrential rains.

As of morning of 24 August, the predicted path has the typhoon landing on Kii Peninsula in Aichi or western Shizuoka on Wednesday, 28th with winds and rains starting to effect western Japan (primarily Shikoku and eastern Kyushu on the evening on 26th). Currently predicted path will affect western Japan on 27th and 28th, central and eastern parts of Honshu on 28th and 29th, and Hokkaido on 29th.

Widespread disruptions, including cancellations to railway travel, flights, as well as major flooding and landslides is expected.

Please plan accordingly - shelter in place during typhoon, plan your travel ahead of time and follow instructions of your hotel staff in case of evacuation orders being issued.

Do not plan 'typhoon watch parties' or any other silly stuff.

You can follow typhoon's tracking on JMA's website.

You can also see updated list of advisories - here

We will update you with information regarding shinkansen cancellations (and other major transport news) in this thread, but you can stay up to date via websites of the operators:

• JR East status information:
• JR Central status information:
• JR West status information:
• JR Shikoku status information:
• JR Hokkaido status information:
• JR Kyushu status information:
• Keikyu status information:
• Keisei status information:
• Tokyo Monorail status information:
• Nankai status information:
• Meitetsu status information:

Currently, JR Central expects widespread cancellations of services on 27 and 28 August, including Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen. JR East expects some cancellation of services including shinkansen and limited expresses from 27 August onwards.

For information on airport closures or inaccessabilty, follow the airport websites:

• Haneda Airport webpage:
• Narita Airport webpage:
• Kansai Airport webpage:
• Chubu Centrair Airport webpage:
• New Chitose Airport webpage:

For information regarding flight cancellations or info, please contact your airlines.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Trasias on 2024-08-22 16:47:29+00:00.

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Wife and I are planning our first Japan trip for early April, and I've already reserved accommodations and flights where I can with how busy I suspect the season will be. We've already cut a lot from our itinerary, so we are not overloaded, but I wanted some help to review. I've clumped everything by area, including which shrines and temples we are visiting to reduce travel time. Although I'm a bit history buff, to accommodate my wife I've reduced areas of interest drastically... but will still be dragging my wife along for my goshuin side-quest.

I'd appreciate any additional suggestions or restaurant recommendations! I have a list of places I've seen folks on reddit recommend and personal friends, as well as checking tabelog for places nearby. We are also hoping to find an English friendly karaoke bar somewhere in Tokyo for one evening!

Day-1 – Travel

• Arrival in Tokyo then Connecting Flight to Osaka
  • 4-Hour Layover at Haneda
  • Customs, Re-Check-In, Pick-Up Phone Sims at Bic Camera, Suica Cards
• Hotel Check-In near Namba
• Explore Dotonbori in the Evening

Day-2 – Osaka, Chuo Ward

• Morning
  • Free
• Afternoon
  • Pokémon Cafe Osaka Reservation
  • Parco Shopping
  • Hozen-ji Temple
  • Houonin Temple
  • Kozugu
  • Namba Yasaka Jinja
  • Hirota Shrine
  • Imamiya Ebisu Jinja
• Evening
  • Explore Shinsekai Town
  • Explore NIpponbashi Denden Town

Day-3 – Hyogo, Island Park

• Morning
  • Namba Jinja Shrine
  • Travel to Island Park
• Afternoon
  • Dragon Quest Park
  • Nijigen No Mori Godzilla
• Evening
  • Travel back to Chuo Ward
  • Explore Namba

Day-4 – Kyoto

• Morning
  • Travel to Katsuoji and Explore
  • Travel to Kyoto
• Afternoon
  • Ryokan Check-In
  • Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine
  • Explore Gion District
• Evening
  • Explore Pontocho Alley

Day-5 – Kyoto

• Morning
  • Walking Tour for Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijō Castle
• Afternoon
  • Nashinoki Shrine
  • Tetsugaku No Michi
• Evening
  • Free

Day-6 – Kyoto

• Morning
  • Nishiki Market
• Afternoon
  • Kyoto Ebisu Shrine
  • Yasaka Shrine
  • Ryōzen Kannon
  • Kiyomizu-dera
  • Jishu Shrine
• Evening
  • Fushimi Inari Taisha

Day-7 – Hakone

• Morning
  • Shinkansen to Hakone
• Afternoon
  • Ryokan Check-In
  • Hakone Shrine (Lake Ashi)
• Evening
  • Free

Day-8 – Hakone

• Morning
  • Free
• Afternoon
  • Private Onsen
• Evening
  • Free

Day-9 – Tokyo, Minato

• Morning
  • Travel to Tokyo, Shibuya
• Afternoon
  • Hotel Check-In (Shibuya)
  • Atago Jinja
• Evening
  • teamLab Borderless

Day-10 – Tokyo, Toshima and Nakano

• Morning
  • Explore Sunshine City and Surrounding Area
• Afternoon
  • Explore Nakano Broadway and Surrounding Area
• Evening
  • Free

Day-11 – Tokyo, Shibuya

• Morning
  • Kitaya Inari Shrine
  • Shibuya Hikawa Jinja
• Afternoon
  • Parco Shopping
  • Tōgō Shrine
  • Meiji Jingu
• Evening
  • Explore Shibuya

Day-12 – Tokyo, Akihabara

• Morning
  • Free
• Afternoon
  • Explore Akihabara and Surrounding Area
  • Yanagimori Shrine
• Evening
  • Free

Day-13 – Tokyo, Taito

• Morning & Afternoon
  • Nakamise Street
  • Hanazono Shrine
• Evening
  • Free

Day-14 – Travel

• Travel to Haneda Airport
• Late Afternoon Flight Home

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Firm-Research-8659 on 2024-08-21 23:15:10+00:00.

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This is my second trip to Japan, but last time I stayed in the Kansai region. This time I’m spending most of my time in Tokyo with a side trip to Hiroshima and Beppu. I mainly want to check my seven days in Tokyo itinerary to make sure we get the most out of it. Our main goals are food, sightseeing, food, culture, oh and food. I guess I just want to make sure that we cover the best areas and make the most of the time we have without over doing it. We are all in our late 40s :)

Day 1: Shibuya/Harajuku

Harajuku - Meiji Shrine Shibuya for Lunch - Shibuya Stream? Shibuya - Scramble Crossing and Hachiko Shibuya Parco Mega Don Quijote Shibuya Scramble Square and Shibuya Sky at dusk

Day 2: Tsukiju - Asakusa

Tsukiji Fish Market (outer market) Ueno Park Asakusa - Kaminari Gate and Sensoji Temple Asakusa - Nakamise Shopping Street Kappabashi Street

Day 3: Mount Fuji

Shinkansen to Mt. Fuji -Tokyo to Odawara stn Visit arount Fuji-san Hakone

Day 4: Shinjuku - Akihabara

Akihabara Station Akihabara - Yodobashi Camera Otaku - Super Potato Shinjuku Gyoen Shinjuku - Omoide Yokocho - Eat here? Kabuchiko in evening Golden Gai - in evening

Day 5: Rappongi - Team Lab

Team Lab Borderless Imperial Gardens? Or Tokyo Tower Roppongi Yakatabune - Night cruise around the harbour

Day 6: Ginza - Nihonbashi - Tokyo Central

Ginza Six - huge shopping mall Nihonbashi - Coredo Muromachi Tokyo Station Tokyo Ramen Street

Day 7: Free Day

Any areas that we missed or want to look at, last minute souvenirs

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/RT2021- on 2024-08-21 03:02:51+00:00.

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Hi everyone!

I’m very excited about my first trip to Japan. I will be travelling from 31 August till 26 September; arriving and departing from Tokyo, so 26 nights in total.

I want to travel around the country a bit leisurely, so def not cramming as many tick-off items as possible. There will be a next time for sure. Should it help, I have no interest in theme parks. 😉 If anything, probably a heavier focus on the food and nature.

I am sharing below my preliminary itinerary. The accommodation for Tokyo (Shinjuku), Nara and Osaka has been booked already, so no flexibility there. Those first 9 days/8 nights I will travel together with my partner, and I’ll travel solo the remainder of the trip. I have “grouped” some of the sights within each city or geographic radius, hopefully making it easier to select or drop things on a given day.

For convenience, I have simply written “days” that do not overlap, as I’m still figuring things out. But where I put a single day (e.g. Kawaguchiko), it presumes an overnight stay either before or after it. Hope this makes sense.

It would be great to hear your thoughts how feasible the below itinerary is (especially in terms of spread of the days in the different cities) and your suggestions to either drop/add things or shift things around (or stretch certain stays at the expense of others).

I have thrown Hokkaido into the mix as I’m quite curious about this island and to add more the nature component. A Japanese colleague also recommended it to be worthwhile. At the same time, I don’t know if 4 days would do it justice or if it is better to spread out my stay elsewhere on Honshu or finish with a few extra nights in Tokyo before leaving.

I have not accounted for "special accommodations", but will probably want to include a temple lodging and another ryokan too (we will stay in one in the Nara area).

As far as I understand, the following seem to be an absolute must to figure out and book asap, or right after landing in Japan: Suica card (only inside the airport), a one-month eSim (Airalo), any Shinkansen tickets (easier bought once arrived in Japan?). Perhaps I am missing something else? In terms of activities, I think TeamPlanets might be the only one from the below list that would require advance booking.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

• Days 1-4: Tokyo
  • Group 1:
    • Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
    • Kabukicho
    • Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
    • Omoide Yokocho
    • Golden Gai
  • Group 2:
    • Meiji Shrine
    • Harajuku (including Takeshita Street)
    • Omotesando
    • Nezu Museum
    • Shibuya Crossing
    • Shibuya Sky
    • Tokyo Tower
    • Hachiko Statue
    • Roppongi (including Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
  • Group 3:
    • Asakusa
    • Senso-ji Temple
    • Ueno (including Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum and Ueno Zoo Ameya-Yokocho)
    • Akihabara
  • Day trip: Kamakura
• Day 5: Nara
  • Todai-ji Temple
  • Nara Park
  • Kasuga Taisha Shrine
  • Naramachi
  • Local food must-tries: kakinoha-zushi, miwa somen
• Days 6-9: Osaka
  • Osaka Castle Park
  • Museum of History
  • Shinsaibashi
  • Dotonbori
  • Umeda (including Sky Building, Floating Garden Observatory)
  • Hankyu Umeda and Yodobashi Camera
  • Osaka Aquarium
  • Local food must-tries: Okonomiyaki, Negiyaki, Kushikatsu, Kitsune Udon
• Days 10-13: Kyoto
  • Group 1:
    • Nijo Castle
    • Kyoto Imperial Palace and park
    • Nishiki Market
    • Pontocho Alley
    • Kamo river
    • Gion/Hanamikoji
  • Group 2:
    • Arashiyama (Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji Temple, Okochi Sanso Villa, Togetsukyo Bridge, Monkey Park Iwatayama)
  • Group 3:
    • Fushimi Inari Taisha
    • Higashiyama
    • Kiyomizu-dera Temple
    • Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka
    • Kodai-ji Temple
    • Yasaka Shrine
    • Maruyama Park
    • Philosopher’s Path
    • Ginkaku-ji
  • Group 4:
    • Kinkaku-ji
    • Ryoan-ji Temple
    • Ninna-ji Temple
    • Daitoku-ji
    • To-ji Temple
  • Local food must-tries: kaiseki, kyo-yasai, shingen mochi, matcha sweets, yudofu, wagashi
• Days 14-18: Takayama or Kanazawa as base for day trips, including Shirakawago and Matsumoto
  • Kanazawa:
    • Kenrokuen Garden
    • Kanazawa Castle
    • Nagamachi Samurai District
  • Shirakawago:
    • Gassho-zukuri farmhouses
  • Takayama:
    • Takayama Jinya
    • Old town
  • Matsumoto:
    • Matsumoto Castle
  • Local food must-tries: Hoba Miso, Takayama Ramen, Kanazawa Curry, Jibuni, Gold Leaf Sweets, Soba noodles
• Days 19-21: Hiroshima
  • Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
  • Hiroshima Castle
  • Shukkeien Garden
  • Hondori Street
  • Kamiyacho
  • Daytrip to Miyajima:
    • Itsukushima Shrine
    • Omotesando
    • Miyajima Ropeway up to Mount Misen
    • Daisho-in Temple
  • Local food must-tries: okonomiyaki
• Day 22: Kawaguchiko (Mount Fuji)
  • Arakurayama Sengen Park
  • Chureito Pagoda
  • Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum
  • Local food must-tries: hōtō
• Days 23-25: Sapporo
  • Odori Park and the Sapporo TV Tower
  • Historic Village of Hokkaido
  • Hokkaido University campus
  • Susukino district
  • Hokkaido Shrine
  • Daytrip to Otaru
    • Otaru Canal
    • Sakaimachi Street
    • Otaru Music Box Museum
    • Kitaichi Glass Shop
  • Daytrip to Noboribetsu
    • Jigokudani
    • Onsen
  • Local food must-tries: Sapporo ramen

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ShooterElmer on 2024-08-21 01:55:00+00:00.

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I’m a solo traveler visiting Japan for the first time this November. I’d love to hear any feedback and recommendations for my trip!

Day 1: November 14 - Tokyo

• Arrival in Tokyo around 3 pm local time
• Evening: Explore the local area and have dinner

Day 2: November 15 - Tokyo

• Visit Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa
• Explore Ueno Park and Tokyo National Museum
• Evening in Akihabara

Day 3: November 16 - Tokyo

• Meiji Shrine and Takeshita Street in Harajuku
• Relax in Yoyogi Park
• Experience Shibuya Crossing and explore Shibuya in the evening

Day 4: November 17 - Hakone

• Travel to Hakone by train
• Visit Hakone Open-Air Museum and/or Lake Ashi

Day 5: November 18 - Kyoto

• Travel to Kyoto: Take the Shinkansen to Kyoto
• Visit Fushimi Inari Shrine
• Evening walk in Gion District

Day 6: November 19 - Kyoto

• Visit Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) and/or Ryoan-ji Temple
• Explore Nijo Castle
• Evening walk along the Philosopher’s Path

Day 7: November 20 - Kyoto

• Visit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and/or Tenryu-ji Temple
• Explore Iwatayama Monkey Park and/or Togetsukyo Bridge
• Enjoy a traditional kaiseki dinner

Day 8: November 21 - Nara

• Day Trip to Nara
• Visit Todai-ji Temple, Nara Park, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and Kofuku-ji Temple
• Return to Kyoto in the evening

Day 9: November 22 - Osaka

• Take a train to Osaka
• Visit Osaka Castle and/or Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
• Evening in Dotonbori

Day 10: November 23 - Osaka

• Spend the day at Universal Studios Japan or explore other parts of the city
• Evening visit to Umeda Sky Building

Day 11: November 24 - Tokyo

• Morning Shinkansen back to Tokyo
• Last minute shopping prepare to return home

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Long-Ad-7248 on 2024-08-20 06:45:05+00:00.

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---

Japan Itinerary - November 2024

10.11.2024: International Flight

🛫 Departure day!

---

11.11.2024 - 14.11.2024: Tokyo 東京 (3 nights)

Hotel: Mandarin Oriental

Planned Activities:

• Edomae Sushi
• Tempura
• Ghibli Museum
• Emperor's Palace
• And more...

---

14.11.2024 - 17.11.2024: Kyoto 京都 (3 nights)

Hotel: Celestine Gion

Planned Activities:

• Kiyomizu-Dera
• Arashiyama
• Hozugawa River Cruise

---

17.11.2024 - 18.11.2024: Kyoto 京都 (1 night)

Accommodation: Hiiragiya (Ryokan)

Planned Activities:

• Experience traditional Ryokan stay

---

18.11.2024 - 20.11.2024: Fukuoka (2 nights)

Hotel: Miyako Hotel Hakata

Planned Activities:

• Robosquare
• Nakasu Nights
• Fukuoka Castle
• Sumo?

---

20.11.2024 - 21.11.2024: Nagasaki (1 night)

Planned Activities:

• Mount Inasa
• Gunkanjima (Battleship Island)
• Nagasaki Peace Park

---

21.11.2024 - 23.11.2024: Kumamoto (2 nights)

Planned Activities:

• Kumamoto Castle
• Suizenji Garden
• Mt. Aso
• Nabegataki Falls
• Kikuchi Gorge

---

23.11.2024 - 25.11.2024: Kumamoto-Onsen (2 nights)

Hotel: Yamamizuki

Planned Activities:

• Relax and unwind in an onsen

---

25.11.2024 - 28.11.2024: Kagoshima (3 nights)

Hotel: Shiroyama Kagoshima

Planned Activities:

• Sakurajima Volcano
• Senganen Garden
• Yakushima Island
• Mount Karakuni
• Kirishima

---

28.11.2024: Buffer Day

Flexible day - could be used in Fukuoka, Kyoto, Tokyo, or elsewhere.

---

29.11.2024: International Flight

🛫 Heading back home.

---

Any tips, recommendations, or must-see spots? Let me know! 😊

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Effective_Low5612 on 2024-08-19 19:20:14+00:00.

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Hi everyone!

Me and my boyfriend are traveling to Japan for the first time in october. We have tried to combine both city and nature in this trip. We are both very interested in learning about and experiencing japanese culture, and would also love to get in some good hikes during this trip.

We are trying to not plan too much per day, as we want to have plenty of time to wander around and stumble upon some 'hidden gems'. Any reccomendations are much appreciated!

Day 1 - Osaka

Get to Osaka in the afternoon

Go out to eat okonomiyaki

Day 2 - Osaka

Visit Osaka Castle and Namba Yasaka Shrine

Katsuo-ji

Walk around Dontonbori in the evening

teamLab Botanical

Day 3 - Koya-san

Travel to Koya and stay at a temple

Visit Kongobu-ji and Okunoin Cemetery

Day 4 - Kyoto

Walk part of the Choishi Michi pilgrimage trail before leaving Koya-san

Travel to Kyoto

Katsuoji

Senkoji/ Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple

Day 5 - Kyoto

Walk up Fushimi Inari-taisha

Visit Kodai-ji temple and its bamboo forest

Walk around Ninenzaka and surrounding area

Day 6- Kyoto

Travel to Uji and spend a half day

Drink matcha

Byodo-in

Tsuyuno Tenjinsya

Day 7 - Kyoto

Nishiki market

Visit Gion area

Visit Kyomizu area

Day 8- Takayama

Travel to Takayama in the morning

Walk around Sanmachi Suji

Day 9 and 10 - Takayama

Day hikes in surrounding area, looking for reccomendations here! We are experienced hikers, looking for mountains that we can do in 5-8 hours.

Onsen, relax, bike around Takayama for the rest of the day

Day 11 - Tokyo

Visit Hida no Sato

Travel to Tokyo

Day 12 - Tokyo

Kitchenware shopping at Kappabashi

Visit Yanaka area

Omakase dinner

Day 13 - Tokyo

Visit Ghibli Museum

Visit Kagurazaka and Jimbocho book town

Day 14 - Tokyo

Shopping and any last sights

Travel back home

ありがとうございました！

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/katsuthunder on 2024-08-19 15:03:59+00:00.

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I'll be in Tokyo from Oct 1st-Oct 4th, would love to catch a cool Japanese concert. When I search on google the results only show big global artists like Olivia Rodrigo.

I'm pretty flexible on the type of music. Could be j-rock, indie rock, edm, rap, jazz, jam bands. Looking for something that is like a medium-large venue for a japanese band/artist but not a stadium.

Any suggestions on shows / ways to find them? If you can suggest some venues I can go look through their lineups. Thanks!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/krdoroc on 2024-08-17 13:20:12+00:00.

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A little late, but here's our trip report. For more context and to get a sense of what our initial plan was, check out my itinerary check post prior to visiting Japan. The below mostly just sets out what we did rather than what we thought of it. This was the best holiday we've ever had, so you can assume it was good unless specified otherwise. Places we strongly recommend are in bold and italics.

Average kilometres walked each day: 18. Itinerary only suited for active travellers.

Average inter-city travel time: 3.3 hours on travel days, 1.7 hours averaged across all days. Not bad at all, in my view, considering we visited 16 different places in just 19 days.

Total cost: $12k Australian Dollars (~1.248m JPY), average exchange rate of around $1 AUD to 104 JPY. Of this, just under half was spent on flights, accommodation and trains - with the remainder (on average $315 AUD / 32-33k JPY) going on activities and food.

General travel tips for japan

• Check whether your desired activities require a booking or whether last admission is significantly earlier than closing time AT LEAST one day in advance – we missed out on a couple of activities because we did not check this
• Most stores are happy to accept large cash notes for small purchases
• Smaller cities, outer suburbs, and temples/shrines often only accept cash. Pretty much everywhere else accepts card

Itinerary

Day 0 - Tokyo - Friday 24 May 2024

• Land in Tokyo around 7pm
• Settle in, transit to hotel in Shinjuku

Day 1 - Tokyo (day trip to Lake Kawaguchi)  - Saturday 25 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 12.7)

• Wake up early and take highway bus to Lake Kawaguchi
• Fuji Shibazakura Pink Moss Festival (got baited by this one - it was the second last day and most of the flowers were dead, so it was not worth visiting. Definitely look up whether the flowers are still blooming prior to your visit!)
• Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum (European architecture, classical concerts, Dali sculpture, hilarious and weird vibe)
• Oishi Park and nice view of the lake
• We got unlucky and there was no clear view of mount Fuji, very cloudy.
• Return to Tokyo for dinner (yakitori, was fine)
• Didn’t have time for: ropeway, Chureito Pagoda or Arakurayama Sengen Park
• Wow moments: N/A

Day 2 - Tokyo - Sunday 26 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 25.8)

• Shinjuku Gyoen National Park - beautiful and underrated
• Explore Harajuku, including Teamlabs exhibit at the Galaxy store
• Meiji shrine and Yoyogi Park (definitely skippable)
• Explore Shibuya, including Shibuya crossing and Tower Records. Rooftop drinks at rooftop lounge MAG8 was great
• Explore Shimokitazawa, thrift shop and hipster area, including great little snack pancakes from Flippers. Cool area.
• Dinner: Soba house konjiki hototogisu. Michelin ramen. Freshness burger draft beer a big hit
• Wow moments: N/A

Day 3 - Tokyo (day trip to Nikko) - Monday 27 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 20.1)

• Wake up early (pre 6am) and take train to Nikko
• All the main historical sites in central Nikko (Toshogu, Taiyuin, Rinnoji, Shinkyo bridge)
• Lovely Goshuincho available at some of the main sites in Nikko
• Kanmangafuchi abyss walk
• Kegon waterfall (water flow was pretty low/slow the day we went) and view of Lake Chuzenji
• Return to Tokyo
• Dinner: Kakekomi Gyoza. All was pretty good, but the honey mustard gyoza were amazing
• Didn’t have time: Tamozawa villa and boat ride on Lake Chuzenji
• Wow moments: honey mustard gyoza

Day 4 – Tokyo - Tuesday 28 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 18.2)

• Teamlabs Planets
• Explore Ginza area
• Lunch: Grill Bon, premium wagyu sandwich
• Lion beer hall
• Celtic cocktail bar with lots of fairy dust (Tir na nÓg)
• Dinner: Chinese near the baseball game
• Baseball game (Tokyo Dome), Giants vs Carps
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck and night light show (v. cool)
• Golden Gai with fellow Aussies and bartender from Okinawa, plum wines and Taiko songs
• Wow moments: Grill bon premium wagyu, Teamlabs Planets (esp. the light room)

Day 5 - Tokyo to Kanazawa - Wednesday 29 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 10.6)

• Take train to Kanazawa
• Stay at a Ryokan, Utaimachi in the Higashi Chaya district. Small townhouse, perfect blend of modern and traditional
• Explore Higashi Chaya Geiko / Geisha district
• Dinner: Barrier (amazing experience and presentation, average food)
• Wow moments: ryokan accommodation

Day 6 - Kanazawa - Thursday 30 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 14.2)

• Castle grounds and nearby gardens / shrines
• Kenrokuen, one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan
• Lunch: Omicho fish market, kaisendon (tuna sashimi rice bowls)
• Explore Nagamachi district including samurai and ashigaru residences
• Gold leaf soft serve
• Gold leaf workshop (designed and made a chopstick pattern)
• Dinner: Busaku. Arguably the best meal I’ve ever had, fine dining 6-7 course set menu watching the chefs prepare everything in front of you. Counter seating of 8-10. If the menu was a la carte, I would've recommended people to come to the restaurant specifically to order the first dish - it was that good. Then I thought the same about the second dish. And the third. And the fourth. Dipped slightly from there, but still delicious and well presented.
• Wow moments: Busaku dinner

Day 7 - Kanazawa to Takayama - Friday 31 May 2024 (Kilometres walked: 15)

• Luggage transfer to Kyoto
• 9am bus to Shirakawa-go, very scenic
• 4 hours exploring Shirakawago folk village, lovely small village with traditional thatch-rooved houses. Heritage museum was both quiet and quaint
• Lunch: amazing curry rice at Ochuudo / Ochiudo
• Explore Takayama old town (pretty dead, everything closed by 4)
• Dinner: Sakurajaya. Great meal watching the chef prepare everything in front of you. Counter seating of 8-10, very chill vibes
• Drinks: Japanese Pub YU, cocktails. A bit expensive (relatively) but very tasty
• Didn’t have time for: Showa-kan museum
• Wow moments: Exploring Shirakawa-go

Day 8 - Takayama to Kyoto - Saturday 1 June 2024 (Kilometres walked: 21.1)

• Morning walk around Takayama
• Miyagawa morning market, including incredible wagyu hida beef sushi
• Train to Kyoto
• National garden / imperial palace (not worth visiting, though the palace was closed so can't comment on the inside)
• Explore Hiyagashima district and Gion
• Dinner: Pontocho, lots of options. We had very local ramen with drinks beforehand
• Didn’t have time for: Nijo Castle, admissions close an hour before closing, so we just missed out on entry. Needed to plan further ahead to make it.
• Wow moments: hida beef sushi

Day 9 - Kyoto (West) - Sunday 2 June 2024 (Kilometres walked: 21.4)

• Wake up early and head to Arashiyama
• Bamboo forest
• Gio Ji moss garden (fine)
• Otagi Nenbutsu-ji temple (awesome, lots of statues, super peaceful)
• Okochi Sanso gardens
• Tenryuji temple and neighbouring gardens
• Lunch: Bread, Espresso and Arashiyama Garden. Nice panini, matcha cheesecake, delicious adjoining bakery
• Coffee: %ARABICA (best coffee of Meggie’s life, first coffee I ever liked)
• Monkey Park and observation deck
• Kinkaku-ji (golden pavilion)
• Dinner: katsukurra (best pork cutlet I’ve had, but price scales faster than quality)
• Didn’t have time for: Hozugawa river boat cruise, couldn’t get into Kokodera as you needed to book it at least a day in advance
• Wow moments: Bamboo forest, monkey park, %ARABICA coffee, Kinkaku-ji

Day 10 - Kyoto (East) - Monday 3 June 2024 (Kilometres walked: 20.4)

• Head to the East side and explore main temples and gardens there
  • Eikan-do (great)
  • Kiyomizu Dera (fine)
  • Sanjusangendo (great)
  • Kennin-ji (cool dragon ceiling, but not as good as…)
  • Nanzaen-ji (amazing dragon ceiling)
  • Philosopher's Path (fine)
  • Ginkaku-ji (Silver pavilion, amazing)
• Coffee: %ARABICA again, as there is one in the Geisha district
• Dinner: Kizahashi. Worst dinner of my life, fine dining seafood set menu, but everything is EXTREMELY fishy and intense seafood flavours, no masking or combination with other flavours
• Wow moments: Ginkaku-ji, %ARABICA coffee again

Day 11 - Kyoto to Osaka (Nara day trip) - Tuesday 4 June 2024 (Kilometres walked: 23.6)

• Organised to send luggage to Osaka
• Wake up early and head to Fushimi Inari. Hiked about 70% of the way up, didn’t have time to go all the way
• Day trip to Nara
• Main gardens and historical sites around Nara park
• Nakatannidou mochi pounding (lasts about 20 seconds and very crowded, couldn’t see, not worth)
• Feed the deer
• Lunch: Château D’or Bakery. Part bakery part café, café had amazing pizza and sandwiches. Bakery had nice treats
• Daibutsuden hall giant buddha
• Head to Osaka
• Dinner: Blue Birds Rooftop Terrace (NOT sky dining), amazing BBQ (an actual BBQ) on a rooftop overlooking Osaka castle at night with unlimited drinks
• Didn’t have time for: Toji, Nara hikes
• Wow moments: feeding the deer, giant Buddha, Rooftop drinks and meal overlooking Osaka castle

Day 12 - Osaka - Wednesday 5 June 2024 (Kilometres walked: 16.9)

• Universal studios during the day, 7 attraction express pass (not worth going without the express passes)
• Best ride: flying dinosaur. Harry Potte...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/nahbestie on 2024-08-16 06:54:03+00:00.

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This is my second trip report here, this time on a recent summer road trip through Tohoku. We were a group of three, all foreign residents living in Japan. I know Tohoku isn’t as explored as central Japan so I hope that this is helpful for people wanting to explore up north! I have had the Aomori Nebuta Festival on my bucket list for a while, and was originally going to do a shorter trip just to Aomori to see it, but decided to expand to a week long road trip with the objective of seeing Tohoku’s Three Great Festivals (Akita Kanto, Aomori Nebuta, and Sendai Tanabata), plus Nagaoka Hanabi, and invited my two friends to come along.

I included way too many details, so this report came out way longer than I expected. Sorry for the long windedness!

August 3rd-Niigata/Nagaoka Hanabi

Flew into Niigata Airport at around 2:30. We took a taxi directly to our accommodations to check in and drop off our bags, then went straight to Nagaoka station via local train and shinkansen. 

We arrived at Nagaoka Station at about 4:30 and it was packed with people. They were funneling everyone off of the platform through one exit. Once we got down the stairs to the main floor of the station we were then mixed in with the crowd of all the trains from Tokyo as well, which led to significant bottlenecking. It took us about 20 minutes from getting off the train to getting out of the station. And it was hot in there. The long line to get out wasn’t a huge deal because we still arrived with plenty of time to get to the riverside, find our seats, and grab snacks and drinks. However, it did make us quite anxious about getting home, as we needed to make sure we could catch a shinkansen that would get us back to Niigata station in time for our last local train back to our accommodation. 

The fireworks were beautiful, and once the sun went down, the heat was a lot more tolerable. There were a lot of food stalls at the venue, and also local stalls set up along the streets to the river, and many of them didn’t have long lines, so finding food was easy. The conbinis were packed though.

This was the only event on this trip we purchased tickets for. We entered the ticket lottery which was for residents outside of Nagaoka. There is a separate ticket sale for foreign tourists but I am sorry I don’t know the details for that one. We got our first choice of seats, which was the Phoenix Block, or block 10 if you look at the seating map. The downside of these seats was that when I looked at the map, I thought there would be fireworks going from multiple places, one being directly across the river from us. This wasn’t really the case, as the majority of the fireworks were launched from the southernmost point on the map, and the spots across the river were really only used two or three times during the grand programs. It didn’t ruin the experience or anything, as we could still see great, but had I known, I likely would have tried for seats further south, like block 11 or 12. I would have thought they would try to alternate spots a bit, as that area did end up getting pretty smokey. 

Still worried about catching the shinkansen, we decided to pack up and slowly walk back to the station just before 9:00. We thought the staff would have been really strict on keeping people moving along the walkways, but there were a lot of people standing up there taking pictures, so we were still able to see most of the show. We were walking down the street by the time the final program started, but we could see most of it, and got some really cool pictures of fireworks above the buildings and street lights. 

The set up for getting on the trains was really well done compared to when we arrived. The main street leading up to the station was completely shut down for cars, and they had signage indicating what line you needed to be in, way before you reached the station. All we needed to do was follow the signs for shinkansen to Niigata, and everything moved really smoothly. I can’t say for sure, but it did seem that they were running more trains than was indicated online. These were also the only train tickets we bought in advance, which I really recommend doing if you attend this festival.

We got back to our accommodations, which was the I Eco III Niigata. It was a decent way away from Niigata city centre, and cost about 30k yen between the three of us, for a room with a double bed and a single futon. This place was more of a share house situation, that seemed to do short stays, as well as long term rentals, so all bathrooms and showers were shared. Overall, it was really clean and quiet. It would have been nice to be closer to Niigata station, but the only option I saw started at 26k yen for a single room and 35k for a double. 

August 4th-Akita/Kanto Matsuri

After checking out the next morning, we headed to Niigata Station to pick up our car from Toyota Rent a Car. We had a long drive to Akita this day so as soon as we were set we headed out. One of my friends is really into collecting stamps and tickets from michi no ekis (roadside stations) so that was one of our primary goals during the drives. We made sure we hit stops in all the prefectures we were in, which was really fun as they all offer something a bit different. We didn’t make any other stops on this leg of the journey, and I think it was around 4:00 or 5:00 when we got to Akita city and checked into our hotel. 

We then walked to the main street of the festival to find a spot to watch the show. We did not have tickets, but there was plenty of free seating along the sidewalks. By the time we got to the main street, most of the curb was claimed by either people seated, or by mats and blankets people had left. This was really common at these festivals, but everyone is really respectful about not moving other people’s things. There was plenty of room to start a second row behind everyone, but no one had really started doing that yet, so we were worried we’d be committing some festival faux pas if we sat behind people. But, we went for it anyway, and sure enough before the festival started, the second row was full of people standing or sitting. We didn’t bring seats or blankets ourselves, but after claiming a spot, I ventured out for food and came across a man selling foldable cardboard seats for 400 yen each. We each grabbed one and they were perfect for sitting behind the people along the curb. They weren’t super comfortable or durable but they lasted long enough for both the Kanto and Nebuta Matsuri.

The festival itself was amazing. I had seen pictures of the lanterns, but really had no idea what to expect. It was pretty mind blowing to see the performers lifting the lantern poles, and honestly it was fun and dramatic whenever the lanterns would fall. Definitely make sure you stay till the end when they connect all the poles together and lift the lanterns super high. After the festival the performers wait in the street for a bit and let people get up close for pictures. One man even had our guy friend try to lift the lanterns himself, which are apparently significantly heavier than they look.

After a stop at the beer garden we walked back to our hotel at the Dormy Inn. Highly recommend this hotel chain as they usually have baths and free noodles in the evening. It was a great location, but definitely our most expensive accommodation at 28k for a double room and 18k for a single. I’ll talk more about booking hotels later, but the extra cost was definitely worth it. 

August 5th-Iwate

This was a free day with no events or festivals planned, so we did a lot more road tripping and focused on stopping at places along the way to Morioka. First thing, we wanted to find Kanto Matsuri goods. We wandered downtown Akita a bit after checking out of the hotel and came across the Akita Inu Station. There are no dogs on site on Mondays, but the shop was still open and we got some cute akita inu goods. We also came across the daytime Kanto festival, which is competitive and performances are judged. We didn’t stick around for long but it was still cool to see. 

After leaving Akita city we drove to Lake Tazawa. We hit up two beautiful shrines along the lakeside. It was pretty hot so our stops weren’t long. We decided to get lunch near the lake, and at this point we had mostly only eaten festival food, so we were pretty keen for a sit down meal. Since it was later in the afternoon, most places were closed between lunch and dinner services, but we came across a pizza place called Yama no Hachimitsu Ya. I find pizza to be hit or miss in Japan but this place was definitely a hit. Honey on pizza might sound weird but honestly it was some of the best pizza I have had in Japan. We also checked out the honey shop next door where you can sample almost every flavour of honey you can think of. 

From here it was straight to Morioka, with the odd michi-no-eki stop. We stayed in the Morioka Grand Hotel Annex. 16k for a deluxe room with a double and single bed. We had dinner at a nearby ramen shop. I cannot remember the name of the shop, but we were a little worried because it wasn’t until after we ordered and sat down that we realised all the broths were made with anchovies. No allergies to be worried about, but we were expecting some really fishy ramen to come out. However it was actually really tasty ramen and the fish flavour was quite subtle and nice.

**August 6th...

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This sub was super helpful when I was planning my trip, so I hope I can give back and help other people out with my report. I spent 18 days in Japan earlier this year travelling by myself. My main interests in this trip were gardens, shinto shrines, stationery and all things Ghibli. I had spent 5 days in South Korea before arriving in Japan, so take that into account. I apologize in advance for the formatting, I'm not very familiar with the web version of Reddit. I'll try to go into more detail for the places that haven't been extensively covered here and just touch on the more popular attractions.

PREPARATIONS

Reservations

I reserved pretty much all attractions in advance. The most competitive were for sure Ghibli Park, Ghibli Museum and Kirby Café. Others like the Takachiho boats and Kabuki one-act tickets were competitive but there was about an hour margin to get what you wanted. The rest was pretty easy.

Learning Japanese

I started learning basic Japanese with Duolingo a year and a half before my trip. This ensured I had a grasp on the basics and I ended up being able to handle a lot of recurring situations fully in Japanese, which I was proud of. I didn't even try to learn kanji, though, and my katakana and hiragana were only passable, but speaking and understanding is much more important anyway. I took five private lessons on the weeks before the trip to perfect pronounciation and practice real-life situations and these helped a bunch as well.

Medicine

I was staying for less than 30 days so technically I didn't have to worry about this, but just in case I had my prescriptions and a letter from my doctor translated to English so I could present it at the airport if I needed to. Turns out no one cared, noticed or asked, so I didn't have to use them, but I still suggest doing this if you're bringing any kind of controlled medication into Japan, just in case.

ITINERARY

Day 1 - Fukuoka (airport) and Kumamoto

• I had an 8 o'clock flight from Seoul to Fukuoka, which looking back was a horrible decision. I was anxious about missing my flight so I got to Incheon the night before and had to sleep on a very uncomfortable bench because the airport capsule hotel was fully booked and there were no immigration services at night. Obviously, I got to Fukuoka feeling very tired.
• Had an e-sim from Airalo and it took a bit longer to activate than in South Korea but still worked fine.
• Immigration was very easy in Japan. I had my QR code ready and that was basically it.
• Sent my larger luggage to Osaka at the Yamato counter. Spent the next few days with only a carry-on.
• The airport itself has a free bus to the train station, which was helpful. Bought my tickets at the machine but then learned I had to get a base fare ticket as well, so had to turn around and go back and almost missed my train. So after this I was determined to not get any reserved seating tickets and only get my tickets at the booth with an attendant.
• Got my Sugoca at the Kumamoto train station and continued to use this card for the rest of my trip. Accidentally added too much money to the card because I was still thinking in Korean Won so I decided to only have dinner at convenience stores.
• My brain still hadn't fully shifted from Korean to Japanese and I was very tired so I ate at the only restaurant with an English menu at the station.
• Bought train tickets for the following day at the counter. This became my routine: every time I arrived at a new city, I would buy the train tickets for the next leg of the trip. Highly recommend this to everyone, as it allows you to take your time finding your gate and platform.
• Went to my hotel (Super Hotel Kumamoto Ekimae) to wait for check-in time. I think this is the hotel I liked the most during my trip even though I only stayed for one night. Wish I had booked this chain for other cities as well.
• Took a short nap instead of immediately heading out to see the sights because I was wiped.
• Took the tram to Kumamoto Castle to see the sunset from up there. Sadly the castle itself had closed at 4pm but it was still beautiful to see from the outside and the restoration work is very insteresting. Had a lovely walk around the castle and back to the tram.
• My original plan was to also visit Suizenji Jojuen and Kumamon Square but it got dark earlier than I expected and there were already a lot of Kumamon stuff at the train station itself so I just took the tram back to the station. I honestly loved riding the trams, they're very charming. It's a slower way to get around but you really get to see the city and peoplewatch.
• Bought dinner and snacks for the next day and went to sleep.
• STEP TOTAL: 12,818

Day 2 - Takachiho

• I had booked a tour of Takachiho and the Aso caldera in advance with Explore Kumamoto because I can't drive. This was probably my favourite day of the entire trip. The guide (Helen) was lovely and told us so much about the area, and the other people on the tour were great as well.
• We got to Takachiho gorge early in the morning and I already had a reservation for the canoes as suggested by our guide. This was very helpful because otherwise we would've had a 3 hour wait and obviously wouldn't have made it. The gorge itself is smaller than I expected but the whole place is so beautiful, I still think it's very much worth the visit.
• After walking around and rowing, we had lunch on-site and had Nagashi Somen (cold flowing noodles). I did better than expected at this and had so much fun. The locals thought we were funny celebrating our abilties with the chopsticks and that was also fun. Also had nanban chicken and man, that was delicious.
• Visited several spots in the caldera for the rest of the day, can't recall all the names. Unfortunately Mt Aso was spewing some gas so we couldn't go up all the way but it wasn't my main interest so I didn't mind. Just driving around was already so lovely, I really can't stress enough how much I loved this day and would recommend this stop for everyone.
• Got a train to Oita from Kumamoto. Arrived pretty late, bought train tickets for the next few days, had a konbini dinner and that was it. Stayed at Toyoko Inn Oita Ekimae. Pretty standard business hotel, very good breakfast. Got a surprisingly large room.
• STEP TOTAL: 14,182

Day 3 - Yufuin

• Boy do I regret this one. I had planned to spend the day at Yufuin but it was so small. If I had known I would've either skipped this entirely or done half a day here and half a day somewhere else (maybe Beppu).
• The Floral Village is literally just two blocks of character-themed shops, lake Kinrin is very small, and you can cross the whole town in like an hour. Thought about spending time at an onsen but I have tattoos and didn't want to go around asking and getting rejected. It's not even a relaxing place because there are constant busses dropping people off all day so it's way too crowded for how small it is.
• Good food options, though. Had dessert at Snoopy Chaya and ate anpan at Miffy Kitchen, had some kind of japanese version of bao for lunch.
• Went back to Oita and basically had my first slow evening of the trip.
• STEP TOTAL: 9,298

Day 4 - Osaka

• The train trip to Osaka was the longest of the whole trip. Left at 8 a.m., got there around midday. Bought tickets for the end of the week but messed up with my Japanese and apparently instead of buying tickets for 4 p.m. I bought tickets for 4 people. I'll get into this later.
• Dropped off my luggage at APA Hotel Namba-Shinsaibashi. I didn't know about the owner's horrible politics when I booked hotels for this trip so ended up staying at an APA twice. Both times I got to one address and had trouble checking in until they figured out I was actually staying at another branch two blocks away from where I thought I was staying. So if you're staying at an APA do plan some time around the check-in in case this also happens to you.
• Went to Okonomiyaki Ajinoya for lunch. This was the only place in the whole trip where I had to wait in line. I wouldn't classify this as a tourist trap because the food was very good and portions were large, but be mindful of the wait.
• Headed to Osaka Aquarium. Loved doing the stamp rally. All the animals looked healthy and active, which was a concern I had after finding out how bad animal conditions can be in Japan.
• Originally I had planned to go to Shinsekai but it was late so I instead walked around Dotonbori, took lots of pictures, ate some street food, had a good time.
• STEP TOTAL: 14,198

Day 5 - Osaka Universal Studios

• I'd heard about the gates opening an hour earlier than they say and it was true! I only had a standard ticket so I run-walked to Super Nintendo World and got in with no need for a timed entry ticket.
• Rode Mario Kart in basically 15 minutes. I won't go into details for this day because I think it's been sufficiently covered online, just wanted to add that the mushroom cream popcorn is delicious.
• The Harry Potter area was a letdown. I'm not the biggest fan so I just wanted to go on the rides. Ended up wasting almost 2 hours in line for the rollercoaster before I got a good look at how small it was and gave up.
• The Jurassic Park area was all closed, unfortunately.
• Did some laundry at the end of the day
• STEP TOTAL: 13,862

Day 6 - Osaka

• Started the day at the Museum of O...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/mithdraug on 2024-08-14 13:25:48+00:00.

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Typhoon Ampil is about to hit/brush with eastern coast of Hokkaido on Friday, 16 August and affect eastern and northern part of Honshu for 36-48 hours with sustained winds up to 80 knots, gusts up to 115 knots and heavy rains.

Please plan accordingly - cancel your trips into affected areas, especially mountains and landslide prone parts of the country, stay indoors until the danger passes, follow instructions of your hotel staff in case of evacuation orders being issued. Please do not plan 'typhoon watch parties' or any other silly stuff.

You can follow typhoon's tracking here and updated list of advisories - here.

JR East has already possible suspension of many Kanto and Tohoku area services at least on 16 and 17 August, as well as very probable cancellations of all its shinkansen services from around noon on 16 August with Tohoku, Akita and Yamagata shinkansen stoppages lasting whole day of 17th, and possibilty of suspension of Narita Express both on 16th and 17th.

JR Central has announced that all Tokaido shinkansen operations will be suspended between Tokyo and Nagoya on 16th, and Nagoya to Shin-Osaka services will be reduce to 2 Kodama trains an hour. Operations of services on 17th will be assessed after shinkansen passes over. Additional trains will be added on 15th.

Other railway companies including Keikyu, Keisei and Tokyo Monorail already put announcements about possible cancellations of services on 16th and 17th. It's very likely that no rail or bus services will run in Tokyo and Yokohama area from before noon on 16 August until it will be safe to resumer service.

Please take under consideration that Haneda and Narita Airports might be unreachable on 16 and 17 August. If they will be operating, airline companies will likely refuse to refund/rebook your flights, if you couldn't get there. If you have concerns, whether your flight is operating, please contact your carrier directly.

• JR East status information:
• JR Central status information:
• Keikyu status information:
• Keisei status information:
• Tokyo Monorail status information:
• Haneda Airport webpage:
• Narita Airport webpage:

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Aellaisbad on 2024-08-13 23:34:01+00:00.

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Last November I went on a trip to Japan with two friends for just over three weeks. I put a significant amount of prep into this trip and while a significant amount of it was unneeded, it allowed me to have a wonderful trip that I don't at all regret. Post is a bit late, but felt I should give back a bit before making an itinerary post.

This post's formatting and idea is roughly based on this wonderfully formatted post.

Background

We're a group of gamers with a nearly ten year age gap between us and significantly different interests that required a large amount of cooperation and sacrifice from all of us to make things work. In retrospect, doing more things separately would have been a better idea.

Myself: 29 y/o - History, Architecture, Culture, Nature, Photography, Anime

Dietary Restriction - Semi-Kosher (No Pork, Shellfish, etc)

Primary Interest - Shrines, Museums, Gardens, Exploration

Friend #1: 33 y/o - Food, Arcades, History, Culture, Music (Electronic)

Primary Interest - Arcades, Music, Wrestling

Friend #2: 24 y/o - Culture, Food, Anime, Shopping

Primary Interest - Weeb?, Music, Chilling (idk dude was vibing the entire time)

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Statistics

Budget

Everything here is in USD. Exchange rate for most of the trip was around 149:1 - JPY:USD. Everything was split evenly and below is my personal spend, but I did sometimes spend for my friends without splitting it.

| Category | Spend | Information | |

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| | Flight | $1798 | Premium Economy RT - United Airlines, nonstop to HND, return from NRT | | Hotel | $1837 | 24 Days, including Ryokan | | Transport | $278.91 | 2x Shinkansen, Suica, Domestic Flight - FUK > HND | | Shopping | $1495.20 | I spent way too fucking much LOL | | Food | $670.20 | | | Cash Spend | $394.43 | Almost all was shopping & food | | Attractions | $125.62 | Museums, Oberservation Decks, Events, etc | | Utility | $207.60 | Ubigi eSim, Travel Insurance, etc | | Total | $6820.17 | Numbers may not perfectly align |

Admittedly, looking back this was much more than I initially intended.

Funny Numbers

Total Spent @ Convenience Stores - $153.23 USD

Total Spent @ B-Side Label - $247.94 USD

Most Expensive Single Item Purchased - Anime Figure - $202.28 USD

Most Expensive Meal - 神戸牛 ステーキ仙 - $110.73 USD

Average Distance Walked

For myself and Friend #1, we had little difficulty handling the walking during the drip. I would, however, strongly recommend taking a pair of shoes you are used to walking longer distances in. I tried out a new sole for my shoes and this was a mistake that caused me to develop a blister in only 4 days. Good thing I brought my old soles.

• Tokyo - 9.31mi / 14.98km
• Kyoto - 9.92mi / 15.96km
• Osaka - 11.46m i/ 18.44km
• Hiroshima - 9.12mi / 14.57km
• Fukuoka - 9.86m i/ 15.87km
• Total Average - 9.14mi / 14.71km

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Cities Visited & Photos

With hindsight, I'd have made Kobe a day trip, extended Hiroshima and Fukuoka a day, and pulled a day off of the final leg in Tokyo.

Tokyo - 4 Nights

Kyoto - 4 Nights

Ogoto-onsen - 1 Night

Osaka - 4 Nights

Kobe - 1 Night

Hiroshima - 2 Nights

Fukuoka - 2 Nights

Tokyo - 5 Nights

Daytrips:

• Yokohama
• Himeji

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Accommodations

Nearly every reservation made on this trip was made through Booking.com. In hindsight, we could have saved around 100-200 USD over the full trip booking directly with hotels, with the main savings coming from Tokyo. Some hotels offer early bird or member discounts that really do come with savings. The only exception to our choice in hotels was in Kyoto where we stayed at an AirBnB in Higashiyama. Keeping opinions out of this so as not to break Rule #4.

Tokyo:

• Tokyu Stay Ikebukuro - Convenient Location. Ikebukuro was an amazing area to stay in.
• JR-EAST HOTEL METS Akihabara - Convenient location. Akiba was a boring area to stay in. Would not stay in Akiba again.

Kyoto:

• Tsukinowacho House - Excellent location.

Otsu:

• Biwako Hanakaido (Ryokan) - Ryokan.

Osaka:

• Hotel WBF Hommachi - Solid location.
• Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu - Solid Location.

Kobe:

• Kobe Tor Road Hotel Sanraku - Alright location.

Hiroshima:

• Smile Hotel Hiroshima - Solid location, but requires walking.

Fukuoka:

• Hotel Grandolce Hakata - Excellent Location.

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Impressions

• Tokyo is very clean, but very impersonal. As a city, I did not enjoy it all that much. As a vacation destination, however, it was lovely.
• Kobe was surprisingly dirty - for Japan. The amount of garbage on the streets surprised me as opposed to Tokyo/Osaka. It was the only city during my trip that I noticed was significantly less clean than other cities.
• Kyoto is absolutely lovely late at night and early in the morning. As a tourist in Kyoto, I can comfortably say I hate tourists in Kyoto. Hypocrisy, woo!
• Trains are so much quieter than in many other countries. Both the actual trains and the people, although the latter was expected.
• Japan is not as much of a cash society in the cities as I expected. The further out you go though, the more you'll need cash. I made it a rule to keep ~5-10k yen on me at all times.

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Advice

• Garbage bins aren't that much of an issue. Either keep it on you or return it to where you got it. If you bought something at a conbini and eat it there, throw it out there. If you buy something from a stall in front of a shrine and eat it there, return your garbage there. If you take something with you, hold onto it. Stations and hotels usually were the most common places to throw things away.
• Multiple credits cards are really worth it. My AMEX worked online where my Visa did not. Where either of those failed, my Mastercard didn't. Having one of each came in handy. My AMEX was my most used card followed by my Visa. I used my Mastercard thrice.
• Schwab Checking was really worth it for pulling cash out of ATMs with no foreign exchange fee and the ATM refund. 100% worth it if its available to you.
• Ryokans can sell out quickly. Check when availability goes up and book then. There is also usually availability in the immediate 2-4 weeks that is easier to land due to cancellations.
• If you book your Shinkansen tickets on Smart-ex you can attach them to your IC card so you don't have to wait in line at the ticket machines.
• Get an eSim so you don't have to wait in line at an airport when you arrive. Most support tethering, so you won't need a wifi device.
• Use luggage forwarding services. Most hotels offer them. Just pay and forget. It'll show up at your next hotel without worry - just check with your hotel if that's okay first.
• Don't obsess over the Shinkansen/trains. Use flights when possible. 7h Fukuoka > Tokyo by Shinkansen vs 1h30m by flight + 30m baggage? No contest. And the flight is cheaper, too. Busses can be great too.
• Take a taxi if you're leaving Kyoto Station with Luggage.
• Don't book your Shinkansen leaving Tokyo Station immediately after rush hour. Taking luggage onto a filled train during rush hour is not fun for you or the people around you.

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Reservations

I'll label all the reservations I attempted to get and the process that we went through to get them. We were not successful with all of them.

• Shibuya Sky

Booked without issue for 1h - 40m before sunset entry time about 6h after release of tickets directly with Shibuya Sky. We found that Klook's availability was delayed and as such did not make a sunset booking likely. We used the direct webket link that is now hidden in tiny text. This may have changed - hope so, because I hear many people have card troubles.

• Pokemon Cafe

I slept in for this one and missed out. Decided not to bother and push it off to my next trip. After an hour there were no reservations left. Oops.

• Ghibli Museum

We didn't realize it was closed for a large portion of our trip so ended up booking for December. We had 3 people attempting to book and the sheer demand paralyzing the website prevented 2 of us from doing so. My mother ended up being the only one able to purchase the tickets despite being behind me in queue.

• Kichi Kichi Omurice

We were ready to go on this one - both Friend #1 and I. Sold out within ~50 seconds. Lag wasn't horrible, but we d...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Adurnha on 2024-08-12 14:01:46+00:00.

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Hi!

I'm traveling to Japan for 2 weeks on September, and I would love some feedback/advices on my itinerary.

This is my first time in Japan, and I would come from Seoul, South Korea so I have no jetlag on the arrival day.

I tried to group activites together when they were together not to do too much transport on each day, but maybe some of them can be moved to other day or swapped to be more effective.

Feel free to give advices, especially if some days are too crowded. The goal is not to be active 100% of the time doing an activity, but to have some time to hang freely, do some shopping, etc...

• September 10th:

  • Plane arrives to Tokyo NRT at 5:30pm (from a trip to South Korea so no jetlag)
  • Transfer to Shinjuku for check-in, and then explore Shinjuku

• September 11th:

  • Morning
    • Hang around Shibuya
    • Shibuya Sky
    • Shibuya Nintendo PARCO
    • Harajuku
  • Afternoon
    • Lunch at Shibuya or Mitaka depending on time
    • Ghibli museum at 2pm
    • Back to Shibuya for Meijui-Shingu, shopping and dinner

• September 12th:

  • Morning
    • Teamlab borderless at 9:30am
    • Tokyo tower
    • Zojo-ji temple
  • Afternoon
    • Hang around Asakusa
    • Senso-ji temple
    • Have dinner in Asakusa

• September 13th:

  • Morning
    • Hang around Akihabara
    • Tokyo skytree
  • Afternoon
    • Lunch at Ryogoku Edo Noren
    • Sumo tournament at 3:30pm
    • Explore Ueno and have dinner

• September 14th:

  • Nothing yet, maybe a day trip ?
  • Dinner at Ninja Restaurant at 8pm

• September 15th:

  • Morning
    • Early train from Tokyo to Kanazawa
    • Check-in in Kanazawa
    • Kenroku-en
  • Afternoon
    • 21th century museum
    • Kanazawa Castle
    • Hang around and have dinner

• September 16th:

  • Morning
    • Early train from Kanazawa to Osaka
    • Check-in in Osaka
    • Hang around in Umeda and have lunch
  • Afternoon
    • Hang around in Namba and have dinner

• September 17th:

  • Day trip to Koya-san
  • Have dinner and hang around in Osaka

• September 18th:

  • Universal Studio Japan
  • Have dinner and hang around in Osaka

• September 19th:

  • Morning
    • Early train from Osaka to Hiroshima
    • Check-in in Hiroshima
    • Hiroshima Peace Museum + park
  • Afternoon
    • Trip to Mitaki-dera
    • Back to Hiroshima to hang around in the city and have dinner

• September 20th:

  • Day trop to Miyajima
  • Have dinner and hang around in Hiroshima

• September 21st:

  • Morning
    • Early train to Kyoto
    • Check-in in Kyoto
    • Hang around in Gion
    • Kiyomizu-dera
    • Have lunch
  • Afternoon
    • Mount Kurama
    • Ginkaku-ji
    • Back to center of Kyoto, hang around in Pontocho and have dinner

• September 22nd:

  • Morning
    • Fushimi Inari Taija
  • Afternoon
    • Arashiyama
    • Kinkaku-ji

• September 23rd:

  • Day trip to Nara

• September 24th:

  • Morning
    • Daigo-ji
  • Afternoon
    • Nintendo Kyoto
    • Hang around in center of Kyoto
    • Head to KIX in Osaka to take our plane to Seoul at 7:55pm

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/deputygus on 2024-08-10 14:36:11+00:00.

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(Edited with more details)

Hi y’all! We are four adults traveling to Japan for the first time. We’re aiming for medium paced travel with some set destinations, but free time to wander and explore as well. Our group will occasionally split depending on personal interests.

So far we’ve booked our flights, lodgings, and major ticketed attractions. We still need to book trains and shipping luggage.

Day 1 (Monday, September 30): We will land at Haneda in the early afternoon. After checking into our hotel in Shinjuku, we will explore and eat dinner in Omoide Yokocho.

Day 2 (Tuesday, October 1): Start by visiting Meiji Shrine for their daily ritual at 8am. Then explore Harajuku district and Shibuya Scramble Crossing area. The group will then split with half staying in Shibuya for the Pokemon Center and Kumachan Onsen (Bear Cafe) and the other half going to Gotokuji Temple (Lucky Cat Temple) and the surrounding area.

Day 3 (Wednesday, October 2): We’ve booked a guided bus tour to Lake Kawaguchi. **tickets purchased*

Day 4 (Thursday, October 3): This is an open day to explore Shinjuku. Our options include Golden Gai/Kabukichō, Tower Records, Tokyo Government Building, and Suja Shrine (Your Name ❤️).

Day 5 (Friday, October 4): We will leave Tokyo early in the morning and travel to Ghibli Park **tickets purchased*. Once we’re done at the park, we will continue on to end the day in Kyoto and check into our hotel.

Day 6 (Saturday, October 5): We will possibly book a guided walking tour of Kyoto in the morning. Then visit Nishiki Market and/or Kiyomizu-dera in the early afternoon. At 4:30, we have a kimono rental and tea ceremony booked near downtown/Gion **tickets purchased*. After that, we will explore the Gion District in the evening.

Day 7 (Sunday, October 6): Our group splits on this day with half going to Osaka for a day trip. The other half will explore the port area of Fushimi Ward, Kyoto including a sake museum and canal cruise. The half in Kyoto may rent bikes to get around.

Day 8 (Monday, October 7): Visit Saihōji (Kokedera) Temple (Moss Temple) at 10am **tickets purchased*. Then visit Arashiyama Monkey Park followed by the Arashiyama  Bamboo Forest in the afternoon. If we have time, we may visit Kinkaku-ji Temple.

Day 9 (Tuesday, October 8): Wake up early to hike and visit Fushimi Inari Shrine in the morning. Then an open afternoon to explore anything else we want to see in Kyoto (like Kiyomizu-dera Temple or GEAR if we need a break from walking around).

Day 10 (Wednesday, October 9): The group will travel to Miyajima Island to stay. Our plan is to hike Mount Misen and visit Itsukushima-jinja (floating torii gate).

Day 11 (Thursday, October 10): On this day our group splits again. Two will travel back to Ueno District, Tokyo and two will stay to visit Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima then relax/explore more of Miyajima.

Day 12 (Friday, October 11): The two in Tokyo will go to Akihabara while the other two travel from Miyajima to Ueno District, Tokyo. The group will reunite for dinner in Asakusa **reservation booked*

Day 13 (Saturday, October 12): Take the morning to explore Kappabashi Street and Asakusa Underground Street. Then we’ll return to Haneda in the early afternoon for an evening flight home.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/kakashirokudaime on 2024-08-09 03:36:32+00:00.

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I wrote a post last year (May 2023) about traveling with our 10-month-old to Japan, we went back(Feb 2024) but this time we brought my mom!

A few notes

• My mom is 55 and in the fitness industry, she is very athletic so we had zero concerns about walking. She is also vegan (but flexible with fish while traveling) so it was tough, at times, to find a resturant that worked for all of us.
• We did portable wifi the first trip but this trip we went with the e-sim and it was so so much easier/better.
• We visited in February. Since we are from Southern California, we bought my son a waterproof one-piece snowsuit that he wore almost everyday. It was rainy and windy so I was happy knowing we could layer him up or down. It was also easy to pull off when we were indoors for an extended amount of time.
• We learned the first time that we needed to offer my son downtime and child-focused activities. I HIGHLY recommend practicing on-the-go naps ahead of time. My son is excellent at stroller naps because we practice before we travel.
• We stayed at the Mimaru chain last time and appreciated the size + amenities for children and opted to book it again.

Day Zero (aka the longest travel day ever)

• 6 am to 12 pm - My dad drove us from San Diego to LAX (the only direct flight from SD is with JAL). I booked business-class tickets on Singapore Air using points from American Express and Capital One. We checked out both the Centurian Lounge (better food) and Star Alliance (more space, less busy, better for toddler to run around outside).
• 1 pm - Boarded and take off. I called 6 months in advance to ensure we would get the bulkhead seats. They are massive, and so worth it when traveling with a lap child. There were at least 10 other kids in business which was surprising since last year on our JAL business class flight, my son was the only one. The 6 year behind us was a bit feral.
• 5 pm (Japan time) - After an 11-hour flight we landed feeling excited. Despite many people saying it was a bad idea on Reddit, we were headed to Kyoto the same night.
• 8:30 pm - Shinkansen to Kyoto from Tokyo Station(booked on smart ex a month in advance).
• 11 pm - checked into Mimaru Suites Kyoto. We opted for this location because it was close to the metro and offered a 2-bedroom suite at a reasonable price.

Day 1 - Kyoto

• 6:50 am - called an Uber to get to Kiyomizu-dera. We used Uber a lot in Kyoto since it was so cold and it was easier with a stroller. The cost was low when splitting it between multiple people.
• 7:30 am - the shops leading up to the temple are closed early in the morning so we enjoyed the peace and wandered around the temple. Not very stroller friendly but still happy we brought it.
• 9:30am - We made our way to Sannenzaka (a traditional shopping zone) and then to the famous Starbucks Kyoto Nineizaka Yasaka Chaya. Tbh, you won't get a seat but considering everything else will be closed at this time, it's worth it for the caffeine.
• 10am - After walking down Nene-no-michi we stopped at Maruyama Park and Yasaka Shrine so my son could get some wiggles out.
• 11 am - Omen Udon for lunch. Lots of options + vegan-friendly + toddler-friendly (high chair). It was a great first meal. Highly recommend arriving 10-15 min before opening to get the first seating
• Afternoon - spent 90 minutes trying to get my son down for a nap (it was a team effort). He was overtired and jet-lagged, fighting hard against his internal clock. We all were really struggling with jet lag at this point. My husband opted to nap while my mom and I walked over to the Ace Hotel to get a coffee at Stumptown. Listen, I judge myself for going to American brands abroad but it was the closest coffee shop to us that wasn't a Starbucks. The latte I got was...no joke....the best latte I have ever had.
• Evening - The jet lag battle was brutal so we headed off to Aeon mall next to Kyoto station to try to find some toddler-specific activities that The Tokyo Chapter recommended. Ended up finding a random conveyor belt sushi place to try out, they had a booster seat for my son, it was good enough for us to leave happy but not impressed.

Day 2 - Kyoto (aka when we start rotating who is sick)

• Morning - The original goal was to use jetlag to our advantage and head to Fushimi Inari around 6 am. However, my husband woke up with a migraine and didn't want to miss out on seeing such a cool shrine. The morning started going downhill when my mom, son, and I headed to a coffee shop that had the wrong hours on Google Maps. Then we started walking to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, only for the rain to start coming down in sheets. When we arrived, the grounds were all gravel (and wet) and the stroller wheels weren't strong enough to traverse it. On a whim, we headed over to Heian Shrine. I don't think a lot of people go there but we ended up loving it.
• Afternoon - Dropped off my son with my husband for nap time before going to Sushizen for lunch with my mom (soooooo good). Got on a bus to head to our tea ceremony. I initially booked one of those geisha tea ceremonies but the reviews turned me off when folks mentioned that it's mostly people asking the geisha random questions. Ours was accidently private aka no one else booked it and INCREDIBLE. Seriously one of our top experiences of the trip. It was next to Daitoku-ji so we spent some time walking around there after.
• Late Afternoon - My mom needed some rest so she took over watching our toddler while my husband and I went to Nijo Castle. Another highlight for me, the afternoon really made up for the chaotic morning.
• Evening - 7:30pm res at Vegan Ramen UZU. I was a little doubtful based on some of the reviews but I wanted to take my mom somewhere that she could have anything on the menu + celebrate her birthday. This place was so good! I loved my ramen and would rank it high on my list of places we ate at.

Day 3 - Osaka (reality of traveling with a toddler)

• Morning - Travel guides saying that Osaka and Kyoto are 15mins away are lying or are talking about just going between Kyoto Station and Shin Osaka. It took us 2 hours (honestly I knew that ahead of time) to get to the Osaka Aquarium. Our 11 am reservation was cut short after 20 minutes when it was clear my son needed a nap. Luckily, you have access to the aquarium all day after checking in. After wailing like a tiny maniac along the waterfront, he finally fell asleep in the stroller. In the past, he has not slept longer than 90 minutes in the stroller. For some reason, today was the day that he slept close to 3 hours.
• Afternoon - Not wanting to go through the aquarium without my son, we took turns going on the Osaka Ferris wheel. We shopped around the little mall but it was very underwhelming. We were stuck mostly inside due to the crazy rain. Finally, when he woke up, we went through the aquarium. We really loved it, the whale sharks were so beautiful. Don't stop at the first viewing point, there are at least 20 spots to view the whale sharks that are less busy. We also lost the diaper bag at some point (jeeez) but the customer service was so friendly and helped us find it (my mom was so upset cause she thought it was her fault).
• Evening - We should have gone home but instead we took an Uber to Dotonbori around 6 pm. Honestly, I shouldn't have pushed the group. The combination of a toddler, vegan, and insane rain made this so unpleasant. We went home after 45 min. I have high hopes for Osaka if we go in the future but this day had a lot of challenges.

Day 4 - Kyoto (Arashiyama, my favorite day)

• 8 am - Uber dropped us off at Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple right as they were opening up. Our favorite temple, felt very spiritual. We left our stroller at the entrance and either carried my son or let him wander around. Most people took the bus straight to the Bambook Forest but I wanted to really enjoy Arashiyama so we took a small path past Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple to Saga Toriimoto Perserved Street. The walk was so serene, highly recommend it.
• 9:48 am - We finally arrive at the Bamboo Forest. We are not a family that chases instragramable locations so I knew going here at the crack of dawn wasn't worth it to us. We took about 10 mins to take pics and walk through. It is very small, if this is the only thing you do in Arashiyama, you are missing out.
• 10 am - Entry into Tenryu-Ji. My husband and I traded off getting 20 minutes of exploration due to the gravel and number of steps not being stroller-friendly. Just sitting at the temple was pleasant so it wasn't a hardship on the person doing the baby watching.
• 11:30 am - Lunch time! I sent my mom to the gardens to enjoy a traditional Buddhist meal (vegan + booked a few months in advance) while my husband and I headed over to Itsukichaya. The set meal was beautiful and so delicious. It's a quiet space so we put zootopia on mute for my son to watch. They didn't have high chairs but he did fine in a normal seat. They also offered him rice and steamed eggs free of charge. Highly recommend. After we met back up at %Arabica, I ordered the Kyoto Latte which was not worth the 45 min wait.
• Nap Time - Honestly, we came to all enjoy these mid-day breaks. My mom was feeling sick so she stayed home for the rest of the day.
• 2 pm - We reserved time at a free indoor play center (they ask for no promotion so if you are interested DM me for details). Lots of wo...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Weaksafety on 2024-08-09 18:32:30+00:00.

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Hey everyone! 👋 I'd like to share my first time 7 days trip I had this march, and hopefully get some suggestions from you for my next one in March 2025!

This was a solo trip, I'm used and enjoy walking 15-18 miles per day starting very early (6:30am or so) and wandering around, so this was packed but I had lots of fun. Also, renting a bike via app was a tremendous time saver, especially in Kyoto. Here it was:

March 9 (Saturday): Bright Lights

🛬 Arrived in HND at 11:30AM after a 14 hours flight, went to my hotel in Akasaka.

🏯 Visited Hie Shrine (loved it), then explored Akihabara to stay awake until 10PM, then called it a day.

March 10 (Sunday): Shopping Frenzy

🌳 Started at 7AM in Meiji Jingu, walked through Yoyogi Park, visited Yoyogi Hachimangu Shrine.

🚲 From there I rented a bike and went to Shibuya, then spent the rest of the day visiting Shibuya (usual spots, plus PARCO) and Shinjuku.

March 11 (Monday): On the traditional side

🌅 Started the day at 7:30 in Asakusa to see Senso-ji without heavy crowds. It was indeed not crowded but the rest of the neighborhood shops was still closed, so I sadly had to skip Kappabashi Dougu. Will be back next year.

🚴‍♂️ Biked to the south tip of Ueno park, then walked to Shinobazunoike Benten-do, then Kiyomizu Kannon-dō, Ueno Daibutsu, Ueno Toshogu.

🏛️ From the National Museum I walked through Yanaka, briefly visited the Yanaka Cemetery then had lunch at Sampota Cafe Nombiriya (loved the atmosphere, food was grandma-style). Walked the alleys up to Yanaka Ginza.

🚉 Took the Yamanote at Nippori and explored Ikebukuro, had ramen there, then went to Shibuya for a nightly stroll before calling it a day.

March 12 (Tuesday): Rainy surprise 🌧️

Had plans for a daily trip to Kamakura that sadly had to be scrapped due to heavy rains. During breakfast I searched for mostly indoor spots, so..

🎨 I found a 9 AM ticket to Teamlab Planets, which I enjoyed.

🚉 Then headed to Tokyo Station and got lost exploring the shops, Character street, etc. Ate Tsukemen at a place under the Tokyo Station tracks.

🛍️ Headed to Ginza and walked a bit, but rain was still pouring. I went inside Itoya and spent a full good hour looking at all the marvels there.

🏙️ After a quick stop at the hotel, I went to Nakano Broadway to explore and then had dinner with a good tonkatsu in the nearby alleys.

March 13 (Wednesday): Shibamata and Kyoto

🍡 Began my day with a pretty long metro ride to Shibamata. Had breakfast at the station, then walked to Shibamata Taishakuten, which was one of the top highlights of my trip. Absolutely stunning, both the temple and the garden. By the time I was done, some shops in Taishakuten Sandō were open and I enjoyed some sakura dango.

🚄 Then back to Tokyo Station, booked a 1PM Shinkansen to Kyoto, and off I went.

🚲 Arrived at my hotel in Kyoto around 4 PM, then biked to the Philosopher's path and met some friends there. Went to the gardens of the three temples on the side of the mountain, enjoyed the view. Ended the day stuffing up at a yakiniku.

March 14 (Thursday): The east side of Kyoto

⛩️ Intentional super-early rise so that at 6:30 I was at the bottom of Fushimi Inari. Dumb me took a "small" detour that sent me to the path at the BACK of the mountain, so no red Torii while climbing, but still got:

• a walk through a bamboo forest;
• nice open-air rusted sanctuaries/shrines with waterfalls;
• total silence and peace, saw only 2 people during the entire climb

🚶‍♂️ Once at the top of the mountain, I descended through the Torii path with no detours this time. At the bottom, I started walking north and visiting every temple I found along the way, so Nanmei-in, Komyo-in (including the garden), had tea at the wonderful Chikujō Sō, then Tofuku-ji.

🏞️ Biked up until Takio Shrine for a quick view, then visited the wonderful Sanjūsangen-dō and its garden.

🍡 Biked again up to Hōkan-ji, then grabbed dango and some matcha ice-cream at Sannenzaka. Walked at the back of Gion to Otani Sobyo, then through the park at Yasaka Sanctuary. A stroll through Gion and exhaustion ended my day at 4PM, so I went to Kyoto Station and took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo, where I ate another tonkatsu at Akasaka and then collapsed in my bed.

March 15 (Friday): Final day

🚴‍♂️ My last full day and I wanted to explore more, so I got on yet another bike and rode for about 10 miles all around the Akasaka Imperial gardens, to the west-south side of the Imperial Palace and Hibiyakoen, then down to Shiba Park. Another great walk through the parks toward Tokyo Tower and the temples.

🍜 Then I went to Shimokitazawa to explore and had some udons for lunch, then back to where I started (Akihabara) for some final shopping, dinner and back to the hotel.

March 16 (Saturday): 🛫 Had breakfast then straight to HND for my flight home.

Overall, I loved every minute, and the pace I had was right for me. I left a piece of my heart in Kyoto and promised I'd spend 3 days there in my next trip. After going through many mundane and traditional spots, I'd say I appreciate a good mix of the two but with more preference for traditional / historical sights.

Now I'm trying to plan for my next trip in mid March, for which I already have tickets. It'll be a 8 full day trip, from friday (landing day) to saturday night (leaving day), both to and from HND again.

I'd definitely love to:

• Give Kyoto a good 3 days;
• Take at least 2 full days in Tokyo;
• Put in some day trips as well.

What would you suggest for my next itinerary? 🤔

Open to questions from you all!