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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/MarkKleeb on 2025-07-01 20:06:09+00:00.
My wife (43F) and I (39M) had been planning our honeymoon which was postponed in summer of 2020 and we finally had the chance to take our Japan trip this June 2025. We own an arcade bar in Brooklyn NY, so we prioritized seeing arcades and arcade culture in Japan. She is also an animal lover and wanted to experience some of the places to see animals in natural environments (as well as a few cafes). We are also both cyclists and planned to travel out to the Seto Inland Sea to cycle the Shimanami Kaido. Here was our day by day itinerary if it helps anyone!
Day 1 (Tues)- Land in Narita, travel to Shinjuku
We decided to fly in and out of Narita since it was less expensive. Before the flight, we got eSIM cards and set up the Suica card in our Apple Wallets to easily travel through the train system. We landed and took the Narita express to Shinjuku station. We decided to stay in Shinjuku during both of our Tokyo legs due to the nightlife, bar and izakaya scenes. For the first 3 nights of the trip we stayed at the Shinjuku Granbell Hotel which was a little more expensive but we wanted a nicer place to decompress and adjust to jetlag.
Day 2 (Weds)- Shinjuku, Nakano Broadway
We woke up at 6am due to jetlag and checked out Don Quijote which was across the street. It's a little overwhelming so glad we got to see it before our big shopping spree later in the trip. At 11am we went to the Square Enix Artnia cafe, which is a cute gift shop/cafe attached to the Square Enix HQ. They have a small menu but I recommend it if you're a fan of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc. They open at 11 and it filled up quickly so recommend getting there as close to opening as possible.
Since it was a bit rainy we decided to go to Nakano Broadway which is a big indoor mall about 15 min from Shinjuku station. We spent about 3 hours here but were very exhausted from the jetlag. There's a lot of great stuff though, especially if you're looking for vintage games or anime/manga. We ate Tsukemen at Enji afterward which was incredible.
At night we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building to see the projection show. This show happens twice per night and highly recommend if you get a chance to see it!
Day 3 (Thurs)- Meiji Jingu, Shibuya, Harajuku
The weather was beautiful so we started with Meiji Jingu shrine. There were a lot of tourists but the park is beautiful. We walked through the park and over the bridge into Shibuya (this day was the most walking we did on the entire trip and it might have been a better idea to take the train). Went to Shibuya Parco to see the Nintendo, Pokemon, and Capcom stores. They were all SUPER crowded and a little overwhelming (we later found these same stores in Osaka and it was much more chill). Ate sushi on the top floor of Parco which was fine.
Walked through the Scramble (we're New Yorkers so this was kinda meh for us) and to I'm Donut? which had a surprisingly short line at that time of day. Grabbed some donuts and hopped on the train to Harajuku. Walked down Takeshita street - some highlights were 6% Doki Doki and Kiddyland if you're into the vibe of this area. My wife also got Onitsuka Tigers at their flagship store. We ended up grabbing a late dinner at Family Mart and crashing
Day 4 (Fri)- Travel to Imabari
We sent most of our luggage to Osaka and checked out of the Granbell with backpacks and headed toward the Shimanami Kaido bike trip. The Shinkansen bullet train goes to Fukuyama, where we found a bus that travels over the same route we'd be cycling (you can also take a train, but we wanted the scenic above-ground tour of the islands). This was all much easier than I expected. We bought the Shinkansen tickets the night before and got the bus tickets right at the station. We arrived in Imabari and checked into Cyclo No IE, which is a hostel/guesthouse for cyclists. The hosts were extremely helpful and showed us different routes for the bike path. We walked around Imabari and had Yakitori at a small local joint before going to bed early
Day 5 (Sat)- Shimanami Kaido Day 1
We woke up early and had a big breakfast before picking up our rental bikes across the street from the hostel. I purchased these in advance so all we needed to do was show our code and pick up the bikes along with locks, lights, and helmets. The first day was a bit overcast which was actually nice to bike in. Follow the blue line! That's my biggest suggestion for this ride. We went off track almost at the very beginning and it set us back almost 45 minutes. We intentionally went out of the way on the island Oshima to see a nice rose garden and eat at Cafe Shozan. The next island, Hakatajima, has a nice beach but the weather wasn't that great. We stayed on the third island Omishima at the Benton Guesthouse. They had a laundry which was much appreciated, as well as dinner recommendations nearby.
Day 6 (Sun)- Rabbit Island, Shimanami Kaido Day 2
The reason we stayed on Omishima was so that we could wake up early and take the ferry to Okunoshima or Rabbit Island. We brought a head of cabbage and some carrots and it was well worth it! Caught the earliest ferry (9am) so we could get there before the second half of the bike trip. The rabbits will absolutely swarm you for food. It was quite adorable and definitely recommend doing this as part of the bike trip if you're nearby. We got back to the guesthouse by noon and continued on our way.
The fourth island Ikuchijima has the most to see. It's also known for lemons, so I recommend getting a lemonade in town. It was VERY hot so we got out of the sun inside the Cave of 1000 Buddhas in the Kousanji Temple. The Hill of Hope was also worth seeing as part of this temple experience.
Since we spent so much time on Ikuchijima, we had to cycle through Innoshima and Mukaishima without stopping too much. We ended up getting on the ferry to Onomichi around 5pm and returned our bikes before the rental shop closed at 6pm. We stayed at a pretty basic hotel in Onomichi, the Kokusai Hotel which was actually nicer than I expected (and MUCH cheaper than the U2 hotel that they recommend for cyclists)
Shimanami Kaido Conclusions- the bike trip was incredible! It was 80 km (~40 miles) total split over two days. There were a few hills getting up to the bridges but our bikes had gears and it wasn't terribly difficult. We met some folks doing the entire ride in one day, though we stopped frequently to take photos and sightsee. Definitely worthwhile if you're a fan of cycling.
Day 7 (Mon)- Naoshima, Travel to Osaka
This was maybe our biggest mistake of the trip. The Shinkansen takes an hour to get to Osaka so we had a lot of time to kill before checking into our hotel, so decided to stop at Okoyama, drop our bags in a locker, and take the local train followed by a ferry to Naoshima. However we didn't realize it was Monday and ALL the museums were closed that day. It was also pushing 100 degrees.
We set out to walk the perimeter of Naoshima and got diverted by so many closed roads that we ended up on a pretty serious hike just to see one of Yayoi Kusama's pumpkins. We took photos, found a bus, and got back on the ferry. I'd say don't bother going to this island unless the museums are open! We also could have allocated way more time than a half day (it takes a while to get there and back)
Got to Osaka, had some shabu shabu and crashed at the Hearton Hotel in Shinsaibashi
Day 8 (Tues)- Osaka, Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori
Spent the day shopping around Shinsaibashi and had incredible Takoyaki and Okonomayaki in Dotonbori for lunch. Met up with some friends we knew at the RockBarCherryBomb in the evening. One of our contacts had a bar called Space Station, which is located in America-Mura and was filled with vintage game consoles and other video game art. Highly recommend if you're into retro gaming.
Day 8 (Weds)- Osaka, Namba, Teppanyaki
We walked to Namba in the morning to see the Yasaka Jinja shrine, then headed to DenDen Town to hang in the AC with one of our expat friends. (This area is sort of a mini Akihabara for you electronics freaks) On our way back we stopped for Omurice at Muguni which was one of the best things I ate on the entire trip. There's only 10 seats but it's worth the wait!
We had dinner reservations at Kobebeef Teppanyaki Rio which was our ONE dinner reservation of the entire trip. The dinner was incredible, we got a prix fixe of wagyu beef and a bottle of wine. Came out to around $400 USD for 2 people but totally worth it. Walked back to Shinsaibasi. Between Muguni and the Teppanyaki this was by far the best food day of the trip.
Day 9 (Thurs)- Nara, Travel to Kyoto
We again shipped our big luggage back to Tokyo and packed a small two day bag for Kyoto. On the way, we went to Nara Park to see the deer. Just like the rabbits, they were food driven. My wife got one pack of crackers and was immediately swarmed. We walked around to both shrines in the park. I'd recommend Todai-ji if you only have time for one (the giant Buddha is incredible) but just be aware both shrines have added fees to get inside.
After Nara we traveled to Kyoto where we were staying for 2 nights. Since my wife and I both have tattoos we decided to get a room at Soraniwa Terrace with a private Onsen since we were long overdue for an onsen after that bike trip. This hotel has a rooftop with complementary drinks at sunset and a foot bath. It's totally worth the spl...
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