Hi,
I am looking for advice on my upcoming trip to Japan. We’re a group of 4, and we’ll be in Tokyo from March 14 to March 22, 2024. Then 2 will fly home while my girlfriend and I will travel to western japan from March 22 – March 29. We booked our return flights before we decided to go to Hiroshima, so thats why we go from Hiroshima to Tokyo on the last day. We still need to make a few reservations, such as ghibli museum, blue symphony, sumo, and our shinkansen rides. Any advice on booking these activities or restaurant suggestions are greatly appreciated as well!
Japan itinerary –
March 14 (Thu)
* Arrive HND 7:30pm
* Pick up pocket wifi at Ninja Wifi counter 8pm
* Check in at Airbnb
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March 15 (Fri)
* Leave Airbnb 8am
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden 10am-12pm
* Train to Yokohama, reservations at Cup Noodles museum 2pm-330pm
* Explore Yokohama, any suggestions?
* B-side label on the way back to airbnb if time permits
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March 16 (Sat)
* Leave Airbnb 7-8am for harajuku and shibuya
* \~9am Meiji Jingu & Yoyogi Park
* Walk around harajuku and shibuya the rest of the day
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March 17 (Sun)
* Leave Airbnb 9am
* Ueno Park 10am
* Explore Akihabara the rest of the day
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March 18 (Mon)
* Leave Airbnb 8am
* Poop museum reservations at 1030am
* Explore Odaiba
* Teamlabs Borderless in Azabudai entrance time 530-6pm
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March 19 (Tue)
* Open day to explore. Maybe go see live music? Open to any music venue suggestions and music genres. Possibly go to Ginza
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March 20 (Wed)
* Kimono Rental 10am
* Sumida park & River 11am
* Explore Asakusa
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March 21 (Thu)
* Ghibli museum (pending tickets). No back up plan at the moment, just explore
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March 22 (Fri)
* Stay near Airbnb for the morning
* 2 people depart HND 9pm
* My girlfriend and I travel to Kyoto 12-2pm (need to book shinkansen tickets)
* Check in Kyoto airbnb
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March 23 (Sat)
* Dawn hike at Fushimi Inari, if it is feasible to get to the shrine early morning
* Kiyomizu dera
* Philosophers path
* End at Pontocho Masuda
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March 24 (Sun)
* Leave airbnb 7am
* Train to Osaka
* Sumo tournament in Osaka (pending tickets)
* Explore Osaka during the night
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March 25 (Mon)
* Leave airbnb 8am
* Train to Osaka
* Blue symphony train to Mount Yoshino (pending tickets)
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March 26 (Tue)
* Check out Kyoto 7am
* Travel to Kinosaki onsens (pending shinkansen tickets)
* Hope to get to Kinosaki by 12pm to explore before checking in at ryokan
* Spend night at ryokan
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March 27 (Wed)
* Check out kinosaki ryokan 10am
* Arrive at Himeji Castle \~ 2pm
* Train to Hiroshima and check in airbnb sometime late night
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March 28 (Thu)
* Peace Memorial 9am
* Miyajima 12pm
* Ferry back to Hiroshima
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March 29 (Fri)
* Leave airbn 11am
* Flight from HIJ to HND at 2pm
* HND to USA 9pm
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1) Would the JR west pass make sense with my itinerary or should I just book individual train tickets? Currently we have 2 round trips from kyoto to Osaka, then we go from kyoto to kinosaki to Himeji then to Hiroshima.
2) How realistic is our March 27 day? We want to go from kinosaki to himeji to explore the castle then to hiroshima.
3) How much time can we expect going through customs & immigration to finally get out of the airport? We all have filled out the forms on the Visit Japan website
4) How likely is it for us to get Welcome Suica cards in the airport? I’ve been having a hard time getting the card onto my iPhone.
5) Should we do Harajuku in the morning and Shibuya at night or Shibuya in the morning?
6) Should my girlfriend and I spend more time in Osaka? It feels really brief when I look at my itinerary, but there were a lot of things we tried to fit in during the short time.
7) We have a free day on Tuesday March 19. That would’ve been the perfect day to see Snarky Puppy perform, but tickets are sold out. Are there any live music venues you recommend? We are open to all music genres
8) We are interested in doing a dawn hike at fushimi inari. What is the transit system like early in the morning? According to google maps, our Airbnb in kyoto is about 3 miles away from the shrine.
9) What is the latest the trains operate? Or How easy is it to get back to Kyoto from Osaka in the late night?
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Thank you for the help!
