[Itinerary Check] 37 days (1st rough draft) December 1st-Jan 6th 22/23

9 comments

1. >Also, if there anything to know for Tokyo around X-mas and new year holiday. Been told that ATM may be low or empty around new year for a few days and a few places will be close for holidays.

   Yes, make sure you pull out some cash to have on you, but this really doesn’t matter nearly as much these days with so many shops introducing cashless payments, on top of credit cards generally being usable 99% of the time in Tokyo.

   In general the New Year-related closings mostly apply to smaller, family-owned/local businesses as well as some tourist attractions and retail shops. But you won’t have to worry about the whole city shutting down, far from it.

2. You won’t get jet lag from travelling between Australia and Japan – or at least I didn’t.

   If you have that much time, I’d suggest staying overnight in Nara. I tried to cover it as a day trip from Osaka, and ran out of time. There’s lots of excellent things to see there.

   That’s probably too much time in Himeji – I really like the place, but there’s not a lot for tourists to see there.

3. When you’re in the Kansai region I’d recommend visiting Nara for the day and see the deer. Also if you’re interested in tea I’d recommend doing the d:matcha tea tour. You get to go to the tea fields, see where and how it’s processed, and try a bunch of different types of tea and matcha.

4. Be sure to look up what Christmas illuminations will be happening in the areas you will visit. I love walking around cities at night usually but during winter the illuminations mean there is always something gorgeous (and usually free) to see after dinner. Christmas Day is just a normal day in Japan and New Year’s is the true holiday with most people in Japan having 3-5 days off work and spending time with family. Planning a down/rest day for New Year’s Day might be good as things will be very quiet that day in particular.

   Check these sites (or Google) for updated info on winter 2022/23 in fall.

   – [Traveling in Japan During New Year’s](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2276.html)
   – [How to Spend New Year’s in Japan](https://jw-webmagazine.com/how-to-spend-new-years-like-japanese-355af2519eee/)
   – [16 Best Winter Illuminations in Japan](https://www.tsunagujapan.com/attracted-by-the-world-view-8-popular-japanese-illumination-spots/)
   – [Best Winter Illuminations in Osaka](https://jw-webmagazine.com/best-winter-illumination-spots-in-osaka-d19f1d509a4e/)
   – [Ultimate Guide to Winter Illuminations in Japan’s 47 Prefectures](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/top-winter-illuminations-japans-47-prefectures/)

   Happy planning!

5. I would re-order things in Osaka, do all the things in the same area on the same day. Kuromon Market, doguyasuji, den den town together. Tempozan Ferris Wheel and Aquarium together. Sumiyoshi taisha followed by Shitenno-ji and shin sekai. Just put things on a Google maps and you will see how things are close to each other.

   Just as a note, I know that some people want to try Kobe beef in Kobe, but you should know that you can get it in other places and if your idea is to eat it locally, then it is as local if you eat it in Himeji because Kobe beef can be produced in all the southern part of Hyogo prefecture, that include Himeji.

   Kawadoko is usually from May to September, so you will be out of season to eat over the river.

   Day 18, you do not need a day to move from Hirosjima to Miyajima, this can all be done on day 19. However, the ride from Hiroshima to Ise will be long, like about 5 hours, so you likely will not have time to go to a theme park on that day.

   Ise, you do not want to go to Ise jingu ?

   I would strongly advise to check out for winter illumination, like there is one at Tokyo Dome City, so considering you want to go in the area, you might as well make sure to catch the illumination. Also for the first days of the year, you can check do to a Shichifukujin meguri, that is visiting 7 temples/shrines related to the 7 gods of luck, I did the [Yanaka shichifukujin](https://old-tokyo.info/7-lucky-gods-pilgrimage-in-yanaka/), that have a nice paper with the temple shuin and picture on it, or there is the Shinjuku [Yamanote shichifukujin](https://www.kanko-shinjuku.jp.e.xm.hp.transer.com/course/-/article_2809.html) that have a more simple shuin sheet or small figures of the gods, but there is other in different parts of Tokyo and surrounding too. This [page](http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~uy7m-ssk/) (in Japanese) have a list of 34 courses in the Tokyo region, check to Google translate it, it can give you idea of the courses available and you can search a bit more for that specific course.

6. Looks like a great trip, I’ve always found the weather in December nice because it’s cold but dry most days. The flight is an easy one by Aus standards, if it’s night then it’s long enough to sleep and if it’s daytime then that’s fine too.

   Agree on one less day in Himeji, I stayed there for three weeks once visiting someone and there just isn’t much there. On the other hand I like having more chill days in my trips than some other posters here so I’d understand if you just want to spend a day wandering around a pleasant little Japanese city.

   What are you planning for Tokyo?

7. Osaka:

   * Osaka-jo is a bad concrete “reconstruction” and its not particularly appealing in December
   * Kaiyukan (aquarium) is next to Tempozan Ferris Wheel

   Kobe:

   * I would actually visit Shin-Kobe Ropeway (Nunobiki Herb Garden) on a first full day in Japan since it gives you a better chance to catch last glimpses of autumn foliage.

   Kyoto:

   * I would start a day early in the morning (7-8am) at Kiyomizu-dera to avoid crowds, then move through Higashiyama to Kodaiji, then spend late morning/early afternoon near Nishiki Market before moving on to Teramachi (unless you want to spend a whole day just on Nishiki Market and Teramachi, which can be fun – just make sure that it won’t be on Wednesdays or Sundays
   * unless you are an avid hiker, I wouldn’t count on making Kurama to Kibune shrine and back, especially with lunch in the middle – it’s doable, but requires good timing
   * Kyoto Botanical Garden would be partly depressing, partly like any other botanical garden in mid-December
   * you are missing Northern Higashiyama (Ginkaku-ji, Philosopher’s Path, Eikan-do, Honen-in, Nanzen-ji) and northern Kyoto (Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Ninna-ji, Kitano Tenmangu) in your plans – the northern Higashiyama is really fun and peaceful to visit outside main seasons

   Hiroshima:

   * Day 16 and 17 plans can be realistically combined to do in a single day, so you might visit Onomichi, Iwakuni or Kure depending on your interests

   Miyajima to Ise: if you stick to using JR Pass, you realistically will have 8 hours of travel; even if you choose to use Kintetsu to go to Ise from Osaka – it’s still typically 6+ hours.

   Ise to Takayama: again, this is 5 hours+ of travel, and if you don’t leave Ise area around 7:30am, you won’t get to Takayama before 3pm. Also note: Rapid Mie is not fully covered by JR Pass, so you’ll be asked (by train conductor) to pay surcharge.

8. I get taking it easy/slow but I think you might possibly be taking it too slow.

   For example, I think you could spend one fewer night in Himeji, maybe in Hiroshima as well or even two fewer days between Hiroshima+Miyajima, and 12 days in Tokyo at the end. Maybe you have a plan for a lot of those days and if so great, but maybe consider taking some time from these cities and visit one or even two other places like Kanazawa or even down to Kyushu (I think you have enough time to do some of it).

   I’m not sure how you do your trip planning and what times of the day you’re planning to travel but the trains start up pretty early and places tend to close fairly early as well, so I find it really attractive to either take a really early train out of the city or take an evening train (my preference) instead. This way, my “prime” hours aren’t spent traveling but are instead spent on doing things. I think it’s a good way to squeeze what might be, for example, three slow days into two regular days, so to speak.

9. You will get zero jet lag between Australia and Japan. It’s a one hour difference at the moment and 2 hours during daylight savings (which is when you’re going).

   Are you doing a red eye flight? If so you might be tired from a bad night of sleep but you can put your suitcase in a locker or leave with your hotel and spend the day exploring.