Itinerary Check 18 Days in Japan

12 comments

1. TeamLab Borderless will close at the end of August 2022 and will reopen in 2023 at new location in Tokyo.

   Also you plan to get 7 day JR pass but your main travel spans more than 7 days.

2. Like you said most days are pretty light which is good for general exploring. You have a lot of time in Kyoto/Osaka, maybe a bit too much time? I think it depends on what you want to see there.

   Day 13 will be a very long day. I’ve done a day trip from Miyajima from Kyoto and found I didn’t have time to see Hiroshima as well, so consider doing an overnight here if you want to see both.

   The 7 day rail pass might not work for this trip. If you activate it on day 7 it will only last until day 13, so won’t get you back to Tokyo. The 14 day might work considering you are going to Hiroshima, but you will need to compare the cost against the individual legs.

3. Edo Tokyo Museum closing for renovations and won’t be open until 2025 i believe. TeamLab Borderless closing at the end of August and will reopen in 2023 near central Tokyo. Would suggest grouping Nakano with Shinjuku as the two stations are connected by a train line.

4. Edo-Tokyo Museum is close for renovation. Depending on when you go, both TeamLab exhibitions will close, there might be a new one in the future, so keep an eye open.

   Day 8, Nishiki market might be a bit more of a morning or early afternoon than a end of day thing.

   Day 9, Kyoto Botanical Garden would not be my first choice of garden to see in Japan, I would go to Koishikawa Korakuen or Hamarikyu in Tokyo first.

   Instead of a rest day at day 11, I would take that to do Hiroshima and Miyajima one day each. While it is possible to do both as a day trip from Kyoto, it will be a really tiring day. It will be much more relax to do it in two days. If you start the day early, you can even stop by Himeji to see the castle and Koko-en garden, afternoon can be spent in Hiroshima.

   If there is days you plan to go shopping in Tokyo at the start, I would suggest to move them at the end of the trip, so you do not have to carry all your purchases all around Japan.

   Does not work with 7 days pass as you leave Tokyo day 7 and return day 16, so this is 10 days. So this mean you would go to Kyoto outside of the pass ? It’s true that the one way ticket Tokyo-Kyoto is cheaper than to bump to 14 days pass.

   In general I think it’s good, you can for sure make a list of specific location in the “explore” area, just be flexible, take your time to enjoy, don’t try to see everything if you can’t.

5. Regarding the Tokyo days: You’ve planned to go to areas which are on opposite sides of Tokyo in the same day (eg. 2-Akihabara and Ginza / 3-Ueno and Shinjuku). To save time and effort, perhaps map the areas you want to go and stick to one side of Tokyo each day.

   In addition, the JR Pass is a waste to use in just Tokyo, so make sure those 7 days cover the days when you plan to take JR lines and the shinkansen the most.

6. 1. What season (spring? autumn?) will this be in? Depending on the season there might be amazing places you could visit that aren’t on this itinerary at the moment (Tsukigase / Yoshino Yama in Nara prefecture for spring plum / cherry blossom). Seeing as you’ve built in rest days, looks like you totally could set up day trips to these more remote places if there are seasonal things going on.

   2. Are there any festivals happening at the time of your trip? There are loads of local festivals throughout the year in Japan, which are really fun to check out. If you can, try to time one of your visits to a city with a local festival so you get to experience that as well.

   3. Kobe. Very quick from Osaka on a Kintetsu Express train, worth a day trip (you can also sample Kobe beef if that’s your thing).

   4. Find an onsen or spa for your relax days. There are loads all over the place, and a really core part of Japanese life, so you can relax like a local!

   Enjoy!

7. Day trip for Hiroshima and Miyajima ? That’s crazy. Minimum two days to see the highlights in and around.

8. Remember you will need return visits in the future once you are hooked

9. Day 1: Edo-Tokyo Museum will be closed for renovations for foreseeable future. Note that Japanese Sword Museum is located in the same neighbourhood though. Also, it would make most sense starting with Asakusa and the moving across river through Ryogoku to Skytree.

   Day 2: I would actually combine Ueno area with Ameya Yokocho and Akihabara. Imperial Palace tour is perfectly skippable and unless you plan shopping in Ginza – that is also a missable neighbourhood.

   Day 6: Teamlab Borderless will be closed this year and relocated to a different part of Tokyo in 2023 (whether it would be the same exhibit or a new one – that is not yet confirmed). Odaiba can be still fairly nice to visit with Miraikan.

   Day 8: It would make more sense to start with Southern Higashiyama, then get a lunch and shop around Nishiki Market and come back to visit Gion in late afternoon. Most of Nishiki Market shops close fairly early (4-5 pm).

   Day 9: I would probably combine Kyoto Botanical Gardens with Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Ninna-ji and Kitano Tenmangu rather than Fushimi Inari. Note that there is no real reason to visit Kyoto Botanical Gardens other than at particular times of the year (cherry blossom, or autumn foliage). It’s a pleasant spot, however, as far as large gardens go it’s average (Korakuen in Okayama, Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo, or a day trips from Tokyo to one of Kairakuen/Ashikaga Flower Park/Hitachi Seaside Park would make more sense).

   Day 14: Visit Himeji (or Hikone) instead of the monstrosity that is ‘reconstruction’ of Osaka-jo.

10. Why does everyone that visits arashiyama go to the monkey park and skip much better attractions?

11. The nakano broadway mall on day 17 should be done if you’ll be there already. It’s fascinating.

    Otherwise great itinerary. I did one very similar in 2005 and still remember almost every detail.

    If you have time in Hiroshima eat at the Hiroshima-yaki “mall” full of vendors selling their different versions.

12. I suggest do a thorough research regarding the business hours of the places you really really really want to go to, whether it’s a museum, parks, shops or restaurants. Japanese establishments operates on a weird schedule. Some opens at 8am, some at 3pm and some in the middle of the night. Some only opens on wed and fri and some only opens on weekends. Some only opens once a week or sometimes 5 times a month. Some even opens for only an hour a day! So better do your research. Base your itinerary on this schedule. There were some places I really really wanted to go to but I went in that specific area on the day they were closed so yeah.