I have seen a few posts lately talking about feeling overwhelmed with planning and experiencing burnout. While I didn’t experience this myself, I can see how it can get to this point past the initial excitement around planning your trip due to the sheer amount of stuff there is to do in Japan and, by extension, the copious amounts of content to consume. I just wanted to share some tips from my most recent trip to Japan while things are fresh on my mind. This ended up being a bit longer than expected, so I’ll probably post more tips and my itinerary later if there is interest.
**My first tip is to strike a balance between having a scheduled itinerary vs. having free time to be spontaneous!** Take note of any attractions you would like to do that requires pre-booking and plan flexibly around that. Obviously things like the amusement parks are all-day activities, but some activities (i.e., Pokemon Cafe, Shibuya Sky, teamLabs) or higher-end restaurants also requires you to reserve ahead of time. So, you can plan your days around those! Maybe if you have a day at the Pokemon Cafe, you can also spend that time shopping around Ginza or Akihabara. Maybe if you go to Shibuya Sky in the evening, you can spend your day walking through Harajuku and down Cat Street until you get to Shibuya Sky later. I also typically try to have one restaurant in mind each day and wing it for my other meals.
**My second tip is to be flexible with your days, within reason.** Apart from the activities/restaurants you need reservations for, it’s nice to be able to decide/change things on the fly if you need to, whether it be because of the weather, temple fatigue, crowd fatigue, what have you. For example, if it’s pouring outside, maybe you pivot to having a day more focused on shopping or café hopping that doesn’t require too much walking (walking around with wet shoes all day is a stinker!).
**My third tip is to have a planned rest day or two depending on the length of your stay.** I think fatigue can set in very easily if you load up your schedule. After multiple days of waking up at sunrise to beat the crowds, walking *at least* 15k steps each day, constantly navigating the public transit, and the sheer amount of stimulation, it’s nice to have lighter days to unwind. This rest day can be whatever “rest” means to you. Maybe it’s just a walk through a park, maybe it’s a massage/spa/ryokan/onsen/sento day, maybe it’s being a potato at a cat or manga café, whatever works with you. It also gives you another day you can be flexible with in your schedule. Maybe you didn’t hit all of the shops you wanted to in Shibuya or Akihabara – you can do it on this rest day! An additional tip here – **sprinkle in pitstops throughout your day**. A day full of walking can be broken up with restaurants, cafes, what have you.
**I do want to get a brief shoutout to [Wanderlog](https://wanderlog.com/).** It helped immensely with planning and is a fantastic tool to use for organizing your itinerary, gives directions alongside transit/walking times, and can add attractions/restaurants/what have you to different lists. I had a whole “maybe” section of places I wasn’t sure if I had time/energy to visit, but if I ever did, I would just plug it into my itinerary. The app is also very easy to use and it helped me keep track of everything, as well as move things around and be flexible. I think Wanderlog was my 2nd most used app behind Google Maps while in Japan. Behind Google Maps and Wanderlog, I also used Google Translate/Papago a decent amount. I had the Ubigi app as that was my eSIM of choice. LINE is sometimes used for reservations. Disney Resort, USJ, and Klook are apps I had for places those respective places/tickets.
Not really a tip, but something to keep in mind – **you are not going to see all of Japan in one trip**. I just got back from Japan and already have like a two-week itinerary in mind for the next time I am back! One of the things that has stuck with me the most on my trip is something that was shared to me by the host of my tea ceremony – ichi go ichi e (一期一会), one time – one meeting. Basically, every moment only occurs once, so it is all about enjoying the moment and remembering that this moment will never repeat! So just enjoy yourself and be as present as possible on your trip, don’t overthink too much. 🙂
by tooodifferent