Hi everyone, I would really love your feedback and recommendations for our first time in Japan! We are a family of four (but for the first half of the trip we will also be with another family of four, so eight in total). Kids are 18 and up, parents are around their 50s.

I wanted some advice since this is our first time in Japan and we want to visit as many places as we can, but I am also trying not to overload. Would love any help on timing, moving things around, adding things I missed, or altogether skipping/replacing anything in our itinerary.

The trip is during July so I am somewhat worried about the hot/humid weather in combination with lots of walking (everyone is fit + from Texas, but bound to get cranky I'm sure). I also tried balancing activities/shopping/sightseeing so that everyone gets to do things they enjoy and grouped everything by area and proximity.

Otherwise, in general, our family is not too interested in team labs, universal studios, and that sort of thing. For food, we mainly plan to just find things on the spot. Anything with a question mark is something I'm especially unsure about and would love thoughts on. Any advice on transportation is greatly appreciated as well!

Also, in your opinion, would it be better to visit Ine or Izu… Thanks so much!

Tokyo:

7/10/24 – 2pm land, check into airbnb, go eat/rest, tokyo gov. building (queue 30-ish min. and sunset 7:00 pm), omoide yokoche (famous alley), explore shinjuku at night (see the cat and godzilla 🙂

7/11/24 – meiji jingu (famous shrine), harajuku area (MoMa, onitsuka tigers!), shibuya area (don quijote, loft, hands, tower records, shibuya crossing, shibuya sky!)

7/12/24 – ghibli museum!! (either morning or afternoon hopefully), gotokuji (good luck temple), shimokitazawa thrifting? (overhyped/expensive? is there a better area?)

7/13/24 – tsukiji fish market in early morning (uniqlo, GU, see the hermes store, general luxury shopping), akihabara (anime central), senso-ji temple (luck slip)

7/14/24 – depart for Hakone in the morning

Hakone (traditional ryokan):

7/14/24 – morning arrival + check in, hakone ropeway to owakudani (sulphur mining, kurotamago eggs), hakone shrine (take a walk around lake ashi), onsen!

7/15/24 – hakone cruise tour?, hakone open air museum (art and sculptures), depart for Osaka in the evening + check in

Osaka:

7/16/24 – kuromon market (600 meters of food stalls), nanba? (lion shrine), 551 horai (pork buns), dotonbori (city life), shinsekai market (arcades)

7/17/24 – day trip to nara (deers, bike around, nakatanidou mochi, kofukuji and todaiji temple etc.)

7/18/24 – osaka castle (osaka amazing pass), gozabune boat (around the castle), umeda sky building? (views), tombori boat? (dotonbori river), tenma (explore nightlife)

Kyoto:

7/19/24 – depart for Kyoto in the morning + check in, fushimi inari (1,000 torii gates), sannenzaka and ninenzaka (cute streets), kiyomizu dera (iconic temple), higashiyama ward (traditional buildings)

7/20/24 – day trip to uji, byodo-in (10-yen coin), honestly just explore and try everything matcha

7/21/24 – nishiki market (400 year old food market), arashiyama (bamboo forest), hirobun? (catch your own noodles), kifune shrine (lantern lined path)

Ine:

7/22/24 – depart for Ine in the morning, stop in amanohashidate (beautiful beaches), stroll around, head to ine + check in, eat fresh seafood, walk around, relax

7/23/24 – rent a bike or tour, unplanned day

Tokyo:

7/24/24 – depart for Tokyo in the morning (6 hours of travel) + check in, do any last minute shopping/sightseeing

7/25/24 – any very last minute sightseeing and leave Japan 4pm