I had a request from my kid (this is our third trip to Japan). Staying in hotels for 4+ days at least, no rushing around from town to town. Second request was no ryokans and no kaiseki meals. Since we did both on the last trip, I'm okay with that. So we have three bases – Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo. We have a lot of days based in Osaka because I want to eat there every.night but the rail pass will let us go elsewhere during the day. I have some ideas below but would be open to more day trip ideas or activities. So this is two adults in their late forties who enjoy Japanese culture (shrines, gardens, food), one 14 year old boy that loves streetwear fashion, hiphop and sports.
Tuesday
Fly to Fukuoka. We arrive around 4pm. Check into our hotel at the Miyako. Canal City Mall has a light show at 7, 8 and 9pm. I want to find some Hakata-style ramen for dinner.
Wednesday July 17th
Fukuoka tourism day. No idea what to do in the morning – maybe just wander.
At 1:30 PM, we have tickets for TeamLab Forest, which is located near Momochi Seaside park in an entertainment complex near the Paypay dome (baseball stadium). We can spend the afternoon here. In the evening, we should check out the Yatai scene.
Thursday July 18th
We go to Tenjin Station and get the Dazaifu/Yanagawa combo ticket pack for Nishitetsu Railroad, which allows us to travel to both places, depart at both stations and offers some discounts, like a boat ride on the canals. Lunch is a bento box of eel in Yanagawa.
Friday July 19th
Today we activate our railpass (Northern Kyushu/San'nin/Sanyo Railpass 7 days). We get up early and take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima (1.25 hours). From there, we take the ferry to Miyajime. We visit the tori gate, and climb Mount Misen. Return via Shinkansen to Fukuoka. It will be a long day but since we aren't staying in Hiroshima at any point, this is the best way to do the trip.
Saturday July 20th
We take the shinkansen to Kumamoto (40 minutes) and visit the castle, garden, and with any luck, the famous cave where Miyamoto Musashi lived. This day trip may only take half a day, and if we have extra time, there is still plenty to see in Fukuoka. We should arrange our shinkansen to Osaka for the next day.
Sunday July 21st
We check out of our hotel and take the shinkansen to Osaka. We can take the fastest one – nozomi/mizuho.. It is a travel day so I didn't plan for much but I did think we could stop in Hiroshima for some okonomiyaki. In Osaka, check into the Swissotel connected to Namba station. Maybe wander around the neighborhoods surrounding Namba after we check in. I loved Dotonburi in 2016 – little worried about what people say about it now.
Monday July 22nd
I have a lot of options based on how the family is feeling after the last few days.
Option: Koya-San Day trip – would take a full day and we’d buy a special railroad pass (not included in JR pass). I have seen people that do this in one day. We'd choose this if we were craving that mossy/mountainside experience.
Option 2: We could use our JR Pass to visit a nearby place like Wakayama, which is near where the Kumano Kodo starts anda very beautiful town.
Option 3: In Osaka, we could visit the Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine. We could visit Shinsekai neighborhood for Kushikatsu and taking pictures of the kitschy architecture. One person also wants to check out a knife shop in Osaka, and also go to Den-den town. Kid would probably want to do some shopping for streetwear (amemura?).
Tuesday July 23rd
We could use our shinkansen pass to get to Kyoto, maybe hike Fushimi Inari in the morning. (We missed this on the past two trips).
A member of the family requested that we try Kobe beef, so we could take the shinkansen to Kobe for afternoon/evening.
Wednesday July 24th
Day trip option (Uji outside Kyoto is supposed to be great, also okayama for castle/garden), or shopping in Osaka, Don Quijote Ferris wheel, Dotonburi. We could also go to the aquarium in Osaka if it's a rainy day. Kinda depends on what else we did on the prior days. Railpass is still available.
Thursday July 25th
It’s festival day. We can do whatever we want in the morning but at 3:30pm, we should be at the Tenjin Matsuri festival for the procession, boat procession and then fireworks!
Might be a good day to finally visit Osaka castle (that we missed prior years).
Friday July 26th
This is a travel day where we take the shinkansen to Tokyo. In Tokyo, we check into the hotel (Kyushu Blossom in Shinjuku south exit area). For dinner, we can check out the famous Omeide Yokocho near our hotel, or have drinks in Golden Gai. We could go to the batting cages or check out some private karaoke. There are also some arcades in the area. So excited to stay in Shinjuku, heart of the action this time, and since I played ALL of the Like a Dragon games since the last time I went to Japan, I look forward to seeing "kamurocho".
Saturday July 27th
Could be a good day to visit Shimokitazawa for some vintage shopping and neighborhood exploration. Kid has requested Shimokitazawa for streetwear shopping. Sumida Fireworks Festival is tonight if we want to brave the crowds – not sure if it's worth it because I've seen fireworks before. I did debate getting a foodie tour to go out in Shinjuku.
Sunday July 28th
Maybe make this a real touristy day in Tokyo, which we have never really done. Asakusa could be cool, with its samurai & ninja museum. They also have some cool shows, lots of “touristy” stuff to do, like a boat ride (Himiko Cruise), a cabaret show called Asakusa-Kaguwa.
Monday July 29th
Some cool stuff we saw on Abroad in Japan to visit: Yanaka-Ginza, Nishi nippori nezu shrine,
Per kids request, do some shopping in Shibuya/Harajuku. Hopefully Monday is a less busy day there.
by MoragPoppy