Japan 8-day Itinerary – 7 adults (June-July)

8 comments

1. For Day 3: Do do option 1 because Shimokitazawa’s just a (domestic) tourist trap, generally overpriced and but a shadow of the place that bore its current undeserved reputation.

   You should have a lot of free time on your day 3 because you should skip the go-karting: it’s roundly loathed by both visitors and by residents. Last week, indeed, there was another accident involving some idiot not used to driving in Japan and unable to read Japanese-language stop signs. If we’re lucky, the practice will have been banned by the time you get here.

2. -About the itinerary

   Are there any tours for a day trip to Mt. Fuji on the 5th day? It may be difficult to return to Tokyo by 8pm if an accident occurs, and above all, the schedule will be tiring the day after Disney, so I think it’s better to give yourself a little more time.

   -Day 2

   If you’re not very interested in anime or games, Akihabara may not be very fun, so you may enjoy Shibuya more. If you’re planning to go to Ueno, I think it would be fun to spend the whole day there from the beginning. The museum and zoo are among the largest in Japan. If you’re in Akihabara, I recommend the bar Tokyo video gamers. You can eat and drink while enjoying the subculture atmosphere.

   -Day 3

   I don’t know if it’s being held at that time, but horse racing is a recommended leisure activity that ends by 6pm. Although it’s a gambling event where you bet on thoroughbred races, the racecourse itself is a facility like a huge shopping mall, so you can enjoy it all day.

   -Day 6

   Dotonbori is so crowded that I don’t really recommend it. If you’re in Osaka, how about having fun at Expo Park Station? There are the National Museum of Ethnology and the Tower of the Sun.

   -Day 8

   There are many kimono rental services, so it’s best to choose one based on your time, budget, and location. I recommend searching and reserving the closest station to the place where you want to rent a kimono and walk.

3. > (we understand its widely hated by locals but we would just like to try it once :()

   Every tourist has the same mindset. It doesn’t make it less of a nuisance or any less dangerous (you’re driving with your head at exhaust pipe level on some of the most crowded streets of the first world). Spend a day at the Imperial Palace or something where you can see something interesting and unique. Take a pottery class and bring back a fancy handmade teacup. Visit one of the onsen parks in or near Tokyo and enjoy the sauna and hot baths. Check out the art or history museums. There’s lots of fun stuff to do instead.

   Causing traffic jams (or worse, completely ignoring traffic rules because you speed through red lights in a panic to avoid being separated) in a smelly unwashed costume worn by hundreds of other people and taking tailpipe fumes right into your mouth really isn’t something worth burning a day away on. The streets the karts go down aren’t even particularly interesting. Imagine driving a go kart during prime commuting hours in the crowded office district of your city–would you do it? Probably not. Doing it in Japan doesn’t make it magical.

   And yes, I know some person will chime in and say “Well I did it and it was fun!” Tourists do lots of harmful stuff that is fun at the moment. There are things that are more fun and less harmful that can be done instead. It’s the same with tourists that shake sakura trees or rip off the flowers. Yes, it’s harmful, yes, the locals hate it, but they just wanted to try it once. And they already paid for their plane tickets. Should we let them? No. Go karts are fine in theme parks, but please don’t treat our country as a theme park.

4. Since you asked for Shibuya recommendations, perhaps Loft might be a fun place to browse around.

5. Just a few comments:

   * This is *very* over-planned
   * Please don’t go to animal cafes: Japan has much inferior animal welfare standards to those in other rich countries
   * Don’t go street karting either as the locals don’t like it and the industry exists in a legal loophole
   * You probably don’t want to be travelling on the Tokyo subway at peak hour if you can avoid it
   * Dotonbori is the worst place in Osaka, so I doubt that you will really want to go there repeatedly.

6. just a few things:
   1. shibuya and aki are on opposite sides of tokyo. i’d say shift some of your plans between day 2 and 3 and stick to a certain area – would definitely help your family just getting stuff they want in the same area. so e.g. if you guys are going to shibuya and omotesando, it makes a lot more sense to go to these two on the same day because omotesando is in harajuku and they are in west tokyo.

   2. for your mount fuji day, you wanna be back in shinjuku by 4.30? that means that your family starts heading back by 3? i personally think that’s too rushed. if everyone’s comfortable taking a night bus, i reckon there are some night busses going from fuji to osaka. if you’re worried about luggage you can forward it to your next hotel. otherwise a later train into osaka might not be a problem, or another train the next day would be ok too – it’s approx 2 hours by shinkansen.

   3. idk what i’d do in osaka tbh so your plea for help is very valid 😬 i’d stick with activity 1 simply because i personally think that dotonbori is pretty cool at night but others might disagree

   bummer that you already booked the gokart. have fun in japan!

7. This is older news but maybe if you wanna do a cat cafe pick another company: https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/947u39/cat_caf%C3%A8_mocha_shut_down_minimum_one_week_in/

   I honestly do not know why you would want to do something hated by the locals but to each their own I guess.

   Remember overall that lots of shops do not open until 10am or later so make sure you check times on things you want to do. Remember also that it will take longer than you are thinking to get where you want to go, both in travel time and being waylaid by neat things on the way!

   Uniqlo and Donki are all over the place so maybe instead of specifically planning on them, just go when you see one convenient to you? Especially Donki as they’re open later than some other shops. Same goes for BOOK OFF and HARD OFF (I don’t know if you’re looking for anime goods but K-BOOKS can be better, depending on what you like– but as the other commenter said there’s not much of a reason to go to Akihabara unless you like anime unless you’re going to Kanda Shrine or you are really techy and are looking for very specific things or rare items – like everyone else doing that though).

   Wait, your Kyoto day is all the things you want to do in that one day? Okay, depending on where you are staying it may take an hour to get into Kyoto Station, and then Kyoto is very bus-heavy for transportation, meaning you’ll have to wait longer than trains and may have to wait for a second bus due to crowding. Especially if you are trying to do a bunch of stuff and THEN go to Kiyomizu-dera, and THEN go to Fushimi Inari. Kyoto is much more spread out than people think!

   Also, if you haven’t been to Japan in July before….. you definitely need to build in resting and recovery times. It’s humid and hot and check out some videos by vloggers on YouTube about some ways to walk around that take advantage of being indoors as much as possible.

8. Go-karts are for complete assholes.

   Animal cafes are for people who support animal abuse.

   Shimokita is long dead.