Hello, I am heading out to Japan with my older brother as a graduation present from 6/13-6/25 and he has given me the great job of planning the entire trip. We have booked hotels within walking distance of major stations in Umeda, Shinjuku, Hakone-Yumoto station, and Kyoto city. I have pre-booked Shibuya Sky and Teamlab Borderless and those will be the only places with times on my itinerary. I planned for 3-4 activities per day and will adjust the day before to prepare for weather concerns because it is the rainy season. Visiting even 40% of the locations on this plan would make me quite happy as this has been a dream of mine for a long while.
Day 1 June 13 Thursday
Land in Osaka at around 4:30 PM
Umeda Sky building
Starting the trip off light just so I can adjust and take in what's happening.
Day 2 June 14th Friday
Explore Dotonbori and Osaka castle
den den town
Day 3 June 15th Saturday
Day trip to Kobe
Ikuta jinja
mount rokko
Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens
Looking to try out some Kobe beef as well somewhere within this trip so any recommendations for spots would be nice.
Head to Shinjuku hotel
Day 4 June 16th Sunday
Full day in Akihabara exploring stores like
Rashinban, Mandarake, BookOff,Radio Kaikan
I will prioritize second-hand manga and figures as I have heard that second-hand goods are in excellent condition despite being called second-hand.
Day 5 June 17th Monday
Full day in shibuya/harajuku
Meiji Jingu
Yoyogi Park
Mega Don Quijote- will be taking lots of souvenirs home so if you have recommendations let me know!
Shibuya Sky – 8:00 PM (Unfortunately, I couldn't get the sunset slot )
Day 6 June 18th Tuesday
Full day in Ueno/Asakusa
Senso-ji
Ueno Park
Tokyo National Museum possibly others
Day 7 June 19th Wednesday
Full day in Shinjuku
Explore kabukicho
Shinjuku gyoen national garden
Tokyo Metropolitan Government building
Day 8 June 20th Thursday
Team lab borderless around 10:00 Am (took an earlier timeslot to try and beat the crowd)
head to Odaiba to explore Diver City and the Gundam statue
Day 9 June 21st Friday
Either head to Ikebukuro for anime goods and Sunshine City
Shimokitazawa for second-hand stores like Trefac,2nd Street, and Mode Off
I am around 6'2 but I am skinny so clothing in Japan may not be an option for me so if Shimokitazawa is a bust then I'll change the plan.
then head out to Hakone for a night
Day 10 June 22nd Saturday
Visit Hakone shrine
Take a Lake Ashi cruise
Take the hakone ropeway to owakudani
Our Ryokan has a private onsen so if I decide not to take a break during our Tokyo days I will be relaxing here.
Head to Kyoto
Day 11 June 23rd Sunday
Day trip to Nara to explore more shrines and temples
Todaiji, Kasuga Taisha and kofuku-ji
Day 12 June 24th Monday
head out to Kyoto to visit some shrines and temples
Fushimi Inari
Kiyomizudera
Kinkakuji
Day 13 June 25th Tuesday
Explore Kyoto a little more before our 6 PM flight in Osaka
Extra Notes
During my time in Tokyo depending on how I am feeling physically and mentally I may reserve one day to become a rest day and head out to the spa to recover with do minimal travel.
I am also considering inserting Nakano Broadway somewhere along this trip in case I feel Akihabara didn't provide me with enough goods.
I programmed most of these activities into Google My Maps and they seem relatively nearby but in case I messed up and something just doesn't make sense logically or you feel an activity should be done early morning or late at night let me know.
I probably won't follow this to the letter due to weather or how I feel physically but I just want to have something solid down just in case I am truly lost.
Thank you all for reading if you got this far!
by sawwsee