I just found out I'll be spending a week in Tokyo on business in October, so I made a request to use some PTO to extend my stay for a personal holiday, which gives me 8 days to enjoy Japan that I hadn't expected. This will be my fourth trip to Japan.
Here's my plan:
Day 1 (Sunday): Arrive in morning, check-in to company-provided hotel in Mitaka. Sleep early to mitigate jet-lag.
Day 2 (Monday): Work. Evening TBD.
Day 3 (Tuesday): Work. Evening TBD.
Day 4 (Wednesday): Work. Evening "Social Event" arranged by my work.
Day 5 (Thursday): Work. Evening TBD.
Day 6 (Friday): Work. Evening TBD.
Day 7 (Saturday): Move to my own hotel in Shinjuku. Spend day in Shinjuku (specific activity TBD).
Day 8 (Sunday): Morning in Tokyo, then take afternoon Highway Bus to Highland Spa Hotel & Resort (next to Fuji Q Highland). Check-in. Enjoy meal, onsen, etc.
Day 9 (Monday): Day at Fuji-Q Highland, with priority being Eejanaika (which I missed in January due to being closed), and Labyrinth of Fear (which I understand allows solo visitors now). Travel to hotel in Nagoya in the evening.
Day 10 (Tuesday): Day at Nagashima Spa Land, which I missed in January due to being closed.
Day 11 (Wednesday): Travel early to Hakone, spend day in Hakone, evening in a Ryokan with kaiseki dinner and onsen.
Day 12 (Thursday): Travel back to Tokyo, check-in to hotel in Asakusa. Rest of day TBD.
Day 13 (Friday) Option A: Tokyo Disneasea.
Day 13 (Friday) Option B: Teamlab Borderless (morning) + Tokyo Dome City Attractions.
Day 14 (Saturday): Day in Tokyo, activity TBD. Probably shopping at Don Quixote for some things to take back.
Day 15 (Sunday): Return flight.
Some general thoughts and questions.
Given all the work day evenings – as well as my own days in Tokyo – I'm struggling a bit for ideas on what to do in Tokyo that I haven't done already. Having said that, I don't know how late I'll be working each day (I hear Japanese work days can often run pretty late), so I don't know if I'll get too much free time on those evenings anyway (maybe just enough to find something to eat and play a couple of arcades?).
Regarding Day 13, I've already done Disney + TeamLab + Dome back in 2018 so I'm already familiar with the options. I know I could move TeamLab and Dome to Saturday, but I don't really want to endure the weekend crowds at these places. Besides that, I'd like to keep Saturday a bit more easy-going. I'm currently leaning towards Option B.
by MartinB105