5 Nights in Tokyo – Itinerary Check

Hi all,

My wife and I (late 20s) are going to Japan at the end of the year (over Xmas and NY). We are spending the first 6 nights at the snow at Happo-One and then travelling back to Tokyo for 5 nights before heading home.

Also, just for a bit of context we aren't big into anime/gaming culture and also looking to go thrifting for a couple specific designer pieces. We were thinking of trying to do our shopping at the start since we don't know what places will be closed over NYs (we get to Tokyo on 28/12), also would try to best plan our day trip to Mt Fuji based on visibility, so can shuffle around if needed.

Day 0 – Unsure what time we will arrive back in Tokyo

• Arrive in Shibuya, check into hotel
• Have dinner nearby and explore the surrounds depending on time and how tired we are.

Day 1 – Shimokitazawa & Shibuya

• Thrift Shopping at Shimokitazawa
• Lunch nearby
• Continue shopping (depending on time and how many shops we have been too), maybe head to Koenji if we are still looking for specific items
• Head back to Shibuya and continue exploring
• Maybe head to Harajuku depending how much of Shibuya we had seen the night before

Day 2 – Day trip to Mt Fuji (Dependant on visibility)

• Shinkansen to Odawarra
• Pick up rental car ~9am
• Drive to Hakone, see shrine and torii gate
• Drive to Lake Yamanakako
• Head next to Oshino Hakkai to explore and have lunch
• Lake Kawaguchi (drive around and stop at parks)
• Chureito Pagoda for sunset of Mt Fuji
• Drive to Otsuki to drop off rental car ~7pm, train back to Tokyo. Maybe have dinner before the train depending on time.

Day 3 – Ginza & Akihabara

• Tokyo Tower in morning
• Head to Tokyo Imperial Palace (closed for NY)
• Tokyo Station for lunch
• Ginza exploration/shopping
• Maybe head to Senso-Ji if we have time
• Akihabara once it starts getting dark, walking down main strip to see lights (not into anime so should be quick)
• Dinner nearby

Day 4 – Shinjuku + Harajuku

• Meiji Shrine in the morning for New Years
• Head to Harajuku to explore
• Lunch
• Head to Shinjuku to explore
• Dinner

Day 5 – Head home

• This is something I need a bit of advice on, honestly no clue what we should do this morning as we don't need to head to the airport until 3pm (checkout at 11am).
• Might keep this day open to try and do anything last minute that we missed out on