I’m planning a trip to Japan for 17 days from the middle of April till the beginning of May 2025 with my best friend. It’s our second time in Japan, and we have already done the golden route previously. We really want to see some of the cherry blossoms, so we have decided to spend some days up in the Tohoku region. The JR East-South Hokkaido pass seems to fit for our needs, as it is a six day pass.
We really want to visit the Ghibli museum, so we might switch some days around, depending on which day we manage to get tickets for.
18/4 – arriving in Tokyo. Getting to our hotel (near Tokyo station), take a longer walk, and have a nice dinner.
19/4 – Tokyo – get most of our shopping done
- Shibuya – Tower records, Mugiwara store, Nintendo store, Shibuya loft, Muji, Don Quijote, Pokémon store, standard products.
- Yoyogi park
- Alice in Fantasy themed café (lunch)
- DInner in Korea town (Shin-Okubo)
- Shinjuku – metropolitan government building viewing deck in the evening, if clear weather
20/4 – Daytrip to see Mt. Fuji and ride some rollercoasters
- Highway express bus to Fuji-Q Highland Park (1h 50 min oneway from Tokyo station or Shinjuku bus station)
- Fuji-Q Highland park.
- Arakurayama Sengen Park + shrine (late afternoon)
21/4 – Explore Tokyo
- Ghibli Museum (if we get tickets)
- Edo-Tokyo Open air museum
- Nakano Broadway
22/4 – Daytrip to Kamakura
- Hokokuji Bamboo Forest
- Kotoku-in
- Meigetsu-in
- Enoshima – Watch the sunset
23/4 – Explore Tokyo
- Harajuku
- Ōta Memorial Museum of Art
- PEANUTS Cafe
- Walk around Omote-Sando
- TeamLab (Planets or Borderless) in the evening
24/4 – Explore Tokyo
- Nezu Shrine
- Ginza (Uniqlo, rooftop garden, moomin shop)
- Akihabara
- Final fantasy or square enix café
25/4 – Train to Sendai (first day of JR East-South Hokkaido train pass)
- Early train to Sendai (1h 30 min).
- Zuihōden (Grave of Date Masamune)
- Explore Sendai
- SS30 Observation Lobby/AER på kvällen?
26/4 Matsushima bay & Shiogama (20-25 minutes with train from Sendai)
- Shiogama shrine
- Sushi
- boat ride to Matsushima
- Saigyo Modoshi no Matsu Park
- Entsuin shrine
27/4 Yamadera & Kakunodate
- Yamadera (1h from Sendai)
- Train to Kakunodate (1h 40 min).
- Explore the Samurai Village & Cherry blossom festival
28/4 Akita
- Train to Akita (45 min)
- Visit Akita City Folk Arts Center.
- Akita muesum of art
- Train to Hirosaki (resort shirakami train, about 4-5 hours). Arrive around 17 pm
29/4 Hirosaki
- Walk around Hirosaki
- Hirosaki castle & cherry blossom festival
- Visit different cafés
30/4 Aomori
- Train to Aomori (30-40 min)
- Nebuta Museum WA RASSE
- Lunch at Aomori Gyosai Center (Aomori Nokkedon)
- Visit A-factory
- Aomori Prefecture Tourism Information Center ASPAM (observation deck
- Aomori bay promenade?
- Train to Tokyo Ueno (3h 10 min)
1/5 Explore Tokyo
- Muesum of Contemporary art Tokyo
- Explore Kuramae & Asakusa
- Sensoji temple (in the evening?)
2/5 Explore Tokyo
- Kameido Tenjin Shrine
- Explore Ueno
- Rikugien garden
3/5 Explore Tokyo
- The railway muesum
- Omiya Bonsai Art Museum
- Shibuya for some last minute shopping
4/5 Flying home
Does this seem doable? We want to have things to do, but also have some less busy days. I know golden week start at the end of April, so we want to do the most touristy stuff in Tokyo before we travel north. And hope its not as busy in Aomori, at least not on the same level as in Shibuya.
Are there any obvious things we are missing in for example Kamakura, Sendai or Tokyo? Are there any spots in Tohoku we should make a stop in?
Right now we are kind of following the cherry blossom north (Sendai, Matsushima, Kakunodate and Hirosaki). Should we instead switch it around? Start with Aomori, then go to Hirasaki, Kakunodate and lastly Sendai. We really want to see them.
Grateful for all ideas! Thank you!
by This-Green-1205