Hey guys so my wife and I have been trying to travel to Tokyo for the last 3 years but due to covid we have had to reschedule. With the borders opening Oct 11th we are excited to finally go on our trip Dec 22 – 29th. A little about us we love to play video games, watch anime and we are both artist so anything art related is always a plus. If you have any suggestions for our trip please feel free to comment.
**Day 1 (12-22-2022)**
* Fly into Narita Airport around 3pm and then head to our hotel which atm is going to be in Shinjuku near Shinjuku Station.
* After checking in we are just wanting to roam around **Akihabara** for the remainder of the day to experience Japan and do some shopping (video games figures etc). We want to keep this day light since we are going to suffer from jet lag.
**Day 2 (12-23-2022)**
* Since our internal clocks would be all messed up (we are east coasters from Florida) we figured we would be up bright and early, so we thought we could check out **Meiji Jingu**, and maybe Y**oyogi Park.**
* Once it gets a little later in the morning we wanted to head over to check out **The Studio** **Ghibli Museum** and possibly the surrounding area which I hear is nice as well.
* After seeing the Museum we wanted to check out **Nakano Broadway** for some more shopping. After this we don’t really have much planned, but I wasn’t sure if we would be wiped out at this point.
**Day 3 (12-24-2022)**
* Since we live in Orlando, Florida we go to Disney World very often and therefore would really just like to check out **Disney Sea** (Heard that Tokyo Disney is very similar to that of Disney World) since this is something we don’t have in Florida. In addition to this we would love to see the Christmas decorations during our visit to Disney Sea ( I know Christmas isn’t celebrated the same way as it is in west, but I hear the decorations are amazing).
**Day 4 (12-25-2022)**
* Christmas Day as mentioned before I hear its not the same in Japan as it is in the west ( I read its more like Valentines Day and lights come down immediately the day after) therefor we would like to spend the first few days in Tokyo to see all of the decorations etc. We opted to do a day trip to **Hakone** to get away from the city and spend a day doing the Hakone loop and ending our Christmas evening in a nice Ryokan with a private onsen.
**Day 5 (12-26-2022)**
* We would return to Tokyo to do some more shopping, but to be specific we wanted to see **Harujuku (Takeshita Street), Shibuya (Shibuya, Scrambe, Shibuya Sky, Shibuya Parco, etc).** Mostly finishing up the west side of Tokyo that we missed the first few days.
**Day 6 (12-27-2022)**
* We wanted to visit **Asukusa**, and **Odaibi** this day starting with **Senso-ji** then taking the riverboat over to **Aqua City Odaibi** ( I did read a lot was closed down recently though so kinda iffy on this) to check out the gundam shops.
* Depending on how Odaibi goes we were thinking of ending our day going to **Tokyo Tower** for an evening view.
**Day 7 (12-28-2022)**
* We were thinking about heading over to **Ikebukuro** for some more shopping at sunshine city ( Pokemon Center Anime Stores, Sky Circus etc) maybe check out the aquarium.
* On the way back to our hotel we were thinking about stopping in **Akihabara** again for things we might want to pick up (in case we didn’t find better pricing in Nakano or Ikebukuro).
**Day 8 (12-29-2022)**
* Nothing planned yet since this is the day we are leaving, but we did want to check out a few shops in the airport like the pokemon center narita ( my wife wants the pikachu flight attendant and pilot plushie).
I have been doing as much research as I can, but as someone that has never been outside of the US before I have 0 idea how long some of these things take. I know at some point we would love to set up a Tattoo appointment in Harujuku ( I found a few artist that i really like via Instagram), but this is up in the air. I know its not a long trip, but we do have a longer trip planned next year with friends. If you have any FRIENDLY advice as far as adding or removing please feel free to post your suggestions. I know here in the states a lot of things are closed around the holidays, but I hear its kind of the opposite in japan since Christmas isn’t really too much of a thing ( at least like it is in the west).
5 comments
Your itinerary actually looks pretty reasonable! I would just expect that some days you might not hit everything as it’s so easy to wander and lose time and you realize how big Tokyo is and it takes time to travel between places.
For Disney Sea, make sure you line up when it opens! You can buy tickets ahead of time. It’s a thing there for couples to dress in matching outfits-something to consider to make it fun!
Make sure you book the ryokan soon for a holiday.
May i ask how much u got your plane ticket for? We’re both in the US and all my prices are $1500+ i also wanna go from Dec23-Jan10
I liked the Christmas decorations at Disney sea. I’m not a Disney fan but I had a good time there.
In Hakone I bought some Onsen minerals so I could replicate a hakone onsen at home. It comes in a plastic bag filled with whitish-gray powder.
Many things can now be shipped from japan. Look for the things you can’t find on the internet.
Seems quite fine in general. Just check for winter illumination spots if you are into that, there is several places where you should be able to see them. And for sure there is that won’t be turned off after Christmas, because they are winter illumination not Christmas illumination. I can think of the one in Tokyo Dome city that is from November to something like February.
Unless there is an even in Tokyo Tower that you are interested in, I would go to Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. The view is more interesting, you can even go on the roof, you would have a view on Tokyo Tower and there is also an art museum.
Tips I would give… Personally I also fly from the east coast, and here is how I beat jetlag. I usually have to wake up quite early as I usually got a connecting flight in the US first, then in the airplane you want to sleep and relax until it’s about 11am in Japan (turn your phone to Japan time as soon as you get in the plane). Then the goal is to not sleep until the regular time you would go to bed at home. So get to your hotel to drop bags, quick refresh, go outside, might prefer to explore the area close to the hotel, get something for dinner, return to hotel, shower and go to bed. Next morning, you should be ok waking up around your usual time (and yes maybe a bit earlier the first day). You do not want to go to bed too early, otherwise you will for sure wake up super early.
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Flying in Narita, check to get the Narita Express round trip discount ticket. Otherwise you likely already know about Hakone Free Pass and IC cards.
Not sure what medium you use to work in as artists but if its pens, brushes, etc you should check out Itoya in Ginza. They have a staggering collection of stationary and art supplies.
Tokyo Disneyland is kind of a hybrid of Disneyland in Anaheim and the Magic Kingdom. They have a New Orleans Square like area, but the also have a Castle similar to the Magic Kingdom. There is also a new extension to Fantasyland that was added that has some unique rides and winnie the pooh hunny hunt is next level. If you are are Disney fan it is worth a visit. However, if you only have time for one of the two parks Disney sea is probably the best option. Unfortunately they don’t sell park hopper single day tickets so you can see them both on the same day.
Keep in mind that there is also a Pokemon center in Shibuya parco, most pokemon centers contain the same items, but there are a handful of unique items to each location the one in Ikebukuro has probably the most generic unique merch. There is a Pikachu sweets cafe next to the Ikebukuro pokemoen center tho which has some unique treats.