Hi all, me and my partner are planning a trip to Japan (as part of a wider travel trip around Asia-Pacific, hoping that Japan and other countries in the region have borders open, etc.), and we’re looking at roughly a 3 week stay in the country.
We’re looking forward to the temples, museums, food, and just general urban exploration, and it will be the first time either of us have visited. If you have any pointers/advice, anything absolutely must-do that we’ve missed/or can be skipped, just let me know. The ordering of days for each city is interchangeable, there are a few things in each area we have planned for activities to do, but I have left it as just ‘area exploration’ so it’s not too long of a post. Our itinerary is as follows:
OVERVIEW
Tokyo – 12 nights (2 ‘day trips’ – Fuji Five Lakes & Yokohama)
Kyoto – 6 nights (2 ‘day trips’ – Osaka and Kurama)
Hiroshima – 2 nights
Fukuoka – 3 nights
TOKYO
Day 1: Fly into Tokyo from Taipei (so no jet lag but may be a late arrival)
– Standard arrival stuff (JR Pass, pocket wifi, anything else worth picking up/arranging at this point?)
– Drop bags at accommodation (looking at Shinjuku area), get food and chill
Day 2: Ginza & Tokyo Station area
– Hamarikyu Gardens, Ginza exploration, Imperial Palace & Gardens
Day 3: Kagurazaka & Akihabara
– Yayoi Kusama Museum, Akihabara exploration
Day 4: Chiyoda & Ikebukuro
– National Museum of Modern Art (in Chiyoda), Ikebukuro exploration, Ikebukuro Sunshine City
Day 5: Ueno & Nippori
– Shitamachi Museum, Tokyo National Museum, Yayoi Museum, Yanaka Ginza
Day 6: Asakusa & Ryogoku
– Senso-ji, Ryogoku Edo-Tokyo Museum, Sumida Hokusai Museum
Day 7: Lake Kawaguchiko Day Trip
Day 8: Shinjuku
– Gyoen Garden, Shinjuku exploration, Omoide Yokochi, Kabukicho & Golden Gai
– Have seen a lot of things about the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, is this worth visiting?
Day 9: Harajuku & Shibuya
– Meiji Jingu, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku exploration, Shibuya exploration, Tokyo Night Market (Shibuya – apparently this is fairly new?)
Day 10: Kichijoji
– Studio Ghibli Museum, Inokashira Park, Kichijoji exploration
Day 11: Yokohama Day Trip
– Ramen Museum, Chinatown
Day 12: Free Day/Okubo & Nakano
– Currently got this day semi-free as we will need to do laundry, and do some relaxed exploration around the above two areas (e.g. Nakano Broadway) but also if we miss anything beforehand hopefully we will get an opportunity here
KYOTO & OSAKA
Day 13: Train to Kyoto
– Kyoto Station area, drop bags off at accommodation (looking at Karasuma or Gion areas), explore Gion District
Day 14: Higashiyama
– Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka/Ninnenzaka, Kyoto National Museum, Sanjusangendo
Day 15: Kamigyo & Nakagyo
– Imperial Palace & Gardens, Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market
Day 16: Fushimi & Higashiyama
– Fushimi Inari, Shogun-zuka, Maruyama Park & Yasaka Shrine
Day 17: Osaka Day Trip
– Shinsekai, Osaka Castle, Tenma, Minami (Namba) for Dontobori
– Not much else that we saw that we would like to do in Osaka, is there anything we are missing here?
Day 18: Kurama Day Trip
– Trip to rural Onsen for a chill day
– Any other Onsen outside of Kyoto but relatively easy access from Kyoto that would be good alternatives?
HIROSHIMA
Day 19: Himeji & Train to Hiroshima
– Stop off at Himeji for Himeji Castle (can you store bags in lockers at Himeji station?), drop bags off at accommodation (looking at Hiroshima Station area), explore Downtown
Day 20: Hiroshima
– Peace Park & Memorial Museum, Hiroshima Castle, Shukkeien Gardens
FUKUOKA
Day 21: Train to Fukuoka
– drop bags off at accommodation (looking at Hakata Station area), Canal City, Nakasu Island Yatai
Day 22: Fukuoka & Hakata
– Ohori Park & Fukuoka Castle ruins, Uminonakamichi Seaside Park, Yatai
Day 23: Free Day
– similar to Day 12 (try and do some laundry, relaxed exploration)
– is it worth devoting this day to Hiroshima for a visit to Miyajima?
Day 24: Fly out of Fukuoka Airport
– next stop (hopefully) – China (Beijing to be specific)
I guess some additional questions I have to the above itinerary are:
– Is the 21-day JR Pass worth it? It’s 61,000 yen (around £400) The main train journeys we will be making are on the Shinkansen (Tokyo – Kyoto, Kyoto – Himeji – Hiroshima, Hiroshima – Fukuoka), and standard trains for day trips (Tokyo – Yokohama, Kyoto – Osaka, Kyoto – Kurama). Everything else will be private lines or local metro/subway/tram/bus routes within the cities. I’m trying to get my head around the feasibility of what JR Pass to use so if anyone could provide me with some sanity that would be great!
– Is it feasible to fly direct from Fukuoka to Beijing? Flight planner websites are all skewed due to COVID, and not sure if it’s worth going back to Tokyo/Kansai and flying out from there, so wondering if anyone can help out here!
– Are laundrettes common in Japanese cities?
Thanks so much in advance for any points you may have, apologies if there are any formatting issues as I am typing this on mobile. I’ll try and reply to any comments ASAP!
5 comments
I am planning a fairly similar 3 week trip but will be staying in Tokyo and Osaka only and travelling by train to Kyoto, Hiroshima Kawaguchiko Nikko etc etc. When I worked out the train prices it sure did pay off to get the rail pass. Especially if you use the Shinkansen. Download the Japan Official Travel App, you can plan routes there and see the prices. It also tells you which routes are covered by the JR pass.
Have you calculated if JR Pass would even save you money ? To start with, you do not need a 21 days pass. You won’t save anything out of it for the first 12 days. Use Hyperdia or Google Maps to calculate how much it would cost to do the long distance and compare with the cost of the pass.
Tokyo Metropolitan Building, the nice thing is that it’s free, other than that, I think that Roppongi Hills Mori Tower is a better one and I would like to try the new Shibuya Sky that seems pretty cool.
One place that might not be worth is Yoyogi Park. I would go if you are in time for cherry blossom or during the weekend for people watching. Otherwise, for me it’s just a park, it’s not a garden.
Nakano you should consider doing it at the end of the Ghibli day. In general it would be more shopping oriented and stores close around 8pm. The reason to do it on that day is that it’s on the same train line, so just a stop on the way back to Shinjuku.
On your first in Kyoto, if you get in the train more or less early, you can be there for lunch, so drop luggage and maybe eat around nishiki market. I do not find the area around the station that interesting to be honest. If you stay close to Gion, you can go check it out at the end of any of your Kyoto day, so you could likely start by Yasaka Shrine and go a fair bit of the Higashiyama day on day 14 and 16. That can likely free up a full day to go check around Arashiyama, there is a lot to see in that area.
Alternative onsen, depend if you want to stay for the night in a ryokan, if yes, then the closest well known onsen town is Arima onsen in Kobe. The other one I can think of is Kinosaki onsen, that is a bit of a detour. In both case, you can go on day 18, spend the night there, you can continue to Himeji the next day after a soak in the onsen in the morning.
Yes, you can store luggage at Himeji station and in about any station in Japan.
Fukuoka, it does not have to be close to Hakata station. You can do about everything close to a subway station, personally I was close to Tenjin station and it was pretty nice. By the way, if you are interested, there is a teamlab exhibit in Fukuoka.
The seaside park seems a bit out of the way compared to the caste ruin and Ohori park. Personally I went to the Fukuoka city museum (that is a great and cheap history museum) and stayed around for the Fukuoka tower illumination.
Yes, day 24 I would personally do Miyajima instead of free day.
Fukuoka Beijin, not as far as I know. But Seoul, Busan, Hong Kong, yes. Check this to see routes from any airport [https://www.flightconnections.com/flights-from-fukuoka-fuk](https://www.flightconnections.com/flights-from-fukuoka-fuk) otherwise fly with a connection.
Yes, coin laundry (it’s how they call it) is common, but I’ve usually used the washing machine in the hotel or hostel.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Building is worth visiting. It’s a free viewing platform with decent views of the city. The views on some sides are partially obstructed but its definitely worth it if you are in the area. It’s open late so you can go at night.
Since you are going in April you probably want to spend some time checking out the Cherry Blossoms, especially if you are there at the start of April. Even if you are there at the end of April you can probably find a few spots that will have them.
Also since you are in Tokyo for a decent amount of time you might want to have a few day trips as backup if you feel like escaping the city in addition to what you have planned. Kamakura, Nikko and Takaosan are some options.
I found that most hotels will have a laundry where you can wash and dry clothes, but best to check before booking.
It’s good to see an itinerary that includes Fukuoka – it’s a really under-rated city.
I stayed at the Royal Park Hotel Fukuoka near Hakata station, which was really good. It has free laundry facilities.
Dazaifu is a good day trip out of Fukuoka, with an excellent museum and lots of interesting temples, etc.
When you are around the Hiroshima area you should check out Miyajima also. It’s an awesome island when a temple, lots of shops, lots of trails, friendly deer, and a really cool Tori gate in the water. I’m hoping to start one night at a Ryokan there next time I go.
“Miyajima Travel Guide – What to do on Miyajima Island” https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3401.html