Itinerary change for japan 2023..or 24….

9 comments

1. > day 1 arrive in haenada, pick up wi if, jr pass.(still calculating) or suica, get to hotel in shinjuku,wander out to conbini,gather food and collapse

   Frankly, this would heavily depend upon which flight you take as the route is served by extremely early morning arrival (~6am), typical European arrival (~10-11am) or late flights (arriving before 4pm). With the latter flights, you’d probably be OK on day 2. With the former (morning), you’d probably be best served by exploring Shinjuku (and with the early morning flight probably Meiji-jingu and more) on day 1.

   > mensho San Francisco for ramen Michelin restaurant

   Tokyo has 2 Michelin-starred ramen restaurant (Nakiryu, SOBAHOUSE Konjikihototogisu) and 18 *bib gourmand* in 2021 edition of the guide. Mensho is neither (San Francisco branch is *big gourmand*),

   > Meiji shrine in asakusa

   Meiji-jingu is between Shibuya and Shinjuku. Senso-ji is in Asakusa.

   > get bus early…I heard it was seasonal

   There are frequent year-round buses to Fuji Five Lakes area. There are additional seasonal departures that server Mt. Fuji climbing season and festivals in the area.

   > and then on several trains to Nagoya

   Your choices are:

   * via Otsuki/Takao, Hachioji and Shin-Yokohama (shinkansen)
   * via Mishima (bus to Mishima has to be book in advance) and then shinkansen
   * via Otsuki, Kofu and Matsumoto – this is the slowest route, but if you are not in a hurry, it’s the prettiest – and you can stop in Matsumoto to see the castle

   > on to Kyoto and a rest day I think

   Kyoto is ~35-50 minutes away by shinkansen and judging by the low intensity of your itinerary – you won’t need a rest day.

   > osaka Kyoto ( it’s on,y 20 mins by Shinkansen)

   And from interesting area to interesting area is simpler to take Hankyu or Keihan.

2. People do not especially want to go to Nagoya because there is not as much interesting things to see there. However, I predict that it can change in the future with the opening of Ghibli theme park. I also think that the caste will likely be a good spot too as it have a gorgeous rebuild palace and they are working on renovating the castle keep, and they do it as good as the palace, in my opinion it will be one of the best reconstructed castle in Japan. Personally, I would do it before going to Kyoto on day 7. Nagoya is actually more known for food, like Miso katsu, hitsumabuhi (eel), miso nikomi udon, tebasaki (chicken wing)

   Day 3, Meiji shrine is in Harajuku, it’s Senso-ji temple in Asakusa.

   Day 5, while Kawaguchiko is technically closer to Nagoya, it is also nowhere near the shinkansen. So you have two options, partially backtrack toward Tokyo and take shinkansen at Shin-Yokohama or take a bus to Mishima station to take the shinkansen there. In my opinion, it’s never really a good idea to go anywhere west from Kawaguchiko. If it is not important to spend a night there, then you can easily do it as a day trip from Tokyo.

   Day 9, Higashiyama is also near Fushimi Inari and lot of nice place around.

   Day 11 despite Osaka being only 15 minutes shinkansen ride from Kyoto, it usually does not make sense because you will probably not want to only move from Kyoto station to Shin-Osaka station. Using the rapid train or even a non-JR train might make much more sense depending on where your hotel is and where in Osaka you are going.

   In general, I would try to find a bit more specific things to do/see each day, even if it’s just options of things you might do. I find it easier to have a plan and not follow it than to have no plan at all an search where to go and what to see.

3. It seems that you are really into Ghibli, and if that’s the case, then you should consider going to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka/Kichijoji. It doesn’t take too much time, and it is surrounded by a really wonderful park (Inokashira Koen). If you are interested, then I can help you plan to go to the museum, as I stay in the surrounding area when I vacation in Tokyo.

   Also, your itinerary looks good. Kawaguchiko could be a day trip, but I’ve never been there or the surrounding areas, so I have no formulated opinion on whether you should stay overnight or not.

4. >mostly to Nagoya because in this Reddit, no one seems to want to go there, or I don’t see a lot of it

   There’s a reason for that–and that reason is that its primary claims to fame are manufacturing and suburban sprawl.

   >day 1 arrive in haenada, pick up wi if, jr pass.(still calculating) or suica, get to hotel in shinjuku,wander out to conbini,gather food and collapse

   For this itinerary I don’t see really see any reason to get a JR Pass. It honestly probably limits your itinerary more by making you pre-pay for JR when other companies might be more efficient, and it can limit you by restricting the time you spend outside of Tokyo.

   >day 3- Meiji shrine in asakusa ( insert other stuff near area)

   It’s Senso-ji that’s in Asakusa, not Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine is roughly half-way between Shibuya and Shinjuku (actually walking through the shrine to get from Shinjuku to Harajuku/Shibuya is a great way to spend a day). Senso-ji I would consider skipping if it meant more time in Kansai–there are dozens of more interesting temples there that you wouldn’t have time for even if you spent your entire trip there.

   >day 5, get up early, try to see sunrise over fuji..please weather gods..please..wander around and then on several trains to Nagoya ( PLEASE HELP ME With THIS BIT) sleep

   You can take the bus from Kawaguchiko to Mishima and then pick up the Shinaknsen from there.

   >day 6 STUDIO GHIBLI THEME PARK DAY WEOOOOOOOOOOO!

   I would depart this afternoon/evening and spend the night in Kyoto. I see no reason to wait until the following day.;

   >day 7- on to Kyoto and a rest day I think,

   if you’re losing a full day in Kyoto to rest, then I would find at least one more day to spend there–***ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE GOING IN NOVEMBER*** (arguably the best time of year to be in the city). Also note that there are numerous night openings/illuminations at various temples and other sights throughout the city during November that are very worth going to (e.g., Kodai-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Shoren-in, Eikan-do, Kitanotenman-gu). The tradeoff for the beautiful foliage is that the city can be particularly crowded during November–especially when the foliage peaks during the second half of the month.

   >day 8 arashimya half day, then to kyoto again ..for..something..

   Arashiyama is in Kyoto. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/5wgxa1/best_way_to_group_these_sites_in_kyoto/dea059y/?context=3) for a rough geographic breakdown of major sights in and around Kyoto. For three days I would probably spend 1 around downtown/southern Higashiyama, another in the northern Higashiyama/Kamo Delta/Imperial Palace area, and then a third in Arashiyama with maybe some time spent doing 1-2 other things that don’t fit in neatly elsewhere in your schedule.

   >day 9 fushima inari (early or late) then something near by..philosophers path?

   The Philosopher’s Path is quite far from Fushimi Inari. I would not really consider them close at all. Things that are close to Fushimi Inari include Tofuku-ji, Sennyu-ji, and a number of smaller temples like Sekihou-ji and Houtou-ji. The Philosopher’s path, on the other hand, is in Higashiyama, roughly between Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji.

   >day 11 osaka Kyoto ( it’s on,y 20 mins by Shinkansen),

   “20 mins by Shinkansen” is meaningless when nothing of particular interest in either city is near the Shinkansen station and it’s very likely that you would have to make a detour just to take the Shinkansen over alternative routes. It’s also about 3-4x more expensive than alternative routes if you’re not using the JR Pass–which again, you really don’t need for this itinerary. You can certainly can do Osaka as a day trip from Kyoto, but expect to spend more like 45-60 minutes getting there–and that’s regardless of whether or not you take the Shinkansen.

5. In Tokyo, day 1 or day 2, I recommend visiting the municipal Office, it has a visitor platform and entrance is free of charge. Also I’m not sure about ikebukuro, I mean sure you can go to pokemon center, but is there anything else? if you want to spend a day shopping for anime stuff you should go to akihabara or nakano broadway.
   In Kyoto, after finishing arashiyama, you can walk from kiyomizu-dera, via sannenzaka to yasaka shrine, then gion, then kawaramachi shopping street and nishiki market. if there is still some time, check out pontocho, but man this day will be packed xD.

   travelling between kyoto and osaka, since shinkansen doesn’t go to umeda station, you should use the normal train from kyoto station or, if closer to your hotel, you can use hankyu line, but It is not covered by rail pass.

6. day 6 STUDIO GHIBLI THEME PARK DAY WEOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

   Love love love this!!!

7. Here’s some thoughts from someone who’s also planning for their first trip to Japan (exciting!!)…

   Have you considered flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka? This way you will loose less time travelling and changing hotels and probably reduce travel cost depending on how the JR pass works out.

   If you really love Ghibli there is also a musuem in Tokyo. This on on the west side of the city in a park in kichijoji and could be done before you head to meji shrine and the surrounding Harajuku/shibuya areas on day 3

   For the Kyoto portion you could rest most of the first day but head to Fushimi inari shrine in the evening since it’s open 24/7 and less crowded later on. I think if you stay nearby Kyoto station you can get a train straight to it (Fushimi inari is in the south and a bit out of the way of other attractions).
   Second day of Kyoto you could spend a full day just in Arashiyama on the west side (they have a monkey park, many temples including Tenryuji, bamboo forest, scenic railway etc).
   On the third day of Kyoto you could check out the Gion and higashiyama areas on the east side and kiyomizudera is the most famous temple nearby. If u fancy the philosophers path you could start at ginkakuji temple and walk it down to Nanzenji temple before heading to the Gion area.

8. Why would you plan a trip out 3 years ahead of time?

9. Heyo. If you want to go to Nagoya I can give you advice on everything fun there. I went once for 5 days and haven’t been back since but I feel like I could give you a hand. Just shoot me a pm if you want to chat