Hello! My family (me, my husband, our 10yo son) will be taking our first trip to Japan this December/January. We will be staying in Tokyo the whole time. Would love to get your feedback on our trip. Since our trip is over the New Year holiday, I want to make sure I plan appropriately.
About us–my husband is in the restaurant business and so is hugely interested in food (not fine dining or hip places, but like food markets, depachika, value-for-money sushi places, combini onigiri, stuff like that). We are in Southern California so we are often at Mitsuwa and Japanese bakeries but can’t wait to eat in Tokyo. My kid predictably loves Pokemon/Disney/Nintendo/cute animals and kaiten sushi.
We land at Narita and will spend the first couple days at Disneyland/Disney Sea, so I’ll skip that.
**Thursday Dec 29** afternoon/evening
Travel from Disney area to hotel near Higashi-Shinjuku station, check in. Sushi dinner, walk around neighborhood, maybe visit a department store if we have energy
(**QUESTION**: What’s the best way to get from Disneyland to our Shinjuku hotel with our luggage? I saw there used to be a JR Express bus but I couldn’t tell if it was currently operating.)
**Fri Dec 30** \- Shinjuku and Shibuya/Harajuku/Omotesando
Morning: Shinjuku stroll, Takashimaya Times Square, depachika, lunch (hotel break of needed) Afternoon: walk Harajuku station to Omote-Sando station, dinner in Shibuya illuminations?
**Sat Dec 31 (New Years Eve)** \- more Shibuya/ Shinjuku area
Shibuya morning: Meiji Jingu shrine, Shibuya Scramble, Hachiko statue Tokyu Food Show? lunch
(hotel break if needed)
Afternoon in Shinjuku – cat cafe, shopping (Please note we don’t care if we sleep through midnight lol)
**Sunday Jan 1 – New Year’s Day**
??? Hotel switch day – move to hotel near Tokyo Station Train station food shops/ramen street if open?, chain restaurant dinner
**Monday Jan 2** \- Asakusa area SensoJi temple, Nakamisa shopping street, maybe Tokyo Skytree or kitchenware street if open
**Tuesday Jan 3** \-TBD – hopefully Ghibli Museum if we can somehow get tix or Pokemon Cafe and shopping Mitsukoshi food hall
**Wednesday Jan 4** \-same as Jan 3, free day to revisit things or make new plans. Maybe Tsujiki outer market.
**Thursday Jan 5** \- afternoon flight home from Narita
I would appreciate any feedback! I have tried to incorporate rest time because my husband has some sporadic back issues and I am concerned about how all this walking will affect him. Also, my son and I aren’t used to the cold or to walking this much either.
Couple specific questions– For shorter distances (like between Shinjuku and Shibuya), would a taxi be similar to the cost of the metro for 3 people? It would be easier on my husband’s back if he needs to get off his feet.
Any better suggestions for Jan 1-2 and/or great illuminations that will still be up? Any noticeable omissions?
Is it frowned upon for people of non-Japanese descent to get stamps from shrines/temples? I think my son would enjoy that but I want to be respectful.
Thanks for reading!