This is my boyfriend’s first time visiting Japan (and traveling abroad in general) whereas I’ve been 10x and have interned/did a student exchange before, so I’m very familiar with how things generally work. Was also there two weeks ago, so I know how post-lockdown stuff are also different.
I told him with our limited schedule (\~8 days), it would be better to pick either Kansai or Tokyo, not both, because there’s already so much to do in either. But I am very much in love with this man and said I’ll find a way to do both USJ and his beloved Naruto theme park, and then show him some of my favorite parts of Tokyo.
Itinerary
|Day 1 – January 5|Arrive in Osaka, Stay in Namba||
|:-|:-|:-|
|Day 2 – January 6|Universal Studios Japan|I’ve never been, so this will be new for me. The one in Florida was his favorite, so he wanted to experience this with me. Any recs on the attractions or food? Tips on the queues?|
|Day 3 – January 7|Namba to Kobe-Sannomiya, Lunch at Kobe (beef!), then go to Nijigen no mori (Naruto theme park) at Awajishima|Will leave our luggage at locker in the station, take highway express bus from Kobe to Awaji, and back.|
||Night bus from Kobe to Shinjuku|It will be my first time taking a night bus. Any tips?|
|Day 4 – January 8|Arrive in Tokyo 7 AM – Meet with friend so we can leave our luggage, borrow bikes and go around Shimokitazawa, Shibuya (+Yoyogi, Ebisu, Harajuku, etc) until early afternoon, \~3 PM|The perks of having friends in Tokyo! I loved biking when I was in Sapporo, but haven’t really done so in Tokyo before; so this would also be a firs for me. Some stops we have in Shibuya are PARCO for Pokemon Center and Nintendo store, Tower Records, Tsutaya Daikanyama T-Site, Harajuku teamlabs. The BF is scared of heights so might not go to Shibuya Sky (which I’ve been to, it’s very high up), but we’ll see.|
||Check in at Nihonbashi; just relax for the evening|Not a very popular neighborhood or recommended base point in Tokyo, but our place is a 5 minute walk to Tozai/Hibiya/Hanzomon/Asakusa lines, so it’s very convenient.|
|Day 5 – January 9|Day Trip to Kamakura and Yokohama (The only must for me is Gundam Front)|Still thinking if we should go to Hakkeijima Sea Paradise – or if there’s a better aquarium in Tokyo for another day. Recommendations here in Yokohama would be appreciated!|
|Day 6 – January 10|Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara|Don’t really have a plan here. Just walk around, visit Senso-ji, see if any museum interests him, and then enjoy electric city.|
|Day 7 – January 11|Tokyo Disney Sea|He actually wanted to do both Disney Land (which I haven’t been to) and Disney Sea (I’ve been to twice), but general consensus is that Sea is better experience for first timers, and I don’t mind going back because I’ll experience it differently with him for sure.|
|Day 8 – January 12|Last minute shopping, souvenirs, Fly out|Having access to Asakusa line that transfers to either Narita/Haneda is great.|
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As a generally frugal traveler, I wasn’t too thrilled at the thought of most of our big expenses being entry tickets to theme parks. If it was just me, I’d pick just one, but it’s his first time in Japan (and maybe only trip in a while), so I’m planning this for him. We found good places to stay at less than $30/night that isn’t a dorm type. Computing everything so far, our budget is within $1000 (for the both of us already). Includes sim card, IC card load, hotel stays, entrance to attractions and food. It doesn’t include our flight and souvenirs yet. It also helps that the yen is a bit weak right now.
For food, our hotel has breakfast in the mornings already, so that’s cost down on 4 days already. I am happy eating onigiri usually. The only food we’ll really spend on is $35 Kobe beef lunch sets in Kobe, but the BF says he would like to at least try a fancy place. Does anyone have recommendations on a fairly priced kaiseki?
For both [USJ](https://usjinfo.com/wait/pre_callendar.php?year=2023&month=01&park=#land_cal) and [Disney Sea](http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/), I checked the linked crowd forecast and USJ will be at 45% capacity while Disney Sea will be relatively empty, which is manageable. I am not a big fan of crowds (I say this as someone who was in Shibuya for Halloween this year). Also, does anyone know if Disney Sea still does the “free refill” on popcorn for their disney containers?