I’m planning a 2nd trip to Japan! Last time I did the “Golden Route” more or less, but there is still lot more to do in Tokyo.
It will be two male friends for the most part. Mainly interested in history, museums, pop-culture and cars. Zero interest in nightlife or drinking. I also speak N4 Japanese if it matters.
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# Summary:
|Dates|Location|Nights|Comment|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Sat 4.2. – Wed 8.2.|Yokohama|4|We land in the evening so it’s straight to the hotel on the 4th; and then leave for Sendai early on the 8th.|
|Wed 8.2. – Fri 10.2.|Sendai|2|Return on the 10th, possibly with stop in Utsunomiya; likely using East Tohoku Area Pass|
|Fri 10.2. – Wed 15.02.|Tokyo|5|Hotel in Asakusa |
|Wed 15.02. – Thu 16.02.|Hakone|1|Hakone Free Pass|
|Thu 16.02. – Sat 18.02.|Tokyo|Location undecided; return flight is in the evening|
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#My main question
– Should we even go to Sendai? I do want to see Fukushima Dai-ichi, but the idea for this was recycled from previous itinerary that included Sendai only as a stop between Sapporo and Tokyo. I cut off the Hokkaido and I’m kinda left with Sendai and I feel like it’s not really worth it.
But where else for 2-3 day trip? Nagano or Gunma come to mind, but those don’t strike me as great winter destinations unless we want to ski, which we don’t (we could go to onsen, but I already have that planned for Hakone). Walking tours in the nature probably won’t be very pleasant in February…
Nagoya maybe, for the car stuff, but most of the factory tours are cancelled due to Covid. And frankly, Nagoya isn’t exactly a touristy destination.
– 11.2. is national holiday, but it falls on Saturday. No idea what effect it’s going to have on opening times. I think in Japan it’s customary that it moves to the next workday, so stuff should be closed on Monday? Or is it not?
– How hard is to to setup the [Yokohama Oil Refinery Cruise](https://en.japantravel.com/kanagawa/factory-night-cruise-in-yokohama/7249)? I’m little daunted by the bank transfer payment (my friend could do that at least). I assume they won’t speak much English on the boat either. Just wondering how tourist friendly it actually is.
> Mondays (Excluding holidays. On those days, the Museum will be open on Monday and closed the following day); Year-end holidays:
The museum has this on their website, so it should be open I guess, since the holiday doesn’t fall on Monday.
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# Detailed itinerary
(**bolded** item I expect to have time for, the rest may be dropped if it appears there isn’t enough time)
**Day 1 (Sunday 5.2.) – Yokohama**
– **Yokohama Port Museum**
– Cup Noodle museum
– **Yokohama Gundam**
– **Yokosuka** (cruise in the harbour amongst the navy ships)
**Day 2 (Monday 6.2.) – Shibuya**
– **Meguro Parasitological Museum** (lovely start to the day, lol)
– **walk to Shibuya**, with stops at Autobacs Daikanyama and Mandarake Shibuya on the way
– maybe Yoyogi park
– **Gotokuji temple**
– Todoroki Ravine Park
**Day 3 (Tuesday 7.2.) – Kamakura & Zama**
– **Sasuke Inari Shrine**
– Enoshima island
– **Nissan Heritage Collection** if it reopens by the time we are in Japan…
– no idea what else to do in either Kamakura & Zama
**Day 4 (Wednesday 8.2.) – Sendai**
– get on the Shinkansen to Sendai early in the day
– basically visit the few sights that are in Sendai (Zuihōden Temple, the castle ruins, Osaki Hachimangu Shrine), but honestly, that’s about it as far as I can tell. I’m confident we can do that in one day
**Day 5 (Wednesday 9.2.) – Sendai**
– **trip to Fukushima Dai-ichi** with real-fukushima tour
– perhaps some shopping in the afternoon
**Day 6 (Friday 10.2.) – Utsunomiya (?)**
– hop on the Shinkansen and head back to Tokyo in the morning
– do a “daytrip” stop along the way, possibly Utsunomiya (Oya History Museum, Heiwa Kannon) or Fukushima city?
**Day 7 (Saturday 11.2.) – Asakusa/Ginza**
– this is national holiday, but it’s on a weekend and I can’t figure out what effect it’s going to have on opening times
– **Japanese Sword Museum**
– **National Museum**
– maybe Ginza – UNIQLO/Pokemon Center/shopping?
**Day 8 (Sunday 12.2.) – Wonder Festival (Chiba)**
– I will be at **Wonder Festival** for the most of the day
– **shopping in Akihabara** in the afternoon
– **look at UDX Garage** in the evening, supposedly that’s the time to see some cool cars there.
**Day 9 (Monday 13.2.) – Asakusa**
– **kitchenware street**
– **Sensoji shrine**
– rest day
– probably meetup with friends in the afternoon/evening
**Day 10 (Tuesday 14.2.) – Hiroshima <> Fukuoka**
– **Imperial Palace**
– Yushukan WW2 museum
– possibly more window-shopping in Akihabara
**Day 11-12 (Wednesday 15.2. – Thursday 16.2.) – Hakone **
– I imagine this is pretty “standardized” trip.
– Just follow the Hakone Free Pass route. Spend the night in Gora, do the cruise the next day and return to Tokyo in the afternoon/evening
**Day 13-14 (Friday 17.2. – Saturday 18.2.) – Mainly undecided**
– meetup with friends
– open to suggestions
– I was considering the [Yokohama Oil Refinery Cruise](https://en.japantravel.com/kanagawa/factory-night-cruise-in-yokohama/7249), but it seem a little daunting to setup for a foreigner.
– Maybe go have a look at the Gundam in Odaiba + shopping there. I was hoping to see the Toyota museum there, but it closed down a year ago 🙁
The itinerary is little sparse, I don’t tend to plan to the minute details, maybe some days could use some backup options, and some are little packed already. Since I tend to group the points if interest somewhat, we tend to just walk between them, which takes up decent amount of time. I’m not 100% sure how willing I will be to do that in February weather, but ~5°C sounds pretty ok to me.
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I became little demotivated over Covid with all the Japanese closures, but I’m getting hyped to go again.
Thanks for any help and suggestions!