Hello! My partner and I are taking our first trip together to Japan and would like some advice/recommendations/feedback on our itinerary. We’d like to explore major areas, see the Cherry Blossoms, get some Eki Stamps and Goshuins, and look for souvenirs/anime merchandise.
**Day 1**
* Arriving at Narita Airport (Immigration, Snacks, JR Pass, SIM card, Pasmo/Suica?)
* Train to Osaka
* Arrive at Kyoto station
* Pick up dinner and head to lodging
**Day 2**
* Head to Kobe and grab some Kobe beef for lunch?
* Himeji Castle
* Dinner near Himeji Castle (?)
* 7/8P – Dinner/snacks at Osaka
* (IF TIME PERMITS) Dotonbori Sign (Minami Area) / Round 1
**Day 3**
* Head to Nara
* Visit Kofuku-ji Gojunoto (Five-Story Pagoda) / Todai-ji Nandaimon (Grate South Gate) / Todai-ji Chumon (Central Gate) / Nara-koen Park, Umikido Gazebo (?)
* Snacks at Nara Park
* Dinner near Nara station
**Day 4**
* Hike up Fushimi Inari Shrine
* Dotonbori Sign + Lunch/Snacks
* Nanba Yashaka Jinga (Lion head shrine)
* Dotonbori Sign + Round 1 + Dinner
**Day 5**
* Kiyomizu-dera Temple (ft. Otowa waterfall)
* Hagashiwama Ward) Sannen-zaka & Ninen-zaka
* Hokan-ji (Yasaka Pagoda) path
* Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama-koen Park, Downtown Kyoto / Nishiki Market / (Shop for Japanese Knives)
* (IF TIME PERMITS) Pontocho/Gion (?)
**Day 6**
* Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (and/or go on a boat ride lunch at the end of the trail)
* Tenryu-ji Temple
* Awatayama Monkey Park
* Look for food near Arashiyama station
* Kinkaku-ji Pavilion (Golden Pavilion) (\~1hr by train),
* Dinner/Walking somewhere (Nishiki area maybe?)
**Day 7**
* Heian Shrine
* Keage Incline (Cherry Blossoms)
* Nanzenji temple
* Philosopher’s path
* Gion
**Day 8**
* Kyoto station + snacks at Famimart, Lawson or 711
* Arrive at Tokyo station
* Arrive at airbnb/hotel
* Akihabara
* Ueno Park
**Day 9**
* Head to mount fuji and get food
* Shinjuku station –> Mt. fuji line etc.
* Kawaguchiko and Chureito Pagoda
**Day 10**
* Jindaiji Temple (Tanuki/Yokai) + Snacks
* Ghibli Museum (if we can get tickets)…. alternative is Gotokuji Temple :3
* Nakano Broadway & Lunch
* Ikebukuro (one piece, gacha, mega pokemon)
* Meiji Jingu Gaien/Meiji Jingu Shinkyo (Sacred Bridge) (Shibuya)
**Day 11**
* Asakusa (Sensoji Temple, Asakusa Jinja, Matcha, Kirby Cafe, Doguri Republic Ghibli Store)
* Shinjuku (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden)
**Day 12**
* 9A – Odaiba (unicorn Gundam, round 1)
* 11A – Lunch somewhere
* 1P – Akihabara
Optional Add-On: Ginza Art Aquarium Museum(?)
**Day 13 – Sunday, April 9**
* Extra temple/shrine….?
* Akihabara
​
1. So these are the questions I have regarding this…Is it doable with this itinerary?
2. Should I get the Pasmo card for bus passes as well?
3. What should I modify, add, and/or subtract?
4. When going on the Shinkansen, is there going to be room if we reserve our luggage spaces at Narita airport or online? We are going during peak season, so I wonder if the luggage spaces will always be full, etc.?
5. As for my partner, he is looking for a perfect grade light-up Gundam AND Japanese knives at a good price, any good shops?
6. As for goshuin, are there any specific ones I should go to along the way? For sure, I’d love to go to the Gotokuji and Jindaiji Temple when I’m in Tokyo! Kyoto makes sense I would like to hope…
Thank you for reading! 🙂
4 comments
**Just a reminder that our FAQ is being updated with more information and you can start** [**here**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel) **with regards to trip planning if you need tips, or have questions about planning your travel to Japan.**
Thank you!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/JapanTravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What time is your arrival to Narita? If you are arriving after 5pm, there is not a combination of public transit to arrive in osaka/kyoto on day one.
You might already know, but get a bland notebook for commemorative stamps (such as train station stamps) and goshuin in the goshuin book you can get at temple/shrine. Do not put commemorative stamps in you goshuin book
It might be a detail but you do not have to be in Kobe to eat Kobe beef. You could eat it in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. But if your idea is to eat it where it is produced, then it is as local is you get it in Himeji as Kobe beef is from the south of Hyogo prefecture.
In Nara, you listed the gates of Todai-ji, but I hope you also plan to see the main hall of the temple with the daibutsu inside.
I do not understand why you say Shinjuku to Oshiage on the day you want to go to Kawaguchiko…. Oshiage is Tokyo Skytree… To go to Kawaguchiko, take the train or bus from Shinjuku.
You Tokyo days are a bit mixed up. Just look at the location of each thing you want to go and group by what is closest.
​
1. Generally speaking, yes it is doable.
2. Yes a Pasmo or Suica can be useful to pay for any bus/train/subway/tram that is not covered by the JR Pass, of out of the period the JR Pass is active…. speaking of JR Pass, you should really return to Tokyo on day 7, otherwise it is really not a good value to buy the pass.
3. … I think you already have a good list.
4. Yeah… “peak season”… Well, you have to book specific seats if you have oversized luggage, that’s true. And it’s impossible to predict if all the places will be booked. You can always try to not bring oversized luggage and not have to worry about this.
5. For knives, I would recommend to go to Kappabashi, there is several stores specialized in knives, like at least 5-6 of them. Go to all stores, check what they have, like stainless or high carbon steel, style of knife, type of handle, etc, take notes on the price, then go back to get the one you liked the most. I got different knive from 3 of the stores in kappabashi over my trips.
6. You can always search on instagram to find special goshuin or look for websites where people share their pictures of goshuin to find locations that have more unique designs… or just check to get them an just whatever temple/shrine you are visiting.
京都府京都市中京区姉東堀川町 刃物重春
This is the oldest knife shop in Japan. It’s in Kyoto. It’s not in a tourist area so it’s just regular prices. But expect to pay above $200 for any knife. If I remember correctly The same family has been running it for about a 1000 years. It’s just one guy and his family, he makes the knives himself out the back of the shop. It’s not well known and you have to dig deep into google searches to find the information on it. I hope the address I wrote is the correct one, I don’t have a good internet connection at the moment so my maps isn’t working.