This post might be a bit long, just letting you guys know.
​
**Background:** Me and two other friends have been thinking of going to Japan for a long time, and actually had tickets booked for 2020, though you know how that year went. So, we’ve been thinking of going in late May – June of 2022.
​
**Reasons:** We are interested mainly in Japanese culture and food. I personally want to do some street photography and ride trains (trains in Japan are god tier from what I’ve heard), the others mainly just want to look at some temples and eat well. We all have a keen interest in Japanese history as well. I’m just primarily worried about things being too rushed, though based on some posts I’ve seen, mine doesn’t look that busy in comparison.
​
**Transport:** We’ll have a 3 week JR rail pass and use local trains when staying in cities.
​
**Itinerary:** I’ve tried to keep it somewhat flexible with no set times, as from experience being stuck to a itinerary that judges you by the minute can be more stressful than fun. Of course, any suggestions are welcome.
Day 1: We’ll leave our home country in the afternoon and arrive in the evening of the next day.
Day 2: We’ll arrive in HND, take the monorail to Ginza and check into our hotel. We’ll eat dinner and just relax for the night to get ourselves accustomed to the time zone.
Day 3: Tsukiji market in the morning for breakfast, shopping in Ginza in the afternoon. It’ll mainly be a chill day since I’ll suspect we will still be tired.
Day 4: Asakusa in the morning, and Tokyo skytree in the afternoon. We might go to a museum in Ueno, though we aren’t sure which one (any suggestions welcome)
Day 5: Akihabara to get our manga/tech fix. I might browse some camera gear here.
Day 6: One of the team labs exhibits, possibly both. We’ll go a park after to just chill for a couple hours, and maybe go to Shinjuku in the evening.
Day 7: Day trip to Yokosuka. Mikasa memorial, otherwise we’ll just look around the city. If we get bored we’ll head back to Tokyo after.
Day 8: Shinkansen to Kyoto in the morning. Hotel check in, Inari Jinja for photos, then we’ll head back to our hotel for the evening.
Day 9: Arashiyama, Kinkakuji, Ryoanji. This day might be a bit busy, but we’ll try to get the day started early.
Day 10: Day trip to Nara. Deer, temples, etc.
Day 11: Shinkansen to Osaka in the morning. Hotel check in, Osaka castle in the afternoon. If we feel like it we’ll go eat in Dotonbori in the evening, but if we’re too tired, we’ll just sleep early and save it for another day.
Day 12: Osaka. This is one of the rest days that I’ve put into my itinerary. Nothing is really planned out for this day for this reason. We could do anything that we’ve missed yesterday if we wanted. Could possibly go to the aquarium if we are up for it, otherwise we’ll just eat at different restaurants.
Day 13: Day trip to Kobe. We’ll eat teppanyaki there, take photos. Another really chill day honestly. Any suggestions for what to do in Osaka are welcome.
Day 14: Shinkansen to Hiroshima. We’ll leave in the morning and check in the afternoon. If we have time, we’ll do a side trip to Kure to visit the naval museum.
Day 15: Miyajima island in the morning, peace dome in the afternoon/evening. We’ll visit the museum as well, and eat okonomiyaki in the evening.
Day 16: Another rest day in Hiroshima. If day 15 seems too packed we can split some of the activities from there into here.
Day 17: Train to Nagasaki in the morning. Hotel check in, otherwise chill for the rest of the day.
Day 18: Nagasaki bomb museum, otherwise we’ll look around the city and eat.
Day 19: Train to Fukuoka. Hotel check in, yatai in the evening. Probably will eat a lot of Hakata style ramen if being honest, and try other regional specialties.
Day 20: Another rest day. We’ll stay in Fukuoka.
Day 21: Shinkansen to Tokyo. Since we will be on the train for a decent amount of time we don’t have anything planned after we check into our hotel.
Day 22: Last full day in Tokyo. We’ll do anything that we’ve missed and probably will take our last photos. Most likely we’ll head to Shibuya and grab a coffee, and head to Mori tower in Roppongi for city views. Could also go to the Tokyo Metropolitan building.
Day 23: Our flight will leave at 22:00 so we still have time to do some last minute shopping. Otherwise we’ll be heading back to Haneda for the flight home.
​
If there are any attractions that are super worth visiting, or specific restaurants that you strongly recommend, or even just general advice, I’ll be more than happy to read them. This is my first time to Japan so I’ve got a lot on my plate, and any suggestions to the plan are appreciated.
8 comments
Don’t have much to add, but it seems like a good pace, not over-scheduled. Maybe a little heavy on the big cities, if that concerns you. You could always stay overnight somewhere smaller like Miyajima, if you want to slow things down a little.
You don’t need a 3-week JR Pass. All of your major travel fits within 14 calendar days (day 8-21) so just go with the 2 week pass. The JR pass is of limited value within Tokyo and definitely not worth the extra 13000 yen.
First, I would not plan shopping in the first days, if anything, move more of the Tokyo days at the end so you do not have to carry all your purchase across Japan.
If you are remotely interested in history, then it’s the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, really great history museum.
To save you money, get the 14 days JR Pass from day 8 to 21. Yokosuka is only 1100 yen one way and local train within Tokyo is cheap. Absolutely not worth the extra 13200 yen to get 21 days.
Personally, on day 8 I would check Higashiyama instead and you can do Fushimi Inari early on day 10 (to avoid the crowd) before you continue to Nara.
Taking the Shinkansen to Osaka is not optimal, in most case, the rapid train between Kyoto Station and Osaka Station make more sense are you will likely not go anywhere around Shin-Osaka station.
If you do 3 days for Hiroshima, you should have time to do Kure museum. Usually people take one day for Miyajima and one for Hiroshima proper. However, I would personally check to start early, do Himeji castle (instead of Osaka castle) on the way to Hiroshima (like eat bento in the train) and peace museum in afternoon. Next two days for Miyajima and Kure. The reason for that order is that it would likely be easier to drop your luggage at the hotel on the way to the peace museum compared to bring it all the way to Kure or exit the station to put in in a locker in Hiroshima. And for extra time you have on these days, you can spend in Hiroshima.
Nagasaki, for the night you really want to check Mount Inasa, one of the best night view of Japan. For history, do not miss Dejima.
Fukuoka, there is plenty to see, and if you are into history Museum, Fukuoka City Museum is cheap and really cool. There is also a new permanent teamlab exhibition in Fukuoka. Other specialty include Motsu nabe and Mizutaki. It’s interesting that it’s the only city where you really mention it, maybe appart Hiroshima Okonomiyaki, but about every region have they own dish, I can list several if you are interested.
Also, if you want to reduce time in the train from Fukuoka to Tokyo, then stop by Osaka at that time and not just after Kyoto. And if you are ok to wake up early, you can ride the [Hello Kitty Shinkansen](https://www.jr-hellokittyshinkansen.jp/en/) all the way between Hakata and Osaka (ok, yes you could also from Himeji to Hiroshima). But if you do, you do not want to take a reserved seat and ride in car 2 (that is the kawaii room), otherwise the interior of the train is just as any other shinkansen. So starting at the first station, you are pretty sure to have a seat.
The Edo-Tokyo Museum is fantastic if you’re interested in Japanese history. I don’t know any Japanese and still learned a lot, I think almost all of the exhibits had English translations.
Similarly, the Kyoto Railway Museum is also awesome if you’re interested in trains. It’s not as English-friendly, but it’s visual enough that we still got a lot out of it!
If your friends are interested in temples, I would recommend adding one or two more days to Kyoto. Two days is a short amount of time regardless, but you’re missing out on all of the great temples and shrines in Higashiyama. You don’t even need to have a specific plan, just wander around that district for a couple hours with a matcha soft serve, and you’ll stumble upon a bunch of amazing temples and shrines!
Finally, I don’t think you need to go to both Teamlab exhibits. I’ve only been to Planets, but I remember others saying they’re pretty similar, with a couple of key exceptions.
Lots of tips already, here’s more:
– for history, Kure museum in Hiroshima. The scale model of Yamato and the WW2 stuff there is chefs-kiss.gif
– Oyamazumi shrine on the way back to Tokyo. Leave your bags in the train station’s luggage lockers, take a bus, then marvel at the biggest collection of feudal weapons that saw battle in Japan. Please make sure you time the buses right, there are only a few trip there.
– Himeji and Hikone castles for your original castle itch.
– for passes, Tokyo has a 72hr Metro pass for JPY1500. Ain’t the JR Yamanote line, but it’s really good value
Since you have a day in Arashiyama, hope you are considering the Sagano Romantic Train which is one of the top scenic trains in Japan.
You could also see if you can fit a Sunrise Seto/Izumi ride either going west to Kyoto/Osaka or going east back to Tokyo. You need to add on to the JR Pass if you’re getting a private berth, but the nobi nobi seats are already covered by the pass. However, I think you need to have an active JR Pass to reserve a slot, so you might not be able to reserve until you get to Japan.
Been to Japan many times. I have some advice based on your posted itinerary.
**Day 2 -** Taking Monorail from HND to Ginza – The monorail doesn’t get you all the way to Ginza. I highly recommend a cab if you can afford it. The reasoning is that if you have a bunch of luggage on the commuter trains, you’re going to look like an asshole. Especially if you are arriving in the evening.
**Day 5 -** Check out Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara. Don’t be shocked if you struggle to make a full day out of Akihabara. It’s a bit underwhelming IMO. That’s just me though. I like anime / manga, but most of the shops are very similar to each other. Just a lot of figurines, porn, and manga. There’s a cool book tower near the train station, and Yodobashi is close to the station as well.
**Day 6 -** Team labs has a lot of lines inside. Get there early and plan accordingly. I think last time I went to Borderless I was waiting about 30-40 minutes per room.
**Day 8,9,10 -** I’m amazed you lotted what equals to probably 1.5 days for Kyoto, in a trip where you say you want Culture and Food to be your primary drivers. Take some days out of Osaka and hand them off to Kyoto if you can. You won’t regret it. Osaka is going to feel like more Tokyo (nicer people, IMO, but it’s just another huge city with big buildings). I’m sure some will disagree with me here, but I kinda cringed when you opted to leave the Kyoto / Nara area to go spend the day in Dotonbori. **Also, you don’t need to take the Shinkansen to Osaka from Kyoto. There is an express commuter that is comfortable. If you want culture, I highly recommend Ryokan Tori in Kyoto. Also, get a daily bus pass when you’re in Kyoto. Kyoto doesn’t have a ton of trains.**
**Day 14, 15, 16 -** Consider spending more time on Miyajima. Maybe even stay in a Ryokan and experience that.
**Day 17, 18 -** Check out the Dutch settlements in Nagasaki. Don’t expect the Peace Memorial to be a long event unless it has some kind of personal
**Day 19, 20 -** Fukuoka is known for Ramen but honestly I wouldn’t go in expecting some epicly-better ramen than you’ve already been eating your whole trip. Opt for a Chanko Nabe experience on one of these two evenings. You won’t regret it. You get to have a sumo wrestler make you a hot pot, and they are freaking delicious.
Some recommendations – **You will save a lot of time and money by skipping the rail passes.** Assuming you’re **NOT** going around the holidays, I would strongly suggest the following:
**Arrive in Tokyo and buy shinkansen tickets FROM Nagasaki TO Fukuoka, Fukuoka to Osaka, Kyoto to Tokyo.**
**Buy a plane ticket to fly FROM Tokyo to Nagasaki – probably about $120 per person (last I went, right before COVID) and barely an hour long flight.** Airports are super efficient, especially for domestic. I realize trains are something you appreciate from your post, and I appreciate them and enjoy them a lot as well. Just be aware you’ll see the exact scenery going back as you did forward, and it’s more expensive and takes a lot more time.
The rail passes that they sell suck IMO. I’ve used it once. It’s not for every line, and getting across the country can have a lot of stops / change of trains. It also works out to be more expensive, at least when I did it, than buying more efficient shinkansen tickets. It’s also not incredibly straightforward for a traveler on how to book tickets (you don’t just get to walk onto the Shinkansen with the pass, you have to reserve a spot through a special train-pass ticket office).
If you’re feeling adventurous consider renting a car and exploring the small towns near Kyoto and Osaka (heading northeast).
[deleted]