Hello everyone! This will be for a trip of four people (2M and 2F all in our 30’s) visiting Tokyo and Osaka in March 2023. I’ve been to Tokyo once before, but I could for sure use some help in the planning of this trip. We are open to any suggestions or comments related to this trip. We like nature, Japanese culture, anything automotive related, and of course food. The only thing set in stone at the moment are our flights and hotels.
* Questions:
* Will my Pasmo still work? I tried researching and it looks like it should but just figured I’d ask. It was last used in 2019 and I am unsure if there is a balance on it.
* Should we swap our Sunday and Monday in Osaka? Maybe a theme park on a weekend day won’t be the best call.
* 13th (arrive at Haneda at 3:30 pm roughly)- Tokyo. Hotel is right next to Shimbashi station
Explore around our hotel after check in and depending on how everyone is feeling, maybe go to Tokyo Tower (would this be too short of time to experience the tower?)
* 14th – Tokyo
* Tsukiji market in the morning
* TeamLab Planets after the market.
* Street Kart Tokyo Bay after Planets.
* Finish the day/night in Odaiba
* 15th – Tokyo
* Check out Nissan Crossing/Ginza area.
* Imperial palace.
* Akihabara in the afternoon.
* Asakusa in the evening and finishing off at SkyTree.
* 16th – Mt.Fuji
* We will be doing the Fun2Drive tour around Mt. Fuji. Google says it takes roughly 2.5 hours to get there from our hotel and the tour starts at noon and lasts till about 5PM.
* After the tour, see if we can find something good to eat or maybe grab a snack before the 2.5-hour trek back to our hotel. I’d imagine everyone will be tired and we will more than likely just stay close to the hotel for the remainder of the evening.
* 17th – Yokohoma (I could for sure use some help on figuring this day out.)
* NISMO factory tour.
* Kirin brewery tour. Does anyone know if this is conducted in English? I can’t seem to find any information on their site.
* Cup Noodle Museum.
* Cosmo Clock 21.
* Gundam factory.
* Explore Chinatown
* 18th – Tokyo/Osaka (Osaka hotel is by Shinsaibashi station)
* Take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka. Hotel check in isn’t till 3 but it says we can leave our luggage with them until check in so we can explore the area.
* Osaka Castle.
* Explore Umeda
* Ohatsu Tenjin Shrine
* HEP Ferris wheel
* Grab a cheesecake from Rikuro.
* Explore Dotonbori area at night.
* Dinner at Steakhouse Ken.
* 19th – Osaka
* USJ – Can anyone help explain how tickets work? I looked on their site and we want to get into the new Mario area. I don’t see any type of ticket to enter that area, or at least it isn’t clear to me.
From videos I watched online, most people say USJ isn’t really a full day thing, and the park is small. We would mostly only be going for the Mario world portion since we have Universal back home, and it seems like there is a lot of overlap.
* If USJ runs short, go to Osaka Aquarium
* Tempozan giant Ferris wheel.
* 20th -Osaka
* Sumiyoshi Taisha
* Explore Shinsekai
* Kuromon market
* Wander around Dotonbori for food.
* Night river cruise?
* 21st – Osaka/Tokyo
* Head to Shibuya Sky and get a good view of scramble in the morning. Explore Shibuya some more.
* Yoyogi park/Meiji Jingu
* Head to Harajuku and go down Takeshita St.
* 22nd – Tokyo
* Inokashira Park/Kichijoji
* Sunshine city/Ikebukuro
* Depending on the time, head down to Korea town.
* Golden Gai.
* 23rd – Tokyo
* HIE Shrine
* Shinjuku Gyoen Park.
* Tokyo Metropolitan Government building.
* Drinking around Golden Gai.
* 24th – Tokyo
* Free day. Open to suggestions.
* 25th – Tokyo/leave
* Plane leaves at 1pm so probably going to visit any last thing by hotel and then make our way to the airport.
2 comments
Yes your Pasmo will still work. It’s good for 10 years after last use.
If you can do theme park on weekday, it would be better than weekend.
You do not need that much time for Tokyo Tower, it’s not as if it required several hours to visit. But Tokyo Tower would not be my first choice of observation deck, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower or Shibuya Sky would be my first choice.
Most people would agree that street kart is both obnoxious and potentially dangerous, not something I would especially recommend.
As you already have better observation deck listed, for me the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building could be a skip, yes, it is fine, especially as it is free, but nothing special.
> maybe go to Tokyo Tower (would this be too short of time to experience the tower?)
Observation deck closes around 10:30 with last entry at 10 so you should be fine.
> Street Kart Tokyo Bay after Planets.
Please don’t.
> 17th – Yokohoma
Seems like you have a lot of tours lined up you’ll probably want to do Kirin and Nismo first, then Cup noodles then Gundam factory. You can do cosmo clock after since it closes last out of the 5. Not sure how much time you plan to spend at each location, but you might be cutting it close to see everything if you spend at least 2 hours at each place.
You may be in Japan during cherry blossom season so you might want to take some timeout and do some cherry blossom viewing.