February 2022, Tokyo – Kanazawa – Takayama – Kyoto – Hiroshima – Osaka

10 comments

1. 1. There is perhaps little more than half a day of itinerary in your plans for Kanazawa, especially since you will be dealing either with half a meter of snow, slush or freezing rain.
   2. Going to Takayama, only to spend both days outside the town does not make sense (the closest onsen in traditional sense are either in Hirayu Onsen/Shin-Hotaka Ropeway area; or Gero Onsen – unless you mean the onsen spa-like ryokan in the town).
   3. Skip Osaka-jo and visit Himeji instead.
   4. This itinerary wouldn’t be too tight, or more to the point – it’s rather lacking, unless by pointing to places you mean typical activities in the area.

2. Higashi Chaya is definitely fun to wander around in, but it shouldn’t take the whole day. For Day 1 in Kanazawa, I’d recommend making a stop at the 21st Century Art Museum (it’s small, and right at the entrance of Kenrokuen).

   My favorite thing to buy in Kanazawa is kaga-boucha (the tea looks like little twigs, not leaves) and there’s an abundance of gold-leaf snack items to try. The gold-leaf ice cream is a little touristy, but quite fun even so) Also, see if you can find a masu no sushi bento! Masu no sushi comes from Toyama Prefecture, Kanazawa’s neighbor, but I think there’s a place in Kanazawa station that sells it. It’s a type of pressed trout sushi that comes in a round shape and is really tasty.

3. This trip plan is really rushed.

   If I were you I would cut out Tokyo entirely for this plan and add the 4 days to Osaka, Kyoto, and Miyajima.

   Day 1 is very busy especially if you just came off of a 12+ hr flight the day before.

   Day 4 is a huge day trip. Realistically you only spend 3 days in Tokyo and for that short of time imho I think you’re better off flying in/out of Osaka and adding those days to some of your existing stops.

   I’ve never been to Kanazawa or Takayama so I have no opinion here however..

   Spending 1/3 days in Kyoto going to Nara for just the deer is imho a total waste. Nara is great and all but at the same time you’re going to Hiroshima but are only going to the Peace Museum and aren’t even going to Miyajima. If you want to see deer Miyajima has deer as well and the Nara day can go to Kyoto for 3 full days in Kyoto.

   1 day in Osaka is really a disservice as well. If this were my trip plan I would probably take the 4 days from Tokyo and add 1 day to Miyajima, 1 day to Nara (as to give Kyoto a full 3 days), 1 day to Osaka, and the remaining day can go to whichever existing city/town you think you might want more time at be it such as Osaka or something.

   If you were really bent on Tokyo I’d probably fly into Osaka and out of Tokyo or vice versa but cut out Kanazawa & Takayama and add those 4 days to Osaka, Tokyo, Nara, and Miyajima.

4. Mount Fuji, you mean Kawaguchiko ?

   I am not sure hot Omicho Market is, but from my experience going to a different fish market at lunch time, it was dead empty, I think that all the action was early in the morning. So I would personally do it in the morning of the second day, or search a bit about the best time to go.

   Where do you plan to go for onsen in Takayama ? There is actually a relatively famous one about an hour by train called Gero Onsen. Actually what you could do is when you get to Takayama, you sleep there, next morning and early afternoon to visit Takayama and then go to Gero onsen for the night. Realistically, you will not spend all day in the onsen anyway. You can get to your ryokan as soon as you can check in and do the onsen for the rest of the afternoon with a break for dinner. The only thing is that your first morning for Kyoto will mostly be to move from there to Kyoto, so you might want to do Higashiyama/Gion day first, as you can do Gion much later in the day compared to Kinkakuji that close around 5pm if I remember correctly.

   In general I would check to have a bit more options on things to do.

5. You cannot climb Mt Fuji in February as the climbing routes are closed. If you just want to see Mt Fuji from a distance, go to Fuji-Q Highland.

   Fuji, you can take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kanazawa, or the bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go, or Nagoya to Kyoto.

   If you don’t plan to go to Mt.

   It takes about 2 hours from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go by bus.

   From Shirakawa-go, it is about 4 hours to Nagoya and then to Kyoto.

   I think there is also a bus from Shirakawa-go to Osaka via Kyoto.

   If you really want to go to Hiroshima, it is better to go to Hiroshima before Kyoto to save time.

   The journey from Nagoya to Hiroshima takes just over two hours.

   If you stay overnight in Hiroshima and come into Osaka in the evening, you can go to Dotonbori that day.

   In February in Nara, except for Monday, they have a deer gathering at Tobihino from 10:00.

   If you want to go to Nara from Kyoto or Osaka for sightseeing, I think Kintetsu is better than JR.

   For the official guide to Kyoto City, please visit

   https://kyoto.travel/en/

   For the official guide to Nara

   https://www.visitnara.jp/

   Sorry if it’s hard to read.

6. Nice plan

7. You should consider making use of that rail pass and doing day trips instead of full days, for example: You can be in Hiroshima via shinkansen in just 1 30 mins (From Osaka) , you can stay in Osaka and do day trips to Kyoto (Or the opposite) in just 30-50 min.

8. Your itinerary seems not too rushed.

   I live in Tokyo so I can give you some advice regarding your Tokyo plan.

   Tokyo

   Day 1: Harajuku and Shinjuku, Shibuya Crossing

   There is a ramen noodle restaurant called Taiyo no Tomato men in Shinjuku. if you like tomato based pasta, you would love this ramen noodle.

   [https://favy-jp.com/topics/709](https://favy-jp.com/topics/709)

   Day 2: tokyo’s imperial palace, east gardens and giza

   I guess you meant to type Ginza and the city has pretty much everything.It is just really fun walking around but you might get a bit cold during the season you are coming.

   There is actually the biggest fish market called Toyosu Market. it takes about 10 mins by subway from Ginza area or even taking a taxi would not be expensive- about 1,500 JPY-2,000 JPY.

   or Tsukiji Market- I like this one better since you can see old Japanese style stores and restaurants like very packed building complex and narrow streets- you feel like you are in a maze!

   Day 3: senso-ji temple, akihabara

   Senso-ji temple is in Asakusa and this is a tourist city.

   There is an amusement park called Hanayashiki ( means a house of Flower) and it is the oldest amusement park in Tokyo.

   Day 4: mount Fuji

   it takes approx 2 hours by train to go to Kawaguchiko station (one of the lake near Mt Fuji) from Shinjuku.

   As someone has already advised that you cannot climb the mountain but you can visit caves or maybe hiking trail in Aokigahara Jukai ( means – the sea of trees),

   But you really have to be careful especially if you go to Aokigahara Jukai since you can get lost easily in the forest.

   Visiting big city you might feel like “oh it looks similar to XX city” and you might end up doing most tourists would just do.

   If you want to experience something local.

   Please visit Hounancho- this city is close to Shinjuku.

   There is an escape haunted house and a Ninja house.

   Only local people would know about these places.

   Escape haunted house is called If Musebiya.

   They have an online activity so maybe you can get to know what kind of place it is.

   [https://obaken-event.wixsite.com/if-musebiya](https://obaken-event.wixsite.com/if-musebiya)

   Ninja house

   [https://obaken-event.wixsite.com/shuriken/blank](https://obaken-event.wixsite.com/shuriken/blank)

   the HP is all in Japanese so maybe use google translation and you can understand.

   I always bring my friends from overseas when they come to Tokyo and everyone loves them.

   Hope you get to come to Japan in 2022!

9. I spent 3 months in Osaka.

   Dotonbori is a quick visit. It’s in a sense similar to Times Sq. The river has some eateries and things to see but it’s def not an all day thing. You could see Dotonbori in a couple hours. It was very close to my hotel. I went often.

   Amerimura is cool in Osaka. It’s the Japanese take on America. It’s mainly high end American shops but a fun place to see too.

   Osaka Aquarium is awesome. Go to the front of the line, get a ticket from the attendent, and that gives you a return time to get in line to buy a ticket. There is a mall next to the aquarium to kill time in. There is a petting zoo in the mall with odd animals but also a huge line. Plus Americans get a discount at the aquarium.

   Shinsaibashi is great for shopping.

   Den Den Town is right next to my hotel. It’s filled with games, arcades, and anime souvenirs. Pro tip, in Japan prices aren’t firm. You can go to one store and see a statue for $50 and then across the street it’s sold for $5. The more popular the character, the higher the price.

   Kyoto is great. Add monkey mountain to your itinerary. The bamboo forest I missed. I hear it’s gorgeous but very small. They are close to each other. Also right there too is a famous unagi (eel) restaurant that’s reservation only. I didn’t go because I wasn’t going to wait an hour and a half for dinner but it’s top rated and the unagi in Japan is a must. Kyoto is a full day if you want to see all the temples. There is a bus tour for that. Plus the Fushimi Inari shrine is far from everything else. So if you plan to go to that, and climb, it’s a day. Kyoto needs 2-3 days. Osaka needs at least 3 days too. I’d borrow 2 days from Tokyo….unless you’re going to Disney.

   I stayed in the Namba area. All the food there is amazing. Don’t get caught up splurging in Dotonbori. Walk around Namba, see the eateries, it’s all amazing. I’d give you specific recos but every sign is in Japanese! Trust me, I ate everywhere in Namaba, you can’t go wrong.

   Nara is great. Spend a half day there. There is a temple there with the 3rd largest bronze booda in the world! Be careful around the deer. They will bite you if you aren’t careful. They bite you regardless as a way to say hey I want a cracker. Bring cash to buy crackers from the locals. That’s what they eat. Don’t feed them anything else.

10. Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

    I removed Kanazawa and Takayama from the itinerary and I tried to plan it a bit better. But I still have the feeling I put too much into it. If you can spare a minute to review it, I really value your help. Thanks!

    Tokyo
    Day 1: Akihabara
    Day 2: Meiji shrine, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku, Takeshadori streed, Omotesandu avenue
    Day 3: Shibuya, Tokyo’s imperial palace, east gardens and Ginza
    Day 4: Shinjuku, Kabukicho, Tokyo metro Gov Office view, Omoide Yokocho, Golden Gai,
    Shinjuku Gyoen, Asakusa, Ueno park
    Day 5: Mount Takao

    Kamakura (day trip)
    Day 6: Great Buddha, Hokokuji Temple, Hasedera Temple, Enoshima
    Nikko (day trip)
    Day 7: Nikko Toshogu, Taiyuinbyu, Kanmangafuchi
    Kyoto
    Day 8: Arashiyama
    Day 9: Kinkakuji Temple, Ryoanji Temple, Ginkakuji Temple, Philosopher Park, Kiyomizudera Temple, Sanusandogio temple
    Day 10: Nijo castle, Gion District, Fushimi Inari Shrine
    Osaka
    Day 11: Osaka Castle, Kaiyukan
    Day 12: Dotonbori, Shinsekai, Denden Town
    Nara
    Day 13: Todaiji Temple, Isuien Garden, Kasugataisha Shrine, Nara Park
    Hiroshima
    Day 14: Miyajima
    Day 15: Shukkeien Garden, Peace memorial park and museum, Okonomimura