Itinerary Shakedown: Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka – 2 weeks in May 2023 – Mid-30s couple, experienced travelers but first time in Japan – love walking, food, drink, live music, board game cafes, rare vending machines, local art – also visibly trans. Thoughts?

Hi /r/JapanTravel!

Thank you all so much for creating such a useful, fun space! I have learned so much from previous itinerary checks already, and now I hope it can be my turn. Would love your thoughts!

# Background

**Destinations:** Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka

**Timeframe:** 2 weeks in May (looking at 5/13 – 5/28)

* This is primarily due to our work schedules.
* However, we also want to avoid major summer humidity, rainy season in summer, and typhoon season in fall.
* We also hear mid- to late-May is best to avoid Golden Week but get ahead of summer travel.

**About us:**

* My partner and I are mid-30s from the Midwest United States.
* Japan has been our dream trip for many years, since before we were married. It was going to be our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary trip in 2020. (Thanks, Covid!) We’ve been watching travel restrictions like a hawk and now believe we can finally do the trip safely. We are pro-vax and pro-mask of course.
* We are experienced travelers: we’ve backpacked in Ireland, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Croatia, Budapest, Vienna, Copenhagen; we’ve also traveled a lot in the US, with a special love for LA and the American Southwest. We are big fans of hiking and backcountry camping, although we are not doing that this trip.
* Japan will be our first trip to East Asia and definitely our first trip where English is not a reliable fallback. We also hear Japan is worth doing a little more planning than usual. So, we are bringing a lot more intentionality to our planning than we’ve done in the past!

**Things we love:**

* We love traveling light, getting out on foot, and walking for hours.
* Food and drink are our TOP priority – we are experimental, adventurous eaters and always prioritize food/drink over almost anything else on our trips!
* We enjoy sightseeing at must-see locations – we are aware we’re tourists.
* We love bonsai and botanical gardens.
* We love trying to pick up some live music when we travel, especially prog metal and jazz.
* We love video games, tabletop games, TTRPGs, and board game cafes.
* Surreal vending machines and local art would be top interests as well.

**Note:** We are a queer relationship. My partner is a cis man. I am trans and nonbinary. I do not pass as a trans man (we wouldn’t look like two guys traveling together per se), but I definitely raise eyebrows as I am clearly not an ordinary cis woman (masc appearance, have had top surgery, etc). I am already aware the onsen experience is probably not OK for us. Anything else I should know as a visibly trans traveler in Japan? We are not POC, btw.

# The Itinerary

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|Sat 5/13|Home|Depart (still locking in flights but ideally mid-morning, our top-choice Delta flight is 11:15am)|
|:-|:-|:-|
|Sun 5/14|Tokyo|Arrive (ideally mid-afternoon, that Delta flight is 2:30pm)|
|||Get sorted out – rail passes, any currency conversion, SIM cards, whatever else|
|||Make our way to hotel, check in|
|||Dinner in the area, make adjustments for the next day|
|Mon 5/15|Tokyo/Shibuya|Breakfast|
|||Meiji Shrine morning|
|||Shibuya Center Gai/Dogenzaka Street afternoon|
|||Shibuya Crossing early evening weekday for the best experience|
|||Eat and drink at Nonbei Yokocho or Ebisu Yokocho evening|
|Tues 5/16|Tokyo/Shinjuku|Breakfast|
|||Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden all day|
|||Eat and drink at Shinjuku Golden Gai **OR** Omoide Yokocho evening (1 train station/20m trip apart, could potentially hit up both)|
|Wed 5/17|Tokyo/Asakusa|Breakfast|
|||Senso-ji **OR** Tokyo National Museum morning (probably Senso-ji)|
|||Tokyo Skytree/Asakusa walk afternoon/evening|
|||Asakusa evening **OR** Rainbow Bridge if we’re ready to move on|
|Thu 5/18|Tokyo/Akihabara|Breakfast|
|||Akihabara all day|
|||Akihabara evening **OR** Rainbow Bridge if we didn’t already do it|
|Fri 5/19|Tokyo to Kyoto|Toyosu and Tsukiji breakfast/lunch situation|
|||Hit up any lingering spots we didn’t get to – thinking Kanda walk and/or Meguro River|
|||Rail to Kyoto late afternoon/evening (2.5 hours)|
|||Make our way to ryokan, check in|
|||Dinner in the area, make a plan for the next day|
|Sat 5/20|Kyoto|Leisurely explore & breakfast at Nishiki Market (opens 10am)|
|||Gion/Potocho/Kiyamachi-dori all day|
|||Schedule a nice *kaiseki* dinner (need reservations)|
|||Go to sleep early ahead of Arashiyama Bamboo Forest tomorrow morning|
|Sun 5/21|Kyoto|Arashiyama Bamboo Forest day trip (leave morning, plan for the better part of the day)|
|||Back to Gion/Potocho/Kiyamachi-dori for evening|
|||Go to sleep early ahead of Fushimi-Inari early tomorrow morning|
|Mon 5/22|Kyoto|Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine day trip (leave morning, done midday)|
|||Fushimi Sake District afternoon|
|||Kyoto Tower evening|
|Tues 5/23|Kyoto to Osaka|Breakfast|
|||Kyoto Imperial Palace morning|
|||Hit up any lingering spots we didn’t get to – thinking Yokai Street|
|||Rail to Osaka late afternoon/evening (1 hour)|
|||Dinner at Shin-umeda shokudōgai when at train station|
|||Make our way to hotel, check in|
|||Make adjustments for the next day|
|Wed 5/24|Osaka|Breakfast|
|||Shinsaibashisuji/Namba day|
|||Kuromon Ichiba Market **OR** Dotonburi afternoon/evening|
|Thu 5/25|Osaka|Breakfast|
|||Osaka Castle and Nishinomaru Gardens day|
|||Back to Kuromon Ichiba Market **OR** Dotonburi afternoon/evening (whichever we didn’t have enough time for the night before)|
|Fri 5/26|Osaka|Breakfast|
|||Hit up any lingering spots we didn’t get to – thinking Osaka Aquarium|
|||Tempozan Ferris Wheel & Harbor Village evening views|
|Sat 5/27|Osaka to Tokyo|Leisurely breakfast in Osaka|
|||Rail back to Tokyo (2.5 hours)|
|||Last chance for any souvenir shopping, any Tokyo spots we missed|
|||Check in at airport and depart (ideally afternoon, that Delta flight is 4:20pm|
|Sun 5/28|Home|Arrive back home and rest|

**Google Map:** Because I am a lunatic, I have actually already put all of these destinations in a Google Map. I also added in lots of food/drink spots, walk/shop spots, games cafes, cool vending machines, etc. My thinking is not to try and actually visit ALL of these additional spots – more like, when we’re out walking around in somewhere like Akihabara, we can refer to the map and hit up something nearby:

[https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1GzgRYYHnVOID-TKGsBX6soKQ0BvkA1o&usp=sharing](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1GzgRYYHnVOID-TKGsBX6soKQ0BvkA1o&usp=sharing)

Well, that’s that! Thoughts? Feedback? Recommendations? Anything I should add to the map?

Thank you!

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