We (2 persons) are planning to visit Japan for the first time in May. I have done some research but still have a ton of questions and hope to clear some out. The main goal is to experience the full width of Japanese culture and we are open for suggestions to include.
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1. I noticed the golden week takes place first week of May and see the FAQ says it won’t ruin the trip. I suspect we spend most of our time in Tokyo but potentially also travel somewhere else (see later). Any tips on how to make the best of it?
2. I like to go to the Sumo wrestling, but see this is only starts 14 May. As I suspect we will do a round trip Tokyo, would it be possible to visit this on 14 or 15 May or would it be more likely to try to go to a training instead.
3. For these 14 days, I have a rough planning but like to check whether it is sensible and also really like some suggestions for things alternatives.
4. We have a number of thing we like to do put have not found the best place to do these yet. So some advice where on the best experience for these would be welcome. These include: Tea Ceremony, Sumo wrestling, Karaoke, Sake tasting, Whisky tasting, Geisha ceremony.
5. The onsen/ryokan is also on the list and is a bit of a struggle to find one. As my wife and I like to experience the Onsen together and not seperated, we are probably looking at a private onsen. However we like this onsen to be with a nice view (for the experience a rotenburo). Would this be possible without it being linked to a ryokan?
6. I found some nice ryokans (with onsen in Kaga, Minikami, Fujikawaguchiko, is there any of these in terms of transportation not advisable. In all cases we would probably stay 1 night with kaiseki meal.
Day 1: arrival in Tokyo
Dag 2-4: the main items we like to visit are Tsukiji outer market, Meii Jingu shrine, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, akihabara and teamlab borderland/planets. Further mainly some night options such Karaoke.
Day 5: Stay at Ryokan (potentially we can change this day around depending on the location, e.g. Kaga after Kanazawa)
Day 6-8: Kanazawa: Kenrokuen, Ninjadera, Contemporary art museum, Higashi Chaya (tea ceremony?)
Day 9: Southern Higashiyama cycle + Nanzen-ji
Day 10: Arashiyama (bamboo grove, tneryu-ji temple garden)
Day 11: Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi inari-taisha, nishiki market
Day 12: Himeji-jo Castle + kobe (sake brewery / earth quake museum)
Day 13: Nara Park
Day 14: Travel Tokyo (something we can do combined here?)
Day 15: Sumo-wrestling (something we can do combined here?)
Day 16: Leave
