Hey all, I will be flying to Japan for the first time with a group of friends in May for a 20 day trip. We will be 6 people looking for a varied itinerary so we came up with the following in order to get a good mix of big cities and rural areas around the Kanto, Kansai and Tohoku areas. We will be arriving in Tokyo on May 9th and leaving on the 28th.
(*Day 0*) May 8th
Plane leaves for Tokyo at 6:00AM
**TOKYO (May 9th – May 13th)**
(*Day 1*) May 9th
Plane lands at HND at 2:20PM, Checking in at the hotel, strolling around the area, picking up JR pass and pocket wifi
(*Day 2*) May 10th
Teamlab Planets, Odaiba
(*Day 3*) May 11th
Meiji Shrine, Takeshita doori, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Shopping
(*Day 4*) May 12th
Kaminari-mon, Sensou-ji, Hamarikyuu garden
(*Day 5*) May 13th
Harajuku, Shopping, leave for Kyoto
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**KYOTO (May 14th – May 17th)**
(*Day 6*) May 14th
Gion, Kanji Museum
(*Day 7*) May 15th
Aoi festival, Fushimi inari taisha, kiyomizu temple (4$), imperial palace
(*Day 8*) May 16th
Arashiyama bamboo grove, Katsura imperial villa
(*Day 9*) May 17th
Kinkakuji, train to Osaka
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**OSAKA (May 17th – May 18th)**
(*Day 9*) May 17th
Shinsekai
(*Day 10*) May 18th
Osaka history museum, Osaka castle, Shintennoji
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**SENDAI (May 19th – May 22nd)**
(*Day 11*) May 19th
Shinkansen to Sendai, Zuihouden, Aoba castle ruins
(*Day 12*) May 20th
Day trip to Zao Fox village
(*Day 13*) May 21st
Fukuura island, Mastushima bay
(*Day 14*) May 22nd
Downtown sendai
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**HACHINOHE (May 23rd – May 24th)**
(*Day 15*) May 23rd
Get to Hachinohe, Kabushima shrine, Downtown Hachinohe
(*Day 16*) May 24th
Sanriku fukkou national park or Shimokita peninsula
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**HAKONE (MAY 25th – May 26th)**
(*Day 17*) May 25th
Shinkansen to Hakone, we will rent a good Ryokan and just spend the rest of the day there most likely
(*Day 18*) May 26th
Ōwakudani, Gora park, general sightseeing, train to tokyo
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**TOKYO (MAY 26th – May 28th)**
(*Day 19*) May 27th
Ghibli Museum (10$), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
(*Day 20)* May 28th
Last minute shopping, leave for the airport, plane leaves at 4:20PM
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This is still very much a rough draft and things can still change quite a bit. Any recommendations on things we should see that we might’ve missed on days that are too packed (or not enough)?
Thanks a lot