Hi there. A friend and I are planning a trip to Japan for Autumn of this year. We are both in our early twenties and this is this both our first time going. We are planning to go for roughly 18 days to maximise all we can do since it is a fairly long way to travel. We have quite a few interests such as music, Anime/Manga, film, arcades, the nature, the culture and some of the history. This has influenced our list. I would appreciate any thoughts on this draft of a plan including any important things to consider or errors in judgement we may be making? We are planning on primarily using Air bnbs too.
\-September 21st Thu
Get plane from London
\-Sep 22 Fri
Arrive in Tokyo
\-Sep 23 Sat
Sightsee (go to Shibuya, see the crossing, see Mega Don Quijote shop, One piece store, check out one of the Shibuya jazz bars in the evening)
\-Sep 24 Sun
Go to Shinjuku gardens, check out Big Love Records, do a Karaoke night
\- Sep 25 Mon
Dedicate a day to Akihabara (check out arcades, the animate shop, the gadget shop and more)
\- Sep 26 Tue
Go to TeamLab Planets, Tokyo Skytree, Tower Records and check out some of the bars
\- Sep 27 Wed
Go to Ghibli Museum (if we can get tickets), check out Loft music venue in the evening
\- Sep 28 Thu
Day trip to Okutama
\- Sep 29 Fri
Visit the Suginami Animation museum, Evangelion store in Ikebukuro
\- Sep 30 Sat
Get the bullet train to mount Fuji then get the bullet train from there to Kyoto
\- Oct 1 Sun
Day trip to Arashiyama bamboo forest
\- Oct 2 Mon
Go to Toei Kyoto studio park
\- Oct 3 Tue
Visit the Golden temple and the Iwatayama monkey park. Also check out Kyoto animation shop/ studio
\- Oct 4 Wed
Visit Fushimi Inari shrine and stay the night at an onsen/ ryokan
\- Oct 5 Thu
Get Bullet Train to Osaka
\- Oct 6 Fri
Spend day at Universal studios, see Nintendo world and watch the One Piece live show there
\- Oct 7 Sat
Go to Dotonburi and maybe Osaka Castle
\- Oct 8 Sun
Day trip to Toyosato (the location of an anime we like was based on this area)
\- Oct 9 Mon
Train to Takayama and experience the Takayama festival
\- Oct 10 Tue
Train back to Tokyo
\- Oct 11 Wed
Plane back to London
3 comments
Everything sounds great! Depending on your interest you might find some days with a lot of free time. Unless of course if you plan to do a lot of ‘get lost” roaming or clubs (Womb is my favourite). Currently in japan right now and I normally do 2 or 3 things like you and do a lot of roaming. If that’s not your thing. Can probably add one more to two attraction days. Would recommend getting a bike at the bamboo forest and make sure to stop by the moon crossing bridge, out of the exit to the forest there’s a store for mochi and drinks ran by a really eccentric and friendly owner. Enjoy the river sounds and view.
Sunday 24th I would go to Harajuku for cos players 🙂
I think your trip looks great and relaxing!
Have fun
Pacing looks really good and not overloaded – only thing I’d suggest is that I’m pretty sure Iwatayama Monkey Park is in Arashiyama, so you could cover that easily on Oct 1st too. Kinkaku-ji is also near-ish to Arashiyama, so depending on how long you want to stay at the bamboo forest (it’s recommended to go early anyway to beat the crowds), you may be able to do this all in one day, freeing up an extra day in Kyoto.
For your day trip to Okutama, I’d look into some of the walks you can do from Mitake Station if you want to experience a bit more of the nature side. Similarly, if you find yourself with more free time in Tokyo, you could always take a day trip to Kamakura/Enoshima too, which is always worth it imo.