Hello again, everyone. The last time I posted was pre-COVID and my now husband and I were hoping to visit Japan on honeymoon but boy did things change between that time. For obvious reasons we weren’t able to go but finally we’ll get to visit Japan briefly before visiting his family in the Philippines in Fall of 2024. I’m pretty bummed about Odaiba no longer having many of the attractions it used to and having to re-vamp our whole schedule but I think I did find a lot more to include. There’s now a bit of fomo going on so I’m aware this is a jam-packed schedule. I’m curious if I at least put enough time in between activities for travel and I’m also open to hearing better suggestions (we love videogames, some anime, animals if they’re treated well, I like Lolita fashion, and we both want to do things we’ve never done before or can only do in Japan).
I am especially interested in hearing about if our schedule for Kamakura makes sense, the places are further away from each other so I’d be interested to know what transportation would be recommend between and/or if a taxi would be available at the locations (it’s our last day so I’m sure our feet would be tired). I know the Roppongi Hills/Asakusa day is the most packed and I’d love to know your thoughts there too. Thank you all so much!
DAY 1 – Arrival Day:
* Arrive @ Airport ✈️
* Purchase SUICA train passes @ airport (reloadable @ train stations & Konbini like 7-11). 🎫
* Take train to Via Inn Akihabara & get settled. 🚊
* First dinner in Japan at Gyukatsu Ichi Ni San 🍖
* Stock up on Konbini food plus get Magikarp Taiyaki Dessert @ Yokohama Kurikoan Akihabara 🛒
* Walk back to the hotel and retire. 💤
DAY 2 – Akihabara:
* 10:50 AM-11 AM – Depart hotel and head to late breakfast 🚸
* 11 AM-12 PM – Souffle pancakes @ The French Toast Factory 🥞
* 12:05 PM-2 PM – Browse manga, anime, and electronics @ Don Quijote+Mandrake 📚🤖
* 2:05 PM-2:40 PM – Lunch @ Tanaka Ramen (Tonkatsu Ramen “kotteri de” style, pay w/ machine then enter)
* 2:45 PM-3:15 PM – Explore Kanda Myojin Shrine 📿
* 3:20 PM- 3:40 PM – Stop by the Akihabara Gachapon Hall🪀
* 3:40 PM-4:40 PM -Shop for retro games at Super Potato 🕹️🥔
* 4:45 PM-6:45 PM – Play games at SEGA Tower #3/GiGo Akihabara 1 👾
* 6:40 PM-8:10 PM- Dear Stage – Underground Aspiring Idol Concert/Performance🎵
* 8:15 PM-10 PM- A5 Wagyu yakiniku @ Akihabara Nikuya Yokocho🥩💖
* 10 PM – 10:05 PM -Walk back to the hotel and retire. 💤
DAY 3 – Roppongi Hills & Asakusa:
* 7:45 AM – 8:50 AM- Depart hotel for breakfast @ Katsuya Akihabara 🍛
* 8:55 AM-9:25 AM – Hop on the train to Roppongi Hills 🚆
* 9:30 AM-12:20 PM – Immerse ourselves @ the Mori Art Museum in the TeamLab Borderless exhibit 🎨
* 12:25 PM-1 PM – Quick lunch @ Kasumi-cho Soba Masayuda on floor B2🍜
* 1:10 PM-1:50 PM – Take train from Roppongi Hills to Asakusa Station 🚆
* 2 PM-3 PM – Kyoto Kimono Rental WARGO @ Asakusa Yokocho on 4F (order online 1 month in advance, couples standard) 👘
* 3:15 PM-4:15 PM – Visit Senso-ji Main Hall, travel down Nakamise Dori for snacks, and see Kaminarimon Gate before returning to Asakusa Yokocho 🏮
* 4:30 PM-5:30 PM – Eat dinner @ Yura Yura Yakitori, take pics, and watch entertainers nearby🍻🍗
* 5:30 PM-6 PM – Return clothes 🧺
* 6 PM-6:20 PM – Travel to Asakusa Tokyo Skytree Station 🚆
* 6:30 PM-7:30 PM – Visit Sumida Aquarium @ Tokyo Skytree 5F (order online) 🐡
* 7:30 PM-8:30 PM – Souvenir shopping @ Solamachi (Amezaiku Ameshin + more on 4F & Pokemon Center on 5F) 🍭
* 8:30 PM-9 PM – Take train back to Akihabara, walk back to hotel, and retire 💤
DAY 4- Shibuya & Harajuku:
* 10:05 AM – 10:10 AM- Depart hotel and head to station 🚸
* 10:10 AM-10:50 AM – Ride train to Shibuya and walk to lunch spot 🚆
* 11AM-12 PM: Pass Hachiko/Shibuya Crossing going to hotpot lunch @ Kumachan Onsen (reserve online 1-2 months in advance online)🧸
* 12:10 PM-1:10 PM – PARCO: Pokemon Center+Capcom+Nintendo on 6F 🛍️
* 1:10 PM-1:40 PM – Take Miyashita Park rooftop garden walkway to Harajuku (use south entrance by the station) 🌸
* 1:40 PM-3:10 PM- Quick snack @ Santa Monica Crepes then explore Meiji Shrine ⛩️
* 3:20 PM-3:50 PM – Stop for 3D Latte Art @ Reissue Cafe on way back to Shibuya. ☕
* 4:20 PM-5:55 PM – Zauo Shibuya (Fish your own – I’ll just get karaage) 🎣
* 6 PM-7:30 PM – Go to Shibuya Sky for digital art gallery and observation tower views (F14,F45,F46, & Rooftop – reserve online) 🌃
* 7:30 PM-8:15 PM – Take the train back to Akihabara and walk to next destination 🚊
* 8:30 PM-10 PM – Hunters unite at Monhan Sakaba! (bring gaming systems) 🍖
* 10 PM-10:10 PM- Walk back to the hotel and retire. 💤
DAY 5 – Kamakura:
* 9:40 AM – 9:45 AM- Depart hotel, head to station 🚸
* 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM- Take Train to Kamakura Station (Uber/Taxi to places after lunch???) 🚘
*11 AM-12:30 PM -Brunch @ Komachi Dori (Try Imoyoshi Yakata sweet potato items, yakitori, mitarashi/seasonal dango)🥡
* 12:45 PM-2:15 PM – Hokokuji Bamboo Forest & Order Matcha+Wagashi Set @ Teahouse 🍵🎋
* 2:30 PM-4 PM – See Daibutsu (Giant Buddha Statue) @ Kotoku-in Temple m🛐
* 4:15 PM-5:45 PM – Go through Red Torii Gates to get to Sasuke Inari Shrine 🦊
* 6:45-7:45 PM – Take train back to Akihabara and once in the city walk to restaurant 🚊
* 7:45 PM-8:45 PM -Dinner @ Sushiro (Kaiten AKA: Conveyor Belt Sushi: Terry gets sushi and I’ll get Kitsune or Kake Udon) 🍣🍲
* 8:45 PM-8:50 PM- Walk back to the hotel, pack, and retire. 💤
DAY 6 – Depart to the Philippines 🇵🇭
7 comments
Just a very holistic recommendation. I think you have budgeted your time too exactly. What are you going to do when your quick lunch takes longer than expected and instead of 35 minutes it takes 45 minutes? What if you take a wrong turn and now your 10 minutes you planned for commuting takes 20 minutes?
It seems like those minor items would throw off your whole schedule and you’d need to replan right then and there. (Stressful)
My advice:
(1) pick a must do for the morning, afternoon and evening.
(2) pick you special lunch and/or dinner for that day
(3) have a list of extras if you have spare time
Each day you have time to do you musts. If you like the place you can spend an extra hour or two. If not then you know an alternative and can start heading there. Overall, you might not see everything, but you would’ve seen your top places and would have a lot less stress.
Is fall of 2024 a typo? If yes, then it’s about 1 year 7 months to your holiday. It’s really too early to plan your itinerary as anything can change during this period and new attractions may open or some shops might close down.
Tonkotsu ramen is pork bone broth, tonkatsu is deep fried pork cuttlet.
If you ever wan to start the Akihavara day earlier, start by Kanda Myojin.
You are wrong about Borderless. The Mori Museum in Roppongi is not the same as the one in Odaiba that closed. Borderless is close and set to re-open in the Toranomon Azabudai complex, that is also a Mori project.
Sounds fun but stressful. I’m flying to Japan tomorrow for 2 weeks and I’ve got nothing planned, maybe will try some stuff from here out
You are planning waaaay too far ahead and way too precisely.
Make a list of must-see and can-see-if-time activities. Like another commenter said so much is going to change until next year, there’s hardly any point in trying to cement your plans right now.
Planning about 6 months ahead is a good amount of time.
I am an obsessive planner as you, I returned from Tokyo/Kamakura recently and I appeal to you not plan and rush and “see everything”.
Japan is an insane (in a good way) country to an outsider and seeing it all is not possible, you could spend a week in Tokyo as a tourist to and “seeing it all” just won’t happen.
While your itinerary is certainly doable, it just screams stress and rushing from place to place. Not mentioning that getting lost, taking a wrong train or just a wrong turn just makes it all fall apart.
If it’s your first time in Japan, I suggest adding much more time for just experiencing the culture, shopping, people watching, etc…as someone else said – pick a must for morning/afternoon and fill in the rest with what’s on the way.
To save time – I basically traveled with a single backpack, which I left in the coin-locker on the train station and just walked around with a small backpack , check [onebag](https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/) for more info.
To comment on Kamakura – that city is entirely walkable (I do walk a lot though), the train just connects everything very well.
One thing I’d suggest you look into is the Engaku-ji temple. It’s the most impressive temple complex I’ve seen in Kamakura and I’ve spent good 90min there just walking around. Each building/item of the template is very well described in english and really walks you through the history of the place. I’d even skip Daibutsu if coming back fo Engaku-ji
I would try to start the Kamakura day a bit earlier and take into account the distances between places. hokokuji is in a residential area and it will take a while to get from there to the Buddha statue. The Buddha statue is not that incredible. The statue is cool and all but it’s mainly just a photo stop. I would consider the nearby Hase dera too. I liked it a lot better than the tiny bamboo forest.