This assumes travel is safe this year.
I’m flying my son out to Japan once winter break from school starts. I’ll already be there.
He’ll be in Japan December 16-December 30. We will be using Takkyubin services for every leg of our journey. When it comes to food, money is no issue. I plan to eat at a good mix of inexpensive eateries as well as bib Gourmand & Michelin starred restaurants so anything between fastfood curry/gyudon to 500 dollar kaiseki meals as i’d love to hear your recommendations on those as well!
Day 1: Arrive @ KIX Airport. Check in to hotel in Namba. Ramen as a first meal and some takoyaki to share before going to sleep.
Days 2-3: Spend the next 2 days focusing on food with no real strict plans. I want to be super flexible these next 2 days in case my son feels jetlagged or exhausted (though i doubt it) especially because we’ll probably walk around a bunch when we head to kyoto. Assuming we’ve already had ramen and takoyaki probably aim to eat okonomiyaki, kushikatsu, kaiten sushi (have to set the bar in the event we have a proper sushi omakase experience), yakiniku. exploring namba, shinsekai, dotonburi.
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Kyoto: Activities in bold are must-dos, while unbolded ones are optional and dependent on our mood, time, etc. it’s difficult to pack all of the highlights of Kyoto into the next 4 days without feeling rushed and i also want to be considerate of my son who might easily get templed out. There really is no way of telling so i’m trying to piece together what i think is fairly balanced and flexible and visiting temples with a lot of variety so the experiences won’t all start to blend together.
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Day 4: Arashiyama all day. I actually plan to book one night here in Arashiyama and the next 3 nights in Gion with the alternative being all 4 nights in Gion. my reason for this is 2-fold: 1)i project this to be the last night of hanatorou so i want to be in the area late & 2) i’d like to be able to wake up early in the morning and walk right on over to the bamboo grove to enjoy it without crowds. What are your thoughts? maybe moving around too much?
Morning & Afternoon: pick up rental bikes then visit **Daikakuji Temple**, **Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple**, **Jojakko-Ji Temple** and Gioji Temple, Okochi Sansho Villa. Drop off rental bikes then have an early dinner.
Evening (hanatorou from 5:00-8:30) **togetsukyo bridge, bamboo garden, tenryuji temple, kimono forest**
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Day 5: Nishiki Market, Manga Museum, **Sanjusangendo, Tofukuji, Fushimi Inari Taisha** (hopefully arrive \~1-1.5 hours before sunset. would love to see this shrine with less crowds + absorbing the atmosphere of the area both with sunlight and at night when the lamps illuminate the torii. spend the evening exploring pontocho alley, gion, shirakawa, hanging by the river. also thinking of making a reservation to experience some expensive kyo-kaiseki.
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day 6: super flexible day. omi jingu shrine (\~30-60 minutes from Kyoto city center. My son really wants to see this shrine because he saw it in an anime). KyoAni Store in neighboring Uji. Visiting Himeji or Nara. Really playing this day by ear but if it were up to me, i’d like to bring him to kuramadera, yoshiminedera, kokedera moss temple, maybe enkoji (not sure how it’d look in Autumn?. **Sunset at Shogunzuka**
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day 7: **Kiyomizudera**, **Nanzenji**, **Kodai-Ji**, **Kennin-Ji**, Eikando, Honen-in, Chion-in, **Ginkaku-Ji** for sunset.
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days 5-7 can be flip flopped around. I’m just trying to avoid back-to-back days with heavy walking with what i proposed. I omitted Kinkakuji because i think it’s overrated.
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day 8: Have fun picking out Eki-ben. Shinkansen to Tokyo and check into accomodations in Shibuya. Explore Harajuku/Omotesando/Shibuya. I think this would be a fun/perfect first day for a teenager to feel the city’s energy and a nice contrast to Kyoto.
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day 9: Christmas Eve. Going all out with reserved lunch and dinner. Thinking of Teppanyaki, Omakase Sushi, Tempura. Checking out Isetan and looking for cake and trying out the expensive fruit. Maybe exploring a christmas village
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day 10: Christmas day. Odaiba all day. Teamlabs Borderless at opening. Joypolis, Fireworks? It’ll be on a Saturday in December so i think there are fireworks, can anybody confirm?
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day 11: Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji/ Shinjuku
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day 12: Kamakura. by now, we’d definitely need to return to nature. We may have visited Shinjuku Gyoen by this point or strolled around the park near the Ghibli museum, but i think Kamakura would be a nice divergence away from city life. I’d absolutely love to go to Nikko, but i assume it’s not as nice toward the end of December. In the evening, maybe stop by Yokohama. This would be December 27 so i’m hoping the eateries in Kamakura will still be open.
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day 13: Make a food pilgrimage to menya itto or Tomita. Visit Atami Onsen or Kusatsu Onsen and spend the evening.
I would REALLY love my son to experience staying at a Ryokan while being served meals in the room. Also want him to experience an onsen, but he may be a little shy being naked around other people so i’d like to find a room with private onsen. Now, i realize i could have booked a ryokan in Kyoto but that would have involved moving around a bit too much in a few number of days. I might have considered booking a ryokan in Arashiyama as well, but the dinner provided would interfere with our plans to explore during Hanatorou so i figured it’d have to come somewhere while we’re in Tokyo. Should i do something different?
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day 14: Return to Tokyo. Visit wherever else we feel like visiting. Ikebukuro/Shinjuku/Shibuya for souvenirs and anime goods. I don’t think Akihabara is worth it, but might a 16 year old still want to go? i’m hoping Nakano broadway is plenty.
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day 15: December 30th. I’m hopin there is still stuff open for us to do. relax until my son’s flight. I plan to hang with him at Haneda for a few hours before his flight.
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Are there any activities worth planning for in Osaka?
Is our pace reasonable in Kyoto? Are there temples that i absolutely missed (provided they are near the areas we’ll already be in)
10 comments
Look into Mario kart go karts in Tokyo, I believe for $90 usd you can tour the city in go kart, go over “rainbow bridge” and they even feed you. You’ll need international drivers permit which is fairly cheap and takes 2 weeks to come in.
It’s dotonbori not dotonburi. Osaka check kuromon ichiba market, lot of food to try.
Day 6, already enough without Himeiji or Nara.
Day 13 would make more sense to move the onsen day in Atami to day 8. Ship luggage from Kyoto to Tokyo, bring only one change of cloth and stop at a ryokan with onsen in Atami on the way to Tokyo. Note that meal is not always served in room at ryokan.
Depends what are your expectations, but Akihabara is interesting for me. It’s easy enough to get there if you want to check for a couple of hours.
Day 4: Tenryu-ji will be closed at 5pm in December and the bridge in the dark is just a bridge in the dark with some restaurants around it.
Day 6: To be frank: you will have time for Omi-jingu Shrine, KyoAni Store (which is over an hour away from the shrine) and either visiting Nara or one of the castles (Hikone is closer than Himeji) in the afternoon.
Kyoto, I would recommend you to get a seat at Gion Sasaki for dinner.
http://gionsasaki.com
I would spend 2 nights in Kusatsu myself~ A few very nice onsen ryokan with free-rent private baths
If you do decide to go to the Kokedera (moss temple) make sure you make your reservation ahead of time by post (yep, letter post) as it’s required for entry. Details are on their website.
I second spending a night in Arashiyama. Arashiyama at night & early morning is completely different from when it is filled with tourists during the day. Make sure to take the walk up to Arashiyama Park Observatory for a view of the ravine with (maybe) fall colours.
Day 6 Omi Jingu… chihayafuru? You could continue along Lake Biwa towards Hikone to see the grand castle, but Himeji or Nara would be quite far to get to.
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>day 7: **Kiyomizudera**, **Nanzenji**, **Kodai-Ji**, **Kennin-Ji**, Eikando, Honen-in, Chion-in, **Ginkaku-Ji** for sunset.
Sounds fine to me. You’ll want to visit Kiyomizudera early since it’s one of the most famous sights in Kyoto. You mention Shogunzuka in day 6, but I personally loved the hike in the back trails of Chion-in that leads up there. Also in walking distance is the Higashiyama Park Observatory. Great view of Kyoto and the mountainscape. Not sure if you can include this hike in your day 7 itinerary. Might have to get rid of a few places in this case.
AYO GET UNDER THE TABLE THERES AN EARTHQUAKE WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
I would pick Nakano Broadway if he was a huge anime and video game fan and wanted to get lots of merch, especially old school or second hand stuff. It also has stores for other hobbies; there is a well known audio store there and a bunch of watch stores. You should be able to fit a trip to Nakano when you go to Ghibli museum… they are on the same line and it’s a good place to get a meal.
If none of those apply, I would pick Akihabara… it’s got a lot more spectacle and kitsch.
Sounds like a great plan. You may not get the chance to see everything on your list. Akihabara is amazing for anyone who likes anime/games 🎮 i went there back in 2015 with my brother who was the same age as your son. He really enjoyed it. They have a big arcade there which was quite enjoyable. There is also a store called book off where you can buy cheap manga or other books.
On another note, when I went with my family we all ended up waking up around 2am and just going out to explore the city. It was a lot of fun lol