Hi all! I am finally going on my first trip to Japan, and I’m trying to plan the most efficient itinerary for my stay there. I’ll put a simplified version of my travel plan below, with only the regions I’m looking forward to visit, as I haven’t yet completely studied all the areas but have a general idea of them.
Just a couple of noteworthy observations: 1) Since I booked this trip before the borders opened, I paid really really cheap for my hotel and by that time I had the idea to spend all those days in Tokyo. Now I’d like to add at least a quick trip to both Kyoto and Osaka, but there’s just no way for me to add more days in those cities because of the hotel situation and my current budget. 2) I’m not super interested in the shrines and more traditional Japanese tourist places, although obviously I do want to visit at least a few of them. My priority is visiting gaming/anime related places, especially gaming. Appreciate any suggestions regarding those!
So, here we go!
**Day 1 – March 30th (Thursday) – Arrival**
* Flight arrives at about 4:30PM in HND. Since I’ll be coming from Brazil, this is going to be QUITE the journey (over 30hrs).
* Sort out my JR Pass (which will only be used further into the trip) and SUICA card. My carrier plan includes worldwide service so I’m assuming I won’t need pocket wifi – please let me know if it’s better to get one anyway! Take the Monorail to Hamamatsucho, since my hotel will be really close to the Ginza Yamanote station, and walk (\~8 min) to my hotel.
* Again, since it will be quite the long trip and my time zones will be very confusing, I just thought about having dinner in the Ginza region and that’s it.
**Day 2 – March 31st (Friday) – Ginza + Akihabara**
* Try to wake up early and go around the Ginza region close to the hotel until lunchtime.
* After that, spend the day/night in Akihabara, where I think most of the stuff I’m really interested in will be. Would love to hear your suggestions! Places I’ve already selected include Square Enix Café and Super Potato, for reference.
**Days 3 and 4 – April 1st and 2nd (Saturday and Sunday) – Knotfest Japan**
* As a longtime Japanese music fan and music journalist, I’m likely either going to attend or work at Knotfest Japan. That should cut two days from my trip, but absolutely worth it for me.
* However, these are not yet confirmed and if I don’t end up making it to the festival, I’d love to hear some tips on what I could do on these days. Also, would be greatly appreciated to know if there’s any sort of festival etiquette in Japan that most people aren’t aware of. (Should I cover tattoos, for example? I think not, but who knows haha)
**Day 5 – April 3rd (Monday) – Search for the Cherry Blossoms + Ikebukuro**
* I’m still trying to find what would be the best day/place to check out the cherry blossoms. So far, my schedule would take me to Showa Kinen in the morning (I really always liked the place for some reason), and then Meguro River at night.
* In the meantime, I thought about spending my afternoon in Ikebukuro.
**Day 6 – April 4th (Tuesday) – Mt. Fuji**
* Huge fan of theme parks and not really a fan of hiking/physical activities in general, so I’m thinking of making the trip to Fuji-Q Highland to see Mt. Fuji. Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated!
**Day 7 – April 5th (Wednesday) – Kichijoji + Inokashira + Shinjuku**
* From what I’ve seen, Kichijoji and Inokashira are very close and I’d be able to get a grasp of the region in the morning and then check out Inokashira + the Ghibli Museum in the afternoon.
* Then, at night, go have dinner or something in Shinjuku.
**Day 8 – April 6th (Thursday) – Tokyo DisneySea**
* As I said, huge fan of theme parks, so I’m planning on going to every one of them. I already got my DisneySea tickets through Klook, which I’ve read good reviews about here. From what I understand, the new system is to just go straight to the park entrance, right? That’s what the ticket says, anyway.
* As always, any advice or recommendation is appreciated! I assume tattoos have to be covered for this, correct?
**Day 9 – April 7th (Friday) – Harajuku + Shibuya**
* Not much to say here. The Meiji temple is one of the few I’m really interested in seeing, and other than that I would appreciate any recommendations for both of these places. Of course, I’ll also read some guides in the next few days to plan for this day.
**Day 10 – April 8th (Saturday) – Asakusa + Tokyo Skytree + Shinjuku**
* Visit Asakusa and try to see some more temples, and then just go to Tokyo Skytree and try to get all of this done by early afternoon so that I can enjoy Shinjuku a bit more in the afternoon/night. Don’t know if I’m rushing it too much here, advice appreciated!
**Day 11 – April 9th (Sunday) – Kyoto (JR Pass 1st day)**
* For the reasons stated above, this will be the only day I have in Kyoto. Still trying to figure out how to optimize my stay, advice appreciated! I plan to go early in the Shinkansen and leave to Osaka in the last one of the day, where I’ve already booked a hotel.
**Day 12 – April 10th (Monday) – Osaka (JR Pass 2nd day)**
* Again, this will be the only day I have in Osaka and I’m also trying to figure out how to optimize my stay. I will sleep in Osaka once again.
**Day 13 – April 11th (Tuesday) – Universal Studios Japan (JR Pass 3rd day)**
* Since theme parks are a passion of mine I couldn’t leave this one out. I’d appreciate tips on this visit, but from what I understand I should use Klook to try and get an express pass that would give me access to Nintendo Land, is that correct? I don’t mind not going to the Harry Potter land, but I really want to check out Nintendo + the other stuff that’s different from Universal US.
* I will leave the park and go straight back to my hotel in Tokyo through the Shinkansen, sleeping in Tokyo this night already.
**Day 14 – April 12th (Wednesday) – Odaiba + Roppongi (JR Pass 4th day)**
* This will be virtually my last “free” day in Tokyo, so I’m thinking of leaving Odaiba as the destination because it’s the one place where the only thing I really, really wanna check out is the giant Gundam. That way, I can go back to Akihabara or anywhere else if I feel the need to make some last-minute shopping or something like that.
* At night, I’d like to go to Roppongi. From what I’ve heard, a night there should be enough. Advice appreciated if not!
**Day 15 – April 13th (Thursday) – Tokyo Disneyland (JR Pass 5th day)**
* Again, park is priority, you guys are probably aware of the deal by now, lol.
**Day 16 – April 14th (Friday) – Yokohama (JR Pass 6th day)**
* As I said, game tourism is very important to me as well and as someone who played Yakuza: Like a Dragon I really want to get to know Yokohama and walk around the region. It’s the one thing I’m willing to give up on if there’s something missing in my itinerary/something I should adjust to, which is also why it’s the last day so I can go back to wherever if necessary.
* In Yokohama, I’d love to check out the Cup Noodles Museum and the Cosmoworld. Any other tips are appreciated.
**Day 17 – April 15th (Saturday) – Departure (JR Pass 7th day)**
* I’ll be leaving on a flight at around 11AM, so I’m wondering how early I should leave from the Ginza region. Probably walking to Hamamatsucho and then taking the Monorail to HND, unless there’s better advice on that which I’d love to hear.
* As a bonus, I’m spending about 8h in New York on the way back. If anyone knows if that’s enough time for me to leave the airport just to check out Times Square and eat a quick something before going back, I’d love to know that. I did that once in Toronto and it was plenty enough time, but I had \~1 hour more. I’m also already familiar with NY so I likely wouldn’t be lost around the city trying to figure out where I am.
Thank you very much for reading all the way and thanks in advance for the advices and considerations! Again, any and all recommendations are appreciated even if I’m already decided on a lot of the itinerary.