This community has been an incredible resource as I start to plan on our itinerary for **our first Japan trip.** We hope to pay it forward with a trip recap in the future! For now, I wanted to get some logistical advice and questions for what we have roughly planned. **Our travel dates are end of June-early July.**
**Our travel style –**
* Over-research – especially food and drink.
* Create a custom google map for each city
* Pick a main activity/site for a day and explore the area around that activity, hit the cafes and restaurants in the area that make sense.
* Make reservations where necessary for restaurants or bars.
* I am a hobbyist photographer and love street/travel photography. Some days my partner will split off and spend a day in a museum while I walk, shoot, and explore.
* We are early risers typically, especially to avoid crowds at sites
* We are VERY active and love to walk around a city over transit when possible just to see more. (we averaged 10+ miles walking daily in a week in NYC, and 8+ mi daily on a 2 week Colombia trip).
* We don’t like hopping around city-to-city too much, and instead try to get a little beneath the surface of the cities we visit. This is reflected in our itinerary for the most part, and I don’t think we are considering more stops or reallocating days too heavily.
**Sites/Activities questions –**
1. JR Rail Pass – by my rough calculations (without adding the costs of day-trips in that we could take), it seemed that a 14D JR rail pass, starting on Day 5, is almost a wash vs. individual bookings on different rail lines between our destinations. Can anyone help me verify this? I used the JR pass website for an estimate, and then google-maps cost estimates for individual routes to compare against.
2. I have rough times I think we should take trains based on how much time we want in each city, and to do easy meals (bento lunches, etc.) en route. Do these make sense based on others’ travel experiences?
3. Laundry – Is in-room laundry or hotel-serviced laundry a big price difference than standard hotels that would not have this? Have others picked hotels with this service and found it worth it? I think we’d rather have this option than going to a coin laundry machine, so that we have 100% freedom and are not tied to staying close to do laundry cycles. *We anticipate having to do a cycle every 3-4 days so we can pack a little lighter and because we are going in summer.*
4. Hakone activities – the open air museum is our top attraction. Any other secondary recommendation to prioritize? We are focusing on our ryokan stay here because it was a splurge, and understand we will be unable to do the full loop and miss many attractions. Besides the view from the ropeway and seeing Mt.Fuji, we weren’t that excited by the volcanic springs/black eggs of Owakudani *(after visiting yellowstone recently)*, if that helps. The boat tour looks OK if we have time but again, not as important to us.
5. Osaka and Kyoto – Trying to decide how to split up days here and fill activities. I was thinking with our itinerary, aiming to arrive for dinner in Osaka, have 2 full days there, then do a Nara day trip, and then have 3 full days in Kyoto. Also curious on feedback about Himeji Castle and/or Kobe as day trips from Osaka instead of Nara.
6. Kyoto – What other specific sites or activities should we be pinning next to the initial spots below? Any specific call-outs?
7. Luggage – we plan on bringing only carry on’s and personal items (no checked bags). *We will likely buy a bag to check home for gifts/souvenirs.* In our itinerary – does it seem worth it to send luggage from Tokyo-Osaka and go lighter to Hakone? Same with sending luggage from Kyoto-Tokyo? Will we notice much? I’ve heard mixed reviews on space on trains/transit.
**Restaurant Questions/feedback for those with any hands-on knowledge:** Most of these came as recommendations from friends who have visited recently or this thread, but always up for more knowledge. I have a REALLY long list of spots not included here, including coffee and bars, but these are places I am looking for any guidance or knowledge on because they will likely take reservations and/or are spendier.
1. Tokyo:
1. Omakase dinner in Tokyo (shooting for mid-tier, not super high-end) – Matsue, Sushi Yuu, or Sushi Ten
2. Savoy Pizza vs. Seirinkan if I have to pick one – do either take reservations?
3. Non-Japanese spots on my list: The Blind donkey and Bepocah – has anyone been?
4. May choose between Ningyocho Imahan for a night out with our friends or Jojoen for yakiniku (or other recommendations) – or should these two not even be compared?
2. Kyoto
1. Looking for Tempura tasting menu options to look up
2. Other splurges in Kyoto I was eyeing: Monk and Cenci
3. Kappo Takohachi – has anyone been? Looking for more Kappo style dining that isn’t as formal as Kaiseki
3. Osaka
1. Food tour company suggestions
2. Is Toyo worth the hype?
3. Should we expect waits or need reservations at most places given we are there on a weekend?
4. Kanazawa restaurant recommendations – open to pretty much anything but nothing too fancy given the aforementioned lists
The itinerary below is not “set in stone” and every day within one city should be interchangeable based on our mood unless things require advanced reservations and/or are closed certain days.
We still need to take a stab at plotting Tokyo and our must-hits to split amongst the 6+days we are there, so those are fairly blank for now in terms of activities!
​
**Day 1 (Sunday) – Tokyo**
* Arrive 2pm Haneda – customs, pocket-wifi, etc.
* Assume we get to hotel around 6pm
* Check-in, grab dinner, walk around
**Day 2 – Tokyo** \- main activity, neighborhood, sites tbd
**Day 3 – Tokyo** \- main activity, neighborhood, sites tbd
**Day 4 – Tokyo** \- main activity, neighborhood, sites tbd
**Day 5 – Hakone**
* Train to Hakone (Approx. 8-10am departure time) – drop bags at Ryokan
* Hakone Activity X
* 3-4pm back to Ryokan for day and Kaiseki dinner
**Day 6 – Hakone-Osaka**
* Ryokan Breakfast, checkout by 11am
* Hakone Activity – Y
* Train to Osaka (approx. 2-3pm departure time)
* Dinner in Osaka
* Dotonburi at night
**Day 7 – Osaka**
* Umeda Sky Building
* Suntory Yamazaki Distillery in afternoon- worth it?
* Dinner back in Osaka unless strong recommendation for something near Suntory
**Day 8 (Sunday) – Osaka**
* Osaka Castle + Museum
* Food tour in afternoon/evening
**Day 9 – Day Trip – Nara?**
**Day 10 – Kyoto**
* Gion & Higashiyama Ward in morning
**Day 11 – Kyoto**
* Fushimi Inari in morning
**Day 12 – Kyoto**
* Arashiyama / Bamboo forest
* Romance Train
* Anniversary Dinner – Tempura tasting?
**Day 13 – Kyoto-Kanazawa**
* Train to Kanazawa (approx 12-2pm departure)
**Day 14 – Kanazawa**
* Kenrouku-en Garden
* Kanazawa Castle Park
**Day 15 (Sunday) – Kanazawa-Tokyo**
* Train to Tokyo (approx 10-11am departure)
* Friends overlap us for this part of our trip in Tokyo
* Dinner out with friends
**Day 16 – Tokyo**\- main activity, neighborhood, sites tbd
**Day 17 – Tokyo**
* TeamLabPlanets with friends
* Friend’s birthday dinner, drinks, karaoke
**Day 18 – Tokyo**\- main activity, neighborhood, sites tbd
* Final Shopping for gifts and take-home
**Day 19 – Flight Home**
* 6pm Narita Flight
​
Thanks in advance! Will edit this as responses come in for clarity, and/or to fill in the Tokyo gaps!
3 comments
Hmm I think I’d you leave by 8am to Hakone you should have time to do the Hakone Circle + museum. Is there any reason why you must check in at 3-4? Most Ryokan have a check in for dinner and from my experience that’s usually around 5pm but you should double check. There’s still plenty of time usually if you want to soak before dinner. When you drop off your bags, you can also ask the hotel about their recommendations and what they think you can do in time for check in.
Laundry – most places with a washer in unit (apartment-type hotels) will have a top load drum with a 30-40min wash cycle, typically only cold water. A lot of modern shower rooms have heaters and laundry drying fans/ventilation, so you just hang stuff up, turn on the settings you want, and head out (or hang outside on a nice day, but rainy season might thwart that for ya). I’ve been to some hotels that have washers, but most of the time it’ll be more airbnb-style things like Agoda Homes or whatever. You can also just hand wash things and hang them to dry in the bathroom, too, as the heater mode is found in most hotels. If it’s a washer/dryer unit, just…don’t bother with the drying function. It takes hours and does not dry like you might be used to.
Kanazawa food: big rec for [Iwashigumi](https://goo.gl/maps/EncgFAvvDM9JNLCV7) if you are into sardines at all (my partner particularly loves their meatballs and the senbei made with the bones). And we legit will do the hour+ drive there every few months just to eat at [Aashirwad](https://goo.gl/maps/4Lh1JyDuHxGdFt6JA) for dinner (their lunch is also great, but limited menu).
– My suggestions for Hakone are the temple Choanji and optionally the Pola Museum if you feel up to another art gallery. The Pola Museum has a great walking trail.
– Forwarding luggage through Yamato Kuroneko is well worth it for the convenience, about Y3900 from Tokyo to Osaka for 2 bags IIRC (depends on weight). Your hotel front desk might be able to arrange it, and if not there are plenty of Yamato Transport offices to go to. Just make sure your place in Osaka has a front desk to receive the bags, otherwise you’ll have to pick them up from a Yamato office in Osaka.
– Alternatively, when you get to Hakone there is a delivery service at Yumoto station which delivers your bags to any Hakone hotel if you drop them off before 12pm. (I personally went for the Yamato route because Hakone is super hilly and I didn’t want to use any of my limited time dragging luggage up to the hotel.) I think you can also organise for delivery from the hotel to Yumoto station.
– The JR pass website calculator is accurate enough, if the difference is negligible, then you’re probably better off without the pass. That’ll open up access to the frequent super-express trains, which tend to be more crowded with locals but definitely convenient.
– I hear good things about the Yamazaki distillery but it’s also super in demand so you’ll need to book well in advance and not expect to find the sought-after whiskies available for purchase. Anecdotally, you’ll probably have more luck looking in local liquor stores if there’s a particular JP whisky you’re after.
– As for sending luggage from Kyoto to Tokyo, I’m not sure if this would save much, I wouldn’t worry about it and would just take bags to Kanazawa.
– Himeji is great but there is arguably more stuff to explore in Nara.