Hello everyone, I hope you’re all well today/tonight.
So, my first trip to Japan is 8 weeks away and I just want to thank this subreddit once again in advance for helping me structure my last two itineraries. With that being said, I just want to post my final itinerary one last time to make sure everything looks sound. Also in advance, I do plan to come back one day with family and spend more time in Osaka as well as visit Kobe, Nara and Kyoto.
I’ll be arriving in Japan on the 4th of May at Narita and I’ll be leaving on the 15th from Itima to Narita. I’ll be starting in Tokyo, heading to Kanazawa on the way to Hiroshima and then finish in Osaka. All flights and accommodation have already been booked and paid for, I’ve headed a lot of advice from former itineraries (thanks for the feedback btw) and this should hopefully be “the one.”
With that being said, I still have a few questions, which I’ll chuck asterixis around once we’re at the relevant day. I apologise in advance for any spelling/grammar and any feedback or advice is highly appreciated.
**Thursday May 4th – Day 1 Tokyo:**
\-Arrive at Narita International Airport at roughly 5pm.
\-Rent a pocket wifi.
\- \*\*\*Book some Shinkansen tickets. I was told on one of my former itineraries that the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kanazawa isn’t covered by the JR Rail pass and after doing the math, I found the difference between getting the JR Rail pass and the single Shinkansen ticket vs getting three tickets pretty negligible. If that holds true, I’d prefer to buy my tickets and reserve my seats. Otherwise, if I’m wrong about the trip between Tokyo and Kanazawa, please correct me.
\- Head to Minato City. Check into my hotel and spend the night getting used to Japan and recover from jetlag by exploring the immediate area.
**Friday May 5th – Day 2 – Tokyo:**
\- I realized later that this is the last day of the Golden Week public holiday. So, on account of this I’ve saved all my “hard” locations for later and opted to just bumble around Shibuya for the day, checking out the main attractions.
**Saturday May 6th – Day 3 – Tokyo:**
\- Head down to teamLABS Planets to check out the exhibit. Ticket’s already been purchased.
\- Explore Hamarikyu Gardens.
\- Visit Tokyo Tower.
\- \*\*\* I’m not sure how much of a day these three will occupy so I’m open to suggestions to locations where I could spend the better half of half of a day around Chuo or Minato Cities.
**Sunday May 7th – Day 4 – Tokyo:**
\- Visit Yushukan Museum, checking out of my first hotel.
\- Visit Nakano/Broadway and play it by ear.
\- Leave between 7-8pm for Taito City to check into my second hotel.
**Monday May 8th – Day 5 – Tokyo**
\- Bumble around Akihabara.
\- Have lunch at Monhan Sakaba/Monster Hunter’s Bar (assuming it’s still available after March. I’ve tried making reservations for months but their site won’t let me beyond mid March.)
\-\*\*\* Are there any specific, out-of-the-way shops where I have a higher chance of finding merch from older/niche anime’s/Japanese franchises. I’m aware of Manadarake but I’ve seen a few window shopping/walkthrough videos on Youtube with stuff akin to what I’m looking for. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
**Tuesday May 9th – Day 6 – Tokyo**
\- Explore Ueno Park, specifically to visit the fortune telling robot, as well as taking in the scenery.
\- Explore Ueno’s streets and museums in general. Just see how far I get/how I feel on the day.
\- \*\*\* Visit Senso-Ji. I’m not so interested in the Nakamise Shopping Street and was wondering if it’d be a better experience to go as the first thing I do in the morning, or to go at night as the last thing I’ll do in Tokyo. I’d love to hear about experiences from those who have been.
**Wednesday May 10th – Day 7 -Tokyo/Kanazawa:**
\- Travel from Ueno Station to Kanazawa Station.
\- Visit all the major attractions in Kanazawa in one extended afternoon, basically an overnight version of the japan-guidedotcom day trip video.
**Thursday May 11th – Day 8 – Kanazawa/Hiroshima/Itsukushima**
\- Travel from Kanazawa Station to Hiroshima Station.
\-\*\*\* Beeline straight to Itsukushima. On that note, would it be better to travel from Hiroden-Miyajimaguchi or from Hiroshimako?
\- Get as much done on Itsukushima as I can, staying the night.
**Friday May 12th – Day 9** \- **Itsukushima/Hiroshima/Osaka**
\- Depart from Itsukushima to central Hiroshima.
\- Rent a locker nearby and visit the following (order unknown):
\- Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
\- The Atomic Bomb Dome
\- Okonomimura
\- Hiroshima Castle
\- Travel from Hiroshima to Osaka/Namba. I won’t know until closer to the day but I’ll try to get one of the later Shinkansen’s out.
**Saturday May 13th – Day 10** \- **Osaka**
\- Free day in Osaka. Didn’t have any hard plans for the day but was thinking of wandering in the direction of Mamezo & Cafe (reserving closer to the day) and the Umeda Sky Building.
\- Play it by air around Dontonbori.
\- \*\*\* Open to suggestions.
(Wanted to save some stuff like Universal Studios and the Osaka Aquarium for return trips with family.)
**Sunday May 14th – Day 11 – Osaka**
\- Do both main courses at U2 Unusual Underground.
\- Visit Osaka Castle.
\- \*\*\* Open to suggestions.
**Monday May 15th – Day 12 – Osaka/Tokyo**
\- Head to Itima Airport.
\- Return home from Narita.
​
Thanks for reading, take care and have yourselves a great day.
3 comments
I just googled “JR pass Tokyo to Kanazawa” and saw that it’s covered. Check again because your friend may be wrong.
I am not sure who told you that you can’t take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kanazawa, with a 7 day rail pass but that is more definitely not true.
If you want to take a Kagayaki shinkansen vs. a Hakutaka, you must reserve a seat ahead of time, which is free with a pass, but you can take either/or.
I don’t mean to be rude, but I am unsure what calculator you used to find it a wash on tickets.
Your tickets: Ueno to Kanazawa (14,000 yen), Kanazawa to Hiroshima (15,000 yen), and Hiroshima to Osaka (10,000 yen), all within 7 days are going to run you ~39,000 yen. A pass is 29650 yen if you order it on-line.
I’m not sure how you plan to get from Hiroshima to Miyajima. I tend to just take the local train to Miyajima-guchi and then take the ferry. You are going to need to leave Kanazawa quite early because it will be ~5 hours to Hiroshima with good connections.
If you’re planning to go back to Japan, I would honestly take a day away from Tokyo since you seem to have very limited planned there and stop off in Okayama for an overnight before going to Hiroshima. It will give you a lot more wiggle room, and since your trip is only 12 days, it will be fine for a 1 week pass. You could also just give yourself a night in Hiroshima first if Okayama is not appealing to you.
BTW, I’m pretty sure the airport is Itami not Itima.
Good luck!
Surugaya has a bunch of otaku stuff too, and isn’t well advertised at akihabara for some reason. There are a number of their stores throughout Japan.
Mandarake is about 75% of nakano Broadway, and actually have stores in most larger cities of Japan.
Check out the navitime for japan app to get the best train scheduling info and jr pass navigation (since hyperdia lost the time schedules last year)