After a three-year COVID delay, I’m finally making my way to Japan! COVID canceled my original trip just days before we were supposed to leave, so I’ve been planning and dreaming about this trip for a long time.
I tend to under-plan my days and end up scrambling for stuff to do on the fly. Kyoto and Osaka seem jam-packed, but I couldn’t even fill all of Tokyo My husband is not a huge museum goer, so I try to only go to the best of the best. We also aren’t big theme park people so Disney and such won’t be of much interest to us.
I am a photographer, so there are a lot of pit stops for photos that I am not adding here. Assume we will not take a direct route to each of these locations and that I will take a little longer in some places than others because I will be stopping for photos.
How are my days looking? Are they light? What else could we add? Will stop for photos, but also would love to see cherry blossoms and would like to add more experiences. So many suggestions are food and shopping, but what activities can we partake in?
**Thursday 3/30**
Arrive in Tokyo take the tram to Osaka
**Friday 3/31 Osaka**
* Mino’o Park
* Osaka Castle and Nishinomaru Garden
* Sakuya Konohan Kan
* Tsurumi Tyokuchi Park Windmill
**Saturday 4/1 Osaka**
* Horikoshi Jina
* Shinsekai
* Tsutenkaku
* Namba Yasaka Shrine
* Kuromon Market
* Dontonbori
* Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park
**Sunday 4/2 Kyoto**
* Saijo-ji
* Kimono Forest
* Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Ryoan-ji
* Kinkaku-ji
* Kekkeikan Okura Sake Museum
**Monday 4/3 Kyoto**
* Miyako Odori (noon tickets)
* Gion district
* Hanamikoji Street
* Samurai and Ninja Museum
* Higashiyama Jisho-ji
* Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Nineizaka
* Kennin-ji Temple
**Tuesday 4/4 Travel to Yamanouchi**
* World peace Statue
* Baioji Temple
* Anything else to do in this area other than the snow monkeys?
**Wednesday 4/5** **Yamanouchi**
* Snow Monkey Park
* Travel to Tokyo
* Maybe stop at Ueda Castle Ninomaru Ruin
**Thursday 4/6 Tokyo**
* Half-day photo walk with a local photographer in Hikifune
* Senso-ji
* Nakamise shopping district
* Kaminarimon Gate
* Naritasan Fukagawa Fudodo
**Friday 4/7 Tokyo**
* Team Lab Planets
* Tokyo Joypolis
* Fuji TV Network
* Toyosu Wholesale market
**Saturday 4/8 Tokyo**
* Yoyogi Park
* Meiji Jingu
* Tokyo
* Metropolitan Government Building
* Shibuya Nonbei Yokocho
* Shibuya crossing
**Sunday 4/9 Tokyo**
* Nothing planned so far
**Monday 4/10 Tokyo**
* Ghibli Museum (tickets are at 4 so we only have an hour at the museum)
* Inokashira Park
* Omoide-Yokocho
* Shinjuku City
* Golden Gai
**Tuesday 4/11 Tokyo**
* We leave in the afternoon, so there is time to do a little. But, I don’t have anything planned.
2 comments
oh! i’m heading to osaka on friday and haven’t planned a thing. i hope you don’t mind if i poach this. thank you!
i don’t see any observation decks in your tokyo (shibuya sky, tokyo tower, skytree). consider one of those or the building with mori museum. i went to the museum but skipped their observation deck. i bought an annual pass to shibuya sky because my second hotel was there for three weeks. it’s cool because it is outdoors on top. but i think my favorite views were the lower deck of tokyo tower. if you go, honestly skip the highest deck which costs extra. it’s small and not a much better view.
if the metropolitan government building in your list is the giant one in shinjuku you should move that to shinjuku city. you may already know this but shinjuku is a great neighborhood for used cameras especially film (i am a film photographer). but be advised japan prices are higher than ebay.
speaking of shinjuku, i prefer national shinjuku gyoen to yoyogi. but i don’t really get the appeal of meiji jingu. maybe because i am here now and the parks are mostly brown. gyoen costs 500y to get in, but it’s a really lovely park…and next to shinjuku.
maybe your husband has ueno park on a list, but you should check out the national museum there. i am heading back to ueno park today to see the natural history museum. first time i was there i did tokyo metropolitan art museum and the national museum. i am more of a modern art museum goer, but thought TNM was lovely.
lastly, i would suggest the museum of emerging science which is over by teamlabs. it’s a little skewed towards kids but super cool. i’m a big museum goer, as you can see, and can recommend others if you like: artizon, mori (which is ok, but also has an observatory), MCA, tokyo photographic art museum, and the national art center. check their websites first always! a lot of them have been closed while i am here and/or between exhibits.
have fun!
If you are a photographer and want to do additional unplanned pit stops, you will for sure run out of time on the two Kyoto days especially because the temples/museums close early. For example, on Sunday (extra crowded with domestic visitors) you have four temples and a museum all of which only operate between 9-5 or thereabouts. And then on Monday the attractions are not listed in logical order in terms of geography and opening hours. I sure hope the noon Miyako Odori is not the first thing you do that day…
Looking at the “latest” photos on Google Maps, the snow cover at the snow monkey park is already melting a lot. Absent a freak snowstorm odds are it will basically be dirt and barren branches by the time you go, and quite possibly no monkeys actually bathing naturally. In which case, what exactly is the point of going? I would be real tempted to cancel Yamanouchi to have another day to spread out Kyoto/Osaka a bit more.