Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto 14 – Day Itinerary

24 comments

1. I did a similar trip last year. Flew into Tokyo and out of Osaka, so I didn’t have to spend time backtracking to Tokyo to fly out.

   Since my train was Tokyo -> Hakone -> Kyoto -> Osaka, individual train tickets were cheaper than a 7-day JR pass. You might want to do the math. For transit in Tokyo, we got the 72-hour metro pass for about $14.

   Hakone was wonderful, and on the Shinkansen route from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka; we stayed at a traditional ryokan for 2 nights and spent the full day dong the Hakone Freepass loop.

   You will love Japan. Can’t wait to go back!

2. You don’t need a 14 day JR pass. If you’re thinking of leaving Tokyo on day 8, you can get a 7 day pass and it would cover all your travel up to your last day. Do the math, you might not even need a pass at all. Use HyperDia to figure out exactly what fares you need. Also the JR pass does not cover local transport in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto unless they are JR lines.

3. Ghibli Museum, it depend on time you get the ticket, it might not be morning.

   Robot Restaurant, people have mixed opinion, but everybody agree it’s not a place to eat.

   Imperial city ? you Mean the imperial palace garden ? Depending why you want to go, I might recommend a different place.

   You should completely switch the Osaka/Kyoto part to the start. It’s stupid to do heavy shopping on day 5 when you will have to carry all your stuff across the country. Just do all the Tokyo stuff at the end so you are not bothered with all the things you purchase in Tokyo. The other option would be to fly in Tokyo and out of Osaka (or the opposite), this way you would only have 1 shinkansen ride and no need to get a JR Pass.

   Mount Fuji, what is your plan exactly ? Kawaguchiko ? I would suggest to plan a bit more things to do and make it more flexible, go on the day the weather is the best. Mount Fuji like to hide in the clouds.

   JR Pass only 7 days at most, all the rest is local train in Tokyo and would be a waste of money. Actually, even the 7 days pass it not needed as it’s pretty much the same price (depending on how you buy the pass), unless you add extra long distance train ride.

   Would advise to get an IC card like Pasmo and Suica to make train ticket payment easy. And if you do not get a JR Pass, you only have to go to a ticket office in a JR Station to buy the shinkansen tickets you will need.

   You can do Kyoto as a day trip from Osaka,if you stay in Kyoto, do it for both days in Kyoto, it make no sense to return to Osaka on day 12. Or if it’s an expensive night and you only want 1 night, just get something cheaper for the second night, but in Kyoto, so it will be easier on luggage logistic.

4. I kinda recomend put Tokyo on later part, especially if you want do some shopping in Tokyo.
   Shinkansen now put limitation on how big the baggage that you are able to carry, also you don’t want carry much stuff when travel between city in Japan.

   Some tips that I can give
   1. Get suica card, passmo, or any prepaid card. It is very convenience for train (like Tokyo Metro that is not covered by JR Pass), convenience store, and also arcade game machine.
   2. Don’t forget to shop at Don Quijote, it is a discount store that are available throughout Japan. I am quite sure anything you need while visiting Japan is available here for a good price. Also a very good place to buy some gift for your family or friends back home
   3. Google map is your friend. So make sure you have data plan in Japan
   4. And also Google Translate. Just don’t try translate a complicated setence. But it is good enough to get me a seat in shinkasen that have view to mount Fuji.
   5. Install Hyperdia app in your phone. It is very powerful app for planing your train schedule. Install it a day before your depature, since it has time limited free usage.
   6. Prepare your most comfortable shoes, you will walk in Japan A LOT.

   From your itinerary, looks like you love anime. For anime lover, I have some recomendation
   1. Visit Nakano Broadway while in Tokyo. It has biggest selection of second hand anime stuff. Most of 2nd hand stuff in Japan is pretty much mint condition.
   2. Visit Denden Town / Nipponbashi in Osaka. Smaller than Akihabara, but good place if you are looking for stuff from less popular anime.
   3. Madarake is a good store for 2nd hand anime stuff. Most of the big store in Nakano Broadway are Madarake’s. But they have many branch in big city like Tokyo and Osaka.

   I got this all from my experience visiting Japan for 2 weeks.
   I am hoping you have a great time in Japan.

5. I recommend to keep the Mt Fuji day flexible, this way, you can go on the clearest day and actually get to see the mountain. If you go to Lake Kawaguchiko, you should rent bikes. It’s really nice to bike around town with Mt Fuji in the background.

6. Any particular reason you are heading back to Osaka for just one night on day 12? Since you will have already spent a few days in Osaka, my advice would be to just do 2 nights in Kyoto and head back to Tokyo on day 13 from Kyoto. I think people often don’t realize how close Kyoto and Osaka really are. Don’t get me wrong, going back down to Osaka on day 12 isn’t much of a trek, but it means another hotel/hostel/lodging you need to check out and check in to.

   Obviously do your homework on getting the Studio Ghibli tickets, and honestly, wait until ~9 months out to research that, as things could be totally different by early 2022.

   I’ll echo other calls to check out the 7-day JR pass. The price jump is considerable, and *only* travel between cities is worth the pass (even Osaka to Kyoto is not worth the JR pass as it’s short/cheap).

   Since you are planning for a few years out, and I realize that this depends significantly on your work/life/income situation. But if at all possible, see if you can stretch your trip out a little further. Japan is not as expensive as people think *once you’re there*, and if you really scout, you can find budget flights (I flew round trip from Portland for $540). I think for a 14 day trip, just doing Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto is not a bad call but if you have the time to spend a few days in the countryside, it’s well worth it (my #1 short overnight rural trip based on your trip would be to visit Koyasan, but there are dozens of good options). Lastly, I would say for an overall impression, your trip is pretty urban/heavy traffic area focused, which is fine if that’s your jam (I *love* akihabara for the record), but don’t forget to budget time for just wandering, or checking out some more off-the-beaten-path spots. Also, is there a particular reason you have 4 slots budgeted for seeing akihabara? Don’t get me wrong, I love akihabara, but it’s not that big. I think budgeting 1 day, or 2 half days is more than enough to see pretty much every inch.

7. You don’t need to go inside Osaka Castle, unless you’re EXTREMELY interested in the assorted wars that were fought over it, because the interior is just a museum, not a castle.

8. I found mt Fuji a very long whole day. I would just dedicate the whole day to it

9. I believe the robot restaurant has permanently closed. Nara is an excellent half a day trip from osaka or kyoto.

10. 3 days in Akiba is a bit excessive IMO (I feel like I’m there every 2 years though so maybe the shiny lights have dulled for me). Unless you’re a mega-anime person and want to visit every shop, 1 full day (and a weekend night preferably) is enough to drop $$$ on UFO catchers. I brought back a huge duffel full this past winter. Had to mail stuff home the previous trip (costed like $60 to send a large box home to California).

    If you happen to want a nice quiet day of exploring, Kobe is pretty close to Osaka. Went to Kobe for the first time this year and some sections have that quaint british sea-port feel. Nice cafes, and really good bakeries for lunch and yakiniku for dinner. Might be a nice trip since you have a JR pass to get you from shin-osaka to shin-kobe.

    You can rent bikes in Kyoto for super cheap and just scramble all over town. My S/O found some YT girl who had mapped a nice off-trail path avoiding all the super crowded tourist spots and it was the absolute best experience. Bike all the way up to the Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple from Arashiyama station. Super serene, found an amazing TKG lunch/snack spot for like $3, and a bunch of quaint/authentic shops along the way with no other visitors.

11. If you’re interested in Studio Ghibli merch, there’s also a great store that’s right by Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. I actually liked the merch there better than what was available at the museum!

12. The Pokemon cafe is a really neat experience, but prepare for the food to be on the bad side. I went when it first opened and I know theme cafe doesn’t have the greatest food, but it was hard for even my boyfriend and I to stomach. The cafe in the Ghibli museum is worth the wait though.

    Since you are exploring akiba so much have you considered exploring ikebukuro as well? It has a lot of really neat stores for anime and sunshine city mall is just fun in itself

13. Going to give my 2 cents based on a 2 week trip i did, might be parroting a bit of what the others are saying but maybe to just emphasize the point:

    Depending on when you arrive just be prepared to spend extra time the first day since youll probably be tired from the flight, as well as being a little confused how to get from place to place.

    I think 2 evenings in akihabara will be enough. My friends and I are huge weebs and we went like 3 times and looking back it was overkill and probably couldve been better spent.

    Check out denden town in osaka!

    Would reconsider going to the bamboo forest. It was super crowded and felt more frustrating than anything. You can’t just walk through it, you’re just constantly dodging people standing and taking pics in the middle of the path.

    Plan to do most of your shopping at the end of the trip.

    Personally i think staying in both osaka and kyoto is fine, but you shouldn’t go back and forth. We went to kyoto and then osaka before heading back to tokyo for our final city. Our stay location in kyoto was far out from the action, while osaka’s was great, so im glad we didnt just stay at one location.

    It looks like you could probably just get a 7 day jr pass, start it when you leave tokyo. I would also check if itll be worth for you, theres a cost calculator somewhere online.

    Not sure id youre interested or if one of your hotels has it, but consider visiting an onsen. You can get a private one if youre worried about anything. You aren’t going to find one back home

    Good luck! Itll be great!

14. It’s two years away lol…

15. Go to Spa World when you’re in Osaka! It’s a cultural experience to say the least 😹

16. I think you can stay in kyoto to cover both kyoto and osaka. You don’t really need to check into a hotel in osaka. At least that’s what I felt when i did the same because osaka is practically next to kyoto and you can just travel from kyoto in the morning and come back in the evening.

17. Eating ramen at Ichiran is like going to New York and eating pizza at Dominoes. I’m not from Tokyo so I can’t give you any advice about where to get the best ramen, but I’m 100% sure it won’t be at Ichiran. Maybe someone who lives there can give their recs?

18. Day 3: It’s virtually impossible to do this sort of itinerary. Even with 10 am entry, it would be 1pm before you get back to either Shinjuku or Shibuya; and this is a situation, where realistically you can visit either Shibuya and Harajuku, or Shinjuku area. Note that I would not recommend Robot Restaurant for dinner: the food is (much) overpriced and mediocre. Virtually any izakaya/ramen shop/pick your favourite dish place in the area would give you a better experience.

    Day 4: There is no such thing as Imperial City. Do you mean Imperial Palace East Gardens? Imperial Palace tour?

    > Explore Akihabara in the evening

    Note that Akihabara is pretty much dead at night. For an evening exploration neighbouring districts (eg. Ochanomizu, Kanda) have probably more to offer.

    > Explore Osaka Castle for the day

    There is absolutely no reason to visit Osaka Castle in autumn. Want to see a historical castle? Go to Himeji and visit castle and Mt. Shosha (it is pretty great autumn).

19. I read through the other comments. On my last trip we went to Akihabara 3 times and had a blast. We want to stay there a night or two next time. It’s ok to plan and there is opportunity to be flexible if you decide you’ve had your fill. There’s so many places to go that are easy to get to. I enjoy the fun vibe of the area and it’s a bit less crowded I think. Ikebukuro and Shinjuku are both fun places for shopping and walking around. I recommend the Shinjuku Marui Annex – I think there would be stuff there to suit your interests.

    Robot restaurant – the videos are a lot more exciting than the show. The food is more of a snack. The show has several breaks and they wheel out a drink and souvenir cart.

    Borderless – we went later in the day (5pm in summer) and walked right in without a wait. It was fun to check out the evening stuff in the area too.

    Have fun ! Be flexible.

20. October and November are my favorite months of the year to go in Japan! Weather is at it’s best and the fall colors are amazing. I’d avoid the robot restaurant. Akihabara is cool, but I feel like you have too much time scheduled to be in that area. Tokyo is massive and every street has something to see or do. I loved Kyoto during the Fall! Not too many tourists. Unfortunately I still haven’t been to Osaka, so that’ll be sweet. The JR pass was definitely worth it on my last 21-day trip there, but I went to like 6 more areas/cities besides Tokyo and Kyoto. Easily paid for itself. If you’re only going to be in those three main cities, you could try to do the math on whether a 7 or 14 day JR pass would save you any money. Many smaller rail lines still are covered by the pass, btw!

21. Definitely too much time in Akihabara. Take a look at some of the other neighborhoods, you can grab a train back to your hotel no problem.

22. >Day 1

    >Ichiran ramen

    It’s kinda overhyped among toirists. It’s nothing special imo.. I’d look for a good little local non-chain place. Or a weird hipster ramen place.
    You can find on Google maps or tabelog or some other review site

    >Day 2

    >Go to Disney Sea for the day

    Only do if you really like Disney, and don’t have a Disney land in your country. People say they want to go because it’s a “Disney Sea”. It’s really not that special compared to Land. Locals go because they sell alcohol on Sea, not because it’s much different or better than Land.
    I like Disney, but wouldn’t waste time and money on Disney Land if I went to the US. Maybe if I traveled with kids.

    But if you are big fans, it will be fun!

    >Day 3

    >Robot Restaurant for dinner

    It’s closed down, hasn’t it? Maybe go to some izakaya instead. There are many in Shinjuku and Shibuya.

    >Day 4

    >Explore Akihabara more

    Maybe replace this or day 6 or day 7 Akiba with some other area, like Ueno or Asakusa? I know you’ll live in Akiba, but its not that much to see and do..

    >Day 6

    >Go to Mt. Fuji

    Not for climbing, I assume, since the climbing season ends in September.
    Kawaguchi-ko or Hakone, I suppose?

    > Day 11

    >Fushimi Inari Taisha

    Maybe switch this to Day 12 morning? Day time can be crowded, and it’s nice to be up at the top before noon at least. You can do Kinkaku-ji and Gibkaku-ji here instead.

    Overall it looks like a very typical itinerary. Not bad, nothing special. But you’ll get a bit of everything.
    It’s a proven route that seems to work for most, so should be fun for you.

23. A while back I made a map from places I enjoyed in Tokyo. So feel free to look at it and if you’re lost or need something spontaneous. Feel free to check it out and get inspired [https://tinyurl.com/y462qxc6](https://tinyurl.com/y462qxc6)

24. About the food, I’d encourage you not to purchase animal products, because that directly funds some of the worst animal cruelty you could imagine.

    Over the last few years vegan options have gotten much better in Japan.