Good morning, good afternoon, good evening readers. After doing a little bit of research as well looking and learning from other people’s itinerary I think I have a good idea of some goals. So assuming everything is okay with travel by then, I’m staying in an Airbnb for both Osaka and Tokyo. I am aware of the weather there and it very comparable to Atlanta for that time and so am very prepared.
Day 1 – Get off plane, exchange currency, get the Jp pass, and relax a little from jet lag
Day 2 – Shibuya Central Street (Parco Building, Sunshine City Mall) and Teamlab
Day 3 – Mt. Fuji Day Trip
Day 4 – Spend the day in Yokohama
Day 5 – Spend the day in Akihabara
Day 6 – Museum day (Ghibli, Noodle, Bonsai, Mori)
Day 7 – Spend the day In Odiaba, Skytree Evening, Pack up for Osaka
Day 8 – Travel to Osaka on train and spend the day in Osaka (Aoba Ramen)
Day 9 – Universal Japan
Day 10 – Go to anything we missed and head home
One of the days I have set in my mind falls on a friend of mines birthday who is coming with. Is there any places you would recommend in Osaka for a birthday. As always any and every recommendation is welcomed!
17 comments
No need to exchange currency. Use ATM to withdraw yen. Get a Suica or Pasmo card and load funds.
I would fly from Tokyo to Osaka and back as it will be cheaper than the JR Pass. Round trip ITM-HND would be around $200. You might even be better off if you can fly direct to Osaka from the US and return from Tokyo.
What are are doing a hole day in akihabara?
You could visit the area around ueno, akiharaba, asakusa and skystree and still have the whole afternoon and Night Time.
If you are in Osaka, Nara is a must visit.
September can still be hot, but is also cooler than August. It’s still typhoon season, so than it impossible to predict.
Day 2 : Do Shibuya and Sunshine city only. Save teamlab for day 7 when you are in odaiba.
Day 6 : this is vague. Ok, Ghibli museum. What noodle and bonsai museum exactly ? Mori, like Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Mori Tower I guess. 4 museums in a day might be hard, considering time inside + time to move around.
For this trip, the JR Pass barely make sense. You should look into buying an open jaw ticket (or multi city ticket) to fly in Tokyo and out of Osaka and a single shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Osaka. Even if that is up to 100$ more on the plane ticket,I would do it. It would cheaper or at least same price as a one week JR Pass. It is also not recommended to go back to Tokyo from Osaka on the day you fly out.
If you fly round trip Tokyo, JR Pass 7 days is at the limit of not worth, it depend how you purchase.
We went in September 2017 and the weather was beautiful, hot but not unbearably hot and it rained maybe twice?
I would say about your mt fuji day trip is be very prepare to not actually see it. Have a look at the stats but the summer is the worst time to see the mountain even if you are stood in front of it. Early in the morning is your best chance at any time of year.
September could still be rather warm and wet (it rained pretty heavily when I was in Tokyo in September 2018).
If you would like the save money on transport from Tokyo to Osaka, perhaps you can look into overnight buses, which would be a cheaper option than Shinkansen. Plus you get to save one night of hotel also.
Where are you flying home from? Osaka or Tokyo? It would make much more sense to just fly out of Osaka if possible.
As others have said, you don’t need a JR pass for this trip. But someone who did both flying and Shinkansen between Osaka and Tokyo, I can confidently say Shinkansen is much better because you waste so much time travelling from and to airports, check-in, boarding, wait for luggage etc..
On day 2, Sunshine City is in Ikebukuro, and Team lab is in Odaiba. If you want to go Shibuya and one of them, you should go Sunshine City, as you are already going Odaiba on another day.
I believe the Noodles museum is in Yokohama, so you’d want to move it to that day.
If you are fans of anime goods, Den Den Town in Osaka is a good place to shop. It is also right next to Kuromon Market.
Osaka is HUGE. You’ll probably have to pick a specific part you want to see, otherwise it’s impossible in 1 day, especially if you’re also travelling that day.
Only aoba ramen in Osaka? No other plans? Sky building? Osaka castle? Dotonbori area? Perhaps visit Nara instead? Depends what you are interested in though
Currency exchange
If you are in America (which seems so) I would exchange currency here. I did it on my first trip and removed one less thing to deal with when I landed in japan.
Also check with your bank and what there Fee(s) (If any) they charge for international ATM’s had a friend (ex military) who had a bank that didn’t charge international ATM fees so you only have to deal with the exchange rate fee. my bank charged me anywhere between 8 cents to 8.50 dollars depending on if I was using card for a purchase or withdrawing 300,000 yen ($280). If you don’t want an ATM charge I have never been charged by 7-11 ATMs.
For TeamLab, that’s in Odaiba so you can handle it on your Odaiba day. The Noodle Museum (which I’m assuming is the Nissin one) is in Yokohama too so you can put that on your fourth day as well
you don’t need a whole day in akihabara maybe 4-5 hrs I went twice in the fall september and in late october they still were getting 25 degree Celsius weather
As somebody who’s visited Japan from the east coast, I can tell you that you may be up at the ass crack of dawn your first full day, if not sooner. I’d suggest trying to visit Toyosu Fish Market, but in order to view the tuna auction, you need to register ahead of time and, at the moment, do so in Japanese.
Good call waiting until you get to Japan to exchange currency. Travelex gives you eh rates. But you don’t need to bring a lot of cash with you. The ATM’s at 7-Elevens will take your card. Check with your bank about the fees associated with that.
My Japanese 101/102 professor back in college said Fuji-san is an overhyped waste of time. But you do you. 🙂
I loved Akihabara. But I’m not sure if I could spend a full day there. Parts of multiple days, 100%. But here’s a fun thing, duty-free shopping. Places will have signs advertising it and, typically, multi-lingual staff as well. Drop 100,001 JPY or more in a single purchase and they chop off the consumption tax. Just present your passport to prove you haven’t been there long.
Consider travel time for your museum day, how many you want to hit and when they are open. Mori is great, Ghibli is great. But Roppongi and Mitaka are not close.
I’d consider sacrificing Yokohama and instead basing yourself in Osaka for one day longer. Maybe replace it with an excursion to Kyoto. The Imperial Household Agency offers tours of the old imperial palace. That’s a great place to start.
Osaka, considering you want to go to Akiba, I would recommend Den Den Town in Nipponbashi. It’s less neon, a bit grungy, but you might find some hidden gems.
Consider taking in a baseball game. Whether it’s the Yomiuri Giants, Hanshin Tigers or whoever, the season should still be going on and NPB is a unique atmosphere, like a college basketball game with more rigor and structure and music. Check /r/NPB for information on how tickets work there.
It seems like you don’t know where you’re flying home from yet. Kansai International has only a few flights to the American mainland, but none to Atlanta. Osaka Itami, the domestic hub, can get you back to Narita or Haneda. So keep that in mind when you’re making your plans.
Go to shinjuku!!! That’s my favorite area in Tokyo. Golden Gai, piss alley, robot restaurant, karaoke with a view, so many Coco’s curries!!!
Also what noodle museum are you going to? Ramen or cup and noodle? The ramen museum is really neat and I loved it…I went on a weekday when it was slow. I also went to the coolest aquarium every in Tokyo if you are interested. Team lab is really neat but it’s crowded, disorienting and not much else over there. I think I went to a maid cafe in Akihabara too…it was an experience 😂😂
I was in Japan September 2017 & November 2019 – weather was really nice for both times. Had some beautiful fall days in September!!
Not sure why you’re going to Fuji if you don’t plan to climb it, you can just look at it through the window of the shinkansen as you pass by and take flicks. The best place for fun and entertainment in Osaka is Namba by far. You can’t miss it.
I would exchange currency before you go! I’m not from Atlanta, but it works out cheaper for my country. Plus it’s less to do in the airport, and imo less stressful.
As others have said, TeamLab is at Odaiba so I’d move it to Day 7.
I saw someone say that you shouldn’t do a full day in Akihabara, but I think you should! Especially if you love anime and video games. If you finish early, you could easily do a museum or something.
Finally, if you can make your holiday longer, I think you should extend it. There’s so much to see in Osaka, plus it’s easy to take day trips to Nara, Kyoto, Kobe or Himeji.
Edit: for your friends birthday, maybe one of the themed cafes? There’s Pokemon Cafe, Square Enix and Final Fantasy Cafe in Osaka.
My wife and I found the Osaka Amazing Pass to be a really good value and gave us good sight seeing ideas. You might consider checking that out.
The Museum Of Housing And Living in Osaka was worth the visit. I liked their recreation of olden Osaka a lot.
In nearby Sakai, the Plaza of Rikyu and Akiko offers a great chance to experience a tea ceremony.
Day 2 – Shibuya, Meiji Shrine/Harajuku then Shinjuku. all areas are pretty close to each other under 1 train line. Also, sunshine city is in Ikebukuro which is also a couple stops from Shinjuku.
teamlab is in odaiba and you can put it in in the odaiba day. Also in day 5 you can visit Akihabara and then in later part of the day pay a visit to asakusa and then skytree is walkable to or pretty close by train.
also for those day trips you could usually spend the evening someplace else in Tokyo e.g. ebisu, yurakucho, shinjuku for some late night bites and stroll