Hi fellow Japanophiles! Heading for my 1st ever trip to Japan from 10 to 22 May, landing in KIX in Osaka and leaving from NRT in Tokyo. Would appreciate if anyone has any constructive comments in terms of feasibility, logistics, variety, interesting areas that I shldn’t hv missed out, or places I had included that shldn’t hv been bothered with at all.
Total pax: 3 (brother & I both in our early 20s, and middle-aged mother)
* Dates: 10 May (Wed) >> 22 May (Mon)
* Cities covered: Osaka, Himeji, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo
* Areas of interest: Nothing specific, tho I’m kinda a foodie. To get a feel of Japan as a nation, as well as its history and culture, food, landscape, architecture, and possibly nightlife. Avoiding theme parks as my family isn’t keen, so no USJ / Disneyland / Disneysea / etc.
* Budget: On the lower side but not afraid to splurge if I deem it worthy
Naturally, also interested in getting some shopping done and hopefully a few quintessentially Japanese **souvenirs** (any reccs? :P)
# Days 1-5: Osaka-based (Osaka, Himeji, Nara; 2.5:1:1)
D1 (10 May, Wed): Arrival in Osaka (2pm at KIX) (from SG, so no big worries re jetlag)
* Drop off luggage at Airbnb (Namba). Check out the nearby areas until early evening check-in time
* Check into airbnb, settle in
* Hozen-ji / Hozen-ji Yokocho
* Nipponbashi District (dinner, shopping)
D2 (11 May, Thurs): Osaka Amazing Pass, 1 of 2
* Osaka Castle – Museum, gozabune moat boat ride, garden
* \*Lunch\* (ramen?)
* Osaka Museum of History
* Shitenno-ji / Keitakuen garden
* Tsutenkaku tower
* Shinsekai (dinner; izakaya)
* Ebisubashi shopping street / Dotonbori (shopping, street food)
* Tonbori river cruise
* *America-mura (optional)*
D3 (12 May, Fri): Osaka Amazing Pass, 2 of 2
* Namba Yasaka Shrine
* Kuromon Market (grab something to go for lunch)
* Lunch at Airbnb
* Osaka Museum of Housing and Living
* Tenjinbashi shopping street (street food)
* Umeda Sky Building
* Hep Five (dinner) / Hep Five Ferris Wheel
D4 (13 May, Sat): Himeji Day Trip; Kansai Area Pass, 1 of 3
* Himeji Castle / Koko-en
* \*Lunch\* (Anago?)
* Mt. Shosha / Engyoji
* Otemae Street (grab some jokamachi-dog)
* Head back to Osaka
* Dinner (Dotonbori area)
D5 (14 May, Sun): Nara Day Trip; Kansai Area pass, 2 of 3
* \*Check out of Airbnb.
* Nakatanidou (watch the making of the famous handmade mochi and sample some)
* Kofuku-ji
* Kasuga Taisha Shrine (wisteria blooming)
* Nara Park (brief stroll/rest/lunch)
* Nandai-mon
* Todai-ji and its bell-tower
* Nara National Museum
* Dinner in the area
* \*Retrieve suitcase. Bring along en route to Kyoto.
* \*Check into Kyoto Airbnb.
# Days 6-9: Kyoto
D6 (15 May, Mon): Kyoto (West + North); Kansai Area Pass, 3 of 3
* Arashiyama Bamboo Forest / Okochi Sanso Garden
* Tenryu-ji
* Iwatayama Monkey Park
* \*Lunch\*
* Ninna-ji / Ryoan-ji (shorter visits)
* Kinkaku-ji
* \*Dinner (Kyoto Stn)
D7 (16 May, Tue): Kyoto (East); using top-up card, no passes
* Kiyomizu-dera
* Sannen-/Ninenzaka shopping streets (breakfast)
* Hokan-ji (brief; observatory)
* Kennin-ji
* Kodai-ji
* \*Lunch\* (might head over to Nishiki Market area)
* *Unplanned / free & easy*
* Yasaka Shrine
* Gion District (dinner, stroll along bridge and alleys)
D8 (17 May, Wed): Kyoto (South); might get a day pass
* Fushimi Inari
* \*Breakfast\* (cafe)
* Tofuku-ji
* Rengeo-in Sanjusangen-do
* Kyoto National Museum
* *Fushimi Sake Village (optional)*
* To-ji
* \*Dinner\* (Kyoto station?)
D9 (18 May, Thurs): Kyoto (Central)
* \*Check out of Airbnb.
* Nijo Castle
* *Nishiki Market (if not alr done)*
* Imperial Palace
* \*Lunch near Nanzen-ji\* (soba?)
* Nanzenji / Zenrin-ji (shorter visits)
* Philosopher’s path stroll
* Ginkaku-ji
* Gion District (dinner & a few drinks)
* Night bus to Tokyo
# Days 10-13: Tokyo
D10 (19 May, Fri): Tokyo (West)
* \*Arrival at Shinjuku Station @ 7 am
* Meiji Jingu Shrine / Yoyogi Park
* Takeshita Street Square / Omotesando (strolling around to marvel at the architecture)
* Statue of Hachiko / Shibuya Crossing
* MEGA Don Quixote / Other shopping malls in Shibuya (Lunch, shopping)
* Mori Tower + Tokyo City View & Sky Deck
* \*Check in to Airbnb, get sum rest
* Odaiba Seaside Park
* Teamlabs Planets
* Unicorn Gundam Statue / DiverCity Tokyo Plaza (dinner)
* Rainbow Bridge (optional, a little distance)
D11 (20 May, Sat): Tokyo (East)
* Asakusa-jinja / Senso-ji
* Ueno Park
* Tokyo National Museum
* Ueno Tosho-gu Shrine
* Tokyo Station (lunch & shopping)
* Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum (check out special exhibit)
* Akihabara (shopping & dinner)
D12 (21 May, Sun): Tokyo (Shinjuku/Imperial Palace)
* Imperial Palace East Gardens
* Kitanomaru-koen
* Yasakuni Shrine / Yushukan Museum
* Shinjuku City
* Tokyo Metro Govt Bldg
* Dinner ard Airbnb neighbourhood
D13 (22 May, Mon):
* \*Check out of Airbnb
* Head over early to Narita Airport
* \*Lunch before flight at noon\*
P.s. Lockers at train stations will be utilised after checking out to store luggage.
5 comments
Kansai area pass, I think day 2 you should use Kintetsu train instead, you get closer to the park and not much different. Day 3 there is little to no JR use. Just get it for 1day and pay the rest with an IC card.
I personally do not want to give money to Yasukuni or Yushukan museum because of their revisionist view on the war.
This is crazy to me personally because that’s A LOT of activities but I guess it depends on each person. I would visit 3-4 sites MAX usually (and that was very exhausting and I walked over 11 miles a day as a result). I like to actually stop and look at everything/enjoy everything and be able to take plenty of photos so that also takes up time (if you’re not that kind of person) so even doing something like Nijo/Osaka castle which seems like just a “oh I drop by and just see it for 5 minutes” really takes more like 2 hours because there’s a whole tour/wide area for you to walk around. I definitely couldn’t envision my own mother having this much energy to do this itinerary haha so I would condense it a bit more. Also since you mentioned you’re a foodie, MAKE RESERVATIONS!!!! You WILL starve especially in Tokyo if you don’t do this. “Tabelog” is a very common app/site they use here to make reservations/find restaurants and to see reviews by the local people. I haven’t had as much trouble with this in Osaka (lesser extent Kyoto too) but Tokyo is so packed that even the most average chain restaurant will be relatively packed by dinner time (and obviously the popular restaurants are all booked for the night).
For souvenirs, get yourself a goshuincho and collect goshuins around all the temples and shrines.
Also you can get a normal stamp book and look for stamps at stations.
Make sure u don’t mix these two up. If you stamp an ordinary stamp into your goshuincho you may not be able to receive anymore seals.
For friends, go early to the airport and buy a lot of snacks. Japan food souvenirs have very short shelf life so no point purchasing early.
I personally recommend only pick 2-3 place that you want to visit most each day. Commuting and navigating around takes time, and looking at your itinerary it would be really tiring. Better if you enjoy a place fully before moving to another
Its a bit heavy of an itinerary, I would get ready to skip some, spend more time at each event, account for travel time as well. Take rest between, sit at cafes, parks, etc.
Enjoy!
I had a jam packed schedule and skipped a lot. Don’t try to squeeze it all in and come back again to do your favourite activities and the ones you missed.