Hi all, we are a group of 8 (>\_<) young adults (Early 20s) going to Japan for the first time (1 person has gone once before). Would like some help and clarity on our itinerary (dude its so hard to plan for 8 ppl T\_T)
We will prob split up 4/4 or whatever variations (diff interests also just not that feasible to keep 8 ppl together all day) most of the time with some days of full 8 (ex. Disney/USJ, tho lbr we r gonna be split for that too LOL)
Why 17 days? We originally had 15 days but our flight got cancelled so we got to rebook 2 days earlier hehe. (But with flying we basically lose 2 days anyways)
All hotels have been booked please do not suggest changing the number of days in each city tyvm.
I have a lot of tattoos so sadly no pools…. Can we still do a beach episode tho? Lol
Not many specific times because things have not been booked yet + like to leave things open in case it takes longer or shorter than expected! Lots of room to just walk around and explore (and eat).
Days are generally grouped by area.EDIT: Crossed some stuff out and moved akiba to fit it in LOL
# Tokyo
## Day 1 – Sat Jun 17 – Flight
\- Flying from Canada to Japan all day zzz
## Day 2 – Sun Jun 18 – Arrival
\- Arrive at NRT Terminal 1 @ 2:55 PM JST
* Immigration, luggage, cash (we have wise cards so will take out cash w/ those @ 7/11 prob), train card\*, food, pocket wi-fi
\- Get into Tokyo
* **\*Unsure which option to take… bus for 1300Y or Skyliner? Or other method?We are in Tokyo for 6 days before going to Hakone. Thinking x2 72 hr Tokyo metro cards (\~30 CAD) and then grabbing a PASMO Passport/Welcome SUICA (or should we just get the non tourist one?) for the remainder of the trip. Most of us have android phones :’) so physical card is our most likely route. We are NOT getting any JR Pass… not worth it for our trip :\^)**
\- Get to lodging.
* Walk around if we aren’t too jetlagged around monzennakacho/ginza area (is close to hotel).
* Otherwise go to sleep lol
## Day 3 – Mon Jun 19 – Anime
This day feels kinda empty but I heard you can spend like a whole day @ sunshine city alone!
Morning
\- Ikebukuro
* Onigiri bongo breakfast
* Sunshine city, bookoff, walk around
Late Afternoon
\- Nakano
* Nakano broadway
Evening/Night
\- Shinjuku
* Enjoy nightlife, walk arnd golden gai, omoide yokocho, kabukicho, etc. Karaoke, eat food.
## Day 4 – Tues Jun 20 – Shopping
Shinjuku
\- Experience it during the day, metropolitan building, shin-okubo, shopping
Harajuku
\- Takeshita street, omotesando, clothes shopping, eat yummy food, go to cute cafes.
Shibuya
\- Tourist time
* Hachiko
* Shibuya crossing
* Shibuya 109
* Center gai
* Mega donki
* Shibuya parco
* Shibuya SKY
Shimokitazawa – maybe
\- thrifting
## Day 5 – Wed Jun 21 – Ginza/Odaiba/Akiba
Morning
\- Tsukiji market like 8-10am
\- Teamlab planets 10am slot
**Odaiba**
* Beach episode?!
* Giant gundam @ gundam base
* Diver city – mall + round 1 arcade
* Joyopolis – indoor theme park
* Statue of liberty
Evening
**Akihabara (Edit:** Should I even try to work akiba in? We’re already going to ikebukuro and denden in Osaka :$ Would be nice to check out I guess)
\- Maid cafes
\- Kotobukiya, animate, radio kaikan
\- Kenelestand
\- Sega arcades
**Ginza**
\- Shopping time
o Muji. Uniqlo, daiso, ginza six, tsutaya books, tokyu plaza
\- Pokemon café (depends on tickets, prob going in Osaka)
## Day 6 – Thurs Jun 22 – DisneySea
All day here 😊
## Day 7 – Fri Jun 23 – Free / Yokohama
Go to places we missed/want to go back to/Day trip to Yokohama
Wanted this to be a bit of a rest day but. unlikely. lawl.
Pretty much free day so we can split off but we did want to fit this in
Early morningAsakusa
\- Sensouji, kaminarimon gate, nakamise shopping street
Sumida
\- Kirby café (rlly depends on when we actually get tix… we’ll fit it in somehow)
Later morning/Afternoon
# Yokohama
\- 3rd planets, cup noodle, shin yokohama ramen museum, Chinatown, drift karting, daikoku pa
**Would it be too ambitious to fit in both Asakusa/Ueno/Akiba AND Yokohama? Might move some stuff to June 19 or 21…?**
# Hakone
## Day 8 – Sat Jun 24 – Hakone
Check out of lodging by 10am
**Should we ship luggage from our hotels?**
We’ve debated this I think it would be convenient but idk might be a pain because we’re going to Hakone for 1 night and would need to ship out our luggage again the next day for Kyoto and Osaka isn’t even that far from Kyoto idk :// Would def be nice to not lug everything around tho… also common courtesy to not take up a ton of space on pub transit but it’s the same price to take local trains and ship luggage compared to just getting on the shinkansen. None of our bags should be oversized afaik, so idk @@ We are also switching hotels several times so I think it would add up… All of our hotels allow early luggage drop off before check in tho so idt its super necessary? any insight would be appreciated tho!
* Train to Hakone, arrive arnd 11, head to Ryokan to drop off luggage.
* Explore town, ropeway up mt hakone, Owakudani
* Return to Ryokan by 6 for dinner
* Enjoy baths <3 and relax
# Hakone/Kyoto
## Day 9 – Sun Jun 25 – Mt Fuji/Kyoto
* 2 ppl from our group will climb Mt. Fuji (GL O7)
* The rest will have bfast and take the train to Kyoto
* Drop our stuff off at the Machiya and kill time until check in
* Café hopping, eating food, maybe time for one attraction ?
* Railway museum, aquarium, tower, toji? Not partic interested in any of these but yolo
* Chill day rest in house and take baths lol
# Kyoto
## Day 10 – Mon Jun 26 – Gion
\- Check out and drop off luggage @ second hotel
\- Rent Kimono (prob Okamoto)
\- Walk around
* ~~Yasaka shrine~~
* Gion
* ~~Kenninji~~
* ~~Hokanji~~
* Nineizaka
* Sanneizaka
* Kiyomizudera
* Ghibli studios shop
\- Return rentals
\- Dinner
## Day 11 – Tues Jun 27 – Arashiyama
Arashiyama
* \-Bamboo forest
* \-Monkey park
* \-Okochi sanso garden/sogenchi pond garden
* ~~Tenryuji temple~~
* ~~Sagano romantic train~~
* ~~Hozugawa river boat ride~~
* Walk arnd and eat food
# Kyoto/Osaka
## Day 12 – Wed Jun 28 – Kyoto / Osaka
Kyoto
* Fushimi inari early morning
* komyoin
​
* Teramachidori
* Nishiki market
* Manga museum
* ~~Kinkakuji ? (might skip)~~
* ~~Hanamikoji street~~
* ~~伏見十石舟 – boat ride in river ? prob not if we do the hozugawa river boat/vice versa~~
Leave for Osaka whenever we are satisfied with Kyoto lol
Osaka
* Check in and Walk around hotel area
* Tenjinbashisuji shopping area
* Umeda sky?
* ~~Maybe check out dotonbori @ night~~
# Osaka
## Day 13 – Thurs Jun 29 – USJ
All day @ USJ! Planning on getting express 4 pass for Nintendo access (Much expensive TT)
Our friend’s bday so no moving USJ
## Day 14 – Fri Jun 30 – Eating
Namba
* Check out of capsule and drop off luggage @ second hotel
* Dotonbori
* Shinsaibashi
* Pokemon café (gotta get that reso tho)
* Parco
* Namba yasaka shrine
* Denden town
* Kuromon ichiba market
* Round 1 stadium
* Check into new hotel
## Day 15 – Sat July 1 – Nara
Nara
* Deer park
* Rent bikes?
* Picnic
* Higashimuki shopping street
* Todaiji
* Kasuga taisha
* nakatanidou
* Murou art forest (kinda far tho)
* Idrk what to do here
Back to Osaka
## Day 16 – Sun July 2 – Rest
Osaka
* Take it slow
* Ikuno Korea town (close to hotel)
* Shinsekai
* Tsutenkaku tower (the slide got me)
* Up garage for car enjoyers
* Could do pokemon café this day too
* Osaka castle?
* Pretty much free day
## Day 17 – Mon July 3 – Flight
* Grab any last souvenirs
* Train to KIX by 5:30pm
* Return pocket wifi
* Fly to Korea! <3
Ty for reading! Hopefully our days go well and they aren’t too empty/too full (other than those few days in Tokyo lawl) tho I feel like some days might be rlly ambitious just cuz its our first time and I wanna jam pack as much in as possible <\_> I’m sure there are improvements to be made so pls let me know! I know theres a lot of repeats of PARCO/Round1 LMAO idk i just put the diff places theyre in… do they vary a lot from one another or is it more of a one and done sitch?
Have plenty of food options on our itinerary too :\^) But am also wondering how easy it is to make resos? Japan seems so competitive for these things and it gets me stressed lmfao. We did want to have a few must go/nice/fancier restaurants booked in advance so we can secure a spot but def have a lot of street food to eat hehe.
Also having a huge group stresses me out too but :\^) Also apologies if my questions have been answered a million times before I kinda just want someone to tell me tho bc I’m tired of thinking and researching LMFAO Thanks again!
5 comments
Looks like a solid Itinerary considering how much time you have. Shrinjiku is the most active district so definitely enjoy there. Are your friends climbing to the top of mt. Fuji?
Only commenting on the Kansai portion.
Your Kyoto days are not sensibly grouped geographically, for example day 12: Fushimi -> Nishiki -> Kinkakuji -> Hanamikoji (which you’ll have already seen on Day 10) -> 伏見十石舟 is a lot of criss-crossing the city. Transportation by bus takes a lot of time.
For the kimono rental day (day 10) you will need to ration your time carefully. I count four temples/shrines, a shop, two streets, and Gion to fit in between 10am-6pm (assuming you show up right at store opening which is around 9am – it takes around an hour to choose+wear and do hair+makeup). If there are any women in the travel party, keep in mind that the slippers and reduced stride length mean you will be walking slower than if you were wearing sneakers and shorts/jeans/trousers.
More generally I think your Kyoto/Osaka days are quite packed. Possibly sacrilegious on this board to say these, but you could delete some of the more duplicative stuff: there are multiple covered shopping streets (Tenjinbashi, Teramachidori), multiple tourist markets (Nishiki, Kuromon), repetition (Hanamikoji twice, Dotonbori twice), hotel switching within Kyoto and within Osaka (eight people checking in/out is like herding cats and will waste a lot of time) etc.
Kyoto –
There were two drownings last week on one of the Hozugawa boat tours. Boats have been cancelled until further notice. Don’t know if they will be back up by June but maybe finding another activity in case it’s not.
You could check out Adashino Nenbutsuji or Daihikaku Senkouji Temple. They are some of my favorites.
Ikebukuro – there is a GIANT 9 stories Animate store.
Why are you going to Tsukiji market? Do you mean Toyosu market? The bestest restaurants, if you plan to eat there, would have significant queue at 0800 already. And 2 hours 0800-1000 isn’t enough to eat there. Why ginza before the market?
Your Kansai leg is stressing me out with how full the days are. I hope you all have good shoes.
There is no way your Yokohama day can fit in anything except maybe Asakusa sensoji in the early morning. IMO, the most convenient train to go to Yokohama is the Keikyu from Shibuya (except maybe JR)
Hi!
Since no one else has brought this up yet… what do you mean by climb Mt. Fuji on 6/25?
Do you mean go up to the 5th Station via bus? Climb to the 5th Station? Climb to the top?
First, Hakone is not all that close to any of the climbing trails. It’s going to take several hours to get to either the 5th Station via bus or even just the start of a climbing trail.
Second, if you mean climb all the way to the summit, none of the trails open usually until early July. See here for the 2022 Season: [http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/season/index.html#:~:text=The%20climbing%20season%20for%20Mt,Fuji%20is%20prohibited](http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/season/index.html#:~:text=The%20climbing%20season%20for%20Mt,Fuji%20is%20prohibited).
It *might* be safe to climb since you will be awful close, but there will be no services and nothing open and despite the fact people of varying ages do it, it’s still not that easy, especially with all huts closed. It also might not be safe to climb and people do die trying to climb Mt. Fuji to the top out of season.
Please see here:
[https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6901.html](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6901.html)
This is a general map of the mountain.
[https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6922.html](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6922.html)
Hakone is south of Gotemba.
I hope this helps!