TOKYO – NAGANO – OSAKA – TOKYO (15 day trip)

Hello! My husband and I are going to travel to Japan this October 5-20, I know it’s still months ahead but we’re planning this as early as we could to try and minimize anything that could potentially be a stressor in the trip. It’s his first time coming to Japan, and I’ve been there quite a few times since we have family members living in different prefectures. The details below is what we managed to think of, highlights of the trip is mostly touristy destinations, anime and gaming.

Note that this itinerary does not have any food stops because we don’t have any places in particular that we want to try, we both agreed to eat whatever we want and whenever we feel like it to avoid having to stress about reservations or having a specific time to eat that might get delayed or changed in the end.

Day 0 (Oct 5, Thursday)
\- Arrive in Japan at 5 am
\- go to hotel to drop off baggage (in asakusa)
\- take a few strolls around the temple
\- head to tsukiji market (20 minutes away from our hotel)
\- then hit up a few places in Ginza to shop around
\- hopefully get back to our hotel around 7pm

Day 1 (Oct 6, Friday)
\- head to tokyo disneyland

Day 2 (Oct 7, Saturday)
\- Chill day because we’re sure we’ll be spent after Disney
\- Go to Unicorn Gundam Statue in Koto
\- Head to Shibuya after and just stroll there
\- We might go and do the Mario Go Kart for an hour

Day 3 (Oct 8, Sunday)
\- Ameyoko for breakfast
\- Pokemon DX center in Nihonbashi
\- Godzilla Statue in Chiyoda
\- Suga Jinja for Your Name movie photo op (lol)
\- We’re gonna end the day in Shibuya and just stroll around there until our train to Nagano

Day 4, 5 and 6 (We’re in Nagano and we’re going to visit family)

Day 6 at night, we head to Osaka

Day 7 (Oct 12, Thursday)
\- Universal Studios Japan

Day 8 (Oct 13, Friday)
\- Chill day after USJ
\- Roam around Osaka
\- Osaka Castle
\- Shinsaibashi
\- Dotonbori at night

Day 9 (Oct 14, Saturday)
\- Early morning go to Kyoto
\- Try to hit up the Fushimi Inari early in the morning
\- Then the bamboo forest
\- We’re planning on just trying to enjoy our time until the sun sets and there’s not a lot of people to go to the Shrines and just take pictures around at night
\- If we can’t go home due to curfew for trains, we’re ok to spend the night here

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Day 10 (Oct 15, Sunday)
\- If we’re in Kyoto, we’re gonna try and start early to hit a few stores to shop for tea
\- Head to Nara
\- Stroll around Nara Park
\- Head back to Osaka
\- Shop around Dotonbori

Day 11 (Oct 16, Monday)
\- Take our time in the morning
\- Head back to Tokyo in the afternoon
\- Probably try and see Hachiko

Day 12 (Oct 17, Tuesday)
\- We go to Meiji Jingu early in the morning
\- Harajuku
\- Shinjuku then head to Akihabara to spend most of the day there for anime shopping

Day 13 (Oct 18, Wednesday)
\- Tokyo Disney Sea

Day 14 (Oct 19, Thursday)
\- Shopping for gifts, and souvenirs
\- Go to Yoyogi Park for a picnic

Day 15 (Oct 20, Friday)
\- Head back home

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We just want to enjoy Japan as much as we can without feeling too cramped and stressed about where and what to do. Is this an “Ok” itinerary, I know it’s a little vague and it’s not super packed but that’s honestly what we want, to take a time and stroll around. Our luggage wouldn’t be a problem, we’re going to ship them from the airport to Nagano, then from Nagano to Tokyo. Otherwise, we’ll have a small suit case for our clothes and a backpack to travel back and forth with.

For this, would you suggest getting a JR Pass?

Thank you so much for your response!