Me and a friend are heading to Japan in a few weeks and will be exploring for 8 days around Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Nara.
First timers in Japan and the trip will be a bit heavy on the anime and shopping side.
JR pass and event tickets have already been purchased in advance (with exception to some areas where I’m on the fence).
For non-JR pass related travel, will be getting a new Suica card to fill in those transportation gaps (likely in the morning of day 2).
Other than that, here is the day by day breakdown:
**May 8 (Monday, Day 1):**
* Arrive at NRT at 4:15 PM
* Get the JR pass, take the Narita Express to **Shinjuku**
* Evening: Check into hotel in Shinjuku and explore Golden Gai/Kabukicho
**May 9 (Tuesday, Day 2):**
* Morning: Walk to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
* Afternoon: Go from Shinjuku to **Nakano** and explore Nakano Broadway
* Evening: Take train back to Shinjuku for a quick break, then to **Ikebukuro** and shop around the area
**May 10 (Wednesday, Day 3):**
* Morning: Check out of hotel in Shinjuku, then go to **Shibuya** (Shibuya Crossing, Shibuya Sky, Hachiko Statue)
* Afternoon: Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka
* Evening: Check into hotel in **Namba** and explore Den Den Town
**May 11 (Thursday, Day 4):**
* Morning: Day trip in **Kyoto** and take train from Namba to **Fushimi Inari**
* Afternoon: Take train from Fushimi Inari to **Arashiyama** (Bamboo Forest, Monkey Park)
* Evening: back to Namba, explore Dotonbori
*I’m debating going to Arashiyama as reviews have been mixed and we’ll be there when the area is busiest. If you’ve got any other suggestions for the Kyoto day trip, that would be much appreciated!*
**May 12 (Friday, Day 5):**
* Morning: Take the train and do half a day in **Nara** (Nara Park)
* Afternoon: Take train back to Namba for quick break, then to **Solaniwa Onsen**
**May 13 (Saturday, Day 6):**
* Morning: Check out of hotel in Namba
* Afternoon: Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo
* Evening: Check into hotel in **Akihabara** and explore the area
**May 14 (Sunday, Day 7):**
* Morning: Take train to Odaiba for **teamLab Planets**
* Afternoon: Take the bus to **Ginza** to do a little shopping
* Evening: Head back to the hotel and explore **Ueno**
**May 15 (Monday, Day 8):**
* Morning: Check out of hotel in Akihabara
* Afternoon: **????**
* Evening: Depart out of NRT at 6:15 PM
*Will have a half day between checking out of hotel and heading to the airport. Currently don’t have any mandatory visits in mind to fill this gap. Possibly a visit to Harajuku or Asakusa, or revisiting one of the districts we’ve already went to.*
Thanks in advanced for all the help!
6 comments
Question: why Osaka as the base and not Kyoto? I ask because there’s more to see and do in Kyoto. Otherwise looks good. Asakusa is closer than Harajuku to Akiba and also closer to NRT. Or maybe Tsukiji?
If you don’t mind 2nd hand, but in decent condition anime goods, I recommend checking out Surugaya. Just google them because there’s multiple locations in the areas you’ll be in like Denden town, Akihabara, etc. A short walk north from Denden town is Kuromon market for some street eats. The sights alone are different/interesting. Oh and in Shibuya, the Parco bldg might be of interest because the 6flr is focused on anime/character goods. There’s the Pokemon center, Capcom store, Jump shop, and Nintendo store all on that floor.
What exactly do you want to see in Arashiwama? It’s on the opposite side of the city compared to Fushimi. Higashiyama would be closer.
It’s a detail but planets is in Toyosu not Odaiba.
I have not been to Kyoto and cannot account for Arashiyama other than the fact that it can get very crowded.
This would require a day trip from Tokyo, but consider Kamakura. There are various temples but Hokokuji has a small bamboo grove. We went in the afternoon and it wasn’t crowded at all. It’s ¥200 to enter and I think ¥900 if you want to include entrance + cup of matcha with Higashi (dried sweets). Totally worth it imo. Kamakura is also home to the 2nd largest Buddha statue in Japan.
Agree with the other poster about visiting the Parco building in Shibuya, there’s the Nintendo Store, a Pokémon Center and other anime type shops. Although I found my favourite Pokémon Center was the DX one in Nihonbashi near Tokyo Station.
Ueno might be better during the day because it’s mostly museums, parks etc. There is the Ameyoko shopping, not sure how late that goes.
The shrines in Kyoto will be busy during the day. You could stay one night and do one (like fushimi early in the morning).
I did a similar trip recently, and I would say we did not enjoy Arashiyama as much as we expected. Only spent about 1 hour in the area max, partially because of crowds, and because it was kind of repetitive once you get past the first bit of bamboo. If that’s important to you, definitely a good experience but as others said, opposite side of Kyoto, so may not be worth it.
We did a kimono experience in Gion in the afternoon, then walked around the older district and went to Kiymizudera for pics. Pretty crowded in mid afternoon but still a lot of fun! If you are anime nerds (like myself) you may enjoy it! We were able to do our kimonos around noon, leave by 4 and made it to Osaka by 6pm.