Itinerary Check for a 10 Day Trip to Japan, May 2021

10 comments

1. I do not think that there is a Gundam near Haneda airport. Do you mean the one in Odaiba ? It’s not exactly on the way between the airport and Shinjuku, you might prefer to do it on a separate day.

   Day 4, Tokyo is not especially known for onsen, so that seems a bit random for me to put on that day without knowing if there is an easy to access onsen. One optio is to go to Onsen monogatari in Odaiba, even if it’s a bit more ‘theme park’ than real onsen.

   Day 5 is a bit all over the place, Joypolis is on Odaiba, so that is the day you should go see the Gundam. Skytree will be a bit out of the way, I think it work a bit better to do Asakusa and Skytree together. No idea what you mean by “dome”

   One otaku place you have not on your list is Nakano Broadway.

   I think that depending on days, I feel some are empty appart from restaurant, and other a bit full. In any case, it’s not too hard to shuffle things around.

   For budget, you, it can be ok. I personally aim for 100$ a day, including accommodation, but I’m the type of person who go to hostel. Overall, it depend how much you want to eat/drink (like going to bars almost daily), hot much shopping you want to do, etc. It should be ok if you have a good deal on the airplane ticket.

   There is not really a cost efficient solution for transport. You just group things that are close to each other on the same day to avoid taking too much train/subway. You can always check to get one of the subway ticket, but you need to take it enough time to make it save you money and there is still locations that would not be covered. To make it easy for payment, just go with a Pasmo or Suica.

2. Depending on your flights in and out, you may actually lose 2 days as lots of places seemed to keep odder hours compared to the host of 24 hour and long hours of US based travel.
   My last trip we stayed at the APA Kanda Ekimae which was walking distance to Akihabara and had a ton of food choices, and right on the Yamanote line.

   I wouldn’t put DonQuijote as a specific trip, if you were anything like us, you will stop in at many Donquis over the course of your trip for everything from shoe inserts to pillows to souvenirs and snacks.

   Personally I wouldn’t forcefully plan too much each day, you will really want to have a few key points in each area that you want to hit, and then wander between them.

   Just some places you may want to look into
   Meguro River
   Ueno Zoo
   Ginza, especially around the Kabuki Theater
   Harajuku
   Nakano Broadway
   Yodobashi Camera Akiba’s Toy floor

   is the $2500-3000 per person or combined? Does that include airfare? does that include hotel?
   Hotel and Airfare can eat almost all of that. Especially with 3 people as most cheaper hotels have a limit of 2 people per room, so an AirBnB option may work better. Flights may be cheap with stops (for me its $500 with a stop into Canada, or $1000 direct)
   To me most things were reasonably priced, especially food and such, where you can grab good food at 7-11 or even chain sushi places for fairly cheap (then again, what I consider cheap may not fit your definition of cheap)

   While the train system is great it can add up quickly, but is usually worth it. one thing to note is that while the city is huge on the map getting from one area to the next is possible by walking and usually is easier than it looks due to the natural build up around train stations. For example walking from Kanda Station to Akihabara Station is quite easy

3. Hi! Looks like a fun trip. Just a few tips:

   I know the other commenter already mentioned that the order of some things don’t make sense, which I would agree with. Tokyo is an extremely large city, and it can take an hour to get from one side to the other by metro. Before I went on my trip, I would put all of the different routes in google maps, just to make sure I wasn’t inadvertently giving myself unnecessary hours of travel time. Just make sure you adjust for the time difference!

   I am no anime expert, but there are two things I’m not seeing on your itinerary that you might be interested in. One is the Kanda Myojin shrine in Akihabara, which appears in some anime and is a common stop on the otaku pilgrimage. I didn’t know which anime it was from, but I still found it to be a welcome respite from what can be kind of an overwhelming experience.

   Another common stop is the “Your Name” stairs in Shinjuku. They’re a little bit out of the way, but if you’re already in Shinjuku it’s not too bad. There’s a really lovely little shrine at the top as well.

   I would be prepared to have a couple alternate dates/times for your Ghibli Museum trip. Tickets are notoriously difficult to get, and you’ll want to have a few backup options. If you haven’t read up on how to get tickets yet, make sure you’re prepared. You really do have to get them the second they go on sale. It’s not impossible, but I have many friends who weren’t able to go because they didn’t do their research.

   To answer one of your questions, the most cost-effective transportation will be the metro. Tokyo’s metro system is second to none, and will get you just about everywhere you need to go. Uber isn’t really a thing in Tokyo. There are plenty of taxis, but they’re fairly pricy and unnecessary. Some tourist sites will recommend you get a JR Pass, but if you are only traveling within Tokyo, you will not get your money’s worth. The JR Pass is best for people who are taking the bullet train to Kyoto or elsewhere (and even then it’s not always worth it).

4. Most people don’t recommend Skytree as it’s very expensive. If money isn’t a problem then go for it, but a great (free) alternative to do on your Shinjuku day is to go to the Shinjuku government building which is free to go up to and there is a cafe/bar at the top so you could have a drink there then go to Golden Gai for more drinks.

   I recommend going to Nakano Broadway for nerd culture (much cheaper than Akihabara and in my opinion more fun) then go to the Jojo bar. Then maybe follow that up with Kareoke and a gaming arcade (they are all in the same area – lots of great bars in Nakano)

5. For first time travellers:
   – do not jay walk EVER
   – there are barely any rubbish/trash bins in Japan, you are expected to take your trash with you and dispose at home so make sure you have a plastic bag with you or consume at the convenience store and throw away stuff there (there are bins inside usually)
   – put your money in the tray
   – take a lot of cash
   – take advantage of the hot drink vending machines
   – take your passport to save tax on large purchases
   – order an unlimited 10day data sim now (they are cheaper outside of Japan) as getting WiFi is difficult (Starbucks and McDonald’s are always available though)
   – take advantage of seasonal food and drink (e.g. sweet potatoes in Autumn/fall and cherry blossom flavour in Spring – it’s delicious!)
   – never go into bars or clubs that have people outside trying to get you in (these are often run by low-level Yakuza that may rip you off – I have heard)
   – be silent on public transport
   – queue for trains, taxis and busses
   – don’t be afraid to ask politely for help and directions and bow as a thank you
   – small police stations (Koban) are very happy to help tourists find their way
   – Japanese Italian food is amazing
   – be incredibly polite and quiet and respectful ESPECIALLY in shrines and temples. Once you are in a bar, people loosen up more
   – Have Coco Ichiban curry at least once
   – be cautious of “rapid service trains” etc – these often completely bypass stations (such as Nakano) you might need a “local service”
   – get the Japan train app to help you navigate and cross-reference this with Google Maps
   – if you get stuck after the last train leaves you can stay in a manga cafe (or manga-kissa) for cheap – CLUB or Kaikatsu CLUB is my favourite
   – if there is a queue outside a restaurant/cafe – this is normal and means the food is exceptional
   – eating out of often cheaper than eating in – do your research and you can eat out every day quite cheaply but the instant food in 7/11, Lawson or Family Mart is really good too if you get stuck

   There are many more but I hope that is a good jumping off point!

6. Did my first time japan trip in September last year. Most amazing trip I’ve ever had and plan on going again within the next year or so. You will most certainly enjoy it.

   For starters keep in mind the trains are crowded, not always but specially during work commute hours, try to keep your bags or backpack in front so you’re not bumping people with it. Trains stop service around midnight-1am and restart around 5am so keep that in mind when going to bars. You could find a capsule hotel or a 24hr karaoke place to stay if you ran past train times. Trains are 99% of the time punctual based on my google map searching and arrival times, barring any accidents. I suggest looking at the areas where you want to go and start saving them on google maps, review the train stations that will take you to the area. I found train traveling much easier once I knew which station I was going, then I would just plug that into google maps, and pay attention to the platform on gmaps.

   For those days you are unsure of, take a train to the outskirts of Tokyo, like Mount Fuji to the west, or saitama to the north, or just keep exploring Tokyo, it’s pretty big. Your budget should allow for all that so long as you don’t spend it lavishly

   Food is amazing most everywhere and they have different dishes depending on your preference. More of a carnivore myself so I ate all kinds of meats, including the best steak I’ve ever had(wagyu). 7-11, lawsons and family mart do carry decent food (egg sandwich, pork buns, chicken nuggets were my go to, along with some boss or Georgia coffee).

   If your group will be staying together for the whole trip then I’d recommend getting a WiFi hotspot device. The 4 of us used it on our trip and we just split the cost of 1 device which worked out great. If you guys are gonna go separate at times then a SIM card may be a better option. Don’t rely on store WiFi as it can be spotty sometimes.

   Always be polite, don’t get drunk and loud(specially while riding trains), learn at least the most basic Japanese words(thank you, excuse me, etc…), if speaking English try to speak in simple words or sentences. relax and enjoy.

   Which airport are you landing?

7. If you’re keen for the souvenir/anime merch side of things then check out Book Off (loads of them – often can find anime art books), Harajuku, and of course Nakano to echo everyone else. I also consistently enjoy and find a lot in Yamashiroya in Ueno!
   Re Sunshine City- You might also enjoy Namja Town which is a couple floors down from J-world

   Also, have a Google for any pop up events/exhibitions etc that may be occurring of any animes you are into – both well in advance and near when you’re due to depart.
   By chance there was a Star Wars pop up event on when we went over which mega excited really added something special to the trip for me

   On note of views, I’ve been to a fair amount of viewing platforms in Tokyo and Skytree is the most expensive but was probably my favourite tbh. I did like Tokyo Tower too though, – a close second. Can’t complain about a freebie with the government buildings but they didn’t quite hit the spot for me. In Roppongi there’s Mori Art Museum which has good views as well but it’s more passive as it’s the exhibitions you go for.

   When in Odaiba you might be interested in Miraikan (tech robot museum) and/or borderless 🙂
   Agree with other comments about maybe a day tri somewhere. It’s nice to get a break from the city and experience more rural Japan, especially if you enjoy anything more historical in (anime or real life!) setting.

8. FYI, J-World is permanently closed last year =(

9. “Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Tokyo Joypolis, Skytree.”

   This day probably won’t work super well with this plan. None of these things are close to each other. Shinjuku and skytree are like opposite ends of the line and Joypolis is on its own little island “Odaiba” and you could easily (and maybe should) spend a day on the island.

   I would advise making Odaiba it’s own day because it’s worth also going to teamlab there which is an amazing experience. In fact I would advise it over Joypolis if I had to pick one. Joypolis is interesting but don’t expect much english which can make a lot of the attractions pretty odd. I went on this one ride by myself and the guide gave me a lot of exposition and I’m just like I’m sorry lol. Also on Odaiba Venus fort is a mall that is worth a walk through has a neat look to it.

   Also I saw you mention Gundam. You could probably fit that into the Odaiba day instead there is a big gundam statue and store at the divercity mall. Also the ferris wheel is neat like 600 yen if I recall?

10. If you really want to see a full-size Gundam, I would strongly suggest the soon to open [Gundam Factory in Yokohama](https://gundam-factory.net/), over the full-size Gundam in Tokyo. The Gundam in Tokyo is just a statue, so it just stands there and has some lights on it. The one in Yokohama will have fully moving arms, head, legs, everything except walking and flying, really. It’s gonna be badass.