I was able to get a $400 round trip ticket from Canada to Japan, so I am planning on visiting Japan (mainly Tokyo) for the first time in late March-early April. I would love some advice on how my itinerary looks! I am specifically looking for advice on travel times/which pass to get! I’m planning on buying tickets for attractions/making reservations as far in advance as possible as well, if anyone has any insight into that. Thanks so much!
Background: solo female traveler in my early 20s, I have traveled solo before, but I usually have friends or family in the area I’m visiting (this will be the case for Tokyo as well). I don’t have a strict budget at all! I am structuring this trip around shopping and having fun trying all the new experiences, as I have been a big J-fashion aficionado for a long time. However, I obviously want to see some sights!
NOTE: I’m sticking to walking and train for this trip unless I really need an Uber for some reason. I’m a terrible driver.
Day 1: Arrive at Haneda at 5 PM. Take Keikyu Airport Line, transfer to Asakusa Line at Keisei-Narita, get off at Higashi-Nihombashi and arrive at my accommodations in Ginza. I’ll probably grab something at a conbini for dinner, as I imagine I’ll get to Ginza around 8 based off how long customs and such will take. QUESTION: Would I be able to walk around Ginza/do any touristy things my first night? I normally am able to breeze through customs, but I also normally travel at less tourist-heavy times of year.
Day 2: Wake up around 8 AM, and from Higashi-Nihombashi station, take Asakusa Line, transfer to Oedo Line to Azabu Juban station.
In Azabu I will be going to a beauty clinic for at least two hours, and then am planning on seeing some of the Sailor Moon locations (Azabuhikawa Shrine, Arisugawa-no-miya park) and then walking over to Tokyo Tower and Zojo-iji Temple. I expect this to take up the majority of the day. I then plan to walk back to Azabujuuban to meet my friend for the Sailor Moon dinner theater show, and then metro back to Ginza around 9 PM.
Day 3: Wake up at 9, grab breakfast, and depart from Kodemmacho Station to Akihabara Station.
I am meeting up with a tour group to do a 3 hour tour of Akihabara (FWIW I actually love tour groups). After the tour is over, I’m meeting another pal at the Akiba owl cafe, as she’s a big fan.
Our plan was to then pick up lunch at a conbini, and from Akihabara Station transfer lines and get off at Kojimachi station, walk to Chidorigafuchi park and have Hanami.
Our plan from there was to walk to Kojimachi Station, take the Yurakucho Line to Yurakucho Station and see a Mangekyo Show, then walk to a nearby bar, have a drink and head back home.
Day 4: I’m taking a brief detour to Nara and Kyoto! My plan was to check out of my accommodation around 8, take Nozomi Shinkansen to Nara and arrive in Nara around 1 PM. I was planning on dropping my luggage off at the ryokan I’m staying at, grab lunch and explore Nara Park, Toda-ji and Daibutsuden, walk back to my ryokan, grab dinner and hit the onsen. I mainly wanted to see Nara and relax in a more traditional setting.
Day 5: I’m departing from Nara at 8 AM, taking the Nara line to Kyoto Station and dropping my bags off at my accommodation. I expect to make it there by 10 – 10:30 AM. After that, my day is pretty empty! I’m open for suggestions. I am staying near Shinkyogoku, and I will be visiting the Samurai Experience, but other than that I have a lot of time on my hands.
Day 6: I agreed to take an 8 hour tour of Kyoto UNESCO heritage sites with a friend. We’ll be seeing pretty much everything I wanted to see in Kyoto. That’s going to take up most of my day
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Day 7: I return to Tokyo! I’m planning on taking the Nozomi Shinkansen back to Tokyo, and leaving around 8 AM, which should put me in Shibuya around 12, which is where I’ll be based for the rest of my trip.
My plan for today was to take to visit the Odaiba Oedo Onsen Monogatari for a good portion of the day, and around 6 or 7, explore Odaiba and take the Palette Town ferris wheel. Open for suggestions about what else to do, where to eat!
Day 8: My big Shibuya day! Would love recommendations on where to grab a bite for breakfast, as I’m staying about a 10 min walk from Center Gai. My plan was to go shopping, see Hachiko and Meiji Jinju, do more shopping, get lunch, visit the Hedgehog cafe in Harajuku and then take the Chuo Line to Nakano Station to do more shopping at Nakano Broadway.
QUESTION: Does anyone have recommendations for an English-speaking nail salon to get nail art done? I’m thinking about getting that and eyelash extensions done while I’m staying in Shibuya. I was going to head back to Shibuya and get sushi at Genki Sushi when I’m done at Nakano Broadway
Day 9: My big Harajuku day! Would love breakfast and lunch recommendations. I’m going to be checking out the stores on Takeshita Street, and hitting up Kiddy Land and Laforet. I’m also going to the minipig cafe. This is mainly a shopping/rest day, so if you know any good spots to chill and people watch, let me know! I was planning on going to Ichiran for dinner and then I guess hitting up an izakaya for drinks.
Day 10: Meeting up with another friend and her daughter and doing SanrioPuro and Kawaii Monster. She lives here so I’m letting her take the ropes on today.
Day 11: I’m planning on tackling some heavy hitters today. The plan is to wake up early, head to Odaiba for teamLab Borderless, and from Aomi Station head up to Asakusa to see Nakamise Street, Senso-ji, Asakusa shrine, and finally take the Skytree line for…Skytree.
Would love food suggestions/any insight into how far in advance I should try and reserve tickets
Day 12: Another day of waking up early, and heading into Mitaka for the Ghibli museum. I would also like to try grabbing the cream puffs from Shiro-Hige. After that, I was planning on heading to Ueno Park for some hanami, checking out Ameyoko Street, and on my way back to Shibuya, checking out Character Street. As always, recommendations for where/what to eat are appreciated!
DAY 13: My plan was to visit the Nezu Museum in the morning (gotta see those gardens!) and then shopping in Shinjuku for the rest of the day. I will be visiting a specific shop at Lumine to pick something up for my sibling, but besides that, I’m open for ideas of what else to do!
Day 14: My last day 🙁 My flight departs from Haneda at 5:30 pm, so ideally I’d get to Haneda around 2:30 so I can account for any extra time spent waiting in lines since it’s tourist season. Desperately seeking ideas for what to do with the rest of my day.
Thanks for reading all of this! To summarize, I have a pretty defined idea of what I’d like to do and see, and I have accommodations booked. I’d like help deciding what type of pass to get, whether I’m budgeting my time correctly, and what else I could do! I’ll be visiting Osaka and Kyoto for a wedding in 2022 so I’ll be back again with more questions then!
14 comments
…do the math if a 7-day JR Pass works for you. If you’re flying in via Narita it would make more sense since it covers the fancy-pants JR Narita Express train (I normally take the cheaper Keisei Express) and you can use that as you get in since your Kansai trip at the first half of your trip.
If the pass works out for you, you can use the 72hr Tokyo Metro Pass for travel within Tokyo afterwards. Good coverage IMO. Also, Takeshita street is… ugh. IDK. Everyone’s there. It’s a bloody pain in the arse to move from one end to another. Never again.
For the Odaiba section, you can definitely fit in a general walk around, ferris wheel, teamLab and the onsen in one day. I’d say there is no need to separate teamlab on to another day, use that time for longer in Asakusa or Ueno. The Onsen is cheaper and quieter after 6pm so in our Feb 2020 trip we did all the other bits in Odaiba first and then spent a good 4 or 5 hours in the Onsen after as a nice wind down as we’d done a lot of walking that day! Also worth looking at teamLab Planets, I did both and personally preferred it as it was more streamlined and walking around in the water was unlike any other experience I’d had before!
FYI Meiji Jingu is right next to Harajuku station, while you can walk from the Shibuya station area to the shrine via Ometesando, most people visit it while they’re in the Harajuku neighborhood.
Day 4: you can’t take Nozomi trains with JR Pass.
You may well find yourself waking early in the morning and being sleepy in the evening. Adjust accordingly.
Be prepared to adjust according to the weather.
Ichiran is very run of the mill ramen. Tons of better option in Tokyo.
Due to jetlag you will most likely not wake up at 8 or 9 AM the first couple of days. Plan the day accordingly.
Try conbini food once, but I’d not recommend it often. There are tons of better options. Japan is the land of awesome food.
You probably have heard the truth about owl or animal cafes in general.
Considering luggage, use the luggage forwarding service: takuhaibin, it’s incredibly convenient.
I would do Nara as a day trip from Kyoto. It will be less train in a day and on the day you go to Kyoto you will have time to visit a bit, while Nara is a bit more dead at night.
You definitely won’t need an Uber for Tokyo, the subway takes you everywhere.
My favorite restaurant is sushi in Ginza – Omegaoka Sushi No Midori Sohonten Ginza. Reviews are on Yelp.
Also recommend the 72-hour subway pass for 1500 yen. Amazing deal only available to tourists. Buy it at the airport.
Was that $400 CAD? I thought we were doing well with $700 all-in on AC001/2.
**Nail and eyelashes**
Ok, I’m actually a guy and have never had nail or eyelashes done, but I go to [uka](https://www.uka.co.jp/salons/) several times a year to get my haircut and I really enjoy it. They have a bunch of locations, each with different focuses, but I always go to their salon in Roppongi inside Tokyo Midtown mall, which may be worth a short visit anyway; last summer, there was a Suntory popup outdoor bar on the lawn behind the mall. While most stylists don’t speak English much, they are very friendly and will do their utmost to take care of you. There are a few staff who speak English, including at least one woman at the front desk, but they may not be there when you are. Still, you should be able to secure an appointment by calling and speaking English (they may go get someone who can talk with you), or asking one of your friends to make an appointment for you, or the hotel, or a tourist center/office like the privately-run [Creation Square inside Shibuya station](https://tokyotouristinfo.com/en/detail/M0124), which I think it just a bunch of women who will chat you up and also happen to sell a diverse assortment of tours and random tourist services. I think uka takes appointments by LINE too so you can do it that way. It is a higher end salon and the prices are commensurate (my male haircut is around 95 CAD). Another caveat is I’m not sure if they do nail art like intricate or ‘girly’ designs per se… while the clientele is young with some fashionable older ladies, there aren’t many high schoolers or Harajuku-style girls going there, is what I mean.
**Hanami**
Keep an eye on the cherry blossom forecasts at [japan-guide.com](https://japan-guide.com). It may not be possible to plan which days you will go to Ueno Park and other hanami spots until January/February/March 2021 rolls around. For example, this year, end of March around the 28th was peak bloom at all the popular Tokyo sites, so if next year is an earlier-than-average year like this year, you can’t wait until Day 12 of your 14 day stay.
**Day 8**
I went to that hedgehog cafe before. Someone else mentioned the truth about animal cafes. I’ve read reviews about the shiba inu cafes where the dogs are obviously stressed due to that breed’s general temperament with strangers, but in my short experience, the hedgehog cafe was ok. They were mostly sedentary in their playpen while you sit around it. You could pet them and perhaps cuddle/hold one in your hand. Some individuals will flare their spikes if you disturb them too much.
**Day 1**
Customs is no problem. There are a lot of officers/lines and most people are processed very quickly. The bottleneck is before customs at immigration. Depending on season, the day, and time of day, lines can easily be an hour. However, it may be faster now for you since Canadians can use the new automated machines, I think. Still, there won’t be as much to do in Ginza when you arrive, as I think most of the shops close around that time. For example, the Mitsukoshi department store closes at 8 or 8:30pm and Uniqlo closes at 9pm. I expect most of the smaller shops will close by then too. I think Shinjuku and especially Shibuya have more shops open in the evening. Ginza will still be busy with people going to restaurants. You could visit nearby Kanda, which I think is a popular area for office workers to go after work, with lots of traditional izakayas. Or take a walk on eastern side of the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park. Or even go to Odaiba to see Rainbow Bridge and do some of the other things you wanted since it’s pretty close.
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Kyoto: samurai joe tour! He’s the best
Tokyo: samurai museum. Small but amazing pieces. You will also get to put on a full outfit and get wonderful pics. That alone would make it worth it. Bring a friend.
Tokyo: can’t remember the park. Sunrise was 430am and we got there at 5:30am. We almost had it all to ourselves and it was a spiritual experience! Then the crossing (coffee at Starbucks there) and the government building with the free view is nearby.
Make sure your cellular is working for maps, and also get the suica card on your phone (we had a physical card). Now you can have it in the phone and reload it anytime anywhere.
Your plans were really ambitious.
Make time to just sit, relax, breath and even get lost. Getting lost give you amazing adventures
Given the time of year you might want to take in some of the Sakura season.
hey! I’m actually solo traveling from Toronto the same time as you for three weeks – would you be able to message me with your accommodation recommendations? I’m not too familiar with Japan and am figuring out that I should be booking now :/