Itinerary Check – 18 days

Day 1 – land at 6pm
– check into hotel in Akihabara
– go find food
– go find drinks
-go to sleep
Day 2 – Hakone
– sleep in
– find food
– train to Hakone (maybe romance car?)
– leave bags at ryokan
– wander around until checkin
– sit in private onsen all night then go to bed
Day 3 – Ghibli Park
– wake up
– ryokan breakfast
– train to bus to Ghibli (will take forever I think)
– Ghibli park 12-6ish
– bus to train to Kyoto (any tips?)
Day 4 – Kyoto Day 1 (my birthday)
– zenrin-ji
-kōdaji
-Yasaka shrine
-Nishiki Market
– Gion Corner
– Kyoto manga museum
– find yummy birthday dinner reservation
Day 5 – Kyoto (Halloween?)
– torii
– nori castle
– kinkakuji
Bus! Or something
– kifune jinja
– mt kurama
– yuki shrine
Day 6 – Kyoto
– rent bikes maybe?
– horinji temple
– arashiyama monkey park
– togetsu kyo bridge
-hogon-in
– tenryu-ji temple (lunch here)
– kameyama park
– bamboo forest
Day 7 – Osaka/Universal
– train to Osaka, leave bags at hotel
– universal all day
– explore Osaka at night on foot (hotel in nanba)
Day 8 – Day trip to Nara
– see deer
-eat Mochi
-harusika sake brewery
– maybe go check out the art forest
– back to Osaka
Day 9 – night in koyasan
– morning in Osaka
– travel to koyasan (tips?)
– night in temple, wander around
– fire ceremony thing
Day 10 – Koyasan to Osaka to Tokyo
– trip back to Osaka
– see daytime things we missed on previous nights
– late train to Tokyo
Day 11 – Sanrio Puroland
– Sanrio
– Gundam Factory if we leave Sanrio a little early
– Ramen Museum (open until 9)
Day 12 – Tokyo Disney
Day 13 – Haranuku & Shinjuku
– go buy stuff and find snacks
Day 14 – Ghibli Museum & Shibuya
– go to Ghibli museum
– go wander around Shibuya
Day 15 – Akihabara
– just hit up a list of stores in Akihabara (super potato, mandarake, etc.)
– maybe Tokyo dome?
Day 16 – Imperial Palace & Ginza
– go stare at palace in morning
– Tokyo Character Street
– Pokémon Center
– Sanrio World Ginza
(Also just wandering around both areas)
Day 17 – Ueno & Nakamise
– more wandering and shopping
Day 18 – Team Planets
– go to first team planets reservation in morning
– go check out unicorn gundham
– odaiba seaside park
– Haneda airport by 4ish for 6pm flight

I have separate lists of stores and restaurants and some additional shrines and temples mapped out but I don’t like to trap myself into one set of plans if I find something else cool so I don’t keep them in my main itinerary. Suggestions? I know my Osaka and Kyoto days are a bit crazy but I tried to break them up.

Would this itinerary be worth getting a JR pass for? My Hakone to Kyoto and Osaka to Tokyo trips are more than a week apart so that’s a bit frustrating.