Hi Everyone
I’m planning to visit Japan from India for 10 days- October 7-17 2023.
The itinerary I made is from my love towards anime, Japanese culture, food and electronics.
Please note-
\- The sequence of the places are from morning to evening- The locations are picked according to my likes and interests
Constructive criticism and recommendations are welcomed.
# Day 1 Tokyo-
* **Chuo City**\- Tsukiji Market- Early morning for fresh street food and knife stores
* **Toshima City-** Kitkat Chocolatory- AFAIK the only place which has Variety Party pack (multiple flavours in one pack)
* **Shibuya-** Parco Building- Anime shopping- Jump Shop, Pokemon Center, Nintendo Store & Chaos Kitchen- for Ramen
* **Shibuya-** Hachiko Statue- if you want to
* **Don Quijote-** A good place to shop for souvenirs the SHibuya one has the biggest collection
* **Shinjuku-** Tokyo Govt Metropolitan Building (46 Floor, Observation Deck, Free of charge)
* **Shinjuku Toho building**\– Godzilla head- you can travel up to see the head up close
* **Golden Gai-** For affordable food and drinks. Recommendation- Death Match in Hell for drinks
* **Omoide Yokocho-** Good alternate to Golden Gai
* **Hub British Pub-** For good music and drinks
# Day 2 Tokyo-
* **Shibuya-** Meijijingu Shrine 6 AM ¥500 YEN entry fee. Get Goshuin stamp and Omikuji fortune (payable extra)
* **Shibuya-** Anakuma Cafe where a bear paw serves you takeaway coffee
* **Yokohama-** Nissin Cup Noodle Museum- Tuesday Closed, ¥500 for admission and ¥500 for Custom Noodle Cup creation
* **Yokohama-** Gundam Factory to see the life sized moving Gundam. [More info](https://gundam-factory.net/en/attraction/)
* **Shibuya-** Shibuya Scramble Square- Shibuya Sky and bar. Best enjoyed at night. ¥2000 entry free. [buy ticket online](https://www.shibuya-scramble-square.com.e.apy.hp.transer.com/sky/ticket/)
* **Shibuya-** Baia Club for nightlife
# Day 3 Tokyo-
* **Bunkyo City-** Nezu Shrine 9:30 AM entry time
* Excelsior Cafe (Multiple locations). Famous for Cremia Ice cream
* **Odaiba-** TeamLab Planets- A must go. [Book ticket here](https://teamlabplanets.dmm.com/en/ticket/admission_date/f897550045edb8c5ee7d14686a8b0a43)
* Odaiba- Small world Miniature museum
* Odaiba- Aqua City- Joy Polis indoor amusement park
* Odaiba- Aqua City- Ramen Kokukigan (multiple ramen place)
* Odaiba- Poop museum if you want o have a different experience
* Odaiba- Fuji TV Building (Observation Deck and Ground Floor has Jump Shop for anime related shopping)
* Odaiba- Diver City- Unicorn Gundam. [Timing](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/tokyo/odaiba-and-tokyo-bay/attractions/unicorn-gundam/a/poi-sig/1589199/1323666)
* **Shinjuku/Shibuya-** Monkeycart for go karting across cities in Tokyo (Starts at ¥14000). [More info](https://www.monkey-kart.com//). You’ll need International Driving Permit for this.
# Day 4 Mt Fuji-
* Take bus till Mishima Station
* Explore Hakone region
* Visit Koyodai Observatory for good view
# Day 5 Kyoto-
* Fushimi inari- Shrine opens at 6AM
* Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple
* **Arashiyama-** Bamboo forest
* Kinkakuli (Golden Temple)
* **Ninenzaka street**\- Machiya Starbucks- Famous for its traditional architechtural design
* Yasaka Pagoda
# Day 6 Kyoto-
* **Nishiki Market-** Opens at 9.30AM, famous for street food
* Kichi Kichi Omurice- Made famous by a flambouyant chef. [Book here](https://kichikichi.com/en/menu/)
* Nanzen-ji Temple (Stone temple)
* **Pontocho-** Happy Stand bar, good place to have beer and they let you scribble on the table
* Macha House for their tasty Matchiya Tiramisu and Parfait
* Ten, Higashiyama, Kyoto- for great coffee
# Day 7 Osaka-
* Uncle Rikoru Cheesecake- for jiggly cheesecake
* Visit more than 40 of Osaka’s famous tourist attractions for free, as well as unlimited rides on buses and subways. Purchase an [Osaka Amazing Pass](https://www.osp.osaka-info.jp/en/) to enjoy the following and more places. Osaka castle, Umeda sky building, Hep 5 ferris wheel and more
* **Dotonbori-** for street food and nightlife
# Day 8 Osaka to Nara and Back-
* Nara+Wakayama
* Todai-ji Temple, Nara Park to see Bowing deer
* Kuromon Market (less crowded, more spacious)
* Shinsekai market in evening
# Day 9 Back to Tokyo- Shopping in Akihabara
* Keeping shopping for last days so that one doesn’t need to pull heavy luggage while travelling
* Good places to shop Anime stuff- Animate, Mandarake (lower ground floor has good manga collection, Radio Kaikan-Ami Ami, Yellow Submarine )
* Good Places to shop for electronics- Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera
* Good places to shop for souvenirs- Don Quijote, Can do (¥100 Shop), 3 coins+ (¥100 Shop), Watts, Daiso (¥100 Shop)
# Day 10 Tokyo-
* Book hotel which is closer to train stations so that you can reach NRT or HND on time.
* Gotokuji Temple- Cat temple
* Asahi Sky room
* Benitsuru pancakes
* Tokyo Sky tree
# Few tips-
* Purchase [JR Pass](https://www.jrpass.com/buy-the-japan-rail-pass-online?trans=bc1qugrtknpjz52vc4m559q7zumkc4268kp7skrsee&offer_id=19) only if you are making ling trips. Post October 2023, prices will hike by almost 125%
* JR pass can be used within 3 months from the date of purchase
* Affordable Food can be purchased from Konbini’s like 7 Eleven, Lawsons and Family Mart.
* If you are planning to stay in Tokyo and travel a lot, purchasing a [Tokyo Subway Ticket](https://www.klook.com/en-IN/activity/1552-subway-ticket-tokyo/) makes sense. As you will save a lot of money in train/subway fare
* SUICA/PASMO card can be purchased from the airports
* Rental pocket Wi-fi or SIM cards can be purchased from Airport.
* Important medicine if needed, [click here](https://jw-webmagazine.com/7-essential-medicines-in-japan-which-will-save-your-life-54c7d8d7e675/%20Tokyo%20Rail%20Mail)
* Use Japan Travel app along with Google Maps for accurate journeys.
3 comments
Day 5 looks nuts. Also while nishiki open at 9:30 l would go a bit later as a lot of places open later.
If you’re bothering to go to Toshima City (I assume Ikebukuro?) you may as well look around while you’re there. I feel like you’re going to Shibuya and Shinjuku a lot and missing out on other areas like Ueno, Harajuku, Ikebukuro, etc.
Hello!
Not sure if you will have any real jet lag coming from India but you might want to factor in that on your first few days. Just some general thoughts:
Day 1:
– Golden Gai is a cool place to get drinks (if a bit overrated) but it’s not really somewhere I’d rush to go to for food. A lot of good food options around Shinjuku I’d go to first before there. Also for “affordable drinks” it can get expensive because of the table charges. If you are just popping in for one drink the table charge will make it more expensive than a normal bar.
– Hub is a pretty generic chain of western bars, in a area with so many novel and unique bars I’d personally skip it.
Day 2:
– most people make yokohama a day trip but you could probably do what you are planning here, it’s just a lot of travelling around (unless your hotel is in/near Shibuya)
– the Gundam is a small walk from the station (maybe like 20min) and if you want to see it move you need to wait till the performance times (roughly once an hour?)
Day 3:
– that’s a lot of stuff in one day. You will likely want to spend some time in many of those places (small worlds is really cool, joyopolis is fun but you also need to wait in line for rides etc)
– doing the go karts is generally frowned upon because it is fairly annoying to the locals.
Some general points for the remaining days:
– the fuji and Hakone area are separate and not very close to each other. Since it seems like you are also using this day as a transition day between Tokyo and Kyoto you won’t have that much time to do stuff in the area.
– day 5 is way too packed, a lot of these places are far away from each other and will rely on bus transfers. The next day seems pretty light so I’d move some stuff over.
– I personally would not buy that Tokyo Subway Ticket and just tap on/off at stations because it seems like a pain to have to show a station attendant that every time.
– like the other post said you should check out some other districts other than Shinjuku and Shibuya.
Finally, as another brown dude don’t sleep on Indian food in Japan, it’s really good.