My husband and I will be in Japan from July 7-25 for our honeymoon. We’re into history, food, culture, movies, and just generally exploring new places. We decided not to travel to too many different locations because it sounded stressful to change hotels so frequently, and because we kind of want to get a feel for the cities we’ll be in and be able to take things fairly slow and relaxed. Anyway, here’s our current itinerary. Any advice is welcome! Please note that I am aware it will be very hot and humid! We also have no interest in Teamlabs, Ghibli Museum, Universal Studios, or Disney!
July 6: Fly from USA to Haneda
July 7: Land in Haneda around 3pm. Arrive at hotel some time in the early evening. The hotel is in Shinjuku, so I assume we’ll either get food and wander around a bit before bed, or just get food and go to bed immediately.
July 8: We’ll be jet-lagged, so the plan is to spend more time exploring Shinjuku. We also have a food tour that evening which will hopefully help us get our bearings.
July 9: Hanazono Shrine Antique Market in Shinjuku; Tokyo romantic flea market in Shibuya; explore Shibuya; make our way to Harajuku. (**Is Shibuya and Harajuku too much for one day?**)
July 10: Akihabara; Jimbocho. Nothing else planned here, open to suggestions.
July 11: Hakone day trip. I’m still not 100% sold on Hakone and am willing to think about other day trips, but Hakone seems easiest. I doubt we would do the ropeway/cable car/pirate ship etc – **is Hakone cool to just walk around in? I would love to see more rural areas but I just don’t think that will happen on this trip, especially considering we don’t speak the language. I was looking into Nikko but I worry that it would be somewhat difficult to get to for a day trip?**
July 12: Free day in Tokyo. Open to suggestions. I’m considering Shimokitazawa
July 13. Tokyo to Kyoto. **Should we book our shinkansen tickets in advance (like, before we leave the USA)**? Or is it okay to just buy at the station? We’re staying at a ryokan near Arashiyama for one night, so this day will be for travel and relaxing after a busy week.
July 14: Arashiyama – bamboo forest, temples, general sightseeing. **I would love to take the Sagano Scenic Railway, has anyone done this? Should I get tickets in advance?** Then Gion Matsuri Yoiyoiyoiyama in the evening, and check into our hotel in downtown Kyoto
July 15: Kinkaju-ji in the morning. Afternoon in downtown Kyoto, specifically the Nishjin district/weaving museum. Otherwise just walk around. Suggestions welcome! Festival in the evening.
July 16: Nara day trip. The usual Nara stuff. Festival in the evening unless we’re festival’d out
July 17: Gion Matsuri parade in the morning. Toei Studio park in the afternoon to see the giant Eva.
July 18: Explore Gion – Kiyomizu-dera, Kōdai-ji, Nanzen-ji, philosopher’s path
July 19: Day trip to Osaka. Absolutely nothing planned here yet.
July 20: Kyoto back to Tokyo. Our hotel is in Ueno, so this day will be for travel, explore the Ueno area, and rest.
July 21: Ueno Park, the zoo, Tokyo National Museum, other museum-y things in the area
July 22: Yanaka Cemetery, Asaskusa. Fireworks in Adachi in the evening.
July 23: Day trip to Kawasaki to visit the Open Air Folk House Museum **- is this worth it? Other things to do in Kawasaki? Or is there a different day trip that’s better worth our time?** I would love to not travel super far since I suspect we’ll be pretty exhausted by this point
July 24: Anything we want to do again, souvenir shipping, general free day. Maybe wander around Ginza? I would like to visit the National Film Archive if possible so this might be the day to do it.
July 25: Flight leaves from Haneda at 5pm so we’ll probably have breakfast somewhere but otherwise it’s going to be a travel day.
In addition to the bolded questions, does anyone have any suggestions for film-related things to do in the Tokyo or Kyoto area? I have a handful of arthouse/indie theaters I’m looking into and I definitely want to see something at the big Toho theater, and we’re doing Toei Studio Park and hopefully the film archive, but if I’m missing something please let me know! I would also love to see some live music, especially things that are more punk-ish. Jazz also.
I also was wondering about advanced tickets for things. I’m having a hard time telling if everything needs a reservation or if it’s just the really popular things. I would like to see a Kabuki performance at some point, probably at Kabuki-za. Are advance tickets necessary for that? And if so, how far in advance? Do all the theme cafes require advance reservations, or is it just the big names like Pokemon and Kirby? Do I need to buy train tickets for day trips in advance or can I get them on the day? I would love to be able to be as flexible as possible and not have a super strict schedule, so the thought of having to reserve everything is making me anxious!
Thank you!
1 comment
Hi,
I will comment on Kyoto cause that is what I know. Not commenting on tokyo, not because its perfect, but I lack experience… well mostly…
day 11 Hakone: famous for its views of mount fuji, and its modes of transport. it is a day trip, but you cant do it all. I think it is a very valid idea for you to do this daytrip. However. Usually, people recommend not fixing Hakone to a certain day but trying to keep it flexible, in other words. dont set a day when to go to hakone, wait until the weather is clear enough to see fujisan – that is the day to go to hakone. so maybe july 8-12 is the window for hakone. swap with the other day. perfect
july 13th: you can book the shinkansen in japan a few days before. it is not expected to be super busy season. if you can figure out how to and everything, you can do it in the US, but I suggest doing it like a day before you hop on the flight, not tomorrow…
july 14: honeymoon. summer. absolutely do the scenic railway, and if you guys like water and adventure maybe take the boat back. if you can figure out how to book that in advance, that might be well worth it. otherwise, be at the station where they sell the tickets EARLY, expect quite long lines, and places on the train are limited, which means you may not get tickets for the next train but for the one after that…
then I suggest you see tenryuji+garden, exit the garden at the back and you will be standing at the bamboo grove. if you walk through there, dont miss the okochi sanso garden, and consider heading to nonomiya shrine (or do so when heading to the train station)
now depending on how much time you invested in the railway and how slow you walked (which is not a bad thing!), it may be time to head back to switch hotels. if its 2pm, before 3.30pm, and you feel ambitious, you could head to Jōjakkō-ji Temple, its a climb but you get a nice look on kyoto. or head to Giō-ji Temple, its a bit farther, but quite nice (theres more in this corner but I think time will be running out)
july 15: if you are near kinkakuji, you could just as well add Ryoanji. feasable for a morning if you start early. ryoanji opens 1h before kinkakuji if I am not mistaken. Kitano Tenmangu may be on your way to Nishjin. I like that part of kyoto (Kitano), its very relaxed. there is also the “famous” yokai street you could walk. but dont make ANY significant detours, that attraction is a “while you there” one, not a “go there” one…
day 16: nara. if you find time to spare when heading back, consider stopping in uji or fushimi for fushimi inari
july 18: higashiyama. good.
july 19: when you have been in tokyo and return, I am not sure you need osaka. maybe add a kyoto day. you mentioned the more rural aspects earlier. how about you make a daytrip to kibune and see the kifune shrine, and sit on the river and eat (very famous sommer heat escape spot). how about you head up to mount hiei (Hieizan), use the cablecar to go up. maybe see the garden museum up there. should be a little colder up there. you could also see enryakuji up there, but, actually I found it not so spectacular and very confusing. and there is better stuff to do. head back down and further on to Ohara. sanzen-in there is beautiful and there are a few more spots there, just walk the path/explore/follow the crowd… its a little rural there too
other day trips could be amanohashidate (outside Kyoto, up north at the sea), or even himeji (very outside kyoto) if you want to see the prettiest castle.