Itinerary Check: Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/Niijima + Weird Question

8 comments

1. Kyoto and Osaka are really only about 20-40 minutes apart, you don’t need to take the shinkansen train- there are other local trains you can use the jr pass on as well.

   Do use the luggage forwarding back to Tokyo, there really isn’t much space in the train for luggage and sometimes the trains are very full. Standing room only with luggage isn’t fun for you or the person sitting in the seat next to where you’re standing.

   Maybe you should swap in nijo-jo castle or a garden in between some of those temples in Kyoto. They’re amazing, but it is possible to get temple burnout.

2. mo. 28th: you arrive in kyoto at 4pm. explore the vicinity of your hotel. enjoy gion in the evening. works well

   tu. 29th: I am not sure this will work out like you plan. the bikes will help when you talk getting to otagi nenbutsuji, but, the other stuff is pretty much close to each other. I am not saying you wont save time with a bike compared to walking, but I also think it wont be too much time. locking a bike and backtracking to get it takes time. afaik you cant hike to the monkeys with the bike…
   Walking through the bamboo grove wont take much time and when you exit tenryuji after the garden, you will be standing right next to the entrance. why not walk through…

   we 30th: that might be a little much for a day, depending on how fast you walk and how often you stop to have a look. start early.

   in every drug store you are supposed to be able to get “skin vape” フマキラー スキンベープミスト which is a repellent.

   and now, the very famous… muhi stick anti itch. in most drug stores you will find the muhi stick ムヒ
   it is famous and I know people that ask me to bring them from japan. you’ll be fine.

3. Following for the techno

4. Thanks for the advice! Gotta make sure my luggage doesn’t steal someone’s seat. And temple burnout? Is that a new exercise? 😂

5. I don’t have answers for most of your questions sorry. Just wanted to answer about clothing. Wear whatever you’d like 🙂
   The main thing for me is I have nipple piercings, so I wear a bra (which I usually wouldn’t back home). But I’ve worn short dresses, one shoulder tops,

6. I think the second part of your Aug. 27 in Osaka (after checking in) may be too aggressive unless the plan is to just breeze through the neighborhood. Shinsabashisuji is quite long if you want to go end to end and most stores were closed by 8pm when I went.

   You may also want to figure out where/when you will have dinner. I found myself lining up for lunch/dinner often when I went to Osaka (last month) though I did go to popular places. Line could last as much as 30min or more if you’re towards the back of the line so you might spend an hour even for a 1 dish dinner (and I eat quite quickly).

   No input on the restof the itinerary as I haven’t been. I woudl agree with the other commenter that, unless speed is of utmost importance you can go to Kyoto/Nara/Kobe by regular train since they are quite close. I intended to go on a day trip to one of these and the estimated travel time was pretty quick even for a regular train.

7. For JR Pass, it is indeed not required because there is little to no savings to be made. It is true that you could have more flexibility to do a random day trip anytime the pass is valid. You probably know yourself better to know if you are the kind of person to do unplanned trips.

   If you get it, you might want to activate on the day before as there can be a line to change the pass, so that can make the difference between getting to Osaka by lunch time or after.

   Anti-itch for insect bites exist, no idea how good/strong it is : [https://matcha-jp.com/en/4777](https://matcha-jp.com/en/4777)

   You might have heard, but Japanese tend to be a bit conservative regarding clothing, that especially mean not showing cleavage. Some girls will also wear something under a top that could otherwise reveal their belly, but at the same time, you will see much more skin in Shibuya in summer that you might expect when you read people say that Japan dress more conservative.

   Honestly, for a single day in Osaka, you can easily do it as a day trip from Kyoto instead an have one less hotel change.

   Do not take the shinkansen from Osaka to Kyoto. Your hotel is near Kawaramachi station or Gion-Shijo station, so the best train to take is the Hankyu or Keihan train, the main difference is that you will get direct next to the hotel, while taking the shinkansen will get you to Kyoto station and you will have to take a bus to the hotel.

   If you go to Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street and Otagi Nenbutsuji, the most efficient way is to just walk via the bamboo forest… so overrated or not, I would not go out of my way to avoid it.

   There is not much cosplay vibe in Harajuku. First time I went to Japan in 2008, there was still some cosplayers on the bridge on the weekend, but it was already a fading trend as it was much more popular years before that. Today I would not expect to see much cosplayer in Harajuku.

8. You are going to very touristy places, so there will be other westerners wearing crop tops and skimpy clothing, but there won’t be any Japanese women wearing them (except for maybe a few influencer types).

   I rarely saw anyone even wearing true short sleeve tops. Most short sleeve tops come to the elbow in Japan. Also, everyone wears super baggy, shapeless clothing.
   I was in some less touristy areas where there were no westerners. In those areas, my fitted t-shirts seemed scandalous.
   That being said, no one is going to say anything to you, so it depends most on if you will be bothered if no one else is wearing revealing clothes.