Hey everyone! My wife and I (early 30s) are going to Japan for the first time in April next year. Looking for feedback on our itinerary for just under two weeks.
We’re big gaming and anime fans, hence a whole day dedictaed to Akihabara. We’re also love museums/cultural spots/history so we wanted a mix of that too. If there’s anything you feel like we’re missing, would love recommendations. We’re also looking to go to an NPB game once the schedule is released for next season. Included in parenthesis next to the days are things we’re interested in doing.
Logistics wise, we plan on getting the JR Pass and take advantage of luggage forwarding. We’d ideally forward luggage from Tokyo straight to our Kyoto hotel and bring just a couple days worth of clothing to Hakone. And from Kyoto forward our luggage straight to the airport the day before our flight back. We plan to buy an additional bag for purchases while in Tokyo that we can forward straight to the airport as well.
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**Day 1: Travel and recover from jetlag** (arrive at Haneda around 4-5 pm local time)
**Days 2 – 6: Tokyo** (hotel near Shinjuku Station)
\-Day 2: Shinjuku (Robot Restaurant, Kabuchiko, observation deck, batting center, Gyoen Park)
\-Day 3: Akihabara (Super Potato, Owl Cafe, Animate/Manadarake, ramen, arcades)
\-Day 4: Kichijoji (Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Zoo, Inokashira Park, general shopping) & Shinjuku exploration
\-Day 5: Shibuya (Scramble, Pokemon Center, Kiddy Land, Don Quijote, Yoyogi Park, Meiji Jingu, Cat Cafe, Harajuku)
\-Day 6: Taito (Ueno Park/Zoo, Asakusa, Senso-ji, Tokyo National Museum)
**Days 7 to 8: Hakone**
\-Day 7: Travel from Tokyo/Rest
\-Day 8: Open Air Museum, Glass Museum, Tashi Shrine
**Days 8 to 10: Kyoto**
\-Day 9: Travel, Sannen-zaka, Kiymizu
\-Day 10: Gion, Nishiki, Samurai Museum, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Fushimi Inari-taisha
\-Day 11: Arashiyama
**Days 12 – 13: Tokyo and flight home**
\-Day 12: Travel and Tokyo Station area (Pokemon Center DX and Cafe, Imperial Palace, Ginza, Hama Rikyu Gardens)
\-Day 13: Flight home (Haneda around 5-6pm local time)
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9 comments
May I ask about what time you arrive in Tokyo on Day 1 and about what time is you flight home on day 13? And do you fly in and out of Haneda or Narita?
I think we have similar interest. Here is additional POI for you to consider
Akihabara: Final Fantasy / Eorzea Cafe, Hunters Bar, Ami Ami, Yellow Submarine
Shinjuku: Tokyo Kabukicho Tower, not sure what you reference as observation tower? (imo, there is no notable one in Shinjuku)
Shibuya: Nintendo World (Parco), Miyashita Park, Shibuya Sky, Shibuya Yokocho
Ikebukuro – (your itinerary does not have this) – potential to squeeze to Day 6 – Pokemon Center (I think this is their largest one), Evangelion Store, Bandai Cross Store, 1 Piece Store, etc
Tokyo Station (your itinerary does not have this) – Character street – have some unique stores here (it is relatively small – can squeeze somewhere when you are going in/out of Tokyo station)
Pokemon Cafe and Kirby Cafe if you are into those as well 🙂
First of all, with the price increase of the JR Pas, it will be an extremely bad decision to get the JR Pass. Simply buy individual shinkansen tickets, it will be MUCH cheaper. And the ONLY reason to get the pass is to save money.
Day 2 : Gyoen is a word that mean “national park”, calling the place Gyoen Park is like is someone went to San Francisco and said they are going to bridge bridge. The name of the park is Shinjuku Gyoen. You might also want to change the order, Robot Restaurant reopened and the show is from 1pm to 5pm, so you need to do Shinjuku Gyoen before as it close at 5pm.
Day 3 : In Akihabara I would suggest to add at least Radio Kaikan and Akihabara Culture Zone, those are tho buildings with many interesting stores, but there is also much more interesting stores all around.
Day 4 : On your return from Ghibli Museum, you can stop by Nakano Broadway, worth especially if you are into a bit more retro anime. Also not sure what you want to see in Mitaka (appart Ghibli Museum), I think that other area along the Chuo line are more interesting, like Koenji.
Day 5 : Same as day 2, are you sure with the order, stores open at 10-11am, while Meiji-jingu and Yoyogi park open much earlier and I think are more appropriate to start the day.
Day 6 : yeah, thins are absolutely not in order considering that Tokyo National Museum is in Ueno park.
Day 8 : No idea what is Tashi shrine. You sure of that name ? Also in Hakone I would not miss Owakudani, that is a volcanic area on top of the ropeway.
Day 9 : Kiyomizu-dera
If anything, I would consider moving more Tokyo days at the end of the trip and move all the days you think will be shopping heavy, for example Akihabara day if you buy stuff, you will have to move/ship your stull around. Better save shopping for the end and if you end up buying more luggage/bag (I myself just got a cardboard box as my carry on) then you would not have to ship more stuff around.
I don’t suggest doing any exotic animal cafes including the owl one, they’re very cruel and sad honestly. A lot of the animal parks and cafes here in Japan are sad. Also I don’t think the robot restaurant is open? They supposedly had plans to reopen but there’s been no word yet.
I really enjoyed Nara, which is a really easy day trip from Kyoto. A lot more than arashiyama, which is nice as well but not a most do in my opinion. Nara is though.
Doing major shopping on day 3 seems inconvenient when you’re still moving hotels. Perhaps move Akihbara towards your final day in Tokyo?
Sure, I arrive in Tokyo on Day 1 around ‘jet-lagged o’clock’ and fly home on Day 13 at ‘can-I-stay-here-forever’ time!
not sure the jr pass is a good choice in april next year. paying the rates for a trip from tokyo to kyoto via hakone and kyoto to tokyo should be around 30.000 yen. the 7 day jr pass will cost 50.000 yen post price raise in october 2023
Is the robot restaurant still in business? Last I checked it was shut down. Do double check that.