Hello.
I’m going to be on Japan between the 4th and 21st of August for the Pokémon Worlds Championship and, of couse, a bit of sightseeing.
This is the first time I’m doing a trip outside Europe, first time going on a trip alone and also first time planning all the trip by myself, so, while I’ve found the information on this subreddit and in the Internet, I’ve started to feel so overwhelmed with planning the trip and the info I see, so, decided to put some doubts here, so I can feel more at ease going. I left the Itinerary I was planning at the end of the post.
​
1. In terms of luggage, from what I read, many hotels have forwarding services from one hotel to another. However, the hotel where I will be staying at Hiroshima, doesn’t have that service. What should be my best option, considering I was planning to see Miyajima after checking out at the hotel
1. My plan for the early days would be to have a backpack with the essential things for Saturday – Wednesday and see a forward service at the airport when I land to send it to the Hotel where I will be staying on Wednesday – Monday on Yokohama for the tournament, so I don’t need to have the luggage with me from Tokyo to Hiroshima, Hiroshima to Nara and Nara to Yokohama all time. Does this seem doable? Do I have any option to drop the luggage on Saturday and only get it on Wednesday? I felt very confused looking for these services and respective options 😅
2. So, just in case I need it, is there anything like Uber in Japan? From what I read, there is Uber, but tends to be expensive. There is also an app called JapanTaxi, but from what I saw, you need a Japanese Phone Number (with Voice) and a Japanese Credit Card (not sure if Revolut + Paying directly in Yens would count).
3. Since I’m only planning to have the JR Pass for the first part of the trip (Tokyo -> Hiroshima -> Nara -> Yokohama), for the second part, I assume I will most have to rely on the Suica card. To get around Tokyo and Numazu, is this the right card?
Below, is the itinerary I was thinking about. Might be too much things to do. I hope that I can have opinions about it, since, as I’ve said before, first time planning a trip, so, a bit harder 😅
\————-
Saturday, 5th August
Arrive at Tokyo at 1pm, get passport stamped, JR pass, etc
Catch Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka and then to Hiroshima
Go to the hotel
Might be able to see something during night, but also might simply go to bed due to jetlag)
Sunday, 6th August
Genbaku Dome
Hiroshima Peace Park
Hiroshima Peace Museum
Hiroshima Castle
Okonomimura
Hiroshima Toro Nagashi
Monday, 7th August
Miyajima:
Itsukushima Shrine
Floating Torii Gate
Mount Misen
Train to Nara and sleep there
Tuesday, 8th August
Todai-ji Temple
Nara Deer Park
Train to Yokohama (should try to arrive there before 7pm)
From Wednesday 9th until Monday 14th should be all Pokémon-related on Yokohama, Worlds, Pokémon Center (The one from Worlds) and some shows that they have there.
Monday night/evening:
Catch a train to Numazu
Tuesday, 15th August
Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium
Senbon Matsubara
Numazu Imperial Villa
Sightseeing Cruise
Mt. Kanuki
Wednesday, 16th August
Izu Mito Sea Paradise
Nagahama Castle Ruins
Awashima Marine Park
Mito Beach
Night in Numazu/Nagaoka
Thursday, 17th August, Friday, 18th August, Saturday, 19th August and Sunday, 20th August
Going back to Tokyo. Probably will take some of the time of one specific day to a bit of shopping (probably Friday?)
Tokyo Imperial Place
Miraikan Science
Senso-ji Temple
Meiji Shrine
Observation Deck at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (or another place to see Tokyo from above)
Shibuya Crossing
Akihabara
Kanda Shrine
I’m in a lottery for a Love Live concert and I might watch both day 1 and day 2 (Saturday and Sunday) or only day 1 (Saturday). In the Chiba area, so, might leave that area for those 2 days.
Thank you for reading all this and thank you for your help 🙂
1 comment
Your itinerary for the first 4 days is very challenging. Even if this wasn’t your first trip to Japan, this would be tough to pull off.
Just going through the days for a feasibility check
**August 5th** Is the 1pm your flight arrival time? Are you coming into Narita or Haneda airport?
Besides the landing activities you mentioned, you will need to add the transfer time from the airport to Tokyo station before the shinkansen. The Tokyo to Hiroshima route on Jr Pass complaint trains is about 5 hours (including swapping trains at Shin-Osaka). Depending on those variables, you’re looking at arriving at Hiroshima station around 8-9pm
**August 6th** This day is fine.
[Question 3] (Note: the tram lines and buses in Hiroshima are not JR, so JRPass does not work. I’d recommend picking up an IC card ~SUICA, PASMO, ICOCA, etc. to use as that will work and save headache
**August 7th** This day will depend on how early you can start. If you want to check out the usual Miyajima sights plus Mt. Misen you need to leave on the earliest ferry, usually 6:25am.
I’ve done a similar “Everything” Miyajima day and came back to Hiroshima station around 2-3pm, but will depend on your pace.
Departing from Hiroshima say 3:30pm, you can take Sakura 556 back to Shin-Osaka station. Arrive at 5:00pm. Shin-Osaka to Nara is about an hour, so be in Nara around 6:30pm.
**August 8th** To be in Yokohama by 7:00pm, need to work backwards.
Hikari 514 arrives at Shin-Yokohama station at 6:24pm. Departs from Shin-Osaka station at 3:48pm.
To be safe, you need to be leaving Nara by 1:45pm headed toward Shin-Osaka.
With that time, you can do both Todaiji (opens at 7:30am) and wandering around a bit.
**TLDR** It’s feasible, but rough. This isn’t including how you handle your luggage