Hi!
I’ll be traveling to Japan in September for the first time ever with a group of friends and would like a check on our mostly-finalized itinerary. We’ll be purchasing the 7-day JR Pass and using esim/ sim cards.
I have a few questions, but firstly, below is the plan so far:
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|Day 1|Day 2|Day 3|Day 4|Day 5|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Kyoto**|**Kyoto**|**Kyoto**|**Kyoto/Osaka**|**Osaka**|
|Arrive at Haneda airport at 5AM->leave at 7AM|Wake up early & visit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove|Wake up early & go to Fushimi Inari|Wake up earlyish and check-out hotel|Go see Osaka Castle|
|Arrive latest at 10:15AM in Kyoto station |Go on Sagano Romantic Train|Eat, rest, and go to Ujigami shrine (visit nearby tea stores too)|Go to Nineizaka & Sanneizaka|Explore 1st half of dotonbori/parco mall area|
|Eat & rest/look around & by then check in hotel|Visit Otagi Nenbutsuji shrine|Go back to hotel & rest|Nishiki market area (pontocho alley&ueba eso) if haven’t gone already|Go back to hotel & rest|
|Rest in hotel or explore nishiki market area|Visit Nishiki market area or go back to hotel to eat/rest||Pick up luggage and train to Osaka |Check-in hotel in Osaka & rest or explore Osaka area|
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|Day 6|Day 7|Day 8|Day 9|Day 10|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Osaka**|**Tokyo**|**Tokyo**|**Tokyo**|**Tokyo**|
|Explore 2nd half area (buy more stuff from parco mall/namba shrine/kurumon market/shinsekai) or dotonbori again?|Check-out osaka hotel in the morning & train to tokyo|Go to Tsukiji market (closes at 3 PM)|Akihabara area (& Ameyoko market if didn’t yesterday)|Check-out asakusa/ueno hotel and place lugguage in new hotel (shinjuku?) & check-in when ready|
|Go back to hotel in evening & rest/pack up|Arrive in tokyo->place lugguage in hotel (asakusa/ueno?) and check-in later when its time|Go to Teamlab in afternoon/evening||Go to Ghibli muesuem/mitaka/kichijoji area|
||Explore & eat & visit Sensoji area/utensils street|Visit Ameyoko market or explore another area||Rest of day ride back and explore shinjuku area?|
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|Day 11|Day 1|Day 13|Day 14|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Tokyo**|**Tokyo**|**Tokyo**|**Tokyo**|
|Explore shibuya area (& shinjuku if didn’t yesterday)|Explore Ikebukuro area|Free day – explore any tokyo parts we want to again or didn’t go to|Check-out hotel->ask hotel to hold on to lugguage or look for tourist desks/coin lockers near station|
||||Free half day – buy last min stuff|
||||Get back luggage and start making way to airport (11 PM departure)|
I hope this plan makes sense. Here are a few questions I have:
1. We’re traveling to Kyoto right off the plane because of the super early 5 AM arrival and figured that we might as well spend this early morning on the train when the world hasn’t woken up yet. What do yall think of this plan?
2. How are the day-to-day activities? Does it seem feasible to do? It’s hard to tell whether it’s a lot or if we should add more. The latter half of our Tokyo plans seem a bit bare, but since it’s the city we figured there’ll be a lot of stores and stuff that we can just walk and buy stuff at.
3. We haven’t really looked into accommodations yet, but we’re planning to switch around to make traveling easier. Is that advisable or should we stay in one area more (specifically in Tokyo)?
4. Are there any festivals (matsuri) that we can go to around this time?
5. The latter half of our trip sort of collides with Silver Week. Would that have any effect on any of our plans?
6. We did some calculations, and there’s barely any savings with buying the JR Pass. We’re still buying it for the small difference and for convenience. Would that still be beneficial?
7. There are only a few restaurants that we’re planning on reserving for. For the rest of our meals, we were planning to just go with the flow and just walk into any open places. We figured the food would probably be good at most places, but would that work?
8. How’s the walking with our plan? We’re planning to build up some stamina in the coming months to prepare.
9. How’s the weather in September? I know it’ll be typhoon season, but how bad does it get? Would it interfere with any of our plans?
I know most of the itinerary seems to be markets and shopping, but the interests of our group seem to align with those. Any recommendations or must-sees and/or feedback are highly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
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1 comment
1. Seems weird to me, I probably wouldn’t choose to do it that way but I guess I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The only thing I would worry about is getting to your shinkansen on time when you haven’t gotten used to navigating their train systems or anything yet.
2. Some days seem pretty light on activities, which is pretty ok I think. Let’s you go off and explore whatever you find interesting while there. Like while in Tokyo, one of my favorite things to do were just walk down one of the streets and check out all of the little shrines and temples tucked away.
3. Eh, whatever works. Kind of up to you.
4. Danjiri Festival in Osaka on Sep. 16th and 17th. Akasaka Hikawa Shrine Festival in Tokyo, mid-september. [https://blog.japanwondertravel.com/best-festivals-in-japan-september-37312](https://blog.japanwondertravel.com/best-festivals-in-japan-september-37312)
5. Sorry not sure.
6. I think the JR pass is probably worth it personally.
7. Yes that works. Be sure to check out the food floor in Kyoto Station. In Tokyo, I recommend checking out Yurakucho and just eating wherever strikes your fancy there. Maybe a conveyor belt sushi place somewhere.
8. Should be alright though you might get a little sore. Might not be a terrible idea to try to find some time for some hot springs.
9. I went late September early October and it was perfect weather the whole time. Unfortunately can’t say before that.