Hello everyone!
This will be the first time my SO and I will be visiting Japan for an extended period of time (from Oct 1-15) and we have our main objectives/itinerary almost complete. I would like to see if there are any pitfalls or recommendations anyone has on our plan below. Food recommendations are always welcome!
For some background, my SO and I love our cats, have about 7 years of Dragonboat experience between us and I’m a huge aviation nerd. We really enjoyed Sailor Moon, Naruto, and the Inu Yasha series. I’m a big fan of Zelda and Ace Combat. We also really enjoy history and art and would visit more museums if there was time. We chose the beginning of October since the rainy season should be over and there aren’t any huge festivals or holidays for the locals for then. I’m also learning some basics in Japanese to make the trip a bit easier (common phrases, hiragana and katakana and a few kanji words). We’re traveling back and forth because the tickets we bought in and out of Haneda were the cheapest. We’re not absolutely strapped on cash but obviously would like to save where we can.
Our main objectives are in **BOLD AND CAPS**. Secondary objectives **bold** and may be missed based on energy levels or schedule changes. I have included notes where I am still trying to decide details or would like any input. I tried to keep a bunch of free days available so as avoid over-packing the itinerary.
I have also put our pre-travel prep notes after all the fun itinerary stuff below, so please let me know if there’s anything else I should add before we leave, especially concerning the JR pass.
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Itinerary summary:
Sun/Mon, Oct 1-2:
* Travel from Canada to Haneda
* **ENSURE TO GET VISITOR’S STAMP WHEN LANDING**
* NOTE: I assume this is during customs, will we have to specifically ask for it?
* Get SUICA cards (probably the visitor version since it seems the chip shortage is affecting availability of the regular green card), pocket WiFi
* Currency exchange if necessary. We aim to have around $1000 CAD \~= 107350 Yen between us upon arrival
* NOTE: Right now I’m still worried about carrying tonnes of cash. Do we may carry more or less before arrival?
* Take an airport limo bus from Haneda to Sotetsu Fresa Inn Higashi Shinjuku: [https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel\_Review-g1066457-d658576-Reviews-Sotetsu\_Fresa\_Inn\_Higashi\_Shinjuku-Shinjuku\_Tokyo\_Tokyo\_Prefecture\_Kanto.html](https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g1066457-d658576-Reviews-Sotetsu_Fresa_Inn_Higashi_Shinjuku-Shinjuku_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html))
* NOTE: We are going to carry a personal luggage each (small enough to carry onto the aircraft) plus a back pack and a hiker’s camel pack that is still small enough to flip over to the front of my body comfortably. We may or may not check in luggage but the choice in this luggage configuration is to make it easy to carry stuff around.
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Tues, Oct 3:
* Climatize, explore, setup WiFi egg if not done already
* Shopping, visit **Top Gun model shop** in Taito
* Visit Tokyo **National museum in Taito**
* grab food and eat at Shinjuku national park, explore
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Wed, Oct 4:
* Visit **GOTOKUJI CAT TEMPLE**
* Visit **Sailor Moon store** in Shibuya then **Small Worlds Tokyo** in Koto
* Eat whatever good conveyor belt sushi we can find
* NOTE: any recommendations? Was just planning on googling this. Hopefully my basic katakana and hiragana can help with the search algorithms to find the best places
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Thurs, Oct 5:
* Travel to Sendai, stay at Shintomi-tei in Miyagi: [https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel\_Review-g319095-d1125667-Reviews-Shintomi\_tei-Matsushima\_machi\_Miyagi\_gun\_Miyagi\_Prefecture\_Tohoku.html](https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g319095-d1125667-Reviews-Shintomi_tei-Matsushima_machi_Miyagi_gun_Miyagi_Prefecture_Tohoku.html)
* NOTE: Ideally we want to stay in a location that provides private a private onsen (unlike the one above), but will be fine if that can’t be found close to Sendai proper.
* The reason we want an onsen here instead of the Kansai area is because we’d like to spend a little more on the fewer nights in Sendai and have a more modest/cheaper “home base” place to stay once we reach Osaka from which we will visit Kyoto, Hamamatsu or Gifu on day trips. Feel free to recommend a better solution
* Explore, eat
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Fri, Oct 6:
* Visit **TASHIRO-JIMA (CAT ISLAND)** via bus and ferry
* Return on afternoon ferry and relax back at onsen
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Sat, Oct. 7:
* Leave for Osaka in the morning and stay at Hotel Noum Osaka: [https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel\_Review-g298566-d17820150-Reviews-Hotel\_Noum\_OSAKA-Osaka\_Osaka\_Prefecture\_Kinki.html](https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g298566-d17820150-Reviews-Hotel_Noum_OSAKA-Osaka_Osaka_Prefecture_Kinki.html)
* Explore Osaka
* NOTE: I was thinking of visiting Komatsu for the air show this day, but it’s quite out of the way and I’d rather visit a museum and learn about the JASDF or watch planes at Gifu do their normal thing unless this air show is particularly special? See next day’s notes.
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Sun, Oct. 8:
* Visit either **GIFU MUSEUM** near the JASDF base OR bigger museum **(JASDF AIR PARK) IN HAMAMATSU**
* NOTE: I’m leaning towards visiting Hamamatsu since it’s bigger if I had to choose one. Perhaps it would be nice to simply pass by Gifu in the morning and watch some fighters take off and then proceed to Hamamatsu?
* Return to Osaka and explore more
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Mon, Oct 9:
* Kyoto day trip to visit the **GOLDEN TEMPLE**
* Hike **Fushimi Inari trail**
* NOTE: I’m tempted to visit other beautiful and quieter tori gates or shrines instead.
* Explore Kyoto food spots and **EAT SOME DANGO**
* Return to Osaka
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Tues, Oct 10:
* **RENT A KIMONO** for SO and take pictures around Osaka
* Explore other locations of interest like **Osaka castle**
* **Shopping, souvenir pickup**
* **GET SNACKS, FRUIT OR GIFTS** from Osaka for SO’s family in Tokyo
* NOTE: What’s a good gift from Osaka for visiting friends/family for the first time in Tokyo?
* Prep for Mario World trip tomorrow
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Wed, Oct 11:
* Leave early to get to USJ by 8 am
* **SPEND DAY AT SUPER MARIO WORLD**
* Return to hotel and get ready for return to Tokyo
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Thurs, Oct 12:
* Leave for and stay in same hotel as when we first arrived in Tokyo (Sotetsu Fresa Inn Higashi Shinjuku)
* **Visit a cat, shiba-inu or exotic capybara café**
* **Meet with friends traveling to Tokyo for dinner** (tentative)
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Fri, Oct 13:
* **Visit manga café, Yokohama Gundam factory**
* **Visit buff girl bar**: [https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/muscle-girls-bar-tokyo/](https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/muscle-girls-bar-tokyo/)
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Sat, Oct 14:
* **VISIT SO’S FAMILY -** this one may end up being earlier in the trip depending on their timeline
* Return to hotel to pack
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Sun, Oct 15:
* Leave for Haneda in the morning
* Fly home
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In addition to the itinerary above, the more boring trip prep stuff I would like to have done before leaving are as follows:
* **NOTE: JR PASS** – this one is a big issue because we know that the pass is going to increase by a whopping \~70% in the fall. The current plan is to buy the pass in late August but I don’t know if it is possible to buy a pass so early in advance. Of course, if the pass increases in price before any early cut-off date, we will budget for single tickets for each day of travel requiring the shinkansen.
* Buy travel insurance
* Notify banks so they can “unlock” cards for travel and confirm if BMO cards will work at Japanese ATM’s
* Get passport/ticket holder to carry around at all times (probably a necklace-type thing)
* As mentioned above, get \~107350 Yen (1000 CAD) total between us at home to bring into Japan
* Download apps:
* Klook and buy Super Mario Tickets early
* Japan Universal Studios (USJ)
* Shokudo
* Camera translator
* NERV disaster prevention apps
* NOTE: still need research on other apps that could be useful
* Confirm if vaccination status is needed: It seems like it is unnecessary as of May