Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto Itinerary Check – 3 Week Trip

My girlfriend and I are travelling to Japan in August (she has been twice before with family, I have never been). While we are in Japan we want to explore, have good food, shop, do nerdy things, and look at some animal attractions (animals are mostly for me). I can be prone to overheating and getting heat exhaustion, so that is also something we are trying to keep in mind. We may move some days around based on temperatures (outdoor vs indoor days), and flying days are not included in the itinerary

Looking for advice on this itinerary – mostly re: if everything seems doable + if any days seem like they can have more things added (any suggestions on what to add based on the existing itinerary would be lovely as well!)

For food, we have a couple days with planned places to eat, but will mostly be looking as we go.

Anything that is italicised we have already booked

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Day 1:

* Mcdonald’s breakfast (my girlfriend likes the corn :))
* *Shibuya Sky Tower*
* Hachiko statue
* Shopping
* Conveyor belt sushi
* Shibuya Station Starbucks (for seeing people cross)
* Yoyogo park

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Day 2

* Ueno park
* Tokyo National Museum
* Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
* Natural Museum of Nature and Science (if we feel up to it)

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Day 3

* Tokyo Teleport Station
* Unicorn Gundam and Gundam Base
* Diver city, Aqua City, DECKS Tokyo Beach – Takoyaki Museum
* Statue of Liberty/Daiba park
* General harbourfront

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Day 4

* Sensoji temple
* Tokyo Skytree
* Edo Tokyo Museum
* Japanese Sword Museum
* Ahbase dog cafe

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Day 5

* Studio Ghibli Museum
* Akihabra arcades

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Day 6

* Toyosu Fish Market (plan is to arrive \~4am to get a reservation)
* More harbourfront shopping/exploration
* *Teamlabs*

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Day 7

* Tokyo Metropolitan Library
* EU Embassy (just to look at)
* Tokyo Tower
* Shiba Park
* Zojo-ji Temple
* Hamarikyu Gardens
* Italy Park
* Dinenr at Ichiu Sushi

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Day 8

* Comiket

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Day 9

* Open day – nothing planned so that we can return to anything we wanted to return to, or add new plans

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Day 10

* Yokohama Gundam Factory
* Yokohama Park Exploration
* Pokemon Parade
* Yokosuka Ferry Tour
* IJN Mikasa
* Yokohama Chinatown

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Day 11

* Early morning Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka
* *Hotel in Osaka*
* Namba Station for breakfast and a bit of shopping
* Osaka Castle + museum
* Nara Park
* Nakanoshima to explore/get dinner
* Mount Tempo

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Day 12

* Den Den Town
* Shinsekai
* Keitakuen Garden

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Day 13

* Morning train from Osaka to Kyoto
* Kinkakiju Temple
* Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
* Potentially other nearby temples
* Hotel in Kyoto
* Onsen (potentially an Onsen hotel)

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Day 14

* Hiking at Arashiyama + looking at the monkeys
* Kyoto Railway Museum
* Latest available Shinkansen from Kyoto back to Tokyo

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Day 15

* Ramen Street
* Tokyo Station
* Yaesu Shopping Mall
* Cat Cafe

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Day 16

* Harajuku
* Shinjuku shops
* IseTan
* Shinjuku tower
* Kabukicho tower

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Day 17

* Museum of Maritime Science
* Small worlds
* Arcades

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Day 18 + 19

* Free days to come back to anything we would like to, or add some things we felt like we missed

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Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

2 comments
  1. >Comiket

    Make sure you understand what you’re getting yourself into, and what needs to be done to prepare for it.

    >Day 11

    Sounds like a bit too much on this particular day

    >Day 13

    Kinkakuji and Fushimi Inari Taisha are at pretty much opposite ends of Kyoto. It’s doable, just not particularly efficient.

    Overall I think you have enough time in Tokyo to do some day trips around the region. Hakone, Kawaguchiko, Nikko and Enoshima / Kamakura are common suggestions. Alternatively, you might want to extend the Kansai trip a bit — 4 days is super rushed for Osaka + Kyoto.

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