25 days Japan – Sep to Oct – full itinerary check :)

Hi everyone! 🙂

I believe i’ve come up with a feasible, not too ambitious itinerary for my 25 days in Japan. I admit that I was so overwhelmed with the possibilities that I used the help of ChatGPT. I tried to not cram too many specific activities as I want more to just wander around and experience the different areas as opposed to doing specific landmarks. I am incredibly excited, but could definitely use some reality checks and help with practical details before I pull the trigger and book the accommodations! Itinerary below.

* **Sep 7 – Arrival in TOKYO in the AM – staying in Shinjuku (Unplan Hostel)**
* **Sep 7:** Find my bearings, explore the shinjuku area and the National Garden, Tokyo MetGov’s Observation Deck. Get amazing food and check the Shinjuku night-life.
* **Sep 8:** Tsukiji Fish Market and Asakusa Area (I’d really like to have food at the fish market). Explore Asakusa, go to Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise street. Maybe go to Tokyo Skytree in the evening.
* **Sep 9:** Explore Akihabara in the morning and Shibuya in the afternoon. I very much would like to experience the techno scene in Tokyo, so I’m considering trying out Vent in the evening. Any other suggestions for “proper” clubs?
* **Sep 10:** Ghibli Museum!! Then maybe visit Nakano Broadway if there’s time once I return.
* **Sep 11:** Explore Ebisu in the morning and Daikanyama in the afternoon. In the evening I will be going to a concert by a hardcore band at Live House Fever, which seems easy to get to from Daikanyama.
* **Sep 12:** Spend the day exploring Yanaka and Yanaka Ginza, then maybe check out Odaiba at night. I’ll try to be on time to check out Teamlab stuff, but I’m ok with not going there.

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* **Sep 13 – Arrival in KYOTO in the AM – planning to stay downtown**
* **Sep 13:** Explore downtown Kyoto, go “shrining”, visit Nishiki Market. Go for a walk along the river and maybe do Pontocho district.
* **Sep 14:** Eastern Kyoto – Kyomizu-dera temple, Higashiyama district. Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama park.
* **Sep 15:** Western Kyoto – go to Arashiyama and visit Bamboo Grove. Check out Tenryu-ji Temple. Togetsukyo Bridge area after lunch. Iwatayama Monkey Park.
* **Sep 16:** Fushimi Inairi Taisha, and then check out some specific landmarks like the Philosopher’s Path, Nijo Castle, and the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

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* **Sep 17 – Arrival in NARA – just spending one night relaxing at a Ryokan and exploring temples and gardens.**

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* **Sep 18 – Arrival in OSAKA – planning to stay in Namba area**
* **Sep 18:** Explore the surrounding area of where i’m staying (Namba), visit Dotonbori and go nuts on the food.
* **Sep 19:** Osaka Castle, Shinsaibashi and then Umeda Sky building.
* **Sep 20:** Start at Kuromon Ichiba Market. Do Sumiyoshi Taisha, and spend the afternoon just walking around and taking it easy.

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* **Sep 21 – Arrival in HIROSHIMA**
* **Sep 21:** Find some good food after arriving, then do Peace Memorial Park and Museum, then Hondori Street.
* **Sep 22:** Day-trip to Miyajima (i’m thinking maybe I’ll stay the night, yet to decide).
* **Sep 23:** Hiroshima Castle, Shukkeien Garde, Hiroshima Museum of Art.

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* **Sep 24 – Arrival in KAGOSHIMA – on my way to Yakushima :)**
* Just staying one night, gonna just explore and take the Sakurajima Ferry 🙂

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* **Sep 25 – Arrival in YAKUSHIMA**
* **Sep 25:** Taking the ferry to Yakushima in the morning! I am very excited about this part of the trip in particular, but it is also the lesser known path so to say – I’m not too confident that i’ve got this properly planned. I’m planning to stay somewhere between Anbo and Miyanoura and rent a car (one of those small ones). I stumbled upon this: [https://yesyakushima.com/](https://yesyakushima.com/) which I will probably use for all my bookings in the island (accommodation, car and hiking/rain gear).
* On the first day i’ll just explore the surroundings of where i’m staying, drive around and find good food.
* **Sep 26:** Yakusugi Land and Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine, do some light hiking.
* **Sep 27:** Do the Jomon Sugi Trail! Then have a feast of local seafood 🙂

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* **Sep 28 – Back to KAGOSHIMA – stop on my way to Tokyo Area (Hakone)**
* I want to to all the way back to the Tokyo region for a relaxing end of the trip in Hakone 🙂 I’ve already asked about this part of the trip here and got some helpful answers – it seems reasonable, but maybe I could also just fly from Yakushima straight to Tokyo?
* **Sep 28:** Take the ferry to KAGOSHIMA, take it easy and have a day focused on nice food. Spending the night just to break the trip back to Tokyo.

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* **Sep 29 – From Kagoshima to Hakone!**
* **Sep 29:** I expect to take around 8h travelling from Kagoshima to Hakone – I think it’ll actually be nice to spend a day in the Shinkansen 🙂 I’ll arrive and settle into a Ryokan.
* **Sep 30:** Hot Springs, shrines, food, relaxing.

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* **Oct 1 – Getting back to Tokyo**
* **Oct 2 – Flying back :(**

Any feedback is immensely appreciated! I’m happy with how it looks even if it’s not perfect, I just want to know if there’s anything logistically that i’m overlooking or if there’s something absurd 🙂

Also, 2 more specific questions:

* **JR Pass / Transportation:** With this itinerary, does it make sense in your view to get a JR Pass? It seems fairly complicated to clearly understand whether it’s worth it or not…
* **Techno in Tokyo:** if you’re a connoisseur, please do give me some recommendations for clubs 🙂

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Thanks everyone!

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