I am traveling with my girlfriend to Japan for the first time in early to mid November and have a fair bit of legwork done to establish what we would like to see/do but need some opinions on if what we have planned is feasible. Nagoya will be locked in since I was able to snag the Ghibli Park tickets when they opened up last night (Dondoko-do Forest kept hitting errors I almost gave up after an hour before it finally went through.) I’ll include some other questions at the end for various tips regarding my thought process so far.
* **Day 0/1:** Depart LA and arrival in Narita. Pick up JR Rail Pass (will be able to get through Klook at current prices to avoid the upcoming price hike), maybe get a PASMO or Suica otherwise will get ICOCA in Osaka, and activate eSim (Ubigi on Android if anyone can give comments on experiences with this carrier.) Arrival is 1730 local. This is where things can get spicy. We plan on hopping the Narita Express to link up with a Nozomi direct to Shin-Osaka where we will be based for the beginning of the trip. I would like to be out of the airport by 1900 so we don’t have to rush for the last train of the day to Shin-Osaka. How long can we expect to take from getting off the plane and the inbetweens to getting to the platform? This is the day I am least confident about and want to manage expectations/plan for any contingencies as the rest of the trip is pretty loose.
* **Day 2:** The real start to the trip involves an easy start after getting in late last night and a leisurely trip to the aquarium for some calming oceanic experiences. After lunch in the area we plan to hop a local line to get to Kyoto for the railway museum/area and the evening in Ariyashima for the bamboo/kimono forest and dinner with a train back to Osaka.
* **Day 3:** Head directly to Kyoto in the morning and start the day on the Northern end of the Philosopher’s path near Higashiyama Jisho-ji and work down to Eikan-do/Nanzen-ji. Bus or hike up to Shogunzuka. Lunch in Gion district. Nijo Castle and the Palace before Fushimi Inari hopefully by sunset but we only plan on getting to the first landing, maybe the second. Train back to Osaka.
* **Day 4:** Day trip to Nagoya. Shinkansen to get to Ghibli Park by opening, leave around 1400. Lunch in downtown Nagoya before hitting the Railway Park, Nagoya Castle and anything we see exploring. Dinner in Nagoya or after the Shinkansen trip back to Osaka whichever we feel like.
* **Day 5:** Day trip to Hiroshima. Shinkansen down and connection directly to Miyajima for Itsukushima Island for the high tide (already nailed this down we’ll have plenty of time for a midmorning tide/exploration up the hill). Lunch in the area or in downtown Hiroshima before heading to Peace Park/Atomic Dome/Orizuru Tower/Hiroshima Castle. Dinner in the area before the Shinkansen back to Osaka.
* **Day 6:** Early Shinkansen back to Tokyo, drop off luggage/check-in, immediately head to Yokohama for Ramen museum and the surrounding area after that experience. Lunch may be down there (recommendations?) or in Tokyo. Hit the Sumida Hokusai Museum and that 3 story Daiso before heading to the Skytree/Senso-Ji. Dinner in the area.
* **Day 7** Head to Shibuya for the crowd and some shopping. Shinjuku after for more shopping and thrifting. Jingu Gaien Ginko Ave for the hopefully leaves but no high hopes. This is an exploration easy day to add and subtract things.
* **Day 8:** Head out to Akibahara to geek out a bit. Ueno Park and the National Museum. Tokyo tower. We also plan on doing the Pokemon Cafe if we can get a reservation this day and the Tonkatsu Sumo experience. Dinner may be at the Kill Bill restaurant.
* **Day 9:** Last day with an easy morning. Check-out and lock up the suitcases at a station before hopefully a morning Imperial Palace tour followed by light exploration and lunch near Tokyo Station before giving ourselves plenty of time for the evening train to Narita for the flight back to LA.
9 days of what I optimistically hope is doable.
As I said the most worrisome is day 1 bomb to Osaka. Last Nozomi leaves at 2124 according to current schedule. Google recommends the first route using Narita Express for what I think we may wind up doing and I have a backup leaving at the absolute last possible moment on the Skyliner. If there is any advice to be given to still my anxious heart I would greatly appreciate it. Again arrival to Narita is 1730. Schedules for reference:
**Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station** 7:48 PM Narita Express 50Limited >
*1 hr 12 min (3 stops)* > 9:00 PM – **Shinagawa Station** – 9:10 PM Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Nozomi > *2 hr 17 min (4 stops)* > 11:27 PM **Shin-Osaka Station**
**Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station** 8:00 PM Skyliner 70Toll Limited Express Keisei-Ueno > *40 min (2 stops)* > 8:40 PM – **Nippori Station** – 8:47 PM Yamanote Line Local For Ueno / Tokyo (Clockwise) > *11 min (6 stops)* > 8:58 PM **Tokyo Station** 9:24 PM Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen Nozomi > *2 hr 24 min (5 stops)* > 11:45 PM **Shin-Osaka Station**
Part of me feels like Kyoto will need to be slimmed down but I think we can manage ourselves and adjust as necessary. Any advice for thrift shop runs would be helpful. We plan on taking out cash in a modest amount because the chip shortage for the IC cards also worries me. I’ve been doing my best for due diligence on things that need to be taken care of prior to our arrival.
**Questions:**
1. Obviously the arrival issue. Should we book a capsule just in case or is it manageable to make the train to Osaka?
2. Should we get the PASMO or Suica while at Narita or deal with it and get an ICOCA when we get to Osaka?
3. Are we being to ambitious?
4. How involved is renting a Kimono? I want to surprise my girlfriend with the experience and get her some good pictures around Kyoto.
5. If we have to choose between Senso-Ji and Meiji Jingu which is the must see?
All commentary is welcome!
1 comment
> Nozomi
You can’t take Nozomi trains on the JR pass. For the last Hikari you need to catch the 1848 Narita Express; I place the odds of catching this train from a 1730 arrival at approximately zero between immigration queues, custom queues, and JR pass pickup.
> renting a kimono
For women budget at least an hour to choose a kimono, wear (it is quite elaborate and not just tying a bathrobe), and do hair/makeup. And it is not easy to walk with the kimono stride + shoes, so you will need to significantly pare down the itinerary for whichever day the wearing is happening.
> castle
Too many of these. Unless you are collecting stamps or very interested in individual histories, one is enough.