Hi, Me and my girlfriend will be heading to Japan for the first time in early September for just over 3 weeks and are Looking for some feedback on our Itinerary 🙂 Have already gotten so many great recommendations and tips from other posts in this community so thanks in advance!
We’ve tried to structure it so that were generally staying in the same area for each day so as to minimise the amount of time on public transport going from place to place. Most of this is not fully set in stone (besides things marked Booked) but more so a list of cool places\\things to do in each area that hopefully (Time Permitting) well be able to get to!
we have a pretty decent budget and would love some recommendations on places we may not have heard of yet! We’re Big into food and alcohol (Were from Ireland) have a decent interest in anime (obvious ones like Ghibli, Eva, Cowboy bebop etc) and are big into gaming, art and thrift shopping. Pretty much any cool or unique places or activities wed be down for! (Bars, Restaurants, Thrift shops, Temples, Museums, Galleries etc)
Anything marked with ??? is free time so any suggestions for those days especially would be great
**Day 1 (Tue 12th Sept)**
\- Get off flight at Narita, get Yen, Suika Card ETC
\- Narita Express to Shinjuku Station
\- Check into Hotel in Shinjuku
\- 7 Eleven
\- Fuunji Ramen Shop
**Day 2 (Wed 13th)**
**Shinjuku Area**
Beef Cutlet @ Gyukatsu Motomura
\- Shinjuku Goyen
\- Kabukicho Tower
\- Harajuku Mi pig cafe (Booked)
\- SAKE MARKET 新宿店
\- Omoide Yokochō
Dinner @ Gyopao Gyoza Shinjuku
\- Golden Gai & Kabukicho
**Day 3 (Thrs 14th)**
**Harajuku & Shibuya**
\- Meiji Jingu
\- Nanazuka Underground (Gallery)
\- Waterium Art Museum
\- Big Love Records
Coffee @ CAFE REISSUE
\- Thrift Shopping
\- Team Labs x Galaxy
\- Laforet
\- Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku
Food @ Katsudon-ya Zuicho (Before 5pm)
\- Shibuya centre Gai
\- Mega Don Quijote
\- Nintendo Store
\- Shibuya crossing
\- Shibuya Sky
Dinner @ Uoebi or Ichiran?
**Day 4 (Fri 15th)**
\- Ghibli Museum (10am Booked)
\- Tattoo @ inscribe tattoo
???
**Day 5 (Sat 16th)**
***Sumo Day***
\- Dinner @ Nabezo Shinkjuku
**Day 6 (Sun 17th)**
**Shimokitazawa & Tokyo Skytree**
\- Gotokuji Temple (Lucky cat temple )
Lunch @ ???
\- Shimokitazawa Thrift Shopping for most of the day
\- Tokyo Sky Tree
Dinner @ Kirby Cafe (BOOKED)
**Day 7 (Mon 18th)**
**Asakusa, Ueno & Akihabura**
\- Nakamise Dori St & Senso-Ji
Melon Pan @ Asakusa Kagetsudō
\-Kappabashi Dougu
\- Tokyo National Museum
\- Ameyoko Shopping Street
\- Ishibashiinari Shrine
\- Thrift shops in Ueno
Owl cafe Akihabura (Booked)
Yakiniku @ Jiromaru Akihabara
\- Look around Akihabura
Dinner @ Kyushu Jangara Akihabara (Ramen)
**Day 8 (Tue 19th)**
**Ikibukuro & Kyoto**
\- Evangelion store Ikibukuro
\- Sunshine City
*Train to Kyoto*
\-Check into hotel in Gion
Dinner @ ???
\- Pontocho
\- Bees Knees Bar
**Day 9 (Wed 20th)**
**Arashiyama**
\- Bamboo Forest
\- Tenryu-Ji Garden
\- Saiho-Ji Temple
\- Scenic Railway (Is this worth doing in September?)
\- Monkey Park
Dinner @ Men ya Ino Ichi (Mischilan RAMEN)
**Day 10 (Thrs 21st)**
**Gion**
\- Fushimi Inari Taisha (Early)
\- walk through Ninenzaka
\- Hokan-Ji Temple
\- Dango @ Wakana
\- Kodai-ji Temple
Lunch @ Tempura Endo
\- Yasaka Shrine
\- Kyomizu Dera Shrine
Dinner @ Kikyo Sushi
**Day 11 (Fri 22nd)**
**Gion & Dotonburi**
\- Nishiki Market
Lunch @ Kiyama (Booked)
*Train to Osaka*
\- Butter Eel @ Jinen
\- Dotonbori & Americamura
\- Misono Universe bar hopping
**Day 12 (Sat 23rd)**
**Nipponbashi & Shinsekai**
Breakfast @ A Happy Pancake Shinsaibashi (11:00)
\- Neco Republic (\~12:00)
\- Kuromon Ichiba Market
\- Nipponbashi Denden Town
\- Shinsekai Market
Dinner @ ??
**Day 13 (Sun 24th)**
**Nara**
\- (10:30am)Mochi Pounding @ Nakatanidou
Breakfast @ Melon De Melon
\- Explore Nara Park temples museums and gardens (Todaiji Temple)
\- Yoshikien Garden
Dinner @ Nino Italian
**Day 14 (Mon 25th)**
**Universal Studios W/Fast Pass (7:30am)**
**Day 15 (Tue 26th)**
**Kobe**
???
\- Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens
Dinner @ Tor Road Steak Aoyama (Booked)
\- Kobe Chinatown Nankin-machi
**Day 16 (Wed 27th)**
**kyobashi & Umeda**
Tuna Cheek @ Izakaya Toyo(11:00)
\- Osaka Castle
Lunch at Ide honten (Dipping Ramen)
\- Dinner @ Ajinoya Honten (Okonomiyaki)
**Day 17 (Thrs 28th)**
\- Osaka Aquarium
???
**Day 18 (Fri 29th)**
**Kyoto (Ryokan)**
\- Back to Kyoto on Kintetsu Luxury train
\- International Manga Museum
\- Ryokan Izuyasu @ 3pm
**Day 19 (Sat 30th)**
Lunch @ Mimikou (Curry Udon)
Back to Tokyo
\- Check into hotel in Toyosu
???
**Day 20 (Sun 1st)**
\- Team labs Planets (09:00 Booked)
\-Tsukiji Market?
???
**Day 21 (Mon 2nd)**
**Toyosu**
\- 06:00 Sushi Dai or Shou
\- Toyosu Market
\- Small Worlds Tokyo
\- Tokyo Joypolis
\- Ghibli Shop
\- Gundam Statue
\- Museum of Emerging Science
???
**Day 22 (Tue 3rd)**
**GINZA**
\- Breakfast @ Sushi no Midori
\- Imperial Palace
\- Uniqlo Ginza
\- Pokémon Centre Nihinbashi
\- Lunch @ Godaime Hanayama Udon Nihonbashi
\- Art Aquarium
\- Seiko Museum
**Day 23 (Wed 4th)**
**Free day**
Airport about 6pm
5 comments
Sitting in the airport coming home from a 20 day trip following your exact city route.
Seeing as you are a foodie and love a drink, my wife and I really enjoyed Oko’s in Osaka (near Dotonburi). It’s a restaurant run by just ONE woman – Shiho. And she cooks up some pretty tasty okonomiyaki. Bonus – the drinks are cheap and self serve. And there’s a whole whack of options from draught Asahi to sake, whiskey and soda. A neat experience.
It’s seven floors and you can hang out with some fun people, write on the walls and overall just have a good time.
Also for dinner near Shinjuku (Day 4?), we had shuba shuba at Nabezo. Fairly reasonably priced imo for all you can eat japanese pork, beef, and A5 wagyu. Plus all you can drink for 100 minutes for ¥1,500. Another dinner that left us full and happy to have a different type of dining experience.
If you like alcohol, how about a sake brewery tour?
A tour of sake breweries in Fushimi (Kyoto http://www.fushimi.or.jp/sake_guide/ ) or Nada (Kobe https://www.feel-kobe.jp/en/pickup/japanese_sake/) is,
If you like or are interested in sake, I think you will enjoy it.
Sick! Will definitely check it out!! Would love to hear any other recs you have
Any of the exotic animal cafes including the owl one are super unethical and sad, I’d just suggest rethinking going there if you can. Those animals shouldn’t be chained in a cafe for people to gawk at 🙁
Looks like a good and full itinerary! Just don’t feel discouraged if you don’t cross everything off of your list. The weather is hot at the moment and it has quite some influence on your energy levels and just too hot/rainy to do outdoor activities. And there so much to do in Tokyo that just walking around results in fun activities. Enjoy!