Hey guys! I’ll be visiting Japan for the first time in mid-October for around 15 days and I was wondering if you guys could look over the planned itinerary to see if it is realistic or maybe too empty. We are all pretty young 20 year olds who are interested in streetwear, so a lot of our itinerary consists of visting shopping areas/youth centric neighborhoods. I tried to make the days realistic to accomplish without the feeling of being rushed to certain areas, so if certain days are too jampacked, please do let me know! I was also wondering if you guys had food recs for anything? Most of our lunch/dinners are empty, is this fine in the sense that its better to just grab lunch/dinner in someplace you find while walking? If not, what recs do you guys have? We also plan to go out to clubs in Osaka/Tokyo and were wondering if you guys had EDM club recommendations? Thank you guys!
Day 1 (Tokyo): Thursday
1. Arrive in Tokyo (Haneda) at around 4 PM and check in at hotel near Tokyo station.
2. Pretty slow day, nothing planned besides grabbing dinner near the area and exploring Nihombashi/Tokyo station area
Day 2 (Tokyo -> Osaka): Friday
1. Take train at Tokyo station to Osaka in the morning
2. Leave luggage at hotel (Shinsaibashi area) and then grab lunch somewhere -> Check in at hotel at around 3 PM
3. Explore/shop Shinsaibashi
4. Dinner
5. Night out at a club
Day 3 (Osaka): Saturday
1. Osaka Castle in the afternoon
2. Lunch somewhere near Osaka Castle
3. Explore/shop Namba area (DonDon Town, Namba Parks, etc)
4. Dinner
5. Bar hopping or another club day
Day 4 (Osaka/Himeji): Sunday
1. Take train to Himeji in the morning
2. Explore Himeji castle + gardens during afternoon
3. Lunch in Himeji
4. Take train back to Osaka
5. Explore/shop Umeda area
6. Dinner at Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M
Day 5 (Osaka -> Kyoto): Monday
1. Take train to Kyoto from Shin-Osaka station in the morning
2. Leave luggage at hotel in Gion before 3 PM checkin
3. Explore/shop Nishiki Market/Nakagyo district for lunch
4. Kiyomizu-dera area
1. Yasaka Shrine/Hokanji Temple
2. Kodaji Temple
3. Kiyomizudera Temple
5. Dinner
6. Return back to and explore Gion area near night time
1. Yasaka-jinja Shrine + Maruyama Park at night
Day 6 (Kyoto): Tuesday
1. Fushimi-inari in early morning
2. Lunch in the area
3. Take train to Arashiyama district (or taxi) in the afternoon
1. Monkey Park
2. Tenryu-ji Temple
3. Bamboo forest
4. Continue exploring/shopping around Nakagyo district
5. Bar hopping/dinner around Pontocho
Day 7 (Kyoto -> Tokyo): Wednesday
1. Take train from Kyoto to Tokyo in the morning/afternoon
2. Check in at hotel in Akasaka
3. Lunch near the hotel
4. Nezu Museum
5. Shop/Explore Aoyama
6. Dinner
Day 8 (Tokyo): Thursday
1. Harajuku area in the morning
1. Yoyogi Park
2. Meiji Jingu
3. Azuki to Kouri for some dessert + lunch in Harajuku area
4. Explore/shop Harajuku proper/Omotesando
2. Shibuya area in the evening
1. Shibuya Crossing
2. Hachiko Statue
3. Explore/shop Shibuya (PARCO, Spain slope, etc)
4. Shibuya Sky
Day 9 (Tokyo): Friday
1. Ikebukuro area in the morning
1. Explore/shop Ikebukuro (Sunshine city)
2. A Happy Pancake for lunch
2. Shinjuku area in the late afternoon
1. Explore/shop Shinjuku
2. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
3. Suga Shrine
4. Sushi Wa-sabi for dinner
5. Club night out in Shibuya or bar hopping around Shinjuku
Day 10 (Tokyo): Saturday
1. Asakusa area in the morning/early afternoon
1. Senso-ji Temple
2. Asakusa Kagetsudo + other food stands for lunch
2. Explore/shop Akihabara area in the evening
3. Dinner at Tsujihan Zeitaku Don
4. Quick explore/shop Ginza area around night time before heading back to hotel
5. Club night out in Shibuya or bar hopping around Shinjuku
Day 11 (Tokyo): Sunday
1. National Art Center (Yves Saint Laurent exhibit) in morning
2. Roppongi Hills area
1. Mori Art Museum
2. Explore/shop area
3. Lunch in the area
3. Shimokitazawa area in the evening
4. Dinner
Day 12 (Tokyo): Monday
1. Tsukiji Outer Market in the morning
2. Odaiba area in late morning/afternoon
1. Teamlabs
2. Gundam statue
3. Shop/explore Ginza area in the evening
1. Dinner in the area
4. Bar hopping in Asakasa
Day 13 (Tokyo): Tuesday
1. Free day -> Split up and go shopping in whichever district we best enjoyed (Ginza, Shimokitazawa, Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc)
2. Go clubbing for last time if possible
Day 14 (Tokyo): Wednesday
1. Shirohige’s Cream Puff Factory in late morning/afternoon
2. Ghibil Museum
3. Rest of the day is free -> Once again split off toward another shopping district of choice OR explore Tokyo Skytree if people want to go
Day 15 (Tokyo): Thursday
1. Last minute shopping in district of choice
2. Final Lunch/Dinner in Japan
3. Catch 5 PM flight from Haneda
1 comment
Commenting as both a streetwear / clubbing fan here! It’s been a while since I visited Kyoto so I can’t really comment on that section of your itinerary, but it looks like you’ve got a good balance of must-see tourist spots, temples etc., as well as hitting up the best areas for shopping.
Personally, I found the selection of shops in Shimokitazawa far superior compared to anywhere else, so maybe I’d dedicate a bit more time there, especially if you’re into vintage and street wear, followed closely by the shopping in Harajuku – the backstreets behind Takeshita Street have so much to offer, I think we ended up going back nearly three times. I found Ginza was only good for places like Dover Street Market and the UNIQLO flagship store, as it’s generally more high end shops. It might also be worth checking out Daikanyama if you have time.
Food wise just keep in mind that a lot of Japanese restaurants are quite small, and may struggle to seat 5 people if they’re busy, especially on an evening/weekend. Izakayas generally cater for larger groups and will be easier to find a walk-in, but most tend to serve a pretty similar selection of dishes. If you want to book somewhere in advance, a couple of Tokyo highlights were Nabezō Shibuya Koen Dori (all you can eat hotpot), and Sushi no Midori Ginza (unbelievably good value for money sushi, but absolutely book and pay for the set menu in advance as the queues are always crazy there!).
My favourite club by a margin was VENT just off Omotesandō, which has an insanely good sound system – although there’s not many bars around the club, so don’t make the same mistake as we did expecting to pre-drink nearby. Other good venues are Circus Tokyo and Osaka, club daphnia, ZEROTOKYO, ENTER Shibuya, and West Harlem in Kyoto (which I haven’t been to, but have heard good things).