Hello! I’m planning a solo trip to Japan in early December 2022 before the Holiday season. I am 18 and will be 18 at the time of the trip, and **it will be my first time in Japan and it’ll be my first solo travel trip any foreign country.** I wanted to point that out if you all had any special head ups about that, but I believe Japan will be a great experience to travel by myself nonetheless. I still plan to research more but I need some opinions on what I have now.
**Day 1 -** Land in Tokyo and free out the day to rest because of jet lag.
**Day 2 – Shinjuku:** Tokyo Metropolitan Building Observation Deck, Samurai Museum (if open), Hanazono-jinja Shrine, Kabukicho
**Day 3 – Shibuya:** Meiji Jingu, Takeshita Street, Shibuya Parco, Miyashita Park, Shibuya Scramble Park tower
**Day 4 – Asakusa:** Wake up early for Senso-ji, Sumida Park, Akihabara, Kanda Myojin Shrine
**Day 5 and 6 – Free days in Tokyo:** Left these two days to rest, go to places I’ve missed, or go to new places, if you have any recommendations let me know!
**Day 7 and 8 – Hakone:** Planning to get a Ryokan in Hakone.
**Day 9 – Kyoto:** Toji, Nijo Castle, Nintendo HQ (Yes I know I can’t go inside), explore the “city” of Kyoto
**Day 10 – Kyoto:** Wake up early for Hanamikoji and Gion, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyomizu Temple, Pontocho Alley
**Day 11 – Kyoto –> Tokyo:** Wake up early for Fushimi Inari Taisha, Starbucks Coffee Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya, and get a train back to Tokyo.
**Day 12 -** Flight back home.
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**Some questions:**
1. Sorry if this is a redundant question, but is a JR Pass worth it in this trip?
2. Does any of these plans pose challenges for me as a 18 year old first-timer?
3. Is my itinerary too stuffed or is there room to add more?
7 comments
1. It’s likely going to be slightly cheaper not using the pass. You can also use the Nozomi shinkansen, that is faster, if you do not use the pass. Also check the price of multi-city ticket and consider flyting in Tokyo and out of Osaka. Even if it’s a bit more expensive, you would save money on the train back to Tokyo.
2. While legal age is now 18, drinking age is 20 in Japan. So no, you should not have problems booking hotels or other things like that, just avoid drinking while you are there.
3. Itinerary seems fine and if anything, some days might be a bit light to my taste. I personally prefer to have more options than what I can do, so on the day I can decide what I wand to do and for some days, just be flexible and take time to enjoy. So far things you listed are generally in the same area so I think that the general idea of each day make sense.
While gov building is nice because it’s free, it’s also not the best observation deck in Tokyo in my opinion. I would say Roppongi Hills Mori tower is better and I’m looking forward going to Shibuya sky.
There is a lot of things you can do in Tokyo, might depend if you have any special interest, for example do you like art, anime, garden… You might get some idea by reading a bit more about Tokyo. If you do not mind sharing a bit your interest, I might be able to give some suggestions.
Going in December, I would recommend looking for winter illumination.
Nintendo HQ have been turned into a hotel, so for sure you can go inside. Check out Paolo from Tokyo on YouTube, he did two video about it.
1. You can google and compare the price. 7 day JRPass is about USD$252. One way ticket is $150. However, there is no JRPass train to Hakone. So you need to check the extra costs. You can use the JRPass from Tokyo to Narita, but not to Haneda. So need to check which airport you are flying in and out. JRPass had to be used on consecutive days.
2. Drinking minimum age is 20. I’m not sure if 18 is consider young to book the hotels by yourself. Even though it is easy to travel around without knowing English but most of them may not know English very well so conversations are difficult. But they provide English menus and instructions. One good thing about Japan is that solo dining is very common.
3. There’s no right or wrong itinerary, since Japan is new to you, there are a lot of things to explore. Harajuku, Odaiba and Yokohama might be interesting for you.
Because you have some “open” days, I suggest you get the JR pass because it gives you flexibility if you decide you want to check something out. This also gives you flexibility in planning, like if you want to take a day-trip from Kyoto to Himeji, you can do that without worrying about paying extra.
I would personally take at least one day from Tokyo and put it in Kyoto, maybe even two. There’s a lot of stuff there…
I also recommend that you come up with a big list of things to do fully with the intention of not doing some of them. It’s way easier to cross things off than to find things to do.
As a young person, check out the Millenials in Shibuya as a place to stay. It’s unfortunate you’ll be under 20 while you’re there but if you’d like a chance to meet other travelers, it’s a pretty good place to stay.
If you can get your flight home from Osaka, it will be quicker than backtracking to Tokyo.
Highly recommend the 72 hour subway pass for traveling around Tokyo (1500 Yen / $11.50 US).
I’ve been to Japan twice myself, once solo (24 yo) and once with mates (26 yo). Both times, I immensely enjoyed Kyoto a lot more than Tokyo. I would personally recommend spending a bit longer in Kyoto – if you choose to get a JR pass, you could even do daytrips to Osaka, Hiroshima/Miyajima, and/or Himeji from Kyoto if you end up running out of things to do.
In Tokyo, you could add Harajuku to your day in Shinjuku or Shibuya. It’s in walking distance to both and nice to experience.
If you have the funds to, you could always see a Kabuki performance and/or sumo wrestling. I loved the fact that they have such cultutal and historical significance in Japan.
For food, the restaurants in ramen street under Tokyo Station has great ramen. I love the tsukemens at Rokurinsha. Creamia soft serves are amazing and affordable, and you can find them everywhere. If you have the funds to, you gotta try some A5 Kobe steak as well – it melts in your mouth like butter.
Day 5 and 6 – A day trip to Yokohama or Odaiba would be nice actually.
1. JR Pass is definitely not worth it since you are mostly in Tokyo and Kyoto only. For Tokyo, u can check out the 72 hour ticket. For Hakone, personally i took the Limited Express Romance car at Shinjuku Station, i got the ticket from Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center located near the West Exit of Shinjuku Station. For Kyoto, just check what bus pass they have and go from there.
2. Does it pose a challenge? Not really, my first time to Japan was Tokyo and Hakone, i went there without an itinerary except for the Hakone trip, where i needed to get the train ticket, and all worked out well enough. U might miss something here and there from your itinerary but don’t worry too much about it and just enjoy the trip!
3. All good. U could stay at Nintendo former HQ hotel, it is already opened for business.
Good luck, you picked a fantastic time to go!!