11 Days in Tokyo and Kyoto in Oct/Nov – Large Group Itinerary (9 people)

Hi all. I’m planning an itinerary for 9 adults, many of which are first-timers. I’ve been 3 times before and I like to plan, so I’ve been in charge of putting everything together. There aren’t many posts on here about large groups, so I figured I’d share my process and plans and see what y’all think.

This may be a bit overboard for some, but first I put together a small survey for everyone to fill out so I can get a good idea of each person’s priorities, interests, and travel styles. We’re all good friends, so I had an idea of what people were interested in from the beginning, but this was nice to have as a concrete reference. I’ve made a public copy of my survey that i’ll post a link to in the comments if you’d like to check it out and maybe fill it out for fun. Edit: Automod keeps eating the comment so I guess DM or comment if you want to see it.

As for the itinerary itself, I’ve mostly narrowed it down into areas instead of specific activities, because I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be traveling around as a 9 person group all the time, and instead people can break off into smaller groups and explore as they please. I have a handful of my own recommendations listed on each area as suggestions based on people’s interests. We’re all staying in 1 large Airbnb, so we will be able to meet up at the beginning and end of the day and discuss what we did, in case we don’t see each other much during the day.

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Anyway, to the itinerary (I’m also leaving in my simplified descriptions of places for my first-timers, don’t judge them too hard, lol)

### Day 0: FRIDAY – OCTOBER 27th TOKYO

– Half the crew arrives at Narita from Portland at 2:55PM
– Pick up Welcome Suica or PASMO Passport from the airport, then take the Keisei Skyliner to Nippori Station near our Airbnb

– Other half of the crew arrives at Haneda from LAX at around 4:00PM
– Pick up Welcome Suica or PASMO Passport from the airport, then take local trains to Iriya Station near our Airbnb

– Relax at Airbnb, eat local dinner, likely sleep early 6PM JST is 2AM PDT.

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### Day 1: SATURDAY – OCTOBER 28th TOKYO

– **Senso-ji (Shrine):** We’ll be up early because of jet lag. Tourist hotspot, but will be less crowded before 10am.
– **Explore Asakusa (Historical District):** Hoppy Street, Nakamise-dori, backstreets, rickshaw tours?
– **Tokyo Skytree:** Tallest structure in Tokyo. Free city view if you only visit 30/31 floor. Kirby Cafe shop, Pokemon center, Sanrio & other character shops, multiple food courts
– _Optional_ **Ginza (Luxury District):** GLITCH COFFEE, Stationary Store Itoya, Goldfish Art Aquarium, Tsukiji fish market
– _Optional_ **Walk to Tokyo Station:** Tokyo Ramen Street, Tokyo Character Street
– **Akihabara (Electronics District):** So much otaku shopping, arcades, maid cafes. FFXIV, Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, Sanrio cafes.
– I have plans to visit the Grancypher Kitchen (Granblue Fantasy Cafe)

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### Day 2: SUNDAY – OCTOBER 29th TOKYO

– **Ikebukuro (Otaku District):** Animate Store, Secondhand shops, Swallowtail butler cafe, Sanrio cafe.
– **Ikebukuro: Sunshine City:** One Piece mugiwara store, Pokemon Center Mega, Pikachu Sweets Cafe, Donguri (Ghibli Store), Rilakkuma Store, Sunshine Aquarium (Terror Night Aquarium Halloween event), Namjatown (Gyoza theme park)
– **Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival:** Tickets required to enter the park as a cosplayer or photographer, but cosplayers will probably just be everywhere too.

Reddit Question: Anyone been to the Ikebukuro cosplay fest before? Is what I said above true?

– _Optional_ **Visit Harajuku or Shinjuku:** We’ll be going to Harajuku later on Tuesday, but weekends have the opportunity to see fashion kids out on the street.

– STARDOM Halloween Dark Night 2023 ～恐怖の館～: A couple of our friends are splitting off to go see this Halloween wrestling show in Tachikawa.

– **Shibuya (Shopping District):** Hachiko Statue, Shibuya Scramble, Shibuya Sky Observation Deck, One Piece mugiwara store, Shibuya PARCO mall with nintendo jump pokemon capcom stores and cool food court, Parfait cafes, lots of food, Shibuya Yokocho
– **Shibuya Halloween:** People in costumes everywhere. Lots of clubs and bars having events.

– One friend is splitting off later to watch the Liverpool game at THE FooTNiK in Ebisu @ 11pm (maybe taxi back, trains won’t be running after the game)

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### Day 3: MONDAY – OCTOBER 30th TOKYO

– **Teamlab Planets:** Hopefully around 10am, buy tickets before end of sept
– _Optional_ **Odaiba:** Joyopolis Indoor Amusement park with arcade and VR experiences, Life sized unicorn gundam, statue of liberty
– **CHOSE 2 BELOW ↓↓**
– **Yokohama:** Moving Gundam Factory, Cup Noodle Museum, Ramen Museum, Yokohama Chinatown
– **Tokyo Ramen Festival in Komazawa:** Yearly Ramen Festival featuring styles from all over Japan. Entry is free, each bowl is 1000 yen. (Can also go any other day if there’s time)
– **Ebisu/Nakameguro:** Lots of breweries, coffee shops, beer museum, meguro river views, parks
– **Nakano:** Nakano Broadway (huge mall filled with classic anime goods), JOJO bar, residential backstreets, cafes and craft beer pubs

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### Day 4: TUESDAY – OCTOBER 31st TOKYO

– **Meiji Jingu:** Historic shrine in a giant park in the middle of the city. Open very early

– **Harajuku/Omotesando:** Takeshita-dori (very crowded tourist trap street), crepes, latte-art cafes, coffee shops, animal cafes (hedgehog, otters, and snakes!), sweets shops and bakeries

– **Open space** for whatever we missed

– Visual Kei concert for me in Shinjuku if I can get tickets 🙏

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### Day 5: WEDNESDAY – NOVEMBER 1st TOKYO → HIMEJI → KYOTO
– **Nozomi Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Himeji:** ~2.5 hours, leaves at 8:48 AM (Arrive 11:46). Alternative: 9:03 AM (Arrive 12:36), 9:48 AM (Arrive 12:46). Not pre-booked, we should be able to arrive and buy tickets? (in case we are late getting up)
– Store suitcases at Himeji Station or Luggage Forward to Kyoto Coin locker ~700 yen, Luggage forward ~2200 yen

Reddit Question: There is a Yamato office down the street from our Airbnb in Kyoto. Can we send our luggage there and pick it up? Our Airbnb won’t have someone there to accept delivery.

– **Himeji Castle:** ~ 4 hours to explore
– **Nozomi Shinkansen from Himeji Station to Kyoto:** ~44 mins, leaves every hour. try to arrive around 5pm
– Take Taxi or Train to Airbnb near Kamo River and check in any time after 3:00PM
– **Explore Gion/Higashiyama/Pontocho:** Things close early but it is nice to walk around in the evening. Yasaka-jinja (shrine) very pretty at night.

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### Day 6: THURSDAY – NOVEMBER 2nd KYOTO
– **Fushimi Inari:** Sunrise around 6am, try to arrive before 9am

– **Nijo Castle?** I think it’s very cool, but open to alternatives.

– **Fushimi Sake District:** Yamorido, Kizakura Kappa, etc

Reddit Question: Anyone have specific recommendations for a good place to do sake tastings?

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### Day 7: FRIDAY – NOVEMBER 3rd KYOTO
– 2 friends leave today. They take the shinkansen to Tokyo station early in the morning, last minute souvenir shopping at Tokyo Station (is Shinagawa better for this?), then Narita Express to the airport for flight at 6:30PM
– For the rest of us ↓

– **Arashiyama:** Sogenchi Pond Garden, Katsura River views, nice cafes, just explore the area

Reddit Question: Anyone taken the sagano scenic railway? Opinions?

– **Explore Higashiyama, Sannenzaka, Gion, etc:** Properly, during the daytime when things are open.

– **Pontocho Alley & Kamo River:** In the evening

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### Day 8: SATURDAY – NOVEMBER 4th KYOTO
– 2 more friends leave today. They take the shinkansen to Tokyo station early in the morning, last minute souvenir shopping at Tokyo Station (is Shinagawa better for this?), then Narita Express to the airport for flight at 6:30PM
– For the rest of us ↓
– Move to a smaller Airbnb in Downtown Kyoto. Store suitcases at Karasuma station if the Airbnb won’t let us drop off early.
– **Free Time:** Taking it easy. want to check out Nishiki market, Downtown Kyoto, some local breweries and eateries in the time we have left.

– NJPW POWER STRUGGLE ～SUPER Jr. TAG LEAGUE 2023～ in Osaka. 2 people plan to take the train down to Osaka to see this wrestling show.

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### Day 9: SUNDAY – NOVEMBER 5th KYOTO

– No plans. Leaving open the idea of visiting Nara if we feel like it.

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### Day 9: SUNDAY – NOVEMBER 5th KYOTO

– No plans.

Reddit Question: Anyone have any recommendations for a good kaiseki meal in Kyoto that wont break the bank?

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### Day 10: TUESDAY – NOVEMBER 7th KYOTO → TOKYO
– Check out of Airbnb before 11:00 AM
– Shinkansen back to Tokyo, last minute shopping in Shibuya or one of the stations. (Mega Donki is king)
– Flights out of Haneda (4:25PM for one, 7:40PM for the others)

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As you can see, we’re taking a more relaxed pace in Kyoto, especially once half the group has left. The remaining people are more experienced with Japan travel so we’re comfortable just doing things on the fly.

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**TL;DR:**
– Anyone been to the Ikebukuro cosplay fest before? Do you need a ticket just to see cosplayers?
– There is a Yamato office down the street from our Airbnb in Kyoto. Can we send our luggage there and pick it up? Our Airbnb won’t have someone there to accept delivery.
– Anyone have specific recommendations for a good place to do sake tastings in Kyoto sake district?
– Anyone taken the sagano scenic railway? Opinions?
– Anyone have any recommendations for a good kaiseki meal in Kyoto that wont break the bank?

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If you’ve read this far and/or you can help me out with any of the questions in my post, thank you!