Hi, all! I am (F30s) traveling to Japan with my mom (F60s) in mid-November. It’s the first trip to Japan for both of us. I’m a huge traveler, 30+ countries, but this is my dream trip and I am so thrilled it’s happening. This will be my mom’s first time in Asia, but she is up-for-anything and in great health, and frankly will probably have more tourist energy than even me.
We both are interested in the classic “tourist” sites and like a good deal of history. She loves gardens/bonsai/landscapes; I enjoy animals and Japanese historical culture (think Geisha and Samurai, less anime). I also like shopping, but I’m not interested in widely available stores because I live in a major city. I’m more interested in the hidden gems/can only be found in Japan. Neither of us are really foodies, but we’re also not limited to a strictly western diet.
It also happens to be my birthday on the day we land in Tokyo. In an ideal world, I’d have energy to go out and explore the bar scene that night but I’m keeping my expectations low in case jet lag kicks our ass.
Here’s the rough itinerary. Appreciate any feedback, especially on ways to incorporate specific stops related to our interests!
**Day One (Saturday)**
+ Land 2:30 PM at Haneda Airport (coming from eastern US)
+ Travel to Hotel (Ginza)
+ Check-in, refresh
+ Shibuya Sky
+ Dinner – possibly Teppanyaki Ten
+ If we still have energy, drinks then bedtime
**Day Two (Sunday)**
+ Breakfast in Ginza
+ Imperial Palace
+ Lunch in the Marunouchi Area
+ Senso-ji Temple
+ Asakusa, explore & dinner
*Day Three (Monday)**
+ Shibuya Crossing in Morning
+ Explore/lunch in Shibuya
+ Meiji Jingu Shrine
+ Harry’s Harajuku Terrace (otters are my favorite animal, I have to…)
+ Harajuku, explore & dinner
**Day Four (Tuesday)**
+ Morning: Tsukiji Fish Market
+ TeamLabs Borderless – Planets
+ Bullet train to Kyoto
+ Check in to hotel (located near Kyoto Tower in Shimogyo Ward)
+ Join a Gion tour with Geisha performance in the evening
+ Dinner in Gion
**Day Five (Wednesday)**
+ Fushimi Inara
+ Then ??
This is the day I am most unsure about – I was thinking a bathhouse/onsen, but I don’t think my mother loves the idea of them, and I have tattoos
**Day Six (Thursday)**
+ Saiho-ji Temple (reservation at 10 AM)
+ Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Monkey Preserve
+ Kinkaju-ji Temple [The Golden Pavilion]
**Day Seven (Friday)**
+ Travel to Nara
+ Tōdai-ji
+ Nara Park
+ Travel to Osaka
**Day Eight (Saturday)**
+ Osaka Castle
+ Shinsaibashi
+ Lunch in Dotonbori, then explore canal
+ Explore Shinsekai
+ Dinner at the Kuromon Ichiba Market
+ Namba or Umeda for last night drinks
**Day Nine (Sunday)**
+ Leisurely morning
+ Travel to airport, flight departs early afternoon
**Some things that aren’t on this itinerary that I’d hoped to see:**
+ Sumo, or sumo training. But I gather this isn’t the season and there are no tournaments or stable visits that I’ve found.
+ Mt. Fuji. I’d hoped to make a day trip here. I’m considering swapping the itinerary on Tuesday for a guided tour out to the mountain, and rearranging our schedule to skip Team Labs all together and do the fish market on another day. In that case, we’d travel to Kyoto a day later in the AM and do the tour of Gion on the same day as Fushimi Inara. My worry is this will be “too much” but I’m sad to miss it.
+ Golden Gai — not sure when to squeeze this in, if this is only an evening thing.
7 comments
Going to an Onsen with tattoos is Not a good Idea. There is some onsens saying they’re cool about it… But people there are absolutely not. You will get “the Look” all the time.
When it comes to TeamLab, book your Tickets now …otherwise you won’t get in.
Same goes For Osaka Castle on Weekends
Sound Like you already have solid Plans. We almost did the Same Trip in April and we went from Kyoto to Himeji, which was an absolut Highlight for me. (day 5 maybe)
Last Tip: Respekt the general rules there. Don’t eat while Walking or in the Subway. Don’t use your Cellphone in Public, Hand over Cash or cards with both hands and say Arigato Samas about 1000 Times a day 😉
Oh, and try to get Up the Skytree in Tokyo. You will be blown away by the View and the sheer size of the city. It Just doesn’t end in any direction you’re looking
I know you may love otters but all of those exotic animal cafes are super unethical, sad, and cruel. I feel like if you really love them you won’t want to support them by using your hard earned money for them to use to continue their unethical practices. 🙁
I saw on TV that there is a restaurant that you can see Sumo wrestlers wrestle. It’s called Yokozuna Tonkatsu Dosukoi Tanaka. I’m not sure how touristy or authentic it is but maybe you could check out their website.
> Day One (Saturday)
Is the Teppanyaki Ten where you plan to have dinner the Shibuya branch? If not, and you are planning to go to the Ginza branch, you may want to plan to look around the Ginza area instead of going all the way to Shibuya Sky and back. It can also be said that Shibuya Sky is very crowded on Saturdays, so it is better to do it on a weekday.
Unless you’re planning to spend more time in Shibuya than simply going to the scramble and the Shibuya Sky thing, put them on the same day. The intersection really is just an intersection with a lot of people going through it. It takes all of five minutes to take it all in.
I’d drop either the Meiji Jingu visit or the Imperial Palace (east garden?) visit if you’re going to Kyoto.
As for tattoos, I don’t know about the Kyoto area, but in Tokyo I’ve been to five different public baths in the last couple of months, and there were people with tattoos there every time; no one reacted in any way. (Note that these are public baths [*sentou* in Japanese], not hot springs [*onsen*]; you can find them dotted around most places in Japan.) You can go into any of these for an hour or so. Most open in the late afternoon and cost ¥520 for adults in Tokyo. You can rent or buy towels for a couple hundred more yen, and soap and shampoo is supplied in the bath area, so you don’t need to buy it.
I’ll second u/briannalang’s admonition to not visit animal cafés. The animals are kept in poor condition, and they’re being shut down continually, though not, alas, quickly enough.
There is a sumo place near Tsukiji / Tokyo Station that has a calendar of when you can watch them train in the early morning. Might be worth a check. There is a big tournament sometime in November too, so you won’t be able to watch them train.
Do Meiji jingu in the morning, it’s one of the few things in Japan open early. Most shops aren’t open until 10-11am or so. Japan is reeaaaallly quiet in the mornings.