Hi everyone,
We’re about to head off for two weeks to Tokyo, Osaka and Hakone, and would love any tips you have! Some days are quire empty so would love to hear ideas/suggestions for filling them.
**Day 1 – London to Tokyo**
* We arrive at 07:00am in Haneda Airport. We’ll pick up Suica/Welcome Suica cards and a pocket wifi, and then head to the Hotel.
* In the afternoon, we’ll try and stay awake for as long as possible to try and manage jetlag.
* We’re aiming to go to the Sky Tree as it’s near our hotel, including the Pokemon Center, Ghibli store and maybe the Asahi building. Otherwise, just chilling and eating whatever appeals on the day.
**Day 2 – Tokyo**
* Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in the morning
* Ghibli Museum in the afternoon
* Then a plant shop my partner wants to visit called Proto Leaf Garden Island, followed by Tamagawa Takashimaya nearby where we’ll probably find something for dinner.
**Day 3 – Tokyo**
* Imperial Palace and Gardens, and then exploring. Open to suggestions in the area!
**Day 4 – Tokyo and Osaka**
* Pokemon Cafe in the morning, and then travelling to Osaka in the early afternoon. In the evening, having a walk in Dotonbori and having streetfood for dinner.
**Day 5 – Universal Studios**
* We have tickets for Nintendo World at 3pm, however we’re not really interested in the rest of the park. We may try and go super early, go to Nintendo World when it opens and then come back to Osaka in the afternoon.
* If we’re back in Osaka in the afternoon, we’ll go to Osaka Castle, Namba Jinja and maybe the Umeda Sky Building.
**Day 6 – Kyoto**
* Whole day trip to Kyoto.
* We have breakfast booked, but otherwise we’d like to wander around Fushimi Inari Taisha and Nishiki Market, and just enjoy wondering around the city.
**Day 7 – Free Day**
* We’re not sure! Options include Nara, or Kyoto again, or a day trip to Himeji Castle in the morning followed by Kobe in the afternoon and evening.
* In the afternoon we’ll ask our hotel to forward our suitcases to our hotel in Tokyo, where we’re returning on Day 10.
**Day 8 – Osaka to Hakone**
* Travelling in the morning to a ryokan in Hakone. Spending the day and evening there chilling and enjoying the onsen. I’m planning on proposing to my partner on this day, either on our balcony or in the gardens of the ryokan!
**Day 9 – Hakone**
* Either just relaxing the whole day, or popping to Hakone and exploring during the late morning/early afternoon.
**Day 10 – Hakone to Tokyo via Yokohama**
* Exploring Hakone more in the morning, then travelling to Yokohama for most of the day.
* We want to see the Yokohama Pokemon Center, Sankei-en, and the Landmark Tower.
* Dinner is booked at a nice Teppanyaki restaurant to hopefully celebrate the engagement.
**Day 11 – Tokyo**
* Visiting Meiji Jingu in the morning.
* Exploring Shibuya and Harajuku in the afternoon, including Shibuya Parco and Shibuya Sky.
**Day 12 – Tokyo**
* Exploring Akihabara.
* Going to Square Enix Cafe, Super Potato and Omoide Yokocho in the late afternoon/evening.
**Day 13 – Tokyo**
* The Ghibli clock, Senso-Ji and Asakusa,
* Dinner at a Okonomiyaki restaurant recommended by my Japanese aunt.
**Day 14 – Tokyo to London**
* Leaving at 9am 🙁
3 comments
Day 3 – if you’re interested in a traditional performance, Kabukiza Theatre is nearby and offers a multilingual captioning service.
Tokyo – you may be interested in Nakano Broadway.
Early congrats! Hope it all goes smoothly!
I highly recommend Tokyo weekenders “things to do this week” section! Lots of fun events listed!
https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/things-to-do-in-tokyo/12-things-to-do-in-tokyo-this-week-september-25-october-1/
My only recommendation is putting some time on a grocery for japanese products to bring back home if you like to cook, or shopping for japanese tools – knives, chopstick, etc.
Also, Day 1 – go to a department store and buy a stamp book. There are so many stamps scattered all over Japan and ive been collecting. They are a good souvenir!
(Just a note that this is separate from Goshuin. Goshuin are stamps and ink work from temples/shrines which ive been collecting. They are very cool. If you are interested, read more [here](https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-tokyo_train_station/article-a0002402/) )