Hi everyone, just want to thank all the kind people who answered my questions as I’ve been posting in the weekly threads randomly over the last few weeks – everyone has been helpful and kind. I’m not a strict planner, I just don’t want to be digging through google maps to look for things when I’m there (although adventures are fun) and prefer to just have some ideas and am feeling a little anxious now as well. Thank you in advance for reading.
I am going to Japan November 6 to November 20, 2023 by myself and have booked the hotels and made a few reservations so I made my plans around that. I used to love anime, but I just like Pokemon mostly now but not too into anime overall. I made bookings for Pokemon Cafe (Tokyo), Kirby Cafe (Tokyo) and Ghibli Museum which were all a massive pain to get and Samurai Experience in Kyoto. Also set a day/half day for Yokohama when I’m in Kyoto as I want to see the Gundam Factory and also some sights around that area and 2 animal cafes (I don’t think I will see any other animal things like zoos, etc). Aside from those, I plan to just check out anything interesting along the way and seeing some cultural/historical things and enjoying nature when possible – just seeing new things.
I am not too strict about the plan other than the reserved places, before I started planning I had a small thought that I could take a day trip and leave my stuff at my hotel and take a night to go to some onsen / ryokan but they seem quite expensive. I considered Hakone or Ohara (Kyoto) but I don’t know the logistics of that since I have never travelled in Japan.
I will just bring one suitcase/luggage, one backpack and I have a CPAP machine (sucks to lug that thing around but I need it).
This is the location plan:
Nov 7 – Nov 13 Tokyo (Fly from Canada Nov 6)
Nov 13 – Nov 16 Osaka (Includes one day/half day trip to Nara)
Nov 16 – Nov 19 Kyoto
Nov 19 – Nov 20 Tokyo (Leaving HND on Nov 20 to go back to Canada)
Concerns:
* The best way to get from Tokyo to Osaka / Kyoto to Tokyo is Shinkansen right? I just wanted to confirm since the price is over $100 USD if I recall correctly.
* What do I need to prepare for the Shinkansen or other transportation in Japan?
* If I only have one luggage, would it be necessary to ship any luggage? (Not sure on the logistics)
* Also hoping I am able to drop off luggages early at my hotels – there are alternatives like lockers from what I read?
* In Tokyo I don’t know the actual travel times between areas, my plan may be inefficient – what are good ways to slot places like Shibuya / Akihabara?
* Universal Studios Japan Osaka – how does the Nintendo portion of the park work? Can I just buy a ticket for the park and go? Not super interested in going to theme parks alone but I do like Nintendo so I considered it.
November 6, 2023 / November 7, 2023 (Japan Time) (Arrive in Tokyo)
* 15:15 Flight from Vancouver, Canada (Nov 6) -> 18:45 Tokyo HND (Nov 7)
* 21:00 **Hotel: Tokyu Stay Shinjuku (TOKYO)** check in
* Eat dinner and explore area at night after unpacking due to late arrival
November 8, 2023 (Tokyo)
* Shibuya Crossing (?)
* Pokemon Center Sky Tree Town
* Cafe Capybara
* 15:00 Kirby Café Tokyo (Reservation for 85 minutes)
* Tokyo Skyline
November 9, 2023 (Tokyo)
* 9:00 Senso-ji
* Akihabara
* 16:55 Pokemon Café Tokyo (Reservation for 90 minutes)
November 10, 2023 (Tokyo / Yokohama Day Trip)
* Gundam Factory Yokohama \[Need to book ticket for the Gundam entrance once time is decided\]
* [https://gundam-factory.net/en/](https://gundam-factory.net/en/)
* Cup Noodle Museum
* Yokohama Chinatown
* Yokohama Cosmo World
November 11, 2023 (Tokyo)
* Toei Animation Museum (This is the main place I wanted to see)
* Sujinami Animation Museum
* Shakuji Park / Shakuji Castle
* Mandarake Nakano
November 12, 2023 (Tokyo)
* Blank for now
November 13, 2023 (Travel to Osaka from Tokyo) – *decided on early start since I need to travel for quite a while*
* 7:00 Checkout of Hotel **Tokyu Stay Shinjuku (TOKYO)**
* 7:30-10:00 Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka (\~2.5 hours)
* 11:00 Drop off luggage at **The Bridge Hotel Shinsaibashi (OSAKA)**
* Den Den Town
* Dotombori (night)
November 14, 2023 (Osaka – Undecided)
* Debating between Himeji / Himeji Castle or go to Universal Studios Japan Osaka
* Not sure how the tickets work for USJ (mostly interested in checking out Nintendo)
November 15, 2023 (Osaka -> Nara Day Trip)
* 8:00 Osaka to Nara (1 hour)
* Stay in Nara 3-4 hours approximately
* 13:00/14:00 back in Osaka approximately
November 16, 2023 (Travel to Kyoto) – *decided on early start to maximize time in Kyoto*
* 7:00/8:00 Checkout of **The Bridge Hotel Shinsaibashi (OSAKA)**
* 9:00 **Hotel Stay SAKURA Kyoto Gion North (KYOTO)** leave luggage at hotel early
* Explore around area? Or I can push places from other days up, it really depends on when I actually get to Kyoto)
* Nijo Castle
* Kyoto Imperial Palace
* Heian-Jingu Shrine
* Enko-ji Temple
* Philosopher’s Path
November 17, 2023 (Kyoto)
* 9:00 Kiyomizu-dera
* 11:00-12:00 Shiba Cafe: [https://cafe-ryoma.business.site/](https://cafe-ryoma.business.site/)
* Nishiki Market (?) or Lunch
* 14:00-16:00 Samurai & Ninja Museum (Reserved Samurai Experience with viator)
* Potoncho Park
* Fushimi Inari at Night
November 18, 2023 (Kyoto)
* 7:00 Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
* Toei Kyoto Studio Park
* Nijo Castle
* Kyoto International Manga Museum
November 19, 2023 (Travel back to Tokyo)
* 8:00 **Hotel Stay SAKURA Kyoto Gion North** checkout
* Leave luggage at hotel or elsewhere until leaving for Tokyo
* 9:00 Kinkakuji
* 13:00 Bullet Train to Tokyo 2.5 hours
* 15:00 **Hotel Tokyu Stay Shimbashi – Ginza Area (TOKYO) check-in**
November 20, 2023 (Monday) (Tokyo -> Vancouver) – *flight is at night and I could only book Ghibli on this day so I think that’s the main activity for the day*
* Morning **Hotel Tokyu Stay Shimbashi – Ginza Area (TOKYO)** checkout
* Store Luggage / Leave at Hotel
* 10:00 **Ghibli Museum** (Mitaka) (Reservation)
* 21:55 **Tokyo HND Airport** Flight to YVR Vancouver, Canada
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4 comments
Look at a map to plan things in Tokyo: Shibuya and Sky Tree are about an hour apart.
The Suginami Animation Museum, while good, is not easy to get to quickly; most shops related to pop culture stuff don’t open until 11 AM or after.
Animal cafés are not good places to support: the animals are generally treated poorly. Animal welfare rules and regulations are far weaker in Japan than they should be.
For your Nov 8 day:
Not sure if you meant Cafe Capyba, but if so, it’s closed on Wed and Thurs. They also don’t take advanced reservations; if you get there and there’s a waiting list ahead of you, they’ll let you know how long the wait is.
For general planning: since you know where you’re staying and what specific places you want to see, I’d suggest pinning your locations on Google Maps and then using that to figure out exact transport times door-to-door, especially for the stuff you have reservations for. That can also help you figure out what else you can group together since you can see the clusters of what you have pinned.
Just a quick correction for you regarding since we just left Yokohama, November 10,
Buy a MINATO MiRAI day pass it will save you a lot of money.
Gundam Factory is actually closer to Yokohama Chinatown(Get food here!! But beware that all you can eat tends to start at two person[recommend Panda Hanten if you like MapoTofu]) There’s a mega Don Quijote right around the corner if you need to supplement anything you are missing from your trip.
and Cup Noodles Museum is closer to Cosmo World so you don’t have to spend extra time traveling back and forth.
If you are picking up Gundam kits then I suggest you get there early because the good stuffs sells out quite early, night time though, Gundam have a better view and allows you to stroll through Yamashita park at night time(just need 15 minutes).
If you have JR pass, getting to Osaka from Tokyo actually takes 3+hrs due to having to wait for Hikari and Kodama trains unless you want to cough up 4920 yen more. Make sure to have something hydrate yourself when you take Shinkansen, vendors practically disappeared post COVID and you gotta buy Ekibens at stations now.
If you won’t be back for another few years then I would recommend to splurge on food if you are not on a budget. There’s so much good stores that are so much better than just Combini dash every night.
As for Tokyo, you will be buying the 72hr passes to travel around which will let you access to all its subways(not JR) which is only 1500yen, if you have only one luggage then you don’t really have to worry about shipping until Yokohama as Gundam goods and cup noodle will take up space in your luggage.
When you are in Kansai(Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji) research up if you need “Kansai thru pass” as it will save you a lot of money if you do.
Hope your trip will be awesome and good luck!
USJ tickets can be bought straight from them or from klook. You could get an area timed ticket for Nintendo if you get to USJ early enough. We went for an express pass and got timed area with it for Nintendo and Harry Potter.
If you buy from the USJ site, they tend not to take foreign visa, but MasterCard is fine. Even better if you can use MasterCard through Apple pay. Klook is easier in that regard but express passes may already be scarce.