First Time Japan Trip Itinerary 2024! Critique, Recommendations and General Comments Welcome!

41 comments

1. more days in Kyoto since you have 3 weeks.

   I went to Hagi last week and it was amazing, recommend that instead of Fukuoka.

   Skip Nara, add Kamakura (it’s south of Tokyo and not near Kyoto). I’m actually staying there tonight and it’s got its own “Shonan Coast” vibe, kinda like Santa Cruz I guess.

   My first stop on my first full day in Kyoto on this trip was the Ryōan-ji, very notable zen garden and beautiful temple grounds, the best Kyoto has to offer really.

2. We are also considering not doing Nara as we can see deer on Miyajima island and are looking for a different day trip from Osaka.

3. Which airport are you flying into? There are cheaper options than the limo bus and if it’s Haneda, it won’t take long to get to Shinjuku, via Tokyo Station.

4. Make sure you’re prepared for lots of standing and walking. Get in shape before you come and make sure your shoes are comfortable.

5. Not sure why Kamakura is listed under Kyoto, that’s far away, close to Tokyo.

   And not sure why you have Asakusa-jinja on your list, surely you mean Senso-ji.

6. I think Nara is still worth a visit, because the place is beautiful (not for the deer). Most places that are in the major city are always packed, similarly with Kamakura if you’re on the main st to the shrine it’s not going to be any less packed than Nara (and I love Kamakura and shonan area). You can easily do the two spot in half a day (Kasugataisha and Todaiji).

7. Partially off topic – where did you get that map from? At first I thought it was a map you made with the itinerary but it’s about the whole country..!

8. Is this itinerary made by an AI? Serious question. There is so much going on.

   You listed Iriomote under Okinawa. It‘s not even the same island group. You‘d need to take a flight and a boat to get there from Naha.

   Kamakura listed under Kyoto…

   Beppu: why would you want to „splurge“ on an onsen ryokan and then go to a day spa instead?

   Tickets from Kyushu to Tokyo will coast you a lot and next year the JR Pass won‘t be of any use.
   Don‘t understand why you won‘t fly from Okinawa to Hiroshima or Kansai region. There are literally hundreds of onsen towns in Japan. No need to go to Beppu or Fukuoka for one night imo.

9. I’m going to the UK for a few weeks and plan to spend 2 days going to all the sights in London, then fly to the Shetland Islands with a side trip to the Faroe Islands. After that, I’ll fly to Edinburgh for a day then off to Glasgow. Then zip down to Liverpool with a little side trip to the Lake District. After that, it’s a day around Wales and then hit Bath, Stonehenge, and Cornwall, then back to London and fly off to Tokyo. Does this sound like a good itinerary?

10. Yufuin onsen better than Beppu imo. It is more like a onsen village. Or kurokawa onsen/ Takeo onsen. 7 hells are touristy af

11. Typical uk people itinerary lol

12. For the Ghibli Museum make sure to get your tickets in advance as you can’t purchase them at the door. They sell out fairly quickly too so you may have to plan around the ticket release to make sure you get tickets for the day you want.

    As of right now the tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. (JST) on the 10th of each month for the following month. So if you are planning to go in April you would book your tickets on March 10th.

    If you are looking to go in the spring the cherry blossom are in bloom from mid March to early April depending on where you are.

13. Who are these people?

    Have you allocated time to use the bathroom?

14. Here’s one suggestion I can add, depending on what time you have your tickets for Ghilbli Museum. I’ts about a 30 minute train ride from shinjuku area, but near the train station there is A Happy Pancake for breakfast. So you could go early (they open at 10 I believe) eat your pancake then go to the museum. Its less crowded at this location and you can knock it off your list of things to try.

    Also in the area is Samurai Curry so if you are going later in the day for example you could eat there as well, its good food!

    additionally after the museum and park, if you walk north back towards the train station, in the southwest area of train station there a bucnh of small streets there’s alot of small vintage shopping there you can do clothes wise – it’s not necessarily cheap vintage its more high end.

    Just my two cents.

15. Do you need to do Okinawa? It’s great but it’s really different than mainland Japan- almost like you are visiting the U.S. but adding Hawaii after 3 days in New York City. I’d consider skipping that all together.
    There is a lot to see in many of the places you listed here. Last time I was in Japan for 2 weeks (this July), I spent all morning walking around Jimbo-Cho and had lunch there as well before I took the subway to check out /line up at the best kakigoori place somewhere else. I think that was my favorite day. I’d consider Tokyo at least 5 full days. Plus you will be jetlagged so your energy level would be somewhat lower.
    Similarly most people do Kyoto a bit longer because again there’s so much to see there. With Nara/Kamakura/Osaka, you can easily do at least a week there. From there I might Shinkansen (or if you are trying to save money do highway bus- they are SO CLEAN and well run in Japan and much much cheaper) to Hiroshima/Miyajima – so much stuff to do/see

16. You might want to add a day or 2 to relax.

17. If you want a uniquely different experience, take one of the many ferries on Japan.

    Like Okinawa – Kagoshima, which is 24h, or Beppu <-> Osaka which is overnight.

    Actually, my personal preference would be to cut Beppu/Fukuoka and do southern Kyushu (Kagoshima/Sakurajima/IbusukiOnsen/KirishimaOnsen) instead, with a rental car.

18. lol this seems just like list of random shit and not an itinerary.

19. If you’re going to Kyushu anyway, take a look at Kurokawa Onsen as an option for a splurge onsen/ryokan experience. I really loved my stay there, much more quiet and remote than Beppu, but with all the same options for soaking.

20. How can I download this map and all the saved points 😂 might save me some time

21. Day trips from Tokyo to Kamakura or Nikko are both great in my opinion. They will take an entire day though.

22. This would be way too much for me. We just finished 7 weeks and so we had more time, but I’d skip Beppu unless you want to take the overnight ferry to Osaka (it’s almost like a cruise and pretty adorable)

    Mt Aso and Kagoshima is also pretty nice. So maybe you can fly from Okinawa to Kagoshima and take the train north.

23. In all honestly, your itinerary is a complete mess 😅

    Best way to do things- pick 2 things you guys really want to do each day for the location you are at. If it’s a solid travel day e.g Tokyo- Kyoto, then limit it to one major thing.
    If you have extra time then refer to your map and look for other cool things nearby. I promise there will not be any lack of interesting things to do in Japan. Half the best stuff I’ve encountered has been just walking around and seeing a random street festival or something!

    I wish you the best of luck though! A little more “go with the flow” may help a bunch in this case

24. Please do not go to the rabbit island. The animals there are often dumped pets, and since they aren’t fixed they breed out of control. On top of that, because of a lack of food on the island, they rely almost entirely on humans to feed them so many are malnourished. Many are also sick or injured and die very young, so you’re just going to see lots of suffering. Signed, a rabbit owner/lover who was thinking of going there myself

25. I’m floored by how spread out all your picks are. I traveled to Japan for 2 weeks in 2019. I similarly had a Google map with all the P.O.I. that I wanted to hit. The difference is I planned out only visiting 3 cities/areas: Tokyo (5 days), Kyoto (4 days), Sendai (4 days, it’s where my friend lives & was getting married, there’s not much for tourists there) and back to Tokyo (1 day). I was exhausted after all the traveling I did around the country. I suggest focusing on 3-5 cities and exploring around them. Google around for the best restaurants and activities in the area you are staying in. You won’t be disappointed. Some of my favorite stops were local, hole-in-the-wall places that weren’t on any “best of” lists or were spontaneous stops. Spend more time enjoying the nearby P.O.I. then traveling to a P.O.I. far out of your way.

    Things I enjoyed were just eating (everything from the corner konbini to a traditional omakase). The Ghibli museum was lovely, but you have to be a fan of the Ghibli movies to really enjoy it. We visited a handful of temples and I wish we could have visited more. Check for any festivals happening in the areas you are going to. Just walking around Kyoto at night was magical!

26. For a Japan first time I think you are trying to do too much. I’ve been to Japan 5 times and never been to Okinawa. Whilst I get Okinawas pull, if I wanted a beach holiday I personally wouldn’t go to Japan, I go for the culture/food/cities. It also might be too cold in spring for a beach holiday there.

    You only have 3 full days in Tokyo and one at the end. You’re never gonna be able to do everything on your list. Ghibli museum, I’m not into that but I understand that can be a full day alone, it’s quite a hike west out of Tokyo. I wouldn’t be going to Okinawa for my first Japan trip and spending almost the same amount of time as Tokyo there, just doesn’t make sense in particular with the list of things you want to do? Tokyo IMO is the greatest first world city in the world. There’s so much to do there and you’ll absolutely love it.

    Fukuoka is great not many would go there on their first trip but I do recommend it. It has a very Korean vibe as most tourists are obviously Koreans. If I can give one restaurant recommendation (it’s honestly my highest rated restaurant experience in Japan) it’s Musasiza Izakaya at 5 Chome-5-12 Watanabedori. They are famous for their grilled fish but do everything, but it’s the experience with the staff, every time you get food or drink they yell out in unison, it’s really a bloody fun experience.

    In regards to Beppu, I stayed at Galleria Midobaru, this is luxury accomodation with Onsen baths on the balcony. Whilst from a geothermal perspective Beppu is a must see, it is a bit run down IMO, like everything’s from the 70/80’s peak and hasn’t been kept up. I find that a lot in Japan as a whole, coming from NZ where most of our infrastructure is new. In regards to other onsens Kurokawa Onsen is probably the best recommend and scenic, google it, it’s amazing.

27. There’s a lot of solid advice given already.

    My 2C:

    If it’s your first time in Japan skip Okinawa, Fukuoka and Beppu.

    Even the smallest town in Japan has a Tourist Bureau for a reason.

    Take your time. Some of the most amazing and memorable things you will see will be unplanned.

28. I would stay in one or two spots only, and really get to know the area and the community. Even a 1/3 of that itinerary would be too much for me. The whole thing would be a blur. Allow some time to accidentally stumble into something, meet some locals. There are plenty of places that are not listed in yelp or trip advisor that are worth your time. Do 1/2 the time in shinjuku and the other half in Kyoto. There’s so much culture to soak up and enjoy. Have fun 🤩

29. Nokonoshima island is amazing/ my favorite part of Fukuoka and I spent a full day there this spring with amazing memories to boot. I’m not sure how it’s doable with all the items in your Fukuoka itinerary.

    I would add a day to Fukuoka for nokonoshima with some night activities back in Fukuoka after. If you can’t dedicate a day to this you should just skip the island. The boats to and fro don’t come that often either.

30. I’d recommend a place like Kurokawa Onsen over Beppu personally for onsen stay. Similar travel distance from Fukuoka, Mt. Aso and Takachiho Gorge are in the area too.

31. You have far too much on the to-do for Tokyo: those things will take you more than a week, and it wouldn’t be a particularly enjoyable week because you won’t have enough time. Plan your trip looking at a map, and try to group all of the things that are physically close together for the same days.

    As for food, unless you are a gourmet, you’ll be better off simply stopping in places when you’re hungry: there are tens of thousands of restaurants in Tokyo, and most of them have dishes that will satisfy or please the average diner. The places you have listed seem to have been selected by algorithms biased toward places popular with tourists: for example, the Shirohige Cream Puff place (which is near my home) is both out of the way and never even mentioned by people who live here (and people talk about food a lot in my circles). If you want a cream puff, just stop in one of the scores of places that serve cream puffs you’ll pass.

32. I think you should add one more day in Kyoto . It’s a beautiful place

33. Your tokyo stuff is pretty messed up and spread out. You should do a bit more research into what is close to each other and give Tokyo at least a week or maybe a tiny bit more. There’s a lot of day trips you can take out of tokyo as others have mentioned. The most popular being yokohama, kawagoe, nikko, kamakura, and fujiQ.

    But even within Tokyo, your itinerary is all over the place. First, Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro are all fairly close to each other, so you should plan those together. You can probably do a lot of it in 1-2 days max.

    After, you can tackle eastern tokyo with Ueno, Tokyo station, Asakusa, Akihabara, and some other places in another 2-3 days. You could also even add in Odaiba but it’s a lot. Obviously you should plan this and pace yourself lol.

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    I may be underestimating the time for these suggestions, but it’s the basic tokyo run

34. I live in Kansai and honestly: skip arashiyama, it’s packed and just some bamboo. I think some of the temples there are interesting but it’s so packed that it takes away so much of the atmosphere. Or go in the evening 🙂
    Around suzumushi-dera it’s super quiet and nice nature too and they have lots of crickets (if you like them loll)
    https://maps.app.goo.gl/pbBFcZparayWkzQy7
    There’s bamboo around there too if you really want to see that!
    You can also make an online reservation here for saihoji – which is a very beautiful temple with moss and old trees.
    https://maps.app.goo.gl/DFL51tTPVmCwtZHX7

    I think instead of rushing through everything, take it easy and enjoy it!

    Osaka is overrated in my opinion, so I’d rather spend more time in Nara prefecture (doesn’t have to be only for the deer, there are so many more places than just the city core) if you want a unique experience, take a day to go to Asuka and rent bicycles there. Okadera is a beautiful temple with flower art and you can also visit many other things there 🙂

    I loved beppu, but it does seem a little far. There are many towns with onsen closer to where you are :). Maybe you could go to Unzen? That’s a cute town too, near Nagasaki.

    Anyways, i hope you enjoy your trip✨

35. This is pretty ridiculous. You’ll be so tired, you won’t enjoy it and need another vacation. Remember you can’t see it all at once. Just pick a few places, explore, don’t stick to a strict itinerary, and just ENJOY your time there.

36. Recommend for your next revision what sites/activities are an all day affair. The trip to Miyajima island from central Hiroshima is easily a half day or all day affair and if you do the hike to the top, you’ll be ready for a nap by 3pm if you arrive around 10am.

37. What everyone else said, plus — What aspects of Japanese culture are you actually interested in seeing/experiencing? Prioritise that over everything else. This really just feels like a long list of tourist spots, and it’s hard to tell what you actually WANT to do.

    What I would do: have you and your partner go through this list separately, research each place/activity in more detail and decide how much you actually want to go there. You don’t have to plan out every single place that you /can/ visit in Japan, just make a simple list of both of your personal “must-sees” and then build your itinerary from there.

    For example the very first thing you listed is the Ghibli Museum… but are you actually huge Ghibli fans? Will you be devastated if you don’t get to go? Or the fact that you’ve listed so, so many parks and shrines/temples… but what is it about these places in particular that make you want to visit them?

38. You’re not going to be able to do all if not even half of the list. You need to also account for the distance between each event and the time it takes regardless of mode of transportation. You’ll be jetlagged as well first few days so your days will be shorter due to that too.

39. This is more of a 6 month list, you will need a holiday to get over the holiday.

    Take at least 4-5 days of your time to just “get lost” pick a train, go for a walk, whatever, my best experiences of my last trip there was when I just went without a plan.

    Japan isn’t once in a lifetime anymore from the UK, you can literally get a return for 600 quid nowadays, if you know where to look.

40. All I’ll say is that I spent 2.5 days in Kyoto on my most recent trip (although I’ve been before) and couldn’t have gotten through even 1/2 of what you listed there, even if I were powering through. The standard tourist things in Kyoto are far apart from each other and not necessarily near the subway, so plan to spend a decent chunk of your time in Kyoto on buses.

41. If you don’t mind it, you can try taking the sleeper express from Osaka to Tokyo. It departs Osaka Station at 0034 hrs and arrives Tokyo at 0708 hrs – you pay a premium for covering mileage while you sleep. There’s not much space to store one or two pieces of luggage per pax, so bear that in mind.

    If you’re doing that, then swap Kyoto and Osaka.