Hey all! My Mom and I are heading to Japan in a few days, and we’ve got all of our documents (Passport, Boarding Passes for our connection, Visit Japan Web filled out, etc.)
This is our trip as we have put it together. The first half is hectic and crazy but we are prepared to endure a bit of a slog.
10/24 – Seattle to Tokyo via Vancouver
10/25 – Land at 2:55pm (roughly), Ride to Hotel in Omori on Narita Express to Shinagawa, then onwards to Omori
10/26 – Sleep in. 10amish Bullet train to Hiroshima. Check into Hotel and see the Peace Park/Atomic Bomb Dome. Possibly visit the Yamato exhibit in Kure. Otherwise wander and relax.
10/27 – Get up early, eat breakfast, visit Etajima Island, and train to Himeiji. Visit Himeiji Castle. Train to Kobe, Check into Hotel. Travel to Awaji Island and visit the Godzilla Park. Return to Kobe and spend the evening enjoying the food and city.
10/28 – Morning in Kobe, Recover a bit, Osaka in the afternoon and evening. Return to Kobe.
10/29 – Wake up, Eat Breakfast, Check Out of Kobe and head to Nara. See the Deer, as well as Suzakumon Square. Hit a few other Shrines and enjoy the vibe, then cruise to Kyoto in the afternoon. Check out the more touristy spots, wander eat dinner, and return to Tokyo in the evening.
The busy part is over.
10/30 – Rest day. Explore Ota City,
Kawasaki and Shinagawa at a leisurely pace.
10/31 – Halloween. Not much planned here. Charge up for the evening foray into Shibuya Crossing and it’s horde.
11/1 – Sendai Day trip. Visit Cat Island, and the Fox Village. Return to Tokyo.
11/2 – Nagano Day Trip. Visit Old Olympic Venues and explore the city.
11/3 – Yokohama, Enoshima Island, Motley Crue/Def Leopard Concert. Hopefully catch a showing of Godzilla: Minus One.
11/4 – TeamLab Planets at 9:30am. Godzilla Ride at Seibun Amusement Park, Tokyo Skytree reserved for around sunset.
11/5 – No events here. Will likely explore Shinjuku and Shibuya when its not flooded with costumes.
11/6 – Shibuya Sky slated for the evening. Schedule otherwise free. Ueno and its neighboring wards look tempting.
11/7 – Stay within Tokyo. Nothing planned here.
11/8 – Check out of Hotel and fly out of Japan at 6:05pm. Overnight to home. Funnily enough, we chronologically land before the time we departed.
Always open to suggestions! Very excited for this trip!
3 comments
Surprised you’re going to Etajima! IJN fans? I walked by the Yamato museum last week, they have an exhibit on Japanese carriers running now. Dearly wanted to stop in, but I needed to get to my next stay near Miyajima that night so decided to skip it (I already know what the Yamato looks like in great detail).
btw there’s no way you’re going to do all that on the 27th! Shoot for one major activity per day!
Today I rode the Shonan Monorail from Ōfuna to Enoshima and then the Enoden from Enoshima to Kamakura and it was pretty fun.
>Ota City, Kawasaki, Shinagawa
?? I used to live in Kawasaki City . . . . not much to explore??
If you can get to Shibuya, you can cut over to Kichijoji on the Inokashira line. Check out that park, eat lunch in Kichijoji, take the bus up to Shakujii Koen, walk through the park to Shakujii Station, then take the Seibu Ikebukuro line into Ikebukuro. That would be a much better day than Shinagawa & Kawasaki!
A bit confused by 10/26 – unless you are exceptional at jetlag adjustment, it’s very hard to sleep in on your first West Coast -> Asia day (more likely that you would naturally wake up in time for the 6am train).
Also I’d cut time in Kobe to make time for Miyajima
Visitors to Shibuya on Hallowe’en are being actively discouraged. Don’t go.
Yokohama and Enoshima are pretty far apart, and 3 November is a national holiday, so try buying a movie ticket in advance. Expect at least 90 minutes’ travel between Enoshima and Yokohama, so you’re looking at at least 3 hours of traveling on that day.
Going to both SkyTree and Shibuya Sky seems needless, not to mention needlessly expensive: the Tokyo Metropolitan building(s) (City Hall) in Shinjuku is free and doesn’t necessitate reservations.
You’ve got three visits to Shibuya slated, which seems a lot of unnecessary travel.