Hi all! My partner and I will be traveling to Japan for the first time ever from January 11th through February 7th. What follows is a pretty basic itinerary of what we’ve got so far, and I was looking for any feedback/suggestions/thoughts folks might have to enhance/declutter the experience.
**Background/Questions:**
– I’m very interested in seeing live shows (particularly Jazz/electronic/rock) and/or sporting events if possible. Any suggestions for what I could see this time of year?
– Very interested in nightlife/clubbing.
– We don’t do any winter sports, but are there other winter-specific things/activities we should be checking out while we’re there?
– Where would we have the most luck with tattoo-friendly onsens?
– How feasible does this plan seem for two people who haven’t been to Japan before? We want to see plenty of things but still have some breathing room and not feel as though we’re rushing too much.
– Should we spend more/less time in certain places? Condense our geographic coverage (i.e. not going all the way to Fukuoka as a first-timers)?
#*Itinerary*
**1/11 – 1/17 | 6 nights | Tokyo**
– See a live jazz show and/or live electronic music show
– Shibuya Sky
– teamLab planets
– Edo Tokyo Architectural Museum
– Ghibli Museum
– Mount Fuji/Hakone daytrip
– Explore Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Ginza
– Check out some temples and parks
**1/17 – 1/20 | 3 nights | Kyoto**
– Arashiyama
– Kinkakuji Temple + others
– Onsen (Tattoo-friendly spot?)
– Evangelion Statue
– General wandering
**1/20 – 1/24 | 4 nights | Osaka**
– Lots of food + drinks
– Osaka Castle
– Dotonbori
– General wandering
**1/24 – 1/27 | 3 nights | Fukuoka**
– Either domestic flight or shinkansen to get here
– Onsen
– TBD???
**1/27 – 1/30 | 3 nights | Hiroshima**
– Hiroshima Castle
– Miyajima Island
– Peace Memorial
– General wandering
**1/30 – 2/1 | 2 nights | Kobe**
– TBD
**2/1 – 2/4 | 3 nights | Kanazawa**
– Samurai District
– Kanazawa Castle
– Contemporary Art Museum
**2/4 – 2/7 | 3 nights | Tokyo**
– Hang out, wander some more, fly back to the states.
1 comment
It’s not on your itinerary, but I believe all 7 onsen in Kinosaki (near Kyoto) are tattoo-friendly:
[https://visitkinosaki.com/about-kinosaki/the-7-mystic-onsen/](https://visitkinosaki.com/about-kinosaki/the-7-mystic-onsen/)
[https://visitkinosaki.com/plan/visitor-info/guides/tattoos-in-kinosaki-onsen/](https://visitkinosaki.com/plan/visitor-info/guides/tattoos-in-kinosaki-onsen/)
We stumbled into a few bars in Pontocho that had live music and Golden Gai on a weeknight was a fun vibe (I hear it’s too crowded on weekends).