Long awaited, first time trip to Japan, SO MANY questions!

34 comments

1. Your arriving a day before me at NRT 😀

   The nakameguro cherry blossom festival is supposed to be good. Its from 5-8pm

2. I definitely recommend the Sagano Romantic Train, the scenery was amazing! The bamboo grove really does not take much time, it took us like 20 mins to get all the way through.

3. Something I didn’t realize was just how LATE many things opened – coffee, restaurants, arcades, shopping – all around 10 – 11 am during my last week in Shibuya. This could make you want to rearrange some things – it’s pretty quiet in the morning.

4. Personally, too few days per location to “suck up” the feeling. I had an itenerary as well, ended up going 3 days to Shinjuku/Shibuya/Harajuku, 2 in Aki/Asakusa/Ueno, 1day Nikko for Tokyo. Had 5 days (Day trip amanohashidate and Nara) in Kyoto and we wished we had more, had 3 days in Hiroshima and we wish we had more and 5 days in Osaka, where we dropped all day trip plans.

   The Kansai Thru Pass is barely worth it.
   Roundtrip Osaka Himeji 3040
   Roundtrip Osaka Kyoto 1060
   Roundtrip Kyoto Nara 1640

5. Currently visiting Japan for the first time. Couple things, I wouldn’t pack your schedule like that. Things take longer than you think. Made that mistake. Had so many things planned that we missed because we tried to cram too much. Also, I just left Kyoto yesterday and I 100% didn’t spend enough time there. I only did 1 day and there was WAY too much i wanted to do. I should have done 3-4. Granted i got there at 9 am and rented out a tea house starting at like 6 pm. So 1 day is more like 8 hours. You mention staying in Gion, I drank/ate with a Gaiko and a Maiko until God knows what time. While that definitely cost me a lot of time and money, if you have the connections to get in, do it! Even my wife loved it. Anyway, looks like you’re doing a few days, so hopefully you can do it all.

   Storing luggage: take photos of everything around it. Drop a pin. Do everything. It took me like an hour and asking 3 people in my horrible broken Japanese to find it.

   Kabukicho: not as bad as it sounds, but trouble can be found if looking for it. Good times. Probably would avoid taking kids at night. Largely not bad, but some of the signs push it. Actually as a whole, I was surprised with how many random sex shops and products I saw just walking around. Used panty vending machines next to a toy store in Nakano, for example. Just throwing that out there. Some people are less open than I am.

   If you don’t like walking, youve got some trouble ahead. I mean I don’t mind walking, but this has been something else. Easily clearing 25,000 steps in a day every day. I am taking trains and busses, but those 5-10 minute walks add up. Also, lots of stairs. Stroller isn’t impossible, but could be a trick. I’m sure there’s a way, but you’d need to look into that.

6. Cannot reserve locker and storing it in Osaka is a bit odd as you will have to stop on the way to Kyoto.

   Bring it to Himeji, if lockers are full, the travel agency offer a service to keep luggage. Google map search Nippon travel agency Himeji.

   Kansai Thru pass, no, I think it would be a pain to use to go to Himeji.

7. why would you book a zoo in the evening/afternoon?

8. Where are your hanami or cherry blossom days? I don’t see much except maybe your free day in tokyo/shinjuku. FYI cherry blossoms mostly don’t bloom that early in kawaguchiko

9. As a first time in Japan, I would suggest loosening up your itinerary.

   Have buffer time to explore. Normal life is stressful enough and packed with time limits. You’re on vacation. Enjoy Japan, don’t just see Japan.

10. Day 8 looks too busy to me, you’ll need to factor time to commute to Arashiyama from Gion and then the activities all take time. As an alternative to the Sagano romantic train you could consider a boat ride down the Hozugawa river – it’s the same river valley/same journey – the question is whether you think the kids would enjoy the train or the boat more.

11. A few people said it but try to spend a few days per place, going to the train station and moving around takes up more time and energy than you expect. Your itinerary is technically possible but it doesn’t sound enjoyable at all. I would do 6 days tokyo, 4 days kyoto and 2 days in Osaka.

12. Hanami typically starts around April 1, but it has been earlier lately due to climate change. You should definitely get some cherry blossoms throughout your trip, more towards the end.

    My advice for you is to plan when/where you want to eat and make reservations well in advance. You can’t just show up at most restaurants at 6PM on Friday/Saturday and get a seat, they will all be booked out. But here’s always Yoshinoya/Sukiya/Tenya for quick cheap eats. Also, ramen restaurants don’t take bookings, they are always first-come-first-serve, so you can always get ramen short notice (if you’re willing to wait as most of the good ones have long lines). However in general I didn’t find that most of the really popular restaurants with 1hr+ lines were worth the wait, you can get great ramen somewhere else if the line is big. The ramen is great mind you, just not worth waiting in line for an hour.

    Also, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is an absolute mess of tourists, not worth going to unless you go first thing in the morning at sunrise, or maybe if go super late after the rush.

13. the entire itinerary is too busy. can you probably do it? Yes. you will be seeing Tokyo at the most surface level of an experience. If you have kids I would bet money there their feet will be killing them by around day 7-8.

14. You could always fly in via Tokyo and out via Osaka, or vice versa. That saves you a Shinkansen trip at least.

15. You will be in Tokyo and Kyoto for peak cherry blossom season. It’s going to be crazy busy and your full schedule+ being in a new place is adventurous at best.

    That said – just take a day off and sit in the park somewhere. It’ll be beautiful. Enjoy the family time and don’t worry about trying to get more sights in.

    also, skip Osaka, you’re not missing anything on a short first trip.

16. Honestly your plans for each day aren’t quite as packed as some people are claiming. Most of your plans are day only with only a few things planned for the night time and that is perfectly fine, and most of your days are things around the same general area, like Asakusa/Ueno/Ameyokocho and Shibuya/Shinjuku. This is smart.

    Only places it gets a bit tricky is splitting arashiyama / Gion, and trying to fit fushini inari before training back to Tokyo, but it isnt terrible.

    Fushimi inari hike can be done at any time, and be as long/short as you want it to be. business hours there only matter if you want to buy stuff there.

    Arashiyama is a tricky one. Getting there from Kyoto Station isnt too bad, but there are a range of things you can do there. When I go, I dont really do the monkey park stuff and instead ping pong through the temples in northwestern Kyoto, have had no problem with that in the past even with an early morning Fushimi Inari hike, but then again we were staying in Kyoto not Osaka.

    Of course, with kids, this might be a bit cramped, but I think your itinerary is mostly okay.

17. Honestly? Your whole trip is overdoing it. I would seriously pare down your schedule like others have suggested. You’ll be exhausted by week 2 if you do this.

    Also, you have two kids. Kids would make everything take twice as long. I don’t see many kid activities – plan some! Asakusa Hanayashiki, for example, might be a good half day fun. Skip Ueno park – it’s just a park, really not that special. Slightly old japanese amusement parks are some of my favourite places to visit. There’s also a zoo next to Himeji. It’s a sad zoo (old, tiny exhibits) but again, you won’t see that kind of zoo in most places. You have too many “famous” sites on your schedule and not enough just random free time to soak in the place. I think you’ll find once you get there that you really don’t need a photo from philosophers path, especially when your teenager is tired and bored and the five years old just wants to play

18. Sincr you go with kids, i dont know if they would be thrilled to walk and see ‘things’. Also Fushimi Inari is basically a lot of stairs, so dont go with the stroller and walking to the top is maybe a 2-3 hour walk.

    If you plan to do that much per day, i would recommend to be at your closest station by 7am so you avoid crowds and have enough time during the day.

    Also, maybe add some fun things to do with the kids?

19. I think maybe you should scrap staying in Osaka and just go straight to Kyoto. You can still get to Nara and Himeji quite easily from Kyoto and doesn’t seem like you’re doing much in Osaka. On that note I would maybe suggest just scrapping Himeji altogether – maybe take a chill day in Kyoto or do Maruyama park then instead (they do hanami there with lots of market and food stalls so you’ll want to spend a bit of time there instead of rushing through on day 8)
    Also not sure if Kabuchiko would be the best place to take a 5 and a 14 year old haha why not go to one of the many themed cafes instead?

20. I’d skip Osaka. Put more days into Kyoto or turn Fujikawaguchiko into an overnight at a ryokan.

21. Two things to bear in mind is that most shops don’t open until 11am (sometimes 10am) and it gets dark earlier than it does in the States. I had to kill time a couple of days in Tokyo recently waiting for shops to open.

    Consider luggage forwarding services when possible (sending large bags ahead and keeping smaller bags for inter-region travel containing what you need during that part of the trip). There are a lot of practical recommendations on this sub. Unless your teenager is happy to help with bags you will be challenged pushing a stroller and managing bags in tighter quarters (sidewalks/stations/etc) with extremely high density of people in Tokyo particularly.

    Strollers are challenging in general, but particularly when visiting shrines in elevated regions of Kyoto (I saw more than one person have to carry one up or down stairs). You will walk a lot and be standing a lot. Strollers are not common, most have their young children strapped to their bodies or they are walking. If you bring one strive for a minimal footprint.

    I would try to balance highly planned days in regions with unplanned/rest days. One option is basing out of Kyoto and taking a day trip to Nara followed by an afternoon/evening in Osaka. We were mostly based out of Kyoto during my first trip and this let us see the deer and see Osaka Castle/Dotenbori easily. Reducing the number of hotel switches eases a lot of stress of managing bags. Something to consider.

22. We liked the “free” (tip based) walking tours from Japan Localized. Tried to do these on the first day in each city to get a feel for things. When we go next time, I’m taking all the food tours. Eat all the things!!

23. Just a tip for anyone going to Japan (just came back from a 3 week visit). For using the train, suica is your easiest way to go about it however if you are doing the bullet train ( Shinkansen) then you have to buy separate tickets. Easiest way to use suica is to added it to your wallet on your phone then you can added money on the go instead of having to buy tickets on the spot or load more money to the card. The only downfall to adding it your phone is you can’t use visa (only Mastercard, American Express,etc) to reload it. Don’t use the suica app it is really confusing. Also if you add it to your phone all you have to do is tap your phone to get in and out (you don’t even have to have the wallet app open). For the bullet train (Shinkansen) download the SmartEX app and book your tickets through there. I recommend booking at least a day ahead especially if you want to book your seats. Once you book it you can then download the QR code to your wallet. This made it so much easier to hop on and off trains and ride the Shinkansen. Hope this helps and happy to answer any additional questions.

24. Good itinerary. Japan is an assault on every one of your senses so it will exhaust you as a first timer. Add 2 days unplanned, where you can relax in the area you’re in and you’re good to go.

25. Everyone has great ideas/thoughts. My main one for you guys is to bring at least one (maybe two bc you have a 15yr old) FULLY charged portable phone chargers when you leave your hotel each morning. Phones are *key* for getting around Japan — esp Tokyo. You’ll be using them for the maps/subways/photos/translations/google/paying and you will not want them to die!

    Have fun!!

26. 99% of people’s itineraries I see on this site are waaay too optimistic. Leave enough time for resting and free time. There is a lot of walking involved when visiting any city in Japan. Keep that in mind.

27. Kitsuneya at Tsukiji. I know they’re overcrowded with tourists. But both the horumon don and their gyu don are really good.

    Tameiken at Nihombashi for omurice and whatever they call the more runny one. It’s old school Tokyo western cafe. The omurie can be done with ketchup or demi glace. Also nice if you go as a single or small party and get a seat overlooking the river. Probably good for picky eaters that want something western.

    Shima Steak in Ginza. The to-go only wagyu beef sandwich is really great. It’s the famous one that Bourdain and all the other food shows get. Dinner is reservation only. Sandwich is take out only. I’m not sure if you need to call ahead or stop in and order ahead for the sandwich.

    Nata de Cristiano on the west side of Yoyogi Park. One of the best egg tarts I’ve had.

    Look up some of the local dive bar places, usually in the food areas by bridges (I’m sure Ueno has a lot). It will be harder to navigate without speaking Japanese, but some of those places are real gems. Some are also rip offs.

    Yamazaki Distillery (at least the Tasting Room). Pretty cheap to get pours of some of their best stuff that’s hard to find elsewhere (older Yamazaki, Hakushu, etc…).

    Souden in Kyoto. Maiko style sushi. Just get their most expensive set. Not a lot of money and everything is good with some really unique dishes (tempura egg yolk sushi). Also their matcha beer and wine drinks are great accompaniments.

    Fruit! Look up what’s in season and maybe in region where you’re at. It’ll be expensive. But go to a fruit stand in a market or shotengai, not the department stores. It’ll probably change the way you think that particular fruit can taste.

    McD’s – Not kidding. But only if they have something special that’s local only. Depending on the season, they roll out special burgers and stuff. Most of the other American fast food wasn’t anything too different or special.

    Under-pack. You’ll be bringing stuff home so save room. If you run out of clothes, go to Uniqlo or something and get basics. You can even get tax-free there if you spend over a threshold.

28. I would check to see when it gets dark out. I assume it’ll be around 4-5pm so temples will all be closed or dark out by then – not much to see in the dark.

    And schedule is too packed as well. With a family as well you probably need way more time to figure out how to get somewhere. To put into perspective, some stations have 30+ platforms and 30+ exits and many types of lines. It’s not just one mode. For example, there are local trains, subways, high speed trains, bullet trains- they are all different. And some trains have 3-5 different speeds like local, semi limited, rapid trains so stops get skipped . So think of New York but more confusing.

    for dining, most ramen places have only 8-10 seats (in Tokyo) so if you have a party of 4 or more , reservations is recommended or you need to do research on what places can accommodate larger groups.

    For luggage, hotels can ship your luggage to the next destination – it costs between 2000-3500 yen for one piece depending on size. So this might be an option.

    Hope this helps!

29. Get the Suica app on your phone and load it up with a 2000 yen. This can be used for lockers, trains, etc.

    Coin lockers are ABUNDANT at train stations. We spent an inordinate amount of time forking around at Kyoto station trying to make one locker work based on internet misinformation.

    Turned out there were coin lockers all over the place we could have used.

    Part of that time was that the lockers my friend used only took “IC” AND the IC was used as the unlock. The one I used took cash as well. I didn’t realize Suica on your phone = IC

    (Note: IC refers to chip technology, such as in your credit card…you can use credit card tap at some, not all, places that say “IC”)

    7-11 is literally EVERYWHERE, as are Lawson convenience stores. So don’t worry about lugging around a bunch of drinks and snacks. (not to mention the hot and cold drink vending machines that are literally everywhere)

    Carry around some cash/change for vending machines.

    Everything seemed dead or not open until 10AM. Hours on Google Maps were frequently wrong in my cases.

    Have fun!

30. The one thing you’ll learn is you’ll want to go back again. You’ll walk alot.

    2 adults 2 kids

    I was so happy our first time we spent our entire time in Tokyo and close surroundings, Daibo, Nikko and Enoshima and did a ton of just getting to know the place a bit.
    First time kids were 17 and 11

    We went again earlier this year, did more other things, Osaka, Kyoto and Universal, rented car went to Daikoku parking garage for cool cars, drove to Fuji area, shopped, zoo, aquarium, etc.
    Kids were 20 and 14.

    Now next year we go again, get off plane stay near airport, then start journey to Kyoto for 5 days, do a bunch of stuff around Kyoto, head back to Tokyo, shop, Harry Potter, rent car go to other parts of Fuji area, Daikoku again, explore Tokyo more. Kids will be 21 and 15.

31. It looks fine for adults but super packed for travelling with a young kid. TBH it looks more like an adult itinerary since there aren’t a lot of kiddie things.

    It’s a bit hard to recommend if we don’t know what your kids’ interests are.

    Day 2: I do not recommend Ueno Zoo. It’s meh and a bit sad tbh.
    Day 4: Shibuya/Shinjuku/Harajuku Boring AF when I went as a kid since we just walked through it and it was full of shopping (I had no interest in shopping back then)
    Day 9: If there is time, it would be nice to do the Higashiyama walk from Kiyomizu to Yasaka (might be boring for a kid)

    Depending on the interests of your kids, I’d like to offer some possible suggestions:
    – Pokemon Store in Ikebukuro if they like pokemon merch
    – Team Lab Borderless/Planets
    – National Museum of Nature and Science (Dinosaurs)
    – Osaka Aquarium
    – Hedgehog/Animal Cafes
    – Parks with cherry blossoms (shinjuku, inokashira, etc)

    Not exactly the authentic Japan experience but 🤷‍♀️

32. Anything animal related in japan should be met with hesitation from westerners. Even cat and owl cafes don’t have great track records for treatment of the animals.

    The worst I’ve experienced are around the alligators in beppu and monkeys in nikko. It ruined my whole day.

33. If you are travelling with 2 kids I would recommend getting hotels with breakfast included. The breakfast situation is pretty tough, especially if you are trying to beat crowds to some places.

    You do a lot of walking so it’s good to start the day with a full talk.

34. The days where you go to multiple places (Asakusa and Ueno & Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya) seem too busy to me. You’ll want to take your time to enjoy these places and not rush through them bc you’re on a schedule. Especially with kids.

    And the Romantic train is definitely worth it! Great sights, break from walking and seeing the monkeys before or after will be amazing for the children, too 🙂