About us: 2nd trip to Japan, US-based parent and daughter (12). Particular interests: Modern and traditional culture (me), kawaii things (daughter). We like wandering around back streets and obscure museums, and don’t mind if plans change around last minute.
All feedback welcome! Some Qs below, and some misc questions:
* On the transit days, should we add activities to the place we’re leaving vs going to?
* If I get an eSIM, is there a way to set it up so if people call my US number it will ring but NOT trigger AT&T to start charging me for international roaming? Or do I just need to assume turning off roaming means all calls will go to VM til I’m back?
**16-19 Nov – Tokyo (Asakusa)**Here’s what I have planned:
* Arrive: Land at Haneda 3:20pm
* Keikyu airport line (\~1h ride)
* First night dinner at a 7-11 … it’s a tradition. I’m keeping this afternoon/evening low-expectations since we’ll probably be jetlagged and last time we got stuck in airport madness for four hours. (To be fair, they’d only just reopened. This is how we ended up with 7-11 as an arrival-dinner “tradition”.)
* Friday 17 Nov: Start the day with Asakusa Cultural Walk + Matcha / Okonomiyaki tour (3h). Visits Nakamise shopping street, Asakusa Kaminarimondori shopping street, Senso-ji temple, Asakusa shrine.
* Recos for the rest of Friday, Saturday, Sunday before we head to Osaka?
**19-24 (Sun-Fri): Osaka** \- hotel in ShinsaibashiNot sure the best order to do things, or if this is the right amount of things, but thinking:
* 19 Nov: Leave bags at station, explore Umeda, aim for the Umeda Sky building for sunset?
* 20 Nov: Best of Osaka Local Walk with Castle (4h) to get our groundings and see where we might want to spend more time.
* MUST One day: day trip to Himeji castle. Also visit Koko-en Garden and Cat Cafe Salon de Kei (fulfills daughter’s request to visit an animal cafe)
* MUST One day: Museum of Housing & Living + Tenma Shopping District
* MUST: Minamari Shopping district. Eat Takoyaki, visit Amerika-Mura fo the 2nd hand shops, see Dotombori Canal
* MUST: Cup Noodles Museum
* MAYBE: Osaka Aquarium. Probably will go early AM.
* MAYBE: day trip to Fushimi Inari shrine. We had a magical time there last time, and might want to revisit. Perhaps Nara in the afternoon on the way back.
* ***Will a lot of things be closed for Labor Thanksgiving Day on the 23rd? Advice for places to eat that day? (we were considering KFC…)***
**24-26 Nov (Friday – Sunday): Tokyo – Megura area hotel**Here’s the rough plan:
* Kyu Asakura House. Probably won’t take much time, but I hear it’s beautiful plus I think the style will be reminiscent of the homes in My Happy Marriage – a favorite of ours.
* Megura Parasitological Museum. Also probably won’t take much time. I really admire the work to eliminate a major scourge of 20th century Japan. I want a t-shirt!
* Sunday morning: ***Tomioka Achiman Shrine & Antique Market OR Ohi Racecourse Flea Market OR other market?*** We had a blast at the flea/antique market last time at the Kobo-ichi Market at Toji Temple in Kyoto. Bought hand-crafted jewelry and a bit of cute desk-art, ate great street food, browsed lots. Hoping for a similar vibe.
* Good places to eat?
**26-29 Nov (Sun-Weds): Tokyo – Shibuya area hotel**
* Sunday evening, all day Monday, Weds morning: Shopping. Our “musts”: La Foret. Baby the Stars Shine Bright. Closet Child. Alice and the Pirates. Shibuya 109. Tokyo Hands.
* ***Shibuya-area dining that’ll be tasty but not swamped?*** Last time, one lunch, having previously waited 3 hours for lunch and daunted by the lines elsewhere, we ended up eating American-style burritos (Gomez y Guzman in La Foret). Not that that’s *bad*, but please help us do better!
* Tuesday: Sanrio Puro Land. – We will arrive at 9:30am (30 min before opening). My daughter is so excited. This is the bargain I’ve made in exchange for all the museums. I’m actually very curious to see the Hello Kitty Kabuki show. ***Will either Monday or Tuesday be less crowded? – There doesn’t seem to be a way to buy tickets from overseas – should I be concerned about tickets selling out?***
* At some point aim to get up to Harajuku. I mostly want to see the 3d cat sign. Daughter interested in people-watching.
* Maybe visit the Golden Gai in Shinjuki – the nightlife isn’t for us, but we’ve really enjoyed Midnight Diner, so feel like it’s a bit of a pilgrimage?
*Flight home: 4:50pm flight out of Haneda*
Thank you for any and all advice / feedback!