Hi Everyone! This will be our first trip to Japan, was originally planned for Jan-2021. Pretty much sticking to the usual first timers route of Tokyo and Kyoto, although I do wonder if we’d enjoy venturing a little further down into Kyushu/Kansai more instead, especially as have so much more time to plan and save!
Excited to experience shrines/temples, nature and trying ALL the foods. I am hoping that by visiting in winter we’ll enjoy blue skies but fewer crowds, however we’re not tied to any specific dates.
Currently plan to start in Tokyo, visit Yamanouchi, return to Tokyo and then travel down to Kyoto.
The schedule is still quite unstructured as keeping my mind open to adding new destinations but hopefully enough detail to get some initial feedback.
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**Tokyo (6 nights)** (staying around Shinjuku? Seems convenient for transport but not sure if we’d enjoy somewhere quieter, especially for eating out in the evenings)
* Ghibli museum and Nakano Broadway & Koenji
* Chōfu (I don’t see this area mentioned much but I love the sound of the mix of old temples/shrines vs tenjin dori street’s manga figures and painted manholes. **Q**\-anyone think it’s not worth the effort to visit?)
* Gotokuji Temple (cat temple – aim to ride cat train there if possible!!)
* Teamlab planets (or whatever equivalent is hopefully open when we make it over)
* Asukasa early morning or late to see the painted shutters before opens up and hopefully enjoy the area before gets too crowded
* The usual Shibuya/Shinjuku/Harajuku/Akihabara/Ueno (not all on the same day)
* Day trip to Kamakura
* Visit Boroichi market in Setagaya if timing works out
* Sumo if timing works out
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**Yamanouchi (1 night)**
* Probably insert this during our time in Tokyo leaving our main luggage behind at Tokyo hotel
* Stay at a ryokan, enjoy some onsen time
* Visit the snow monkey park, hopefully see some bathing monkeys (**Q**\-seen very mixed reviews on this, hoping as we’re going in winter we’ll see some monkeys enjoying the water but would appreciate opinions on if this side trip is worth it or if other onsen towns enjoyed more)
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**Kyoto (5 nights)**
* Higashiyama – mostly excited about wondering around visiting lots of little shrines
* Ginkaku-ji (seems like this is an easier location and quieter experience than Kinkaku-ji from what I’ve read here)
* Fushimi Inari early morning or at night
* Arashiyama (if haven’t had our fill of monkeys and bamboo from earlier trips to Yamanouchi and Kamakura)
* Uji and Nara day trip (hope to bow to some deer)
* Osaka day trip (mostly food focused)
* Kobe day trip if have time but likely to cut this (Kobe beef and to see the harbor)
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**General**
* Plan to get the 7 day JR pass assuming we do a round trip into Haneda. I don’t think I can fly direct to Osaka so thinking the shinkansen as easy as a connecting flight Tokyo–>Kansai and maybe we’ll see fuji-san on the way.
* Plan to use luggage delivery service to make transition between airport/hotels easier on public transport
* Pick up pocket wifi at airport
* Plan to use Airbnb tours and volunteer guides to explore, especially finding good food options – a little bit worried that we’d be turned away from smaller restaurants as we have extremely minimal Japanese (trying to learn!)
* If am brave enough will be collecting goushuin from the temples and shrines we visit, think this makes for a beautiful souvenir.
* Have found google maps invaluable for route planning
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**Questions** – hopefully this will not be our only trip to Japan so would welcome any suggestions even if not practical for this trip or in another location!
* Anywhere we can go to see live shamisen music? (*Edit for anyone else with same question: Kikko in Asakusa comes highly recommended)
* Any recommendations for music concerts (open to anything but especially in the morning if this is really a thing) and tips for getting tickets?
* Recommendations for hotels with a rooftop/outside onsen? So far I have found Onsen Ryokan in Shinjuku, which looks stunning but maybe a little far from a train station.
* I had hoped to visit Tokyo Shouten for vending machine sake but it’s now closed. Anywhere else that does vending machine sake and/or sake tastings that would be fairly informal and without too much pressure to buy full bottles?
* Recommendations for affordable handcrafted souvenirs – thinking like tenugui and pottery but maybe other things I’ve not thought of? Hopefully will be able to visit some flea markets but shopping suggestions would be appreciated.
Would very much welcome any and all feedback and/or advice 🙂
10 comments
Mentioning because its first thing on your list. the Ghibli park in near nagoya is planned to open in november https://ghibli-park.jp/en/
A few recommendations:
If you want lots of good sake, try nomihodai (all you can drink). My favorite in Tokyo is Kurand Sake Market. In 2019 they had several locations but idk any more. Back then it was around 2,500 yen and you could drink as much as you want for 2 hours. My wife and I got plastered and had a great time.
You should try as hard as you can to see sumo live. I swear to you it will be the highlight of your trip. We went in Osaka and planned to stay for an hour tops. Ended up staying there all day and watching every bout. Truly an amazing experience and one I will always remember. Bring binoculars if you can.
Overall a solid itinerary for sure.
My thoughts are:
I’d go ahead and just travel to Yudanaka, forwarding your bags on to Kyoto rather than bother coming back down to Tokyo. Especially if you do decide to insert Nagoya, it’ll just be easier and less fuss I reckon.
As to if it’s worth it? I mean, the Monkeys are fun and its a neat town. Is it the Best Onsen Ever? No, but there are some cute ryokan there. Especially if you are particularly into Photography it is a nice opportunity. And you may like to stop off in Nagano city on the way into Nagoya, Zenkoji Temple is pretty sweet.
For your questions:
Waen-tei Kikko is a restaurant in Asakusa where the owner will play the Shamisen during the meal. I’ve had clients go and really enjoy it. In fact, they are going BACK the next time they go to Japan.
There are tons of random local shows around Tokyo and Osaka, I’m sure you could find something on the day.
The main rooftop onsen place that I know of personally is Kowakian Tenyu in Hakone. It’s quite nice, and every room has it’s on open air bath as well. Though that adds another destination. Could be a nice stop on the way back into Tokyo at the end of the trip.
I faintly remember running into a Sake shop that did tastings in Nagano City, but this was back in 2011 and I had a lot of sake that night. It *might* have been this one [https://www.suyakame.co.jp/shop/zenkoji/](https://www.suyakame.co.jp/shop/zenkoji/) . It might also have just closed since then.
Grab the Goshuin book. It’s well worth it, and even a handful of temples will really make a lovely souvenir.
As much as I love Kobe, you can get Kobe Beef elsewhere. Just in case you need to snip a city.
Hope that all helps!
It is true that Shinjuku is well connected to other area of Tokyo. Actually many people also like it because there is a lot of options for eating out in the area. For me the point of going to a quitter area would be to have a smaller train station that is easier to navigate and where there is less people in general.
Went to Chofu, but my reason is that it’s the birthplace of Kondo Isami, the leader of the Shinsengumi. I might not have been in the same area you are thinking about, but I am not sure I would take a day to go there on my first trip to Japan when there is so much more to see elsewhere. I went as I lived in Tokyo for a year. Likely not worth going solely for temples considering you are going to Kyoto where there is plenty of temples and shrines. I would only consider if you have extra time after all the rest you want to see.
In Kyoto, I guess that more than Gion you mean the whole Higashiyama in general. However, considering the number of day trips you want to do, that does not leave you much time for Kyoto.
Note that Kobe beef is available in restaurant all around Japan and it is not the only high quality wagyu in Japan, so you might ask yourself it it is worth the day trip to Kobe or if you are ok to just find a nice restaurant that serve Kobe beef (or other) in Kyoto on Tokyo.
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JR Pass is not always a popular choice, but the reason is that some people think about using it when it barely make sense. You get it if you are going to save money. If it break even, then ok, it would allow you to change plan and do an extra day trip for free. The “problem” with the JR Pass when it barely break even is that you will force yourself using JR to justify buying the pass, even if it is not the most convenient, for example going to Nara you would be better with Kintetsu as the station is 1km closer to Nara park, or moving between Kyoto and Osaka could make more sense with Hankyu or Keihan depending on where you stay and where you are going. Also, you cannot use the Nozomi, that is the fastest shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto.
Just buying paper tickets would not change much on the flexibility to “miss train”. If you buy a non-reserved seat, then it does not matter, the ticket is good for any train that do this itinerary for the day. If you get a reserved seat ticket and you miss it, you could always use this ticket on a non-reserved seat.
As on what is easier, take the shinkansen or a connecting flight. Well… first of all, regardless you will do one way on the shinkansen, so the Mount Fuji argument is a bit irrelevant. I would still really consider flying in Tokyo and out of Osaka (either ITM or KIX with a connection in Tokyo if needed). Here is why. If you go out of Tokyo, you will need to go back to Tokyo, so it takes time and it is better to no do Kyoto-Tokyo on the morning you fly out, so need to book one more hotel in Tokyo. If you fly out of Osaka, then you can switch to a 7 days JR Pass to cover the trip to Nagano and going to Kyoto and you would save 17 000 yen on the cost of the pass (so even if the multi-city ticket is a bit more expensive, you might save money on the train). And you have a chance to see Mount Fuji from the airplane, trust me, it’s pretty cool.
Getting a JR Pass is not a bad idea, as long as you understand the pro and con.
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For me it does not make that much sense to use a luggage delivery service between hotel and airport, but it can make sense between Tokyo and Kyoto. If you do not want to move it to/from the airport, then maybe consider using one of the bus like the limousine bus that stop at different hotels in the city. Also if you send your luggage, it is not same day delivery (keep that in mind if you want to send the luggage from Kyoto to Tokyo before getting on the plane). If you think luggage might be a big problem to move around, maybe try to bring smaller luggage. Hotel often have laundry machine, so you can bring less cloth if you do your laundry once or twice in 2 weeks.
I’ve traveled a lot in Japan and I think that I MIGHT have been turned away at one single restaurant (they said there was a long wait, just not sure if it was true). It is not common that they will refuse foreigners or people that do not speak Japanese. Not sure you would need a guide for that, but having an app to translate from a picture of from speech could make things much easier in some situation. But yeah, handwritten menu in some small izakaya can be impossible to read.
Getting goshuin is really not difficult, if you are set to get one of a specific temple, you might have to search for the place where they do it or ask someone where it is, otherwise, you are likely going to find the place where to do it just by visiting the temple/shrine.
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I know there is shamisen bar/restaurant in Tokyo, it’s featured in this video [https://youtu.be/rw8ZqEyzGhU](https://youtu.be/rw8ZqEyzGhU)
Tokyo is not especially known for onsen, so I kind of doubt you can find a hotel with a rooftop onsen. Just to give you an idea, there is one in shinjuku called Yuen, that use onsen water transported from Hakone, so the waster is obviously reheated.
Sake is not like wine, pretty sure that most if not all bar/izakaya that serve sake would do it by the glass.
If you really want to see the monkeys then Yamanouchi is worth it, especially if you get some decent snow there. The town’s there are also neat and will give you a nice onsen experience.
Staying near Shinjuku is convenient but you don’t have to stay right in the middle. Staying 1 or 2 metro stops away is just as good and can sometimes be easier than trying to navigate Shinjuku station.
Shinjuku is a huge area, so you can avoid the most hectic parts if you’re not keen. The busiest areas are north and east of the main station. And the south and west areas are quieter. I’ve stayed both in both areas and there’s a big difference (I quite liked staying with Kabukicho right outside the door, but my wife wasn’t as thrilled).
In terms of food, I don’t think you need to worry about the language. Most restaurants have an English menu nowadays, or at least pictures/models of their food. Even when the menu was completely in Japanese, we were still able to muddle through with a combination of body language and google translate.
I’m not sure about shamisen, but there’s a YouTuber who is a professional player (Tokyo Lens). Maybe you can find suggestions on his channel.
Snow monkeys not worth it in my opinion. I’ll copy my comment from a previous thread:
>I went to the monkey onsen park and was seriously underwhelmed. It’s such a common bucket list activity in Japan but it’s like a tiny zoo, except the only animals they have are monkeys. Not even a zoo, the monkey area is more like a car park with a single small pool in the middle. The walk through the forest to get there is nice enough, and if there’s still snow around it will be kinda pretty. But if that’s your main reason for going to Nagano, I would honestly seriously consider skipping it. And not to be too much of a downer, but the monkeys getting into the onsen isn’t even a natural thing – the staff lure the monkeys down from the mountains each morning with food, and some days there aren’t even monkeys there at all. You’d honestly have more fun just going to Ueno zoo in Tokyo.
So basically, I understand why it sounds so cool – it was on my bucket list for the same reason! – but if you’re at all hesitant, I would skip the monkeys. If you just want the snow country experience, you could go to Yuzawa instead – there’s a sake “musuem” inside echigoyuzawa train station which sounds like it might appeal too.
I just wanted to comment on the Yamanouchi (Snow Monkey Park) part of your trip as I actually live here.
So, someone else commented that the monkeys getting in the onsen isn’t natural, but it actually is. Yes, the park attendants do lure them to come with food, but the monkey have been bathing in onsens since the 60s.
On your walk to the park, you will see a ryokan on the left, the monkeys used to bathe in the outdoor onsens of this ryokan but due to health concerns (monkeys only get in to keep warm, so they will urinate and defecate in the onsen) the current separate pool was built (though you still will see them in the human onsen as well).
Regarding the treatment the monkeys face, I personally have not seen any aggressive behavior towards them from the park attendants (3 times this year). I got the impression that the attendants were moslty hands off. The monkeys are wild, but they are very used to humans so they don’t really even care that you are there.
My point is, if you want to see them, it’s definitely worth the trip.
As for other things to do in town, there is Shiga Kogen (one of the largest ski resorts in Japan), Kita Shiga Kogen (another ski resort) and a bunch of onsens. I recommend also checking out the ryokan “Kanaguya” (it is said that the castle? from spirited away is based on this place). There is also a local sake brewery “Tamamura Honten” that has pretty good sake (they have a bottle named “Snow Monkey”. The label is pretty cool) and does beer as well.
> Anywhere we can go to see live shamisen music?
Long shot: you can try contacting [Norm from Tokyo Lens](https://www.youtube.com/c/TokyoLens) and maybe he’s willing to share if he’s doing another video recording of the two shamisen girls. I’m sure he gets a lot of contact requests already though.
> Recommendations for hotels with a rooftop/outside onsen? So far I have found Onsen Ryokan in Shinjuku, which looks stunning but maybe a little far from a train station.
In Tokyo? Not really. Afaik, Tokyo doesn’t have natural hot springs, so all onsen you find will be artificial. I do know an amazing onsen near Omiya, and another one in Takaosan Onsen. Both are natural ones, and just outside of Tokyo. They do not double as hotels though, but they do offer an authentic experience, much more so than any hotel rooftop onsen.
It may be your first trip to Japan but it will not be your last. I started traveling to Japan since 2005 and did multiple trips there after. Each trip visiting other parts of Japan.
I , too, took advantage of the railpass in my first trip and what I did like u set up 2 bases: Tokyo and Kyoto. From there, I just use Shinkansen to travel most of the time. From there You can plan which are the places to go with railpass and plan accordingly to 7 or 14 day pass. Bear in mind there are different rail passes.
I would suggest that u do away with Yamanouchi for this trip because it was rather far as compare to Hakone. You should also plan your trip according to seasons. If it is Winter, Yamanouchi and surroundings, northern Japan or Hokkaido are good places for that season.
Autumn and Spring is also good for hikes and beautiful leaves/flowers for Instagram.
There are tons of ryokan that has different themes but usually are not within the city area. Yamanouchi ryokan is a bit more rustic and different from others. You also need to walk more than 1.6km on foot one way to see the snow monkeys. And the weather needs to be below 0 deg Celcius to have more monkeys in the Onsen. The day I was there it was +3deg. There are only very few of them in the water. From there, I will travel to another good Onsen place: Kusatsu Onsen.
If u really want to try onsen it is either Hakone or Kawaguchiko which is near Tokyo. I would choose Kawaguchiko since u have Mount Fuji views.
I had been to other good ones like in Tochigi area, near Sendai, Towada (Aomori) and Hokkaido. These should be your future trips. There may be some good ones around Kyoto which I haven’t tried.
Plan not to see everything but plan to visit places are convenient around Tokyo and Kyoto. The rest of places will be your future trips. Those who been there, will always look forward for the next trip. I myself is planning abt 2 trips: Oct (Autumn) and/or Jan (Winter)