Traveling to Tokyo, Niseko, then Tokyo again for New Years from the US. There will be 6 of us total, myself, my boyfriend, his three sisters (early to late 20s) and their dad. We’re interesting in exploring, eating good food and drinks, and seeing modern and traditional Japanese culture.
It’s a bit in flux, but any input/advice/suggestions would be great.
**Friday Dec 29th**
* Get in around 4:30PM at Narita and staying near Haneda airport
* Get dinner somewhere nearby or where we bar hop
* Bar hopping (Roppongi area? Golden Gai?)
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**Saturday Dec 30 (leaving early Dec 31st morning)**
* (Tsukiji Market closed? If not, go here in the morning and Asakusa another day)
* Shibuya
* Crossing, possibly Meiji Shrine, wander
* Shinjuku
* Asakusa / Sensō-ji temple
* If we don’t do Asakusa or Tsukiji here, maybe walk around the imperial palace (is it worth it if you don’t get a tour?)
**Hirafu, Niseko, Hokkaido Dec 31-Jan 5**
* Main agenda each day is skiing
* Find fireworks for new years and bar hop
* May look into a day trip
* For food/drink: Likely going to Boyoso after skiing and Bar Gyu. Also looking into Toshiro’s Bar and Sasa. Maybe Yakiniku BBQ reservations if we can get them for New Years. Not planning on making other reservations unless it looks like we need to.
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**Tokyo Jan 5th (arrive 12PM Haneda)**
* Likely staying either in Shinjuku or Asakusa (likely not a lot of time to explore the area though if we do a day trip, so doing on the front end)
* Tsukiji Market? (Closes at 3PM, might not be time)
* Maybe Teamlabs
* Dinner somewhere nearby one of those
**Tokyo** **Jan 6th**
* Likely day trip! Looking at Hakone, Kamakura, Nikko (not sure if we’ll want to do hot springs) or Kyoto if that doesn’t seem too far for a day trip
* Explore/wander Shinjuku/Shabuya or Asakusa after depending where we stay. Probably wouldn’t want to go to temple/shrines after a day trip since it will be dark (sunset 4PM). Alternatively, could go to Tsukiji Market in the morning before and get back later
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**Tokyo Jan 7th (6:30PM flight Narita)**
* Undecided, any recs for a pre-airport morning would be appreciated! Sounds like we’ll need to leave around 2:30ish. If we stay in Asakusa, could also do Shrines here instead of before Niseko, or could do the fish market and Teamlabs (but that seems like a lot of travel to go back/forth before airport). Will likely have to store bags somewhere.
**Some questions**
* Will we be okay not making reservations as a group of 6? Don’t want to totally restrict where we go before we even get there, we’re okay waiting, but not sure if we’ll only end up at larger (less good?) places that can handle a larger group with little notice.
* Will we have trouble bar hopping in places like Golden Gai with a group of 6?
* Dec 30th Tsukiji Market is open but “building related to fruit and vegetable market” is closed. Still worth going, or better to add it in on another, less optimal day?
* Open to any other recs or suggestions!