Going to Japan as a group of 4 friends for a longggggg awaited trip, I’m super excited as I’ve been wanting to go to Japan for years upon years now and as the Itinerary planning has ended up in my hands I want to do a good job and make it as worth it and enjoyable for all of us as I can!
I’ve ended up planning a lot of activities across a lot of places as we all have differing interests and lists of places to go but would rather not split up for anything. For reference we’re all early to mid 20s, on student budgets (but also all been saving up for a very long while so we’re willing to splurge a little on the ‘must dos’ but otherwise keep it pretty reasonable). One of us is very arty and enjoys hands on stuff, another is a foodie and Ghibli obsessed, one is a science/space/tech type of guy and the last enjoys her shopping + unusual experiences so I’ve tried to fit in activities each would enjoy.
The JR calculator has notified me that with or without a pass is practically the same price so we will be buying a 2 week pass a little into the trip starting the 3rd of Jan.
I apologize in advance, as its a bit of a long read, I’m surprised too. Also, I’m very open to any food or activity recommendations in any of the places, I’m a will try anything at least once type of person and my friends are very similar or can be persuaded to be XD.
I would really appreciate if I could get some advice on the itinerary and whether its too jam packed or impossible on any days + food/activity recs etc.
Also wanted to say I’m incredibly grateful to this subreddit for literally being the biggest help to planning this, I have so much stuff planned that I otherwise would never have known about. I feel like I’ve spent days on this all at this point but I really enjoyed reading everyone’s own itineraries, trips, reviews and advice!
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*2023*
**Day 1 – Dec 26 – Tokyo**
* 11:30am Arrive Narita airport
* National museum of nature & science
* National museum of nature & science
* Check in to hotel 3pm (Minato City)
* Try to see if Mister donut Ginza has Fukubukuro available but might be too late?
* Explore Ginza
* Big Uniqlo
* Chuo dori st
* Big muji
* Itoya Stationary
* Ginza six
* Dinner in Ginza area (any recommendations?)
**Day 2 – Dec 27 – Tokyo**
* Mori Art Museum
* National Art centre
* Lunch at Starbucks reserve
* Shibuya crossing & exploring the area
* Dinner at Shibuya 10 Omakase
* Mega don quijote shibuya
**Day 3 – Dec 28 – Tokyo**
* Breakfast nearest combini
* Tokyo Disney Sea all day (do we need a whole day? Will it be unenjoyable without fastpasses as they are honestly very out of our budget?)
**Day 4 – Dec 29 – Tokyo**
* 8:30am – Breakfast & explore Tsukiji Fish market
* Continue exploring Ginza?
* Lunch try to get booking at Chūka Soba Ginza Hachigoo (has anyone successfully booked online?)
* Shopping and exploring Ikebukuro area
* Ikebukuro Sunshine City Mall
* Mega pokemon centre
* One piece store
* Gashapon Ikebukuro Main Store
* Animate Ikebukuro
* Dinner at a place with Matsusaka Beef? Recommendations?
* TeamLabs Planets (will try to book one of last two slots)
**Day 5 – Dec 30 – Tokyo**
* Fuji Q Highland Day
* 8am Bus to Fuji Q
* Lunch in park (unless anyone has any nearby recommendations?)
* Naruto village park
* Bus back to tokyo (How long is recommended for Fuji Q?)
* Pachinko? One of the group really wants to try for fun so we’ve promised we will try find a place for him (Does anyone have any ideas on where to find Pachinko or can you stumble upon it easily?)
**Day 6 – Dec 31 – Tokyo**
* 10am Rent kimonos near Sensoji
* Suzukien Asakusa for matcha ice cream
* Asakusa Kagetsudō for Melon Pan
* Lunch Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku?
* Senso Ji
* Nakamise Dori st
* Imado Cat Shrine
* Tokyo Skytree
* 5pm Return Kimono
* Dinner at either Asakusa area or akihabara (any recommendations especially for new years?)
* Exploring Akihabara
* Akihabara animate
* Akihabara Electric town
* Gigo Arcade Buildings
* ??Shibuya countdown or a temple or bar etc (any recommendations for new years eve?)
*2024*
**Day 7 – Jan 1 – Tokyo**
* Disneyland all day (Is it worth it? will it be potentially too busy to really do anything, should we even go? I’m very conflicted on this and to be honest I think we’re all happy to skip it if it is absurdly busy but is there something else we can do that is open?)
**Day 8 – Jan 2 – Tokyo**
* Shopping for Fukubukuro (please tell me your recommendations! I was devastated to find out I would not be able to grab a studio ghibli one)
* Lunch somewhere? Pokemon cafe or a themed cafe?
* National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
* Harry Hedgehog Harajuku Terrace Cafe
* Shopping or exploring somewhere? Not really sure what to do after the cafe?
**Day 9 – Jan 3 – Takayama**
* 6am Train to Takayama
* Breakfast at Miyagawa Morning Markets
* Jinyadangoten for Takayama dango & Gohei mochi
* Going to Shirakawa go and exploring area
* Shiroyama tenshukaku observation deck
* Hida Old village
* Sanmachi suji st
* Dinner at a Hida Beef place (any recommendations?)
**Day 10 – Jan 4 – Tokyo**
* 8am Train back to Tokyo
* 2pm Harry potter studio tour till 7pm
* Dinner
**Day 11 – Jan 5 Nagano/Tokyo**
* Train to Nagano in the morning
* Travel to Jigokudani Monkey Park to see snow monkeys
* Lunch in Nagano (Any recommendations?)
* Return to Tokyo
* Explore Shinjuku
* Dinner in Shinjuku
**Day 12 – Jan 6 – Tokyo/Uji**
* 7:30am Arashino Stable to see Sumo training
* Lunch
* Shopping??
* Train to Uji
* 6pm Check in to Ryokan
* Dinner nearby?
**Day 13 – Jan 7 – Uji/Kyoto**
* Byodo in Temple
* 9am Mitsuboshien Kanbayashi SannyuMain Shop + make matcha
* Explore Byodo-in OmotesandoMatcha street
* Lunch at Fukujuen Uji (Uji Tea Factory) or Nakamura Tokichi Honten (Main shop)
* Train to central Kyoto & check in to hotel
* 5pm Kyoto Gear Theatre
* Dinner and explore nearby area after
**Day 14 – Jan 8 – Nara/Kobe**
* Train to Nara
* Nara Deer Park
* Todaki Museum and temple
* Mahoroba Daibutsu Pudding
* Nakatanidou mochi pounding
* Lunch in Nara (Recs?)
* Train to Kobe
* Explore Kobe? Any recommendations of what to do in Kobe?
* Dinner at Kobe beef place
* Return to Kyoto
**Day 15 – Jan 9 – Kyoto/Osaka**
* 7am Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
* Tenryu-ji: Temple
* Giō-ji Temple: moss grove
* Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street
* Kinkaku-ji
* Train to Osaka: 2PM
* Kuma Kafe
* Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan till closes
* Dinner and explore Dotonbori
* Train to Kyoto
**Day 16 – Jan 10 – Osaka**
* 7am Train to Osaka
* Kuromon Ichiba Market
* 7:30-8am Arrive Universal Studios (For anyone who has gone without fastpasses I was wondering how many rides did you end up doing?)
* 9am Run to Super Nintendo World as per subreddit advice
* 8pm Leave Universal
* Ichiran Ramen Osaka
* Explore Dontonbori more, (Any recomendations of a place to eat fugu?)
* Train to Kyoto
**Day 17 – Jan 11 – Hiroshima/Kyoto or Osaka**
* 8am Train to Horishima
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
* Atomic Bomb Dome
* Lunch, any recommendations?
* Hiroshima Museum of Art
* Train to either Kyoto or Osaka & explore (Please let me know if there’s anything major that I;ve missed and I can probably fit here c:)
**Day 18 – Jan 12 – Kyoto**
* 7am Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Breakfast & explore Nishiki Market
* Explore Gion area
* ? Nijo Castle
* Lunch back at Nishiki?
* Kyoto Railway Museum
* 4pm Ringram ring making course
* Dinner
* Explore Kiyomizu-dera & Higashiyama Ward
**Day 19 – Jan 13 – Nagoya**
* 8am Train to Nagoya
* Breakfast, any recommendations?
* Legoland (For those who have been how long would you recommend for adults or would you recommend going at all?)
* Ghibli Park if we can get tickets
* Check in to hotel
* Dinner in Nagoya, Maruha Shokudo? or Atsuta Horaiken?
**Day 20 – Jan 14 – Tokyo**
* 8am Train to Tokyo
* Ghibli Museum if I can get tickets (hopefully)
* Dinner somewhere?
* Not too sure what else to do on this day
**Day 21 – Jan 15 – Tokyo**
* Final shopping?
* Anything that we might have forgotten?
**Day 22 – Jan 16 – Tokyo**
* Breakfast
* 11am Travel to Narita airport
* Flight at 1pm
Thanks for looking over my itinerary! [Picture of my cat as payment](https://imgur.com/a/lt3P3xK)!
4 comments
Arriving at 11:30 AM, you should just go directly to the hotel. It’s a two hour train ride (at best) from the airport to the Minato area. The National Museum of Nature and Science closes at 5 PM and you cannot enter after 4:30 PM. You will not make it that day. The museum’s last day of operation is 27 December. It opens again on 2 January. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to make Ginza for much, either: shops in Tokyo tend to open at 10 AM or 11 AM and close between 7 PM and 9 PM.
Your schedule for the second day looks feasible, though it would be too rushed for me.
Day 4: Because of shopping for traditional new year dishes, I would expect the Tsukiji fish market to be jammed to the point of not being able to walk. Note that TeamLabs, Ikebukuro, and Ginza are all in different parts of the city and you’ll have to negotiate the subways often.
Day 6: The Sensoji area is going to be insanely crowded on 31 December with people shopping. If you have not worn them before, keep in mind that kimono are not things you can walk quickly in. Very few shops are likely to be open anywhere in Tokyo on the evening of 31 December. Note also that the Shibuya countdown was officially cancelled last week.
Please don’t go to any of those awful animal cafés. The animals are treated awfully and die quickly from all of the stress and needless handling.
Hi! I have an annual pass to Legoland and go all the time and love it so much. I would absolutely not go if I didn’t have my toddler, and I LOVE amusement parks.
Your itinerary is really weirdly arranged. You have to transit through Nagoya to get to Takayama, so why not do Nagano and Nagoya and Takayama altogether. Like, Tokyo to Nagano, Nagano to Nagoya, and then takayama and the rest of your western Japan stuff. How you have it currently sounds exhausting and terrible.
LOTS of fantastic places for breakfast in Nagoya! I personally love Double Tall (the one in osu) for their breakfast set (egg toast, delicious), but any cafe with a morning set is a must do. Komeda is a famous chain as well. I also love Espresso D Works near the tower, lots of tasty breakfast options there and great coffee.
Pachinko is easy to find!
You are out of luck with ghibli park tickets unless there are currently some still available. Those went on sale months ago for January.
Have you mapped this route? It doesn’t make sense. You’re back tracking multiple times
TBH, with such varying interests, I’d be more keen on splitting up for some activities. Even if it’s just one day that’s going crazy doing your own shit. Trust me, on a 22 day trip, you’re going to appreciate some time apart.
My recommendation for fukubukuro for fashion stuff is just to head to somewhere big like Le Foret in Harajuku and browse around the shops.
Don’t go to animal cafes. They are evil.