Hi all.
So I’m looking to head to Japan for the first time mid-late Nov 2024. I know it’s early days but here I am working through my itinerary. Started planning in August.
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Interests include: music and dj’ing, pop/pulp culture, art and design, video games, lgbtqa+, travel, food, animation, anime and Japanese characters.
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Likely solo travel (partner still undecided) and im a 28yo male. Budget around 13000 Yen per day. Not including hotels, Shinkansen, USJ tickets.
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**Tokyo:** 6 Nights –
**Kyoto:** 3 Nights –
**Nara:** Day trip –
**Osaka:** 4 Nights –
**Hiroshima:** Day trip –
**Miyajima:** 1 Night –
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I have a few questions which I will leave for the end but I’m mostly hoping to gain some insight into if these days look doable and an enjoyable pace.
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**Thurs 14th Day 1: Tokyo – Arrival/Ikebukero**
***Accom****: Ikebukero Metropolitan Hotel*
Arrive Narita
Get IC Card if needed
Forward luggage to hotel if travel by train.
Train/bus to hotel. ( Pretty sure airport limo goes right to hotel)
Check-in.
Relax, lite explore. Convenience store for essentials
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**Fri 15th Day 2: Tokyo – Ikebukero**
Ikebukero – Use IKEBUS to get around
BOOKOFF
Super Potato
Sunshine 60 St
Sunshine City
Arcades
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**Sat 16th Day 3: Tokyo – Asakusa/Ueno/Ameyoko/Akihabara**
Asakusa
Sumida Park
Senso-ji Temple and Nikamise-dori
Ueno
Ameyoko or Americaya
Akihabara
Arcades
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**Sun 17th Day 4: Tokyo – Harajuku/Shibuya**
Harajuku
Yoyogi Park
Meji Shrine
Shibuya
Parco
Tower Records
Centre Gai
LOFT
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**Mon 18th Day 5: Tokyo: Ghibli & Petite Village**
Ghibli Muesum
Inokashira Park
Kichijoji
Petite Village
Sunroad shotengai
Harmonica yokocho
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**Tue 19th Day 6 : Shinjuku**
Send Bags ahead to Kyoto
Shin Okubo
Shinjuku
Kabukicho Tower
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**Wednesday 20th Nov Day 7: Tokyo/Kyoto**
***Accom:*** *Watermark Hotel Shimogyo Ward*
Tokyo Station (Spend some time exploring before heading on)
Kyoto Station to Hotel
Check-in
Lite explore area.
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**Thurs 21st Day 8: Kyoto**
Fushimi Inarin (early)
Higashiyama
Gion
Pontocho
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**Fri 22nd day 9: Kyoto**
Philosophers Path
Back to Higashiyama or downton Kyoto
Kodai-ji Autumn Illumination
Send bags forward
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**Sat 23rd Day 10: Kyoto -Nara-Osaka**
***Accom****: Hotel The FLAG Shinsaibashi*
Check out
Train to Nara
Explore Nara – Deer park
Train Nara – Osaka
Osaka Station to Shinsaibashi Station
Check-in
Explore area – Dontonbori
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**Sun 24th Day 11: Osaka**
Amerikamura
Den Den Town: Super Potato & Geo Osaka-Nippombashi
Shinsaibashi. Mandarake and shopping st
Dontonbori
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**Monday 25th Day 12: Osaka USJ**
Universal Studios
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**Tuesday 26th Day 13: Osaka/Hiroshima/Miyajima**
***Accom****: Sakurasa Miyajima*
Train to Hiroshima
Peace Memorial
Atomic Dome
Ferry to Miyajima
Check in.
Explore.
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**Wednesday 27th day 14: Miyajima/Osaka**
***Accom****: Hotel The FLAG Shinsaibashi*
Miyajima Island
Back to Osaka
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**Thurs 28th Day 15: Osaka – Home**
Check out
Taxi/bus /train to airport
Fly Osaka – Home
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So with that laid out I have a couple of concerns and questions:
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\- Are any days too packed or too empty? General impressions.
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\- Day 5 @ Ghibli, I’m conscious that I may not secure myself a ticket to the museum. If not is the area and Kichijoji still worth exploring or should I find something else to do with this day? A day trip to Yokohama etc.
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\- One of my main concerns is with Day 15. Miyajima-Hiroshima-Osaka. Just because it’s so close to my departure day. Is it a silly move leaving that much travel a day before having to catch my flight home? Would I be better off finding a day trip closer to Osaka?
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\- Do hotels hold luggage at all? Wondering if I could leave my checked luggage at the hotel in Osaka while I’m in Miyajima for the night and then pick back up the following day. I imagine I will need to ask the hotel this but was interested to know if this is a service hotels in Japan are likely to offer.
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**Luggage.**
1x sling for daily use.
1x carryon for packed items/clothes.
1x checked luggage for souvenirs.
Trying to decide between a hardshell wheeled luggage or a backpack for the carryon. Will be with me on Shinkansen when traveling between cities. Any insights on what might work best out of the two?
Would love to hear any insight at all, thank you! 🙂
2 comments
Hi, I just got back and am still processing jet lag but I wanted to say if you’re interested in music/shows, try to find bands/venues to follow before your trip. I’m way older than you are so maybe you’re already good at this, but I could not find anywhere that listed clubs or shows to go to while I was in Osaka and Tokyo (two places I’m sure had great music). My experience was that Japan was very modern/sophisticated in lots of technological ways, but most websites look like they were made in 1998 and are about as rare as they were then.
You could ask your hotel about luggage storage, but there are also numerous lockers at the train station for about 500Y a day that are easy. I had a wheeled carryon and a medium-ish back pack (part of my trip was hiking) and then bought a big suitcase on my last day to check because I bought knives. There are lots of places to hold your luggage while on the bigger trains, and bigger suitcases are only kind of annoying on the more local/smaller ones.
You could go to Hiroshima after Kyoto maybe if you want to stagger the big travel days.
Tokyo day 2: I wouldn’t bother with the bus. Ikebukuro is relatively compact. You can just walk to most places you list, and it’ll be faster than waiting for the bus.
Tokyo day 3: This looks very rushed to me. I’d visit these places over two days.
Tokyo day 4: I’d skip Meiji Jingu (unless you go when it’s the only place open (*viz.* in the morning before 10 AM) and Yoyogi Park. The former is nothing special architecturally and is only popular with tourists because it’s near train stations and has a bus parking lot; the latter is just a big park with nothing distinctively Japanese in it. Last time I went to Tower Records (maybe two months ago) I was flabbergasted at how poor the selection was. Try instead a couple of outlets in the Disc Union chain: there are several in Shibuya, and it’s cheaper than and has a far larger selection than Tower Records does.
Tokyo day 5: looks fine. Harmonica Road is about 50 meters long and will take about 3 minutes to walk through. If you have a particular interest in animation and character stuff, you might also stop by the Nakano area, a few stops closer to Shinjuku than Kichijoji: the Nakano Broadway area just north of the station functions as a kind of Mecca for anime fans.