My wife and I will be traveling to Japan on the first leg of a Japan and Korea trip. Our first trip to Japan and we will be going dead on during the cherry blossom week. We would love to get some feedback on too much or are we missing any key things? Eats is a different topic but same spreadhsheet 😉
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**Day 1**
* Land at 8:00 PM @ NRT
* Head over to Shinjuku to check in and hopefully sleep
* Local izakayas if we can’t sleep
**Day 2**
**Morning**
* Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise Market
* Sumida Park
**Afternoon**
* Ueno Park & Ameyoko
* Tokyo Skytree
**Night**
Explore Shinjuku
**Day 3**
**Morning**
* Tsujiki Fish Market
* TeamLabs
**Afternoon**
* Gundam Base
* Ginza
**Night**
* Akihabara
**Day 4**
**Morning**
* Megura Cherry Blossom Riverwalk
* Sakura Street – Shibuya
* Meiji Shrine
* Yoyogi Park
**Afternoon**
* Shinjuku Gyoen Cherry Tree Area
* Harajuku
* Shibuya
**Night**
* Shibuya/Shinjuku Pub/Izakaya Crawl
**Day 5**
**Morning**
* Imperial Palace
* Chidori-ga-fuchi
* Tokyo Station
**Afternoon**
* Whatever we missed from Shinjuku/Harajuku/Shibya
**Night**
* Omoide Yokocho/Golden Gai
**Day 6**
**Morning**
* Shinkansen to Kyotoo
**Afternoon**
* Philiopher’s Path
* Pontoncho
* Keage Incline
**Night**
* Izakaya in Pontoncho
**Day 7**
**Morning**
* Arishiyama Bamboo Forest
* Explore area/district
**Afternoon**
* Yasaka Shrine
* Kinkaku-ji
* Nijo Castle
* Kyoto Imperial Palace
**Night**
* Nishiki Market
**Day 8**
**Morning**
* Fushimi Inari Shrine
* Train/Bus to Nara
**Afternoon**
* Explore Nara – Deer Park, Mochi
**Night**
* Osaka (Dotonbori) or Kyoto (Ryokan)
**Day 9**
**Morning**
* Osaka Castle
* Umeda Sky Building
**Afternoon**
* Kuroman
* Dotonbori
* Den-Den Town
**Night**
* Dontonburi
**Day 10**
**Morning**
* KIX to Busan
Thanks in advance!
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3 comments
I’m just here to steal your Kansai area plan. 😀
This year, cherry blossoms (guessing from 2023) will peak between 19 and 26 March, and likely earlier in that period. Unfortunately, that period (from about 20 March) is when the school year ends in Japan, so expect things to be extra crowded (or, if you’re not used to Japan, extra-extra crowded), especially in the famous cherry places such as Yoyogi Park, Ueno Park, Megurogawa, and Shinjuku Gyouen. Luckily, cherry trees are all over Tokyo, and they almost all bloom in the same couple of days. If you’re lucky, they’ll peak on a Thursday or Friday, so the crowds won’t be extra-extra-extra bad, as it would be on a weekend.
The weather tends to be, I’m afraid, lousy most of the time around cherry blossom season, so be ready with umbrellas.
Have a nice time.
Just a heads up that (at least as of last year) most shops close in nishiki market at 5ish, so it’s better to go during the day for the full experience.