hi all! thank you so much in advance for taking some time to look at this.
28F, visiting for the first time, solo, coming from nyc, don’t speak japanese outside a few travel phrases. don’t mind being touristy, it’s my first visit! interested in gastronomy + culture (particularly buddhist culture) and some shopping. please let me know any thoughts, suggestions, etc 🙂 i tried to plan without being too restrictive so there is a lot of room to deviate. i am so excited!
**questions:**
1. **general:**
1. i am *not* planning to buy any shinkansen tickets more than a day in advance (if that – more likely on the day of) – from my research it seems fine, but is this a bad idea? is it possible that all the seats will be taken on the same day, or is that uncommon? i just don’t want to be stressed about missing a prepaid train reservation and i don’t mind waiting in a station for an hour or two as needed
2. any thoughts about kawagoe city as a day trip from tokyo? i thought it looked beautiful and i am particularly interested in seeing the soy sauce stores there (not the soy sauce theme park, just the shops in town), but wondering if i might be better served spending more time in tokyo itself or a day trip elsewhere like kamakura or nikko? i haven’t seen kawagoe mentioned much in itineraries so not sure
3. for some of the \~fancier\~ cocktail bars in tokyo/kyoto/osaka, do i need reservations just for drinks? can’t figure it out based on reviews and i don’t really see websites for reservations just for drinks rather than meals. will it be difficult to walk in to these places? (e.g. high five, sg club in tokyo, bees knees in kyoto, bible club in osaka)
4. i would love to do a tea ceremony at any time during my trip – i’ve looked at a few in kyoto and nara but i can’t really tell which i should go for – looking to learn about the zen aspect of the tea ceremony and not necessarily interested in a hands-on workshop/experience (also not sure if a kimono wearing experience is out of pocket? or just touristy but not disrespectful?) would love any thoughts and recommendations!
2. **tokyo:**
1. any suggestions for things to do or see by toyosu market between \~630-8am (seeing the auction and then have a tour planned at 8am)?
2. for golden gai, would you recommend doing an organized bar crawl or just exploring solo? seems safe enough without a group but wondering if generally more fun with others?
3. **shibu onsen:**
1. i understand my ryokan has yukuta available for wandering to the onsen in town — sorry if this is a stupid question, but it’s fine to wear these out around town? do i wear my own shoes? should i wear a coat too, or are they generally just worn on their own?
4. **kyoto:**
1. recommendations for fushimi sake village tastings? is it worth it or should i just go for a sake tasting somewhere else (maybe in osaka where i don’t have tight plans) and use the time more for temples in kyoto?
**itinerary:**
* **Tues, Jan 16th: Tokyo**
* 2pm: land at haneda
* \~4pm: check in to hotel intergate
* walk around ginza/kobayashi: check out mitsokushi food hall, get an eki stamp book and postcards to mail through the trip!
* casual dinner: check out ramen street? or coco curry
* check out some bars if not too tired: High Five\*, Bar Landscape, Bar Penguin
* **Wed, Jan 17th: Tokyo**
* 10am: tour of imperial palace
* 12pm: lunch at Sushi Suzuki (reserved)
* afternoon: tokyo station > gotokuji temple
* maybe walk to shiro-hige cream puff factory afterwards
* early evening: see shibuya crossing and walk around shibuya
* dinner: casual dinner in shibuya or pizza savoy
* drink after dinner: maybe bar barrière, gen yamamoto
* **Thurs, Jan 18th: Tokyo**
* early morning: senso-ji
* 11:30am – 1:30pm: asakusa walking food tour (airbnb experience)
* afternoon walk to fukagawa edo museum, temple with fire ceremony, winery
* try to hit akhiabara/kanda shrine after dark? or nap lol
* 8pm: dinner at Sushi Take (reserved)
* **Fri, Jan 19th: Tokyo**
* 5:30am: TUNA AUCTION – won the lottery! (take a taxi there)
* 8-11:30am: fish market + sushi making tour (airbnb experience)
* afternoon: coffee shop/chill/nap/free time. maybe some shopping or visit Tokyo tower and send some postcards, or quick visit to akhiabara/kanda shrine after dark if didn’t hit yesterday
* evening: walk around shinjuku, have a bite
* golden gai/bar crawl?
* **Sat, Jan 20th: Tokyo**
* morning: check out farmers market at unu
* \~noon: train to kawagoe city for a day trip (from shibuya station)
* soy sauce store/tour in kawagoe, general exploring
* early evening: train back to the city, walk around shibuya a bit more, shopping
* 9pm: highbury bar in shibuya for arsenal game (COYG!)
* **Sun, Jan 21st: Tokyo > Shibu Onsen**
* \~11am: hokuriku shinkansen to nagano, local train from nagano to shibu onsen
* check in to yamazakiya ryokan and relax for the day
* dinner in ryokan
* **Mon, Jan 22nd: Shibu Onsen**
* morning: ryokan shuttle to snow monkey park
* afternoon: come back to town and spend day onsen hopping
* **Tues, Jan 23rd: Shibu Onsen > Kyoto**
* leave shibu onsen in the morning for kyoto (via nagoya) – shoot for 10am shinkansen
* arrive in kyoto by 2-3pm
* drop off bags (staying in gion) and try to visit philosophers path/ginkaku-ji if not too tired
* casual dinner somewhere
* have a drink if not too tired – bees knees, bar indigo
* **Wed, Jan 24th: Kyoto**
* \~8-9am: kiyoumizu dera
* lunch/walk around ninenzaka
* \~2-6pm: sanjusangen-do, toji
* 8pm: dinner at tempura kyoboshi (reservered)
* **Thurs, Jan 25th: Kyoto**
* early morning: join temple services (staying at temple lodging)
* \~7-8am: fushimi imari
* late morning: walk around fushimi sake village area, have lunch and do a tasting
* \~1pm: kinkaku-ji
* walk over to daitoku-ji. have tea/mochi in the area
* Evening: casual dinner (maybe at hotel)
* **Fri, Jan 26th: Kyoto > Osaka**
* \~7-8am: arashiyama (monkey park) / otagi nenbutsuji (quick bite in the area before)
* take taxi up to otagi nenbutsuji and walk down?
* \~1-2pm: nishiki market, walk around the area
* early evening: get bags and take train to osaka
* check in to hostel (pax in shinsekai)
* casual dinner in shinsekai
* **Sat, Jan 27th: Osaka**
* general exploring day – have a few places bookmarked but no real set itinerary. just walk up towards umeda and explore along the way?
* 6-9pm – bar/food crawl – meet near jr temma station (airbnb experience)
* **Sun, Jan 28th: Osaka/Nara**
* morning: leave for nara – nara park, todai-ji dabutsuden, walk around town, shopping, lunch
* early evening: back to Osaka
* walk around dotonbori at night, bible club bar
* **Mon, Jan 29th: Osaka > Hakone**
* travel day: osaka > kyoto > odawara (shinkansen) > hakone (hotel is by gora station)
* relax in hotel for the evening
* **Tues, Jan 30th: Hakone**
* follow a usual 1 day itinerary: ropeway, lake ashi, etc – don’t forget to get an onsen egg!!!
* **Wed, Jan 31st: Hakone > Tokyo**
* morning: hakone > izu zoo …… seems like a bit of a trek, need to figure out transport for this one. think it is gora > odawara – switch – odawara > atami > ito
* 130pm: capybara onsen viewing at zoo!!!!!!!!
* head back to tokyo and check into airbnb by nippori (hopefully by \~6pm)
* try to do last min shopping and get gifts/souvenirs
* **Thurs, Feb 1: leave :(**
* flight out of narita at 4pm – head out of the city by noon
if you have made it this far, thank you thank you thank you for reading!! very much appreciated 🙂
4 comments
You should be OK not buying Shinkansen tickets for the period you’ll be here. You may have to stand for the entire trip or wait for the next train, but you’re not travelling for a great deal of time on any one trip. I’ve stood from Kobe to Tokyo with no great problems.
Kawagoe is a fine day trip; we just went out there two weeks ago. There’s a lot to see, but it’s a relatively compact city. Whether you’d be better served spending more time in central Tokyo depends on what you’d like to do. Both Kawagoe and Kamakura are easily accessible from Tokyo and do not require a lot of planning, whereas Nikko is rather a long trip.
Wearing a kimono is not disrespectful, but it *is* touristy. However, it’s not only non-Japanese tourists who do it. Kimono are expensive, and not many people have them, so some people rent them in tourist spots.
As for the yukata, I would wear a coat over it, though, truth be told, when I go to the local *sento* (much like an onsen), I wear my street clothes and bring a change of clothes with me. Yukata are not the easiest things to walk in.
As for your itinerary in Tokyo:
Day 1: skip Coco Curry. It’s just a chain, and not a highly rated one at that. The area you’ll be in is packed with restaurants. Just choose one that looks appealing.
Day 2: Skip Gotokuji Temple and Shiro-Hige Cream Puff Factory. It’ll take you about an hour or longer to walk from the former to the latter, and neither is anything special. I live near Gotokuji and, even though I walk or bicycle beside it frequently, seldom stop in because it’s not architecturally distinguished. I do, however, frequently stop at other shrines and temples in the area. (The beckoning cat association with Gotokuji is not strongly evident at the temple: you’ll see some little cat statues left by visitors, and that’s about it.) The Shiro-Hige Cream Puff Factory just serves the same cream puffs you can find at any supermarket, most convenience stores, and many bakeries throughout Japan. (Also, I understand the actual cream puffs sell out by 11 or 11:30 AM.) Save the time and money and stay in Shibuya or go to the Koshikawa Garden if the weather is nice.
Don’t fret if you cannot get to or get in to any restaurants you’re wanting to try in Tokyo: the city has tens of thousands of restaurants, and almost all of them are good.
Lovely itinerary.
I think Bible Club SG Club and High Five you can walk in (somebody on this sub mentioned doing this recently) Gen Yamamoto needs a reservation.
The Izu Cactus Park is relatively in the middle of nowhere. You can go to Ito as you stated or a bit further to Izu Kogen and then take a bus. It takes 3 hr to get back to Tokyo so your itinerary will be a lot of travel time vs time at the zoo. . Is it worth it? IDK! Personally I’m going to the Saitama Children’s Zoo to see the capybara onsen instead, since it’s 30 mins from Kawagoe. But Izu Zoo is the original and more elaborate so if it’s a bucket list thing I guess.
Golden Gai is super easy to explore alone so it’s really your preference if you feel like going solo or going with a group for company.
The only time I’ve ever prebooked shinkansen tickets was during Golden Week. You should be fine esp if you’re travelling solo not in a group. Although you might not be able to get a prime window seat.
I’ve never heard of anyone making reservations for drinks.
For your question 1-4, I wanted to share an experience I had in Hakone! There’s a temple offering zen meditation, calligraphy and matcha experience. My friend and I had a great time here last year here:
https://hakonekannon.jimdofree.com/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E4%BD%93%E9%A8%93-let-s-try-japanese-culture/
It’s not specifically about zen aspect of the tea ceremony, but you definitely get to experience “zen” firsthand, and the wife of the monk serves you matcha 🙂 I think there’s other temples in Hakone and other cities offering such experiences if you look it up online.