[Itinerary Check] Tokyo 9 Days Trip

13 comments

1. You can easily spend a few weeks with interesting things in Tokyo but in my opinion you deprive yourself of the more traditional sights of Japan. If you want to keep your hub in Toyko you should consider going on a trip to Nikko in the north or to see Mt. Fuji at Kawaguchiko. That’s just my opinion. In Toyko you just see a certain part of Japan.

2. Whole day in Akiba? There’s not a whole lot there imo

3. Realistically you’ll finish akihabara in a few hours or so. It’s really not that much.

4. Kameido is especially nice if you can go when in time for plum blossom.

   Oedo onsen monogatari permanently closed last September.

   For a nice point of view on Tokyo, I would go to Roppongi Hills Mori Tower instead of Tokyo Tower and you can also have a view on Tokyo Tower from there.

   I would try to be flexible on the day you visit Kawaguchiko, go any day the weather is clear, otherwise you might not be able to see Mount Fuji.

   I have a mixed opinion on Yoyogi Park. Go if it’s during cherry blossom time or on the weekend when it’s wark to do some people watching, otherwise, skip, Yoyogi park is a park, not a garden. For a nice garden, go check Hama-rikyu next to tsukiji or my favorite it Koishikawa korakuyen next to Tokyo Dome City. I would consider going to Meiji-jingu on the morning of day 5.

   Other than that, if you want to start the day “early”, keep in mind that shops usually open at 10 or 11 am, so there will not be much to do in Shibuya, Harajuku or Akihabara in the morning, so maybe don’t go there too early or plan to see something that open earlier around there first.

5. Check out an arcade or two. Also try Okonomiyaki

6. For your strolling around day I would do it in Yokohama, specifically the seafront park area. I live in Tokyo and for me, some of the places you want to visit are quite boring. Kamakura is another very nearby place you might want to consider for another day.

7. Sounds pretty good. I second the idea about Yoyogi. Personally I don’t see anything attractive about that place unless you happen to be in the area and would like to sit in a park and have a picnic or something. Shijuku Gyoen is a large park with various gardens. You might also want to check out Rikugien if you’re looking for a traditional Japanese garden in Tokyo.

   Tsukiji is permanently closed and under redevelopment. The fish market opened not too far away in Toyosu to more modern facilities. However, there are still some of the old seafood restaurants and shops near what used to be the Tsukiji Fish Market. It’s pretty good, but just don’t expect to see the whole market because it has moved.

   Tokyo Tower’s cool. I’d stick with it. It’s iconic and there’s also a nice temple nearby. For a good free view of Tokyo, you can check out the Tokyo Metropolitan twin towers in Shinjuku, but I’m pretty sure the observation decks have been closed during Covid. Maybe by the time you get to Japan they’ll be open again. SkyTree’s views can’t be beat though.

   Kameido’s shrine is more famous for wisteria than anything else. It’s still a cool shrine to visit when they aren’t in bloom, but it’s not as impressive as Sensoji or Meiji Jingu.

8. Oedo onsen is closed, sorry 🙁

9. No life size Gundam in Odaiba?

   Probably the only thing I can contribute.

   TeamLab Borderless is an excellent place to go as well.

10. 9 days is not enough. You need a few more days.

11. if you need a breather from city life, you can do a day trip to kamakura/enoshima which is a short train trip from the city. Kamakura has shrines/temples/and a big famous buddha. Most are free. I rented a bike for a few hours. In the afternoon, I took a train to enoshima which is like 15min away. Enoshima has a cool island with stuff to do. I think it is a couples retreat. I went up the tower, spent 2 hours at a spa, and eat dinner there. Went back to Tokyo that night.

    Another daytrip suggestion is hakone. They are known for views of mt. fuji, lake, famous tori gate, and hot springs. I booked a ryokan there and it was an amazing experience.

12. if you have an iPhone, add the Suica and Pasmo cards to your wallet app now and start adding $5-$10 every paycheck so you’ll have a nice little digital wallet for emergency train/subway needs as well as snacks and obligatory chuhai binges.

    Definitely make time for Meiji Jingu, if you like craft beer and are of age, hit up the Baird Brewing taproom in Harajuku (just a block off of Takashita st.).

    Definitely explore and eat/drink your way around the side streets of Nakano Broadway, it’s hard to go wrong there. don’t be afraid to ditch the itinerary at times and just wander, some of the best places I found in my travels around Tokyo were completely happy accidents.

13. Is day 1 the day you arrive in Japan, or is arrival day 0? I think you’re slamming a lot of activities/walking in certain days but other days you only have 1 thing scheduled. I’d try to re-arrange it so you have 1-3 core things you want to do, that allows you some stretch time incase you come across something interesting/unplanned, and then have another list of “nice to haves”, which you can either work in later that day, or on one of your free days.

    I also advise you to plan in your meal times here. Like have a general idea when you would eat between activities, because that can sometimes contribute/subtract to your overall day plans, especially if an activity you’re going to has specific open/close hours. You should check on some of these places for their opening and closing times.

    you have a lot of things here, too much for me to get into.

    Day 1: you have Ueno park listed, it’s a big park and there are actual things to do there (like the zoo) which is a popular tourist attraction. there’s also some museums there. You could easily spend most of the morning doing those things leading into lunch. ameyoko and asakusa are neat areas to walk through but they’re largely tourist traps. Sumida Park doesn’t have much going on there either IMO especially if you’re going during non-sakura bloom. I feel like it’s more of a community/sports park. People go there to play baseball, tennis, ride their bikes through. You have kameido shrine listed here but you didn’t mention senso-ji which is in asakusa and on your route. Tokyo Skytree isn’t going to take you all night. You could actually hit Akihbara after the Skytree if you’re up for it, it’s like 2 stops away.

    Day 2: casually shopping in shibuya all day seems unrealistic, to me anyway. I don’t know what your pocket book is like but there are a lot of high end brands here. Also not sure on your body-size/type but if you don’t conform to standard japanese body-size, shopping for clothes in Japan can be extremely frustrating exercise in futility.

    Day 5: Yoyogi park is extremely big place and not really I place I would consider just meandering through. You can easily get lost in there, like actually lost. You should try to have a specific place in yoyogi park you want to see (like a shrine), take the route to get there and then continue through to Harajuku. Omoide-Yokochō is also a tourist trap, and as my native japan friend commented, has really gone downhill and this was pre-pandemic. I also avoid shinjuku during the night time, people can get pretty rowdy there.

    I would recommend spending a half day in Ikebukuro. It’s a pretty quirky place and judging by your other sites I think you’re into the anime scene? Ikebukuro is a pretty famous spot for animes. There’s also a lot of places for women to shop (Otome Road), and I really like Sunshine City, it’s a very quirky mall that has a Pokemon Center and Namjatown (namco/bandai amusement center).

    I am also saddened by Oedo Onsen closing down. You could try the one at Tokyo Dome, LaQua 8, though I’ve never been there.