Spending 8 full days in Tokyo with my wife, first time, could you give me your opinion on this?

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1. Day 3: Spend all day in Kichijoji. There are many things to do and see, and it’s a nice area for strolling. The area has a large arcade also, so it’s convenient if it’s raining.

   Gotokuji does *not* have ‘many cats’ it’s a mundane, out-of-the-way temple with three sets of shelves of small cat figurines on the west and north sides of one building and a small, new statue of a cat on a pillar. It’s a nice enough place, but now it’s so overrun with tourists (the only people one sees there) that the most interesting places are closed off to casual visitors. The Shiro Hige’s Cream Puff Factory (a) is just Instagram-famous, (b) sells out, apparently, by 11 AM each morning, (c) has an outlet in Kichijoji, and (d) sells something available in all convenience stores and supermarkets and many cafés in Japan. It’s not worth the trip. (I live in the area of Gotokuji and have for many years. No one I know has ever gone to [or even heard of] Shiro-Hige’s, and no one visits Gotokuji except at the new year holidays or if the family is associated with the temple.)

   Days 4, 5, and 6 all look much too busy. I’d advise picking two or three places, going to those, and visiting other places in the same area(s) if you have time.

   Please do not go to the capybara café or any other animal cafés. The animals are poorly treated in terrible conditions, and the owners have no incentives besides profit to keep the animals healthy(-looking) and, because Japan has weak animal cruelty laws, no negative incentives to keep the animals healthy or alive. If you need to see capybara (an animal indigenous to South America) in Japan, go to a zoo—there’s one in Kichijoji that has them.