Hello guys,

first of all thank you so much for this great subreddit with all the useful information! It already helped alot for our research.

My wife and I are currently planning our long awaited first trip to Japan with our son (he will be 7 months). Originally we wanted to go in spring 2020 but for known reasons we had to cancel. Therefore we are so excited to finally visit this beautiful and interesting country.

Some facts about the trip:

• Dates: 30 days – 2nd of November until 2nd of December.
• We will start and end our trip at Tokyo Narita airport.
• For the baby we will bring a compact stroller which you can fold quickly and easily as well as a baby carrier and a baby car seat (that you can attach to the stroller if he wants to lay down) since we are thinking of renting a car.
• We try not to overpack our days with things do to and rather adjust our plans to the little one (hence the 30 days travel time).
• We mostly look forward to exploring the country / culture / people, visit some temples / shrines / park, eat some delicious and unique food and try fun activities like games / unique and fun shops / themed cafes / etc. We are video game nerds and excited to expirience new technologies while looking forward to seeing rural areas and spectacular sceneries during autumn season.

This is our plan so far:

• 02/11/24 (day 1): arrive in Narita airport in the morning (9 AM). Get a train to the city*.*
• 02/11/24 – 06/11/24 (day 1 – day 5): Tokyo
  • planned activities: discover the city, vitit temples, shrines and parks, Asakusa / Ueno / Ginza / Roppongi / Shibuya / Shinjuku
  • day trip to Kamakura (via train)
• 07/11/24 (day 6): Tokyo -> Nikko (via car)
  • car rental from Tokyo to drive to Nikko
  • possible detour via Hitachi Seaside Park
• 08/11/24 (day 7): Nikko
  • planned activities: discover the beautiful nature, stroll around
• 09/11/24 (day 8): Nikko -> Gunma region / Nagano region (via car)
• 10/11/24 (day 9): Gunma region / Nagano region
  • possible activites: Karuizawa, Snow Monkey Park, Floating Torii Gate, etc.
• 11/11/24 (day 10): Nagano -> Kanazawa (via car)
  • detour via Shirakawa-go
  • return the rental car in Kanazawa
• 12/11/24 (day 11): Kanazawa
  • planned activities: Kazuemachi Chaya District, Omicho market, Kenrokuen Garden, Higashi Chaya District, etc.
• 13/11/24 (day 12): Kanazawa -> Kyoto (via train)
• 14/11/24 – 16/11/24 (day 13 – day 15): Kyoto
  • planned activities: Yasaka pagoda, Geisha district, shrines, temples (Eikando), parks (Arashiyama) & markets (Nishiki).
• 17/11/24 (day 16): Kyoto -> Osaka (via train)
• 18/11/24 – 19/11/24 (day 17 – day 18): Osaka
  • planned activities: Osaka castle, Dotonbori
  • day trip to Nara (via train)

2 options for 20/11/24 – 24/11/24 (day 19 – day 23):

1. Wakayama region (via rental car)
   • rental car from Osaka
   • visit Wakayama city, Shirahama, Nachisan (Falls), Kii-Katsura
2. Hiroshima / Matsuyama (via train)
   • Explore Hiroshima, take ferries to Itsukushima and Matsuyama

• 25/11/24 (day 24): Osaka -> Hakone / 5 lakes region (via train)
• 26/11/24 – 28/11/24 (day 25 – day 27): Hakone / 5 lakes region
  • rent a car for flexibility and to easily get to rural areas
  • explore Oichi park, Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine, Hakone shrine, Owakudani, etc.
  • return the car
• 29/11/24 (day 28): Hakone / 5 lakes region -> Tokyo (via train)
• 30/11/24 – 01/12/24 (day 29 – day 30): Toyko
  • last days in Tokyo, no planned activities
• 02/12/24: departure from Narita airport in the morning (11 AM).

Our questions:

• Does this itinerary seem reasonable for a first time trip?
• Is it generally a good idea to rent a car? A big plus for us is definetely the flexibility and the ability to reach certain spots in rural areas more easily. Driving on the left side is no problem for me and I am generally comfortable driving in foreign countries. Do we need a translation of our drivers licences?
• We definetely want to try out and experience a Ryokan and Onsen. Where throughout our itinerary would you recommend booking one? We were thinking about either Nikko, Wakayama or Hakone/5 lakes region.
• We also looked into buying a JR pass to have the flexibility of getting on any train throughout the time. The calculator says that it is not worth it. How much of a hassle is booking train tickets for the family? We want to be as flexible as possible.
• We heard about the chip shortage of IC cards. Is it still a thing and where would you recommend getting a card? My wife and I both have an Android so we cant get the digital one on our phones.

Thank you so much in advance. We are looking forward to your opinions, insights and recommendations. Cheers!