Planning on taking to Japan in January of either 2023 or 2024. Not sure if planning now in October is too late for 2023. I plan on doing this trip with the JR rail pass. Wondering about the general flow of my itinerary and if it’s too much or too little. I’m an athletic 21 yr. old male so I think I’d have much better stamina than the average tourist if that makes a difference. Most likely solo-travelling or with 1 or 2 companions tops. Question marks indicate that I’m rather unsure about it. One of my concerns is that this trip would include too much hotel switching maybe? I don’t want to get stuck in too many time traps. The days of the week I wrote in the first column are for 2023, but this trip will maybe get pushed back to 2024 in which case days of the week would change.
|**Day/Date**|**Sleeping location (at the end of this day)**|**Morning**|**Mid-day**|**Evening/Night**|**Extra Notes**|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|0 / Wed, Jan 4|N/A|N/A|Fly out mid-day PST|Flight||
|1 / Thurs, Jan 5|Tokyo|Flight|Arrive in Tokyo, check into hotel|Shibuya Crossing||
|2 / Fri, Jan 6|Tokyo|Senso-ji Temple|Tokyo Tower|Omoide Yokocho||
|3 / Sat, Jan 7|Tokyo|Harajuku|Harajuku|Roppongi|Maybe replace with Kawaguchi day trip?|
|4 / Sun, Jan 8|Nagano|Train ride|Check-in hotel, Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park|Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park?|Is it worth going out of the way for this?|
|5 / Mon, Jan 9|Kyoto|Long train ride|Check in Hotel, Nishiki market?|Gion entertainment district||
|6 / Tues, Jan 10|Kyoto|Fushiri Inari|Kiyomizu-dera temple, Eikan-Do Temple?|Pontocho?||
|7 / Wed, Jan 11|Kyoto|Arashiyama Bamboo Grove|Togetsukyo bridge, Iwateyama Monkey Park|Kinkaku-ji||
|8 / Thurs, Jan 12|Kyoto|Nara park, Mt. Wakakusa|Todai-ji Temple, famous mochi?|\-?|Day trip to Nara|
|9 / Fri, Jan 13|Osaka|Train ride, check-in hotel, Osaka Aquarium|Osaka Aquarium|Dontonburi, Okaru okonomiyaki||
|10 / Sat, Jan 14|Osaka|Osaka Castle|Shin-sekai|Shin-sekai, Umeda Sky building?||
|11 / Sun, Jan 15|Wakayama / Koya-san|Head to Koya-san, check-in hotel|Head to Koya-san, Danjo Garan, Daimon Gate, Kongabu-ji, Okunoin cemetary|activities from mid-day may stretch into evening?|Stay at a ryokan?|
|12 / Mon, Jan 16|Hiroshima|Long Train ride|check-in hotel, Itsukushima Shrine|Genbaku dome|Is it worth making the huge trip for 1 day?|
|13 / Tues, Jan 17|Tokyo|Long Train ride, make any stops?|Akihabara?, Shopping?|Shopping?, Explore?||
|14 / Wed, Jan 18|Tokyo|Ghibli museum|Shopping?, exploring?|Shopping?, exploring?||
|15 / Thurs, Jan 19|N/A|Fly out|Flight|Flight||