We are beginning to plan our very first trip to Japan! We are early in our planning but have made note of things we want to see – we are a couple in our early 30s, like to be busy on vacation and take in as much as we can. We like to get up early and do a lot in a day. My husband is a big foodie so we will be looking for some cool spots to eat. We are hoping to see some well known areas, a few shrines and temples, and get a mix of big city and small village sights. We enjoy being outdoors, and though we appreciate gardens they are not a top priority. We are not big on shopping. We want to see a theme park and decided on Universal Studios Osaka. We will be getting a pocket wifi and are looking in to suica /rail passes too. Any thoughts on the below itinerary would be appreciated!
**Thurs May 18**: Land in **Tokyo** at 14:55. Train to Kyoto, estimated arrival 1900. Check in to hotel, relax.
**Fri May 19**: **Kyoto:** Kiyomizudera temple, Higashiyama district, Kodaiji temple, Yasaka Pagoda and shrine. Explore Gion neighbourhood
**Sat May 20**: **Kyoto:** Fushimi Inari shrine, Kinkajuki
**Sun May 21**: **Kyoto**: Arashiyama monkey park, togetsukyo bridge, tenrujyi temple, bamboo grove, Saga-Toriimoto.
**Mon May 22:** day trip to **Osaka:** Explore Shinsekai district, Osaka castle (see from outside), Dotonburi district. Train back to Kyoto for the night.
**Tues May 23**: day trip to **Osaka**: Universal Studios. Train back to Kyoto.
**Wed May 24:** day trip to **Nara**: Kasuga Taisha, Nara Park (deer), Todaiji temple. Train back to Kyoto.
**Thurs May 25**: check out of hotel, train to **Hiroshima.** (Would we be completely out of our minds to try stopping off at Himeji to see the castle on the way here??) Check in to hotel and explore downtown area, Hondori St
**Fri May 26:** **Hiroshima:** Hiroshima castle (see from outside), Peace Memorial Park and Musem. Ferry to Miyajima and explore (Itsukushima shrine, deer, ropeway?) depending on how much time we have.
**Sat May 27**: Check out of hotel, full day of travel to **Takayama.** Explore old town district in the evening
**Sun May 28**: day trip to **Shirakawago**, explore village
**Mon May 29:** travel day to **Hakone**. Check in to hotel (hoping to book one with an onsen for the experience). See the Hakone shrine if there is time in the evening.
**Tues May 30: Hakone**: Hakone checkpoint, part of the round course or open air musem
**Wed May 31:** Early train to **Tokyo.** Luggage storage until able to check in. Kaminarimon gate, Nakamise Dori, Sensoji temple and neighbourhood
**Thurs June 1:** **Tokyo:** Meiji shrine, explore Harajuku area, Shibuya crossing and Shibuya Sky, Hachiko statue, Piss Alley/ Omoide Yokocho at night
**Friday June 2: Tokyo:** Tsukiji fish market, Imperial Palace and Garden. Anything else we may have missed/decided we want to do
**Saturday June 3: Tokyo:** check out, fly home in afternoon
We know this will be a very active trip! We have a couple days that are mostly travel in the middle which will allow for some chill/quiet time when on the trains. We fly in and out of Tokyo, and decided to start in Kyoto and end in Tokyo so we didn’t have to worry about a long journey back to Tokyo at the end of the trip. We would love to stay in a ryokan but not sure when would be best to do this. Also thinking about a sumo match but haven’t had a chance to think about how we might fit this in/if we might want to take something else out for it. Also is there a nice place anyone could recommend for a tea ceremony somewhere? Thanks in advance for any insights!