Hi folks! This subreddit has been invaluable to the planning of this trip, and I’m deeply grateful for your guides, itinerary posts and ideas. I’d like to do a sanity check on our currently planned itinerary. Really, you all rock. I’m also looking for a cool place to propose to my wife – we’ve actually been together for over a decade now, but we haven’t exchanged rings yet and this seems like a great opportunity for some romance.
## Who we are
We’re a Brazilian couple in our early thirties and in good shape. In preparation for the trip we’ve been working out quite a bit, and I think we’re ready to walk a lot. As for interests, we’re both big anime fans and foodies. I’m also into cooking and guitars, while my wife is primarily looking to get a couple tattoos done, buying cosmetics and check out traditional japanese clothes, places and food.
## Itinerary
### Tokyo part 1 – sightseeing
**Nov 6** – Arrive at Narita in the morning, head up to the hotel in Shinjuku and recover, eating from the combini next door or maybe a visit to Omoide Yokocho at night.
**Nov 7** – Head up to Ginza for breakfast near the godzilla statue, do a bit of window shopping, eat at Ginza Isomura. After lunch, geek out at the Yamaha store and visit a few galleries in the area. Finally, visit the Art Aquarium Ginza and get back to Shinjuku to eat, possibly at the Golden Gai.
**Nov 8** – DisneySea following the Disney Tourist Blog’s [suggested itinerary](https://www.disneytouristblog.com/1-day-tokyo-disneysea-plan/). This will be our first trip to a Disney park, so we’re not sure what to expect.
**Nov 9** – Head to Odaiba for teamLab Planets, eat at Ramen Kokugikan, visit the Gundam Base and statue, and finally the Small Worlds museum. Not sure if this will take all day or what we should do if we have extra time.
### Kyoto – temple rush
**Nov 10** – Travel to Kyoto (we’ll be back to Tokyo at the end of the trip). Then we plan to check a few anime stores near our hotel and eat tempura at Ten-Yu.
**Nov 11** – The temple rush begins. We wake up early, go from kinkaku-ji to ryoanji, then ninna-ji and lunch at Arashiyama. Then it’s off to the bamboo forest and tenryu-ji. Again, I’m not terribly sure if this is feasible or how long will it take.
**Nov 12** – Wake up early again and head to Kiyomizu-dera, then the imperial palace, ginkaku-ji and a leisure stroll of higashiyama, where hopefully we’ll find somewhere cool to eat. Check-in somewhat early at our ryoukan and enjoy the private bath.
**Nov 13** – Wake up _really_ early and go to Fushimi Inari (if we do beat the crowds, I’m thinking of proposing here), then to todai-ji. Then maybe head back to higashiyama and rent kimonos, not sure.
### Osaka – tattoos and deer
**Nov 14** – Travel to Osaka. Ideally we’d grab some cheesecake at Rikuro’s and then my wife’ll have her first tattoo of the trip, while I intend to wander around dotonbori and have some unstructured me time.
**Nov 15** – Pokémon Café in the morning or, if we can’t get reservations, check out Osaka Castle. In the afternoon we’ll be split again as she has her second tattoo done. Not sure what I want to do in the meantime.
**Nov 16** – Nara day trip, then head to teamLab Botanical Garden at night. Again, it’d be nice to know if this is too ambitious a schedule. If proposing at Fushimi Inari fails, then the Botanical Garden is my fallback plan.
### Tokyo part 2 – the shopping spree
**Nov 17** – Head back to Shinjuku and do some light shopping for new, larger suitcases and cosmetics.
**Nov 18** – On to Kappabashi for a quick stop to get me a couple knifes. From there, Akihabara for anime gear and electronics. We’re also thinking about going to the [Owl Cafe Akiba Fukurou](https://akiba2960.com), but I’d like to hear your opinions on animal cafes in general and this one in particular, if you’ve heard about it before.
**Nov 19** – Thrift shopping at Shimokita, maybe get into an early show for a local band. Then head to Ochanomizu to buy an electric guitar.
**Nov 20** – Shibuya and Harajuku. I haven’t really done my research on where to go yet, if you can point me to a good guide to these places, it’d be great. Is one day enough for both?
**Nov 21** – Either get a cab or hire a baggage transport to get the luggage to the airport, and then we’re done.
Thanks for reading and for the wonderful community you’ve cultivated. Any suggestions and further help will be greatly appreciated!
3 comments
Nov 10 is a wasted day: if you want to check anime stores in Kansai, it makes most sense to do it Den Den Town. You probably should a half-day (probably Northern Kyoto temples) to help with the logistics.
Nov 11: While doing Northern Kyoto and Arashiyama is doable (though you usually start with Arashiyama), it might be rushed in November.
Nov 12: Imperial Palace is not a particularly interesting property. Furthermore, if you are starting with Kiyomizu-dera, it would make more sense to do Southern Higashiyama first (Sanneizaka, Kodai-ji) and then move on to Northern Higashiyama (Nanzen-ji, Philosopher’s Path, Ginkaku-ji)
Nov 13/16: you are planning two Nara day trips. Probably makes more sense to do Himeji castle on 16th in the morning, then get back for an afternoon of Den Den Town and evening in Botanical Garden.
Nov 18: Any owl cafes is a bad news by default.
Nov 19: The shows are always in the evening, so no ‘early shows’. If you need some Ochanomizu shopping – it makes more sense to combine with Akihabara since it is within a walking distance.
Yeah no, most animal cafes aren’t ethical much less any exotic ones including owls, otters, and even the hedgehog ones.
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