Hi everyone! I was hoping you guys could help me out with my itinerary, because it’s our first time to Japan AND my first time putting together a trip (usually we go with tour operators).
**Who’s going?** Me in my late 20s, and my parents and uncle in the age range of 50-56.
**Where are we planning to go?** Tokyo, Mt. Fuji and Osaka
**Where are we staying?** Tokyo – Shinjuku, Osaka – Fukushima
**What do we plan to do?** My uncle is the one who said he wants to go somewhere with us, so we decided to follow what he wants to do. He said he wants a relaxed vacation where we don’t have a super tight schedule with way too many plans crammed in. So I’ve tried to keep the itinerary packed with must-visit places, but not too much so that we have time to dawdle if needed.
Day 1:
* 6AM – Reach Haneda, take the metro from Haneda to Higashi Shinjuku
* *Apparently, we can’t check in till 12:30PM. It takes an hour to reach Higashi Shinjuku from Haneda. Let me assume it takes 3 hours because of all the confusion we would have with getting our luggage, phone connections, Welcome SUICA cards, getting on the metro. What can we do from 9AM till 12:30PM while lugging around three giant suitcases? I’m hesitant about luggage forwarding services because I heard it takes 2 days for the luggage to arrive?*
* 4PM – Booked tickets for Tokyo Skytree spend 2 hours here
* 6PM Go to Asakusa and walk around Nakamise dori street for an hour, proceed for dinner at Imahan Honten – *request for your input here on whether reservation is necessary for a 7PM dinner. Otherwise will try to find any other restaurant – have Nakasei Tempura in mind. Linking is not working on desktop for me, so I am dropping the links to both places here:*
* [*http://www.nakasei.biz/index.html*](http://www.nakasei.biz/index.html)
* [*https://imahan-honten.co.jp/*](https://imahan-honten.co.jp/)
* 8:30PM – 9PM – Senso-ji temple
* Go back home
Day 2:
* 10AM – board metro for Meiji shrine
* 10:30AM -11:30AM – Meiji shrine, Meiji museum. *Is Yoyogi Park really worth it?*
* 12noon onwards Harajuku – Takeshita street
* 1:30PM – Lunch at Red Rock
* *Rest of the afternoon is free as we would want to reach Sibuya only in the evening. Maybe wander around Harajuku some more before heading to Shibuya?*
* Places we could pig out at in between: Tamawarai, Kaiten Sushi Ginza Odonera, Marion Crepes
* Also walk around Cat Street, Kiddy Land
* Harajuku to Shibuya
* Shibuya Crossing
* Magnet by Shibuya109 to see the Shibuya Crossing from above
* Tower Records for albums
* [https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/101-things-to-do-in-shibuya](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/101-things-to-do-in-shibuya) \- visit any of these places for snacks and later dinner
* Return home early
Day 3:
* Day trip to Mt. Fuji – *we have time from 10AM to 4PM and I’m not really sure what one does here if we’re not climbing Mt. Fuji. There are the Five Lakes, but is that within walking distance of the Kawaguchiko station which is where we will be disembarking?*
Day 4:
* 9AM-11AM – Tokyo National Museum
* 11:30AM – 2PM – Akihabara
* 3:30PM – Akihabara to Ginza to just walk around the place, even though there is no shopping here. Is a kabuki performance at Kabukiza worth it? I can see some tickets being available
* 4:30 – head to Kabukicho (if we don’t go for the Kabuki performance) Shinjuku for the evening and dinner, Golden Gai, Omoide Yokocho, Shin-Okubo for Korean BBQ
Day 5:
* 8AM -10AM – Tsukiji Outer Market
* 12noon – Roku Rinsha dipping noodles at Tokyo Station
* 1:20PM – Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka
* 6PM – Dotonbori – Glico sign, Dotonbori bridge, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, Kani Douraku crab, kushikatsu, Kuidaore Taro, Hozenji Yokocho
Day 6:
* Universal Studios Japan
Day 7 – *this whole day is suggested by ChatGPT, so I really need your inputs here*
* 9AM-10:30 – Osaka Castle – I have read on this sub that Osaka Castle isn’t that great. But Himeji castle, which is everyone’s preferred option, is quite far off, and we don’t have time for that.
* 1:30-2:30PM – lunch at Kuromon Ichiba Market
* 3-5:30PM – Shinsekai
* 6:30PM – 8:30PM – teamLabs Botanical Garden
* Come back to Fukushima for dinner
Day 8: Return
I honestly don’t know if this is too packed, or if this is detailed enough. I see some of the itineraries here and they’re so well-planned! Would love some inputs and thanks in advance!
10 comments
> What can we do from 9AM till 12:30PM while lugging around three giant suitcases?
I believe you could use train station lockers to store your luggage
Cant you just drop off your luggage at the hotel? 3.5 hours in shinjuku is no prob at all. Wander around, jet lagged confused meal, starbuck check on email, etc.
Btw took me like 10-15 min from walking off HND plane with only carry on to immigration which took 10 min and then 0 min for customs. Use visit japan website to generate qr codes.
You can walk from Kawaguchiko station to the lake but the best views of Fuji are either from Oishi park on the other side of the lake or from the viewpoint you get to by the ropeway up mount Tenjo. If you are staying in Osaka, Osaka castle is worth visiting. You could swap a night in Osako for a night in Himeji. Also consider doing a day trip to Nara from Osaka.
I just got back from my trip in Japan (2nd time) and one thing i wished i did differently is where to stay in Tokyo
I stayed in Shinjuku Granbell Hotel which is in the heart of Kabukicho. The part that i didnt like is how labyrinthian Shinjuku station is. I had trouble figuring out where each train line is even with google maps and signs.
If you are not doing a lot of night life activity (shinjuku is rich with it), i recommend staying closer to a less busy, smaller than shinjuku station but still with access to major train lines (like yurakucho Station, Ueno)
I’d say Yoyogi Park is not worth it: it’s just a bunch of trees and lawns. Instead, just walk down to Shibuya from Meiji Shrine: it takes about 20 or 30 minutes, depending on your walking speed.
Besides the lake, there’s not much to do in the Kawaguchi area. Take the ropeway or cable car up to the top of the nearby hill and cross your fingers for the weather. If it’s cloudy, you won’t be able to see Mt. Fuji.
My main thought on your itinerary is “dear god, that’s a lot of stuff you have planned”. If this is a super relaxed vacation for you, I don’t want to know what a busy one is like 🙂
– Kabuki isn’t very enjoyable for foreigners
– As soon as you enter USJ be sure to schedule “timed entry” in the app to Super Nintendo World. This part of the app is in Japanese only. Later in the day they run out. Last time I went I saw a lot of confused foreigners who possibly went all the way to Osaka for this area, then had no way to enter
contact your hotel, they usually allow to leave luggages prior check in or check their website.
I think the shops around sensoji usually close around 7pm, I’m not sure.
stash your luggage in a locker for under 1k yen at a train station or have the hotel hold you luggage until you check in. I feel like Tokyo skytree is skippable since you can just go to Shinjuku observation deck for free. also don’t get kbbq. since you’re in Japan get some yakiniku. if you’re not going to eat at tsukiji market it probably can be down in less and an hour. most things are closed before 11 but tsukiji market is open very early in the morning.
lines for okonomiyaki and kushikatsu in dontoburi can get insane if you aren’t there at opening. Osaka Castle is pretty boring but you can walk the grounds for free.
I feel like this schedule could be a lot if you aren’t physically fit since you will do a butt load of walking and there doesn’t seem to be much chill time except for the train ride to Osaka. most things in Osaka don’t open until 11am so maybe unwind then
Dang I just keep thinking if you only spend an hour walking around Nakamise Dori you are going to miss out on so much stuff 😭 I literally just got back to my airbnb from there and spent like 3 hours walking around and I still feel like I missed stuff