*This itinerary is mostly about shopping. We’re also visiting Kyoto for a more cultural experience with temples/shrines. But Tokyo planning was overwhelming and where I appreciate guidance.*
# Friday
* Arrive at our hotel in Ikebukuro around 4pm
* To fight jet lag, we will walk around our hotel and explore. Maybe places like Minami Park, interesting storefronts, not sure but the goal is to stay awake
* Dinner somewhere near Ikebukuro Station (was going to use Tabelog)
* Bedtime
# Saturday
**Morning:**
* Tsukiji Outer Market – breakfast
**Afternoon:**
* Hibiya Park
* Shopping at Uniqlo, Muji, Hands, Loft in Ginza — There’s also Muji and Uniqlo in Ikebukuro near the hotel so we could go there. (OPTION B – we could also split the shopping and do Hands and Loft on Monday)
**Evening:**
* Drop off gifts at hotel
* Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku
* Dinner and drinks at izakaya. Maybe Omoide Yokocho?
# Sunday
**Morning:**
* Breakfast
* Nakano Broadway (my partner isn’t interested in pop culture so I’ll need to find an alternative place for her — maybe Nakano Central Park?)
**Afternoon:**
* Lunch
* Open — maybe Inokashira Park or Mejiro Park?
* Power nap at hotel
**Evening:**
* Visit Sunshine City for Gashapon store and Sanrio store
* Dinner/drinks there are nearby
# Monday
**Morning:**
* Breakfast
* Shopping at Hands and Loft option (if not on Saturday)
**Afternoon:**
* Lunch at a conveyor belt sushi (still doing research)
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
* Try to make reservations for Tuesday at Ben Fiddich bar!
**Evening:**
* Explore Shinjuku and dinner
# Tuesday
**Morning:**
* Breakfast near hotel
* Shopping on Kappabashi Street
**Afternoon:**
* Lunch and try to find an educational venue about sake
* Visit Ueno Park and area
**Evening:**
* Hopefully Ben Fiddich. If not, maybe Bar High Five?
* Izakaya
​
# Wednesday
* Breakfast, check-out, and depart for Kyoto
​
Note: I’m allowing spontaneous stops at konbini, gashapons, cafes, and other experiences.
​
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4 comments
Note that the gachapon in Ikebukuro you probably mean inside of Bandai Cross store. The catch is that it’s only Bandai gacha. You can check in the basement floor, there is a place called Gacha no mori [https://maps.app.goo.gl/5qivLqvdX72zvvtx6](https://maps.app.goo.gl/5qivLqvdX72zvvtx6) not as big, but will have different options that are not Bandai (but some will be).
Did you check the schedule of Shinjuku Gyoen ? [https://fng.or.jp/shinjuku/en/](https://fng.or.jp/shinjuku/en/) Spoiler, close on Monday (except 1 month in spring and two first weeks of November).
Nakano Central Park is a fairly simple park, and isn’t worth visiting. There are lots of vintage clothes shops in this general area if your partner is interested in that, but they probably won’t open until about 11 am.
u/Appropriate_Volume is right: Nakano Central Park is just a very slightly glorified lawn. The public toilet is nice, though. The nearby (to the west) station of Asagaya is popular for strolling and the like, but I’d recommend Kichijoji instead. It’s a little farther west (about 15 minutes from Nakano), but has many more things to do, including shopping, a couple of small museums, a large park, a zoo, and aquarium (with domestic fish), and a slew of cafés and restaurants.
Note that most of the shops you’ll be interested in in Nakano Broadway do not open until 11 AM or later. At least once, we’ve found that they don’t even open when advertised. I remember waiting outside one shop for a good 40 minutes after the scheduled opening time before the clerk finally moseyed up and opened the place.
Shinjuku Gyouen is a fine place, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it. If you have a particular interest in botany, there are better places to go, and if you’re interested in Japanese garden design I’d recommend Koshikawa Park instead.
There’s no particular need to do research on conveyer-belt sushi. Outlets are all over the place, and the quality is about the same for most of them.
I generally don’t recommend spending a lot of time researching restaurants in Tokyo: the city has between 60,000 and 100,000 of them, and most of them are good. You’ll be fine simply choosing one from among the dozens you’ll pass every 10 minutes in the areas near stations.
As for the ‘educational venue about sake’, there is the [Tokyo University of Agriculture Museum](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B038'20.2%22N+139%C2%B037'54.7%22E/@35.63893,139.6292751,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d35.63893!4d139.63185?entry=ttu) (Setagaya-ku, Kami-Yoga 2-4-28), but it’s probably out of the way for you and may not be so interesting unless you can read Japanese.
What is your partner interested in shopping for? My partner is interested in fashion and cosmetics and there’s pretty much a place to shop near pretty much any station in Tokyo, so it was pretty easy for us to split up if I wanted to do something else.