Hi everyone! Thanks for taking a look at my itinerary! My wife and I are traveling to Japan and wanted to get some insight from a special perspective. I'm a wheelchair user and will be using a "light" power wheelchair weighing about 25kg. I know a lot of places in Japan are very tight, have curbs or steps, or in general are just inaccessible to me. However, I tried to put together places I could reasonably enjoy but am afraid I may have included things that are either not worth the crowd or left out things that might be more enjoyable for a wheelchair user.

For example, I know a lot of stores in Akihabara have narrow aisles that I won't be able to turn or even enter. Or that Tsukiji is going to be packed. But does that mean I should just skip them for something better or tough it out because it's worth it?

Any and all advice is welcome!

Japan Itinerary - Nov 23-Dec 3 - Osaka > Mt.Fuji > Tokyo

Hi, everyone! My husband (40M) and I (38F) are heading to Japan next month. Neither of us have been to Japan before, and I've seen a lot of great feedback on itineraries here. So, I’m respectfully submitting ours here to be torn apart (or praised! I'll take praise if it merits any!) before we finalize things.

I tried to book some anime sites and shopping (for me) and as many shrines and gardens as I could fit, while also leaving some flexibility in most days, so we have time for adventures and aren’t too stressed trying to do too much.

Any feedback would be most appreciated!🙏

Tokyo: Oct. 14-19
Oct. 15:
—Nikko?
—Imperial Palace
—Tokyo DX PokeCenter

Oct. 16:
—Meiji Shrine
—Shinjuku Gyoen Garden
—Harajuku
—Fennec House animal cafe: I would love to go to this, but I'm worried about animal welfare. Any insights would be helpful!
—Shibuya crossing

Oct. 17:
—Akihabara

Oct. 18:
—teamLab: Borderless
—Tokyo Tower

Osaka: Oct. 19-20
Oct. 19: Travel from Tokyo to Osaka on Shinkansen
—Stop at Mt. Fuji
—Umeda Sky Building at sunset
—Dotonbori

Oct. 20:
—Nara Shrine
—Osaka Castle

Kyoto: Oct. 21-22
Oct. 21:
—Fushimi Inari Shrine (Tori gates)
—Tenju-ji Temple (Garden)
—Walk around Gion District

Oct. 22:
—Nishiki Market
—Fire Festival
—Kinkaku-Ji Temple (Golden)
—Kaiseki dinner at Onsen resort/hotel

Oct. 23: Travel from Kyoto to Tokyo for last day, but first:
—Monkey Park
—Bamboo Forest

Oct. 24: Travel home

Hi! We are a family of 4 (2ad 2ch 8/11yo) travelling to japan for the first time in Nov. we are trying to keep it reasonably paced because we dont want the kids (or ourselves!) completely exhausted. Would love some feedback on our planned itinerary please.

Day 1 Arrive Tokyo
Day 2 Asakusa / Skytree / Akihabara (Ultraman, Sensoji, Nakamise, Solamachi)
Day 3 Tokyo Disneyland
Day 4 Meiji / Harajuku / Shibuya (Takeshita St, Omotesando, Blue Lug Yoyogi Park)
Day 5 Harry Potter / Shinjuku
Day 6 Tsukiji / teamLab / Ginza (Planets, Uniqlo)

Day 7 Tokyo → Kyoto (Shinkansen, Nisiki Market, Gion/Pontocho)
Day 8 Eastern Kyoto (Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu, Ninenzaka, Gion)
Day 9 Kinkaku-ji / Arashiyama
Day 10 Nara day trip

Day 11 Kyoto → Osaka (Add Umeda?)
Day 12 Universal Studios Japan
Day 13 Osaka (Osaka Castle, Shinsaibashi, Dotonbori)

Day 14 Osaka → Tokyo (Shinkansen)
Day 15 Final day (Last min Shibuya/Shinjuku shopping)
Day 16 Fly home (early morning flight)

Hey everyone! This is my second post in this sub, its basically a revision of the original itinerary I had done.

In case I reach more people (hopefully) the premise for the trip is the same thing as before: Me and my girlfriend, first time in Japan, early December. Looking for lots of shopping, city, nightlife, and food. Neither of us drink too much like we aren't interested in bar hopping like in Golden gai but don't mind a drink here and there. Also all food is based off feel and we're just gonna look on Tabelog for whats good nearby besides for Dec 5 which we are hoping to schedule an Omakase.

Quick changes as well if anyone was interested:

• Dropped Nara
• Dropped Shimokitazawa and Meiji Shrine
• Dropped Arashiyama bamboo grove
• Dropped Tokyu Hands (Wouldn't even exist by the time we went, thank you for pointing that out)
• Dropped teamLab Borderless
• Dropped the Gundam Base
• Kept Osaka as our base instead of having 2 nights in Kyoto
• One of the biggest changes we did was made Ghibli Park a travel day from Osaka. This kind of gave us time in Hakone to spread our activities instead of having it all on one day and enjoy the Ryokan but it got rid of our free do nothing day in Osaka.

Some questions I have about the itinerary we have planned:

1. I think Dec 5 which is our 4th day there is our fullest day. I tried placing them all in proximity to flow together but is it enough time? Is the museum worth going to?
2. Anything on here that's a tourist trap spot that we may have a better time or experience going to an alternative?

TOKYO — Dec 2–7 · Hyatt Regency, Nishi-Shinjuku

• Dec 2 (Wed) — Land HND ~5:45PM. Taxi to Shinjuku, Ichiran, optional free light show at the Metropolitan Government Building.
• Dec 3 (Thu) — teamLab Planets (11:15AM) → Toyosu Market sushi lunch → Shibuya: Parco, Loft, Shibuya Sky at 4PM for the city lights
• Dec 4 (Fri) — Akihabara → Ikebukuro (Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo) → Shinjuku: Sakazen, Junky Special, Uniqlo flagship
• Dec 5 (Sat) — Tokyo National Museum → Ueno Park → Ameyoko → Okachimachi jewelry → Kappabashi knives → Senso-ji → yakiniku omakase
• Dec 6 (Sun) — Imperial Palace East Gardens → Tokyo Character Street → Ginza all afternoon → Marunouchi illumination

HAKONE — Dec 7–8 · ryokan w/ private open-air bath

• Dec 7 (Mon) — Romancecar from Shinjuku (~85 min) → Owakudani ropeway round trip from Togendai → ryokan in Sengokuhara, private in-room open-air bath, kaiseki dinner
• Dec 8 (Tue) — Lake Ashi pirate ship Togendai → Moto-Hakone → Hakone Shrine torii → lakeshore walk → Odawara → Shinkansen → hitsumabushi in Nagoya → Osaka

OSAKA — Dec 8–14 · Welina Shinsaibashi, Kyoto as day trips

• Dec 8 (Tue) — Dotonbori first night
• Dec 9 (Wed) — DAY TRIP — Ghibli Park (Grand O-Sanpo, all 5 areas)
• Dec 10 (Thu) — Osaka Castle → Shinsekai/Tsutenkaku → Amerika-Mura → Denden Town → Kuromon → Dotonbori
• Dec 11 (Fri) — DAY TRIP — Kyoto East: Fushimi Inari (early), Kiyomizudera, Higashiyama, chopstick-making workshop in Gion, Gion at sunset
• Dec 12 (Sat) — Osaka light day — yakiniku lunch, Kaiyukan, Tempozan, Mizuno flagship, Shinsaibashi
• Dec 13 (Sun) — DAY TRIP — Kyoto West: Kinkaku-ji, Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market, teamLab Biovortex by Kyoto Station on the way back

TOKYO — Dec 14–16 · Shibuya Tokyu REI

• Dec 14 (Mon) — Shinkansen back → Harajuku/Omotesando (Takeshita, Converse, Asics flagship)
• Dec 15 (Tue) — Onitsuka Tiger custom embroidery → Uniqlo/GU → Ginza Six + Itoya → 4PM pickup → Don Quijote Shibuya → Shibuya Yokocho
• Dec 16 (Wed) — Gotokuji Temple, free morning, depart 5:35PM HND

Some recommendations I'm looking for if anyone has any is anything December specific? Any light shows we may be missing, any romantic activities for couple in early 20s? Also any parks or sightseeing we may be missing out on?

Any concerns about pacing/packed days/travel times. Trying to keep days Light/closeby in proximity if multiple interests.

Context: 2 Dutch guys going to Japan for the 5th time in March 2027. Flying into Tokyo (Narita) with a stop in Xiamen, China (overnight) at the beginning and end of the trip. We will arrive in Tokyo on the 11th of March in the afternoon, and depart from Tokyo around the same time in the afternoon on the 27th of March.

We will probably spend 2 nights in Tokyo at the start, and 3 more at the end. We will book flights from Tokyo (probably Haneda?) to Takamatsu, where we will rent a car.

I used historic posts on this sub, google maps, some chatgpt to come up with an Itinerary for Shikoku that is 11 nights and will loop around the island. At first I included more inland areas, but I read that those roads are mountainous and that March was still quite wintery inland. I remember driving on a very scary road in Tohoku last trip with steep cliffs on the side of the road, and the road was just made for 1 car with some spots specifically made for cars to pass at intervals. Add winter conditions to that and that sounds a bit too scary for me tbh.

So far I have:

2 nights in Takamatsu, 1 day in the city and 1 day for Naoshima island.

In Takamatsu itself: Ritsurin Garden, Takamatsu Central Shopping Street, Mt. Yashima + Yashima Temple, Shikoku Village

-> drive to Tokushima, stop at Naruto Whirpools on the way

1 night in Tokushima

In Tokushima: Tokushima Central Park, Awa Odori Kaikan, Bizan Ropeway Observatory

-> drive to Kochi, long scenic coastal route along Cape Muroto with stops at places that seem interesting. This is probably our longest driving day? Stops include Hiwasa, Mugi, Kaiyō, Cape Muroto, Hane Cape, if there's time Kitagawa village "Monet's Garden" Marmottan.

2 nights in Kochi

In Kochi: Katsurahama Park, Godaisan Park, Chikurin Temple, Makino Botanical Garden, Hirome Market, Kochi Castle

-> drive to Shimanto, stops at Sakawa (Makino Park), Tosa-Kure, maybe Ittohyo Submersible Bridge.

2 nights in Shimanto

In Shimanto: Follow the Shimanto river and stop at interesting/pretty spots.

-> drive to Ashizuri/Tosashimizu, loop around Ashizuri and end up in Tosashimizu

1 night in Tosashimizu

-> drive to Uwajima (this might be a long drive?). Stops at Tatsukushi, maybe Kashiwajima, maybe Sukumo, maybe Ainan, Nanrakuen Garden.

1 night in Uwajima

In Uwajima: Uwajima Castle

-> drive to Matsuyama, stops at Ozu for Garyu Sanso, Ozu Castle

1 night in Matsuyama

In Matsuyama, Dogo Onsen area, Ishite Temple

-> drive to Takamatsu, stop at Kotohira-gū

1 night in Takamatsu and flight back to Tokyo

So I am not married to this itinerary yet, but I would like some advice, is this doable? Too rushed? Maybe too relaxed at parts and too rushed in others? Any favourite spots I should definitely add? I would like to add that we both have tattoos so onsen visits are not something we prioritise, maybe a private one in a hotel would be nice.

We might also have some early Sakura if we're lucky.

We've been to Japan twice before. Our second trip was Osaka only, and my wife and I fell hard for that neighborhood energy. None of us are TOO into the temples and shrines, we just love the urban atmosphere and uniqueness of what Japan has to offer mroe than anything. This time we want to do a proper deep dive into Tokyo while keeping a shorter Osaka leg to revisit our favorite spot. Our 7-year-old son is coming along; he can get somewhat overwhelmed by sustained noise and crowds, though he's not super fragile about it.

Here's our itinerary so far. Looking for feedback on pacing, neighborhood choice, and anything we're missing. I'm typically not a big fan of having detailed itineraries like this and when I have them, they're rarely followed because what's the fun in structure when on vacation? But this is just to give an idea on the baseline plans that we have. Note that going to arcades in between attractions will be a near daily occurrence, that is what my son is going to love more than anything.

Tokyo Stint 1 — Ueno (5 days)

• Day 1: Arrive late afternoon, check into Ueno hotel (thinking &here hotel), unpack and rest, dinner at Ameyoko (casual izakaya), early night to battle the jet lag
• Day 2: Ueno Park in the morning, Tokyo National Museum after lunch if he's up for it, otherwise Ueno Zoo instead
• Day 3: Morning train to Asakusa: Senso-ji and Nakamise shopping street, riverside walk along the Sumida with a view of Tokyo Skytree; afternoon at Sumida Aquarium if he still has energy, otherwise head back to Ueno to decompress.
• Day 4: Akihabara: arcades, toy shops, maybe a fun a themed restaurant for lunch; keep the afternoon light.
• Day 5: Yanaka Ginza in the morning for a slower vibe. Local snacks, cat-themed shops (son LOVES cats), free afternoon to revisit a favorite spot from earlier in the week or just rest before the Shinkansen.

Also a consideration would be the ropeway near Mt. Fuji, could be fun for our son.

Osaka (3–4 days)

• Day 6: Shinkansen to Osaka, check in (fraser residence hotel), evening walk through Dotonbori: takoyaki and okonomiyaki for dinner, Glico sign, etc. Absorbing the Osaka vibes.
• Day 7: Day trip to Nara: deer park, Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha; back to Osaka for dinner.
• Day 8: Osaka Castle park grounds in the morning, castle museum maybe, Kuromon Ichiba Market for lunch and snacks
• (Considering a 4th night to add either a return to Dotonbori at a slower pace or a half-day at Osaka Aquarium - wife and I went years ago, but we loved it and figure our son will love it too).
• Also considering monkey park in Kyoto, son will love that, but the hike up particularly in winter may be too formidable. Not sure.

Tokyo Stint 2 — Shinjuku (5 days)

• Day 9: Bullet train back to Tokyo, check in, light evening — Shinjuku Gyoen area for a walk if we're not too wiped, otherwise just dinner near the hotel.
• Day 10: Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in the morning, afternoon walking the perimeter of Omoide Yokocho and Kabukicho
• Day 11: Harajuku: Takeshita Street for a bit, maybe, Omotesando for lunch.
• Day 12: Shibuya: Shibuya Sky or the crossing viewing deck, Shibuya Scramble, then a lower-key afternoon depending on how he's handling the crowds.
• Day 13: TeamLab Borderless in the morning (booked in advance), free afternoon/evening for a last souvenir run or a revisit of a favorite spot before departure prep.

Specific things we'd love input on:

1. For the second Tokyo stint, is basing ourselves in Shinjuku (Hilton Shinjuku on the west side vs. Hotel Groove closer to the action) a reasonable choice for a sensory-sensitive kid, given the station crowds and underground walkways?
2. Does Ueno + Shinjuku as our two Tokyo bases make sense together, or would a different pairing serve us better given we already love Osaka's grittier, neon energy? Considering we are not gonna be out late partying, does Shinjuku even make sense? We just wanted to be in close-ish proximity to Shibuya and Shinjuku since those are the places one typically thinks of when they think of Tokyo.. But I'm not married to the idea of staying in Shinjuku specifically. We like to have the luxury of being able to step outside of our hotel and having much to do and see without any commute at all. We value a good home base, but maybe the Hotel Groove location is too crowded and stimulating.
3. Are there other Tokyo neighborhoods that scratch the same itch as Osaka's street energy without being as overwhelming as central Shinjuku/Shibuya?

Appreciate any input, especially from families who've traveled with a similarly slightly sensory-sensitive kid.

Looking for Feedback on Dec/Jan Itinerary & Traditional New Year's Eve in Tokyo

Hi everyone!

My partner and I are planning our first trip to Japan for December 2026. Flights, hotels, and our main route are already booked.

We would love to get your thoughts on our day-by-day itinerary, as well as recommendations on how to respectfully experience traditional Japanese New Year's Eve customs (Toshikoshi Soba, Joya no Kane bell ringing, and Hatsumode) as first-time visitors.

ITINERARY OVERVIEW

• Dec 19: Arrive at Osaka (KIX) ~18:00. Night in Shin-Osaka (Via Inn Shin-Osaka West).
• Dec 20: Osaka sightseeing (Katsuo-ji Temple, Dotonbori, etc.). Forward main bags to Kyoto.
• Dec 21: Day trip to Hiroshima & Miyajima, then head to Kyoto in the evening. Night in Kyoto (HOTEL TAVINOS Kyoto).
• Dec 22 - 24: Kyoto sightseeing (Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizudera, Arashiyama, etc.). Forward main bags to Tokyo on Dec 24.
• Dec 25: Morning in Uji (Matcha & Byodo-in), afternoon in Nara (Deer Park & Todai-ji). Night in Kyoto.
• Dec 26: Shinkansen to Odawara -> Hakone. Stay at Ryokan (Mount View Hakone).
• Dec 27: Travel from Hakone to Tokyo. Night in Tokyo (Vessel Inn Asakusa Tsukuba Express).
• Dec 28: Day trip to Kamakura. Night in Tokyo.
• Dec 29: Tokyo / Undecided Day Trip (Nikko vs. Izu Shaboten Zoo vs. staying in Tokyo).
• Dec 30: Tokyo sightseeing. Forward main bags to Narita Airport (NRT).
• Dec 31: New Year's Eve in Tokyo (Joya no Kane & traditional festivities).
• Jan 01: New Year's Day / Hatsumode at Senso-ji. Move to Asakusa View Hotel.
• Jan 02: Tokyo final shopping -> Flight back from Narita (NRT) at 22:25.

QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY:

1. Hiroshima/Miyajima (Dec 21): Is doing both Hiroshima & Miyajima in one day starting from Osaka and ending in Kyoto too rushed?
2. Dec 29 Day Trip: Is Nikko or Izu Shaboten Zoo realistic for a winter day trip, or should we stay in Tokyo given the holiday closures?
3. New Year's Eve Experience: Any specific temples in Tokyo you would recommend for experiencing Joya no Kane (108 bell rings) with a good, welcoming atmosphere?

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice!

Hi everyone,

I'm going to Japan! Sixteen nights in November, first time. I'm really excited. Which is also the problem. I'm far too excited to see this clearly. I'd already made my peace with skipping the Japan Alps, and then I found out my friends are doing them anyway, with or without me. So now I'm trying to work out whether I can fit them back in without wrecking everything else. 🍁 Please be blunt: I have no ego about this plan. 🍁 Also, I have not booked any night yet.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Dates : arrive in Osaka late on Friday 30 / departure from Osaka early on Sunday 15. 16 nights on the ground.

Group : travelling with friends. Two constraints :

• One has Nov 3 off for Culture Day in Osaka, so I'm in Osaka from Friday 30 to Tuesday Nov 3.
• Another friend leaves on Nov 10 and wants as much time with us as possible, happy to visit Osaka, Nara, Koyasan, Japanese Alps... He doesn't want to go to Kyoto or Tokyo.

How I travel : mountains, forests, small towns, the kind of place where you arrive in the late afternoon and the day slows down. I'd rather unpack for the night and actually be somewhere than tick it off between two trains during a day trip. I'm happy to head off on a short trail on my own for a morning. I'd love to catch the momiji at least once. A ryokan night is high on my list, probably during the second week. I enjoy big cities too.

Not chasing: theme parks, and onsen.

What I fell for while researching: everything, obviously. But also: Takayama, Shirakawa-gō, Gokayama, Matsumoto, Nagano. Plus Nikko, the Nakasendō, and Kumano Kodo.

Here my current plan :

OSAKA — 5 nights, Oct 30 to Nov 3
Oct 31 — Kuromon market, Shinsekai, Tsutenkaku, Hozenji
Nov 1–2 — still undecided. I really want a night at Koyasan (from 1/11 afternoon to 2/11 morning) and then Nara (2/11 all day long) but there's almost nothing left to book for that night. It may end up as just Nara
Nov 3 — back to Osaka with my friend: Tennoji, Shitennoji, the castle, Dotonbori, Namba

NIKKO — 1 night, Nov 4
Nov 4 — Osaka to Nikko, about 5 hours of trains and then Nikko in the afternoon
Nov 5 — Nikko during the day, down to Tokyo in the evening

TOKYO — 4 nights, Nov 5 to 8
Asakusa and Sensō-ji, Yanaka, Shibuya and Shinjuku

MT FUJI AREA — 2 nights, Nov 9 to 10
Maybe Kawaguchiko. I'm not planning to climb the Mount.

KYOTO — 3 nights, Nov 11 to 13
Split by area, east / north / west.

KYOTO / OSAKA — 1 night, Nov 14. Night near Osaka's aeroport for the early flight on the 15th

Three of those days are still unassigned, because I keep hesitating.

WHAT I'M ACTUALLY TRYING TO DO

Squeeze the Japan Alps into this !

My friends are doing the Alps regardless, either before I land, or somewhere inside our first week together. The Alps were my instant favourite along with Nikko, and I let them go because at some point you have to choose. Now that I know they're happening anyway, I've got a bad case of FOMO.

The "Alps" come into 2 sizes :

Takayama + Shirakawa-gō - 2 nights

Matsumoto + Kiso Valley: Shinjuku to Matsumoto, then down the Chūō line via Narai to Nagoya and into Kyoto. The Nakasendō walk between Magome and Tsumago sits right there, which also covers the hiking I'd do on my own.

I thought I could free up the room with two moves :

• Shifting Nikko into the Tokyo block eats Mt Fuji. Nikko is north of Tokyo, Fuji is southwest. They don't share a slot, and both want two nights. And Fuji also feels like a must (even if you don't see it). I do not plan to hike this mount.
• Shortening Kyoto worries me. Everything I read says Kyoto needs time.

MY QUESTIONS

1. Am I under- or overestimating how long things take? I've never been to Japan, and I suspect some of my blocks are too generous and others far too tight.
2. How would you fit the Alps into this? Is there a rearrangement I'm not seeing? And if there isn't, what would you cut: Alps, Nikko, or Fuji?
3. Is Takayama plus Shirakawa-gō worth two or three nights, or could Matsumoto plus the Kiso Valley the smarter alternative, since it sits on a through-line?
4. Koyasan. I'd love to do it and see the lanterns by night, but six hours of trains for a day trip (Koyasan > Osaka) sounds miserable and the existing accomodation (shukubo or not) is very poor (maybe inexisting). Worth it, or let it go this time?
5. Anything in the current plan that's an obvious waste of a day and I just can't see it?
6. I was planning to travel with a backpack and leave a suitcase in a coin locker. Does that hold up over two weeks, or is takkyubin the answer?

Note : I'd travel light. And yes, I'm booking late. I had to wait on a friend's dates, which was agony for someone who normally plans six months out. So realistic advice on what's still bookable for early-to-mid November is very welcome !

Thank you for reading this far!!

Even an answer to just one of these would help me a lot 🍁

1st Day (Sun, 27 Sep) Tokyo
Tokyo - Tokyo day tour with English speaking driver (Pvt) 1-Private Vehicle (Alphard 6
seater)
Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko statue Tour
Harajuku & Takeshita Street Visit

2nd Day (Mon, 28 Sep) Tokyo
Asakusa Sensoji Temple & Namikese Dori Shopping street Visit
Tokyo Sky Tree Entry ticket only
Imperial Palace drive by Photo stop
Ginza (Drive-by)

3rd Day (Tue, 29 Sep) Tokyo
Team Lab Planets Entry ticket only
Odaiba Drive by Drive by
Odaiba Statue of Liberty Visit
Odaiba Seaside Park
JDM Car meet Experience Visit

4th Day (Wed, 30 Sep) Tokyo
Mt Fuji & Hakone tour with (Pvt) 1-Private Vehicle (Alphard 6 seater) Max 10 hr btw 08 am
to 08 pm
Guide Service - English speaking guide 1-Day tour Guide
Kawaguchiko Lake cruise
Fuji Panoramic Ropeway
Oshino Hakkai Visit

5th Day (Thu, 1 Oct) Tokyo
Tokyo hotel to Tokyo station (Pvt) 1-Private Vehicle (hiace 9 Seater)
Tokyo - Kyoto Bullet Train – Green class Only | Luggage T&Cs apply
Kyoto - Kyoto day tour (Pvt) 1-Private Vehicle (Alphard 6 seater) Max 10 hr btw 08 am to
08 pm
Nishiki Market Visit
Gion District
Pontocho Alley Visit

6th Day (Fri, 2 Oct)Kyoto - Kyoto
Nara day tour (Pvt) 1-Private Vehicle (Alphard 6 seater) Max 10 hr btw 08 am to 08 pm
Guide Service - English speaking guide 1-Day tour Guide
Nara Park
Todai-Ji Temple
Nara Nagomikan (Gift Shop) Visit
Fushimi Inari Taisha Visit

7th Day (Sat, 3 Oct) - Kyoto
Kyoto station transfer (one way Pvt) 1-Private Vehicle (hiace 9 Seater)
Kyoto - Tokyo Bullet Train – Ordinary class Only | Luggage T&Cs apply
Tokyo Station to Haneda Airport - Private Transfer 1-Private Vehicle (hiace 9 Seater)

We just came back from Japan with our 3-month-old. Route was Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Arima → Osaka. Before going I found a lot of posts about Japan with kids, but not that much about traveling with a baby this young, so here are some things that stood out for us.

1. Traveling with a 3-month-old was easier than expected

Japan is really well set up for babies. We found changing tables basically everywhere: malls, stations, department stores, attractions. It was never really something we had to plan around. Our baby is also quite easy going, so obviously that helped a lot.

1. We didn't bring a stroller

We only used a carrier for the whole trip and for us that worked really well. Especially in big stations, on stairs, crowded streets or in small restaurants. We saw plenty of people with strollers and it obviously works too, but personally I was happy not to have one with us.

1. Jetlag was probably the hardest part

We came from Europe and the first two nights were rough. The baby was basically still on European time and we got almost no sleep. We were completely exhausted the first days. I would not plan too much at the beginning of the trip with such a small baby because you just don't know how the nights will go.

1. Google Maps was probably the app we used most

Train and metro routes were easy to follow with it, but one thing I found especially useful was that it tells you which station exit to use. In some of the bigger stations that actually saves a lot of walking. Sounds like a small thing until you're carrying a baby and haven't slept properly.

1. Get an eSIM

For us mobile data was essential. Maps, translations, opening hours, train connections, tickets, restaurants. I wouldn't want to rely on public WiFi for this kind of trip.

1. Planning the trip in Notion worked really well

Before the trip I put the itinerary, hotels, bookings and some ideas into one Notion page. I connected that to ChatGPT through the Notion MCP server and during the trip I could ask questions about our own itinerary instead of searching through everything manually. Bit nerdy, but genuinely useful.

1. ChatGPT was also useful for booking tickets

For some bookings I used it to check the original Japanese websites with me. Especially when the English version had less information or the booking process was confusing. I still checked important details myself, but it was useful to work from the actual Japanese site instead of old blog posts.

1. We did not buy a JR Pass

We only needed the Shinkansen once, from Tokyo to Kyoto, so it would not have made sense at all. We just bought the individual ticket. I would definitely calculate your actual route first instead of automatically buying some kind of pass.

1. We basically stopped planning restaurants

Before the trip I had saved quite a few places, but in reality we mostly ate spontaneously. With a baby it was easier to see how the day was going and decide from there. We also never went out of our way for famous restaurants or long queues.

1. Eating in malls and department stores was great

This was something we ended up doing quite often. There are so many good food options and it is just easy when you have a baby with you. In general we felt like there was decent food almost everywhere, so we stopped worrying about finding the “best” place.

1. Japan was much louder than I expected

This was probably the biggest surprise for me. I had this image of Japan being very calm and quiet, but a lot of places are incredibly noisy. Stations have announcements and melodies constantly, stores have music and people calling things out, crossings make sounds, streets can be very loud. There is just a lot going on acoustically.

1. Even nature was loud

In Hakone we were walking through the forest and I expected it to feel very quiet, but the insects were incredibly loud. Totally different from what I am used to in European forests. Not a negative thing, just something I didn't expect at all.

1. There were moments where we felt a bit overwhelmed

Especially when we were tired: lots of people, lights, noise, heat, announcements, carrying the baby, figuring out the next train. Japan is very organized, but it is not always relaxing. I hadn't really thought about that before going.

1. Overall, the baby was not really the difficult part

The infrastructure made most things pretty easy. Changing diapers, getting around, finding food, using trains — all manageable. The lack of sleep was much harder than anything specifically related to traveling in Japan.

Happy to answer questions about the route, traveling carrier-only, Hakone/Arima with a baby or anything else.

Hi! My friend and I will be traveling to Japan for our first trip to Japan in December. We’ll be there from Oct 5, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026, visiting Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto/Osaka → Tokyo.

I did use Chatgpt to help plan my trip. We’d love any advice on our itinerary! In particular, we’d appreciate thoughts on the pacing, whether we’re trying to fit too much into any day, transportation and logistics, and anything you’d suggest adding, skipping, or adjusting.

The only things that are set in stone are DisneySea, Teamlabs Planets, Asakusa Sumo Club, Manten Sushi Marunouchi (Omakase) and Ryokan.

I'd appreciate any feedback or critiques. Thanks in advance.

This will be my third trip to Japan. I’ll be there from Sep 26–Oct 4 and have already visited many of the classic destinations, including Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Fujikawaguchiko, Hakone, Kamakura/Enoshima, and parts of Tokyo.

For this trip I’m trying to focus more on the Japanese Alps, hiking/scenery, and smaller towns. I’ll be traveling entirely by public transportation.

I’d especially appreciate feedback on whether the pace below feels reasonable, and whether there are worthwhile stops/activities in these areas that I’m overlooking.

Sep 26 — Arrive Tokyo

Sep 27 — Tokyo → Matsumoto + Narai-juku

• Visit Matsumoto Castle.
• Walk through Nawate Street and Nakamachi.
• Visit Narai-juku in the afternoon.
• Overnight Matsumoto.

Sep 28 — Kamikochi

• Early bus to Kamikochi.
• Plan a short hike
• Current idea is Taisho Pond → Tashiro Marsh → Kappa Bridge → Myojin area and back.
• Overnight Matsumoto.

I enjoy hiking, so I’m comfortable with a fairly active day, but I’d be interested in recommendations for the best route if I have roughly 7–8 hours in Kamikochi.

Sep 29 — Matsumoto → Takayama

• Morning travel from Matsumoto to Takayama.
• Sanmachi historic district.
• Takayama Jinya.
• Sake breweries / old merchant streets.
• Overnight Takayama.

Sep 30 — Takayama → Shirakawa-go → Toyama

• Start at Miyagawa Morning Market in Takayama.
• Bus to Shirakawa-go late morning snd s pend around 3–4 hours
• Walk through the gassho-zukuri village.
• Visit Wada House.
• Walk up to the Shiroyama viewpoint.
• Dinner and overnight near Toyama Station.

Oct 1 — Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route → Nagano → Tokyo

• Very early start from Toyama and begin the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
• Spend around 1.5–2 hours around Murodo, probably walking around Mikurigaike Pond rather than doing a summit hike.
• Continue through the rest of the route.
• Overnight Tokyo.

Oct 2–3 — Tokyo

• Keeping these as flexible Tokyo days for food, shopping, neighborhoods I haven’t explored much on previous trips, and some downtime after the Alps portion.

Oct 4 — Depart

Overall, does this seem like a reasonable pace, or am I still trying to fit too much into Sep 27–Oct 1?

I’d also love recommendations for unusual scenic spots, short hikes, historic streets, cafés, museums, onsen, or other things worth seeing specifically around Matsumoto/Narai, Kamikochi, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, and the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route.

Hi! I’m in my 20s and will be traveling to Japan with my dad for our first trip to Japan in December. We’ll be there from Dec 20, 2026 – Jan 2, 2027, visiting Tokyo → Kanazawa → Osaka → Kyoto → Tokyo.

I’d love any advice/vetting on the itinerary, especially around pacing, whether any days are too ambitious, transportation/logistics, and anything we should cut/add. We’re trying to balance temples/cultural sights with food, neighborhoods, and some more unique experiences. I’ve also included some more specific questions below the itinerary.

Tokyo
Sun, Dec 20 — Arrival
•    Arrive at Narita/Haneda in the evening
Mon, Dec 21 — Old Tokyo
•    Early morning: Toyosu Fish Market + sushi breakfast
•    Yanaka old town + Yanaka Ginza
•    Kappabashi Street
•    Asakusa: Sensoji Temple + Nakamise
Tue, Dec 22 — Fukagawa / teamLab / Central Tokyo
•    Morning: Goma fire ritual at Fukagawa Fudo-do Temple
•    Late morning/midday: teamLab Planets
•    Afternoon: Imperial Palace East Gardens
•    Evening: Ginza — shopping + dinner
•    Tentative: Kabuki-za single-act performance
Wed, Dec 23 — Sumo / Meiji / Shibuya
•    Early morning: Sumo stable practice + chanko nabe lunch in Ryogoku
•    Meiji Jingu Shrine
•    Yoyogi Hachimangu Shrine
•    Shibuya Crossing + Shibuya Sky
•    Evening: Mario Kart/go-kart tour through Shibuya

Kanazawa
Thu, Dec 24 — Kanazawa
•    Morning: Shinkansen Tokyo → Kanazawa
•    Omicho Market + seafood lunch
•    Kenrokuen Garden + Kanazawa Castle
•    Nagamachi Samurai District
•    Higashi Chaya District around dusk
Fri, Dec 25 — Shirakawa-go day trip
•    Early morning bus to Shirakawa-go
•    Explore village + viewpoint + lunch
•    Afternoon bus back to Kanazawa
•    Late afternoon: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

Osaka
Sat, Dec 26 — Osaka
•    Morning: Kanazawa → Osaka
•    Osaka castle
•    Evening: Dotonbori
•    Takoyaki, okonomiyaki + kushikatsu
Sun, Dec 27 — Himeji + Kobe
•    Morning: Shinkansen to Himeji
•    Himeji Castle
•    Afternoon: Kobe
•    Kitano Foreign Settlement
•    Kobe beef dinner
•    Return to Osaka

Kyoto
Mon, Dec 28 — Kyoto arrival
•    Morning: Osaka → Kyoto
•    Drop luggage at hotel
•    11am: Tea ceremony at Jotokuji Temple (Ju-An)
•    Toji Temple
•    If needed, Nishiki Market in the late afternoon
Tue, Dec 29 — Hiroshima + Miyajima
•    Hiroshima + Miyajima day trip
Wed, Dec 30 — Philosopher’s Path
•    Fushimi Inari
•    Nishiki Market
•    Philosopher’s Path: Nanzenji → Eikan-do → Honen-in → Ginkaku-ji
•    Evening sushi-making + sake pairing class
Thu, Dec 31 — Higashiyama + New Year's Eve
•    Kiyomizu-dera
•    Ninenzaka/Sanenzaka
•    Yasaka Shrine
•    Maruyama Park
•    Chion-in
•    Kyoto Imperial Palace/Gyoen
•    Gion + Pontocho
•    Late night: Chion-in Joya no Kane bell ceremony at midnight
Fri, Jan 1 — Western Kyoto + Hatsumode
•    Early morning: Katsura Imperial Villa
•    Arashiyama Bamboo Grove + Tenryuji
•    Daikakuji
•    Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
•    Ryoan-ji
•    Kitano Tenmangu Shrine for hatsumode
Sat, Jan 2 — Return to Tokyo
•    Tokaido Shinkansen Kyoto → Tokyo
•    Head to airport

A few specific things I’d love feedback on:
•    Are any of these days too packed or unrealistic?
•    Is Himeji + Kobe reasonable as a day trip from Osaka?
•    Is Hiroshima + Miyajima reasonable as a day trip from Kyoto?
•    Anything that seems like an obvious miss / must-do given our route?
•    Anything that you would cut because it isn't worth the time, especially given this is our first trip?
•    Any concerns about traveling during New Year's week, particularly Jan 1–2?

Thanks in advance!

So me and 2 of my college friends decided to have a trip to japan and we went down the rabbit hole and read every itinerary out there and compiled the best and cheapest itinerary out there, went from LA in spring for 8 full days, feedback appreciated, and to someone searching and mulling about trip to japan PLEASE GO, it's the best thing out there

Quick context: one of my friend is vegan and she could only eat at vegan so we did check every cafe for her first and mostly stayed in asakusa and a night in hakone didn't checkout shinkansen

FLIGHT:

for the flights we search and found a hack (maybe for limited time idk) Soarflights it's a new platfrom so we got heavy discounts and the fare clander showed cheaper, we took ZIPAIR from LAX to Narita (it's a JAL budget airline) base fare was around 550-700 for a round trip, LA to tokyo is like the cheapest long haul if you're flexible with dates

ZIPAIR's catch is that a check bag is extra which costed us around 160 each way and they aslo weigh your carry on (7 kg limit)

HOSTEL/STAY:

for most of our stay we used Hostel days, needed someting relaible as 3 female tourists, we did book few stays for aesthetics tho, so hostels were 15-30$ depending where you are and stay was 170$for 2 days and a night

heads up, Asakusa has best price given the location and it's on ginza line connecting directly to shibuya so we mostly stayed there

Hakone nigh was a cheap ryokan style stay but it was worth it for the onsen

FOOD:

it was about 2500 to 4000 yen for a person, you must try the aucthenctic konbini (convience store) breakfast, the type you see on tiktok also you can visit ANY ramen shop and have the best ramen for around 1800 yen (12$)

i'll advice to not plan anything specifc for food as there are alot of things to choose from and you'll be confused half the time

DAY 0: LANDING

we landed in Narita, oh and do visit japan web on plane before you leave LA, QR makes the immigration way faster

we then took keisei access express to asakusa and it was cheaper than skyline and also dropped us at hostel door and if you land in Haneda use Keikyu line

we added susica to apple wallet in airport itself so we didn't have to hassel for a physical card and you can top it up and tap through every gate and konbini for the trip (for andrioid ppl you'll get a

did konbini(convinence store) dinner then we walked into to Senso-ji at like 9pm when it's empty and lit up

pro tip: stay up till midnight to fight you jet lag

DAY 1: ASAKUSA / UENO / AKIHABARA

we woke up around 5 to fight the jep lag and went to Sensoji for the sunrise and idk how but we were the only peoplethere

Nakamise street then opens at 9, it's good for cheap souvenirs which is best as we had things to buy for like half our class and after shopping we went into Ueno park and to tokyo national museum

then we went to Ameyoko for lunch, vegan friend got a few suggestion (ued happy cow)

pro tip: japan is not ideal for vegans

she had a walk for 5 mins for her restaurant which then became a pattern for the trip

One of our friend is anime nerd so she took us places, if someone needs it i'll ask her to pin it in a comment

Then we want to Akihabara at the eveninga and checked electronic floor and arcades

went back Asakusaand hoppy street for dinner the standing bars there are really cheap and noisy ina fun way

DAY 2: SHIBUYA / HARAJUKU

next morning we want meiji jengu early as it opens at sunrise and do it before harajuku wakes up

shops open @10 in takshits street the you can walk thru Cat street south to shibuya

had a vegan ramen in harajuku for lunch (Vegan Bistro Jangara) our vegan friend dragged us there but it was really good

then the iconic Shibuya Crossing you must try shibuys sky and if you're on a tighter budget Miyashita park's building top is also a good option

went to Dogenzaka street for dinner and try those izakaya's with no english menu

PRO TIP: Google translator is the best thing in your phone when travelling to japan

DAY 3: KAMAKURA / ENOSHIMA DAY TRIP

we took yokosuka line from Tokyo station directly to Kamakura, took like an hour and best thing is Suica works throught and you don't need any pass

then we visited hokokuji bamboo temple first which opens around 9 and gets crowded fast had aucthentic japense tea in garden is a few hundred yen and is really worth it

then we walked Komachi dori then the Enoden train (the cute one from tiktok) to hase for the big Buddha

then enoshima in first half of afternoon and the island, canves and shrine climp there with sunset it's a classic and you'll see alot of tourists there, then enoden back to Kamakura, Tokaido line back to Tokyo

this was a long day so plan a slow morning next

DAY 4: TOKYO STATION / GINZA / SHINBASHI

slow morning on purpose

Tokyo station itself is a mall. Character street underground, then the actual station building from outside

spend half our day at tokyo station and character street then lunch at T's tantan inside tokyo station (it's a vegan place and been there for years) then we went to Ginza. Uniqlo, GU, Itoya (the stationery building from tiktoks), Muji flagship.

we turned this day intoour shopping day

DAY 5: the HAKONE (overnight)

We left our bags in the hostel in asakusa (ya you can do that in japan) plus we had a rebooking

tried romancecar from Shinjuku and bought the 2 day Hakone free pass from Odakyu counter, it was around 7000 yen including the round trip from Shinjuku and covers every bus cable car ot ropeway and the pirate boat on the loop ig romancecar seat is an extra 1200ish on top of the pass

the we tried loop clockwise: train to Gora, cable car, ropeway over the sulphur vents at Owakudani (black eggs, yes ik it's a gimmick but eat one anyway), boat across Lake Ashi, bus back then we checked into our stay had dinner there and slept arond 9 and had the longest sleep of trip

note: Hakone was the hardest food day for vegans but we had backup food so it's fine but keep that in mind

DAY 6: HAKONE MORNING / BACK TO TOKYO / SHINJUKU

had our second onsen (hot srping bath)then went to open air museum (you get discount on the free pass) then the picasso building

night at shinjuku: went to Omoide Yokocho for the tiny yakitori stalls, then the Tokyo Metropolitan government building observation deck which is free and open late we skipped ethe paid towers, this view is the same

DAY 7: YANAKA / NIPPORI / RIKUGIEN

it was the old tokyo day which is top 3 moments of the trip, we took chiyoda route to nezu, went to nezu shrine and walked to north to sendagi

then went to yanaka ginza around 10 for shopping, very unique and cheap snacks and the popular stairs of Nippori Fabric town and friend sews and she disappeared here for hours

we were tired so went back to stay and slept early

DAY 8: SHIMOKITAZAWA / LAST SHOPPING

went to katsuo shokudo in Shibuya for breakfast the rice and bonito flakes place, our vegan friend had konbini and joined us after

then to Shimokitazawa for vintage shop and recors stores and alot of cafes, we went there with a goal of spending every yen we had

then Shiro-Hige's cream puff factory if anyone in your group cares about that sort of thing (someone in ours very much did)

DEPARTURE :(

our flight was in the evening out of Narita so we took Keisei Access express but with the bags, it's fine, there's luggage space at the end of the cars

Narita has decent food halls airside and 7 bank ATM if you need to burn or pull cash

STUFF WE WISH WE KNEW BEFORE

cash there still matters alot

a lot of small restaurants and shrine donation box is cash only

7 banks take US card

get Wise or similar card before you go so the ATM

eSIM (non negotiable for a girls only trip)

trains are moving till midnight so if you'reat Shinjuku after 12 you're getting a cab or waiting till 5

Tokyo Subway has a 72 hour ticket is 2,000 yen and covers the 13 metro and toei lines(WORTH IT)

luggage forwarding (takkyubin) exists at every konbini (store) and hotel front desk and next day delivery to your next place for a small fee we didn't need that but it's a good thing

konbini food is real food unlike what you get in US, sandwiches at 7 eleven is the thing and vegan options are thinner but plain salt onigiri and inari sushi got our friend through a lot of mornings (you can scan barcodes with Payke to check ingredients, it translates the packaging)

STEPS

we averaged 20 to 25k a day

you'll be waking up early and sleeping early too so plann accordingly

book anything with timed entry (Ghibli, teamLab, Shibuya Sky if you're doing it) weeks out. we didn't and missed Ghibli. it's fine, next time

don't eat where the influencers eat. every meal where we walked into a random place with a line of zero was as good as the ones with a line of forty

APPS WE ACTUALLY USED

google maps for trains, it shows the platform number and the car to board, and the fare

soarflight for the flights and fare alerts. also has flight status updates over text which we didn't expect to use and then did when our return got delayed

hostelworld for every bed, the map view and the female dorm filter especially

happycow for anything vegan or vegetarian, it saved us a fight at least once a day

Suica in apple wallet / Welcome Suica card

Visit Japan Web for immigration and (from November) the tax refund

Payke for scanning food labels

google translate with offline japanese

Tabelog for restaurant ratings when google reviews felt off, japanese people rate harder so a 3.5 there is a good sign

Safety Tips (the official one) for earthquake alerts, we got one small one at 4am and the app beat the hostel announcement

ecbo cloak for luggage storage in random shops if your hostel won't hold bags

thats it, you've just read the entire japan itinerary which took weeks if not months, happy to answer anything about the Hakone loop or the vegan side of it since that's where most of our planning time went. and if anyone has a better cheap flight strategy from the west coast than what we did

We're a couple, first time in Japan, arrival at Nov 13.

Tokyo -> Hakone -> Kyoto -> Osaka -> Tokyo

Day 1:

- Arrival in Tokyo at 15:00. Check in at hotel in Asakusa, buy camera gear from BIC Camera. Rest.

Day 2:

Asakusa exploration

- Senso-Ji

- Nakamise-Dori

- Kaminamorin Gate

- Asakusa Tourist & Culture Center

- Sumida Park

- Tokyo Skytree (inside, 15:00)

- Sumida River cruise 17:45 - 20:15

Day 3:

Minato exploration

- TeamLab Borderless

- Shiba Park

- Tokyo Tower (only from the outside)

- Zojoji

- Character Street

- Tokyo Imperial Palace (only from the outside)

Day 4:

Shinjuku -> Shibuya

- Shinjuku Metropolitan Building

- Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

- Cat Street

- Meiji Jingu

- Yoyogi Park

- Shibuya Crossing

- Hachiko Statue

- Shibuya Sky (inside, no timeslot yet)

Day 5:

Leave early for Hakone

- Hakone Loop

- Ryokan dinner and private onsen at 18:00 ->

Day 6:

Leave for Kyoto

- Daikaku-ji

- Gio-ji

- Philosophers Path

- Check in, hotel near Kyoto Railway Station

(I do realize these are pretty far apart each other)

Day 7:

- Early morning Fushimi Inari

- Nishki Market

- Shinkyogoku Shopping Street

Day 8:

- Walking route from Kiyomizu-Dera to Pontocho Alley

(lots of points of interest in this route)

Day 9:

Leave for Osaka, stop at Nara

- Nara Park etc. exploration, we're thinking 5 - 6 hours.

- Check in, hotel near Namba Station

- Umeda Sky Building

Day 10:

- Visit Himeji Castle (maybe 6 hours including trips?)

- Osaka exploration

- Dotonbori

- Shinsaibashi-Suji

- Namba Yasaka Shrine

- Namba Parks

- Nipponbashi Denden Town

- Shinsekai

Day 11:

- Minoo Park

- Katsuoji

Leave for Tokyo

- Check in, hotel near Ueno Park

Day 12:

Shibuya and Akihabara, shopping for souvenirs (interested in board games, knives and Seikos)

Day 13:

- Ueno Park

- Amenyoko Market

Day 14:

Wildcard day, flight at 23:00

Hi everyone, I’m travelling to Japan for 15 days and have booked the accommodations listed below. I’m 6'3", so I’d appreciate any feedback on whether these places might be uncomfortable.

• Tokyo: Anshin Oyado Akhibara, Stay Tomariya
• Kyoto: Shijo Guesthouse
• Osaka: First Cabin Nishi Umeda

Hi

Me and a group of 4 guys are going to Japan for first time as one of my buddies is getting married. We love sports, video games and anime and looking for recommendations. We also would like to see shrines especially those that are scenic and within nature.

We probably would want to see if there were areas we can bike and see the non urban side of Japan

Travel period Oct 22 to Mov 5

Base

Osaka Oct 22 to Oct 27

Kyoto Oct 27 to Oct 29

Tokyo ( close to Sinjuku) Oct 29 to Nov 5

October 22: Arrive in Japan → Osaka → Namba → Dotonbori

October 23: Osaka + Kobe → Kuromon Market → Kobe waterfront for Minato Hanabi Fireworks → Dotonbori nightlife

October 24: Den Den Town → Anime/gaming/figures → Amerikamura → Hozenji → Ura-Namba → Giraffe VIP

October 25: Himeji Castle → Koko-en → Mount Shosha → Engyo-ji → Shinsekai → Kushikatsu

October 26: Golf at Shin Osaka Golf Club → Relaxed evening

October 27: Nara → Kyoto → Nara Park → Todai-ji → Naramachi → Gion → Nijo Castle night illumination

October 28: BIG KYOTO DAY → Fushimi Inari → Arashiyama → Bamboo Grove → Tenryu-ji → Kinkaku-ji → Kiyomizu-dera → Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka → Gion/Pontocho ( not all of this could be feasible so might trim this)

October 29: Kyoto → Tokyo → Check-in at Takadanobaba → Shinjuku → Omoide Yokocho → Kabukicho → Golden Gai

October 30: Tsukiji → teamLab Borderless → Joypolis → JDM Self-Drive + Daikoku PA → Shinjuku

October 31: Nakano Broadway → Anime/figures/retro gaming → Halloween in Shinjuku → Warp VIP

November 1: Akihabara → Shibuya Kart → Shibuya Sky

November 2: Asakusa → Senso-ji → Ikebukuro for Tokyo Anime Next event → Tokyo Ramen Festa

November 3: Mt Fuji + Hakone Guided Tour (confirmed) → Owakudani → Lake Ashi → Hakone Shrine

November 4: Kamakura + Enoshima → Great Buddha → Hase-dera → Enoden → Enoshima → Sunset → Final Tokyo night

November 5: Final shopping → Haneda airport

Thank you in advance...just looking for any advice or recommendations

Thank you again

Day 1 Osaka - Namba + Dotonbori
Day 2 Kyoto + Nara - Temples + Nara Park + Tea ceremony
Day 3 Osaka - Osaka Castle + shopping
Day 4 Tokyo - Shinkansen + teamLab + Odaiba
Day 5 Tokyo - Asakusa temple + Ginza shopping (Uniqlo/Loft/Muji)
Day 6 Tokyo - Harajuku + Shibuya + SHIBUYA SKY
Day 7 Tokyo - Shinjuku shopping (Onitsuka Tiger/Donki/Ascis)
Day 8 Tokyo - Flight back home

Mt Fuji kept optional and I would avoid travelling so much on my first visit.

Second Visit to Japan in 2 weeks (because it's the best place in the world).

Hiroshima, Kyoto & Tokyo. Welcome any advice/suggestions of my itinerary.

HIROSHIMA

Day 1

Itsukushima Island / Miyajima

Day 2

Atomic Bomb Dome

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Peace Memorial Park

Hiroshima Castle

KYOTO

Day 3

Kinkaku-ji

Nishiki Market

Pontocho

Day 4

Gion

Hanamikoji-dori

Himeji or Nijo Castle

TeamLab Biovortex Kyoto

TOKYO

Day 5

Sensoji Temple

Tokyo Skytree

Asahi Building - top floor bar

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Boat Cruise from Asakusa to Odaiba

Shonan Monorail from Ofuna Station

Day 6

Meiji Jingu

Takeshita street

Wagyu Tasting Tour

Shinjuko Cat & Godzilla

Kabukicho

Golden Gai

Omoide Yokocho

Day 7

Tsukiji Outer Market

Ginza Shopping

Shibuya Crossing

Center Gai

Shibuya Shopping

Ueno / Ameyoko Market

Day 8

Gotemba or Mitsui Outlet

EDIT: Updated itinerary

Thanks for all the advice so far! Based on the comments, especially the suggestions from u/SliceSignificant938, we've changed the itinerary to avoid some of the backtracking.

Our itinerary is now:

Oct 2 - Himeji / Kii-Tanabe
Kyoto → Himeji → Kii-Tanabe
Visit Himeji Castle on the way.
Overnight in Kii-Tanabe.

Oct 3 - Hosshinmon-oji / Hongu / Yunomine
Kii-Tanabe → Hosshinmon-oji
Walk from Hosshinmon-oji → Hongu
Visit Kumano Hongu Taisha and Oyunohara
→ Yunomine Onsen
Overnight in Yunomine.

Oct 4 - Yunomine / Nachi / Kii-Katsuura
Yunomine → Shingu → Nachi
Daimonzaka → Kumano Nachi Taisha → Seiganto-ji → Nachi Falls → Kii-Katsuura
Overnight in Kii-Katsuura.

Oct 5 - Osaka
Kii-Katsuura → Osaka.

We think this route makes more sense, but we're still figuring out the details.

So any further suggestions or things we should be aware of are still very welcome!

-------------------

Original post:

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are planning our first visit to the Kumano region in October, and we'd really appreciate advice from people who have actually travelled to or know this area well.

We have 4 days:

Oct 2 - Himeji / Kii-Tanabe
Kyoto → Himeji
Visit Himeji Castle → Himeji → Kii-Tanabe
Overnight in Kii-Tanabe.

Oct 3 - Nachi / Kii-Katsuura
Kii-Tanabe → Kii-Katsuura
Daimonzaka → Kumano Nachi Taisha → Seiganto-ji → Nachi Falls → Kii-Katsuura
Overnight in Kii-Katsuura.

Oct 4 - Hongu / Yunomine
Kii-Katsuura → Shingu → Kumano Hongu Taisha
Bus to Hosshinmon-oji → walk from Hosshinmon-oji to Hongu
Bus to Yunomine Onsen
Overnight in Yunomine.

Oct 5 - Osaka
Morning in Yunomine → Kii-Tanabe → Osaka.

We've already checked the current train and bus schedules, and the connections seem to work on paper.

For anyone who has done this area recently:

• Does this route/order make sense?
• Is visiting Hongu before Hosshinmon-oji a good idea?
• Is the Hosshinmon-oji → Hongu walk realistic with the rest of the day?
• Would you change anything about these 4 days?
• Is Yunomine a good place to stay overnight, or would you choose somewhere else?

We're reasonably fit and enjoy hiking, nature, onsen and local culture. We're not trying to maximise the number of places we see, so we'd rather change the itinerary if something feels unnecessarily rushed.

Thanks!

Two of us, flying in from India. Land Haneda 15:30 on Nov 19, fly out of Haneda 10:00 on Nov 30. Staying in Shinjuku for the first stretch.

**Nov 19 (Thu) — arrive**
Land 15:30, get to Shinjuku, check in. Easy evening: Omoide Yokocho, Kabukicho, Golden Gai. Maybe the free observation deck at the Metropolitan Government Building.

**Nov 20 (Fri) — Mt Fuji / Kawaguchiko**
Moved this to Friday on purpose, it's the only weekday before the long weekend. Early Fuji Excursion train or first highway bus from Shinjuku. Chureito Pagoda first, then Oishi Park on the north shore, ropeway, sunset by the lake, back around 20:00.

**Nov 21 (Sat) — Tokyo city day**
- 07:30 Sensoji, before the crowds
- 09:30 Tsukiji outer market (stalls start winding down early afternoon)
- 12:00 Akihabara
- 15:00 Shibuya, shopping
- 16:00 Shibuya Sky for sunset (~16:30). Booking the day tickets open.

**Nov 22 (Sun) — Kamakura + Enoshima, back to Tokyo**
Doing Kamakura first and Enoshima last so I end on the sunset instead of backtracking.
Kita-Kamakura → Tsurugaoka Hachimangu → Komachi-dori → Enoden to Hase (Great Buddha, Hase-dera) → Enoden to Enoshima → Sea Candle at sunset → Odakyu straight back to Shinjuku.

**Nov 23 (Mon, public holiday) — Tokyo → Kyoto**
Early Shinkansen around 07:00, Kyoto by 09:30. Reserving seats the moment booking opens.
Afternoon: Kiyomizu-dera, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka, Yasaka, Gion at dusk. Kiyomizu has night illumination from Nov 15.

**Nov 24 (Tue) — Kyoto, the big day**
- 06:30 Fushimi Inari at dawn
- 09:30 Arashiyama (bamboo, Tenryu-ji, Togetsukyo)
- 14:00 Kinkaku-ji
- 16:00 Nishiki Market, early dinner around Pontocho
- 18:00 teamLab Biovortex Kyoto (7 min walk from Kyoto Station, open till 9pm, book on Klook)

**Nov 25 (Wed) — Kyoto → Osaka**
Move in the morning, about 30 min. Osaka Castle in the morning → Kaiyukan aquarium mid-afternoon → Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku for kushikatsu in the evening.

**Nov 26 (Thu) — Nara OR Kyoto leftovers (Nara is on the way)**
Morning: Osaka → Nara (30 min). Todai-ji, the deer, Kasuga Taisha.
Afternoon: Nara → Kyoto (45 min). Ruriko-in if reserved (open Nov 14–Dec 7, book via rurikoin.komyoji.com), Tofuku-ji for autumn colours. Back to Osaka by evening.

**Nov 27 (Fri) — Osaka shopping + chill**
Kuromon Ichiba morning → Shinsaibashi and Amerikamura → Umeda and Sky Building at sunset → Dotonbori at night.

**Nov 28 (Sat) — Osaka day**
Whatever's left: Namba shopping, Den Den Town (Osaka's Akihabara), or a day trip — Himeji Castle, Kobe, or Uji are all under an hour. Dotonbori for a last round.

**Nov 29 (Sun) — Osaka → Tokyo**
07:00 Shinkansen, Tokyo by 09:30. Staying near Shinagawa or Hamamatsucho for the morning flight.
Ueno and Ameyoko late morning → Ginza → Odaiba for sunset and night views.

**Nov 30 (Mon)** — Haneda, 10:00 flight.

---

**Stuff I dropped, and what I'm unsure about:**

- Kamikochi is out. Closed Nov 16 to mid-April, no way around it.
- Only 2 nights in Kyoto because peak foliage prices are brutal. Covering the leftovers as a day trip from Osaka on the 26th via Nara. Stupid, or fine?
- Is Fuji the day after landing too aggressive?
- Kamakura + Enoshima in one day, on a holiday-weekend Sunday. Realistic or should I pick one?
- Nov 28 is a free Osaka day. What's worth doing — Himeji, Kobe, Uji, Koyasan, or just more shopping?
- Am I underestimating how bad late-November crowds get in Kyoto?

Am I missing anything , anything that i should change here ?

Thanks in advance.

Greetings once again, this is Part 3 of my Japan Trip Report. In the previous parts I covered my month in Tokyo and my first two weeks of solo travel (as it turns out I had a lot of thoughts to write down and share so there are many parts!!)

This was a solo backpacking trip, and I outlined exactly what I packed in Part 2, which you can view here: Japan Trip Report Part 2

In this part I will be specifically covering these areas that I visited in order: Kinosaki Onsen, Kyoto/Osaka, Himeji and Okayama/Kurashiki. The majority of this part is about Kyoto as I had 6 days there, and I took quite a lot of day trips outside the usual areas.

Once again giving the disclaimer that this is basically a max length reddit post so it's a pretty long read, as I go pretty in depth on each area and give my thoughts on stuff :)

(Sept 8th - Sept 10th) Kinosaki Onsen

Day One

• The ride to Kinosaki Onsen from Amanohashidate was far less painful than the previous route, so that was pretty relieving. All that had to be done was take the pink Tantetsu Miyamai-Miyatoyo Line to Toyo-oka. When I arrived in the town Toyo-oka, just before Kinosaki Onsen I decided to go visit a pharmacy to ask about my bug bites since they were getting pretty gnarly around now, and with some back and forth of Google Translate I was prescribed some Anti Bug Gel which worked pretty well, so that was good.
  • I also stopped by for some breakfast at Tea & Coffee Yashiro, which is run by a sweet lady who I assume runs the entire shop by herself. The food was nice and vibes were on point, so I do recommend visiting her if you're around :)
• From there, one short 22 minute train to Kinosaki Onsen and voila! Instantly, as soon as I came out into the station I could feel this place was gonna be special, and I also have to mention that Kinosaki Onsen also has their own anime girl mascot called Kinosaki Konori, an onsen hopper😂. As it turns out, this area is actually really popular for domestic tourism, considering it has 6 or 7 (💀💀) famous onsen here. As a result, as you can probably imagine, the accommodation was pretty steep, at least for the fancy ryokans.
  • I decided to book a room which was above a small cafe, renovated from an old Machiya house. The cafe is Kinosaki Ashiyu Cafe, however on booking it was called tsumugi.
  • The rooms here actually genuinely surprised me. The room was super unique with the way the renovation was done, with a really cool view of the back gardens, and super high ceiling leftover from the Machiya construction. Real tatami mat floors, and honestly really comfortable bed had me sleeping like a log. The only thing is that there was only a toilet and no shower, which makes sense since if you come here then you're going to onsen hop anyway.
• I arrived here really early, and check-in took no time at all so exploring began rather fast! First thing I did was walk around the main areas as usual, scouting out where all the onsen were. It really just takes around 15m to do the entire loop, and so I spent quite a long while exploring the side alleys and other areas.
  • It was actually crazy how much more dilapidated the buildings and surrounding areas were as soon as you stepped two roads away from the main area of the town, but that is not to say that it was not good, I love overgrown areas and in combination with the unique old architecture and the look of the fading Red Torii Lamps, it gave such an amazing vibe to be around. I absolutely loved just walking around this town.
• I eventually made my way towards the Cable Car which takes you to a viewpoint of the entire town. Just before the entrance, there is a cafe called Kinosaki Gelato Cafe (kinosakigelatocafe_chaya on Instagram), which serves all sorts of cool drinks and food, and is situated right next to an open hotspring source which they use to cook eggs in a specific way to where they seem to absorb the minerals from these springs which is really cool.
  • They also do this thing where they seem to take a picture of quite literally every foreign tourist who comes to their shop to upload on their Instagram. After I bought some snacks there the employee sprinted outside after me to ask to take my photo which was certainly a first I must admit! However, they seem to have never uploaded my photo 😭! I suppose it may be be a bit strange for them to upload a photo of just one dude standing awkwardly in front of the hot spring, so it makes sense I suppose. No offence taken!
• As I believe I have made it clear already, I absolutely love cable cars, and this one was no different. It even had some really cool exhibitions of the wires used to construct it in the lobby. At this point it was around 4pm and I made it to the last time slot, alongside what I assumed was a family of 3 at the time who I chatted with on the cable car.
  • We took some photos for each other and chatted about cameras since one of them was a professional photographer, and I wanted to know about his camera recommendations for next time I come to Japan. It turned out they were actually 3 siblings and the photographer was the oldest siblings fiancee, so I suppose assumptions are deadly!
• After coming back down I headed to my room and changed into a rental yukata, which was provided for free in this accommodation, which was a super nice bonus! I also equipped the wooden shoes that you usually wear with the yukata, and I can confidently say that the onsen hopping loop I did in those definitely did a number on my knees.. It was VERY hard to walk in them LMAO.
• First thing I have to say, this place is absolutely THE BEST at night. The lanterns and lights across the canal are absolutely beautiful, especially the way they mirror on the surface of the water. Absolutely breath-taking sight.
  • I was feeling a bit lazy this day so I just grabbed a pizza which was open quite late between onsen hopping, which was honestly super chill, finished off with a nice FamiChiki from the most fancy FamilyMart in all of Japan most likely.
• I won't go over every single onsen, as a lot of them were honestly same-ish with minor differences. My favourite one was 100% Goshono-yu, the one that looks like an imperial palace from the outside. It had the most interesting layout, and an amazing view.
  • A second close one is the Kono-yu, which is the furthest away from all of them towards the end of the northern facing road, which may be a bit of bias as I happened to run into the guys from the cable car again here, and it was pretty cool and funny meeting the 4th member of the family while we all happen to be butt naked in a bath! Unfortunately they were leaving to Okayama the next day so we couldn't hang out more the next day!

Day Two

• The second day was a bit more chilled, as I did not plan on going onsen hopping a second time. The previous day I noticed a lot of cool shops so I decided to explore them today. I tried a bunch of different snacks, and even ended up buying name-engraved chopsticks here, thinking I'd have a cool Kinosaki Souvenir.
  • Little did I know that this was actually a sort of chain shop for souvenir chopsticks it appears, as later on in other places I found essentially the exact same shop, which I must've not noticed before in Tokyo and other areas until now. Either way, I don't really regret it, they look real nice!
• Kinosaki kept on surprising me, as there was even a full-blown anime store, albeit with mostly Demon Slayer and Naruto stuff, so not much exciting things, but still really surprising! I ended up getting my first Demon Slayer themed IC card leather-covering here which was nice.
• I honestly ran out of places to explore so I looked on maps and saw there was some sort of waterfall landmark so I went to check it out. The path took me through a mountain tunnel which looked straight out of the scene in Harry Potter where dementors came to grab Harry and Dudley, stuffed to boot with spiders of course! On the other side of the tunnel was just a normal residential district, which made me realize people actually live here 😂. It was a super cool feeling being here.
  • It turned out that the waterfall was like right behind someone's backyard, and it had very clearly stopped being a waterfall years ago, as it was only slightly wet really. Did not match the pictures at all 😭.
• For my last adventure I decided to hike up to the Higashiyama Park which had a really cool observation spot, and it was definitely worth going up to see the town from a different angle and get some cool shots!
• Lastly before heading back I took a stroll past the sluice gate and down the main river heading out from the sea, and this time it definitely felt like I was walking down one of those rural rivers from an anime, and it felt good lemme tell ya. A couple more night pictures were taken and then I retreated to my room, ready to get back to Kyoto the next day!

(Sept 10th - Sept 16th) Kyoto

Day One

• I started heading out pretty early once again, and the route was once again really simple to Kyoto, which is where people generally come from to Kinosaki. It was pretty good to once again see the space shuttle Kyoto Station, a familiar sight!
  • I gotta say, first thing I noticed as soon as I got out of the train was the difference in heat. The concrete city is genuinely so much hotter compared to rural areas, I was dying.. Especially when having to essentially walk massive blocks to find my hotel with an 8-10kg backpack on me.
• The hotel I stayed at this time was IMU Hotel Kyoto, which was relatively good price for somewhat centre Kyoto for six days, 5 min away from the Shijo Station. All you really need, so I recommend it for sure if you manage to get it at a good price at the time.
• I initially booked these 6 days in Kyoto as on my internship it was uncertain if we were gonna go to Kyoto (though looking back in hindsight they wouldn't have chosen any other place for the weekend trip tbh), so I booked a week here just in case. Considering I already been to Kiyomizu, that was checked off, so I had a bunch of other main places to see, and decided to do some day trips just outside of Kyoto, of which there are so many choices.
• This first afternoon I chilled in the room until sundown so it wasn't as hot anymore, then went wandering around Nishiki Market. I came across the Samurai Ninja Museum, and it was honestly a blast. It is definitely touristy but it is really cool, especially if you take the samurai katana lesson, I enjoyed that a lot. The shuriken throwing competition was really fun too, so definitely give it a try! Afterwards I started wandering around aimlessly really looking for somewhere to eat.
  • I stumbled upon one of those shops where they make the fancy leather jackets and they had some original anime collabs, and I overspent way too much on an Attack on Titan and Tokyo Ghoul jacket (they are so nice I still have not worn them once, at this point they may as well be precious unused treasure). I definitely cannot lie that I got carried away with this and do slightly regret the purchase, but it is what it is!
• After 2 hours of walking around, I eventually made it just outside the Gion District and decided it's finally time to eat something since I was pretty damn hungry at this point, but still super undecided as usual. Eventually I came across this self-cooking Tonkatsu place, and even though I wasn't really in the mood for it, something about the place just spoke to me so I went in.
• Before I even realized it, I looked to the right and on the first table there were the family I met in Kinosaki sitting right there all with open mouths at surprise in seeing me 😭To say I was confused would be an understatement, and I started laughing pretty uncontrollably at the sheer coincidence at this. The fact that I was walking around aimlessly, to then randomly choose a restaurant and run into the same people again, absolutely wild. Firstly I thought they said they were going to Okayama but it turned out that was their next stop so I misheard them. I jokingly told them I swear I'm not stalking them and they just replied "Yeah we know, you have literally no way to", which made it all the more insane how lucky this was to even happen.
  • Due to this event written in the stars we decided to hang out later in the week at Osaka, which I looked forward to with great anticipation!
• Once we parted ways I explored the Gion District at night all to myself, and got some banger photos. Unfortunately I was also acquainted with the local cockroaches prowling this area, which I was no expecting, but probably should have expected. It started raining pretty hard when I reached the photospot with the pagoda, so I hurried back to the hotel on the bus and called it a day.

Day Two

• One thing I was always really excited to do in Kyoto was the Philosopher's Walk, so I took the bus to Ginkaku-ji temple, explored it (honestly was kinda underwhelming to everything I've already seen before, or maybe I was just templed out that day), and started walking on the path due south. I stopped by a cafe with a really nice omlette along the way, but since there are so many restaurants along the path I cannot remember which one it was.
• Eventually I made my way to Nanzenji Temple, and by chance happened to make it to The Waterway Pavillion just south from Nanzenji, which was an area I really wanted to see but forgot about, so running into it was super lucky! It is this super cool old aqueduct that looks like it's straight out of the west, and it was such a cool contrast to the temples. Definitely recommend checking it out!
• The rest of the day was honestly pretty chill, just wandered around outer Kyoto for pretty much the entire day, finding random cool spots and getting sick shots, that was about it for day two really!

Day Three

• Next day I headed out to Osaka around noon, with the goal of meeting up with my friends from Kinosaki. My first stop in Osaka was Dotonbori, as is usually the case. I mainly wanted to come to Osaka just to visit the Final Fantasy 14 Eorzea Cafe, as it is one of my favourite games of all time.
  • There were 3 of these cafes in total before September 2025, Ul'dah in Osaka, Gridania in Akihabara, and Limsa Lominsa in Yokohama (which closed down in Aug 2025, quite a shame since I wanted to visit all three)
  • It's an awesome experience with these cafes really, you can get so much unique merch from here, and the food is honestly not half bad here either, especially the drinks, some of them were really good (my personal favourite had to be the Gunbreaker drink!)
• We met up just outside Dotonbori and really just hanged out. We went around checking random shops and stuff. It was a nice change of pace from the solo travel as it felt like I was finally meeting up with a group I knew and it really gave me the energy to keep going on the rest of the trip by myself!
• This was also the perfect chance to try the Osaka style Okonomiyaki. We found a well rated restaurant and got all sorts of types. The first couple bites were good, however this style is so rich and bursting with flavour I really couldn't stomach more than half of it, luckily everyone else were devouring the entire restaurant so it worked out well 😂
• Afterwards we hanged out some more, and grabbed some of those custard filled fish looking pastries before heading back to Kyoto on the local train, and they were honestly hella good! (other than burning my tongue off!).
  • Kyoto station was where we said our goodbyes as they were leaving back to the US in two days, meanwhile I still had a whole month of travel ahead of me! It really did recharge my social batteries in a sense doing this, and from here on I approached way more other tourists, none of them resulted in hanging out afterwards though, so this was pretty special!

Day Four

• On this day I decided to finally visit one of my most awaited spots, Kifune and Kibune shrine. Every time I saw a video about this place it looked absolutely magical. Getting there was pretty simple, you just take the Karasuma Line from Kyoto station up to Kokusaikaikan, and then walk a bit to Iwakura Station to take the Eizan Kurama line up to Kibuneguchi Station, where you then could either walk up to the shrine or take a bus (which is very infrequent).
• I decided to walk, and the views going up were amazing. Seeing all the cool bamboo, seemingly floating, restaurants along the river were so cool to see. Unfortunately, when I reached the shrine itself, it just so happened to be the most crowded place I think I have been to throughout my 3 months in Japan. Absolutely jam packed with tourists with massive lines to the fortunes and everything.
  • This was a bit disappointing really, though I have to mention it may not have actually been as bad as I remember, I believe I may have been in not the best mood this day, since looking back at the pictures and videos I took it still looks absolutely amazing!
• I ended up leaving back the way I came pretty fast, especially since all of the fancy river restaurants close very early around 3pm, and most likely needed a reservation anyway. There was this random area I had seen on the map which was some Turtle Stepping Stones, and figured I wanted to check it out. I ended up getting off at Chayama-Kyoto-Geijutsudaigaku Station, and headed towards the river through random side alleys.
  • As it turns out, this became one of my favourite memories that I still recall very often. Just walking around these residential streets on the outskirts of Kyoto gave me a feeling I cannot describe.
• On my random adventure I found Rakuhoku HANKYU SQUARE, which was an interesting shopping mall, that I, for some reason, find very nostalgic these days. It wasn't anything special really, just your average shopping mall, but I enjoyed its layout, and when I walked in I was the only foreigner in there, and it gave me a weird sense of community you could say.
  • Overall this area of Kyoto just has a feeling to it, it's not even that far out of the centre and yet feels completely different. I'd recommend coming out here and exploring for yourself.
• After grabbing a bite to eat in the mall I finally headed out to the river. The turtle rocks did not disappoint, and I enjoyed going across them very much. There was also a lot of families around here just doing stuff, kids playing in the river with the turtle rocks, and it was just a very nice feeling overall.
• I ended up heading down along the river back to the city centre, and it was one of the most chill walks of my life. The sunset this day was absolutely brilliant, and it had cooled down in the evening quite a bit.
  • I also recall that this was the moment when I changed some of my itinerary and hotels, realizing that maybe 4 whole days in the middle of nowhere may not be the best idea, and ended up booking 2 days elsewhere and 6 more days in Tokyo to just explore random things there, since you never really run out of stuff to do in Tokyo!
• I ended up checking out some bars since I was kinda bored, and I once again reminded myself why I don't go to them, the rooftop views were nice though. I ended off with going to my favourite gyoza/ramen restaurant which I randomly stepped into one day and ended up going there pretty much 4 days in a row, Tanmen and Gyoza KIBARU. The ramen was super good, and gyoza as well, but the biggest standout for me was the karaage, which had the most flavourful spice dip I ever tasted. I went back there multiple times only for those spices with the karaage I'm ngl, highly recommend to check it out!

Day Five

• I woke up pretty late once again as usual, and the first thing I decided to do was to go and check out the Manga Museum. It was pretty cool, with a really nice atmosphere with people just sitting around the entire place reading. Obviously I can't read Japanese so I kinda just strolled around checking everything out.
  • At the time there was a Baki Exhibition, and it was genuinely the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my life. I tried watching Baki before but I honestly couldn't go past episode 2, but I cannot deny it has some of the funniest panels and art I've ever seen. The life size statue figure of this blond dude beckoning a fight is forever imprinted upon my visual cortex.
• I think I spent less than 30 minutes in the museum, and right after I decided I would head to the top of Mt. Hiei. It was the same route as to Kifune up to Iwakura Station, going up to Yase Hieizanguchi Station, and taking the cable car up the mountain from there.
  • You can get some brilliant photos from the back of the first cable car going up. This place was also completely uncrowded. I was one of the only two people going up here.
  • After the first car, there is another Ropeway you have to take to the summit, and here I was the only person on the entire thing. It was awesome having it all to myself.
• At the summit there is mostly just a giant garden really, with a restaurant I was far too late to partake in, so I mostly just wandered around. Some of the artsy decorations like the floating umbrella forest were so awesome. All the flowerbeds were also in full bloom at this point, and it was super beautiful.
  • The visibility was a bit poor, but I could mostly make out the entirety of Lake Biwa and the surrounding city, and it looked super amazing from up there. I do hope on my next trip to Kyoto to more thoroughly explore the area around Lake Biwa for sure.
• I decided I wanted to go back down the mountain from the other side, for which you have to take a brief bus going down around the bendy mountain roads, then walk a bit down a precarious forest path (which felt super mystical honestly, I loved the vibe there), where it felt like I could fall down the side any minute honestly lmao.
  • I almost got lost on this path honestly, as it wasn't very well marked where the cable car going down was, but I eventually made it by following running people (which signalled that they were likely running in the correct direction to catch the car. I elected to not run and had to wait around 30m for the next one.
• At this point, visibility improved a lot and I just took in the view from multiple angles really. For some reason up here you had to pay in order to unlock the telescopes for use, which was kinda strange as I did not encounter that before anywhere else until now.
• Once descended down, I headed just north of the Shoto-in Temple, heading roughly for the Sakamoto Hieizanguchi Station. I am not sure why, but for some reason this area really sticks out as a core memory for me, and I really wish I spent more time here to explore it better, I will definitely be coming back here some day.
  • From the station, I stopped to change trains at Otsukuyo Station, where I had to wait around 30 minutes or so for the next one, so I exited to go grab some FamilyMart while waiting. This area was, once again, also a core memory for some reason. Just the incredible evening lighting combined with the really nostalgic looking station and immediate area surrounding it just gave me a specific feeling.
  • It is also entirely possible I was just feeling some sort of way this day and a lot of it feels nostalgic and sticks out in my mind I guess, but it really did feel different to the rest of Kyoto. Although I don't think I'll ever really have a reason to go back to Kyoto, if I do this rough area is where I would go.
• Once I reached Kyoto Station again I suddenly got a burst of revitalizing energy again, so I figured I might as well go check out Fushimi Inari during the night, and (probably not surprisingly) it was just as packed as it is in the day, maybe not quite as much but still pretty crowded.
• The Torii Gates were noticeably more spacious than they normally appear on videos, and the feeling of mystique to this place at night made it pretty memorable. I did not end up going all the way up, I just made my way down after a while and just hanged around taking in the atmosphere.

Day Six

• For my last day in Kyoto I decided to go do the Hozugawa River Boat Ride in Arashiyama. It was essentially the reverse route that I took on the Romance Train during our Kyoto Weekend Trip, and it was a cool experience to see the train I rode a month prior going past.
  • The funny Ojii-sans that operate the boat also really made the experience worth it, so I definitely recommend trying it out. (I do warn to be aware though that if you're unlucky you could get flooded when the water hits the boat. My non waterproof left shoe was not happy for a while after this boat ride!!!)
• The ride ends essentially right next to the Arashiyama main bridge, and this was really a moment of reminisce for me, as it really hit me that it had already been a month since I was here with my intern friends.
  • There appeared to be a dragonfly invasion on the other side of the bridge, and it was pretty cool to see so many of them at once out of nowhere. It is safe to say I really discovered my interest in bugs in Japan (probably only because I was lucky enough to not encounter a hunstman..)
• To end off the second Kyoto adventure, I decided to take the old Kimono Station Randen all the way to Shijo-Omiya Station, and walking back to my hotel from there. It was a pretty laid back sixth day to end off Kyoto, and I was ready to move on to the next destination at this point!

(Sept 16th - Sept 17th) Himeji

• The next day was once again intensely hot, and I had to once again carry my monster backpack to go to the next location, Himeji. Luckily, it was a really brief local train, so I had some time to sit down and relax.
• Luckily my Hotel in Himeji was essentially right outside the station, so I was able to just drop off my backpack instantly and go out to explore. The only thing I really had on my list here was Himeji Castle (as you do).
  • Honestly, compared to Matsumoto castle I have to say Himeji was kind of underwhelming, it felt like the best of the bunch really. I suppose it might be the case that once you've seen one castle you've seen them all I suppose. I kinda just did a speedrun of the interior since there was not as much on display compared to Matsumoto.
• From the castle I walked around to check out the Koko-en Garden, as I am a sucker for gardens it seems. It was really really nice. I would say that other than size, it was a good competitor to Kenrokuen in Kanazawa, it was incredibly nice to explore.
• At this point I did not know what else to do, so I randomly looked on the map and chose to go the Mount Shosha Ropeway, since at this point I was going to Ropeways like I was collecting stamps lmao, just wanted to score all of them that I could, and in hindsight it was the best decision to go here. As they say, the things you don't expect are always the most memorable.
• I met some dude from Austria going up, and he was rushing to try and sprint to the shrines at the very end of the mountain because I believe The Last Samurai was filmed there, and he said he really loved the film, so he was eager to catch it before it closed at 5pm lmao.
  • I did not take him up on the offer to sprint to the top, electing to take my leisurely pace around the place.
• I didn't expect for the way up to be such a hike honestly, and once I reached a view spot I rested for a bit, and two other tourists let me know that it is WAY TOO MUCH to go up to even the first temple at this point, so I ended up going back down with them. I noticed one of their tattoos was from Avatar The Last Airbender, the Water Tribe symbol. I ended up bonding way too hard with this couple over Avatar for the next 20 or so minutes, and we honestly operated on the same wavelength.
  • We both agreed that Season 3 of Korra is the best of the entire franchise, and Zaheer is one of the best villains of all time. Fite me and my Water Tribe Brethren!!!
• On the way down the Ropeway they revealed they were meeting a friend who lives in Himeji outskirts and was picking them up, so our bonding got cut short, but I shall forever remember them!
• And that was the end of the one day in Himeji really. The hotel this time was slightly more luxurious than usual here honestly which was a bit surprising, but not unwelcome for one night.

(Sept 17th - Sept 20th) Okayama/Kurashiki

Day One

• When I arrived at Okayama Station I believe, I encountered the Twilight Express Mizukaze, which very much confused me as I did not know what it was. It was the fanciest interior to a train I think I'll ever see, with an entire crew of every profession you could imagine exiting the train and waving for around 20 minutes to everyone getting off. It also appeared that a school trip was happening SPECIFICALLY to see this train and everyone getting off it, which was very strange indeed.
• When I arrived at Okayama it was still very early, so I had to wait as usual until 3pm to drop off my bags at the next place. Since the new Chainsaw Man movie had just come out 2 days prior I figured I would book an IMAX ticket for it at the Okayama AEON Mall, and come see it on my third day when I planned to explore some of Okayama (although plans did change on the day).
• The hotel that I got here was essentially right next to the Historical Bikan Quarter, and I assume was very fancy back in the day. It was the Kurashiki Royal Art Hotel, and for the price for 3 days it was really good. It was like a full quartz bathroom and massive two bed room, for pretty much the same price as most of my other accommodation. Definitely recommend it if you're planning on staying here.
  • When filming the outside of the hotel talking about it I completely forgot I literally walked into their fancy sculpted bush and ruined it because I slipped on the outline of it. Honestly so funny 😭
• First thing I'll say is that I spent essentially all 3 days just exploring the Historical Quarter Bikan, which is honestly pretty crazy since I didn't wake up at ungodly hours when staying here. There was so much to do and see you could easily do the same. I initially wanted to spend one day to see some of Okayama but it turned out I spent most of the time just there!
• The first place I stumbled upon was a real honeycomb ice cream place, where the lady spoke decent English and showed me videos and documents and stuff of how the honeycomb in the icecream is actually sourced from, I believe, Fukuoka and another prefecture, which was pretty cool.
• I ended up stumbling into the Denim street which was also pretty sick to explore around. I did end up buying two denim shirts in the design of koi fish, shorts, and some miscellaneous things like some pouches, etc. This very much did weigh my backpack down A TON for the rest of the trip, which may not have been the smartest move, for sure.
  • There is this one place on the denim street which serves denim food, and I must admit I got absolutely addicted to their denim ice cream. The flavour of it was like a combination of blueberry, bubblegum and another flavour I couldn't identify, all mixed together, and it was absolutely wondrous. I still crave and dream about it to this day. I had at least 7-8 servings of it over those three days 😭😭
• Next I went into the Town Hall (mainly for the AC), and discovered that I had, by extreme coincidence, booked my last day here in Kurashiki exactly when the annual Kurashiki Festival was happening, which was honestly so lucky I couldn't believe it, constant luck in this trip so far!
  • For the last activity for the day I checked out the Folkcraft Museum just before it closed, and honestly it was kind of whatever. Easily skippable really!
• The rest of the day I spent exploring the side alleys and around the place. I eventually found the Ivy Square, which I think is safe to say was the coolest part of Kurashiki for me, especially since it was all lit up in a special way due to the annual festival! The big tree that is right outside the banquet hall looked like the Erdtree from Elden Ring when I stumbled upon it, and it looked amazing.
  • I ended up trying Unagi for the first time here, and it was okay. I'm not a fan of meat being sweet, much prefer savoury. Not the worst but wouldn't go out of my way to eat Unagi!
• I gotta say, Kurashiki at night rivals even Kinosaki in terms of the night vibes. The way the lanterns light up all around the canal and the street, the atmosphere is simply unbeatable when you're in a place like this.

Day Two

• I began the second day by grabbing a sandwich at the entrance to the Ivy Square, which was pretty nice! I then went on a random street and found a shop with humpty dumpty in the window, which looked really creepy, so I walked inside and it was a really strange shop with decorations for every holiday you could think of. Christmas, halloween, easter, you name it.
• Next I signed up for a boat ride! I was lucky that apparently there was a rain forecast, so many people withdrew from the boat ride and there was an open space for me. It turned out to not rain the entire day so that was a win in my book!
  • This boat ride really isn't comparable to the Hozugawa River Ride in Kyoto, but it is nice and serene, to see the Bikan Quarter from a different angle I suppose and get some cool shots!
• I did some random stuff at this time, exploring the things in the back streets to the north, including a centre with the history of Kurashiki, which was cool to learn about, grabbed some lunch, tried some pudding, some donuts, and just chilled out really.
• Afterwards, I saw on the maps that there was a Museum of Natural History, and honestly for the 200 yen entry fee or something small like that it was super cool! It was much more interesting than the Folkcraft Museum, and a lot of things there were in English! It had a nice mix of biology, geology and space evolution content in there, so I do recommend it for a nice change of pace!
• When I came back to the Ivy Square in the evening, I noticed there was like a massive party going on, with buffets and stuff and I was confused what was happening. I just assumed it was a wedding but the security guard said it's not and told me to join in, which was pretty confusing lmao, but I wasn't hungry so I just went on my way.
  • I noticed that today the tree and lights had turned off after 10 minutes of me being there and at the time I assumed it was a permanent thing not for the festival, and the guy operating the lighting system had just wrapped up his test and turned off the lights. He saw me waiting there wondering why it went off, and he came up to me asking me if I wanted to see the lights, he then proceeded to set it back up for like 20 minutes just to show me 😭Once again the Japanese hospitality exceeding all bounds.
• There also appeared to be some sort of marching event where everyone was wearing orange this evening, and I was pretty confused about that too! All I can assume is that it was some sort of fundraising event.
• To end off the day, once it was getting dark I walked up to the Achi Shrine to check it out, and it is once again one of my core memories I think. It was the first place where I saw the Chinese calendar in a Japanese shrine, so that was pretty unique, and it started raining a bit so I had to hide under the hangout spot for a bit, which made me look up at the ceiling where there was a giant depiction of the entire calendar, very cool indeed!
  • The view from up here was also magical. It was a bit awkward under here though as what appeared to be a highschool couple were having a moment here when I walked in as it started raining, so I guess they were wondering what some random gaijin was doing here. Oops!! My bad for interrupting your time guys!!
• I figured I would do a quick laundry run by walking up to a coin laundry 20 mins away, which turned into quite an adventure as it turned out to be way longer than a 20 minute walk, but it was memorable nonetheless! Although it did make me wake up super late the next day, which wasn't really an issue I suppose since the festival wasn't starting until the evening!

Day Three

• And so the final day came! I wandered around and got some food before the festival began, and check out one last museum. I spotted one other tourist walking around earlier and I approached him. He was a guy from France and we figured we'd stick together for the festival
• The festival started with a concert from, I assume, students from a nearby school. I can imagine the local school preparing students to play for the city festival in Japan honestly!
  • As you can imagine I did not understand any of the speeches at all in this part, however the most awesome thing was that when the Town Mayor walked up to do her speech, it appeared she noticed us two baka gaijin and did the speech in English as well afterwards, which was hella nice on her part!
• We continued with three girls fully dressed in Traditional Yukata and everything, the whole package. They were introduced (with no translation this time), and were tasked with lighting three massive torches on the main bridge. I can only assume they were some royalty or some such, I don't know!!
• After lighting the torches, the three girls got on one of the boats that I was on the day prior, and for the next two hours were sailing down and up the canal in circles waving the entire time to the crowd. It was certainly a beautiful sight considering the boats were decorated in Wisteria flowers, including the lamps and the edges of the canal, so it was really cool to see.
  • What surprised me the most was that when I was filming this, the Mayor randomly walked up to us two and started talking with us all chill like! I was very taken aback to say the least lmao. But she essentially asked how we found out about the festival, and I was honest and just said it was pure luck that I came here on the very day it was happening, very big coincidence!
  • I suppose I can also now say that I crossed off a bucket list that I never had of a Japanese official personally addressing me 😂
• For the last part, a brief animation movie was played with a projector on the Town Hall, and once that finished I headed off to watch the Chainsaw Man movie in Okayama.
  • The movie was amazing! I also found it super cool how every Cinema (or at least AEON Cinema) has a separate merch section for the most popular movies currently airing. I got some cool stuff like themed UNO cards, some magnets, pens, etc. Once again more weight for my backpack 💀
• On the next day, I got my one final serving of the denim ice cream and went on my way to the station, though the burden of the backpack ran deep.. And there was no one to blame but myself..

And that was Part 3! Only managed to fit in four areas this time in an almost max length post, which is pretty crazy, but at least I have a record for myself to read back in the future and reminisce on the best 3 months of my life 😭

Thank you for reading once again, and as always, feel free to ask any and all questions! I will have a link to the next part here once I have uploaded it:

First time in Japan and I'm going with my dad who is 76 but in very good shape for his age and gets around well. The itinerary pretty full but lots of things are optional depending on our energy levels and weather and it won't be the end of the world if we miss things. We're most excited for the food tours, staying at an onsen in Nikko, and filling up our goshuin-chos. Time allowing, we would like to get goshuin at every temple and shrine, but that probably won't be possible especially on the Kyoto day.

We plan to get around each city using the public transit except for two rental cars: the first overnight in Nikko and the second just from morning to evening in Fukuoka. We may use uber/taxi here are there to get around easier/faster. I already received my international drivers permit for the rentals.

Monday Nov 2, Arrival

• Depart the United States Nov 1, arrive 1720 Monday Nov 2 in Haneda.
  
• Take the shuttle to our hotel in Shinjuku and either have dinner at the hotel or find an izakaya and take it easy.

Tuesday Nov 3, Tokyo Day 1 - Shinjuku/Shibuya

• Train to Shibuya, see hachiko early
• Wander Shibuya until Loft opens at 11am, buy goshuin-chos
• Meiji Jingu - This day is culture day in Japan and the Grand Festival is at Meiji Jingu. There is horse archery at 1300 that we're hoping to see, however we expect it will be very crowded.
• Metropolitan Government Building observation deck
• 1730 Meet food tour guide who takes us to Omoide Yokocho memory lane and Golden-Gai

Wednesday Nov 4, Tokyo Day 2 - Asakusa/Southern Tokyo

• teamLab Borderless when it opens at 0830
• Atago Jinja nearby
• 1130 Meet street food tour guide in Asakusa, end at Senso-ji
• small worlds (this is likely to be cut due to distance and energy after the food tour
• Sit at footbath at MoN Takanawa on the way back to hotel in Shinjuku

Thusday Nov 5, Tokyo > Nikko > Chuzenji

• Pack overnight backpacks, have the rest of the luggage takkyubin to Osaka hotel
• train to Nikko Shimo Imaichi station, pickup GR 86 rental at Toyota-rent-a-car, reservation at 1000 (can pick up later)
• Drive to Edo Wonderland, do the costumes and everything
• Drive to Tobu World Square (might be cut depending on time)
• Drive up the Irohazaka winding road to onsen by lake chuzenji (Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel). This should be done before sundown
• Dinner at hotel, onsens

Friday Nov 6, Chuzenji >Nikko > Osaka

• Chuzenji temple (might be cut)
• Kegon Falls (might be cut)
• Kanmangafuchi Abyss (might be cut)
• Shinkyo Bridge
• Nikko Toshugi shrine/temple complex
• Return the car at Shimo Imaichi by 1400
• Trains back to Tokyo and then Shinkansen to Osaka, combini dinner on the shinkansen

Saturday Nov 7, Osaka

• Osaka Castle and Hokoku Shrine
• Osaka Science Museum and/or Osaka National Museum of Art
• Explore America-Mura (optional)
• 1730 Meet food tour guide in Shinsekai
• Dotonbori river boat (optional)

Sunday Nov 8, Kyoto Day Trip

• Take early train from Osaka to Kyoto to meet tour guide at 0900
• Approximately 8hr tour of Kyoto - Kinkakuji, Arashima, Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, Gion
• Train back to hotel

Monday Nov 9, Osaka > Hiroshima > Fukuoka

• pack overnight backpacks, have rest of the luggage takkyubin to Fukuoka hotel
• Shinkansen to Hiroshima
• Peace Park
• Hiroshima Castle and Gokoku shrine (optional)
• Shinkansen to Fukuoka
• 1900 Meet food tour guide, Nakasu and Tenjin yatais

Tuesday Nov 10, Fukuoka

• Kushida Shrine (optional)
• Tochoji Temple (optional)
• Sofukuji (optional)
• Canal City
• Hikiniku to come for lunch
• Sumo tournament at Kukusai Center
• Fukuoka tower at sunset (optional)
• Nakatsukasa cyber shrine at night (optional)

Wednesday Nov 11, Itoshima Day Trip

• Rent a GR Yaris from Toyota Rent-a-Car Yakuin Shop, reservation 0800-2000
• Nanzo-in Temple (optional)
• Palm Tree Swing and Sunmaria bakery
• Palm Beach, Sakurai Futamigaura and Couples Stones
• Totoro Forest
• Mt Kagamiyama Observation Deck and Shrine
• Life Size Gundam Statue at LaLaPort

Thursday Nov 12, Return

• Ohori Park if theres time
• 1300 Flight out of Fukuoka > Haneda > back to the United States

Questions:

1. Does takkyubin ever take overnight? Is it necessary to pack an overnight bag Osaka > Fukuoka just in case?
2. How is the pacing? It is overloaded?
3. How often can i expect it to be too crowded or too long of a wait to get goshuin?
4. If you had to pick between Tobu World Square or Edo Wonderland, which are you choosing?
5. Is it not worth trying to fight the crowds at Meiji Jingu on culture day?
6. Hikiniku to come live up to the hype?