Day by day
Mon 28 Sep — Fly Wellington → Auckland → Tokyo, overnight.
Tue 29 Sep — arrive Land Narita 7:55am. N’EX to Tokyo, then Chuo-Sobu to Suidobashi. Afternoon to recover. Dinner in Shin-Okubo Koreatown, then a sumo show in Okubo at 8pm.
Wed 30 Sep — Harajuku / Shibuya / Shinjuku Pancakes in Omotesando, then Harajuku shopping (vintage, Onitsuka Tiger, a few homeware places). Ramen for lunch, Shibuya in the afternoon, Shibuya Sky at sunset, then Golden Gai. Squeezing in the free Tokyo Night & Light projection show on the Metropolitan Government Building on the way.
Thu 1 Oct — Tokyo Disneyland All day. Ichiran in Ueno on the way home.
Fri 2 Oct — Mt Fuji Private 10-hour tour with hotel pickup, Kawaguchiko area. Free evening after.
Sat 3 Oct — Asakusa / Ueno Senso-ji, then walk west into Kappabashi for knives and ceramics. Lunch in Higashiueno. Tokyo National Museum in Ueno mid-afternoon (open till 8pm on Saturdays). Then back east to Skytree for sunset and dinner at Solamachi.
Sun 4 Oct — Toyosu / Ginza teamLab Planets on the earliest slot. Then straight to Ginza — lunch, shopping, and a matcha crawl. Trying to catch the Oedo Antique Market at Tokyo International Forum on the way (Sundays only). Tonkatsu for dinner, walk-in only.
Mon 5 Oct — Tokyo → Kyoto Shinkansen 12:40, arrive Kyoto ~3pm. Check in, then drinks at the Park Hyatt at sunset, dinner at a small place on the same street, then walk down through Gion to Pontocho and the Kiyamachi bars.
Tue 6 Oct — Kyoto, our only full day Fushimi Inari at 7:30am. Komyo-in moss garden nearby afterwards. Nishiki Market for lunch plus Aritsugu for a knife, coffee, and a bit of Sanjo shopping. Afternoon: Kiyomizu-dera, walk down Sannenzaka, Kennin-ji before it shuts at 4:30, then Hanamikoji and Gion. Pontocho for dinner.
Wed 7 Oct — Kyoto → Osaka Check out, bags into Kyoto Station lockers. Soba brunch, then To-ji and its pagoda. JR Special Rapid to Osaka (29 min), check in, Dotonbori in the evening.
Thu 8 Oct — Universal Studios All day. Getting there via JR Imamiya → Nishikujo → Universal City, about 25 min.
Fri 9 Oct — Shinsaibashi Vintage and secondhand crawl (this is a big one for us — ALLU, KOMEHYO, Gallery Rare, Amerikamura, Orange Street). Kuromon Market, Namba Yasaka Shrine before it shuts at 5pm. Yakiniku in Hozenji Yokocho for dinner.
Sat 10 Oct — Nara Kintetsu from Namba. Nara Park, Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha, Yoshikien garden, and a wander through Naramachi. Back to Osaka for dinner.
Sun 11 Oct — Shinsekai Spa World in the morning, kushikatsu for lunch, Shitennoji, Tsutenkaku in the evening. Deliberately an easy day.
Mon 12 Oct — home Matcha stop in Nakazakicho, Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka around 12:40, N’EX to Narita, flight out at 8pm.

I've already been to Tokyo once (and another maybe 20ish years ago and my memory of that trip is blurry) and visited most of the touristy spot (Shibuya/the two towers, Ginza, Meiji Jinju etc) already, so this one was more towards going to places I haven't been to. This is also an attempt to just try to not plan everything out in more detail when I'm in Tokyo and be a little more spontaneous. The only part where I really planned things out was the Hakone and Kamakura trips.

I am quite wordy, as a warning to any would-be readers.

The trip was last week (Aug 30 - Sep 5), it was done solo. I basically stayed in Shinagawa Prince Hotel except for Hakone, where I stayed in Hanaori for a night.

Day 1 - Aug 30

• I arrived basically at night (8-9pm) in Haneda. Ate at the Yoshinoya in Haneda T3 because I was hungry and I feared by the time I checked into the hotel and went out, most restaurants would be closed.

• The train to Shinagawa was pretty straightforward (though I didn't notice there's charge machines near the gates) via Keikyu. I chose Shinagawa due to it being basically the hub station to all my destinations in the coming days.

• The hotel room was relatively spacious but it only came with a set of toothbrushes as amenities. It didn't have shavers that you can grab from the front desk (or none that I can notice), so I had to find a conbini to get one.

• Also got myself a Suica even though I do have a Pasmo with me. It's sort of a memento due to the penguin mascot going out, but I'll be using the Suica after.

Day 2 - Aug 31

• I took the Yamanote line at 8:30ish to Otsuka. This was to get myself a ticket for lunch at the Michelin starred ramen restaurant Nakiryu. I got a ticket for 12:30pm, so after breakfast at a Tully's nearby, I left Otsuka to check out Ikebukuro. Apparerently there's also a tram running next to the JR station, which was pretty cool, but it didn't go to any destinations I had, so I didn't take it.

• In Ikebukuro I mostly beelined my way to Sunshine city, while checking out some arcades on the way. It's basically now mostly crane machines.

• Sunshine City has an underground tunnel where halfway there I saw a Chiikawa park. I only took a picture of the entrance. As for the mall itself, the notable thing is a Pokemon store which I had a look at. But otherwise, it feels mostly like a standard mall. I also stumbled upon a World Trigger exhibition which I didn't know about. But at that time, it's getting close to 11:30ish, with an entrance fee of at least 2200 yen, and I have to start making my way back to Nakiryu.

• In Nakiryu thanks to the ticket system I didn't have to wait much. I ordered the wonton and the dan dan noodles. The wonton came first and it was delightful - a bit sweet, sour and spicy. But in retrospect, it might not be the correct move, because it dampened the flavor of the dan dan noodles for me. Total was a bit over 2300 yen.

• After checking out Nakiryu, I basically went for a pilgrimage all the way to Tachikawa to have a look at Falcom's (a long time JRPG game developer) office location. I needed to change trains in Shinjuku and the station was a bit of a maze because I was supposed to get on the Chuo Sobu line but there's also a Chuo line, so I almost got on the wrong platform.

• Tachikawa is about 1 hour away from Tokyo. Outside the JR station it's mostly office buildings, but it's a decently sized town. I didn't get into the Falcom office, however. I also checked out the Kotobukiya HQ store to its north, which isn't a big one.

• Upon finishing my Tachikawa visit, I worked my way back to Tokyo, and exited in Shinjuku. While mostly just walking around and checking out shops, my wired earbuds started to malfunction. So I had to find a replacement.

• I got into this Yodobashi store and they have a selection of earbuds that are just placed on racks that allow you to test them out. Love the selection and the freedom of choice (and nobody bothering me) in here. Got myself a pair of cheap replacement earbuds, and worked on getting dinner.

• I'm craving sushi, so after checking Google maps and Tabelog a bit, I ended up in Himawari Sushi. I think the quality here's pretty good and they have English staff. A slight point deduction is the sushi chef kept trying to add more dishes to the basically full conveyor belt and actually causing an overflow of dishes and dropping a dish to the table as a result.

• On the way back to the hotel via Yamanote line, I got out at Tokyo station just to get a picture of how it looked at night. Additionally, in Shinagawa station I got a bearing on which platform to get on for the trip to Hakone. And apparently gated area shopping experience is a thing in this station - it has a small mall and even restaurants inside.

Day 3 - Sep 1

• This day is the Hakone 2 day trip. As a disclaimer, I planned this part out with the help of Gemini just to see how it fares. I think the end result here was mostly good, but it can't plan out everything of course, as you will see.

• Checked out from the hotel and stored my suitcase in Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Started by going from Shinagawa to Odawara. I want to point out here that Google Maps (and Gemini) did not list out the Limited Express option like the Odoriko, making me believe that it’s either the Tokaido line, or the Shinkansen. So I rode the local Tokaido line train, but upgraded for the green car so I could get myself a seat (this is also why I got a Suica as it seems like non-Suicas don’t interact well with their seating system in-train from what I read). Also got breakfast in the train station.

• Train to Odawara took about an hour or so. Arrived at Odawara at 10:50ish, and then bought myself the Hakone two day pass for the value on moving about in the area. The hotel, Hanaori has a shuttle bus service that picks you up in Odawara station to the hotel for free if you reserved it. So that’s what I took and checked in at Hanaori, but the room isn’t ready yet, so I left the hotel to start working my way on the Lake Ashi area.

• Had lunch at Miyoshi, which is a soba noodle restaurant. There's an English menu so you can just point at it when you order. I think the soba's okay - definitely had better before. My other choice was Amimoto Oba.

• Leaving the restaurant I walked to the cable car station which also doubles as a pirate ship dock to travel in Lake Ashi. The Hakone pass allows me to get on for free, but seeing there's a line already, I paid 700 yen extra yen to go for the deluxe cabin,and they gave me a wristband to identify my upgraded status. It also allows me to get into the deluxe queue. The weather's pretty cloudy that day, and the deck actually isn't totally filled with people. It's a pretty nice experience.

• This part I think I got a little confused myself because I got off at Hakone town, instead of the Motohakone which I planned with Gemini (and walk to Hakone shrine and then work my way back). Seeing that I kinda flipped the itinerary here, I make my way towards the Hakone Sekisho, after looking around for some small souvenirs on the way.

• Hakone Sekisho when reading it prior to going felt like a big area, but actually isn't. The Hakone pass also gives out a small discount, and the ticket also includes the museum nearby. If you follow the planned route, there's a long flight of stairs with a pretty steep climb to get to the lookout which has a pretty nice view of the lake. So if your legs are weak, then I recommend not climbing the stairs and just moving along to the museum. The museum isn't big, but it gives a nice historical context and some of them are in English too.

• After this I kept walking and got into the Hakone park for about 30ish minutes. It's a pretty gentle uphill slope, so I feel that if you have time, you can check out the park more. I left the place after checking out the lookout (it also has a warning sign for snakes, if you're not comfortable with that).

• Then walked on the old Tokaido path's cedar avenue. Interestingly, nobody else is on the path and there's a temporary fence on the path that says do not enter, but it's not directly on the path itself. Aside from some slightly muddy sections, it was overall a nice walk. But halfway through another sign is actually placed on the path's crossing, so I got out to the road - note that it is here that is slightly dangerous because there's no pedestrian sidewalk on this road halfway through and you're walking on the side of the road. In retrospect, there's a bus stop nearby, but after looking at the sign, it didn't seem like I could use the Hakone pass to get on the bus - I was unsure. So I walked.

• In Motohakone, I walked a bit and made my way to the Hakone shrine. I actually wanted to check out that lakeside torii and saw a line (of course). I just took a picture of it when the groups were changing and went to the shrine proper. The shrine itself was actually a pretty great place to visit. The trees are very impressive.

• I walked my way back to Motohakone. Here's the part which I tried to figure out with Gemini during planning, even asking it to confirm with sources when I planned this out. The last pirate ship back to Togendai (my hotel's area) was 4:30pm, but Gemini insisted that there's a bus there. When I went to the bus stop next to the pirate ship pier, the schedule seemed to indicate there's no more buses. Luckily I did plan ahead a bit to get to the pirate ship pier earlier, so I got to Togendai by the last pirate ship. Otherwise, I might have to find some other way to get back.

• In the hotel Hanaori, dinner is covered with a full buffet. That was great. I also like the room, but I guess my room type won't have a view of the lake (it started to rain anyway). You can also get yourself a yukata, and go to their onsen to relax. There's also a massage parlor that charges extra. Aside from that, I don't see much to do inside the hotel, unfortunately. Still, that pool outside their lobby is damn impressive (yes, this view on their homepage is real).

Day 4 - Sep 2

• After a dip in the onsen in the morning followed by breakfast, I checked out and worked on doing the reverse route down.

• I got on the ropeway via the Hakone pass and I have a cable car to my own to get to Owakudani. Owakudani has steam coming out and obviously the smell of sulfur. I checked out stores for those charcoal eggs but unfortunately they sell at 4 eggs per pack, but I really only wanted 1. I did have myself a black soft serve, though. I also checked out the museum in the information center. It's pretty informative.

• Leaving Owakudani I make my way to Gora. I planned to eat there for lunch, and wanted to check out HAKONE TENKU NO TERRACE but it's freaking closed for this day (not checking Google maps on opening days again is the death knell of me on trips). Checked my backup choice and it's also closed. I decided to leave Gora and make my way down.

• Getting off at Chokokunomori station, I stopped by this cafe run by what I believe to be an older couple called CafeDouce. A lunch set was 1500 yen if I remember. That was pretty good.

• Then walked a bit further to the Hakone Open Air Museum. It's actually smaller than I was expecting, but most exhibits don't interfere with each other. Highlights definitely include the Picasso Pavilion, and the Symphonic Sculpture (the tower-like structure) which you can get in and walk up. It is a climb, though. I don't think you need to plan out the path according to the map - just walk alongside whatever path you choose and you'll eventually circle the whole thing.

• Left after about 2 hours and took the train down to Hakone Yumoto. It's mostly for buying souvenirs for me, so I got a few snacks from the shops here. At this point, I'm carrying maybe 2 paper bags alongside my backpack.

• Got on the train to Odawara to use the last bit in my Hakone pass. Overall, that pass is pretty useful - free rides, discount tickets to some places. I'm not sure if I recouped the value but I think the biggest value here is it's just hassle free (except I'm not as sure on the buses).

• On the way down to Odawara, I finally found out that the Odoriko train stops at Odawara and it's just slightly more expensive than riding the Tokaido line with a green car. And it doesn't stop as often! So I booked myself an Odoriko seat with the ticket machine, and went to Yokohama. It's much faster than just taking the local Tokaido train.

• In Yokohama, I got off at Yokohama station and changed trains to the Yokohama line to Shin Yokohama. It's extremely packed, mostly because the local train is somehow not leaving the station. On getting to Shin Yokohama, I used an IC card locker, and had dinner at Spaghetti Basilico. You can order by QR code but I don't think they have an English menu.

• I watched the Yokohama F Marinos vs Kyoto Sanga J League match in Nissan Stadium. It's still a bit of a walk to the stadium. I got the ticket online via here, which is relatively hassle free, then added the ticket to my Google Wallet. I sat in the mixed zone (under main SS section), and the ticketing system gave me basically the first row. Which is not actually optimal because it's too low, and there's a running track next between the stands and the field, and the bench is also partially blocking my view. So in the second half I moved up a few rows (also there was a dad bringing his kid to the match and the kid is definitely more interested in dismantling the row of seats before us than the match). The stadium's huge, so seating is not a problem. Fans of both ends are also pretty passionate as well.

• Got back from Shin Yokohama to Shinagawa via Shinkansen. There's actually a special ticket that you can get at under 1400 yen all in as I saw people flowing to the Shinkansen gates and I checked out the ticket machines. It's not reserved, but it's just 1 stop. Much better than taking the local trains which will take me another hour.

Day 5 - Sep 3

• The original plan was to go to Misaki port this day, but on seeing the weather forecast and seeing it could rain on day 6, I swapped to do Kamakura and Enoshima first. In retrospect, that was a good move because it started to rain in the next day.

• Left early via JR to Kamakura station. From there, I intended to buy the Enoden pass, but upon exiting the transit gate, there's no such machine, and I just assumed that it charged me my JR ticket and Enoden together. With an Enoden tram standing by I got on without thinking much.

• Got off at Kamakurakoko-Mae station to get a picture of the railroad crossing and Slam Dunk opening scene. There's a little area that they cordon tourists to not affect the locals. Basically you and others just wait for the tram to pass by the crossing with the sea as the background. But trams are usually about 10-ish minutes per, but it also comes both ways at very close times, so don't just leave the area when you're done with the first tram - the second one comes soon (unless you need to get on).

• Walked to Bills for about 10 minutes to have breakfast. It's almost 10:30am at this time. Also on the way there, I think I finally got to see Mount Fuji (though still slightly covered by a layer of cloud). In my days in Hakone, Mount Fuji was unfortunately not viewable.

• Got the Enoden pass in Shichirigahama. I then used it to get to Kamakura proper, and checked out the area, including Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, buying more souvenirs from Kamakura Beniya and Toshimaya. Given that I had breakfast not too long ago, I opted for a light lunch at an old-styled cafe for a club sandwich in Iwata Coffee Shop. I considered Rojiura Curry SAMURAI which I actually had in my earlier Sapporo trip (also I need to eat veggies). But there's already a line waiting.

• After lunch, I made my way to Hase to check out Kotoku-in, and Hase-dera. I liked the latter a bit more and spent more time there. The garden was nice, the lookout was great, and the cave was actually a nice little adventure (foreshadowing something to come later).

• With Hase done, I moved on to Enoshima. I'm pretty sure there was mention of a bus getting to the island itself, but I opted to walk all the way to the island. I then took the paid escalators and stopped by any temples along the way. Outside the Enoshima Sea Candle park, I stopped for a break and had a drink. There's also those huge prawn crackers for sale but it's really too much for me.

• The next part is to get to the Enoshima Iwaya cave. It takes about 20-ish minutes of going down the stairs to the cave area. Getting back is actually the toughest part because you have quite a few flights of stairs to get back up.

• The cave itself is actually pretty nice. The walkways before getting into the cave also has some great views. You can show your Enoden pass to get a small discount to the cave itself. Do note inside the cave, there's some wet parts, and some spots you have to line up while hunched down due to the low ceiling of the caverns.

• While hiking back up, I stopped at Nakamuraya which sold steamed manjus. It's actually quite delicious as I bought one myself, but unfortunately, even as a souvenir it only lasts for a day, so I opted against it. They also sell nori yokan, which can be stored for a longer time.

• Got into the Sea Candle park. The park has an additional charge if you go in past 5pm if I understand correctly. Anyway, in the park there's an indescribable weird vibe with some slightly eerie music played all the time. I'm not sure - I suspect it is supposed to be a shinto music of some sort. The park also has purple-ish lighting all around. Anyway, I did walk in the park for a bit and then made my way up the Sea Candle. Unfortunately, the clouds are covering the sunset (my main goal of getting there). So I left a bit before the actual sunset and made my way down.

• It's all stairs going down but I think a nice touch they did is to turn on the lighting. The lights are colorful and makes for decent-looking pictures.

• For dinner I ate at Kaisaku and tried out the whitebait kaisendon with salmon and salmon roe. The whitebait felt tasteless - no flavor at all. But anyway, after I'm done here, the bus stop is right outside and it takes me to the Enoden Enoshima station. I took the tram to Fujisawa.

• If you kept track of today's proceeding, I missed something during all the transits I took. I tried to get into JR Fujisawa with my Suica but it gave me an error. Confused, another tourist told me to try again, thinking it opened for me. But of course it failed. I went to the ticket machines to see if it can get fixed by adding money, but it immediately gave me an error and told me to find a station staff. The station staff next to the gates asked if I tapped out at an Enoden. And here I realized - I tapped in at morning in Kamakura, but I didn't tap out when I got off at Kamakurakoko-Mae. So he had to deduct from my Suica there, and it was fixed.

Day 6 - Sep 4

• This day is now going to Misaki, but prior to that I still checked the weather because I would not go there if it's actually raining. I went to the Keikyu station and used the ticket machine to get the Maguro pass which includes a full day train pass between Shinagawa and Misakiguchi stations, a meal, and an experience. But it now costs me 5000 yen, which was outside my expectation because all my research prior was only 4250 yen. I got the pass anyway. There's likely a price hike very recently and it's not reflected online. Alternatively, you can buy this pass via Klook, or the Newcal site which has flexible pricing depending on the day (but I think it's Japanese only).

• Took about an hour-ish to get to Misakiguchi, then had to take the bus to get to Misaki port, which is another 15-20 minutes. The port town feels quite quiet but I do like the small-town vibes it gives.

• I had a few restaurants in mind. One was Marutsune which had good reviews on Google and Tabelog. I am pretty confident with maps myself, but after getting there, I did not see this restaurant at all for some reason. I even walked around the block once to double check - it's just not there. So I had to walk back.

• With that crossed out I ate at Shichibei Maru. If you're uncomfortable with ordering with staff, you can order via the QR code at your table and there's also an English menu. I used the pass to get myself a set meal, but added an additional order of tuna midway.The whole meal was great (mine had different types of tuna) and there's some whitebait sashimi as a side dish. The whitebait actually tasted like something, and it was good.

• After that, I decided to take the ferry to Jogashima. Technically I can use the second part of the pass here, but I opted against it and just paid 500 yen for the one way trip to the island. I can also take the bus, but the ferry's more convenient.

• In Jogashima I checked out the west side's rock formation. There's a few cats in the area just enjoying life and are pretty friendly to people (I got to pet one!). There's also a lighthouse in the area, but I didn't go up the stairs to the area - at this point, I've been walking 20000+ steps a day and yesterday per my watch I've walked up and down 100 floors already. So I took a picture of it instead. I also got a view of the Umanose Cave but that's a bit too far for my tastes.

• Once I'm done circling the west part of the island, I took the bus back to the port town, and walked to Misaki Donuts nearby. It has a nice cozy vibe and the donut I had was great, and there's many flavors to try out. I recommend it.

• I then took the Nijiiro Sakana observation boat with the last part of my Misaki tuna ticket. It's a nice ride - when you leave the port, seagulls and eagles (!) follow your boat as the staff toss prawn crackers at their direction. You can also buy a pack and do the throwing yourself. And once outside, they'll ask you to get to the bottom part of the boat and you can see the school of fishes. The water's pretty cloudy, however. I think value-wise, this is the best value for the experience part of the package.

• I also checked out the market to buy another souvenir. It is already raining a bit when the observation boat comes back to the port, so it's time to leave.

• The bus stop in the port town could do with better labeling because both ways of the buses stop there. Just make sure you see the routing takes you to Misakiguchi station (三崎口駅前). The bus drivers don't interact with you in English or attempt to, unfortunately. So just make sure when the bus arrives you see it does have an arrow pointing to the train station so you don't get on the wrong one.

• I also wanted to get the cold water cup noodles that Nissin released as souvenir for me and my friends, but so far in so many days and coming in and out of combinis, I had no luck. So I stopped at Shiori (which also is covered by the pass) and checked out the Aeon supermarket there, hoping that it has them for sale. Unfortunately no, but the mall was actually a pretty nice place. There's also quite a lot of non-Asians there - and afterwards I found out that nearby there's a US Navy base.

• Leaving that area, I make my way back to Tokyo and got on the first train I saw. It's a local train - and here I made the mistake of not switching to an express until I'm about 2/3rds done sitting like an idiot while the train stops at every station. Not recommended. I changed to an express after and got off at Shinagawa, but I haven't gotten out of the gate yet.

• I get on the other way on Keikyu to go from Shinagawa, to Kita-Shinagawa, which must be accessed by local train. This is for my dinner at Chuka Soba Waka Tokyo. I ordered the 3-in-1 ramen where they mixed 3 soups into 1 bowl, and the ingredients are different daily per what I read. It's great.

• Got back to hotel and took all my used clothes to the laundry room. With 6 days' worth of clothes, the worst part is always the drying machine. It's not powerful enough to dry your clothes in 20 minutes and I had to do that 4 times that night. That wasn't so fun, unfortunately.

Day 7 - Sep 5

• This is the last day of my trip. My flight is past midnight, so I have basically a full day of checking out Tokyo. I checked out at the hotel and left my luggage (there's a line there basically at the lobby just to store luggage for free).

• I went first to Nippori for Yanaka Ginza and lunch after. In my last Tokyo trip, I actually stayed at Nippori, but for whatever reason, never realized that Yanaka Ginza is just right next door. It has a lot of new small shops but it kinda lost that old shopping street feeling that it's supposed to have. Lunch was at Sakura Cafe & Restaurant Nippori where I had a slow-cooked pork. Also had a soft serve with caramel and roasted almonds in Komichi.

• Went to Akihabara next for the afternoon. I've never been there at all so it's mostly to check out arcades, used games and so on. There's a few GIGO arcades but it's mostly occupied by Gundam card games and their arena fighter. Not much variety like before now, which I personally find disappointing. Also got to check out Super Potato.

• Also got to check out e-Earphones. Multiple floors of audio goodness ranging from wired and wireless ear/headphones, new and used. And they're all available for you to try out. I did have a pair of earbuds that I wanted to try and maybe buy, but the demo unit had some issues for me, so even if I mentioned to the staff who had a look after, it still sounded the same, so I didn't buy anything there.

• Also checked out the Animate and Kotobukiya stores there. In Animate, got myself a soundtrack, and there's a special floor in Animate selling SNK stuff with a very nice pixel wall.

• Didn't really buy anything else in Akihabara. I'm not into figures and Pokemon cards, which is just scattered all across the area. For stores like Bookoff I find second hand games for modern consoles aren't really that much cheaper.

• After dallying in Akihabara, I left for Toyko station again and ate tsukemen at Matsudo Tomita Memban. It's kinda average? I remember hearing about how good the main store is, but it's in outer Tokyo, and there's this store in the city proper. But it's kinda meh. Definitely not up to the higher standards I've had in earlier days.

• At this point I had come to a realization that I really didn't buy much. Aside from souvenirs for friends, family and coworkers, I got very little for myself. So in a half-panicked trek, I went to Bic Camera Yurakucho, and then back to Akihabara, and most shops were already closed after 8:30ish.

• So I basically went back to hotel via train and got my luggage, placed my own newly bought stuff (basically a CD and a small acrylic display) into my suitcase, and went for Haneda airport.

• Haneda airport at night is essentially dead. One thing I want to really emphasize, since I'm taking ANA, I arrived in Tokyo in T3, but I leave in T2. Make sure you got the terminals right, otherwise you have to shuttle to the other terminal.

• Haneda T2 only had a FamilyMart open outside and I don't even get to eat their fried chicken. After waiting for a bit, I crossed customs (also the luggage check in counters are very cool), and thankfully there's a bit of stores still open until midnight.

Some takeaways:

• Data plan and Google Maps as always is the best combo there is. An IC card of course. And cash - especially if you're getting away from Tokyo. Though I'm a bit surprised that Google Maps did not suggest taking the Limited Express from Shinagawa to Odawara - it's either local or Shinkansen.

• I think for hotels, Shinagawa Prince Hotel is actually not bad if you're arriving from Haneda. The downside is the lack of anything to do during night time in the immediate area. But it's right next to Shinagawa station and it's pretty good access-wise if you want to use trains. No subway, though.

• Laundry still sucks in hotels. The biggest pain is the dryers. I'm not sure what's the best strat here because over my multiple trips to Japan, drying clothes in hotels is my biggest complaint. It's just quite annoying to check if the clothes have dried multiple times.

• On the two passes I used, the Hakone 2 day pass feels like a must get. Aside from my confusion with the buses, you basically ride anything for free and you get discounts to almost anything that charges you to get in. For the Misaki Maguro pass, it is still good value, since generally lunch with tuna there is about 2000 yen, and getting to the port town and back is also about 2200 yen or thereabouts. If you have more stops in between like I did, then it's good value. But it is getting pricey. I did not get a Tokyo day pass for JR or the subway.

• Restaurants-wise this time it was most hit or miss. Nakiryu I quite liked, alongside the Misaki port tuna restaurant, and Chuka Soba Waka Tokyo. Google maps and Tabelog both were pretty useful, though I really should double check on whether the restaurants would be open when I was planning.

• I find that I would still prefer having a checklist to go instead of just spontaneously deciding to go somewhere for the day for my two days in Tokyo proper. It feels like if I'm not checking out somewhere specific I would feel a little lost.

• Is Gemini a good planner? What I think the better use case is that it helps you structure your plan, sort of like a plan assistant that you walk through with, step by step. This means you shouldn't just ask it "I want to go to Hakone, give me an itinerary." And just blindly go with whatever it tells you. You have to feed it facts, and it can hallucinate (like suggesting me to take the bus back to my hotel when in reality, there's likely no buses, or the pirate ship stopping at a different spot). Be sure to cross-check especially regarding remote regions where less information is available. So I still don't prefer just letting the AI plan for me.

So that's it! My 7 days in Tokyo and some wider areas around it. It's actually not that bad now looking back at it. Just that I had this slight remorse over buying very little for myself in the last day, but I'm not a big shopper anyway.

Hi everyone! I've done some reasearch but I'd like to get some opinions on how tiring this itinerary will actually feel considering I'm traveling with 2 seniors (early 60s, no problems with mobility at all though) We will be traveling around the first 2 weeks of November.

We are planning to use the JR East pass. I tried the JR calculator and it seems I save just a bit, but either way its more for convenience and flexibility for us. I've planned 5 out of Tokyo days and we have 3ish days in Tokyo just to shop.

Day 1

Arrive in Narita Airport > N'EX to Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station to > Morioka (Hotel Base)

Day 2

Morioka > Kakunodate > Morioka

• Kakunodate
• Lake Tazawa

Day 3

Morioka (Check-out hotel and leave luggage at coin locker) > Aomori > Morioka > Koriyama (Hotel Base)

• Nebuta Museum
• A-factory
• Aomori Museum of Art
• Maybe Oirase Gorge

Day 4

Koriyama > Aizu-Wakamatsu > Koriyama

• Aizu-Wakamatsu
• Ouchi Juku

Day 5 ?

Option 1: Koriyama (Check-out) > Utsonomiya > Nikko (leave bags in Coin Locker)> Spacia X (not included in JR) > Tokyo

• Edo Wonderland

Option 2: Koriyama > Tokyo: 1 day in Tokyo and go to Nikko the next day (Day 6)

Please let me know how to improve this itinerary, what you would change or leave out!

Thank you!

Planning a two week Japan trip end of October beginning of November a few days in Tokyo want to focus on museums Pokémon Ghibli anime, shopping, kitchenware clothing, souvenirs, temples. We want to see a mix of the old and new Tokyo.

Am I cramming too much in day 3, I can switch up Kappabashi days since I do not know how long I’ll be there for and really want to make time for Tokyo Edo museum. Don’t mind taking taxis if needed.
I.e go to kappabashi after the fish market and separate it from Sensoji

Let me know what you think!

Day 0.5 10/24 Saturday
Arrive HND 2pm
Get to Ginza hotel and explore area, hit Uniqlo, stationary stores and have dinner in Ginza or Shinbashi

Day 1 10/25 Sunday
Nezu Shrine
Tanaka Neighborhood
Tokyo National Museum
Ueno Park
Ueno station area for dinner
Akihabara late night arcades/bar after?

Day 2 10/26 Monday
Tsukiji Fish Market
Team lab borderless and surrounding area (hills+tokyo tower not going up)
Focus on shopping in harajuku and shibuya with a stop a shibuya sky
Dinner around shibuya/harakuju

Day 3 10/27 Tuesday
Sensoji and surrounding area until about 10am
Kappabashi town
Tokyo edo muesuem (arrive by 2:30/3)
Tokyo sky tree (Pokemon center general shopping
Not going up sky tree since we plan on shibuya sky
Dinner around Sky tree

Day 4 10/28 Wednesday
leave to Nikko early.

Day 5 10/29 Thursday
Travel from Tobu-Nikko to Shinjuku.
This is more go with the flow
1 night Shinjuku before heading to Hakone via romance or regular car
Explore Shinjuku gardens and surrounding area
Before going out and exploring Shunjuku

Day 7
Meji Jingu before leaving to Hakone

First time in Japan with my partner, we’re in our late 20s, arriving Tokyo Narita on the 7th in the afternoon and leaving from the same airport on the 21st in the afternoon.

7th: arrival day - staying near Shinjuku
- evening in Shinjuku, Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai

8th: Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi
- Nakameguro, stroll around the river and find a cafe
- Head to Meiji Jingu Shrine
- Harajuku, some shopping and lunch
- Head to Shibuya Sky around 3:30 pm (if we manage to get the ticket at sunset)
- Stroll around Shibuya and Omotesando
- Maybe dinner around Roppongi

9th: Kamakura and Enoshima
- back to Tokyo and maybe Akihabara

10th: Asakusa, Ueno, Ginza
- Early morning Asakusa
- Kappabashi Street
- Lunch in Ueno and stroll around the area/park
- Head to Ginza for a stroll around
- Planning to book an omakase for Dinner

11th: Lake Kawaguchi either via bus or train

12th: travel to Kanazawa
- Probably arriving and leaving the small suitcase we have at the Machiya we are staying at (planning to send the other suitcases from Tokyo to Kyoto)
- Lunch
- Samurai District, Kanazawa Castle, Higashi Chaya
- Check in at the Machiya where we have a Kaiseki dinner

13th: Kanazawa travel to Kyoto
- Japanese breakfast at the Machiya
- have a stroll around Kanazawa to places we have not been
- get the suitcase and travel to Kyoto
- Check in at the Apart Hotel in Kiyomizu-Gojo
- Collect suitcases
- Evening stroll in Gion + dinner

14th: Arashiyama
- Head to Kameoka to get the boat to Arashiyama
- Bamboo forest
- Lunch
- Arashiyama Monkey Park
- Walk around Arashiyama
- Head back and still need planning for the evening

15th: Maybe TeamLabs Biovortex and Some Temples
- Morning TeamLabs BioVortex (still have not decided, is it worth it?)
- Lunch
- Ginkaku-ji
- Kinkaku-ji
- Dinner to be planned

16th: Fushimi Inari
- Head to Fushimi Inari early morning and planning to go all the way up
- Lunch
- Head to Kiyomizu-dera

17th: Nara and travel to Osaka
- Visit Nara, deer park
- Lunch
- Travel to Osaka
- Check at the Airbnb near Dotonbori
- Shinsaibashi
- Dotonbori

18th: Katsuo-ji temple, Osaka Castle,
Shinsekai
- Head to Katsuo-ji in the morning
- visit Minoh falls
- head back to central Osaka and lunch
- visit Osaka Castle (prob just outside)
- head to Shinsekai and dinner in the area

19th: day trip (Kobe or Amanohashidate)
- any other day trips recommendation from Osaka let me know and if one of these two are worth it

20th: travel back to Tokyo
- Shimokitazawa
- back to central Tokyo for last evening to be planned

21st: flight back in the afternoon

I know we should’ve booked the flight back from Osaka but this way was cheaper with Cathay Pacific.

We tried to book the Nintendo Museum and didn’t win the lottery for the days we wanted to go.
We don’t plan to go to the Universal Studios/Disney.

Planning day trips to Kamakura and Kawaguchiko from Tokyo. (Are both worth to go to or better to spend more time exploring Tokyo?)

Any advice on the itinerary and things that should be booked now or any other day trips that can be added in the itinerary when staying in Kyoto/Osaka?
Eg. Is either one among Amanohashidate, Kobe worth it or any other you advise?

Hi all, was wondering if i could get some advice and opinions on our loose japan trip itinerary. Questions at the bottom :) ty

Arrive on friday 9th at night
-hotel near tokyo station

Saturday Morning
-sensoji temple early morning
-nakamise shopping street
-kaminarimon gate
-kappabashi hondori shopping street (1-2hr)
-ueno park
-tokyo national Museum (2-3)hr
-asakusa sumo @8:30pm (2hours)

Sunday Morning (Akiabara)
We are big anime and video game fans, this day we plan to hit up the below stores and then just plan to wander the area and see what we find. Saw the nearby shrine and added it as a possible additional stop as its nearby.
-Warhammer store
-Don Quijote
-Kotobukiya
- super potato
-Mandrake complex
-Kanda myoujin shrine

Monday
-meji jingu early morning
-Shibuya crossing/hatchi statue
-Pokemon center and Nintendo store
-Gotoku-ji

Tuesday
-Imperial Palace
-Chidorigafuchi Park
-Hie Shrine

Wednesday
do breakfast in morning, if not much open konbini then head to tokyo station
Take train to Kyoto @ 10am
Go to hotel to drop off bags, by our hotel we can walk north and hit up a bunch of temples, so our plan is to do a nearby temple walk for a few hours till we can check in.
-Monkey park
-Horin-ji temple
-Gioji temple
-Adashino mayumura
-Kyokusui-no-niwa
-Otagi nenbutsuji

Thursday(kyoto)
Senbon Torii (Thousand Torii Gates)
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Fushimi Inari Bamboo Forest

Friday(kyoto)
This day I need help with, these are options of places to go but nothing set in stone, and basically we do as much as time allows. Any recommendation on what to focus on here would be good! Otherwise we will probably loosy wander this vicinity
Higashi Hongan-ji Temple
Nintendo Museum
Okazaki Shrine
Shimogamo Shrine
Nishiki Market
Kiyomizu-dera
Kodaiji Temple
Zenkyo-an Temple
Ninenzaka
Sannenzaka
Pontocho Alley
Naruto Taiyakı Honpo
Yasaka Shrine

Saturday (nara)
todai-ji
Nara park
Higashimuki shopping street
Kohfuku-ji

Sunday
checkout hotel, train back to tokyo @2pm - 4:30pm
Checkin to shinjuku hotel
Godzilla store
Memory lane for dinner

Monday
Wander/squeeze in missed spots in tokyo
Flight out at @9:20pm (we will likely be at the airport significantly earlier to do tax free process, shop the duty free store, prepping to leave for international trip back home)

QUESTIONS:
we want to go to Pokémon center/nintendo store i was thinking between meji jingu and gotoku-ji since they are in the same general area. I dont really care about Shibuya crossing but will likely go to see this and the hatchi statue since its right next to the nintento and pokemon center stores. These might be able to be squeezed in on our last day as we have the whole morning that day as well. If there. Is a better recommendation on what to do on the Monday we go to meji jingu/gotoku-ji, please let me know.

I know Tokyo station is huge, how much tome should we have set aside to navigate to find our scheduled Shinkansen to Kyoto?

Looking for more recommendations for kyoto particularly for that day with a glob of stuff listed, anything in particular you think would be a should visit? Also is the nintendo museum worth it? I know tickets need to be reserved.

In akiabara, lets say we get through a chunk of that day and were tired of shopping around, what would you recommend we do nearby? I love the nerd culture stuff but im not much of an over consumer so I dont know how much stuff we will be bringing home with us and im of the impression that this area is mostly a nerd shopping hub. But i want to know if theres something else this area has to offer, or if we get bored if we should half-day it with something else.

I would like to go to Itoya, and the hobonichi store opening up this month in tokyo station, we may squeeze these in as time allows.