#61

Would add in Hiroshima & Itsukushima if you can - doable in a day trip from Kyoto (or at least that’s how I did it), about 2 hours on the Shinkansen. Would definitely get the JR rail pass before you go, makes things so much easier.

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#62

Tokyo
If you like videogames Akihabara is the place for you my friend. All the anime and videogame stuff you could ever want is there. Went for dinner in the Final Fantasy restaurant, dropped some coin on merch, retro videogames and things in Super Potato. Square have a new cafe now too which was doing Dragon Quest things when i was last over. Go to a multistory arcade and enjoy the sight of middleaged salrymen having street fighter tournaments.
Shinjuku is kinda the hub and great connections to everywhere else. did most normal shopping and eating here. Piss alley is around here, also again if you like videogames/final fantasy both Artnia and the Capcom bar are worth a snoop. Samurai Museum, VR arcade and Godzilla Street are all in Kabukicho area and that robot cafe if youre after a kitsch nightmare. Shinjuku gyoen is a beautiful public park and although it about 500yen in is pretty great and has a lot of historice buildings etc in it too.
Harajuku/Shibuya: If you get off at shinjuku station the Meiji Jingu is right behind the station and well worth a look. after that cross the street and youre right in harajuku for the crazy fashions and lots of cool shops and snack places. DragonBall restaurant is now here if you like anime. If you like gyoza the Harajuku Gyozaro is the best you will ever taste. Its the only food they serve and you might have to queue for a half hour or so but its great, good beer too. Japans biggest toy store is around here too and is very good.
keep heading straight and youll soon hit Shibuya and youll have the scramble, hachiko, trendy/quirky shops, shibuya station can be tricky so be careful.
Ueno: Ueno zoo, lots of museums and that. all government owned stuff is about 500yen in so bargain. The national history museum often has Hokusai stuff on display and a samurai collection only rivalled by shinjukus samurai museum. The Tokyo Edo Museum is a huge building which has entire Kabuki theatres etc rebuilt inside it, lots to see there. Theres a really nice small temple just off the square too which is fox/kitsune themed.
Tokyo Station Area: Bit of a business district really but Imperial Palace and grounds are here and free and definitely worth a look, a ten minute walk away there is the Budokan (last time we were over the sumo grand tournament was on) and close to this is a huge WW2 memorial area with museum with Zero fighters etc. I felt tremendous white guilt here.
Odaiba Man made island in Tokyo bay. Sega Land, a statue of liberty replica, Fuji TV tower, Tokyo Wheel, Real life mario karting, GUNDAM! Tokyo Rainbow Bridge. Couple of interesting museums (science etc) there two and the huge inverted pyramid that hosts the Tokyo gameshow and comiccon etc.
Asakusa: All about the Senso-ji shrine and the market stalls leading up to it and the thunder gate. Japans oldest funfair is located behind it too. The major festival for this temple is usually 2nd week in November so you will likely be there when its busy and likely will be lots of people in traditional attire doing pilgrimages to it and the stalls will be busy. Try the canided bananas!(ooooh matron!)
Roppongi/Ginza are a bit upmarket and trendy but nothing you cant really see or do elsewhere.

General tips: Most govt owned things are closed on Mondays. We went to Disney one of the Mondays we were there in November: it was AMAZING. the vibe/attitudes etc of the place and people were a world away from the USA equivalent. The Christmas stuff is in full swing by then too and the Christmas parades were unreal. The Haunted House ride gets converted to Nightmare Before Christmas too and the decor alone was like being in the movie. Got to go on the new Star Wars ride and hearing C3PO and R2 harping on in japanese was a treat.
JR Rail passes are a godsend: very easy to use and the transport system is great.
For music (especially LP collecting) theres a wealth of amazing stores. Disk Union has most of its stores and their divded by genre. So therell be 5 stores on one street and the big 7 floor one is all rock/indie for example.
Tokyu hands is class for shopping!
Don Quijote stores are tremendous for bargains and getting knick knacks and sweets and novelty things to bring home. All the kit kat flavours you can think of. The one in Shibuya does great exclusive Hachiko treats.
I dunno if your into Ghibli films but if you are, you need to see about getting tickets to Ghibli Museum now as tickjets to foreigners are limited and they usually close for a week in Japan. Its in Mitaka and is tough enough to get too but if you love the films then you will be in heaven!

This is all I can think of off the top of my head for now. We were in Tokyo alone but even then there was so much to see that time flew by.

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#63

Make sure you drink plenty of Boss Coffee from vending machines (rainbow blend is the one!)

Also, I don’t know what this stuff is but if you see one, get it and drink it! Delicious.

original.jpg600×600 49.8 KB

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#64

I’m doing those two the week before :slight_smile:

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#65

The Abroad In Japan YouTube channel is pretty good to get you in the mood.

Very watchable, and I normally despise YouTube influencers.

#66

My favourite place was Miyajima. I stayed overnight on the island.

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#67

My answer in a similar thread a while back. Think it was a spring time thing so ignore the cherry blossom stuff. Early November is one of the best times in Tokyo - not ridiculously hot and humid like the summer, but full of beautiful clear blue skies. Shout if you have any questions!

#68

My current plan is to go for three weeks in September next year. Is that too long? I am planning on visiting Tokyo and my friend who is moving to Kyoto soon and most likely somewhere else, probably Osaka.

I haven’t flown out of Europe by myself before, when is the best time to book?

#69

If you’re going for three weeks I’d try to fit something else in. Five days or a week is probably okay for Osaka and Kyoto combined but not enough for Tokyo. You could spend ten days there and not come close to exhausting it, I think. If you wanted to add somewhere else, then maybe look for something more rural after the cities? You’ll see some great countryside in eg Nagano Prefecture or the highlands in Niigata.

#70

We were there for two weeks and did the three places you mentioned with a couple of day trips to other places, and it still felt a little bit rushed - I could have easily stayed for three weeks in those places, particularly Tokyo. And if you get a JR pass you’d be able to get day trips to Kobe, Nara etc if you were running low on stuff.

#71

Osaka, Kyoto and Nara are all quite close to each other. Nara is doable in a day trip from either and is well worth it.

Kyoto and Osaka probably need three full days each, and you can easily fill a week with things in Tokyo.

I’d also recommend:

  • at least two full days in Hiroshima, using one to visit the museums in the city, and one to head out to Miyajima.
  • a day trip to Hakone (it takes a full day from Tokyo, if you do the full train/cable car/ferry circuit and the open air art gallery),
  • an overnight stay in Koya,
  • staying in Takamatsu and using it as a base to see the island of the inland sea. If you’re pressed for time, then Naoshima is the must-see of those and can be accessed from Uno as well.

Three weeks is about right, for all that.

#72

Another tip: If you are transferring between cities, but are not wanting to lug your bags around everywhere (because you are hiking around, or are not checking into the hotel until the end of the day, or there is no luggage storage where you are going, for example), then the luggage forwarding service in Japan is amazing. You can get your bags sent from hotel to hotel, even between different chains, cheaply and easily. We used it twice when we were travelling between cities and combining it with a day trip, and it must have saved us loads of time.

#73

This is an essential stop!

#74

If you do end up going to Hakone there’s a lovely onsen there. Was one of my favourite things. Friendly to folk with tattoos as well if you have one.

*Edit, turns out there’s LOADS of onsen in Hakone. It was the Tenzan one.

#75

There are about a dozen onsen in Hakone. We went to this one on the side of the hill, overlooking the forest, which was lovely:

https://www.hakoneyuryo.jp/english/

That’s a good point about the tattoos though - check in advance, and cover them up if you don’t want to appear rude.

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