going to Japan for 9 days....
 

I'm flying into Tokyo with my friend in the beginning of October. We plan on staying there for 5 days then moving onto Kyoto for 4 days. I'm trying to make an itinerary for both places but need help with the "must do" spots.
One thing we wanted to do in Tokyo was go to Disneyland. Has anyone been or even think its worth it? Also, I wanted to stroll Harajuku on Sunday afternoon but I wasn't sure if the locals still hang out there? Has that scene died down recently?

As far as Kyoto, is 4 days too many? Should I visit any other places in Japan besides Tokyo and Kyoto with only 9 days to spare? Thanks for any suggestions!

Tokyo Disneyland is nice, but not much different from any other Disneyland.

4 days in Kyoto is a little more than necessary. But I would do maybe 2 Kyoto, 1 Nara and 1 Osaka...(all close, so you could stay in the same hotel the whole time).

I went to Disneyland LA a couple years ago, and while it's a nice place just to hang out for the whole day, it's not really for thrill rides. Next door to Disney LA is California Adventure (which you pay a little more to get in to both parks) and has more adult rides.

I said that to say this:
When I was researching Japan, I found Tokyo DisneySea seems similar to California Adventure in that it has a few of the same rides (eg Tower of Terror) and seems catered to more older kids and adults. So if I ended up going to Disney, I probably would've just gone to DisneySea.

In the end, we didn't want to spend a whole day at a themepark especially when we're in Japan, so we just jumped off the train at Tokyo Dome City for a couple hours instead. Not a lot of rides, but a fantastic rollercoaster.

If time permits I would take on MMM's suggestion but skip Osaka and head over to Himeji instead. Its a good 2 hours trian ride (if I remember correctly)

you can probably do the "highlight of kyoto and Nara" in 2 days, not including fushimi inari if you planned to climb the entire TORII gate course

I could spend all nine days in Kyoto. Kyoto is another big city and Disneyland is, well, Disneyland.
Plan around your interests. Do you like architecture, culture, history, antiques or new things, natural wonders or people dressed like goofballs hanging out on a street corner. Find what exites you.

I don't disagree that he can spend a lot of time in Kyoto, but I think he can see more if he just hop between the "highlights"..

No doubt. I just liked Kyoto.

There were plenty of people hanging around Harajuku on a Sunday afternoon when I went in February :) It was a freezing cold, windy day and there were still plenty of cosplayers and people in alternative dress there posing for photos. If you're going there then Yoyogi Park and Meiji-jingu Shrine are beautiful and worth a look; interesting contrast to the crazy bustle of people on and across the bridge.

I found Shibuya pretty cool - it's what I pictured when I thought of Tokyo before going there. Lots of big buildings, that crosswalk with huge crowds of people, giant screens on the sides of buildings, bright lights everywhere. If you're into doujinshi then you'll love Mandarake bookstore... I spent ages in there :mtongue:

Kiyomizu was my favourite temple in Kyoto - there's a lot to see, including a really beautiful old cemetery off to one side. Gion was interesting too ,although I had a hard time finding a geisha to take a photo of, they don't seem to like it much. Not surprising I guess.

If you get bored of Kyoto then hop on a train to Osaka and go to the aquarium - it's GIGANTIC.

The aquarium (Kaiyukan) will take a good half a day, so unless he/she plan to spend the rest of the day in Osaka, its pretty much a write off..

True, but personally I'd say Osaka (and the aquarium) is worthy of a good day trip. Unless they're so fascinated by temples that they want to spend the whole 4 days in Kyoto, which is fair enough. It's also a bit of a shorter trip than Himeji or Nara (I think?), though both are also worth a look if they have enough time.