Our plans for a May introduction to Japan
 

Hey everyone. First time poster...

I just booked our flights for next May, we can hardly wait.

Neither my wife, nor myself have been to Japan as of yet, but I have been wanting to go ever since I can remember.

What will make this trip for me, is that my old high school exchange studen- Satoshi is going to meet up with us while we are in Tokyo. He lives in Soka City, so it's a bit of a haul- but I figure we will hang out quite a bit.

So, to the point of my post. I want to run my itenerary by you guys to see what you think. We want to see a lot, but not get crazy tired too fast.

We like to see/do just about everything, so we are going for the mix of old and new. We love to eat so any recommendations there are always good.

So here goes:

W 11- Day 0 - depart
R 12-Day 1- arrive Narita, hang out in Shinjuku area- stay Shinjuku
F 13-Day 2- Ginza, Asakusa, kabuki- stay Shinjuku
S 14-Day 3- day trip to Nikko- stay Shinjuku
U 15-Day 4- Tokyo TBD- stay Shinjuku
M 16-Day 5- Guided tour of Fuji/Hakone by bus- Stay Ryokan Hakone
T 17-Day 6- hang out in Hakone- depart for Kyoto, stay in Kyoto
W 18-Day 7- hang out in Kyoto, half day trip to Nara- stay Kyoto
R 19-Day 8-Kyoto TBD, stay in Kyoto
F 20-Day 9-Half day in Kyoto, travel to Osaka- stay in Osaka
S 21-Day 10-Travel to Koyasan- stay in Temple
U 22-Day 11-Leave Koyasan- stay in Osaka
M 23-Day 12-Travel from Osaka to Kanazawa- stay in Kanazawa
T 24-Day 13-Tour Kanazawa- travel to Takayama- stay Takayama
W 25-Day 14-Tour Takayama- travel to Matsumoto- stay Matsumoto
R 26-Day 15-Tour Matsumoto- travel to Nagano, stay at Shibu Onsen
F 27-Day 16- See the monekys at hotspring, depart for Tokyo
S 28-Day 17-More tokyo- stay near Tokyo Station
U 29-Day 18-More tokyo- stay near Tokyo Station
M 30-Day 19- Any last minute Tokyo stops, depart Narita in the afternoon


General questions:

1. Should I (or rather, would you) axe one of the days at the end in TOkyo and put it somewhere else in our itenerary?

2. We are stopping in Matusmoto because the Himeji Castle is under renovations. Do you recommend Himeji instead- even with the construction?

3. Does the travel sound ok? I don't think there will be any super long travel days, except for the Koyasan connections. Please correct me if I am wrong.

4. Any other suggestsions or changes welcome!

Thanks

Andy

Let me point out one thing.

It will take four and a half hours at least if you use a train to transfer from Takayama to Matsumoto. Although linear distance between two cities is not so large, there is no direct rail route since high mountains (called Japan Northern Alps ) lies between Takayama and Matsumoto.
I would recommend you to use a bus for the transfer, then it will take only two and a half hours.
(Note: this route is run by private bus companies, so JR PASS won't cover it. )

Matsumoto Line

Sorry for my poor English, I hope this will be of help to you.

Thank you. We will defintely make plans to take the bus for that route. I think we might take the bus between Kanazaw and Takyama also.

Your English is far, far better than my Japanese =)

M 23-Day 12-Travel from Osaka to Kanazawa- stay in Kanazawa
T 24-Day 13-Tour Kanazawa- travel to Takayama- stay Takayama
W 25-Day 14-Tour Takayama- travel to Matsumoto- stay Matsumoto
R 26-Day 15-Tour Matsumoto- travel to Nagano, stay at Shibu Onsen
F 27-Day 16- See the monekys at hotspring, depart for Tokyo

It seems a little busy.Many cities,short stays.
Riding trains and buses every day with big luggage can make you tired.
I know each city has its unique stamp.But I am not sure you really want to see something in the cities in your short stays.

Good point, and I thought that myself possibly. Maybe we will knock one of the Tokyo days off the end and spend an extra night in Takayama or Kanazawa to give ourselves a day off. Which city would you recommend taking more time in?

The only other option I see is to cut one of the cities, I am thinking if we do this it will be Matsumoto...

Thanks!

Osaka Castle is readily accessible. Unless you are a big castle fan, one castle will probably be satisfactory/

Both:)
depends on your taste.
Most important difference is their locations. Kanazawa is near the sea.Takayma is in the mountains.
Yes.You can think you are lucky because you can see how to renovate a 400 years old huge building.



http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/var/rev...1068153657.pdf


I think one castle is　satisfactory too.But,the keep of Osaka Castle was rebuilt in 1928.Concrete.
On the other hand,Himeji is basically original.Woods and　plaster.
That's why Himeji is world heritage site.So I recommend Himeji.
I might be a big castle fan.....

Sounds like there are lots of good options. The hard part is going to be to decide where to spend our time. Maybe we will just pick something, and see whatever we miss next time when we come back for Hokkaido winter fest in a couple of years...

Hey, stupid question most likely but- if someone wanted to watch a Japanese game show live- is that possible? Sounds cliche, but something I have always wanted to do.

Possible.TV　stations　recruit the audience through their homepages.If you are selected,you can watch.
But they don't expect temporary foreign tourists.So their homepages are all in Japanese.I don't think you will be selected.

You might like this.
MUSCLE PARK WEB

You can go to Fuji TV in Odaiba, Tokyo. There you can watch TV shows being filmed from windows near the ceiling. This is not "in the audience" and timing is a good question.

Good info, thanks!

Another question for you. Anyone been to Studio Ghibli? I love Miyazaki movies- thought it might be worth a half day...

Looking to finalize our trip next week.

This is the final itenerary, barring any last minute suggestions for you guys.

W 11- Day 0 - depart

R 12-Day 1- arrive afternoon- stay Ueno (ueno mitsui garden hotel)

F 13-Day 2- visit Akihabara and Asakusa, evening TBD - stay Ueno

S 14-Day 3- day trip to Nikko - stay Ueno

U 15-Day 4- visit Shibuya and Harajuku, visit friend in Soka City in evening- stay Ueno

M 16-Day 5- bus tour of Mt.Fuji and Hakone- stay at a Ryokan in Hakone

T 17-Day 6- train to Kyoto, explore Kyoto- stay Ryokan Kyoto

W 18-Day 7-half day trip to Nara, explore Kyoto- stay Ryokan Kyoto

R 19-Day 8- explore Kyoto, stay Ryokan Kyoto

F 20-Day 9- train to Hiroshima, visit Miyajima island- stay Hiroshima

S 21-Day 10-visit Hiroshima sites, train to Osaka- stay Osaka

U 22-Day 11-take train to Koyasan, half day tour of Mt.Koya- stay Koyasan Temple Lodge

M 23-Day 12-train from Koyasan to Kanazawa- stay Kanazawa

T 24-Day 13-half day in Kanazawa- bus to Shirikawago- stay Shirikawago Ryokan

W 25-Day 14-morning tour of Shirikawago, bus to Takayama- stay Takayama Ryokan

R 26-Day 15-Full day Takayama hiking, relaxation- stay Takayama Ryokan

F 27-Day 16- bus to Matsumoto, visit castle, train to Shibu Onsen- stay Shibu Onsen Ryokan

S 28-Day 17-visit monkey park, train to Tokyo- stay Shinjuku (Park Hyatt)

U 29-Day 18-visit Shinjuku and TBD Tokyo neighborhoods- stay Shinkjuku

M 30-Day 19- any last minute Tokyo stops, depart Narita in the afternoon


Any suggestions?

How are you getting from Hakone to Kyoto? Do you not have to double back via Tokyo anyway to get the shinkansen so maybe move this about?

If you can I would find a way to give yourself a day or two to explore both umeda and minami areas of osaka, and you must not miss Osaka castle. Osaka has as many things in and around as Tokyo almost, don't rush through it.

For day 17 and 18 plan what you will do in tokyo in dertail or you will end up missing sometihng you want and aimless wandering in a non fun area for 2days.
Examples of places are shibuya, harajuku, akihabara, ueno, imperial grounds, whatever interests you.

I heavily suggest the man made island Odaiba off the coast of mainland Tokyo it has lots of diff things for everyone, different types of shopping centres, museums, sega land, etc and a lovely ride on the yurikamome skytrain in dusk back will give you amazing sites over rainbow bridge.
Check out japan-guide.com - Japan Travel and Living Guide I find it one of the best sites



Travel wise I am not sure about some of the destinations but Hyperdia | 乗換案内 路線検索 時刻表 ゴルフ場 旅費精算 通勤費なら can give you good ideas of your options and also the costings. I take it you are getting the JR Rail pass as it will be very worth it for so much travel, but won't get you everywhere.

Oh and I say Osaka castle is more worthwhile than Himeji or possibly any others I have ever seen.

Kyoto is lots of private subways and busses and spread out with lots of walking so plan for that to get to any of the famous sites.


Sorry what I said is in no order it just kinda spilled out of my brain like this :mtongue:


oh and I think you have to book ages in advance for the Ghibli museum, I am not a big fan. I was all about hello kitty land! Osaka has a universal studies and there is tokyo disney and disney sea too, but if you are like me you won't be so bothered about such western things whilst in Japan.

ooh also if you go to the NHK museum (somewhere between shibuya and shinjuku opposite a giant weird clocktower thing devoted to CC lemon drink,) you can watch them film shows sometimes from above, and the morning variety show you can stand infront of the glass and pull face at them haha :D

Thanks for our comments.

Please note, this is our new itenerary

This is the final itenerary, barring any last minute suggestions for you guys.

W 11- Day 0 - depart

R 12-Day 1- arrive afternoon- stay Ueno (ueno mitsui garden hotel)

F 13-Day 2- visit Akihabara and Asakusa, evening TBD - stay Ueno

S 14-Day 3- day trip to Nikko - stay Ueno

U 15-Day 4- visit Shibuya and Harajuku, visit friend in Soka City in evening- stay Ueno

M 16-Day 5- bus tour of Mt.Fuji and Hakone- stay at a Ryokan in Hakone

T 17-Day 6- train to Kyoto, explore Kyoto- stay Ryokan Kyoto

W 18-Day 7-half day trip to Nara, explore Kyoto- stay Ryokan Kyoto

R 19-Day 8- explore Kyoto, stay Ryokan Kyoto

F 20-Day 9- train to Hiroshima, visit Miyajima island- stay Hiroshima

S 21-Day 10-visit Hiroshima sites, train to Osaka- stay Osaka

U 22-Day 11-take train to Koyasan, half day tour of Mt.Koya- stay Koyasan Temple Lodge

M 23-Day 12-train from Koyasan to Kanazawa- stay Kanazawa

T 24-Day 13-half day in Kanazawa- bus to Shirikawago- stay Shirikawago Ryokan

W 25-Day 14-morning tour of Shirikawago, bus to Takayama- stay Takayama Ryokan

R 26-Day 15-Full day Takayama hiking, relaxation- stay Takayama Ryokan

F 27-Day 16- bus to Matsumoto, visit castle, train to Shibu Onsen- stay Shibu Onsen Ryokan

S 28-Day 17-visit monkey park, train to Tokyo- stay Shinjuku (Park Hyatt)

U 29-Day 18-visit Shinjuku and TBD Tokyo neighborhoods- stay Shinkjuku

M 30-Day 19- any last minute Tokyo stops, depart Narita in the afternoon




I would like to spend more time in Osaka, but I don't think we will be able to this trip- since I don't want to cut anything else =)