Building in Relaxation in Tokyo and Kyoto

Good Morning! My husband and I are planning a two week trip to cover Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. This kind of trip can be very busy with so many wonderful sights to see, and we want to plan some quiet days with minimal walking to rest our feet that still allow us to enjoy the country and culture. Any suggestions? I am unsure about Onsens as I am somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of being nude in public. Any suggestions are very welcome! Thanks!

I'm not sure what your dates are, so it is harder to give exact suggestions, so these are pretty general and can depend on when you come to Japan:

Sumo Tournaments are unique, and while baseball is not, baseball games in Japan have some interesting elements. I'm not a sports person, and even I enjoyed the game I went to!

Or other traditional shows like Kabuki can give you time to sit and relax while watching.

How about cat/dog cafes? Play with some cute animals, have some tea or coffee, rest your feet?

Same idea but up high: head to the cafe/restaurants/whatever on top of tall buildings, like the Shinjuku Gov't Building, the Sky Tree, or Tokyo Tower (and there are a lot more on the list).

People watch at the Starbucks above Shibuya's Scramble Crossing.

Grab a swan boat in the lake around Ueno park... not exactly a rest for your feet, but you'll be doing something different!

Are you coming when some flowers are blooming? Grab a tarp or a towel, a bento and a bottle of your preference, and have a "hanami" (flower viewing) party.

I like to sit and look at the art in modern art museums the most. Depending on your interest, a museum can be an option as well.

How about a boat ride on the Sumida River?

(If you tell us when you're coming, we can tailor better suggestions!)

Sorry! We are coming in October of this year, tentatively from the 16-30.

Thank you for the great suggestions!

Coreen

October is a very nice time to visit! Probably too early for fall colors in the places you are going, but nevertheless nice weather!

For flowers, there's not much in October except roses, but you might be able to see some late higanbana (red spider lilies) or early mums. But even if there are no flowers, parks are still a great place to rest and enjoy the sunshine!

Unfortunately, there are no sumo tournaments going on then.

As for onsen, you can always find a private bath to rent out for an hour or two, or choose a ryokan with a private bath you can book if you are uncomfortable.

Also, I forgot to mention aquarium. I may be weird, but I can spend hours and hours watching the fish and other animals in aquariums!

How about a train ride? I know you'll probably ride a lot of trains, and usually they are just a means to get from point A to point B... but there are also many smaller lines that go through some beautiful country, and are a really nice way to see the area and still relax! Simply ride the line from one side to the other and back, and enjoy it! From Tokyo, I can think of the Choushi Den in Chiba (along the coast), the Hakone Mountain Railway (up in the mountains), and the Enoshima Den (Enoden) also along the coast.

Hopefully your hotel/accommodation will be comfortable and you can have a few sleeping/resting days.

We found the steam train museum in Kyoto pretty relaxing. A couple of hours was nice.

You could pick a bus excursion, and something worth checking might be a soak at Kurama (near Kyoto - try the nude thing - it's not that bad).

If you are after a sit and look excursion, the trip from Tokyo to Nikko (including the waterfall) tour is nice and pretty low stress.

You could ride the Toden Arakawa tram for a while; it goes to neighbourhoods most tourists are unaware off.
You can get on at Ōtsuka-Ekimae, also a station on the Yamanote line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toden_Arakawa_Line

photos:
https://sleepwalkingintokyo.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/arakawa_streetcar.jpg

http://dozodomo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/todenarakawa10.jpg

http://vacanceslaurent.free.fr/images/tokyo/bouger/tram.jpg

Why not book ryokan[旅館] with private bath[貸切風呂/部屋風呂/家族風呂]?
open bath : roten buro[露天風呂]
http://travel.biglobe.ne.jp/onsen/stay/roten_room/
http://tabiiro.jp/yado/roten/
http://travel.yahoo.co.jp/special/season/rotentsuki/index3.html

Thank you all so much for the great ideas, I think we will be using several of these!

Counting the days until October..

Coreen

It's worth bearing in mind that on Oct 22nd there are two big festivals in Kyoto.

During the daytime, there is the Jidai Festival (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3960.html) and in the evening the Kurama Fire Festival (http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/festival/kuramanohi.html)

This means that Kyoto will be packed that day so if you're looking for quiet down time, perhaps not ideal but otherwise, highly recommended and it's worth planning to be in Kyoto that day.