Itinerary Ideas for an 8-day trip to Japan

Have been putting the idea of going back to Japan together. I have visited Japan during the second-half of May 2015. It was spectacular.

I did Tokyo, Kyoto, Arashiyama, Osaka, Himeji, and then Tokyo prior to returning home to Canada.

This time I would only go for 1 week. Most importantly I want to see SAKURA, MT FUJI, and maybe (just maybe) a day-trip to Kyoto via Shinkansen. I will stay in a hotel in Shinjuku as I'm familiar with that area and how to get around from there.

Can I accomplish a lot in 1 week? APRIL 10th - 18th

Also, I suggest a JR Pass wouldn't be ideal.

Provide me with the best ideas!

Dick Harris, I know you'll be reading this!

-Ryan

A daytip to Kyoto, I take is purely for sakura? If so, Osaka Mint Museum and Yoshino has some amazing views too. A bit tough to do everything in a day but if time is short and you have the determination (and money) do so.

Hi there.. the thing about sakura.. its the timing.. april 10th for tokyo might be a little late.

Went tokyo ueno park this year on april 3rd and it was about 1-2 days after full bloom. It was still spectacular but can see petals were dropping off when the wind blew. Returned to the park on april 13th and everything was green.

I guess areas around mt fuji have later blooming period since they are at higher ground. So u might catch that.

Would recommend that you go north like sendai and tohoku area, since blooming starts from the south and move northwards. I think if you delay the trip by a week, you would have greater chance to catch full blooms around kakunodate, hirosaki area.

I agree with above, you may be abit late to see Sakura in Tokyo, you just have to keep an eye on the Sakura forecast closer to the date. This year we travelled late April and was able to see full bloom at Kakunodate which was beautiful.

Other things to do in Tokyo area:

- Asakusa and Sensoji Temple
- Akihabara
- Odaiba area
- Disneyland/Disneysea
- Shibazakura Festival at Mt Fuji (might be early for that) as we visited in late April and not fully bloomed yet

Check out our vlogs for some footage of Sakura at Kakunodate and around Tokyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyi9q7ZDUTw&feature=youtu.be&t=5m20s

If you make the round trip journey to Kyoto, then a JR pass would just pay off. If you really want to see the cherry blossoms and that's your main purpose for your trip, I would go ahead and get the JR pass and plan to spend 1 to 2 days doing a day trip to a place where you can catch the blossoms in full bloom, whether that is south or north. This gives you the most flexibility to see them wherever they are blooming.

If the blossoms aren't really a big deal, then get the pass only if you're making a long round trip, like to Kyoto.