1st time to Japan - what to see

Hi everyone

I'm travelling to Japan for the first time in October/November for 2 weeks and would love to hear from more seasoned travellers about the best things to see and do for a novice. I'm trying to do as much research as possible and this site has been excellent! :)

The flights and accommodation have been booked, so this is where we'll be.....

* 19th - 26th: Tokyo (7 nights) -- We arrive at 5pm to Narita so the first day is just travelling into the city and sleeping!
* 26th - 28th: Hiroshima and visit Miyajima (2 nights)
* 28th - 1st Nov: Kyoto (4 nights)
* 1st - 2nd: Osaka (1 night) -- We depart from Kansai airport at 11:30pm so we can have a full day in Osaka (our hotel in Tennoji will store the luggage until we take the train to the airport)

We've bought a 7 day JR pass which we're thinking of activating on the 26th so we can start using it for the journey from Tokyo to Hiroshima, and finish using it on the train to Kansai airport. An IC card will also be purchased for travel around Tokyo and other cities.

I guess my main questions are:
- What should we check out in Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka?
- What day trips would you recommend from Tokyo & Kyoto? Nara looks like a must. Also thinking about Nikko from Tokyo for a day trip. If so should we activate our JR pass earlier?

As it's a first time visit for me and my travel buddy we're just wanting to check out everything quintessentially Japanese! We want to see plenty of temples and landmarks, nature/scenery, video game related stuff (Akihabara and finding Nintendo's HQ in Kyoto is a must!), and just general soaking up of Japan.

I would love to see some Taiko drumming, but the Kodo drummer's tour dates don't correspond with our movements. :( If anyone knows where I could catch a performance (be it on the streets!) that would be fantastic. Oh, and I would also love to go to Tokyo Disney Sea, but I'm thinking the after 6 pass sounds better so it's cheaper (and hopefully quieter!)

As I say, this website has been a fantastic resource, I guess everything's just so overwhelming and exciting that I'm happy to listen to personal accounts and experiences so we can get the most out of our trip.

Thanks in advance! :)

RE: Day Trip in Tokyo
For my trip to Tokyo, I plan to take a day trip to Kamakura, and another one to Kawagoe (Koedo Kawagoe).
Check them out.

Considering you mentioned that this site is great, I would guess you have some idea of what you want to do?

Roughly, considering your time in Tokyo, you could make a day trip to Nikko or Hakone. There is the Hakone and Nikko passes that both cover round trip from Tokyo and local transportation within those areas.

Tokyo would be nice to see...?
Are you into anime?
You can see all the sites listed in this website on Tokyo within 5 days. If for some reason, you have a lack of time prioritize these instead: Meiji Shrine, Asakusa, Sky Tree, going to a 100 yen store, going to Daiso, walking from the basement floors to the top floor of a major department store (Isetan, Takayshimaya, Marui). These are what I consider to be Japanese.
Shopping in Ueno area, walking about Ginza, and visiting the imperial palace would be on the second tier list.
If you are not going to any hot springs for this trip, try out the one in Odaiba.

Spend one day in Miyajima and one day in Hiroshima. It would not be a rush itinerary.

4-5 days in Kyoto? Great.
Spend each day seeing one direction of Kyoto.
i.e.
West: Arashiyama
East: Fushimi Inari + Gion + walk from Silver Pavilion to Kiyomizudera via Yasaka Shrine by passing Heian shrine
North: Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Ninnanji, Toei Studio Park

If time permits: Kurama + Kibune + Enryakuji
If somehow there is still extra time: Uji, previous summer resort for the nobility and a place for green tea.

Osaka... some else can help. Since you are already going to Tokyo, I would say to spend some time in Tennoji, Osaka Castle, and Domtombori. If there is time, Sumiyoshi Taisha for the architecture.

Thank you both so much, brilliant suggestions and I'll look into all of them. I know it's impossible to see everything in 2 weeks, and I want to spend time appreciating things rather than ticking off a long list, so your suggestions are invaluable. :)

Not a fan of anime personally, but my travel buddy may be interested. I know there's a manga museum in Kyoto. My personal favourite for Japanese culture is video games, particularly Sega and Nintendo. I think Akihabara is going to be the place I fall in love! :D

I'm not much of a gamer, but if you are, then Akihabara is the place, for sure. If you do a internet search for "tokyo game center", there are a bunch of top five, top ten lists. Most are in Akihabara, including Club Sega. Another place you might want to look into is Joypolus in Odaiba. It's operated by Sega and it's kinda like a indoor amusement park. Game center included.

Well, there are always Pokemon centres. One such would be in the Osaka shopping centre connected to the Airport Express station. Cant miss it as you take the escalator...

Any other questions?

Thanks again, fantastic suggestions and yet more to add to the list! This is shaping up to be quite the trip! :D

I think the only other thing I mentioned originally was about seeing some traditional Japanese drumming (taiko). The most famous drummers, Kodo, don't have dates that correspond with where we'll be in Japan, so I just wondered if there was any others I should look into, or where performances might take place? It's not essential but it would be awesome to see/hear live. :)

I recommend about Hiroshima and Miyajima island take one day in Miyajima + next day half (morning and lunch) in Hiroshima (Peace park, museum about atomic, maybe but if is time go to Hiroshima Castle), but after lunch go with train back to Kyoto, but stop in city Okayama (nice garden + castle).

Another option is stop in Himeji for one of the best castle in Japan - Himeji castle, but you can this do to for half day visit in days in Kyoto. I can recommend you Kyoto 4 days - 2 days for whole city, 1 day to trip to south Kyoto - place Fushimi Inari Shrine very nice place and than continue to Nara (spend half day there - it is one of my favourite city in Japan), and 1 day for Himeji castle + Kobe (or something else).

In Tokyo i recommend to do day trip to Nikko or day trip to Nagano + Matsumoto or Hakone or Lake Kawaguchico (last two places have nice view of Mt. Fuji, but you need on morning check weather and webcam how loooks there if you can see Mt. Fuji).
Of course another good 1 day trip is make Yokohama + Kamakura.

I understand about Akihabara - me I am everytime spending in this area lot of time if I am in Tokyo. If you will be there of course saturday or sunday, there is if is not bad weather openair market with anime stuff (cheaper stuff than in shops). And if you want special place with anime and toys, go to in Tokyo to Nakano Broadway (this is second place where you can find anime stuff).

And sorry for crazy English, i just wrote what i had in my head and not checked how nice looks :-)

Brilliant, thanks! So glad I started this thread, everyone's suggestions have been fantastic and I'm looking into every one. :)