Any suggestions for repeat Japan visitor?

Hey guys, I've been to Japan for maybe 5-6 times now, and i'm heading back to Tokyo this coming mid to end November (about 10 nights) for the autumn colors. I'm trying to go for something more leisure and budget-constraint thus will be hanging around just Tokyo and some day trips this time round.

Can anyone suggest some places that i might have missed out the last 5-6 times maybe?? lol

Places i've visited in the Tokyo area:
- the typical Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotensando, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ginza/tsukiji, Ueno, Asakusa, Odaiba, Akihabara, Roppongi, Yurakucho, Marunouchi
- Neighbourhoods: Kichijoji and Koenji which surprisingly, i did not really enjoy, not sure if it was due to the rainy weather and lack of crowd. But I did like the nice Shimokitazawa neighbourhood, any other such neighbourhoods i might have missed out?
- Love anime/manga figures, thus not missing out Nakano Broadway
- Disneyland/sea
- Day trips: Kamakura/Enoshima, Hakone, Mt Nokogiriyama/Mother Farm, Yokohama, Nikko, Karuizawa

Places I might be going:
- Repeat visits: Tsukiji, Shibuya/Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Akihabara/Nakano broadway, Asakusa, Ueno, Shimokitazawa
- Yebisu Garden Place, Kagurazaka? Should i?
- Tokyo skytree (One piece amusement park)/Zojoji Temple, Disneyland (again, 3rd time)
- The gardens in Tokyo: Ueno Park, Shinjuku gyoen, Rikugien, Icho Namiki Avenue, yoyogi
- Day trips: Mt Takao, Kawagoe, Lake Kawaguchi

Things to note: Husband just had his knee surgery and might still have issues walking, thus not going for hiking much.

Questions:
1. Is Kawagoe worth going? I've been to places like Takayama and Kyoto, thus hoping it's not going to be like small canel town Otaru in Hokkaido which deeply disappointed me.
2. Also Lake Kawaguchi? Again, been to Hakone, not sure if it's worth all that travelling time even though i love Fuji-san very much. Areas i'm interested in is Chureito Pagoda, Kachi Kachi Ropeway, Momiji Tunnel, Iyashi no Sato and maybe FujiQ Highlands, but not sure if all those bus travelling/waiting would be too tedius for my limping husband.
3. Limping husband, is Mt Takao difficult to hike after the cablecar ride? If it's just slope, it will still be ok, but if there's lotsa steps, then i might have to forgo this :(
4. Asakusa: I've only been to Sensoji and nakamise street, and i've always felt that i'm missing other areas around there. Any recommendations for any hidden streets? Not interested in visiting skytree (or hanayashi amusement), but would love to visit a viewing deck with a good view of the skytree instead?
5. Any other day trips or neighbourhood areas or nice autumn colors i can visit?

To sum up, I love taking photos of scenaries as well and is hoping for a more budgetary and leisurely trip (which is never the case in the end) this time round. Hope i can get some advise! Thanks!

There are still many good places in the area to visit.

I'd say Kawagoe is worth a visit if you haven't been there. You also didn't mention Izu, Kusatsu, Mitake, Okutama, the Hitachi Seaside Park, the Ushiku Great Buddha (120m tall) in Ibaraki, and the Shosenkyo Gorge in Yamanashi.
The Fuji 5 Lakes area is very good as well.

Regarding gardens in Tokyo - there are many more you might consider - Kiyosumi, Hama-Rikyu, Koishikawa Korakuen, Kyu-Shiba Rikyu, the Imperial Palace East Gardens, Mukogawa Hyakkaen, Kyu-Iwasaki Teien, Kyu-Furukawa Teien, Kyu-Yasuda Teien, Happouen, Tonogayato, Mejiro Teien, and more.

Close to Tokyo? Kawagoe is worth a visit mainly for Kita-in Temple and the old town, and Chichibu is very recommended. From the ropeway to the top of Takaosan is a gentle walk but there are a few steps to take when getting up to the temples.

To take your travel to Japan to the next level, I would recommend that instead of finding new locations and maybe getting a bit bored with another temple or shrine or town not so different from what you've seen before many times, I would recommend that you find locations where you can participate more with Japanese customs: we joined in with morning ceremonies at Zenkoji temple in Nagano and set in several times with the Goma fire ritual at Naritasan temple in Narita; you can do this everywhere. Etc. etc. Approaching your travel from that angle makes it all of a sudden exciting again! :-)

If you're going to Hitachi Seaside Park you can also think about Kairakuen in Mito. It's one of the big 3 gardens and while you won't be there for it's prime ume season, it's still a nice garden. I went my first time in the Fall.

We collect fashion dolls, so have been making the trip out to Licca-chan Castle. I find it fascinating to watch them root doll heads. I'd also like to visit the nearby caves at some point.

I love Nagano and at some point want to make it to Bessho Onsen.

I'm trying to go for something more leisure and budget-constraint thus will be hanging around just Tokyo and some day trips this time round.

In that case, get out of Tokyo!

You can get great accommodation for half the price and better scenery/activities/leisure out of the capital. I don't even know where to start - maybe by saying that some locations the best hotels in some cities are less than Y10,000. Even just getting out of the central Tokyo area you can have luxury hotels (in Tokyo) for less than Y15,000 and get to stay in interesting areas.

And, if you are a repeat visitor, even more reason to get out of Tokyo - sure it has enough for many trips, but there is so much more (and close to the city too if you don;t want to travel far.)

Thanks guys for the fantastic suggestions! Personally i would love to visit the following places mentioned:

- Hitachi Seaside Park: but November don't seem to be a good season to go as only the Hitachi Rose Garden and some other minor flowers are in bloom ? Would definitely go there when it's in season and possibly to Kairukuen too!
- Izu: The scenary is awesome, but would seem to be more than a 1 day trip thingy. So maybe next time when my husband's legs have recovered fully
- Chichibu: I think i can venture here as i had initially thought that Mitsumine Shrine will have to hike up (reminder: husband's recovering knee), now re-reading the guide and realised hey it's accessible via bus!
- Morning ceremonies and etc recommended by Jim: Yes! I'm trying to approach it in that angle so thank you for some of your recommendations!
- Shosenkyo Gorge: it looks gorgeous! Do you think it might be too tight if i go Mt Takao then to here? I might kill off my hubby's knees though... hmmm...

Since i'm going for budget, i'm trying not to spend too much on transport or more than 2 hour journey.. Trying.. trying...

@JapanCustomTours, haha! Yeah there are still many places in Japan that i do want to explore, it's such a big beautiful place that i'm never gonna get tired of!!

And I'm totally gonna blame my hubby's injury for not venturing out too far out of tokyo, traveling will be a pain for him literally. I enjoy walking a lot so if we are to venture to entirely new places, i'm not sure he can recover well.... lol
Plus, we have stayed in other cheaper parts of japan like Sendai, but still can't get enough of Tokyo! so yeah, that's why... :)

1. Is Kawagoe worth going? I've been to places like Takayama and Kyoto, thus hoping it's not going to be like small canel town Otaru in Hokkaido which deeply disappointed me.

I would advise against Kawagoe. I personally went twice (in 20 years) and both times was disappointed. The famous tower seems to be still in reconstruction and the Main Street with the warehouses unfortunately is also full of traffic. Good alternatives to Kawagoe are Kamakura. I personally could spend 3 days there: day 1 Kitakamakura, day 2 the Main part of Kamakura and day 3 in the area to the East (zuisenji). An other less well known alternative is Sawara in Ibaraki plus Katori jinja.


3. Limping husband, is Mt Takao difficult to hike after the cablecar ride? If it's just slope, it will still be ok, but if there's lotsa steps, then i might have to forgo this :(
Well up to the top of the mountain and to the shrines there will be a lot of stairs. But until a certain point it is just a walkway with a certain inclination.

5. Any other day trips or neighbourhood areas or nice autumn colors i can visit?
- Shinjuku gyoen should be nice for colours.
- Izu was breath takingly nice

Some things I am missing from your list are Onsen! November plus limping husband would call for relaxing hours in a hot tub. If he is allowed by his doctor. There are obviously nice "proper" Onsen in Hakone, Izu ... but there are also options closer to the city:
- Kozashibuya. A few stops from Enoshima returning to Tokyo by Odakyu line. Perfect after a long day in Enoshima. It's in the 5th floor of a building just outside of the station
- Takaido. Close to the station. Probably the most "central" ones in Tokyo that have a reasonable price. (I personally do not like the one in Odaiba. Doesn't feel real to me)
- Kurihira (Odakyu Line) not too far from the station but they also have shuttle busses. It has a very nice hot stone lying area tight inside the onsen.
- Chofu (yumorinosato.com) for me the best. A bit far from the station. There are shuttle busses but probably easier to take a cab on the way in and the shuttle for the way back. And you can combine it with the Jindai ji temple very close by. Which is actually a very nice place. A lot of Japanese visitors but only few foreigners. Eat soba there! There is also a botanical garden right behind it. So you can easily spend the entire day in Chofu.

Off topic, but a very nice garden is Hamarikyu. If you want to have lunch close by, try the top floors of Shiodome City or Carretta building. The restaurants there are good, have great views and at lunch quite reasonable priced menus. And/or take a Japanese tea in the tea house on the lake in the garden.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

"Off topic, but a very nice garden is Hamarikyu."

I'm a big fan of Hamamatsucho. Two lovely gardens, Zojo-ji, Tokyo Tower and the World Trade Center Observatory all within walking distance.

I just noticed that on your list museums are also missing. Not sure if you are not interested in them or they are just a part of Tokyo neighborhoods for you. But here a few highlights:
- Nezu museum , has good explanations in English, nice architecture and a garden
- Idemitsu museum, often has very interesting exhibitions and a nice area to take a tea (gratis) while looking over the palace
- Tokyo Edo museum
- Tokyo Edo tatemono museum, in Musashikoganei. A bit outside the city an open air museum
- Hokusai museum. Recently opened. Make sure that there is a temporary exhibition as the permanent one is VERY small

Plus hundreds of others.

but still can't get enough of Tokyo!

No problem with that, there is a HUGE amount of stuff to do that many visitors never even get to see. Stuff the locals go to, parks, adventure places, all sorts of things that range from the ok to hidden gems. For example I recently enjoyed a trip to a craft brewery in Fussa (they also did sake), and even just staying in a random neighborhood can be an interesting experience. Before getting an apartment I spent a weeks at a time all over the city in places like Mitaka or Kichioji and also a two week spell in Koganecho (a spot in Yokohama) where one of my highlights was watching the guys playing shoji in the park (I play really badly). The trains are cheap so you can still get around, but the experience is very different.

@Likebike I'm blown away with your suggestions and many many thanks for advising against Kawagoe. I keep having a nagging feeling that i might be underwhelmed by it. Maybe i should go to Zuisenji in Kamakura since i've not been to that part of the town.
And i will go to Hamarikyu as suggested! After i'm done with Tsukiji...~ Any idea if the recent fire affected any of its operations?

And wow on that list of onsen around town! I was looking at some of the typical options like odaiba (which i've been and agree that it's doesn't have that authentic feel to it) or SpaLaQua/Times Spa (expensive much... and also too "modern"??). Was kinda giving up till i saw your list, will definitely consider 1-2 of it now!!
*btw, yes you've caught me on the missing museums, not so much of a museum person unfortunately.. hee

You definitely need to experience Onsen. One of my fave onsen (will be going back there for the 2nd time this end of the year) is Takaragawa Onsen. It's the perfect choice since it's a Rotenburo (middle of mountain, river view) & Konyoku (mixed bath) as well (if you're traveling with a partner).
The location is very convenient, an hour away by Shinkansen from Tokyo (it's located at Gunma) and another hour bus ride to the Onsen (provided by the Takaragawa by RSVP). 1 day at Takaragawa should be sufficient.