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Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/2 09:01
Hello! First off super excited for Japan, I've been planning this trip since pre covid, so I would appreciate once last glance over.

I had one major question, and for my itinerary is the JR Rail pass worth it? I was costing it up, and wasn't sure if we were wasting $50 ish, or we were saving money? I was going to purchase it so it starts a few days after we arrive, so we would get the Tokyo to Osaka, Kyoto to Hiroshima, and Hiroshima to Osaka train on the pass - but those tickets don't cover the cost of the 14day rail pass, would the train trips around each city amount for a decent of money to cover the rest? We would be taking the trains most places.

Anyways here is the itinerary:

Day 01- Wednesday- Nov 20
Flight arrives 4:50pm
Land, cellular plan, etc
Train to Shinjuku -
Get dinner at Omoide-Yokochō - Food district

Day 02- Thursday - Nov 21
Hanazono Shrine
Get some food in the area
Shinjuku Gyoen (National Garden) -
Train to Akihabara
Anime area & Arcades- Akihabara

Travel to Shibuya area
Shibuya Scramble Square - top deck for a view, then lower floors for restaurants
Go to - THE MATCHA TOKYO \Q
Harajuku - Takeshita Dori street

Dinner at Shinjuku Golden Gai
OR
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower -

Day 03- Friday - Nov 22
Train to Disneyland -
Tokyo Disneyland -
Train to restaurant -
Dinner at Akasaka Tsutsui (Akasaka, Western Cuisine) -
Train to Shinjuku -

Day 04- Saturday - Nov 23
Purchase JR Rail Pass -

Tokyo Zoo (Maybe) -
Tokyo National Museum -
Robot Restaurant

Day 05- Sunday- Nov 24
View Mt Fuji
Train to Lake Kawaguchiko -
Chureito Pagoda - FREE
Explore around Lake Kawaguchiko
Try Hoto Noodles
Kubota Itchiku Art Museum -
(Maybe) Fuji-Q Highland -

Day 06- Osaka- Monday - Nov 25 -
train to Osaka

- Afternoon Activities

Shitennoji Temple -
Osaka Castle -
Tenma or Shinsaibashi District - Shopping and arcade district
Umeda Sky Building -
Find local takoyaki and Japanese crepes (Osaka Style Okonomitaki)

Day 07 - Tuesday - Nov 26
Nara Deer Shrine - FREE
Lunch at Mizuya Chaya
Ukimido Temple -
Maybe - Hiraso restaurant
Leave afternoon free to decide what we want to do

Day 08- Wednesday - Nov 27
Universal Studios Osaka -
Dinner/drinks in Amerikamura (America town)

Day 09- Thursday - Nov 28
Minoo Park - FREE
Shinsekai district
Tour of Kamigata Ukiyoe Museum -
OR/AND
Osaka Aquarium -
Go to Dotonbori at night

Day 10- Friday- Nov 29 -
Check out and train to Kyoto

Kyoto -
Check in and drop off bags
Kyoto Imperial Palace - FREE
Eikan-do Temple (If there is time) -
Kiyomizudera & Higashiyama District
Nijo Castle -
Kinkakauji temple -
Kinkakuji Fudogama Chasho Restaurant for dinner


Day 11- Saturday- Nov 30
Tofukuji Temple -
Fushimi Inari Taisha -
Fushimi Sake Village - Have lunch in this area
Daigoji -
Toji Temple - If its not too out of the way
Somewhere for dinner to finish the day

Day 12- Sunday - Dec 1

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest -
Kokedera -
Katsura Imperial Villa -
Suntory Yamazaki Distillery - If its open
Finish day at - Pontocho Alley or Nishiki Market

Day 13- Monday - Dec 2
Interactive Samurai & Ninja Museum around Nishiki Market -
Kembu theatre Samurai Sword performance -

Izutsuya Sanjo - Wagyu Beef restaurant


Day 14- Travel to Hiroshima - Tuesday- Dec 3
Peace park
Hiroshima Castle
Go have some food, a relaxing day

Day 15- Wednesday - Dec 4
Find Okonomiyaki pancakes at Okonomimura (3rd story of building)
Miyajima
Explore this whole island town
Boat back to mainland and back to Hiroshima


Day 16- Thursday - Dec 5
Train to Kitakyushu

Kawachi Fujien Wisteria Garden
Explore Kitakyushu, food at Tanga Market
Train back to Hiroshima

Day 17- Travel to Osaka - Friday - Dec 6

Train to Osaka at 11am
Check in to hotel
Osaka Aquarium
Chill out rest of the day

Day 18- Travel home - Saturday - Dec 7
Sleep in, check out at 10am
Nothing planned for this day, just shopping or chilling out before going to airport
At airport at 11am
by Cam (guest)  

Re: Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/2 14:46
JR pass only covers about half way to Fuji 5 Lakes. You'll need another type of local pass to cover this.

For me, I'd get a Suica in Tokyo to covers local travels. Trains/buses/subway/private railways. 600-1200 yen a day.

Separate one way ticket Tokyo to Osaka. 11,000-14,000 yen depending on ticket.

A 7 day San"in-Sanyo pass to cover you Hiroshima/Kokura travels. 20,000 yen.

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/sanyo_sanin/
by h (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/2 14:48
Hi!

Some thoughts:

Look into how easy it is and what crowds are expected to be like at Tokyo Disneyland and just be aware you can't park hop without buying another full price ticket. Since you're going on a Friday, it could be quite crowded still and I know at one point there were definite limitations on buying tickets. I've not been keeping up super closely since the parks will be too crowded to consider on my next trip and when I go to TDR, I prefer staying on property. I'd also check if they've started paid line skipping privileges like the US and Paris Disney. Also be prepared depending on where you are staying the trip to the park can be quite long. Even if you are staying near Tokyo Station, the Keiyo line can take a while to get to.

I could have sworn someone recently asked about the Robot Restaurant on this forum and it was reported closed.

USJ can also get crowded. They 100% have paid skip the lines ticket booklets. Depending on where you are staying it can take longer to get there as well than you think. I will say depending on your plans, staying at one of the hotels next to USJ is surprisingly well priced.

Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo are closer together putting Kiyomizudera in between them is just going to add lots of travel time.

I also think you are going to get templed out trying to visit Tofukuji, Daigoji, Fushimi Inari, and Toji all in one day and I think unless you plan to do a cursory visit, that seems like a lot for 1 day.

I would probably pay out of pocket for the shinkansen ticket from Mishima to Osaka and then use a JR west Pass like this one:
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/sanyo_sanin/
For your travel to Hiroshima and KitaKyushu.

Honestly, some of your days seem super packed and some seem super empty (just going from Hiroshima to Kita-Kyushu during 1 day but trying to visit tons of sights in Tokyo or Kyoto in 1 day?)

I might do Kyoto first and then do Osaka, though outside of USJ, I'm not sure why you are spending some nights in Kyoto and some nights in Osaka. It's very easy to get between the two. I have a friend who lives in Osaka who I've visited with until 10:30 pm at night, but I still easily make it back to Kyoto before the last train to sleep in my hotel. I could maybe see it for USJ, I tend to like to be as close to theme parks as I can get because the first hour of touring is the most productive, but you still don't really need to stay in Osaka those other nights.

Good luck!


by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/2 14:51
Overall the itinerary seems good. You can question yourself if you really want to change hotels between Osaka and Kyoto, but you are staying long enough in both locations that it seems fine to me.

Regarding JR pass. I personally never used it. For travel within the cities there are many alternatives to JR, so yes, you might safe a bit but not that much. If the difference are 50 USD I think its a tough decision.
Pro:
- no hassle use of JR trains
- potentially just pays off
- Flexibility to throw in an extra stop

Con
- cant use faster / more frequent Shinkansen
- feeling obliged to use JR trains (and potentially missing out on more convenient alternatives)
- gneedh to complete the entire itinerary
- hassle of purchasing / exchanging it

So I donft really know. For me personally the decisive factor would be that I could only use the slower, less frequent Shinkansen. I (traveling alone) normally just go to the station get a ticket at the moment and jump on the unreserved section of the next Shinkansen. So my gwaith for the train is very short and i dont have the stress that I need to be at the station at a precise moment.
by LikeBike rate this post as useful

Re: Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/2 15:29
Kawachi Fuji garden isn't open in December. Wisteria flowers in late April-early May.
by jth_travel (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/4 05:55
And here is the thread regarding the Robot Restaurant being closed:

https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+175891
by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Japan Late november 2022 itinerary check 2022/10/4 06:20
Thanks for the feedback all!

I heard the robot restaurant may have been closed, but i guess this now confirms it, honestly don't mind and Tokyo zoo for the day might be more fun.

I think I'll end up not doing the JR pass, having to wait for specific trains might actually be a bit annoying, and I just feel like we won't be saving a huge amount of money to be worth the hassle. Will look into getting the West Japan pass as somebody suggested.

We are doing a lot of shrines, so we probably won't end up doing half of them at least, I think we wanted some days where we know we can just drop and do anything at all, but there is still something planned at least.
by Cam (guest) rate this post as useful

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