7 day itinerary

Hoping you will give me advice on this itinerary for a family of 3 (son is 13 year old baseball nut) coming to Tokyo the last week of May.

Day 1-arrival, check in to ryokan, dinner, get settled.

Day 2-Hama Rikyu Garden, Sumida River boat, Asakusa, Ginza (Sony store, Apple store, anything else interesting for a 13 year old boy there?), Roppongi Hills for Tokyo Tower, Mori Art Museum, go to Shinjuku Station to buy Hakone Freepasses for trip later in the week.

Day 3-Odaiba (can we do more than this in one day?).

Day 4- Akihabara for manga and electronics, Edo-Tokyo Museum, Tokyo Dome, Shibuya Crossing, maybe Ikebukuro for crafts shopping?

Day 5-Nikko day trip (already have World Heritage passes)

Day 6-Hakone, Yunessun, OpenAir Museum, and as much of the lake as we can see.

Day 7-Ueno Zoo, Baseball game.

Day 8-Harajuku, depart.

Anything I'm missing? Anything we can skip? Anything we should change? Thanks for your help.

Sounds good to me. Just some remarks: Tokyo Tower ( the Eiffel tower style one ) is not on Roppongi hills. At Roppongi hills is a high rise building you can visit. If you look for a free observation platform it is the Metropolitan Office Building in Shinjuku. If a half day Odaiba is enough, you can go back to Shimbashi station and take a JR Yokosuka line for the 60 min trip to Kamakura ( Yen 780 ). You need not to go to Ikebukuro just for crafts, the Nakamise dori in front of Asakusa temple offers souvenirs, too. Maybe one act at the Kabuki theater can be of interest? http://www.shochiku.co.jp/play/kabukiza/theater/index.html

Odaiba is good for a few hours and I think the ideal time is towards the evening and have a meal in a restaurant overlooking the bay and the Rainbow Bridge. There are a few to choose from and relatively inexpensive. The ride out on the Yurikamome is an experience in itself.

On the first day I would go to the Hama Rikyu garden then to Ginza as it is not that far. Rather than going to Shibuya just to have a look at a crosswalk, have a look at the one in Ginza, by the Sony building. this type of crossing (people cross in 4 directions plus in 2 diagonals) is relatively common over there. Near Ginza avenue and close to the JR Yamanote line Yurakucho station (the stop for Ginza avenue or from it back to..) there is the Tokyo International building. The entrance atrium is truly spectacular.Tokyo main tourist office is in this complex.I would go to Asakusa on the day you plan to go to Odaiba. Go to Asakusa in the morning (not very early)and not just tour the Senso-ji temple and Nakamise street but also the quaint streets just north of the temple then go to Odaiba by boat from there. Odaiba has lots of interesting modern buildings. The Mega Web Toyota showroom is especially fascinating. Come back to the mainland with the Yurikamome automated-no driver-light rail transit and be sure to notice that it has wheels running on 2 concrete "tracks" and is therefore not a monorail despite what many guidebooks say. Plan to see some big department stores (for example after Odaiba as they open late everyday. Their food floor (in the basement) is always fascinating and so is the floor where they sell kimonos for men and women. I like Takashimaya Times square in South Shinjuku. In the same building there is a Tokyu Hands store(small stuff for the home,the office and school plus do-it-yourself stuff)and next to it a big Kinokinuya bookstore (one whole floor has books in English). All department stores have at least one floor (at the top) with lots of restaurants. Ueno park has lots of stuff, besides the zoo-not the greatest in the world--. From noon to late in the evening the pedestrian lanes called Ameyokocho and located under the JR elevated tracks have several hundred booths selling all sort of stuff. While visiting Akihabara don't forget to check Yodobashi cameras,not just for cameras but also for appliances (trust me when I say that you have never seen refrigerators like the Japanese ones).When in Harajuku you should first have a look at the Meiji shrine then at Takeshita dori, The street for young people and their wild clothes, then at Omotesando avenue for upmarket stores for mom and Dad..other places to see are Shinagawa and the Sengakuji temple where the 47 ronins are buried (Google it. Your son will likely love the story). another place is Ebisu and its acurate replica of a 17th century French castle in the middle of a shopping mall. A ride on the old-fashioned Arakawa tram line is a pleasant diversion of the general hustle and bustle of Tokyo transit. Generally speaking do not cram too many things in one day as it takes longer than one think to go here and there then visit each place. Don't try to use subways or the Yamanote loop line at rush hour as it is really uncomfortable.

Great suggestions- will definitely change things around to maximize the fun and minimize the travel time. Glad I asked. Thanks again.