To drop Harujuku or Miyajima?

Hi,

I have an itinerary (Nov20-Dec6) which I think might be too aggresive due to the extensive travel between locations. My priorities are the fall folliage & culture and not so much of the city. Below is my itinerary:

Day 1-3 - Kyoto (Arrive Osaka morning. Kiyomizudera, Philosopher's path, Gion, Kinkakuji, Arashiyama)

Day 4 - Mijajima (night either in Kyoto or Himeji)

Day 5 - Kinosaki (night in Kinosaki)

Day 6-8 - Takayama & Shirakawago

Day 9(Sun) - 12 - Tokyo, Nikko

Day 13 - Chichibu Matsuri

Day 14-15 - Kyoto (back to Kyoto, Fushimi Inari, Nara)

Day 16 - Depart

I'm thinking of dropping either Miyajima (so far out for a day trip!) or Harujuku (to be in Tokyo on Day 9 Sunday forces me to compress the first 8 days. Also I end up having TOO many days in Tokyo as I need to wait for Chichibu Matsuri that take place on Day 13). I can't decide which one to drop or how I can swap things around. Is Miyajima, Harujuku (Sunday) or Himeji (can't fit in Himeji) really a big miss? Can someone please share your thoughts? If you had to drop one, which would you drop?

This is very much a question of personal interest. If you are into Harajuku culture and think it is worth building your itinerary around it, go ahead.

I personally would give Miyajima and Himeji far higher priorities.

Himeji- quiet,very clean city with the perfect castle (never been destroyed by enemy or fire), the garden is nice too.

Harajuku- loud, is more crowded. fun, city, young, urban, cute, dress up, like halloween but it's harajuku, dolls. You will see people with strange silver outfits with funky star sunglasses walking their dogs fashioning the same outfit.

What kind of culture are you referring to? Fashion or Historic?

Harajuku can be just as fun on other days- you won't see as many of the cosplay girls, sure, but that has become a bit of a circus lately with the tourists with cameras outnumbering the girls on a lot of days- I wouldn't change my whole itinerary for that- go and look on Takeshita dori any other day and Shibuya and you will see plenty of people dressed outlandishly anyway.

Erm, when you get to Tokyo area, Maybe it's best to go to Nikko first? So that you can go ahead and tour that place. Shouldn't take more than 2 days. When you get to Tokyo, everything is going to be close together. Harajuku isn't far at all.

Harajuku IS in Tokyo. All the main points will be in one circle, not in this particular order: Harajuku, Yoyoji, Shibuya, Ueno, Downtown Tokyo, Shinjuku, Akihabara, etc.

You can take the last couple days touring those districts, shopping, etc before you head down to that festival thing you were wating on, and Kyoto. You'll be departing from Osaka right?

Hello Anastasia. I traveled to Japan in the spring of 07 for three weeks and had a blast. I also did the crazy run around Japan on the shinkansen with a rail pass type trip. Personally, unless you're an anime freak or an otaku, I don't know if Harajuku on a Sunday is the biggest deal. You could still visit Harajuku on a weekday evening and see the various type of people. I did that on a weekday. But it's up to you.

I'll give two suggestions. One trip without Sunday in Harajuku and one with it.

Without it:
Day 1-3 same
Day 4: shinkansen to Himeji, visit castle for a couple hours in morning, and take shinkansen to Hiroshima, walk around Peace Park, see A-Bomb dome and visit the memorial museum for an hour or so, and stay in Hiroshima hotel. (I did this exact same day, worked out) Or do other stuff in Hiroshima if not interested in that. (make sure to try the okonomiyaki and oysters!)
Day 5: take train, then ferry to Miyajima. Make sure to hike to top of Mt. Misen (excellent views if clear, clears up more in afternoon). Then take train that evening and stay in Kinosaki.
Day 6: Kinosaki, evening take train to Takayama.
Day 7-9 Takayama and Shirakawago
Rest of trip the same.
Definitely recommend Fushimi Inari and Nara, good choices

This above trip would require packing light (a large backpack with a couple changes of clothes) so you could leave the hotel in the morning, lock stuff in train lockers, have your day excursion, pick up stuff and then take trains in the evening. That's what I did. That way you're traveling when it's dark and can be at your destination in the morning, rather than travel in the morning during daylight.

Trip with Harajuku on Sunday:
Leave Kyoto in the evening of Day 3 and take Shinkansen to Hiroshima, so that you can be at Miyajima in the morning. Then you can take the train that night to Kinosaki. Rest of the trip the same. This would be workable, but you'd cut out Himeji and seeing Hiroshima peace park. Again, personally, unless you like anime/otaku-ness more than Himeji castle (quite beautiful), than I'd do the first itinerary. Either way, if you like nature, you shouldn't miss Miyajima island. Very beautiful. And make sure that if it's foggy, low clouds, you wait til at least the afternoon to be on top of Mt. Misen, b/c it cleared up for me when I was there, and it was a very beautiful view.
Have a blast!

regarding another poster's suggestion to go to Nikko first, I'd say it would actually be better if you're in Tokyo first, and then on one of the mornings take the train early and make a day trip out of it, to see the shrines. I wouldn't make it a 2-day trip. You'll want to enjoy your time in Tokyo.

Oh I read again, you wioll depart from Kyoto. Geat :-)

Here's the circle thing I was talking about.

It will be the Yamanote line you are traveling. I found the picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yamanote.png

It doesn't take long at all to go through that whole circle!

As Uji wrote, if Harjuku is what you are looking for do it! To me it was just a crowded street with a bunch of stores and people. But Miyajima is beautiful and peaceful (at least it was quiet when I was there) and Himeji is an amazing piece of Japan's past.

If it were me I'd regret missing Miyajima and Himeji for Harajuku.

Hi all,

Thanks for your invaluable advices. Following many of your advices, I have decided to drop Harujuku in favor of Miyajima & Himeji. I have a few transport questions and will appreciate your comments in any of the below since I can't find the answers by googling.

1) Is Hyperdia.com really reliable in terms of providing the best route and timing? Also how can I tell from the hyperdia's timetable if my JR pass will be accepted? Is there an indication somewhere I'm missing? I see unfamiliar train names like maxYamabiko Shinkansen or Kitakinki Limited Express and I'm just not sure if my JR pass can be used.


2)Kinosaki Transport
- Can one travel straight from Hiroshima to Kinosaki without going through Himeji?
- If I MUST go via Himeji, I can't seem to find any Timetable online about the direct Hamakaze Express train from Himeji to Kinosaki. I understand that this is the quickest train and there are suppose to be 2 trains a day. Can anyone advise? Hyperdia only display local trains with multiple transits! I will have the JR pass.

- On leaving Kinosaki, again does anyone know if there are direct trains from Kinosaki to Nagoya (onward to Takayama) without having to go to Kyoto and change train?

3) Nagoya-Takayama
- According to Hyperdia, I have to change from JR Tokaido Shinkansen Hikari 384 (arriving Nagoya 7:32pm) to Hilda Limited Express (departing 7:43pm). That's a 11 minute gap. Does anyone know if this is possible? Are the train platforms for these 2 trains close by or miles apart?

4) Chichibu
- I understand that Chichibu Yomatsuri ends at 10pm on Dec 3rd. According to Hyperdia, there are no trains to get back to Yokohama the same night after 10pm. Is this correct?

Is Hyperdia.com really reliable in terms of providing the best route and timing?

Yes, provided that you enter the data correctly.

Also how can I tell from the hyperdia's timetable if my JR pass will be accepted?

In case of local trains, trains are labeled as "JR Line". In case of limited express trains, it is more tricky, because "JR" is not mentioned. If in doubt, ask in this forum. Also, there are some useful advice on the following page:
http://www.japanrail.com/JR_hyperdia.html

Can one travel straight from Hiroshima to Kinosaki without going through Himeji?

You have to transfer somewhere. If you have a Japan Rail Pass, the route via Himeji and Tottori is not fully covered. Travel via Osaka is fully covered.

On leaving Kinosaki, again does anyone know if there are direct trains from Kinosaki to Nagoya (onward to Takayama) without having to go to Kyoto and change train?

No, you have to change along the way in Kyoto.

According to Hyperdia, I have to change from JR Tokaido Shinkansen Hikari 384 (arriving Nagoya 7:32pm) to Hilda Limited Express (departing 7:43pm). That's a 11 minute gap. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Yes, that is no problem. The platforms are all parallel to each other, easy to find. It is likely to take between two and five minutes.

- I understand that Chichibu Yomatsuri ends at 10pm on Dec 3rd. According to Hyperdia, there are no trains to get back to Yokohama the same night after 10pm. Is this correct?

No. If you take the 22:20 departure from Seibu-Chchibu Station, you can get to Ikebukuro by 0:03 (transfer at Hanno along the way) and catch a Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku Line via Shinagawa to arrive at Yokohama at 1:09. This is according to the current timetables.

Be warned that trains from Chichibu back to Tokyo are very crowded on the night of the festival, and I recommend to go to the station in advance.

ok thanks.

Is Hiroshima TO Shinosaka (using Sanyo Shinkansen Hikari) TO Kinosaki (using Kitakinki Limited Express) covered by JR pass?

Is Hiroshima TO Shinosaka (using Sanyo Shinkansen Hikari) TO Kinosaki (using Kitakinki Limited Express) covered by JR pass?

Yes.