My last trip to Japan seems a distant memory at the time of writing this. I always find it funny when we spend so much time planning, look forward to, and willing our time away in anticipation for a couple of weeks to paradise for it to be over so quickly and just a blur in the memory bank. Possibly a pessimistic way of starting this blog! However, it never deters me, it just means you have to look for the next trip before the post holiday blues set in, haha.
In April 2024, I travelled to Japan for 14 days / technically 15, and so I wanted to share with you my itinerary, tips and must sees from my time there. I learned a lot, walked a lot, and experienced a lot. I’d love for you to do the same in your own way, but one thing I will start by saying is, don’t plan too much. I made this mistake. I was so heavily itinerary driven, like a 90s child in a Pokemon Centre, and wanted to complete all the visitor attraction “must dos” in Tokyo and Kyoto. Alas, it meant after 2 weeks of relentless activities I felt I needed another holiday! The thing is, when I was planning, I didn’t really appreciate the time it takes to do things and really absorb and enjoy them, or get from A to B. So my first advice to you is, keep it thin and if you have additional time, have something up your sleeve or just go explore. The beauty of Japan is down every street, around every corner, there’s something cool, interesting, beautiful for you to gaze upon.
So where do you start with planning? I spent hours and hours obsessing over YouTube, which I am sure you have already done. My favourite channels were, Abroad in Japan, Sharmeleon, Samurai Junjuro, Cakes with Faces, Minori, and CDawgVA, to name but a few. Abroad in Japan released a book of his time in Japan in 2024, which makes for a great read, and Cakes with Faces has an incredibly comprehensive guide for many aspects of your journey so be sure to check that out.
I also watched relevant TV shows such as “Our Man in Japan” with James May, and “Japanese Gardens” with Monty Don. I love Japanese architecture, culture, and nature, and both of these shows display Japan in such a wonderful way.
So, what was my plans? Here we go, you ready? (but first… Godzilla).
| Morning | Afternoon | Evening | Night | ||
| 03/04/24 | NCL – LHR | LHR – HND | |||
| 04/04/24 | Arrive HND and Go to Hotel | HOTEL – Hotel Brilio Asakusabashi Arrive and relax in Tokyo – Pokemon Store / Shinjuku | Day 1 | ||
| 05/04/24 | 10am – Teamlab | Sensoji Temple / Skytree | Shibuya Crossing / Shibuya Sky @ 1740 | Day 2 | |
| 06/04/24 | Pokemon Store DX / Imperial Palace | Train to Kyoto – 12pm from Tokyo Station | Look around Kyoto | Night walks | Day 3 |
| 07/04/24 | Arashiyama about 1 hour | Arashiyama Monkey Park | Nintendo building | Night walks | Day 4 |
| 08/04/24 | Kiyomizu Temple / Chion-in Temple | Kinkaku-ji / Ginkaku-ji | Sakura / Toji Temple | Night walks | Day 5 |
| 09/04/24 | Fushimi Inari | Nara | Nara | Night walks | Day 6 |
| 10/04/24 | Gion District and Attractions | Night walks | Day 7 | ||
| 11/04/24 | Train to Osaka | Osaka Castle | Dontonbori | Street Food | Day 8 |
| 12/04/24 | Universal Studios | Relax | Day 9 | ||
| 13/04/24 | Himeji Castle and Godzilla Museum? | Relax | Day 10 | ||
| 14/04/24 | Train to Tokyo – 10:15 from Shin Osaka | HOTEL FAV TOKYO RYOGOKU Akihabara / Harajuku | Pokémon Cafe 16:40 – Shopping | Street Food | Day 11 |
| 15/04/24 | Mt. Fuji / Chureito Pagoda | Day 12 | |||
| 16/04/24 | Disneysea | Relax | Day 13 | ||
| 17/04/24 | Disneyland | Relax | Day 14 | ||
| 18/04/24 | Shopping | Relax | Day 15 | ||
| 19/04/24 | Travel to HND | Flight to LHR | Day 16 | ||
| 19/04/24 | Flight to LHR | Flight to NCL | |||
So there you have it.
Now for some notes. You will notice I’ve noted the hotels I stayed in here. I really loved all the places we stayed. Especially the one in Kyoto which I will link at the bottom of the page.
Arriving in Tokyo
Hotel Brillio Asakusabashi was such a pleasant surprise! Everyone told me Tokyo hotels would be tiny, but the room was really spacious. Complete with 2 slightly wider than single beds, a bed with storage underneath. Almost like a bunk bed. Plenty storage, INCREDIBLE toilet, and a little Japanese style sitting area. They even included some Japanese style pyjamas. And to top it off, right next door, there’s a lush little shrine.
It’s about a 5-minute walk from Asakusabashi Station, 20 minutes from Asakusa Station, and 25 minutes to Senso-ji Temple. Sure, getting to places like Shinjuku and Shibuya took a little longer, but being slightly further out meant it was quieter and so much more relaxing. It was a perfect place to plonk ourselves down for our first couple of nights in Japan!
At midnight, 29 days prior to the date you want to visit, you can book tickets for Shibuya Sky. This is the fairly newly constructed building adjacent Shibuya Crossing that you can get an elevator to the top of and enjoy stunning panoramas of Tokyo. We booked this for the first night we were there at sun down. You can spend as long as you like there, so it’s worth in my opinion booking about 30 mins to an hour before sundown so you can enjoy both day time views and night time views, with the bonus of watching the sun go down in the land of the rising sun. Some irony in that.
Team Labs is absolutely an experience I would recommend. We visited Team Labs Planets which I’d heard was the better of the two in Tokyo. It’s a digital art exhibition which I had reasonably high hopes for, and to be honest, it surpassed them. It was a bit of an “instagram paradise”, and there was some pretty irritating behaviours by other tourists, but I’d certainly recommend it being a priority in your itinery.
Down to Kyoto on the Shinkansen
Day 3: we hopped on the Shinkansen to Kyoto, what an experience. I think Japan turned me into a train spotter…! The Shinkansen is massive and ridiculously comfy. Tokyo Station was a bit tricky to navigate, but once we got the hang of it (and scanned our Suica cards properly—make sure to scan your Suica at the first gate otherwise it doesn’t work on the second!), it was smooth sailing. If you ever get stuck, the station staff are super helpful, and many speak decent English.
By the way, if you want to avoid the hassle of seat reservations at the machines, I’ve got a blog about booking Shinkansen tickets in advance—check it out “how do I book the Shinkansen in advance”.
Don’t forgot before boarding the Shinkansen to grab an “ekiben” or train station bento box. I opted for Ox Tongue which magically self-heats. Honestly, it was incredible… for something that’s a take out item the quality was excellent. I’ve heard that some of the ones on the platforms are usually fairly stale, so maybe try and grab one before you head into the main parts of the station.
Often you will find underneath stations there’s a rabbit warren of food places, such as the extensive one at Tokyo Station where you will also find exclusive Tokyo Station Pikachu plushies in the mini Pokemon Store.
Exploring Kyoto
Kyoto is a totally different vibe from Tokyo—beautiful but a bit harder to get around. The buses? Not my favourite experience, they were always crowded and stuffy. I preferred walking a bit extra to catch a train or subway or, when needed, using the taxi app “Go,” which works just like Uber or Lyft and makes life way easier.
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest was a little overrated for me. It was packed even early in the day, and we were done in about five minutes. It’s much smaller than I expected. Thankfully, the nearby Monkey Park saved the trip. The hike up Mt. Arashiyama was a bit of a workout, but the view (and the monkeys) made it so worth it!
We stayed in an AirBnB, a traditional Japanese Machiya (wooden townhouse), and it was magical. Seriously, I’d move into that little house if I could. It cost around £700 but could fit up to 8 people! It really didn’t disappoint! Here’s a link to the house.
I found Higashiyama a convenient place to stay. Particularly for proximity to Gion District. One evening, on a rainy day, I went for a late night stroll around Gion. For over a year prior to going I’d been falling asleep watching videos of people walking in the rain through Gion, being there in the moment was insane! The only thing I would say about this area we stayed is that it isn’t central, so it takes a little while to get around to the various attractions which are across sprawled out across the whole city from North to South.
The Pokemon store in Kyoto is excellent. I managed to grab a boy and girl exclusive kimono Pikachu plush from there. It’s also got a lovely display at the front of Pikachu in a kimono amongst sakura.
Kyoto was the birth place of Nintendo, so it would be rude not to check out at least the Nintendo store. But, when it comes to Nintendo in Kyoto there’s 3 main things I would recommend you go.
Firstly, the brand new Nintendo museum. 4 months before the month you go, on the 1st of the month the tickets become available for a randomised lottery draw. You will need a Nintendo login to register. You’re not guaranteed to gain entry, so if a few of you are going, it’s best everyone does it.
You can visit the very building in which Nintendo was first housed, manufacturing and selling Hanafuda cards in the 19th Century. If you’re feeling flush, it’s now a swanky ryokan so you can stay there for a bajillion yen per night.
And finally, the iconic squared buildings of the development centre and main head quarters are still in Kyoto. A short train ride from Kyoto station and a little walk and you’ll find them. I had a little moment of awe, emotion and nostalgia just staring at these buildings, imagining what went on inside over the years and what still happens there today. Keep an eye out for Mr Miyamoto, sometimes he’s seen getting the train, or just walking to work in Kyoto.
A trip to Nara Deer Park
It was really easy to get to Nara Park from Kyoto via train, then a short walk from the train station and you’re in Nara Park. Arriving in Nara, deer closest the park area, however, I found the ones to be further away from the park the nicest to interact with. The ones in the park itself were a little aggressive, which if I am honest, was pretty entertaining at times. There’s many stalls selling deer crackers, but they do tend to run out on busy days and then it can be a little more difficult to find people selling them. Something to keep in mind. We also missed all the shows of the mochi pounding at Nakatanidou on our visit to Nara. Things do tend to close earlier than I expected in Japan, definitely something to be mindful of when you’re planning your itinerary.
Trekking to Osaka
On day 8 we head to Osaka. We booked another Air Bnb in Osaka about 10 minutes walk from Dotonbori. It was really easy to check in and the quality of the room was excellent, albeit that it became a little noisy on a morning. The main motivation for heading to Osaka was to visit Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan, and of course, stuff our faces with some street food.
Immediately, there’s a tonal change in Osaka from Kyoto. It’s amazing how the different areas of Japan have just a noticeable difference in vibe. At first, arriving in Dotonbori for some street food, I thought, “this is like Blackpool, but cleaner and less riff-raff, I’m not sure how I feel about it”, then I grew to enjoy the vibe. It’s loud, it’s flashy, it’s chaotic, but it’s charming and very Japanese everywhere you go. I feel like we didn’t get the best Osaka experience, which is part of the reason I am looking forward to going back in May of 2025 (check out this blog for more details on that).
One thing I did love about Osaka though, the Okonomiyaki… oh my, what a delight… I had a one with noodles in (which I believe is Hiroshima style), and it was just… well, put it this way, I just dribbled on my keyboard.
Cars, Castles and Godzilla
From Osaka, we hired a car to take a short trip down to Hyogo Prefecture and visit Himeji Castle. This is something I wanted to tick off the bucket list, I wanted to walk in the footsteps of James Bond in the Sean Connery era film, “You Only Live Twice” which was set in Japan. It was a little tricky to find the spot at first, but it is in the west bailey (Nishi no Maru) to the left as you enter into the castle grounds past the ticket gate. There’s a little sign and likely to be a queue of people.
Driving in Japan is so easy. One of the things I especially liked is that when you hire a car, there’s no dynamic prices like in western countries. You pay the price of the rental the same as you would at any time under any circumstances. I hired a car from Toyota Rent a Car, after some frantic over thinking and researching they were the ones who seemed to come up top trumps in the Japanese rent a car world. It was easy to collect, easy to drive (don’t forget to get an ETC card), and a thoroughly great experience. Almost like driving in a 90s video game with all the signage. I wrote a blog on renting a car and tolls here.
We managed to fit in the same day a trip to Awaji Island, a little further south of Kobe. Specifically, this was to visit Nijigen no mori, which is home to the Godzilla Intercept Operation and Museum. Who doesn’t want to zip-line through a massive fibre glass Godzilla? The carpark for this place is a good 20 mins walk from the actual museum and zip-line. It was much deeper into the forest than I expected but follow the signs and you’ll be good.
Universal Studios Japan
We pre-booked our tickets for Universal Studios Japan. The ticket type we bought was early entry, which we specifically did to make sure we could run to Super Nintendo World once we were allowed in. There’s a lot to know about visit Universal Studios Japan. For example, the opening time isn’t the opening time… actually, it opens earlier, and depending on the day of the week and the crowed levels, you may need to book a timed entry to areas such as Super Nintendo World which you can’t book until you’re inside the park and on the app. My recommendations are, visit on a weekday, Monday – Thursday preferably. It was quite on the day we visited which was a Thursday. Get the early entry ticket, it gets you in 15 mins sooner but it’s a real help when queueing and trying to get in through the crowds. We walked straight into Super Nintendo World and straight onto Mario Kart.
To get there, we got the bus which we booked via Klook. The bus didn’t have a sign on and there were a number of buses waiting at the place we were told to go. If you’re unsure, check with each driver by just saying “USJ” and they will say yes or no. There’s apparently sometimes a little sign that says USJ on the front of the bus in the window. The bus actually arrived 5 mins later than we aimed to be there for early entry (you get to know what time to be there the day before), but we still managed to get in just fine. I may write another blog about this in the future, just to cover off specifics, but there’s plenty out there already for now such as TDL Explorers’ excellent guide he has on his website.
Back to Tokyo
Heading back to Tokyo we rode the Shinkansen in Green Car. It was nice, but actually, I found it difficult to find anywhere to put our case. I think we should have booked a space to store them, but I didn’t quite figure out how to do that. In standard, if you book the last seat in the cabin there’s plenty space for larger cases behind you, or if you don’t book that, there’s heaps of space around the seat for you just to sit with it. The problem with these seats is there’s a lovely footrest, which is great if you’re bags not there, but because I had the bag it dramatically reduced the space I had.
I think the quality of standard class is so high compared to anything in the west that I would be happy just to travel that way in future. The main benefits to the green car are a foot rest, 2 x 2 seating configuration, warmer lighting, reading light, more comfortable seats, and a carpeted floor.
For our return to Tokyo we booked the Pokemon cafe, something which you must book well in advance. Bookings open 31 days prior to the desired date at 6PM JST (Japan Standard Time). When we did this, we tried by the conventional means of waiting on the website at the time the reservations are released and booking that way, however, we failed. So, instead we purchased a service for someone to make a booking for us (you can find these advertised via Facebook groups such as Tokyo Travel Tips). I don’t know how they do it, but they managed to do it and it cost around $20 for the service, but it meant we didn’t have to worry about doing it ourselves.
We also managed to fit in an impromptu visit to Skytree. We didn’t prioritise this, and we really should have, it was excellent! At night seeing the way all the lights gradually fade off into the distance was just break taking. There’s an opportunity for you to have a photograph taken on the very top which became the only experience we had in Japan that felt like a rip off. We were encouraged to stand in a queue for a “free” photo which we then waited in for around 30 mins. We had a picture taken in the corner of the building which was with a green screen, sitting on a cloud suspended above Tokyo. It was a nice idea, but the free photo was the size of a stamp, and the cost of the additional just felt like a bit of a scam. I wouldn’t do this part again.
Otherwise, Skytree was magnificent! The lift is so fast and hardly feels like you’re moving. It was an experience I would encourage you to prioritise.
Picture perfect Mt. Fuji
We hired a car once more from Toyota Rent a Car, drove from central Tokyo to Fujiyoshida. It sounds terrifying when you say, “drove from central Tokyo”, but honestly, as someone who traverses the UK regularly, it’s so much easier than the cities in the UK to get around. Drivers are also much more considerate. Incredibly, I had booked this car rental with slim hope of seeing Mt. Fuji from the Chureito Pagoda. An image you see on most Japan travel guides and has been my wall paper for many years. I wanted to capture my own version. The gods had answered and there was Fuji San in all it’s glory. Not only was it clear but the previous day this area had announced the official first day of full sakura blossom.
We waited around 45 mins to get up to the Pagoda viewing platform which we were allowed to be on for 5 minutes before being ushered away. It was possible one of the most magical and awe inspiring 5 minutes of my life. I would do it time and time again. It’s probably worth mentioning that the walk up to the Pagoda is a gruelling one. It’s 398 steps, then a further few when you reach the base of the pagoda to the viewing platform. There’s also a snaking road which can be used for wheelchairs and small vehicles (usually taxis and service vehicles only). More on Chureito Pagoda here. If you’re in Japan with the hopes of seeing Mt. Fuji, this is your number one place to go see it.
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
The last 2 days were all about Disney. Having visited Orlando many times and Paris before, we wanted to tick the 2 Japanese parks off the list. Tokyo Disneyland was the first park to open outside of the United States in 1983. It’s pretty much a carbon copy of Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, with some scaling back and slight changes around the park. Tokyo DisneySea is a completely unique park. The only one of its kind in the world. It was a visually beautiful park, and is home to what is now my most favourite Disney attraction ride, Indiana Jones Adventure, Temple of the Crystal Skull. It was INSANE! I loved it so much, and soon it’s coming to WDW in Florida! I can’t wait.
Each park took 1 day, however, with the expansion of Fantasy Spring (which opened only a couple of weeks after my visit), DisneySea may now require 2 days as it was a little tight trying to fit everything in without the addition of a new area. I must say, the Journey to the Centre of the Earth was entirely worth it too.
Heading home… the sad part
It was then time to come home. We head to Haneda via the monorail from Tokyo Station, and waved goodbye to Japan for another year. In the airport I hoped to get a pilot Pikachu, however, the machine was completely sold out. Never mind, maybe next time!
Japan left a hole in my heart where I never expected there to be one. I knew going that I would fall in love, little did I think the breakup would be so emotional. And so with that, how do you fix it? Book your next trip. Honestly, do not be put off by the cost of flights. Once you factor in eating, accommodation, activities etc. the cost is certainly significantly cheaper than heading to the USA for the same amount of time, and in many ways cheaper than the current cost of many European holidays. The satisfaction, and the impression left from the culture, scenery and the people who live in this far away land is nothing I can describe in this blog, so just go find out for yourself. In a word, it’s magnificent.
