Tokyo Itinerary Feedback

kbmartin

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Hi everyone! I am looking for feedback and any suggestions (stores, restaurants, attractions, etc.) for the Tokyo part of our trip (I haven't finished our Disney part yet - I was waiting until it got a little closer for any new info, an English TDR app 🤞, etc.).

Just some background info... It's just my DH and I, both in our mid-30s. I have never traveled abroad; DH has been to Ireland as his one international trip. When we decided to actually take this trip, I made myself brave by thinking, "Well, if I can do Japan, I can go anywhere!" We are huge nerds and have pretty much based many of our attractions around that. I am way more interested in culture/history than DH, but he'll give most things a try (as a note, he does not love museums). DH is fit, but I am not. I have a plan to walk more and work out leading up to the trip (I have heard that walking 10-15 mi. per day is the norm on a trip to Tokyo!). DH is an adventurous eater; I am not (I don't even like sushi), but I'll give most things a try. DH doesn't drink at all, so I rarely do as a result. We would not be interested in bars, specialty Japanese booze, etc., but I want to wander through Golden Gai, for example, just to see what the atmosphere is like. We are staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, which is pretty close to Shinjuku Station. I have been using the app Drops to learn some basic Japanese, and I feel like I know a bit to get by but not enough to have a conversation. I've mastered things like, Do you speak English?, yes, no, thank you, excuse me, please, Can I have the bill?, How much does this cost?, etc. I'm going to continue learning all the way until April so I'll get better!

That brings me to my next piece of info. I would say a lot of my anxiety about this trip comes from using the train system. We are from an area in which we never use subways, trains, etc. I have heard that you get used to it fast, but that doesn't help me now! :scared: I have planned our itinerary three times. Once, I randomly put stuff on a list (early on - it was a big yikes!); the second time, I planned the itinerary by region (Western Tokyo one day, etc.). This time, I used Google Maps extensively and figured out exactly how we might get from one point of interest to another, made a giant list of which locations were easy to get to from others, and eventually grouped those attractions together. Basically, the reason some attractions are together in a day is because of the train system. Nothing requires transferring trains/going to a secondary station in order to get to any one location at any point. Hopefully that makes sense! I finally feel comfortable knowing that I might finally have the trains in order (although I'm still sure we will be lost once we are actually in a station!). However, if you think this is an insane, ridiculous way to plan my days, let me know. I can take it! Haha. 😅:duck:

Without further ado, here it is! I tried not to plan too much in any day to allow us to have our SQUIRREL! moments. If you think anything is overplanned (or under!), let me know!


FIRST: 4 days at the Disney parks (I know we will be jet-lagged in the beginning so that's why we're doing 4 days - I still want to experience as much as I can!)


Friday - Rest day for laundry and transferring hotels

  • Sleep in
  • Check out of Hilton Tokyo Bay by 11 am
  • Grab a snack to take to Sheraton Grande
  • Walk to Sheraton Grande to do laundry at Oasis Center (should take about 1.5 hours)
  • Ikspiari for lunch - Ippudo Ramen?
  • Get to Tokyo Disney Sea early to find where the Good Neighbor buses arrive (our next hotel is a Disney Good Neighbor hotel and we are able to use that to transfer!)
  • Around 4 pm - board bus with luggage
  • Around 5:30 pm - Arrive at hotel, check in, rest, purchase tickets for airport limo bus for our eventual departure
  • Dinner in Shinjuku
  • Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building - go to North Observatory for the view of Tokyo all lit up at night. They are open until 11 pm but admission ends at 10:30 pm.

Saturday - another day for taking it easy/recovering from lots of walking at Disney
  • Sleep in
  • Get breakfast from a conbini
  • 12:45 - Samurai Museum. Take the tour, get pictures trying on the costumes, and watch sword performance at 2 pm.
  • Lunch?
  • Club SEGA
  • Dinner?
  • Evening plan
    • Walk through Omoide Yokocho (aka Piss Alley)
    • Robot Restaurant (don't want to be in Kabukicho super late)
    • Walk through Golden Gai (don't want to be in Kabukicho super late)

Sunday
  • Get breakfast from a conbini
  • Around 8 am - Walk to Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station and take the Oedo line to Kuramae Station (about 34 min.)
  • Walk to Senso-ji (about 10-15 min.)
  • Senso-ji (looking for tips!!!)
    • Explore the main grounds (opens at 6 am)
    • Fortune telling "sticks"
    • Nakamise Shopping Street opens at 10 am
  • Rickshaw ride around Asakusa? I wonder if any would drop us off at the museum...???
  • Walk to Edo-Tokyo Museum (will take about 25 min.) - have lunch somewhere along the way
  • Edo-Tokyo Museum
    • Request a tour in English (1.5 hours) sometime between 12:30-2 pm
  • Walk 3 min. To Ryogoku Station
    • Take Oedo line to Azabu Juban Station (21 min.)
  • Walk from station to Shining Moon Tokyo (6 min.). Have a snack at some point - the food at Shining Moon Tokyo gets mixed reviews.
  • Shining Moon Tokyo
    • Arrive no later than 5:00 pm - shoot for 4:45 pm
    • Show runs from 5:50-6:30 pm
  • Walk to Tokyo Tower (about 17 min.)
  • Walk about 12 min. to Akebanebashi Station and take Oedo line to Tochomae Station in Shinjuku. (13 min.)
  • Walk 6 min. Back to hotel

Monday

Note: We are REALLY hoping to get Ghibli tickets for this day because I think it might be slightly less crowded on a weekday, but I'll take them any day I can get them. It isn't open on Tuesday, so that option is out.

  • Get breakfast from a conbini
  • Walk to Shinjuku Station
  • Take Chuo line to Mitaka Station (20 min.)
  • Use south exit of Mitaka Station
  • From here, can either:
    • Walk 15 min. To museum
    • Take a bus directly to the museum. Bus tickets are sold at a vending machine by bus stop No. 9. Round trip fare: Y320. Bus looks like it comes every 10-20 min.
  • Ghibli Museum opens at 10 am
  • On the way back to Mitaka Station, stop for conveyor belt sushi (they have shrimp tempura as well) at Sushi Choshimaru. (Note that the food at Pokemon Cafe, where we are going next, isn’t very good - it’s just cute. You might just want to have dessert there.)
  • Get back to Mitaka Station and take the Chuo-Sobu line to Nihombashi Station (40 min.). Note that this eventually becomes the Tozai line (Nishi-Funabashi) but you stay on the same train.
  • Walk 5 min. To Pokemon Cafe (will probably spend about an hour or so here)
  • Walk about 9 min. To Kayabacho Station and take the Hibiya line to Akihabara Station (about 14 min.)
  • Explore Akihabara
    • Shopping in Akiba: Akihabara Radio Kaikan, Animate Akiba Girls’ Station, Akiba Cultures Zone, Super Potato?
    • Eat at Gyukatsu Ichi Ni San at an off time because they get REALLY busy (maybe around 3 pm) - we are open to other suggestions as we may eat at a place like this in Shinjuku. We could always find snacks here and eat in Shinjuku later.
    • Yodobashi Camera Akiba (??? Is it WAY better than the one in Shinjuku?)
  • Travel back to Shinjuku Station via the Yamanote line or Chuo-Sobu line (30-45 min.)

Tuesday
  • Get breakfast from a conbini
  • Around 9 am - Travel to Odaiba from Shinjuku Station via the Saikyo Line (turns into the Rinkai line - stay on the same train) - Takes about 30-40 min.
  • Walk to TeamLab Borderless (should take about 5 min.)
    • Use map in docs to get there - you’ll need to pass through Toyota Megaweb
  • TeamLab Borderless - try to arrive earlier than 10 am (that’s when they open)
  • Explore Odaiba if you wish
  • Grab a light meal/snack at some point
  • From Tokyo Teleport Station, take Rinkai line (turns into Saikyo Line - stay on the same train) to Shibuya Station (about 18 min.)
  • Shibuya exploration
    • Hachi statue
    • Genki Sushi (conveyor belt sushi - but serves cheese fries for me) - go at an off time
    • Kin-no-Torikara - fried chicken for me
    • Shopping - check out Labi Shibuya, Mega Don Quijote, UFO Claw Machine store(?), Tokyu Hands, etc.
  • Keep walking until you get to Takeshita Street in Harajuku. On the way, stop at Gindaco Takoyaki.
  • Harajuku snacks and shopping (probably won’t want to stay super long - will be crowded)
    • Calbee+ for fresh potato chips
    • Totti Candy Factory for cotton candy
    • Crepes
    • Owl Village Cafe - make reservation - good reviews; sounds like they treat the animals well
  • Take Yamanote Line from Harajuku Station to Shibuya Station (14 min.)
  • Head to a conbini to choose any last minute snacks to take home.
  • When back at hotel, pack up as much as you can.

Wednesday
  • Breakfast around 7:30 am: Ichiran Ramen - open 24 hours
  • Shinjuku Gyoen National Park (opens at 9 am) - spend about 1 hour there
  • Pack up and check out by 11
  • Take airport limo bus to Narita (ride will take about 2 hours) - Question: If you buy tickets for a particular time on the airport limo bus, are you GUARANTEED a seat? I would go into panic mode if we somehow couldn't get seats at that point...
  • Flight departs around 5


Some places/activities I'm interested in (but am not sure where to fit them in) are below. The ones that are bolded are the ones we are most interested in:
  • Meiji Jingu - maybe could fit this in when visiting Harajuku, but I'm worried that our feet will be too tired.
  • Ueno Park - not sure what all there is to do there, but I've heard it sometimes has festivals (we probably will miss cherry blossom season, for reference). We are not interested in the zoo.
  • Kimono Rental and Photography Session (Note: I'm a bigger girl - not "Pooh-sized" as people say on the DisBoards but I usually wear an XL or XXL sizes in the US, so I'm not sure who could accommodate me with choices in kimonos. I feel like those are sizes not worn by many Japanese women. I also worry that people here at home will see the photos and think it's cultural misappropriation, but I've read that Japanese people are cool with foreigners wearing them... so I'm a little unsure! I also would love for my DH to wear a yukata, but he is 6'4" and quite muscular in the arms/chest area so that's another tough fit...)
  • Japanese pancakes (the tall, fluffy, jiggly ones!)
  • Pokemon Center (I think there is one in Shibuya...)


Possible Shinjuku Restaurants (just started researching these)
  • Tonchinkan - right by our hotel and Club SEGA. Good rating. They don’t speak English. Cash only. They take your order at the top of the stairs and you receive your food as soon as you sit down. Sounds like you need to know your order in advance.
  • Gyukatsu Motomura - high rating - beef cutlets that you cook on a stone. Cash only. Get there when they open at 11 because they get very busy very fast.
  • Momo Paradise Shinjuku Higashi-guchi - highly-rated Shabu Shabu (hot pot) restaurant. Foreigner-friendly. 100 minutes - all you can eat. We have no idea what to do at a place like this so I hope they would give us some info or teach us in English...
  • Kurumaya Bekkan - high rating. They have an a la carte area (2nd and 3rd floor) that serves sashimi, chicken yakitori (which normally I would like, but now that I have researched, I'm concerned about what part of the chicken is used - I've heard a lot of restaurants/food stands in Japan use parts I normally would never eat :crazy2:), etc.


Whoo! That's it for now. Please send me any feedback, suggestions, advice, etc.! It would be so appreciated. :thanks:
 
  • A lot of first time visitors like to walk around the temple near there so that may be something you want to budget in a bit of time for in the daylight hours.
  • You will need a reservation to dine at the Pokemon Cafe so make sure you know how to do that.
  • Depending on the company, the riskshaw should be able to take you anywhere. One of my favorite youtubers even took a rickshaw to Disneyland.
  • Airport limo seats are guaranteed if you buy the ticket for that time in advance.
 
Wow. There's a LOT there for every day!

It's possible that you're underestimating how long you'll spend at various points of interest. For example, IF you can get a reservation for the Pokémon Café, it's likely that you'll stay there more than an hour in total. Unless you really just want to duck in and grab one of the novelty / specialty drinks. It would be a shame to miss Chef Pikachu's performance!

And something like Teamlabs Borderless is easily a 4+ hour visit. Teamlabs Planets is smaller if you're looking for a shorter experience. I personally slightly prefer Planets, but everyone is different.

There also seems to be a lot of definite meals plans / restaurant choices. That could end up eating up a lot of time (pun not intended) depending upon how long you have to wait to be seated, ordering, for the food to arrive, etc. Given that so many days are packed, it might be an idea to consider quicker eating options (e.g. a rice ball from 7-11 or a quick service restaurant like CoCo Curry).

The scale of everything in Tokyo is HUGE. Even something like Yodobashi Camera is a ... seven story building and every floor is pretty huge. And April is peak tourism season in a country where tourism is growing exponentially, which means that everything attractive to tourists is doing to be crazy busy.

I'd probably look at refining the lists to have two "must haves" (must dos) each day, with some optional extras depending upon time, weather, etc. I'd also double-check what should / must be reserved in advance (e.g. Robot Restaurant, Pokémon Café, Studio Ghibli Museum).
 
The itinerary is doable especially when you're mid 30s and no children. On Monday, you may be too tired to explore Akihabara. It is actually not far from Ueno so if possible, put it on Sunday.... Shibuya and Harajuku is not far from Shinjuku so maybe you can fit in Shibuya and Harajuku on Saturday, switch Akihabara on Sunday, then do Shining Moon after Odaiba on Tuesday.

So Saturday is fine (maybe add Shibuya and Harajuku)
Sunday: Asakusa, Edo-Tokyo and Akihabara.
Monday: Ghibli and Pokemon
Tuesday: Odaiba and Shining Moon
 


Looks fun! You may want to put your schedule in a spreadsheet...so you can reshuffle items if you get tired, rained on, etc. We ended up shuffling a few items a day, because as Agent 86 mentions, some things were better than expected so we spent more time...the 4 of us would have an evening 5 min meeting where everyone would suggest where we could add back in items that we hadn't accomplished while still being relaxed and on vacation. And those we didn't accomplish, went on the new spreadsheet for the next time. :)
 
Looks fun! You may want to put your schedule in a spreadsheet...so you can reshuffle items if you get tired, rained on, etc.

Good point! It's a good idea to be flexible if it's a rainy day. Something like Teamlabs would be a better choice than a park / shrine.

I would normally encourage praying for rain, especially when at Disney, but it didn't seem to make much of an impact on crowd levels on our recent trips.
 
The itinerary is doable especially when you're mid 30s and no children. On Monday, you may be too tired to explore Akihabara. It is actually not far from Ueno so if possible, put it on Sunday.... Shibuya and Harajuku is not far from Shinjuku so maybe you can fit in Shibuya and Harajuku on Saturday, switch Akihabara on Sunday, then do Shining Moon after Odaiba on Tuesday.

So Saturday is fine (maybe add Shibuya and Harajuku)
Sunday: Asakusa, Edo-Tokyo and Akihabara.
Monday: Ghibli and Pokemon
Tuesday: Odaiba and Shining Moon

I'm going to move Harajuku to Saturday - I think that day is too light on activities, based on what I'm cramming into the others! Thanks for the suggestion.
 


Heyo! I'm a longtime lurker, so this is my first post! I'm dropping in to say that I have heard really good things about kimono shop Sakaeya in Tokyo for accommodating all body sizes :)
 
kbmartin! I see you are SE Wi ... we're NW Chicago Suburbs! I LOVE that you mentioned the chicken "fast-food" place ... I'm allergic to seafood & fish (not anaphylactic , but I do get exceptionally ill if I consume it), so I have to be careful about what I eat. I'll be doing research for meat/chicken places to eat! I added your suggestion to my list :-)

Daughter & hubby will check out sushi & ramen, son and I will have to skip unless we KNOW there are other options at a place than ramen & sushi.

Our kids will probably LOVE Harajuku, so I have a feeling we'll be spending a decent amount of time looking, watching, shopping, eating there!

The mention of the Ghibli museum piqued my interested ... great ... now I've got another place on my ever-growing LONG list of places to visit!! It looks really unique - and my daughter LOVES the Japanese graphics. I may need to cut Kyoto down by 1/2 or 1 day to expand Tokyo sightseeing. Maybe 5 days Tokyo, 2-1/2 Kyoto instead. I'm planning on TDL & TDS in between the 2 cities
 
Just called Marriott - their 3 hotels are legit sold out in Kyoto Nov 11-14. Ugh. 13th available, but that’s it. Guess going during foliage way more popular than we thought it’d be!
 

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