Japan
Google maps
Follow my lists on Google Maps:
Before arrival
Get yourself Japan Rail Pass, it can only be purchased outside of Japan by tourists and allows you to ride JR trains, Shinkansen bullet trains and limited express trains all over Japan.
Route 1
Shinkansens: Tokyo → Kyoto → Nara → Kobe → Hakone → Tokyo
Tokyo
Staying recommendation: Ueno district
Things to do:
Ueno:
- Parks and shrines
- Food, Street: Ameyayoko Shopping District
Akihabara - anume shops and arcade machines:
- Akihabara - Anime shops, arcade machines(Sega Center), smokers cafe
Shibuya - major center for Japanese youth culture and nightlife:
- Shibuya Crossing - World’s busiest pedestrian crossing
- Hachiko Square
- Yoyogi Park - Take street food at the entrance and enjoy it in the park
- Meiji Jingu - Major shrine close to the Yoyogi Park
- Togo Shrine
- Harajuku Takeshita Street - Center of Japanese youth culture and fashion
- Food: Nikuyokocho Izakaya
Shinjuku - worlds busiest station; filled with office workers and international travelers:
- Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
- Kabukicho - Red lights district
- Tokyo Metropolitan Building - 40 floor sightseeing point, free entrance
- Kagurazaka - Trendy street, former geisha quarter
- Hie-jinja Shrine - Fushimi Inari in Tokyo
- Food, Ramen: Ichiran Shibuya
- Bars: Omoide Yokocho
Asakusa:
- Nakamise-dori Street - Street with food leading to:
- Sensō-ji Temple
- Sumida Park
- Asahi Group Head Office Building - Try this iconic beer with an amazing view
- Tokyo Skytree - Tokyo Tower
- Bars: Hoppy Street
Ginza - luxorious district:
- Uniqlo - 12 floors Uniqlo shop
- Food: Tsukiji Fish Market - Largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. Go there in the morning for the freshest seafood and sushi
Odaiba - artificial island:
- Odaiba Beach
- The Life-Sized UNICORN GUNDAM Statue
- Joypolis - Indoor amusement park
- Fuji TV Observation Room
- Food: Tokyo Ramen Kokugikan Mai
Roppongi - lively entertainment district:
- Museums
- Tokyo City View
Kyoto
- Nishiki Market - Rich with history and tradition, the market is renowned as the place to obtain many of Kyoto's famous foods and goods
- Gion - Kyoto's geisha district gion
- Kinkaku-ji - Golden temple
- Fushimi Inari-taisha - Path with hundreds of traditional gates
- Kiyomizu-dera - Iconic Buddhist temple on Mount Otowa
- Pontocho Alley - Known for its geisha and maiko, and is home to many of the city's okiya and traditional tea houses. Like Gion, Ponto-chō is famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment
- Sannenzaka - Bustling pedestrian street on a hill lined with souvenir stalls & traditional Japanese architecture
Food:
- Wajoryomen Sugari - Ramen
- Starbucks Coffee - Kyoto Nineizaka Yasaka Chaya - Starbucks in a traditional setting
Kobe
- Motomachidori - Shopping streets
- Mount Rokkō - Cable cars access this mountain peak offering an observation deck & restaurants with sweeping views
- Arima Onsen - 1 hour from Kobe, one of top 3 Onsens of Japan, book a hotel here, for example Hyoe Koyokaku
- Kobe Chinatown Nankin-machi
- Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens & Ropeway - Big botanical garden with themed areas growing many flowers & herbs, plus restaurants & a gift shop
- Kitano Ijinkan-Gai - Historical, Western-style homes built by foreign merchants & diplomats dot this scenic hill.
- Kobe Animal Kingdom - Top 1 zoo in my list
- Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge - One of the world's longest suspension bridges, with tours to the top & to its exhibition center.
Food:
- Kobe beef of course
- Kobe beef Ramen Yazawa
Nara
What to do here? Enjoy deers presence.
Staying recommendation: get a hotel close to the deer park.
Hakone
What to do here? Observe Mount Fuji(if there is no fog) and traditional onsens.
From Shinkansen station take a Hakone Tozan Railway to the mountain. One of the most spectacular mountain railway lines.