I'm going to be in Tokyo from Oct 23 until the 28th. Unfortunately due to the flight schedules the 23rd and the 28th are basically lost days. This will be my first time in Japan, and I don't really know any Japanese. I've been trying to learn it via the Plimseur Method, not so much for this trip, but more so because I am an anime fan and want to gain a better understanding of what is actually being said. But I digress :)


Oct 23 - Arrive at NRT at 19:30, proceed through customs and immigration, take Limousine Bus to hotel and crash :)

Oct 24 – Presuming I get up early enough, I’ll start the day with a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market and a sushi breakfast at 5am. After that, or if I decide to sleep in I looked at Sunrise Tour's website and I think I'm going to take Panoramic Tokyo Tour. This tour includes a visit to the Meiji Shinto Shrine, a drive by of the National Diet Building, a visit to the Imperial Palace East Garden, Asakusa Kannon Temple, Nakamise Shopping Arcade, a drive through of Ginza, a cruise through Tokyo Bay, and a drive over the rainbow bridge and a visit to Odaiba.

Quick question as a side note, does anyone know if the Ferris Wheel in the ending sequence to the first season of Inuyasha is the same one that is in Palette town in Odaiba?

That evening I am going to try and see a Kabuki performance.

Oct 25 – Take Shinkansen to see Mt. Fuji and Hakone at the end of day continue south to Kyoto

Oct 26 – Tour Kyoto and return to Tokyo. (I know from all of the searches that it would be better to spend a couple of days in Kyoto. I wish I had the time, but at this point I plan on coming back at some point in the future to do it justice.)

Oct 27 – Day trip to Nikko to see the Toshogu Shring, Lake Chuzenji, & the Kegon Waterfall.

Oct 28 – Noonish depart for NRT via Limousine Bus for 5pm flight to the US.

I know it’s a very aggressive schedule and I’m looking for suggestions to see if there is something else I should either squeeze into this or drop and help preserve my sanity. I’d like to visit the Studio Ghibli museum and attend a tea ceremony but I don’t think I have the time to do this on this itinerary, unless it turns out that one or more of these things I should skip due to my short time there. Oh well, in any case I guess I have to plan a trip to go back :)

Take a glance at Fuji-san from Tokyo or the train, ditch the stop at Hakone and continue straight to Kyoto. You'll be glad you did.

You have described a very ambitious, whirlwind trip that doesn't seem very satisfying. You have effectively 4 days in Japan, not counting your late arrival day or your early departure day.

If someone specifically asked my advice, I'd recommend skipping Hakone/Fuji. I'd also recommend (I'm about to be tarred and feathered here) skipping either Nikko or - (gasp) Kyoto altogether. You are already planning a return trip someday. If you must see Nikko this time, you simply don't have time left to see much of Tokyo AND any meaningful visit to Kyoto. If you spend 2 days in Tokyo and 2 days in Kyoto, you might actually see some of each city. You could even stay in Kyoto until your departure day and take the shinkansen to Tokyo early enough to catch the N'Ex to NRT for your rather late departure. Or, go to Nikko one day and spend the other 3 actually discovering Tokyo. You really can't do everything in 4 days. Just my 2 yen.

Regardless of how you break up your short stay in Japan, keep in mind that if you go to Kabuki-za, you can attend either matinee performances or evening shows and it is quite common to stay for only one or two acts. No need to stay for 4 hours or more of something you won't understand anyway. Don't get me wrong. Kabuki is beautiful to see and very interesting. I recommend it. You just don't have to numb your brain - and posterior - staying for an entire show.

JR

I'd also recommend (I'm about to be tarred and feathered here) skipping either Nikko or - (gasp) Kyoto altogether.

I agree.

IMHO - A trip to Tsukiji, a Kabuki performance, a bus tour of Tokyo, some deeper exploration of a couple of neighbourhoods and a day trip to Nikko (or Kamakura) would be an enjoyable and manageable four-day introduction to Japan. **

BTW - You can see Fuji in the distance from the top of the metropolitan government building on a clear day.... (and from many other locations). Not really the same experience as Hakone but...

** Add in a trip to Ghibli museum if that's your thing.
(and visit the Edo Tokyo Tatemono-en while you're there http://tatemonoen.jp/
and stop by some anime otaku shops in Nakano on the way back)

Others have commented on the wisdom of how much you are trying to do, so I will just comment on certain parts. I have visited Tokyo twice on business trips where I only had one day on each for sightseeing. So, I have done two of the tours you are suggesting doing.

I have taken Sunrise Panoramic Tokyo tour and found it a useful way to see a lot of basic Tokyo sites in one day. Given the short amount of time you have, I think this is a good choice, even if you decide to spend more time in Tokyo.

I also took a one day bus trip to Nikko (I think it was from the same company). I found this to be a good break from the hustle-bustle of Tokyo and see some more natural surroundings. I enjoyed the temple itself, but it was the setting amidst the cedars and the landscape that really made Nikko special for me. While I know that you can go to Nikko on your own, I don't know if you can see the Toshogu shrine and Chuzenji-ko and Kegon-no-taki all in one day without the careful coordination and immediate transfers of a bus tour. Others will be able to advise you better on that score.

I have not yet been to Kyoto (I will be going soon and asking advice in a separate thread from the many much more experienced Japan visitors and inhabitants on this site).

Tokyo is a huge city, and you can't ever hope to see it all no matter how many days you schedule. There are some big touristy things to see there if you don't really care about the true Tokyo experience (just wandering around some of the back streets in Ginza, spending some time at Yoyogi koen or Inokashira koen, going to obscure areas, etc) that you can do in just a couple of days. If I had to choose between Nikko and Kyoto, I'd choose Nikko. My wife and I went to both places last time we were there, and Nikko was superior. There weren't as many sites to see as in Kyoto, but it was much more rural and gave us the "authentic" Japanese experience (i.e. not old sites in a huge city, although that is just as Japanese as anything else). If you scrap Kyoto, I'd recommend spending a day at Kamakura, south of Yokohama. There are some incredible shrines and temples there that are very worthwhile.

Just got back from the two night bullet train tour of Kyoto. Train is nice and fun (but not so bulletie-French and Shanghai are ahead on speed of this over 40 year old technology). IMHO Kyoto is boring (the town that is). It's hard to get around and the town itself is in no way old with the sights being very spread out. The various sights we saw (Golden Temple, Niji Palace etc.) are very interesting and beautiful, but in 4 days, I'd say, stay in Tokyo, go to the Tokyo National Museum, walk around Omoto Santo area and relax. By the way, we tried to see Mt. Fuji from the train. No sighting. Too cloudy.

To get a true "Balde Runner" feel of Tokyo - a must stop is "Piss Alley" in Shinjuku. Don't let the name scare you. Ongoing construction in the area will probably pave over this very cool area soon, so if you have the chance, (IMHO) it's worth the effort.

http://homepage.mac.com/oafbot/japan/files/page0-1007-full.html

The Original Shinkansens did look like a bullet, but newer designs like the 700 series moved away from that design. But the name "bullet train" has stuck for any high speed train in the world, even though they might not look like bullets anymore.

Shanghai are ahead on speed of this over 40 year old technology

Is that really a fair comparison? Just because technology is old doesn't mean it can't do the work.

Shanghai uses a maglev train technology, which is totally incompatable with any exisiting rail network or tracks. Current Shinkansen trains use standard-guage which in theory can connect to regular tracks used by any standard guage railroad. There's talk about making the Chuo Shinkansen Maglev, but I think its better to use current technolgy (thats another story).

A regular service 500 series Shinkansen runs around 300 kmh yes slower than a regular service Shanghai malev, but it does not mention regular service shinkansen trains are substantually longer, carry much more passengers, and travel further distances.

LOL sorry off topic for a bit there.

Back to the interary,

I would have to say if you plan to visit Kyoto on a future trip, then skip it this time, you could probably use that extra day to go out to do the museum tour located in Western Tokyo, and any other items you might of missed in the Tokyo area.

I will probably be echoing what has already been said.
Have been to Tokyo twice (with different groups) and went both times to Nikko and did the day tour of Tokyo. Spent all 5 days in Tokyo.
Next time I am going to Kyoto.
The bottom line, if only 4 full days in Tokyo, skip Kyoto, do Nikko (nice get-away from crazy Tokyo) and enjoy Tokyo. go out at night around Shinjuku and Roppongi, its clean, safe and fun.
There is always next time.

Well, neither Shinjuku nor Roppongi are especially clean and the latter is not always safe but both can be fun at times. For all three aspects, maybe Shibuya fits the bill.

I will probably be echoing what has already been said.
Have been to Tokyo twice (with different groups) and went both times to Nikko and did the day tour of Tokyo. Spent all 5 days in Tokyo.
Next time I am going to Kyoto.
The bottom line, if only 4 full days in Tokyo, skip Kyoto, do Nikko (nice get-away from crazy Tokyo) and enjoy Tokyo. go out at night around Shinjuku and Roppongi, its clean, safe and fun.
There is always next time.

You could try a temple stay or homestay next time in Kyoto. For me the magic there is not in the sights but in the refined details and lifestyle. For getting around a bicycle or scooter is probably still the best option.

Just got back from the two night bullet train tour of Kyoto. Train is nice and fun (but not so bulletie-French and Shanghai are ahead on speed of this over 40 year old technology). IMHO Kyoto is boring (the town that is). It's hard to get around and the town itself is in no way old with the sights being very spread out. The various sights we saw (Golden Temple, Niji Palace etc.) are very interesting and beautiful, but in 4 days, I'd say, stay in Tokyo, go to the Tokyo National Museum, walk around Omoto Santo area and relax. By the way, we tried to see Mt. Fuji from the train. No sighting. Too cloudy.

go out at night around Shinjuku and Roppongi, its clean, safe and fun.

Hmmm... Shinjuku and Roppongi at night... I don't disagree with the recommendation, but it would be misleading to tout them as "clean" and "safe"

These are two of the neighbourhoods where I would advise anyone to act with the same degree of caution that they would in, say, London or New York -

Stay away from places which don't publish their prices up front. Be aware that there are some people who want to fleece you. Steer clear of gangster-types and drunken military-types. Keenly observe the pavement to avoid stepping into someone else's dinner.

People can get a false sense of security after a short time in Tokyo - I'm not saying that these areas are "dangerous" - but please don't think that nothing can hurt you here.

People can get a false sense of security after a short time in Tokyo - I'm not saying that these areas are "dangerous" - but please don't think that nothing can hurt you here.

I have a major concern of the ninja-obaachans that use their curare-tipped and spiked umbrellas to move people out of their way when boarding a train in order to grab a seat. In rush hour, a number of the train lines have "obaachan furii" train cars to avoid increasing the death toll, with mixed success.

Go to Nikko I was there this summer and it was amazing. I was on the first train over there and the last train black to Tokyo. Nikko is wonderful it is a must see for anybody going tp Tokyo. :)

I´d probably skip Kyoto & mt. fuji and go for the full tokyo blast on a four day basis.

some of the things I enjoyed a lot on my tokyo trip (maybe not for everyone, but nice & special):

- Odaiba (Museum of future techologies, the ferris wheel and the two large Malls there (one for men, one for women)
- Earthquake simulator at the tokyo fire brigade (yes, you are sitting in a room, that gets shaken. You have to turn out the gas, open the door and hide beneath the table. Oh, and you get to watch 3D-movies)
- World Parasitological Museum (the only one in the world)
- Shibuya park on Saturday when the local teens hang around dressed like their comic heroes.

This I did not particulary enjoyed:
- Fish market (It´s basically a.... fish market. Okay, nice to see the tuna and the overall mayhem. But the Sushi did not taste better than anywhere else...)

hope thats helps


Enjoy your trip

Thank you all for your suggestions. I've decided I am going to skip Kyoto for this trip and I think I'm also going to skip Mt Fuji. There is too much other stuff that I want to see, (and in some cases didn't know about when I created the initial itinerary), that makes it impracticle to try and fit those two other items into this trip.

On the first day I am going to stay with the Sunrise Panoramic Tokyo tour. I always like going with a tour of a new city the first day I'm there reguardless of what else I'm going to do. If I'm not too jet lagged I think I will still try and go to a Kabuki performance.

Whatever day I get up early enough for I'll go see the tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market, but if I don't get up any of the days no worries.

I think I am going to still go to Nikko. Sunrise does have a motorcoach tour that will take me there.

Spending time exploring Odaiba definately sounds interesting. I also found a couple of walking tours of the city which look interesting that I think I need to look into further. Going through Akihabara electric town also looks interesting. I'm not sure if I'll still make it to the Ghibli museum or not, maybe.

The last day I'm there is a Saturday. Going to Shibuya park to see the local teens hang around dressed like their comic heroes, sounds interesting. I need to work out the logistics to make sure I have enough time to get there, get back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and get to the airport for my flight.

The short of it all is there is too much I want to see and definately not enough time to see all of it. :( Oh, well all the more reason to go back to Japan :)

Thank you all for your suggestions. I've decided I am going to skip Kyoto for this trip and I think I'm also going to skip Mt Fuji. There is too much other stuff that I want to see...
I think you will be glad you decided to trim your trip a bit. Tokyo really does have plenty to see and do to fill up a 4 day stay and more. A couple of thoughts:

- You can still visit the Tsukiji fish market, but the actual tuna auction is no longer open to tourists.

- You should find a subway system map and purchase a PassNet card when you get into town. You can get prepaid passes for 1000 yen and up and just slip the card into the ticket reader as you enter a station, then do the same as you exit at your destination. Subway is the way to navigate around the city, along with the Yamanote rail line. Most guidebooks to Tokyo have a map in them, often the inside cover. Everyone else laughs at me, but I still recommend the Kodansha Tokyo Subway Pocket Guide. It is a small booklet with maps of all the subway lines and sketch maps of most of the major stations, showing all exits and where they take you in relation to what is above at street level. $9.95 from Amazon.com.

- Ueno Park has a large collection of museums, temples and historical monuments all in one place. Oh, and there is a park. :p

- The neighborhood around Asakusa Kannon (Senso-ji Temple) has some very atmospheric old streets and alleys to wander. Your tour will take you to the adjacent Nakamise Shopping Arcade, but you may wish to return for souvenir shopping. Be sure to try the food stalls, especially the fresh shoryu senbei, soy sauce flavored rice crackers hot and fragrant right out of the oven.

- The Edo-Tokyo Museum is right next door to the national sumo stadium in Ryogoku. It is my favorite museum in Tokyo and worth a few hours. Then, a short walk over to the stadium will put you in position to enjoy the neighborhoods in the area. You might even see some of the rishiki out and about in their yukata and geta.

- Kabuki-za, the national kabuki theater, is in Ginza so a walk around either before a performance or after will lead you through some of the highest priced commercial real estate in the world. A walk through Ginza should be one everyone's list. If you can do it in early evening when the store signs and windows are lit up, even better.

- If you are interested in some "old" Tokyo, take the Yamanote line to Nippori Station. After exiting the station, find the pedestrian bridge and cross back over the tracks into the quaint, picturesque community of Yanaka. Regular poster LapLap and I have both loved the place.

- don't just stay in western Tokyo (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, etc.) The eastern part along the rivers has a lot to offer. In addition to Ginza, try Asakusa (my favorite), Ueno, Ryogoku, the Imperial Palace area.

- You mentioned walking courses. The Frommer's Guide to Tokyo has a nice selection of them.

Have a great time. I guarantee you will be scheduling your next trip - perhaps to Kyoto and Osaka - shortly after you get home.

JR

Wise choices on skipping the West (Kyoto, etc.) - there is much to see in Tokyo - it's one of the most interesting walking cities as there are so many old alleys, cemetaries (Aoyama's is my favorite), etc.

And Shibuya at night is well worth seeing, as is Harajuku any time.

Museum-wise, the Tokyo-Edo Museum is outstanding, history-wise, with full-scale models of some things; it's also a good (bad?) example of outsized Japanese architecture.

I would suggest ODaiba is not worth your time, as it's not so easy to get there and there really isn't much to see other than a few interesting buildings.

The view from the top of Tokyo City hall is very good, as it the view from the Mori Building at Roppongi Hills.

Akiharbara is a mere shadow of itself, compared to 20 years ago and only woth stopping at if you are in the East to go to Ueno Park or Asakusa (which is really worth seeing for the big temple experience - in fact far better than ODaiba). I'd just skip it.

- If you are interested in some "old" Tokyo, take the Yamanote line to Nippori Station. After exiting the station, find the pedestrian bridge and cross back over the tracks into the quaint, picturesque community of Yanaka. Regular poster LapLap and I have both loved the place.

Have a great time. I guarantee you will be scheduling your next trip - perhaps to Kyoto and Osaka - shortly after you get home.

JR

Well said. I stay in a ryokan in the Yanaka area everytime I go to Tokyo. Its now my traditional path to recovering from a Vancouver-Tokyo flight. :) The ryokan in question is Ryokan Annex Katsutaro and its located just a minute or so around the corner from the shopping market street you walk down.

Kyoto and Osaka = the MUST DO, especially Kyoto in particular. You will see why when you go there.

Sanosuke!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I've decided I am going to skip Kyoto for this trip and I think I'm also going to skip Mt Fuji. There is too much other stuff that I want to see, (and in some cases didn't know about when I created the initial itinerary), that makes it impracticle to try and fit those two other items into this trip.

On the first day I am going to stay with the Sunrise Panoramic Tokyo tour. I always like going with a tour of a new city the first day I'm there reguardless of what else I'm going to do. If I'm not too jet lagged I think I will still try and go to a Kabuki performance.

Whatever day I get up early enough for I'll go see the tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market, but if I don't get up any of the days no worries.

I think I am going to still go to Nikko. Sunrise does have a motorcoach tour that will take me there.

Spending time exploring Odaiba definately sounds interesting. I also found a couple of walking tours of the city which look interesting that I think I need to look into further. Going through Akihabara electric town also looks interesting. I'm not sure if I'll still make it to the Ghibli museum or not, maybe.

The last day I'm there is a Saturday. Going to Shibuya park to see the local teens hang around dressed like their comic heroes, sounds interesting. I need to work out the logistics to make sure I have enough time to get there, get back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and get to the airport for my flight.

The short of it all is there is too much I want to see and definately not enough time to see all of it. :( Oh, well all the more reason to go back to Japan :)


No need to take a bus when you can take a train which leaves almost ever hour!

As as follow up question has anyone heard of or used Tokyo Free Guide
http://www.tokyofreeguide.com/ or Mr Oka's Walking Tours http://www.homestead.com/mroka/index.html

If you have what have your experiences been with either group for a walking tour of Tokyo?

I looked at the walking tours in the Frommers tour book and right now I'm trying to figure out what type of walking tour I actually want to do. Ideally, I would love to find a good English speaking guide, rather then use a book. Some of the best walking tours I've had in other cities were filled with little tidbits of information that cann't be found in a tour book.

No need to take a bus when you can take a train which leaves almost ever hour!

The advantage of the bus tour is not getting to and from Nikko, but getting around once you are there. The bus deposits you directly at the Toshogu shrine, picks you up there, and takes you directly to Chuzenji-ko, picks you up and takes you directly to Kegon-no-taki. They also provide a tour guide who gives a reasonably good presentation on the shrine, and on other aspects of Japanese culture. If someone has two days to visit Nikko, I would encourage them to do it on their own with a good guide book. With just one day, I am not sure whether the extra time spent waiting for the bus from the station to the shrine, from the shrine to the lake, walking from the lake to the falls and back and then waiting for the bus back down the hill from the lake to the station, will make it hard to see everything the OP wants to see in Nikko.

I had 1 day in Nikko and I took the train over there. First train over last train back. I felt like I saw everything that I wanted to see. (Even though I am sure there was much more to see) I took the train from Tokyo, and once there I walked all around Nikko. There were buses which were guided but I thought I would just grab a guide book and walk. But, if you are going to do it by foot you will be walking for a while. If you have a map I don't think you need a bus to go anyway in Nikko. You can just walk to the shrine.

I had 1 day in Nikko and I took the train over there. First train over last train back. I felt like I saw everything that I wanted to see. (Even though I am sure there was much more to see)

I'm guessing you only went to the World Hertiage sites, you are right Nikko has a lot more to offer and some specatular sites that are definatly not in walking distance from the train station.

Though two things are being discussed here:
1. taking a tour bus to and in around the area
2. taking the train and walking or connecting to a bus without a tour guide.

I believe the poster is looking to taking a bus tour offered by a company and the bus departs from Tokyo, therefore would rather opt for that rather than doing a trip independently by taking a train to the area then going around by bus or walking etc independently.

Its really the traveler's personal preference, I'm more of a independent traveler and like to avoid tour groups as much as possible, but others like tour groups and the information provided by the guides. I'm not much to argue with that.

I was there last year and only planned two days, in retrospect I wish I spent more time, though next time I plan on spending more time in the area. I went out from Asakusa, they now have trains from Shinjuku (but only limited express trains). You can catch the local bus right outside the station to the hertiage sites (if that is your goal) or other buses to other points in Nikko.

I found the buses easy to connect to after the train arrived, the bus stops are in front of the station and are marked with their destinations, I think they timed it to have buses there when the trains arrived, though YMMV, it can be delayed in traffic and some buses make local stops for residences. Nevertheless I never had a problem navigating around.

Hope ya enjoy your trip and please report back.

Hope ya enjoy your trip and please report back.

Don't worry, I'm planning on posting a detailed trip report in the Trip Reports forum when I get back. The Tokyo trip is a stopover on the tail end of a larger trip to JNB. It's an award ticket and the only routing that was available was PHL->LAX->NRT->SIN->JNB->SIN->BKK->NRT->LAX->PHL, and since I was allowed one stop over I'm spending a couple of days in NRT. I think I'll have some good stories to tell when it's all done. :)

After everything else I'm doing on this trip, I think it will be easier for me to go to Nikko with a tour group. If nothing else, I'll get a better idea of what I want to see more in depth when I go back and can skip the tour group the next time.

I'm guessing you only went to the World Hertiage sites, you are right Nikko has a lot more to offer and some specatular sites that are definatly not in walking distance from the train station.

Though two things are being discussed here:
1. taking a tour bus to and in around the area
2. taking the train and walking or connecting to a bus without a tour guide.


Yes, those are the two options that I was referring to.

I believe the poster is looking to taking a bus tour offered by a company and the bus departs from Tokyo, therefore would rather opt for that rather than doing a trip independently by taking a train to the area then going around by bus or walking etc independently.

Its really the traveler's personal preference, I'm more of a independent traveler and like to avoid tour groups as much as possible, but others like tour groups and the information provided by the guides. I'm not much to argue with that.


I agree with you that there is a personal preference aspect here, but I was also concerned that the OP wanted to spend a single day in Nikko. With two days, I think the independent approach seems quite doable (in fact, I am planning it myself next Spring). It was only whether you could see the World Heritage sites, get up to the lake and the waterfall, and get back all in one day without spending most of your time on the transportation. It really all depends on connection times. There seems to be some good information here (http://www.kanayahotel.co.jp/nikko/traffic/index-e2.html) that may help make the decision, including a one day tour starting from the train station which could avoid the long bus trip from Tokyo.

I look forward to wr_schwab's report back and hope to tap into railroad tycoon's experience myself as I plan my next trip (which will be vacation and have more time for an independent approach).

http://www.kanayahotel.co.jp/nikko/traffic/index-e.html

Please note that the information on that site is a bit dated especially the rail information. JR and Tobu now offer joint limited express train service from Shinjuku Station. Incase the OP maybe staying in Shinjuku and doesn't want to go out to Asakusa to connect to a train (if he plans to).

As for a bus tour, I took a look at the tour he was talking about and yes its possible to do the items listed doable, as they are not visiting all the world heritage sites on that particular tour, from what I see its more of what each area has to offer, but doable if thats his preference. Though its possible to do it cheaper independently.