Japan - Tokyo 6 Days

Hi guys,

I am new to this forum and there are a lot of infomation for me to learn and understand. Still, there are a lot of terms which I don't understand fully yet.

I will be going to Tokyo with my wife in Jan for about 6 days. This trip is very important for me as we are going through a very bad patch and I hope this trip will sort everything out and rebuild our relationship

We will be arriving at Sun 730 in the morning and leaving Sat 1130am. I have never been to Tokyo therefore I hope you can help me and give me some advice.

My wife likes nature. I was thinking of something more exciting and adventurous though i'm not too sure what to expect from that. I believe we won't spend much on lodging as I think the cost could be used elsewhere.

Meanwhile I will be doing more research also and hope to get some guidance from everyone here.

Thank you!

I will be going to Tokyo with my wife in Jan for about 6 days. This trip is very important for me as we are going through a very bad patch and I hope this trip will sort everything out and rebuild our relationship

We will be arriving at Sun 730 in the morning and leaving Sat 1130am. I have never been to Tokyo therefore I hope you can help me and give me some advice.

My wife likes nature. I was thinking of something more exciting and adventurous though i'm not too sure what to expect from that. I believe we won't spend much on lodging as I think the cost could be used elsewhere.


Mmm, don't mean to be glib, but did you see Lost in Translation? I am not sure Japan for a first-time visitor would be my first choice to mend a relationship. It is unquestionably interesting and exciting, but it isn't an easy road for those on pins and needles.

Not exactly in the woods here a a few day trip choices:

Nikko
After seeing a few temples, take the bus to the upper lake area.

Kamakura
Take this triangle route:
1. Take Tokaido line to Ofuna Stn then Yokotsuka line to Kami Kamakura Stn. There are a few hillside temples here.
2. Then proceed to Kamakura on the Yokotsuka line. Walk along the walking street to the left of the station towards the temple. Have lunch here at many nice places tucked away in narrow alleys.
3. Back at the Kamakura station, take the Enoden narrow gauge to Hase station. This is where the Daibutsu is located. There is a Chinese restaurant that is built on the hill across the street. So, so Chinese food but the view and interior ambiance is great.
4. On the way back towards the Hase station, to the right down a side street is the Hase Dera up on the hillside and worth a stop.
5. Next stop at the Enoshima station. This is a bustling beach in the summer. In the winter all the tents and people are gone and perfectly calm. Walk across the causeway to the island and spend an hour or two there.
6. Back past the Endoden station across the street is the Shonan Monorail station. Take it back to the Ofuna station for dinner. The places on the front street are nice but not expensive. There are Y100 sushi boat places on the back street.

Mito
Take the JR Joban line express from Ueno station. There is a large garden called Kairakuen that is famous for ume (plum). Best to visit in late Feb or early March.

Tokyo has less "nature" in its city limits than Los Angeles does, but Nikko is a good day trip for getting out of the city.

You won't see a lot of nature in Kamakura, but it's an interesting town anyway.

As always, I suggest buying a guidebook and reading it thoroughly before your trip.

Tokyo has less "nature" in its city limits than Los Angeles does, but Nikko is a good day trip for getting out of the city.

I don't know, I always thought of Takao as pretty nature-ly, and if you want even more nature, there's always Okutama. I like Okutama quite a bit, it is a very nice respite without "leaving" the city.

Mmm, don't mean to be glib, but did you see Lost in Translation? I am not sure Japan for a first-time visitor would be my first choice to mend a relationship. It is unquestionably interesting and exciting, but it isn't an easy road for those on pins and needles.

Hi Pickles,

No problem, I did not specifically choose Tokyo to mend the relationship but it was a place she always wanted to go so technically, it is like a holiday but just that I wanted to make it more than a holiday, in a way. Thanks for the heads up still.

Edited...

6. Back past the Endoden station across the street is the Shonan Monorail station. Take it back to the Ofuna station for dinner. The places on the front street are nice but not expensive. There are Y100 sushi boat places on the back street.

Mito
Take the JR Joban line express from Ueno station. There is a large garden called Kairakuen that is famous for ume (plum). Best to visit in late Feb or early March.

Hi SJUAMMF,

Thanks for the suggestion! Sounds very pack for a day's event but I like it. I'll go find out more about these places and transport first!

Tokyo has less "nature" in its city limits than Los Angeles does, but Nikko is a good day trip for getting out of the city.

You won't see a lot of nature in Kamakura, but it's an interesting town anyway.

As always, I suggest buying a guidebook and reading it thoroughly before your trip.

Hi ksandness,

Noted with thanks!

I don't know, I always thought of Takao as pretty nature-ly, and if you want even more nature, there's always Okutama. I like Okutama quite a bit, it is a very nice respite without "leaving" the city.

Hi Pickles,

Will find out more about these places. Thanks!

I don't know, I always thought of Takao as pretty nature-ly, and if you want even more nature, there's always Okutama. I like Okutama quite a bit, it is a very nice respite without "leaving" the city.

When I think of the "the city," I don't think of the entire to, just the 23 ku.

You could go to Hachijojima and still be in "the city" by your definition.

Considering Tokyo technically isn't a "city", but rather many cities and towns, if you just wanted to stick to the boundries of Tokyo but not the islands, Takao, Mitake, Okutama are cheap trips many people might take for hiking.

23ku is a concentration of the main city areas, but outside, I lived in Kichioji (Musashino, Tokyo) and Tachikawa, both were pretty busy places.

For cheap trips out to hike, then Mount Takao or Mount Mitake in Tokyo is nice.

If you have extra money then I would go out of Tokyo to Nikko or Kamakura as well.

Considering Tokyo technically isn't a "city", but rather many cities and towns, if you just wanted to stick to the boundries of Tokyo but not the islands, Takao, Mitake, Okutama are cheap trips many people might take for hiking.

23ku is a concentration of the main city areas, but outside, I lived in Kichioji (Musashino, Tokyo) and Tachikawa, both were pretty busy places.

For cheap trips out to hike, then Mount Takao or Mount Mitake in Tokyo is nice.

If you have extra money then I would go out of Tokyo to Nikko or Kamakura as well.

Okutama is nice, but it is a long train ride away. Also, the hike can be quite challenging. It goes up and down a lot.

Takao is a good choice. Shorter train ride and you can get a nice view of Fuji.

How about Hakone? You can do the touristy loop around Hakone. Take the train from Shunjuku.

I've done the Takao hike, and it's a good, easy daytrip from central Tokyo with a well-marked trail.

Above all, the train ride out there gives you an idea of just how big the densely inhabitied part of the metropolitan area is.

As I recall, you take the Keio Line from Shinjuku and transfer somewhere along the line to get onto the branch that goes to Takaosanguchi.

Chichibu has lovely scenery, too, and there's a whole guidebook that covers the region. I don't know if it will be snowbound in the winter, though.

My wife and I had a fantastic day of touring there.

It is about 100 miles north of central Tokyo. There are two ways of getting there by train:

(1) by JR, a Yamabiko shinkansen that originates at Tokyo station and stops at Ueno station, and makes the stop at Utsunomiya (about 50 minutes north of Tokyo)--you don't want the other two shinkansen that run on that right of way, as they bypass Utsunomiya; then going down the escalator in that station to the Nikko line. I think the layover is 10 minutes tops. That train is a commuter class train, makes a number of stops, and takes 45-50 minutes to get to JR Nikko Station; or

(2) by Tobu private railway, the Nikko express that runs from a station at the Matsuya Asakusa department store (the Ginza subway line serves Asakusa station). Tobu has its own station in Nikko, which is 600 yards or so closer to the center of Nikko (such as it is).

We did the JR routing, mainly because we had purchased 7 day JR passes before leaving the USA

When you get to Nikko, there is a bus pass on sale for something like Y500 (Line 7), that makes a loop of all the important tourist destinations and serves both train stations. We did that, and it really worked out well.

I wrote a trip report about our day in Nikko, and so far as I know the photo gallery links in the report still work.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/790221-japan-trip-report-part-shi-our-day-nikko.html

Enjoy.