I love the people watching and happenstance opportunities in Japan. This is probably true of most travel, but I find it particularly true in Japan. Having a packed schedule does not allow for as many of these opportunities. For instance, in Kyoto, you might find yourself enthralled with a particular temple or shrine. Or in Tokyo, in Ginza you might want to spend some time wandering through a department store or exploring the crazy architecture of the district. Why be worried that you need to get to two other things before lunch? Why not just wander the area for a while, head down the block to find a restaurant, and just "go with it?"

Obviously it depends on your own travel philosophy, but I find adding good flexibility to a schedule to be worth it.

One example of many (I apologize for the length) - on our trip to Japan last January, my wife and I scheduled a half-day of our time in Kyoto in Arashiyama. We walked from the station to the Monkey Park, getting a bit lost along the way but enjoying walking along smaller suburban streets among cute houses. While at the top of the park we met an Israeli tourist and had a great conversation with him on the way down. We wandered over to the Tenryu-ji Temple and found they had vegan Buddhist meals there. We had a delicious early lunch, caught the pool filled with koi at both sunny and rainy moments, took the time to set up some fun photos, and wandered the famous bamboo path during a light drizzle. On our way back to the train station we watched lots of cute kids walking home from school in their uniforms and backpacks. We spent the rest of the day moving in to a high-end inn and enjoying the incredible hospitality.

I originally wanted to fit in some other temples and locales. But had we forced ourselves to rush to the "next thing," we would have missed out on so many little moments of that memorable day. So much better than being able to say we got to two other temples that day. I don't regret it one bit.