Billiken

My wife and I arrive (vacation) KIX on Saturday night, 26-March.
Depart NRT on Sunday afternoon, 3-April.
(8 hotel nights in Japan).

Should we spend:
2 days Osaka
2 days Kyoto
3.5 days Tokyo
or
1 day Osaka
2 days Kyoto
4.5 days Tokyo
or
something else?

Hotel Recommendation (based on location):
Osaka -- St. Regis or Courtyard Shin-Osaka Station or Osaka Marriott?
Tokyo -- Conrad or Tokyo Marriott?

Thank you very much.

Mark
(Billiken)

abmj-jr

You should not break up your Kansai stay with separate hotels in Osaka and Kyoto. Pick one or the other - they are only minutes apart on the train. You can easily day trip from one to the other without lugging bags around.

March 26 to April 3 may or may not be prime cherry blossom season, depending on the weather next year. Your dates might be a bit early. The last few years, those dates would have been fine but no guarantees. On average, Tokyo may start a few days earlier, with Osaka next and Kyoto a day or so later. If you are unlucky and get there a little early, you can still get good viewing by taking a day trip south from Kyoto/Osaka, say to Hiroshima or Okayama. By April 1, there will almost certainly be good blossoms in Tokyo.

If this is your first visit to Japan, I'd recommend Kyoto but then I tend to be biased there. If you opt for Kyoto, be aware that hotels fill up for cherry season very early. Book soon.

Good sites for hanami (blossom viewing) in Kyoto are Maruyama Park, Nijo Castle and several of the large temples. The Tourist Info Center on the 9th floor of the station building can guide you to the best. In Tokyo, many will recommend Yoyogi Park and some of the large temples but my favorites are Hama Rikyu Imperial Garden, Asakusa-Senso-ji and the near-by riverwalk park, and Ueno Park. If you choose to run down to Hiroshima, the Peace Park has nice displays.

Another location where I have found great blossom displays (and subsequent saleable photos) is the ancient capitol of Nara, which is less than an hour by local train from Kyoto or Osaka. The walk from the station to the huge Todai-ji temple and surrounding park takes you past several temples and other sites that have a variety of cherry blossom types.

freecia

Yoshinoyama tends to bloom in stages due to the variety of altitudes and also a day trip from Osaka. I enjoyed the people watching (mostly groups of elderly Japanese couples) almost as much as the blossoms.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4150.html

shinjukuflyer

For Tokyo cherry blossom viewing (or for any time of the year really) I would highly recommend Shinjuku Gyoen.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3034_001.html

There are tons of other viewing spots as well:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3050.html

Another one I'd recommend is to go to Canal Cafe near Iidabashi Station, and rent one of their rowboats. Can't say about the wait though, I'm sure it'll be busy.

And while I have only seen it in pictures but night illumination along the Meguro River in Nakameguro is also very beautiful during hanami season.

shuigao

My wife and I did Osaka/Kobe/Nara/Kyoto/Tokyo sakura viewing for our honeymoon 2 years ago. It was our first Japan trip and therefore obviously there's room for improvement, but just giving you an idea of some of the more popular sakura spots, things to do, etc:

Osaka http://look-see-eat.blogspot.com/201...hree-days.html
Kyoto http://look-see-eat.blogspot.sg/2013...o-days-in.html
Tokyo http://look-see-eat.blogspot.sg/2013...hree-days.html

Billiken

Wow. ^ Thanks for heads up re hotels...Even though we travel light (one carry-on bag/person), when we travel we prefer to "base camp" at one hotel and day-trip as needed.
Thanks, frecia

First time for me in Tokyo (second visit for my wife).
Much appreciated, shinjukuflyer

Great pictures, shuigao
Thank you for the advice.

beep88

A serious sakura watcher would "follow" the blooming, using any of the sakura websites, and travel to where the best spots are, especially you are likely to be a bit early for the season.

http://sakura.yahoo.co.jp/

I believe there is an English version somewhere, perhaps on japan guide.

Unfortunately in the last 2 years, Kyoto and Osaka had become disgustingly crowded during cherry blossom season. On a weekday morning in April this year, I arrived at Kyoto station, saw the incredible long line-ups for the buses, immediately headed to Nara instead.

Also I hope you already have your hotel bookings for April confirmed.

Billiken

Thanks, beep88.
^

Hotel nights are:
Sat, Sun, Mon: Courtyard Shin-Osaka
Tue-Sat: Conrad Tokyo

Planned Days:
Saturday: Arrive KIX at 20:50 via OZ JFK-ICN-KIX
Sunday: Osaka
Monday: Hiroshima (activate 7-day JR pass)
Tuesday: Kyoto (Shinkansen to Tokyo),
Wednesday to Sunday: Tokyo (maybe day trips back to Kyoto/Nara and ???),
Sunday late afternooon: NH NRT-ORD-CLE

Thanks again to everyone for the excellent advice. ^

shuigao

Think it's all of Japan's peak tourist spots during peak tourist seasons, possibly thanks to the weak yen? In my trip to Tsukiji in Tokyo last month it was SO much more packed than in previous years.

Billiken

shuigao:
Is there a day of the week that is better than others for visiting Tsukiji?

bmwe92fan

Yes I live close by there and the weak yen is definitely driving tourism - especially from China. The entire Ginza area is packed every day of the week with tourists - mostly from China but also from Korea and other Asian cities - great for business but tough to navigate lately!

abmj-jr

Day trips, yes but these might not be a good use of your time. 2-3/4 hours to Kyoto plus another hour to Nara means over 7 hours on trains for a day trip to/from Nara, 5-1/2 for Kyoto. Might be better to look at some of the classic day trips from Tokyo - Kamakura, Matsumoto, Nikko, even Sendai and Matsushima.

In case you haven't found it yet, the HyperDia site is good for figuring rail travel. For those using a Japan Rail Pass, be sure to select "More Options" and uncheck "Nozomi/Mizuho/Hayabusa" as those trains are not available for Pass users.

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

A1pax

We are going to be in Japan at similar time period. So, subscribe to this thread for info. Have booked all hotels, except in NRT for home bound flight. Will do research for trip after the New Year.

FlitBen

In Tokyo, the English lawns at Shinjuku Gyoen see many Japanese enjoying great hanami. To escape crowds one can head for the quieter Japanese garden as well. From there one can take the Metro to get to Harajuku area.

The Yasukuni shrine's sakura festival is where locals go in droves for okonomiyaki at open-air stalls and tables set up for the season. And nearby there's the Chidorigafuchi canals at the northwest corner of the palace grounds. The canals are beautiful for night time sakura and the sidewalks are usually less crowded than the shoulder-to-shoulder action along Naka-Meguro's canals.

Drizzles seem to be common at that time of the year, so when it's sunny go early as many residents will surely be out, too.

jib71

Some people may think this is pedantic, but I think it's interesting for tourists to know - The "canal" in Naka-meguro is the Meguro river with stone walls. The "canal" at Chidorigafuchi is the moat of the old castle.