I just checked your revised spreadsheet and it's improving!

Hoshinoya Tokyo is a 48 minute walk or 15 min train ride to Tameike-sannō Station, not a 5 min walk The closest subway location is Otemachi https://hoshinoya.com/tokyo/en/access/

Others can advise to specific exits but I'd also avoid going counter traffic flows in the morning rush hour at the largest stations. There will be a lot of people flowing out of the the larger stations including Tokyo station.

[MENTION=24603]freecia[/MENTION] has given some excellent advice.

Let’s look at day 1

Your fixed point is a 10am appt at Shibuya Scramble square. As [MENTION=185180]McG[/MENTION] pointed out, start point is Otemachi (Tameike Sanno? Why?)

Travel time is 20minutes. Add another 20 minutes, you are going to have to locate the building and work your way up to the start point.
To achieve this leave your hotel at 9:20am (better still, leave at 9am and give yourself a further cushion, there’ll be a lot to take in)

You’ve written 10am to 1pm Shibuya. That’s not realistic.
You can’t get to the top of Scramble Square, visit Miyashita Park (let alone visit Hands or anywhere else), have lunch and complete the 20 minute walk to the Meiji Jingu gates in time for 1pm
- Both the Shibuya Scramble Square and Hikarie buildings are designed to be massive time absorbers
1pm to 4pm Meiji Jingu and Harajuku - can be done
4pm to 5pm travel time to rendezvous point in Shinjuku including coffee stop - can be done
5pm tour starts in Shinjuku

Day 2 is better
10am to 12noon - Ghibli Museum Mitaka
You are having lunch in Kichijoji - bear in mind that there might be a queue

3pm Asakusa - that’s fine, you may even get there earlier
Give yourself an hour to get from Asakusa to Nishiazabu Kamikura (10mins walk from Hiroo station)
6pm - dinner reservation
Hiroo is a lovely place to wander around in.

Day 3
This recent post confirms my own expectation of what Tsukiji is like now that the business has moved to Toyama Market
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35832705-post224.html

Jumping to Day 5

I only suggested Yoshibōrin on the understanding that you were also going to Nezu Temple.

Honestly, I can’t follow your itinerary.
I adore the Yanaka area but it is news to me that Yanaka cemetery is called “cat cemetery”. Like many neighbourhoods in Tokyo, if you give yourself time to just walk around and explore there will be dozens of opportunities to take photos of interesting places with a photogenic cat in the frame.
Alas, there is no time in your spreadsheet for exploring.

I also don’t understand why you’ve got a Nezu to Shin-Ochanomizu journey in your spreadsheet between Yanaka Cemetery and Akihabara
Yanaka Cemetery is between Nippori and Uguisudani stations on the Yamanote line, both of which give direct access to Akihabara (15 mins)
Unless “cat cemetery” is something else entirely.

Thanks, there's a Happy Pancake in Ginza so I'll aim for that instead. And I moved the cat bar to Day 3.

Sorry I don't understand you question. I just used Google Maps from the Capitol Hotel to Shibuya Sky and it says:

I'm getting very frustrated with these so called "websites". This one says Shibuya 10am-1pm. Can I trust any of them then?

Again Google Maps is suggesting slightly different:

Are you planning to stay at the Capitol or the Hoshinoya?

People have advised against Hoshinoya so I've chosen the Capitol now based on this post.

Ah ok. Ignore the info then about Otemachi station.

The Capital is still pretty close to Tokyo Station, the Imperial Palace, Ginza etc so my recommendation for just taking it easy and exploring these areas on your arrival day would still stand.

Did you opt for a different hotel in Tokyo than the original post? ETA: I see the confirmation above. Then you've got the right station.

As to the Google Maps transit times, they're basing the speed and navigation for mostly locals which are faster than tourists. LapLap mentioned add at least 20 minutes to Google and it is good advice. So you don't show up sweaty, very wet, or late (I've done all three mostly separately and do not advise) The subway door (be queued at 16:43) to getting off 2nd train is approx 20 + 16 min including transfer, walk of 12 min. Add variance if you miss the exact train and assume it comes every ~ 4 minutes. That's 52 minutes total. Giving yourself an hour to find the place including checking station exit maps and possibly in the rain when things look different is pretty close. https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A...dtlphotolst/4/

Thanks for all the advice. The problem I find is the overwhelming amount of information I've gathered after spending over 5 years researching this trip. I have 100s of pages of notes. Also, have to book some attractions reduces my flexibility.

I didn't have such a hard time when I first went to New York. Admittedly there's a lot less on people's bucket lists (Empire Sate and Statue of Liberty).

I might try listing down everything I want to see grouped by priority, and see if that helps.

For example, I'd like to visit Nara and Kishi station but that'll require 2 extra days in Osaka. I also can't find time to visit the Hokokuji bamboo forest.

I think that will help.

What do you think of these plans? They both have maps and timings.

https://tessomewhere.com/itinerary-f...inerary_7_Days and https://www.reformatt.com/7-day-tokyo-pocket-itinerary

They are well put together and offer a lot of inspiration. I wouldn't expect many people to follow them to the letter. As a great philosopher once said ... "Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

I think the first 5 days of tessomewhere itinerary is a useful template (except the pre-Ginza part of Day 4.)

No point in sharing what I actually think of the reformatt suggestions.

—-
Talking about getting punched in the mouth, have you understood that the odds of seeing Mount Fuji from Arakurayama Sengen Park are not in your favour?
Is this somewhere you would enjoy being regardless?
—-
It looks like my advice of adding 20 minutes to your journey times didn’t sink in (thanks [MENTION=24603]freecia[/MENTION] for explaining!)
—-
I now understand that your start point has moved to the Capitol Hotel. Hie Shrine is right by the hotel but you can see the torii gates very early or after dusk as they are lit up for a while. You are likely to get better pictures here than at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto even despite it being smaller and less impressive.

Thanks, I'll add 20 mins to travel times. Looking at my map, it seems I could move Senso-ji from Day 2, to the start of Day 5 at 6am. Then carry on with the museums?

Yes, the temple grounds open early, so that would be a smart use of your time. Also, you might find that you enjoy the vibe at Kichijoji and want to explore the area before returning to central Tokyo.