Hi, I've been a Fodorite for 2 decades but mostly on the Fodorite Forum plus occasional trip report postings on the US & Europe boards. We are finally going on a trip to Japan during the second half of April 2025. I've been reading many guidebooks and websites. I have a bunch of Qs and hope you can help. "We" = me and my husband, and our 12-year-old son. Son isn't into anime or manga, nor pokemon. We aren't into shopping. Our main goals are culture and food. We have 9 days/10 nights total.

My current plan is
Day 1 - arr Haneda, overnight Tokyo
Day 2 & 3 Tokyo sightseeing
Day 4-5: Osaka with a day spent at Universal Studeios
Day 6 Nara
Day 7-8 Kyoto
Day 9-10 Tokyo

I have a number of questions regarding where to stay:

Tokyo
We are splitting our time in tokyo at the start and end of our trip, since we are flying in/out of Haneda (arrival is 3:20pm and departure is 3:45pm). I found hotels in Tokyo are pricier than I expected, and few offer triple rooms. Currently I've booked a triple room on the front end at Hotel Vista Tokyo (3 nights), sort of in between Tsukiji and Ginza. On the back end, i booked a hotel (2 nights) near the Kanda station.

I'm rethinking the tail end of the trip. Would it make more sense to stay in the Shibuya area for the last 2 days, making it easier to visit Meiji temple, Yoyogi park , Shinjuku Gyoen park etc? I also want to take in a concert during the tail end of the trip at NHK hall. I know public transit is excellent in Tokyo, but traveling from Kanda to the above-mentioned areas will easily take 30-45 minutes each way. And if we stay in Shibuya area, how complicated is it to travel to Haneda airport for our 3:45pm flight? (it will be on a monday). The subway/train/monorail option involves quite a few changes, and I read that there is an airport bus that goes between Shibuya and Haneda. If there's 3 of us, would it make sense to take a taxi instead? The MAIN downside of staying in Shibuya is price; the hotels there are quite a bit more than the one I've booked in Kanda area. Any thoughts on this are welcome

Osaka/Kyoto/Nara
Originally I was planning to staying in Kyoto for 5 full nights, with 2 day trips (1 to Universal Studios in Osaka, 1 to Nara). But after reading blogs about USJ, it makes more sense to stay in Osaka so we can arrive early at USJ without getting up at 4am to travel from Kyoto. [We are not theme park people; we've never taken our son to Orlando nor Disneyland in CA, and have no plans to do so in the future. But the thought of going to USJ is appealing for the Super Nintendo world and Harry Potter, and if we go there then we won't have to ever think about going to Orlando]

So, if we are going to stay in Osaka, we might as well spend another day there for a bit of sightseeing in the city. As for Kyoto, i know many people say you need 3-4 days, but I think my son will be bored of visiting temple after temple, so that's why I think 2 days there should be adequate. This leaves us with an extra day to visit Nara. Should we give that extra night in Osaka or Kyoto (for day trip to Nara)?

Too late for Sakura/ other garden suggestions?
We won't arrive in Japan until the second half of April. Will there be any cherry blossoms left to see? Unfortunately we are tied by my son's school vacation time. If it's all done by then, what is blooming during that time? I love peonies and have read Hama Rikyu has many peony varieties there. Is April too early for peonies?

I love gardens but my son not-so-much, so which gardens (in all 3 cities) would you highly recommend for late April?

I think these are the main initial questions I have, so that I can finalize lodging. I'm sure I have many more questions to come once I plan out more detailed day-to-day itinerary.

FWIW, I found tremendous variety in the temples and gardens of Kyoto. It seems to me that if you plan your time there to include a range of different types, it would be hard to get "templed out" after just two days. YMMV. And IMO, Nara is sufficiently different from Kyoto to justify making time for it.

I skipped Osaka, and so perhaps am not the best source of advice on your choice.

Do you plan to visit Himeji-Jo? If so, then Koko-en might be a good garden choice -- relatively small with nine different "styles." I don't know what it's like in April.

update
I was able to find a good deal for a hotel in Shibuya (2 nights) for our back end Tokyo stay. It's located halfway between Shibuya station (7-min walk) and NHK Hall (8-min walk). I think it makes more sense for us to stay here than over in Kanda, so that we can see the sights in this part of Tokyo easily.

My question about return trip to Haneda airport remains: from Shibuya for a flight monday afternoon (3:20pm), what would make the most sense for 3 of us? Subway/Monorail? Airport bus from Shibuya? or Taxi? We plan to travel light with 3 carryon size suitcases.

My question for Osaka/Kyoto/Nara also remains. Does it make more sense to:
3 nights Osaka + 2 nights Kyoto = day trip to Nara from Osaka
or
3 nights Kyoto + 2 nights Osaka = day trip to Nara from Kyoto

I'm guessing for both cities, we will try to stay near the main train station for easy transit.

Hi yk. I was looking at this yesterday and have good things to say about staying at/near Kanda Station. One thought was time is money, so saving a chunk by spending an extra 10-20 minutes on a subway/train could be worth it. Kanda Station is on JR Chuo (Rapid), Yamanote, and Keihin-Tōhoku Lines and Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. Only 2 min ride to Tokyo Station where you would be arriving on the Tokaido shinkansen.

Probably limo bus would be the best way to get to Haneda:
Airport Limousine

From Shibuya Tobu Hotel the closest bus stop is Shibuya Station, but it would be easy enough to taxi to any of the three Shibuya stops. Your destination will almost certainly be Terminal 3. Or you have a few rail options. rometorio says taxi would be $65 to $80.

You mentioned travel times and number of transfers to the places you want to visit, but I would not be too concerned about that because you can plan your stops to shorten travel time. I mostly care about how far my lodging is from the nearest station. (Got to love a hotel with ekimae in the name because that means in front of the station).

Wikipedia is good for getting a list of stations that each line uses. For each of those stations it lists/links other lines that use the station. You can put a station name into wikipedia to get the lines that use the station. That was how I got the list of rail lines that stop at Kanda Station.

Take a look at the Yamanote Line - Wikipedia in particular; It is a loop. One way to Haneda is to take that line from Shibuya Station to Shinagawa and transfer to an airport train. But you can see that it has other stops that are of interest to you: Shibuya, Harajuku, Yoyogi, and Shinjuku (and Kanda which means you can use it from Kanda to those stations with no transfer, but it will just take longer, not that you want to do that).

Harajuku is the station you want to use for Meiji Jingu.

Your hotel in Tsukiji is close enough to Toei Ōedo Line - Wikipedia Tsukijishijo subway stop. You can take it to Kokuritsu-Kyōgijō Station at the southern entrance to Shinjuku Gyoen (you can walk across the park between there and the north entrance in Shinjuku). The line also has stops at Yoyogi, Shinjuku, and Tochomae. The Tochomae stop is a 4-min walk to the Tokyo Metro Gov Building which you want to visit for the views.

You might want to go to Shinjuku Gyoen at the beginning of your trip. The have varieties of cherry trees with different blooming times, so you might catch some blossoms. You could also see if Ueno Park has blossoms. Otherwise, for cherry blossoms you would need to go north from Tokyo and/or up in elevation.

The 3+2 or 2+3 is really up to you. Or one of the cities for 4 or all 5 nights. Others (not me) would advise all 5 in Kyoto for good reasons. Am not a fan of Kyoto and note that you would get better lodging prices in Osaka.

By "main train station" you mean JR Kyoto or JR Osaka stations. Each city has at least one additional station used by a non-JR line that would be useful or Osaka-Kyoto and Kyoto-Nara. For Osaka-Nara the JR Rapid train might be best, but I think there is a good option, and Namba or maybe Umeda station could work better.

I very highly recommend attending the Miyako Odori in Kyoto in April.

April is in baseball season.

One more thing is that you really can avoid visiting Tsukiji Market these days. Ok to go but don't spend any money there. I might post a youtube about this later.

Do you like sushi?

And you will visit Hamarikyu Garden because it is close to your hotel. There is a river boat between that garden and Asakusa.

See the info about Hankyu and Kintetsu Railways and the map here
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2363....way%20connects

The map at the link below shows JR and Kintetsu going to Nara as well as JR and Hankyu going to Kyoto
Tokyo to Osaka: How to get to and around Osaka - Access, Transport and Orientation

There was a poster who liked the hotel next to Hankyu Osaka Station which is next to JR Osaka.

mrwunrfl Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. It's been a steep learning curve for me, trying to absorb so much from guidebooks, forums, as well as websites in the past 10 days. I have a tokyo transit map from one of the guidebooks but haven't had time to sit down and digest it yet! The main draw for staying in Shibuya at the back end is mostly the convenience of being able to walk to/from NHK hall for the concert. And perhaps a bit of shopping or taking a walk in Yoyogi park on our departure day before heading to the airport.

And I also have looked at the JR station vs non-JR station options for Osaka and Kyoto. I haven't researched too far into Kyoto yet, but have at least taken a look at Osaka. Staying near the Osaka JR (Umeda) station will be more convenient to get to Universal Studios early in the morning, at least that's my understanding. I also just found out 2025 Expo is in Osaka, so I'm wondering if we should spend more time there (but maybe shortchanging Kyoto). Thanks for the info on Miyako Odori, I didn't know about it.

Both my spouse and I love sushi, our son will eat certain kinds but not as adventurous. since we will be so near Tsukiji market at the start of our trip, it seems silly not to at least stop by before heading to Hama Ryku garden for the peonies. I did read about Shinjuku Gyoen and maybe Ueno park may have late-blooming varieties, so we will definitely go there at the beginning of our trip.

Thanks again for all the information. I'm sure I will have lots more questions as I continue on the trip planning.
Okay, back to more guidebook reading!

Following

Sushizammai Honjin is a 3-min walk from Hotel Vista. The Sushizammai Shinkan that I visited is temporarily closed according to googlr. That one was/is? just a couple doors down on the same street as your hotel. I also visited the one in the market area. Good sushi at good prices. There are Sushizammai locations elsewhere. I wonder if the one in Tsukiji market has higher prices/busier than than other locations.Would like to compare it with the Honjin location.

Can't find the youtube I mentioned about Tsukiji. It showed the place was overrun by foreign tourists. Littering, messy, tourists. Worst part of the video was seeing the crazy prices for the food, street food of all kinds . Those tourists were being taken advantage of and they didn't know any better. I remember laughing at the over-priced beef being sold in what once was a fish market area.

It was busy when I went there 15? years ago. It was busy with tourists but not crazy and the streets were clean. I went at lunchtime and waited a looong time. IIRC it took two hours.and by the time I left the lines were much shorter. My advice then was not to go at lunchtime, go before or after.

What they sell there can be found elsewhere in Tokyo at prices that locals will pay. I like to go to Bikkuri Sushi in Ebisu about a block from Ebisu Station. They do have an English menu.

As mrwunrfl notes, he is not a fan of Kyoto. I am! And although the OP didn’t see fit to acknowledge my comments, now that at least one other person is following, I thought I would elaborate a bit on the variety of temples and shrines available in Kyoto. In alphabetical order:

• Fushimi Inari is a hillside shrine famous for its torii. If there’s anything similar in the areas you plan to visit, I don’t know of it.
• Heian Jingu is a bit more formal than many of Kyoto’s other shrines and has a large, lovely pond with garden,
• Kinkakuji is the famous golden temple. Heavily touristed, for a reason IMO.
• Kiyomizudera, with its wonderful terrace.
• Kokedera, where just about everything is covered in moss.
• Ryoanji has a noteworthy rock garden. There are other temples in Kyoto with rock gardens, too, so including one should be easy.
• Sanjusanjendo has 1001 statues of Kannon – quite remarkable, IMO.

Note that these are all heavily touristed, so plan accordingly. There are a LOT of temples and shrines in Kyoto, so you can easily choose some of the smaller or less visited ones instead.

Also in Kyoto:

• Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama
• Gion Corner, where you can attend a short show featuring a variety of Japanese performing arts.
• Higashiyama, an interesting historic district.
• Kyoto National Museum.
• Nijo-jo, a gorgeous palace with some interesting defensive features.
• Pontocho and the Miyako Odori, which mrwunrfl mentioned – if the timing works, I wholeheartedly agree that it is worth including. Note that you can roam Pontocho (an old geisha quarter) anytime, perhaps dining there one evening. (Note that Gion Corner is near Pontocho.)
• Okochi Sanso Villa, an estate which you can reach by walking through a bamboo forest.

Himeji-jo (a classic Japanese feudal castle) is about an hour from Kyoto. As I already mentioned, there’s a small garden there that provides a nice sampling of different styles of Japanese gardens.

Personally, I would definitely choose 3 nights in Kyoto rather than just 2 nights. And while I also thoroughly enjoyed Nara – lots to see there, too! – I’m not sure I would make time for it given how much there is to see in Kyoto. JMO.

https://www.japan-guide.com/ is an excellent resource -- use it!

Here is the yt that mentioned prices in Tsukiji. The author did have a good visit and found unagi at a reasonable price, It was a different yt that showed crowds and litter there.

I think the historic stuff in Tokyo pales in comparison to what is available elsewhere. If you want to battle temple fatigue, save that for Kyoto which is a marvel and offers great variety. Also, the terrain is more exciting.

While your time frame might be too late for sakura, with the second best choice you should be in for a treat: wisteria. Time Out has a good article on wisteria gardens.

If I was going to one theme park, it would be Tokyo Disney Sea, which is unique unto the world. It is jaw-dropping. It's hard for me to believe it even exists.

Here is my perfect day in Japan when my son was 13:

We went to Yokohama, which is easy to get to from Tokyo or anywhere else.
We started off at Sea Paradise, which is an aquarium campus.
We then went on to Ta Ya Cave, which was excavated by monks, with stone carvings, in the early 20th century. It is not a show cave. You explore on your own with wooden paddles upon which they give you a candle. There are places in the cave to 'recharge' your candle.
We finished off with dinner at the Yokohama Ramen Museum, which is a two-story recreation of a Tokyo street scene form the Showa Period. The museum is basically an excuse to eat ramen. Seven or so ramen masters form throughout Japan have shops here.

Since you mentioned food, my top piece of advice is to peruse the wiki list of Japanese dishes and search out things that you can't find at home:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_dishes

My favorite discovery was Himono (干物), dried fish. It is grilled to order, and the result is surprisingly moist. Do not expect to have better sushi unless you are willing to spend a lot and go to places that might not be appropriate for a 12 year old.

I would not lose sleep about getting back to Haneda. It is too easy to get to from anywhere via public transportation. Don't stay in Shibuya if the prices are higher. It does not benefit you.

Oh gosh, I had typed up a long response and I thought it got posted, but somehow it had disappeared. kja sincere apologies to you. I did read your initial responses and at that time I hadn't (still haven't quite yet) read much about Kyoto besides the cursory overview in the guidebook. I was around 12 when I visited Japan and I wasn't that interested in all the temples we had visited then. I'm sure me and my spouse will enjoy every single one, but knowing my son, he will be bored after a few. I'm mostly trying to keep the peace on our trips and make sure there is something interesting for everyone involved.

shelemm thanks for your post as well. I didn't know about Disney Sea; i'll have to take a look.

I have lots of friends (who live in Asia) who go to Japan all the time, and honestly everyone is giving me completely different suggestions on how to spend our time there. The 2025 Expo is in Osaka and of course one friend told me I should spend 2-3 days at the Expo alone. Another friend who goes to Japan every year just went last week, and he said we *must* visit Tsujiki market.

I have to study more on the tokyo transit maps; there are so many different lines and it can be a bit overwhelming to figure out which station /which line is "easiest" to get from A to B. The main draw of staying in Shibuya at the back end of our trip is the proximity to the NHK concert hall.

As for Osaka, i think staying near the Umeda station is likely the most ideal? I really have to look a bit further into this before deciding where to book for our hotel.

Lots more reading and research for me to do; ultimately I need to come up with a happy medium for all 3 of us!

Just another plug for Kyoto. My husband and I went twice, most recenfly this past year. kja has listed many wonderful places so I want to add to the suggestions by also mentioning that it’s very, very easy to get off the beaten path. We tend to avoid the most popular sites due crowds and we found some wonderful sites.

And if you want to see a place I’d bet even your 12 year old son might enjoy, I’d suggest going to an amazing temple, Otaji Nenbutsu-ji (temple) and, nearby, Adashini Nenbutsu-ji. These are located in Arashiyama, but you would pass by the very popular and generally very crowded bamboo forest, and take a taxi to the top of the hill to the first of the 2 temples. Then you would walk downhill just a few minutes and you can find another temple with its “secret” bamboo garden. Much smaller, but still captures the feeling. No need to follow the crowds! While these places are discovered, you won’t find hordes of crowds and they’re really quite special.


Otaji Nenbutsu-ji


Otaji Nenbutsu-ji


Otaji Nenbutsu-ji


Otaji Nenbutsu-ji


Adashino Nenbutsu-ji


Adashino Nenbutsu-ji


“Secret” bamboo forest at Adashino Nenbutsu-ji

Perfectly understandable. That's why I tried to show that Kyoto is much more than "just" temples and that the temples that are there are so diverse that getting bored with a carefully selected set would be like saying you get bored with food. I can't imagine that you wouldn't be able to plan a stay of three days (or more, for that matter) that includes enough variation to satisfy everyone in your family. I could be wrong. Good luck with your planning!

It is all too easy to strike a balance in Japan between all your interests because there are so many things for kids that we don't have in the US, and there are many things for adults that can appeal to a kid.

If you want to avoid temple fatigue, then skip Meiji Shrine. It will probably not appeal to a kid. But the Kyoto temples and gardens are sensational. Just make sure you have some 'candy' at the beginning and the end of your trip.

Excellent post/advice above by progol.

>> completely different suggestions on how to spend our time there

I highly recommend visiting Meiji Jingu. First, it is a walk in a park and a great break from the city. Second, it is one of the most important shrines in Japan and is not just for show. On weekends you might/likely see a traditional Shinto wedding (also, I have read, weddings can be on any weekday that is an auspicious day on the Shinto calendar).

Definitely visit the Inner Garden on the way from/to the shrine. Like most tourists, I missed it on my first visit to MJ. I noticed the entrance on the way out from my second visit and had the place to myself.

A visit to Meiji Jingu on a Sunday or Saturday can be combined with a visit to Harajuku to see the cosplayers (I think that is still a thing).

Meiji Jingu was my first stop on the first day of my first visit to Japan. My first photo was the girl in my profile picture. She is posing in front of the torii at the entrance. It was during shichi-go-san in November.

This is my latest plan; does this look reasonable?

Day 1 - afternoon arrival to Haneda, transit to hotel, overnight tokyo (3 nights near Tsujiki market)
Day 2 - Tsujiki market in the morning, over to Hamarikyu Gardens, ferry to Asakusa, visit Senso-ji / neighboring area, Ueno Park
Day 3 - Teamlabs Planets (maybe), imperial palace garden, Shijuku Gyoen
Day 4 - morning train to Osaka, Osaka castle +/- Osaka museum of History (2 nights in Osaka, by Namba station)
Day 5 - Universal studios Osaka
Day 6 - morning Kinetsu train to Nara (stow luggage at station), spend day in Nara, then Kinetsu train to Kyoto (3 nights in Kyoto, probably near Kyoto station)
Day 7 & 8 - Kyoto
Day 9 - morning in Kyoto, midday train to Tokyo. stay near Shibuya (2 nights)
Day 10 - Meiji Jingu, metropolitan government building observatory, shopping, Shibuya crossing
Day 11 - either more shopping or Yoyogi park or Teamlabs Boderless before departing from Haneda at 3:45pm

I've decided it makes more sense to spend 2 nights in Osaka, and visit Nara enroute to Kyoto, and spend 3 nights in Kyoto. That way, we can take advantage of 3 "early" morning visits to the various temples in Kyoto before they get way too crowded.

Staying in Osaka near Namba station would be most convenient - a few subway stops from Shin-Osaka, and easy transit to Universal studios, as well as direct Kinetsu train to Nara.

Does this make sense to you?