Japan in July Itinerary Question....
 

Hi, I've been reviewing my itinerary for our upcoming July trip. I purposely left a couple of days "blank" and now I'd like some advice on how these days might be best filled. Here's the itinerary so far:
Friday July 8th: Arrive Tokyo in the evening, take limo bus to Westin Ebisu
Saturday July 9th: Meet with Junko Matsuda for a trip to HamaKikyu gardens, boat trip up the Sumida to Asakusa shrine, walk Nakamise-dori
Sunday July 9th: Harajuku do "Little Adventures in Tokyo" walk
Monday July 10th: Go to Ghibli Museum in morning, stop at Nakano on way home to visit Mandarake
Tuesday July 11th: ? (maybe baseball game, Hawks vs. Fighters, or visit Kamakura)
Wednesday July 12th: ?
Thursday July 13th: ?
Friday July 14th: Travel to Kyoto in morning, see Nijo-jo, meet with Peter Macintosh for a Geisha Tour at 4:30
Saturday July 15th: explore Kyoto, most likely very crowded, maybe go to Nara
Sunday July 17th: Gion Festival
Monday July 18th: visit Himeji castle on way to Miyajima. Stay on Miyajima overnight
Tuesday July 19th: Leave Miyajima, stop at Peace Park in Hiroshima on way back to Kyoto
Wednesday July 20th: Leave Kyoto for Narita hotel
Thursday July 21st: Leave Japan from Narita airport

My thoughts are that I don't have enough time scheduled for Kyoto, even though it will be hotter there than Tokyo... Should I try to change my hotel reservations to arrive in Kyoto on perhaps Wednesday July 13th? Should I "hang tight" in case we can actually "see" Mt. Fuji and then go to Hakone on the 13th? I just feel that maybe I've scheduled too much time in Tokyo and not enough in Kyoto. Any thoughts? Oh also, We're booked into both Westins and even though we'll be overnight on Miyajima, we'll still be booked at the Westin in Kyoto so that's why we'll go back to Kyoto, to sleep and get the rest of our luggage before going on to the Narita Hilton on Wednesday.

Are you taking your sons to Akihabara? What else in Tokyo are they interested in seeing and doing? My teen son liked Tokyo much better than Kyoto (which he did like, just not as much as Tokyo). We remedied that by using some of our Kyoto days (we had more than you) for a day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima, and we also went to Osaka for a ballgame at the Osaka Dome. Since it will be so hot maybe try for an indoor stadium like Tokyo Dome or Osaka Dome for your ballgame? Where are the Hamfighters and Hawks playing?
I wouldn't hang around for Fuji, you won't know til you get these (or go by it on the way to Kyoto like we did) if it is in view or not (unless the weather is really bad and raining in Tokyo and then it wil probably be bad in Hakone also). I think you just have to chance it on going to Hakone one day when weather is good in Tokyo and maybe you'll have a clear day in Hakone.

Looks like you're going to do lots of fun things. I would skip Hakone - the weather probably won't be very good at that time of year. It will be the rainy season. Sometimes there will be lots of rain, but since you are coming just near the end of the rainy season, it shouldn't be too bad in Tokyo and Kyoto. It will be really hot and humid though.

In Tokyo, I think the baseball game would be a fun idea. Try to get to a summer fireworks festival too. They happen all the time starting in the middle of July. It would be a great experience.

In Kyoto, I'd suggest going to the countryside surrounding the city and take trips to Ohara or Kurama/Kibune. Much nicer that Hakone, I think, with more traditional atmosphere. The Gion festival is really fun. I would add a day for Kyoto.

I hadn't really considered Akihabara... I had thought of Sega joyopolis though.... Unfortunately they haven't had much time to research Japan or Tokyo or Kyoto. When school is in session they're both so consumed with school work and sports that reading up on our trip wasn't a high priority! I also enjoyed the "free reign"this afforded me! The Hawks and the Fighters are playing at the Tokyo Dome. I hadn't realized that it was a covered stadium so maybe we will try to get to it!
I think I'll give us an extra day in Kyoto because I really want to walk through that bamboo forest or go to the Kyoto Studio Park Toei Uzumasa Eigamura. I'm hoping to also rent bikes in Kyoto and sightsee a little with them (if it isn't too hot). I guess I can think of alot more to do in Kyoto than Tokyo... If I put myself in their shoes though, I'll come up with lots to do on Tuesday and Wednesday and we'll leave a day earlier, on Thursday, for Kyoto!
Is it possible and not too rushed to visit Kamakura and then get to a baseball game? Is Kamakura worth a visit? Thanks!

Oh, you want to go to Sagano outide of western Kyoto, where the bamboo forests are. That is on my list for next spring. The movieland park was ok for a few hours of an afternoon- it is in western Kyoto also. Go earlier in the day- we went late and the ninja and samurai performances were over by 3 p.m.
Arashiyama in western Kyoto offers a boat ride on the river- you get wet, which would be nice on a hot summer day. We didn't make it there, but Florence recommends that area alot. And you can rent bikes there.
BTW- your kids might like the amusement park next to Tokyo Dome. The roller coaster that goes through the middle of the spokeless ferris wheel is pretty amazing. Other very cool rides.
I guess it depends on what time the game is at Tokyo Dome regarding whether you could go to Kamakura and then to the Dome for a game.

emd- thanks for the "heads up" re: time to visit the movieland park. If we do it we'll definitely do it early. The boat ride does sound great! I know Arashiyama can be crowded on the weekends so that would be a great thing to do on Thursday! Central Kyoto also has bikes for rent, emd, with pick up and drop off in lots of locations. If we do it, I'll include the particulars... The game at the Tokyo Dome is an evening game. Theoretically I know it is probably possible. I was just wondering though if 1. Kamakura is a "must see" and 2. can it be done as a daytrip with evening activities planned, or is it a long day trip? Thanks - the excitement for this trip is building!

The schedule at japanball.com shows no games on July 11. It's Hawks vs Fighters at Tokyo Dome on July 11 and 12. Also on July 11 and 12 the Hiroshima Carp will be visiting the Yokohama Bay Stars. Then on the 20th you check in again to spend the night

I've actually seen those same teams play together at those ballparks. Last May, I saw the Fighters vs Hawks at Tokyo Dome. A couple of years ago, I saw the Carp play in Yokohama.

I recommend the Yokohama game and note that it is on the way from Kamakura to Tokyo. It would be easy to fit in with a Kamakura day trip. It is an open air ballpark, smaller than Tokyo Dome.

The Hawks are from Fukuoka and the Fighters are from Sapporo, so neither team will be in their home stadium though they do have their fans in Tokyo. You would have a good choice of Yomiuri Giants souvenirs at Tokyo Dome.

You would need 7-day JR Passes for your travel July 14-20.

Before you go to Hiroshima, you could send the bulk of your luggage to your Narita hotel ahead of you.

On July 18, will you be checked out of the Westin Miyako that one night since you will be staying overnight in Miyajima? Do you have a day of Kyoto sightseeing planned for the 20th before you head to Narita?

Thank you this is good advice and these are good suggestions. We have a 14 day JR pass because we can use it in Tokyo, even if we just want to "pass through" a station to get to something on the other side!
We will still be checked in at our hotel in Kyoto while we overnight on Miyajima.
I am planning on using the sending services of the hotels. Depending on the suitcases we end up taking with us, I may send them from Tokyo to Kyoto and then again from Kyoto to Narita!
The game in Yokohama sounds promising. I have a family of soccer players, not baseball players but I think they'd appreciate the unique atmosphere of a Japanese ball game!

So you will be using that room at the Westin as a storage locker for your stuff on the 19th.

Basically, yes... I might change my mind and have us check out before we leave for Miyajima, but I'll make that decision once there. Now it's in place as a safety-net type of thing!

jmday4:

since you're going to spend the night at miyajima, why don't you check out of your kyoto hotel for that night? I'm pretty sure the hotel will let you do it knowing that you will be staying with them when returning from Miyajima. There's no harm to ask.

Thank you e_t. I will most likely do something of the sort once I arrive at the Westin in Kyoto. I know it dumb to pay for 2 rooms and not even stay in them!

Oh, yes, I understand about the safety net idea. Best check the cancellation policy. If your reservation has a 2-day advance cancellation, then it conceivably could apply not just to the first night but also to each night of the reservation. So cancelling the 18th on the 17th might (unlikely, but might) be a problem.

Sounds like the Tokyo Dome game would work just as well for you as Yokohama. The Hawks manager is Saddaharu Oh, who is, approximately, the Babe Ruth of Japanese baseball.

Unless you use your 14-day JR Pass to travel somewhere far on the 11-13th, then you will be paying about $160 for maybe $60 worth of train travel in Tokyo. That $160 is roughly the difference between the 7-day and 14-day adult regular JR Pass.

Just got back from 2 weeks in Japan--previous posters are right on, skip Hakone...
there isnt anything to do there unless youre holed up in a high end onsen resort, if it rains youre screwed.
Spend more time around Kyoto instead. The Fushimi Fox shrine in Inari, 2 stops from Kyoto Station, is mindblowing. And I strongly recommend a night in a temple up on Koya-san, espec
if you can go during the week, the train trip up is great, its very peaceful and Okunoin cemetary was one of the highlights of the trip. plus its nice and cool up there. If you can get up that way,
Kanazawa is great too--very friendly people
plied us with the local sake and kinjiso, a strange but delicious seaweed-like green. Have fun!

Thanks! I don't know why that shrine doesn't even ring a bell with me! I'm glad to hear about it now though! I'll look into it and we'll probably go see it! My feelings on Hakone are, if we can see Mt. Fuji, then we'll make the trip, otherwise there are better things to do!
There is a penalty for changing our hotel reservations but I'm going to check if it'll be waived since I want to add a night at the beginning of our Kyoto stay so the overall charge would stay the same....

It might be listed as "Fushimi Inari Shrine" or some variant in the guidebooks--it doesnt seem to be in the Rough Guide, which in all other respects I found to be the best book by far--its a bit off the beaten path but easy to find--thousands of wooden torii gates leading up the mountain into the forest, another plus is its nice and cool up there on a hot day

i just came back from my first trip to kyoto (3rd time in japan overall) and i absolutely loved the fushimi inari shrine also! (btw, it is in the fodor's guide, or at least it was in 2002 when i got my copy) - we were a bit confused when planning because some guides recommended 30 minutes, while others said you'd need about 3-4 hours and steep climbing - the reality: the shrine itself (and all of the "shrine extras", the shops, the smoke, etc) can be visited quite quickly if you're pressed for time, but if you want to see the torii gates and the forest (and believe me, you do) i'd plan at least 2-3 hours for it - the further along you go, the more mystical it is - we went around 9am, which was a perfect time for it...

and another really wonderful part of the shrine is that they had musicians there playing sacred music (don't know if that's a regular thing or not - we were there on a wednesday morning) - i love traditional japanese music and haven't really experienced that at any other shrine or temple i've visited before...

we had 3 magical days and nights in kyoto and saw a lot of the well-regarded sights (kinkakuji, ryoanji, sagano, okochi sanso, tenryuji, konchi-in, nanzenji, eikando, honen-in, ginkakuji, nijojo, heian jingu, tofukuji, sanjusangendo, and kiyomizudera), but if i had time to go back and revisit only one of them again, it would be the fushimi inari shrine without question...

Thanks so much to everyone for the recommendation of fushimi inari. I have seen pictures of this shrine (it is on the cover of Clancy's very good book "Exploring Kyoto, on Foot in the Ancient Capitol"-- if you want to see a good picture of the many red tori, go to amazon.com and look at her cover) but we didn't get to it in April. We will definitely check it out next spring and give ourselves time to do so.

Fastnbulbous, how did you like Sagano? We also want to go there.

sagano was my other favorite in kyoto, curiously enough! i guess that (and my love of tromping through the forests around the inari shrine) reveals me to be more of a "natural beauty" lover...

we walked along the bamboo trail on a monday afternoon and although we were far from being alone it still held its calming charm...actually, one of my favorite photos from the trip is a shot of my wife and mother-in-law posing on the road cutting through the bamboo forests, with lots of other tourists taking pictures captured in my picture! it seemed to sum up the atmosphere quite well...

along the trail, we stopped at a shrine i no longer remember the name of - it wasn't in any american guide i saw, but my wife found it in a japanese guide (she's japanese by birth, american by marriage) and it was a big deal for us because it was a shrine for easy childbirth (my wife is pregnant right now and we planned this trip to japan to visit her family and friends one last time before we become parents)...

and then we also went through okochi sanso, which i recommend for some really nice scenic views which complement the bamboo forests quite nicely...it actually started raining on us while we were at okochi sanso's pavilion enjoying our complimentary tea and cake, but even that was a blessing in disguise as we moved on to nearby tenryuji and enjoyed that beautiful temple for its final 2 hours, virtually by ourselves...

so bottom line, definitely include both the inari shrine & sagano on your next trip!