Japan Itinerary Help
 

I posted earlier and got some great tips and have revised my itinerary and would love feed back. This is for 15 days in June. I am trying to go for quality over quantity and primarily visit areas that are not as touristy or crowded. No real agenda other than that. Mostly culture, scenery, food, relax. If you have any comments about what you would do differently I would love to hear it. Thanks!

Night 1 - Tokyo
2- Tokyo
3 - Tokyo
4 - Kanazawa
5 - Kanazawa
6 - Kanazawa
7 - Shikoku (not sure exactly where yet)
8 - Shikoku
9 - Shikoku
10 - Shikoku
11 - Okinawa
12 - Okinawa
13 - Okinawa
14 - Okinawa
15 - fly out

RE: SIMPLIFY TO 3 BASES?
For 15 days, I think this might feel like a lot of hotel changes. Packing/unpacking and all the train stations may not be as enjoyable. If it were my family, I'd simplify to base in 3 places/3 hotels: Tokyo, Kanazawa OR Shikoku, Tokyo.

I'm the poster from Okinawa, but I think for your first time, I'd stay on the mainland. If you've been to Hawaii, Okinawa will feel a little like that, as there's a heavy heaping of American culture in the mix. So consider if you want to spend your valuable vacation time there rather than a more traditional Japanese experience.

RE: TOKYO & KYOTO
I understand wanting to avoid crowds, but unless there's someone in your family who is really disturbed by that sort of stimulation, I'd really encourage you to look at spending more time in Tokyo and Kyoto. They are wonderful cities. In my other post, I mentioned a slow travel mindset, and I intended that for cities, too. If quality, not quantity, is what you want, that still includes Kyoto and Tokyo. Meaning, in Kyoto, there are literally 1,000+ temples. Choosing to go to one, with a fun katsu curry lunch with the kids, and a wander in the Gion district, would be a lovely day allowing lots of cultural discovery.

I'd schedule my trip so you and your family have at least 2 full days in Tokyo before that final day getting to the airport. I mention this b/c all of you will be comfortable in and acclimated to Japan by then, and there'll likely be discoveries along the way you'll want to explore/indulge before you leave. (Like, you all suddenly learn you love Coco ichiban curry, and want to squeeze in a few more meals. Or your wife may want to load up on skincare at DonQ. Or the kids want to suddenly search for Pokemon or One Piece cards, or whatever kids like these days. And not having time to do that at the end of your vacation may be a regret.)

RE: ARRIVAL DAY & 1st DAY PRACTICALITIES
Also, from my experience, if you're flying from the US to Japan, in support of why you might want to add time to Tokyo... assuming you arrive around 3-5 pm, that first day in the airport and getting to the hotel is stressful and tiring, and spent dealing with the practicalities. You'll want to crash in the hotel when you get in your room.

Your circadian rhythm will likely wake you around 5 am, so you'll be tired by 5 pm on that first day in Tokyo. Then, I can't tell from your plan if you have another day in Tokyo or that's a travel day elsewhere. One more day in Tokyo would be good.

Example of 1st day practicalities:

• at airport, you get cash/yen from the 7-bank ATM (the 7-Eleven bank; quickly research Dynamic Currency Conversion. I always have to remind myself which to get. I think you always choose local currency b/c it's cheaper) https://www.sevenbank.co.jp/intlcard...Japanese%20yen.
• You rent a pocket wifi for all the kids' gadgets, which you should have shipped for pickup at your hotel--but also can pick up at airport. You WILL drop off a pocket wifi at airport.
• You set up your airalo eSim on arrival, or connect to your Verizon day pass, etc.
• at airport, you get a Welcome Suica or Pasmo card and load some yen onto it
• you and the kids will want food for the room they can eat. Visiting a convenience store for canned coffees, sodas, chips, sandwiches or pastries should be a fun experience. Bring some food back to the room so you're never operating on an empty stomach while trying to adjust to Japan
• at airport, I encourage you to slow your family down. Get some cash and let the kids buy a drink or ice cream from the vending machine before you hustle onward to your hotel. This is a stressful time and you will be tired, so take a moment to breathe.

RE: BEFORE YOU GO

• Tech and communications: look at eSim, Pocket Wifi AND a wi-fi based communication like LINE or WHATSAPP if some kids will not have a data plan on their phones. My family installed LINE on our phones beforehand, and it came in handy to text each other.
• Install Google Translate on your phones
• Bring a coin purse or a ziploc bag for coins. Japan is more of a cash country than the US. The little zipper area on your wallet may not hold all the coins that flood in.
• TV: hotels may/may not have (1) English channel, like BBC or CNN. Carry your Netflix password, or look into a VPN if that's important for the kids. I was able to stream my local news with an app on my ipad, but only NBC, not CBS/ABC
• Food: Eat with chopsticks from time to time. Research how restaurants work on YouTube (like how to queue, or use a ramen ticket machine, or call the waitstaff to your table to order and to call them back to pay, etc.) Also, carry snack so kids don't meltdown when figuring out where and what to eat.
• Conversions: Create a fast cheat sheet of Yen-$ conversions, Celcius to Fehrenheit, Kilometers to Miles, on a little post it note. Your phone can do this, but sometimes you just want a fast reference to know what 28 degrees celcius is, etc.
• Masks: Polite to wear them in close confines. The Japanese have worn masks since the 1950's or so, not just for covid. It signals to them your respect for the country.
• Shopping: Look up...
  • the clothes & shoe size conversions beforehand, if needed
  • Tax Free shopping on purchases over $50
  • Don Quijote for skincare and souvenirs
  • Japan exclusives on Adidas, Nike, BAPE, etc.
  • Kids should research their sports teams, manga/anime (Toy Sapiens, Character Street in Tokyo station), Uniqlo and custom embroidery fun
  • Do you need prescription glasses? Japan makes them fast, cheap, and fashionable. I bought extra glasses in Japan to wear at home--but keep them to simple, single prescriptions rather than lenses for astigmatism, etc. I wear contacts during the day, but need glasses for home. Also, do not rely on them right away in Japan. Acclimate to them back at home, rather than in a new country.
  • Bring compact shopping bags to stuff in your purse. Stores will charge for them.
  • Bring water bottles to reduce plastic waste. With 6 people, you can buy larger liter bottles and share.

Curious to watch how your vacation shapes up. Japan Guide is good for research, and I love the show 72 Hours for some peeks into the culture. I like this woman's blog for food and traveling. https://www.justonecookbook.com/categories/travel/

Good luck planning!

thank you! i see your response in my email but not on here for some reason but thank you! great stuff

Hopefully others who know more about the mainland can provide some more suggestions. It's a lot to coordinate for your group.

RE: 72 Hours -30 min documentary TV Show
This is a really heartwearming show to get a glimpse into Japan and things to experience there. If your cable provider has NHK Japan, you should be able to record the weekly episodes. They're also here... https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/72hours/

RE: Okinawa
If you decide to go to Okinawa, I'll post back with some recommendations.

Thank you again! I am going to work through the details of what you sent tonight and rethink Okinawa. I had a client that just got back from there a couple weeks ago and was raving about it so it got me hyped up. If its not too much trouble I would love your recommendations. But if it will take much of your time I'll do more research then get back to you.

I really appreciate all your practical tips too by the way. Great stuff.

Oh, that's great to hear. I'm glad your client enjoyed Okinawa. Dec-Jan is a nice time to be there. Remember, June will be pretty humid & hot. If you decide to go, don't think you'll look crazy carrying an umbrella to keep the sun off you. Many do. The sun is intense. Fortunately, Japanese sunscreen is fantastic. (Your wife should look at Rohto Melano CC SPF 50 to bring back. It works great under makeup and is brightening.)

I'd posted a bit about Okinawa here, but have some updates below...
https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...inawa-1719664/

RE OKINAWA FOOD
Kid friendly food

• Mos Burger and A&W are great (burgers, hot dogs, root beer floats)
• Coco Ichiban curry (mild curry on rice); this is a chain of curry restaurants around Japan, and the kids might like see if they have any of their promotional keychains of their mascot for sale. It's a series of cute brown/white cats. If the promo has ended, the kids should act really disappointed and they may get free stickers from the waitstaff. (At least this middle-aged lady scored a couple sheets!)
• Blue Seal ice cream is popular on Okinawa
• Kokusai street has a Calbee+ (potato chips) store
• Taco Rice (taco meat and toppings on white rice) is surprisingly yummy

Local cuisine

• Beni-Imo (Okinawan purple sweet potato) is very sweet, very healthy.
• Okinawa soba (noodles that are thicker than ramen, but thinner than udon)
  • (in Naha) My cousins brought me to Sumanumeh. I had the soki soba. We sat outside, which was nice but a bit tight. I understand they are really popular, so they can run out of soba at busy times/days. https://www.instagram.com/su_manume?...&utm_source=qr
  • (in Naha) Sobe Soba is also another place to get Okinawa soba, but I didn't get there this time around. Plenty of places to get soba, though.
  • (in Naha) The basement of Palatte Kumoji/Ryubo Department Store has a Japanese restaurant we went to for Eel/unagi, which is my mom's favorite. Not mine at all, but I had a tempera udon set, which was great. If anyone in the family likes Unagi, worth checking out. Okinawa Kumoji Eel Specialty Shop Hiko Palette Store https://www.palette-kumoji.co.jp/floor#linkB1f
• Goya Champuru is the Okinawan bitter melon stir fried with egg, tofu, and pork. But it's an acquired taste. It's a bumpy, dark green cucumber that's really nutritious, but also has a very strong taste, so cooking with egg & tofu tempers the bitterness. May be worth trying.
• Tea - sanpincha tea is really nice on Okinawa. Nice to bring home. Also, around Japan, Kirin "straight tea" in the red bottle is nicely sweet.
• As to the local food above, I hear the breakfast buffets are kinda of thing on Okinawa, so check out your hotel's offerings, any maybe buy breakfast one day so you can sample a lot of the local cuisine. Our hotels the past two years had a lot of local items for tourists to try.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a70963637c.png
SanPinCha/San Pin tea (Okinawa)
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b123916f23.png
Kirin Afternoon tea in the red bottle. Comes in liters, too. (all over Japan)

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...86c75e011d.png
Coco Ichiban Curry's cute mascot. This one is the veggie curry kitty.

RE: Okinawa & the Ferry to Tokashiki
If you and the kids are really beach people, you may hear about folks taking the ferry from Naha's Tomari Port to Tokashiki. It's an all-day thing, but do-able. Ferry's only run if weather is good/waves not too high. I wrote a little about the island here...https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...shiki-1720377/

RE: Okinawa & the Monorail, bus to the northern resorts/aquarium
I think renting a car is a bit of a pain, but as there are six of you, you may need that. My cousin owns a rental car company in Naha so if the usual suspects at the airport don't have availability, I can send along his information. He's a wonderful, hilarious guy, with fairly good English, but the majority of his clientele is Japanese or Chinese.
https://www.yui-rail.co.jp/navi/
https://www.okinawa-shuttle.co.jp/en/
https://okinawabus.com/en/ls/ls_timetable_fares/

RE: Hotels
My mother and I stayed at the Tokyu Stay Naha, right on the river by the Tsubogawa monorail station. An easy walk to the Bus Terminal or the Ryubo/Palette Kumoji, which is the start of Kokusai Dori. But there are likely other hotels with family rooms like the Tokyu Stay. And you may be spending time up north in an AirBnB or something. My brother rented a VRBO in the Motubu peninsula near the aquarium and enjoyed it up there.

So much to decide! Good luck planning!

Driving in Japan is on the left. Just thought I'd throw that in there in case you are thinking about car rental.

thank you!

Thank you for all the feed back! We have decided to take the advice and save Okinawa for another trip. Revised itinerary:

Night 1 - Tokyo
2- Tokyo
3 - Tokyo
4 - Tokyo
4 - Kanazawa
5 - Kanazawa
6 - Kanazawa
7 - Koyto
8 - Koyto
9 - Koyto
10 - Shikoku
11 - Shikoku
12 - Shikoku
13 - Shikoku
14 - Shikoku
15 - fly out!

Where are you going in Shikoku?

That is what I am trying to figure out. Any thoughts? My thought is to rent a car in Koyto and road trip the island. Not sure whether to have a home base and do day trips or pick a couple places to stay in.

One factor I was considering is doing an open jaw plane ticket. I would fly into Tokyo and then leave from Shikoku. I researched all the airports on the island and Kochi seems to have the quickest flight home so I was thinking of making that the last stop.

I suggest that you take the train to Shikoku so that you can enjoy the views from the Seto Ohashi. See the slideshow at this link: Seto-Ohashi Bridge - Great Seto Bridge - Wikipedia
You can get a car in Takamatsu-ken.

You def want to visit Matsuyama. You could take the hydrofoil across to Hiroshima and fly from there.

ok great call thank you!

I was thinking of a 4-5 night Shikoku road trip (renting car at Osaka airport). Any ideas welcome.

I thought this was helpful:
This was a 12 day trip (which is jammed packed) but it gives you a ton of options