Some advise...

I will be going to Tokyo end of March and i've 10 nights of stay in Japan in total... i'm just wondering if i should buy the 7 days pass to go to Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto..
How many days would i need for Tokyo, Mt Fuji ?
I'm still unsure if i should go to Osaka (Kansai area or not) if going, i plan to stay in Osaka for 3 nights and from there i'll go to Kobe and Kyoto.. is it enough or do i need to spend more time in Osaka?
Sorry for asking so much but just having headache planning this out...

Tokyo / Osaka / Kyoto / Kobe,
A plan to be effective to travel in ten days is necessary.
Please check the place that you want to go.

If you are interested in SWEETS,
Kobe SWEETS HARBOR
http://www.beeskiss.com/sweets_index.php

Osaka cheesecake Forest
ビズリーチのCMうざくない？ – 転職カウンセラーのブログ

Tokyo NAMJATOWN (Tokyo dessert republic)
転職口コミサイト知ってますか？ – 転職カウンセラーのブログ

hmmmmm looks like all yummy places to visit~~ can i confirm that for kobe one... it is located on the harbour ?? Osaka not sure where it is located at ... how abt tokyo one ?? where is it huh ?
If i plan like this.. will you think it's too rush ??
Day 1 - reach tokyo --> go to Osaka via train or night bus
Day 2 - Walk around Osaka. osaka castle , minami, american town etc..
Day 3 - Go to Kobe for 1 day (do i need 1 day for Kobe?)
Day 4 - Go to Kyoto and back to Tokyo
Day 5 - Return to Tokyo, Go to Ueno, Asakusa, Shinjuku and Shibuya
Day 6 - TDL
Day 7 - Yokohama, Shinagawa
Day 8 - Mt fuji Tour
Day 9 - Around the palace, Ginza, Tokyo tower, shopping
Day 10 - Shopping
Day 11 - Back home...

I hope the Mt Fuji tour doesn't involve climbing it in March... yikes

In Osaka, be sure to visit Doutombouri. Umeda is also an interesting area. If you're going to be in the area of Kyoto, Nara is worth a visit, but if you can't spare a day I probably wouldn't recommend it. Sorry, never been to Kobe.

It would be a good idea to get guidebooks/pamphlets for Tokyo (hell, anywhere you plan on going), and picking out select areas to spend time. Also consider each area's proximity to each other when deciding where you will go in a single day. Ueno and Asakusa are close to each other, but are on the opposite end of the Yamanote from Shinjuku and Shibuya; it'll cost you at least 20-30 minutes to get from one end to the other.

Unless you have a lot of money to burn, Ginza, Shinjuku and Shibuya aren't that great for shopping (some decent products, but you'll go broke in a hurry). I'd sooner recommend Ueno (ameyoko), Ikebukuro (specifically sunshine city, where I think Namjatown is located), even Harajuku or Shimokitazawa. Akihabara is also an interesting place to go and walk around if you have time and are nearby. Other sites of interest are tsukiji (fish market, go early and have great sashimi), Odaiba (another expensive but good place for shopping and walking around, can easily eat up a whole day), and Roppongi (another expensive area with lots of clubs and such, definitely not a must-go). Shibuya is worth a go for crowd watching (and shopping if you're into gyaru fashion), but not much else.

huh ?? do we have to climb the mountain!??!?!?! i hope not... actually i've been to somewhere near mt fuji before.. and i remember going down a cave or something where i need to bend and crawl out ... i don't wish to go through that again though... actually it is my frend's 1st trip to Japan... so decided on the Mt fuji/hakone tour since we're in Japan.. or would you suggest something better?
Doutobouri ?? what is that place like ?? I wanna go to the place with the gilico and a big crab as the sign board... do you think 1day in Osaka is enough? as for Kobe.. i'm more interested to see the harbour for the sake of taking some nice photos etc... and kyoto... mainly for sakura.. (i hope it's the right time for it..)
Thanks for the information on Tokyo... i think some places we'll just go for the sake of being in Tokyo to know where is where... and Shibuya.. i need to take photo in the busy street and the doggy... oh ya... i guess most likely i'll be staying in Ikebukuro area... so sunshine city~~~~ i'll go for sure!!
Btw.. are there any nice comestics shop around ?? or i can easily find it anywhere?? Is Akihabara the place that sells electronics stuffs???
Gosh... i'm so excited about the trip again..... can't wait for March to be here soon~~~

I would expect you to know whether the tour you're going on includes a hike up the mountain, but before July, I'd expect the answer to be "no."

Doutobouri ?? what is that place like ?? I wanna go to the place with the gilico and a big crab as the sign board...

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That street is called Doutombouri. One day in Osaka should be fine, if you just want to hit up the bigger tourist spots. I recommend the Ebisu building across the street and a little farther down from the big crab, it is very neat.

I'm afraid I don't know much (read: anything) about cosmetics, other than they are ridiculously expensive here. It was recently pointed out to me that a certain brand of lipgloss that goes for less than $5 at a good store back home sells for 2,600 yen here. That is almost a 500% difference in price, for the same product. I've heard that there is almost affordable make-up available in Harajuku, but I have no idea where. Also yes, Akihabara has a district known as the Electric City, and is famous for electronics stores (amongst other specialty stores catering to all brands of nerd). Nevertheless, the big chains such as Yodobashi, Sakuraya and Bic Camera are all over the place.

Good luck on your trip, and brush up on your Japanese!

hmmmm ic ... i guess i dun need to climb up the mountain as it states that they'll bring us up to 5th station of MT Fuji...
guess i'll just bring along my japanese guidebook for translation if ever i need some help

When planning your trip, you should plan it so that you don't have to bounce back and forth from Tokyo to whereever. You should consider the Japan Railpass. You can take the Shinkansen to Kyoto. Get some free maps and booklets from here: Travel Japan - Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)

Day 1 - reach tokyo --> go to Osaka via train or night bus
Day 2 - Walk around Osaka. osaka castle , minami, american town etc..
Day 3 - Go to Kobe for 1 day (do i need 1 day for Kobe?)
Day 4 - Go to Kyoto and back to Tokyo You should make it a full day in Kyoto.
Day 5 - Return to Tokyo, Go to Ueno, Asakusa, Shinjuku and Shibuya The Ginza Line and Yamanote Line would be your primary trains. The Railpass is good for the Yamanote Line.
Day 6 - TDL
Day 7 - Yokohama, Shinagawa
Day 8 - Mt fuji Tour You should do this en route to Osaka or when returning to Tokyo since it is on the way either way.
Day 9 - Around the palace, Ginza, Tokyo tower, shopping
Day 10 - Shopping
Day 11 - Back home...

hmm thanks for ur suggestion... actually i'm tinking of taking a night coach to and back from Osaka... so i guess Mt Fuji gotta go seperately.. and i'm not sure how to get to there on my own.. that's y i'm choosing to take the tour up there ... would it be worth it?

I was under the assumption that you had the railpass, since you were criss-crossing so much... I would now strongly recommend getting the railpass, or completely changing your itinerary. Osaka is about a 3-4 hour shinkansen ride from Tokyo, and the night bus, well, takes all night. Without a JR pass, you will be spending far too much time and money on transit, whereas with the pass, you will just be spending far too much time in transit.

hmm so getting the JR rail pass is a much better choice? i was thinking of using the night coach so i can save on the accomodation too and save the time... in a way...

Wow Fuji Mt on march. I went there in summer and its already freaking cold hahaha. Nothing much to do at the 5th station tho. Except for sourvineir shopping, and.. nevermind.

Very pack itinerary IMHO. Took me 1/2 day to tour around the Ueno zoo.. PANDA!!!1one and Ueno Park (very pretty at spring and autumn), another 1/4 to drool over all the food shop and rolls my eyes over the "weird shop" in Ueno, and took me from 10am till 9pm to go around Akihabara hahaha (still not satisfied tho). But that just me I guess. Well since you're going for the sake of just going there, then I'll stop yapping here.

If you're going with the night bus : well not much of an advise tho, but doesnt they have a one-day pass for those? not quite sure tho, either they have it for JR or only Metro line or something... *wonders* Tho go for the JR pass if you're going to osaka with the shinkansen.

hmmm after seeing u wrote this... i've to check again with my frends if we should go osaka at all or not.. or just skip it.. but where can we go to see olden Japan and more sakura around Tokyo?? well the JR pass compared to the night buses are like about 15000 yen difference.. that's y i choose night coach..

You're right that the night bus service between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka is much cheaper than the JR pass. The point is, however, the cheap night bus ticket is rather hard to access from outside of Japan, though you can book the bullet train ticket outside Japan.

And if you plan to visit the sweet forest in Tokyo, I suggest you should not go there on weekends unless you have much time to wait for 1 hour to eat souffle, a popular dish there.
I suppose basements of many department stores or all you can eat dessert cafe would also be an idea if you love to eat desserts.

chery08 said:

hmmm after seeing u wrote this... i've to check again with my frends if we should go osaka at all or not.. or just skip it.. but where can we go to see olden Japan and more sakura around Tokyo?? well the JR pass compared to the night buses are like about 15000 yen difference.. that's y i choose night coach..

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Is the 15000 yen for one way or round trip? I've never used it. For $235.00, the Railpass is for unlimited use (except for a couple of Shinkansen) for 7 days on JR trains, buses and ferries. I went to Osaka Castle, and that's about it. I couldn't tell you if Osaka is worth a more extended visit.

Kyoto is more interesting if you are into early Japan. Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle and Kyomizu Temple are must-sees. For modern Japan, you can't beat the huge Kyoto Station.

hmm guess my main purpose there will be shopping.. food and photo taking sessions .. and not forgetting sakura... that's y i'm choosing to stay in kyoto for just 1 night.. just afraid that i might get bored at night becoz there isn't much to walk around... are there anything to see in kyoto like after 11pm???

These advices are very interesting, so when I going to Japan, I know what i must doing in first!

can i check.. is it advisable to stay 1 night in Hakone?? What's there to see in there ?

chery08 said:

can i check.. is it advisable to stay 1 night in Hakone?? What's there to see in there ?

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You can ride the gondola car skyway and see the sulfer pits. On certain days, you can get great views of Mt. Fuji. Also, there's Lake Ashi and a lot of fun boats.

hmmm ic .. so i need to spend 1 night in there or just 1 day trip is fine?
hmmm i'm still thinking over if i should by the 7 days JR pass or should i take a night coach from Tokyo to Osaka and back... just afraid that if i buy the JR pass... and i go to some other places.. which doesn't have JR and it would be a waste of $$

chery08 said:

hmmm ic .. so i need to spend 1 night in there or just 1 day trip is fine?
hmmm i'm still thinking over if i should by the 7 days JR pass or should i take a night coach from Tokyo to Osaka and back... just afraid that if i buy the JR pass... and i go to some other places.. which doesn't have JR and it would be a waste of $$

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It depends. A day trip is okay.

chery08 said:

hmmm ic .. so i need to spend 1 night in there or just 1 day trip is fine?
hmmm i'm still thinking over if i should by the 7 days JR pass or should i take a night coach from Tokyo to Osaka and back... just afraid that if i buy the JR pass... and i go to some other places.. which doesn't have JR and it would be a waste of $$

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If you go to JRs website....http://www.japanrail.com/JR_timetableandfare.html
you can download both timetables and fares. You could work out the price of the journeys you are thinking of making and see how buying the tickets individually would compare to the 7 day pass/night buses etc. Whether you choose to give some 'cost' weighting to the convenience of a rail pass..?

One other thought. You've got a whole day in Kobe. do you need a whole day there, or could you have half a day and spend the other half at nearby Himeji? It's just that Himeji has one of the best castles in Japan (if not the best) and is well worth going to. It then means you could leave out the trip around Osaka castle, which I understand is a concrete replica. That is if you are still planning on going to Osaka!
Hope this helps!

thanks for the info.. heijmei is near kobe huh ?? i've not decided if i'm going to Kobe though...
actually i've compared the price.. JR pass is definitely more than the night coach.. but maybe by USD50 more... just not sure if i should save this money for more shopping or .. just get the JR pass... and then i'll just buy 1 cosmestic lesser

some more options

Hi! I live in Kobe and I really recommend skipping Osaka castle. Everyone I know that has visited it was so disappointed especially after seeing a real castle in Himeji or else where.
If you have bought the rail pass go by Shinkansen to Himeji (only 16 minutes from Kobe or 50 minutes to Kyoto) which has a famous Sakura (Hanami) festival below the castle
*Castle info =:34: .jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/hyogo/himejijo.html
*autumn views of Himeji castle taken by one of my friends =:34: flickr.com/photos/agricola/sets/72157594434265808/
*spring views =:34: flickr.com/photos/42615383@N00/136631480
* :34: flickr.com/photos/pigswillb/132573293
*
OR I KNOW A CHEAPER OPTION THAN THE TRAIN PASS:
The Seishun Juhachi Kippu (Seishun 18 ticket), is a seasonally available railway ticket (in Spring =March 1 to April 10), which gives you five days (the five days do not need to be consecutive days) of unlimited (except not Shinkansens), nationwide travel on local and rapid JR (Japan Railways) trains for only 11,500 Yen, or 2,300 Yen per day! And you can share the ticket with your friend as you are travelling together so one of you can travel for 3 days using the pass and the other for 2 days (then that person just has to pay the regular fares for that day) For more info about Seishun Juhachi Kippu:
*:34: .jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html
*:34: .japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html
So for example you could use 2/5 of the ticket to go to Himeji overnight (plus a local train ticket each as the last train leaves Tokyo before midnight)
Day#1 Leave Tokyo 23:43 to Ogaki 06:53 change trains
#2 Ogaki 07:00 to Himeji 10:16am
#2 leave luggage in lockers at Himeji station and enjoy short walk to castle
#2 train to Kobe in afternoon to take photos at the Harbour and eat early dinner
#2 train to Osaka and still using your ticket take the JR loop line to a cheap hotel like Hotel Taiyo which has bunk-beds in the twin-share rooms if you book in advance =:34: .hostelworld.com/availability.php/HotelTaiyo-Osaka-8135
#2 then cheap subway ride to visit Minami area (Dotonbori, etc), which is the most interesting in the evening after people have finished work/school.
THEN
#3 Next morning have a sleep-in as you will be exhausted, and check-out at 10am to head to Kyoto to go sightseeing for the day.
( OR as an option, spend the day at Universal Studios Japan as it is near there, and I think it is more enjoyable than TDR if you are a movie fan like me
#3 Take loop-line and rapid train to Kyoto (890yen each)
#3 Spend the night at a cheap hostel or internet cafe in Kyoto
THEN
#4 Return to Tokyu using 2/5 of your Seishun 18 ticket and then do what you have planned there and go on your Mt.Fuji bus tour
OR
#4 On your way back to Tokyo using 2/5 of your Seishun 18 ticket stay at the youth hostel at Lake Kawaguchi-ko. You not have to be a member to stay and you can have the chance to talk to lots of young Japanese as the universities will be on Spring break. You can also have a traditional hot spring bath and get lots of advice from the people working there as they speak English and often have people on a tight budget staying there.
The Kawaguchi-ko lake district is famous for its views of Mount Fuji, hot springs (onsen) and luxury ryokan's. Mt. Fuji is reflected on the surface of Lake Kawaguchi-ko which always makes a fascinating photo. From Kawaguchiko Station, you can take a mountain bus called Tozan Bus that takes you to the 5th level of Mt. Fuji, (2000yen each for a Round trip ticket).
THEN
From Kawaguchiko station to Tokyo station it costs 2,560 yen each so use the last 1/5 of your ticket for one of you.

wow thanks for ur detailed plan for me... i'm just wondering... no offence.. wat's the difference between the castle in heijimi and osaka? looks almost same to me though... from afar... is it the interior is very beautiful? Can we get inside ?? this one looks a little like the one in Nagoya too just tat it's abit bigger..