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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/pgold05 on 2023-08-11 19:29:55.

Planning a trip to Japan mid Oct for our anniversary. This will be our very first time visiting Japan and we are super excited and a bit overwhelmed. Our focus will be on Japanese horror/Halloween, cultural sites, food, Disney/Ghibli and to a lesser extent, anime/manga/shopping.

Any advice on spooky/Halloween things we can add (subculture bars, restaurants, events) or recommended/must see items we missed, food we should try, would be greatly appreciated. Also wanted a second opinion on whether or not our itinerary is too much, too little or what can be improved!

Day 1 - Land in Tokyo at 4:30am Hilton Tokyo Bay

  • Disney Land (🎃Halloween party!)

Tokyo Day 2 - Hilton Tokyo Bay

  • Disney Land (🎃Halloween party!)

Tokyo Day 3 - Hilton Tokyo Bay

  • DisneySea (🎃Halloween party!)

Tokyo Day 4 - Hilton Tokyo Bay

  • DisneySea (🎃Halloween party!)
  • Check In - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

Note: 4 days Disney may be excessive; however, we expect to be jet lagged out of our mind the first day. Day 4 is a semi flex day, we plan to head out if we are done with Disney early.

Tokyo Day 5 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier – Wake up 6 AM

  • Tsukiji Market
  • Tokyo Skytree (possible skip if we woke up late or needed more time in market)
  • Sensō-ji Temple
  • Tokyo National Museum
  • Akihabara
  • Dinner at Kinkab (🎃Spooky!)
  • Vampire Café (🎃Spooky!)

Tokyo Day 6 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

  • Meiji Jingu Shrine
  • Shibuya (lunch, shopping, Pokémon/Nintendo/Disney store
  • Ghibli Museum
  • Shinjuku station area (Disney Store/Ichiran Ramen/ Omoide Yokochō/ Tajimaya Coffee)
  • Trader Vics Tokyo (Wife is a big tiki head, this is must do 😊)

Tokyo / Kyoto Day 7 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

  • teamLab Planets TOKYO
  • Daiba Haunted School (🎃Spooky!)
  • Gundam base - Gundam statue
  • Lunch in Ginza (open to suggestions)
  • Evening Train to Kyoto (get in between 6-7)
  • Check In - The Gate Hotel Kyoto
  • Dinner in Gion (open to suggestions)
  • Gion Bridge/Yasaka-jinja Shrine

Kyoto Day 8 - The Gate Hotel Kyoto

  • Kiyomizu-dera Temple
  • Sannen-zaka &Traditional tea ceremony
  • Minatoya Yurei Kosodateame Honpo (🎃Spooky!)
  • Takashimaya Basement Food Floor (Lunch)
  • Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum
  • Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine (5-7 PM to see sunset)
  • Dinner in Pontocho (open to suggestions)

Kyoto Day 9 - The Gate Hotel Kyoto

  • Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
  • Okochi-Sanso Villa
  • Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
  • Tenryu-ji Temple
  • Honke Owariya Main branch (Lunch)
  • Manga Museum & Library
  • Nishiki Market/Daimaru Basement Food Floor
  • (Dinner open to suggestions)

Kyoto / Osaka Day 10 - The Gate Hotel Kyoto

  • Completely Free Morning, open to suggestions
  • Train to Osaka
  • Check In - The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japa
  • Universal Japan Halloween Horror Nights (🎃Halloween party!)

Osaka Day 11 - The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan

  • Universal Japan (🎃Halloween party!)

Osaka Day 12 - The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan

  • Osaka Aquarium
  • Tempozan Marketplace (lunch)
  • Check In - Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu
  • Osaka castle
  • Travel to Kobe for Kobe Beef Dinner (open to suggestions)
  • The Kazan Room (Wife is a big tiki head, this is must do 😊)

Osaka Day 13 - Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Note: This day is unstructured, but it involves seeing the areas around the hotel (suggestions appreciated)

  • America-mura
  • Don Quijote Dotonbori
  • Hozenji Yokocho
  • Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping
  • Nipponbashi Denden Town
  • Abeno Harukas Observation Deck

Osaka/ Kyoto / Tokyo Day 14 – Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Note: We found out about the Yokai Costume Parade after booking hotels, so this day is a bit wacky but hopefully doable.

  • Ship bags using service at Osaka Station to Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier
  • Train to Kyoto
  • Nijō Castle
  • Menbaka fire ramen (lunch)
  • Kinkaku-ji Temple
  • (free time for probably one more temple/shrine, open to suggestions)
  • Yokai Costume Flea (🎃Spooky!)
  • Yokai Costume Parade (🎃Spooky!)
  • Catch last Hikari back to Tokyo (9 PM)
  • Late check in - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

Tokyo Day 15 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

  • Completely Free Morning, Open to Suggestions, also might keep free to re-visit anything we had to skip earlier
  • 5 PM Flight Home, arrive 10 PM local which is insane.