Japan 2015 Itinerary

Tokyo Osaka Kyoto Nara

Day 1 : March 28, 2015 Shinjuku

Time Activity Notes

10:35 Arrival at Narita Airport See Appendix 1
AM - Clear Immigration
- Get Luggage
- Buy Suica Card
11:15 Subway to Higashi- See Transportation 1
AM Nakano Station
- Take Keisei Skyliner to
Nippori
- From Nippori, take
Yamanote line to Shinjuku
- From Shinjuku, transfer
to JR Sobu/Chou to
Higashi-Nakano
- Meet Teruko at East
Gate
12:30 Check-in at Terukos Confrmation Code:
PM Apartment TT8KQ5
Contact: Teruko Aoyama 3 Chome-40 Kitashinjuku
+81 8050914552 Crestresidence
Get Pocket Wif Shinjuku, Tokyo
1:30 PM Lunch at Shinjuku- See Map 1.1
Nakajima ( )
Nearest Station: Local name:
Shinjuku Sanchome Local address: 160-
(Exit A1) 0022 3 32-5
3-32-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku- 1
ku, Tokyo; +81 3 3356
7962 Iwashi (sardines) are the
Open 11.30am-2.00pm, star of the show during
5.30pm-10pm; closed on lunchtime. They're
Sunday. available fried with
panko, sashimi-style,
simmered in dashi with
 soy sauce (known as
nizakana), or, for another
100 yen, prepared in an
eggy casserole known as
Yanagawa nabe.
Alternative Lunch: See Map 1.2
Numazukou Shinjuku Local Name:
Nearest Station: JR
Shinjuku Station West
Exit Must try:
Landmark: Keio Nama shirasu (raw baby
Department Store anchovies)
Open 11.00am 23.00pm Nama sakura ebi (raw
baby shrimps)
Anago (boiled eel)
After Shinjuku Gyoen Google Maps
Lunch
Isetan Department Store Google Maps
- Check out Depachika
(Optional) Snack @
Sadaharu Aoki
B1F Shinjuku Isetan & B1F
Tokyo Midtown
Takashimaya Google Maps
- Get Takashimaya
Shoppers Card (free
for tourists!)
- Yuzawaya Shinjuku
(Takashimaya Times
Square 11th floor,
Sendagaya 5-24-2,
Shibuya-ku)
- visit Tokyu Hands
(Takashimaya Times
Square 2nd to 8th floors,
Sendagaya 5-24-2,
Shibuya-ku)
 - visit Kinokuniya
Night Tokyo Metropolitan Google Maps
Government Building
- Proceed to 45th Floor
Dinner at Fu-Unji () Local name:
Hokuto Dai-ichi Bldg. 1F, Local address:151-0053
2-14-3 Yoyogi, Shibuya- 2-14-3
ku, Tokyo B1

Google Maps
Omoide Yokocho Memory Lane or Piss
Alley known for the
different and numerous
yakitori stands
Appendix 1 Getting a Personalized Suica
Transportation 1

Trains From Narita to Shinjuku

For transfers on to the JR Yamanote Line, get off at Nippori. Look
out for the notice on the train:
This is what the Nippori Station Platform looks like:

Head up the escalator, following the JR signs:

Go through the JR transfer gate its marked as This is not an
exit:
Head to the JR Yamanote line platform 11 (to Shinjuku/Shibuya)

Platform 11 for Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya

Note: Get off at JR Shinjuku; transfer to JR Chuo/Sobu
Map 1.1
Nakajima ( )
Nearest Station: Shinjuku Sanchome
3-32-5 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; +81 3 3356 7962
Open 11.30am-2.00pm, 5.30pm-10pm; closed on Sunday.
The restaurant's location is not difficult to fnd if you are
somewhat familiar or confdent around Shinjuku. The nearest
station is Shinjuku Sanchome (Exit A1), but if you're looking to
save on the extra train fare, the main Shinjuku Station (look for
the Central East Exit) is only around 10 minutes away, about 5
minutes from the Shinjuku branch of tourists' ever-favorite
Ichiran Ramen. I don't think there's more than 500m between
Shinjuku and Sanchome stations anyway.

The access point can be a real bitch - blink and you miss it!!
Nakajima is on the basement level, accessible only by the
staircase next to the carpark exit.
Map 1.2
From the street level, the best place to go underground is at
staircase number 6 (not Exit No 6 - it's a completely different
area). After you go down the staircase, turn right. It's just pass
the glass doors.

The west side of Shinjuku Station with a view of the main

entrance to the Keio Department Store Building. Staircase 6 is
across the street from the right side of the Keio Department
Store.
A street level view of staircase number 6 which has a sign with
its number on the side and a view of the right side of the Keio
Department Store across the street.
Day 2 : March 29, 2015 Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park,
Harajuku, Shibuya
Time Activity Notes
8:00 AM Meiji Shrine () See Transportation 2.1
- Get off at Harajuku Station
Yoyogi Park
- Right next to Meiji Shrine
- View Cherry Blossoms
9:30 AM Harajuku (Takeshita-dori Exit)
Snack at Calbee Plus Try the freshly-fried calbee
(Theres also a branch at Tokyo chips with chocolate sauce
Station) and soft-serve from Hokkaido
Omotesando See Maps 2.1
- to get here, turn left at the end
of Harajuku
Drop by Yoku Moku (also Buy the egg wafer cigare for
available at Depachikas if pasalubong
buying the famous cigare)
LUNCH Lunch at Butagumi See Maps/Directions
2-24-9 Nishiazabu, Minato 106-
0031 Local name:
Local address: 106-0031
Hours: 2-24-9
Tue - Sun 11:30 am - 3:00 pm
6:00 pm - 11:00 pm Tip: Try the Iberico Pork
Tonkatsu (better than
Maisen!!!)
Take Omotesando Station Train See Transportation 2.2
to Shibuya
Shibuya Shopping/Sightseeing - Collect # from Midori Sushi
- Hachiko
- Shibuya Crossing
- Shibuya Starbucks
- Tokyu Hands
Loft Shibuya (Check Hobonichi) Google Maps
Dinner Dinner at Midori Sushi See Maps 2.2
Umegaoka Sushi No Midori Google Maps
Sohonten Shibuya Local name:
4th floor of Shibuya Mark City
To Try: Local address:150-0043
Ultimate Sushi Assortment
1-12
2100Y
4F
Aburi Salmon (seared salmon
nigiri)
Hotate
Transportation 2.1
Transportation 2.2
Map 2.1 Calbee Plus to Omotesando Stn
Take the subway (there were three lines including the Ginza line)
to the Omotesando stop. Exit A5. At the top of the stairs, go
right. You will know you are going the right direction if you see
stores like Comme de Garcons, this Prada store with the
diamond shaped windows, Cartier, and Yoku Moku.

If you see the Miele store, you are going in the right direction.
Keep going along this road. It goes downhill here.
 The Nezu Museum is also something you'll see if you're going
the right direction (it's actually across the street from the Miele
store, the museum is on the side of the street you're walking on)

When you come to a fork in the road, stay on the right.

If you see BTD Studio, you're going the right way.
If you see this building with the round window you're
almost there. I think that's a restaurant on the bottom
floor. It had a red curtain.
When you see the purple flag with what looks like a yellow cross,
but actually says "THESE," then you are there. The restaurant is
on your right. If you come to a freeway overpass and Queen's
Oyster House, you've missed it and have to go back.
Map 2.2
It is located in Shibuya Marks City. If you are at the statue
of Hachiko facing the crossing then head to your left over
the road and you will see Marks City. Take the series of
escalators to the fourth floor and you will see a
hall/corridor of restaurants. Walk down this corridor and
there will usually be a line of people out the front of a
restaurant and that will be sushi no Mindori. The wait times
are usually 2 hours plus, but they have a ticketing system.
Just collect a number and go shopping/exploring Shibuya
but make sure to come back in time. I'm sure it varies but
for reference, we had no.281 and it took about 2.5 hours to
go through roughly 65 numbers ahead of us. We went
shopping around the area and wondered back after over
two hours, there's really no need to sit around and wait like
so many people did.
Day 3 : March 30, 2015 Asakusa, Kappabashi,
Ueno, Tokyo Station
Time Activity Notes
9:00 AM Sensoji Temple Asakusa See Transportation 3
- Get off at Asakusa
Station (Exit 1 for the
Temple)
- Kaminarimon (Thunder
Gate)
- Nakamise Street
(souvenirs); also where
Maguro Bito is
- draw an omikuji
(fortune)
-Kamejyu () dorayaki
Lunch at Maguro Bito See Map 3.1
- Along Nakamise Street
- Order Otoro Local name

Local address 1-21-8
1F2F
Option 2: Tempura Just Outside Sensoji
Daikokuya Asakusa
After Kappabashi Dori See Map 3.2
Lunch (kitchenware) Google Maps
- Pass Asakusa Post Office,
to the direction of Ueno
Park
Ueno Park
- View Cherry Blossoms
Ueno Ameyoko Shopping Shopping for Girls!
Street
Imperial Palace
Tokyo Station See Map 3.3
- Tokyo Daimaru First Avenue Tokyo
Basement 1 Station
- Kitkat Store near Ramen First Avenue Tokyo
Street Station is outside of the
- Buy Bento from Yaesu Underground
Ekibenya Matsuri Central Exit.
- There is a Calbee Plus
store here
Home (Higashi-Nakano
Station)
Transportation 3
Map 3.2
Kappabashi Dori

Getting there: Come out of exit #3 of Tawaramachi Station on

the Ginza Line; you'll be on the corner of Asakusa-dori and
Kokusai-dori, facing north. Turn around and walk west along
Asakusa-dori away from Asakusa, towards Ueno. You'll pass a
post office (evident by a sign with an orange letter "T" with a
line over it) and the Akafudado supermarket. At the second stop
light you'll see a giant statue of a chef on top of the building on
the far right corner. (There's also a police box on that corner.)
Turn right onto the main street of Kappabashi and start
exploring.
Map 3.3

Tokyo Station

Store that sells KitKat -

(Shokokugotouchi plaza) The shop is located by
the stairs close to the ramen street in First Avenue
Tokyo Station.

The shop is at the end of the Ramen Street section

of the Tokyo Station.
Day 4 : March 31, 2015 Ginza, Kichijoji

Time Activity Notes

09:00 AM Visit Meguro River
- Cherry Blossom Viewing
- Meguro Station
11:00 AM Lunch at Marui () See Transportation 4.1
11:30 am 2:30 pm for lunch See Below
Zukeana Chirashi/
(1200yen) and Tokusen Located in a back alley behind
Chirashi/ (1500yen). the Matsuya Ginza Department
The Zukeana Chirashi comes store
with Anago + Tuna but all sorts
of yumminess is hidden
underneath the rice plus it even
includes a soup and all this for
only 1200yen. The Tokusan
Chirashi comes with a
whopping 16 pieces of sushi +
soup for only 1500yen and it
was quite flling
Sightseeing in Ginza
3:00 PM Take Train to Kichijoji See Transportation 4.2
Inokashira Park Inokashira Park is a 5-minute
- View Cherry Blossoms walk from Kichijoji Station on
the Chuo Line and a 1-minute
walk from Inokashira Koen
Station on the Keio Inokashira
Line.
Ghibli Museum
Walk around Kichijoji Shopping
Area
6:00 PM Early Dinner at Steakhouse See Map 4
Satou Local name:
1-1-8 Kichijojihoncho,
Musashino 180-0004 Local address:180-0004
 1-1-8
Home (Higashi-Nakano Station)
- Get bags; Check-out
Go to Shinjuku Sumitomo See Map 5
Building Willer Bus Terminal
Sleeper Bus to Osaka
Transportation 4.1
Transportation 4.2
Map 4
When you get off the train (Kichijoji), head for the North exit and
when you get out, cross the road and take the street at the 10
oclock position and walk down the alley. Walk for 5 minutes and
soon you will smell a really nice beefy aroma wafting from your
left and youre there.

There is an outdoor shopping complex and we frst entered

through here- McDonald's on the right, and a place that sells
Shiseido on the left
At this "intersection", make a LEFT to go towards the blue flags
that say "E"

At a cross-section in the "E" shopping area, look for the Satou

restaurant storefront logo (red/black) near the Daiyagai sign:
... Or look for a long line and/or the smell of beef guide you in
the right direction. It is a restaurant not worth to be missed.
Map 5
 After fnding the JR Shinjuku
Station West Exit, go straight
ahead and there will be a
rotary located. Proceed in a
clockwise direction.

Look for the Shinjuku Sumitomo BLDG at the

over head board.

Keep walking and

you will see a police
station on your right
hand.
Keep walking along
the right side of the rotary.
At the very end of the rotary, there will be an art called
The Eyes of Shinjuku located at the right side of the
passage.

Advance straight ahead.

You can fnd the sign says(Shinjuku

Central ParkTokyo Metropolitan Government)
Advancing straight ahead will lead you outside.

Go straight after you get to the outside.

You will see a (lottery shop) on your right hand.

You will see the Shinjuku Sumitomo BLDG after go through under
the highway bridge.

Climb up the stairs on your right hand, and get into the building
through the front door.

Inside the BLDG, there will be an escalator. Advancing through

out the escalator, you will see the WILLER Bus Terminal.
Please wait for our instructions in the waiting area.
Day 5 : April 1, 2015 Osaka Day
Time Activity Notes
7:30 AM Arrive at Willer Bus Terminal at See Transportation 5.1
Umeda
8:00 AM Leave bags at Osaka Namba See Maps 5.1
Washington Hotel
- take subway from Umeda Station
to Nipponbashi subway
- Check-in at Hotel; GET WIFI
Train to Sakuranomiya See Transportation 5.2
- Kema Sakuranomiya Park for
Cherry Blossom Viewing
Walk to Osaka Castle Park or take See Transportation 5.3
subway
- TANIMACHIYONCHOME Station
Osaka Castle
Head to Tenjinbashi Suji See Transportation 5.4
- TENJIMBASHISUJIROKUCHOME
Station
12:00 NN Lunch at Tenjinbashi Suji or Namba
- shopping
- Pablo Cheesecake
- Rikuro Cheesecake
Train to Namba See Transportation 5.5
Shopping @ Shinsaibashi Suji
- Train to Shinsaibashi
Walk to Dotonbori
Snack: Kukuru (Located along the main
- Bikkuri Takoyaki (this is the stretch of Dotonbori
takoyaki where the tentacles are shopping arcade, the street
out) behind the Dotonbori canal
Dotonbori Kukuru Tako-yaki near the famous Glico
running man)
Hakua building, 1F, 1-10-5, Nearest subway station:
Dotonbori, Chuo-ku Midosuji subway line Namba
station, exit 14
5:00 PM Dinner at Mizuno (Yamaimo-Yaki) See Maps 5.2
1-4-15 Dotombori, Chuo-ku, Osaka Local name:
542-0071 Local address:542-0071
1-4-15

Get the Yamaimo-yaki with

SHRIMP and SCALLOPS as
the meat

Walk around
Dotonbori/Shinsaibashi
Transportation 5.1
Transportation 5.2
Transportation 5.3
Transportation 5.4
Transportation 5.5
Map 5.1
1-1-13 Nipponbashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka prefecture 542-
0073
Map 5.2
Direction: 5 min. walk from Namba Stn. Metro Midosuji-line, 5
min. walk from Nihonbashi Stn.
Day 6 : April 2, 2015 Arashiyama, Kinkakuji

Time Activity Notes

6:00 AM Early Check-out; Leave bags at See Transportation 6.1
concierge or check-in at Shin-
Osaka
- Take subway from Nippombashi
Station to
Nishinakajimaminamigata
7:00 AM Take Train to Saga-Arashiyama See Transportation 6.2
Station
8:00 AM Arashiyama (Saga-Arashiyama
Station)
- Togetsukyo Bridge
- Tenryuji Temple
- Bamboo Grove
Take Train to Kyoto Station See Transportation 6.3
Take Bus to Kinkakuji Take the bus from Kyotoeki-
mae (in front of Kyoto
Station) to Kinkakuji-michi
(Kinkakuji road). There are
signs in English, you need
to get on bus number 101
or 205.
Visit Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion)
Take Bike from Kinkakuji See Maps 6.1
- Kyoto Cycling Tour Project
- Buy the cycling map
Lunch Lunch at Kura Sushi See Maps 6.1
4 Hirano Miyajikicho Kita-ku, Kyoto Local name:
603-8365
Local address: 603-8365
4

Visit Nijo Castle by Bike See Kyoto Cycling Map

Visit Other Temples/Back roads See Kyoto Cycling Map
6:00 PM Return Bike at Kyoto Station
Take Train from Kyoto Station to See Transportation 6.4
Dinner at Matsusaka M
Note: NEED RESERVATION!
http://matsusaka-
projects.com/english/place.php
Get the SET MEAL!!!!
Home
Transportation 6.1
Transportation 6.2
Transportation 6.3
Transportation 6.4
Map 6.1
Day 7 : April 3, 2015 Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizudera,
Nara

Time Activity Notes

5:30 AM Leave for Inari Station See Transportation 7.1
-Walk to Fushimi Inari Shrine
9:00 AM Get bike from See Map 7.1
Get Bike from Kyoto Cycling
Project (Inari Branch) Hotel
Urban Kyoto
Bike to Kiyomizudera
Other Places to reach by bike:
Gion Area
Helan-jingu Shrine
Nanzenji Temple
Philosopher's Path
Kamogawa River Promenade
1:30 PM Go back to Kyoto Station to
Return Bike
Late Lunch
Take train from Kyoto Station to See Transportation 7.2
Kintetsu Nara
Visit Kofukuji Temple See Map 7.2
Visit Todaiji Temple
Visit Nara Deer Park
Dinner/Shopping at
Namba/Shinsaibashi
Home See Transportation 7.3
Transportation 7.1
Transportation 7.2
Transportation 7.3
Map 7.1

Map 7.2
Day 8 : April 4, 2015 Osaka Last Day

Time Activity Notes

8:30 AM Last-minute Shopping before What I bought for pasalubong:
leaving Osaka 1. Baton d Or (high-end
- Pablo Cheesecake? pocky, really good flavors. My
- Rikuro Cheesecake/Apple Pie? favorites are almond crunch,
- Takashimaya Dept Store milk chocolate (not crunch),
(Strawberry Shortcake?) matcha (not crunch) and
strawberry (not crunch))

2. Pablo cheesecake, request

for the medium rare ones so
they are creamy when you
refrigerate them

3. Fruit Parlor Kajitsuen

Strawberry Shortcake
Since theres more fruit than
cream, this held up pretty well
through transportation

4. RL Waffle
These are Japanese waffle
thingies with lots of fruit and
some cream! They also have
biscuit variants if you want to
bring home some in your
luggage
Go back to hotel to get bags (15
mins)
4:00 PM Leave Hotel for Airport See Transportation 8.1
- Buy Royce Chocolates at the
airport so they dont melt. Request for ice packs when
- Return Wif you buy chocolates
Dinner at the Airport
Flight back to Manila
Transportation 8.1