11 Days ofTravel itinerary reference:Tokyo Tower,Sensoji Temple,Kawaramachi,Arashiyama

Write in front] My friend is a Japanese animation and game enthusiast, and I am a photography enthusiast. Both of us have a general interest in Japanese history and culture. This itinerary contains some last-minute ideas, so the arrangement is not completely reasonable. The tips are based on my own experience and are for reference only. See my previous notes for more photos.

[Total personal expenditure: 11,000]
Day 1 [Tokyo] Delayed + lost, I had dinner in Ikebukuro and did nothing.

Day 2 [Tokyo] I went near Tokyo Tower. There were too many people queuing for the stairs and there was a notice not allowed to take pictures. I walked around casually and then went to the National Museum of Western Art and had dinner near Akihabara. In the afternoon Went to the Sumida Hokusai Museum of Art. The exhibition hall is not big and photography is not allowed. We walked out quickly, then went shopping in Shibuya. In the evening, we went to the 38th floor of Ebisu (free, few people, no reservation required) to take pictures of the night view of Tokyo Tower ( Tokyo Tower has different lights on different days, you can search tokyo tower light up).

day3 [Tokyo] I didn’t want to get up early, so I arrived at Sensoji Temple around eight o’clock. There were already many people but not many shops were open. Then I went to Ginza to see the Goldfish Exhibition for an hour, and then went to Roppongi to see the Monster Hunter Exhibition. My friend wanted to go there, but I had no interest in it, so I lined up for a themed restaurant outside (it took an hour), and then went shopping around Ikebukuro in the afternoon.

day4【Tokyo → Kyoto】Go to Kyoto, Kawaramachi + Kamogawa (the essence of Kamogawa is at Shijo Bridge). There will be people singing in Kamogawa at night, and the breeze is very pleasant, but if you are here to check in, you don’t need to come.

day 5 [Kyoto] Went to Arashiyama in the morning and visited the Bamboo Forest, Yusai Pavilion and the Zhou Enlai Memorial Poetry Monument. In the afternoon we went to Taiqin Film Village, and then went to Hanamikoji (be careful not to take pictures!) to eat sukiyaki and go to the construction site. Jindera took a look (it was under repair) and went to Yasaka Shrine at night (Yasaka is lit up at night, which looks better than during the day).
day6 [Kyoto] Went to 23-Zaka at 7 o'clock (a classic camera position where you can take pictures of no one), and walked out of Kiyomizudera Temple at 9 o'clock. At this time, the shops just opened. After wandering around for a while, we headed to Kinkakuji Temple and Nanzenji Temple.

day7 [Kyoto→Osaka] Arrive at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine at 7:45, wait until you can take a photo of the deserted Senbon Torii Gate, and walk out at about 8:45 (I have seen other people’s experience before that there is nothing on the top of the mountain. No need to keep climbing). Then go to Osaka, and go to Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori areas in the evening.

day8【Osaka】Go to Aquarium Kaiyukan in the morning (the tickets for the backstage view on the 8th floor are quite worth it, although photos are not allowed), and go to Osaka Castle Park in the afternoon (there is a place in the food street in the park where you can turn out super cute Northern Long-tailed Tit Gacha! ). If you want to take pictures of the sunset, go at least an hour in advance.

day9 [Osaka] I slept all morning, went shopping in Umeda in the afternoon, and went to Shinsaibashi in the evening.

day10 [Nara] I set off from Namba to Nara, and my friend was shopping in Osaka. In Nara, we visited Nara Park, Kasuga Taisha Shrine and Mt. Wakakusa. Kasuga Taisha Shrine is the most recommended. We will leave for Nara at about nine o'clock and return to the hotel at three o'clock in the afternoon, so if you are tight on time and just want to see the deer, you can do a half-day Tour.

day11【Osaka】Pack your luggage and go from Nankai Namba Station to Kansai Airport and go home. I heard that railways are prone to delays due to personal accidents + Kansai Airport has to check in at least 2.5 hours in advance, so we arrived quite early.

【tips】
Mount Fuji is bald in summer, so don’t miss it.

Just add suica to Apple phones to solve most of the traffic problems. Android is more complicated, and Xiaohongshu has tutorials. There are no tickets that need to be purchased in advance for this Trip.

Just use Google Maps for navigation. Note that sometimes there are express trains and they do not stop at every station (it will be written on the bus and at the station). Transfers at the same station sometimes require exiting the station, probably because they are operated by different companies. Just get off at the station and read the Chinese characters.

kuli kuli photo translation is easier to use than Google Translate in Japan, but it is limited to two times a day without membership, so you don’t need to open it if you save on using it. tenki.jp is quite accurate in forecasting the weather in Japan. I heard that VoiceTra is very useful, but I haven't actually used it. I can basically cope with it by speaking English.

To flush the toilet, just press the small/large/flow button or the sensor. Be careful not to press the emergency button!

If you need someone to make way, just say Private Marseille.

Get off at the back of the bus and get on at the front door. You need to swipe your card when getting off the bus in Kyoto, and you need to swipe it when getting on or off the bus in Nara. You have to press the bell when you get off the bus, otherwise you will not stop.

WeChat and Alipay are accepted in most places. If not, UnionPay and visa are also supported. There are not many places where you can only pay in cash. The places where individuals use the most cash are washing machines, dryers and gashapon machines. They all require 100 yuan coins, so remember to prepare a coin purse.

Basically no reservation is required for attractions. The attraction on this trip was reserved for Yuzhai Pavilion (if the Monster Hunter Exhibition is not included in the attraction), but there were not many people, and others said that you can enter without making a reservation. I remember that Shibuya Sky requires reservations for popular attractions, but if you just want to take photos of Tokyo Tower, I think Ebisu is completely satisfactory.

Only the most popular restaurants require reservations. Most of them can be entered directly without any problem.

The two-hole plug is the same as in China, but the three-hole plug is different.

Try not to buy boxed drinks! There are no trash cans to be found on the road, and it’s really troublesome to drink without being able to put it in your bag.

About the camera: I have a lot of memory cards, but in fact the 64G one I put in my camera was not used up even when I took some videos. Only one battery was brought. (But if you go in winter, the power may drop out faster)

[About the hotel]
Hotel Route Inn Tokyo Ikebukuro is booked in Tokyo, Mystays Kyoto Shijo Hotel is booked in Kyoto, and Hiyori Hotel Osaka Namba Station is booked in Osaka. All three are okay.