We're leaving on a jet plane...

Sun, May 4: Arrive Tokyo via Narita airport (15:05); Take limo bus to arrive <Hotel>; rest of day at leisure

Mon, May 5:
AM: Tokyo Half Day Morning City Tour: Tokyo Tower, Asakusa, Imperial Palace
PM: Relaxation

Tue, May 6:
AM: Tsujiki fish market, Shibuya (shopping)
PM: Roppongi
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Wed, May 7: Take shinkansen Nozomi to Osaka (14200 YEN); arrive <Hotel>; rest of day at leisure

Thu, May 8:
AM: Umeda Sky Building - Floating Garden Observatory,
PM: Day trip to Himeji Castle (take JR Express train, stay on right side to see Mt Fuji), Dotombori

Fri, May 9:
AM:
PM: Rinku Premium Outlets (http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/en/rinku/index.php)

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Sat, May 10: Take JR Special Rapid train to Kyoto (540 YEN); arrive <Hotel>; rest of day at leisure

Sun, May 11:
AM: Kinkakuji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion), Ryoanji Temple (Zen Rock garden)
PM: Wander/shop along Kawaramichi Street

Mon, May 12: North Kyoto
AM: Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kiyomizu
PM: Gion Shirakawa (across river from Okura) (5:30pm for Geisha-spotting)

Tue, May 13: Central Kyoto
AM: Nijo Castle (Nijojo)
PM: Take JR Sagano Line (also known as JR Sanin Line) from Kyoto to visit Arashiyama

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Wed, May 14: Take shinkansen Kodami to Hakone (14200 YEN); arrive <Hotel> for Kaiseiki dinner; Relaxation (onsen)

Thu, May 15: Relaxation (onsen); walk around Hakone, look for views of Mt Fuji

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Fri, May 16: Take shinkansen to Tokyo; arrive <Hotel>; rest of day at leisure (Shinjuku maybe?)

Sat, May 17: Ueno (park), Akihabara (electronics), Odaiba

Sun, May 18:
AM: Harajuku,
PM: Shibuya (shopping)

Mon, May 19:
AM: ??
PM: Sunrise Sumo Tour

Tue, May 20: Depart Narita airport (17:00); arrive in Toronto (15:45)

So i received a few Japan travel guides i ordered from Amazon.ca the other day and i figured these pocket guides are the best to carry around (don't want to lug around a 500pg guide on places i won't be visiting in Japan..).

Also, since the May Grand Sumo Tournament is going to be held in Tokyo the same time we are there, i've booked us a tour to go watch the big boys rumble it out..that's gotta be a must-see!

Next up is to figure out our transportation to and from each city - i've looked at the JR Rail pass but due to our length of stay in Japan, the 14-day pass is way too expensive (~$600CDN). I believe if i've priced out the one-way tickets individually right, then the trip should be about $350CDN each...

Stay tuned.

Hello! This is my first entry in my first blog so bear with me while it stays pretty ugly and basic over the next while. Just testing out a few items but the main thing is that we are planning a trip Japan this May and i'm going to try and use this throughout the trip (or after depending how bad i need internet over there..).

Been doing a LOT of planning and researching here and on TripAdvisor and have received many reviews/opinions on places to do/see in Japan. Also, i've collected a few tips for us while we go to make our exploring a bit easier. (Would have been great to acknowledge the contributors but no time..) I'm going to post these here as my 'bookmark'..

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TOKYO
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-->Instead, head to the Municipal Building to the west of Shinjuku station, where you can get up high and get a view of Tokyo for no cost

-->Also to the west of Shinjuku is the Shinjuku NS building with it’s amazing 30 story atrium and the Park Hyatt hotel, which is a good place to go for some expensive drinks with a great view. It’s the same hotel featured in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation

-->Look for little trinkets as souvenirs to give instead of tipping which is not recommended

-->"rentafone" - http://rentafonejapan.com/faq.htm

-->Tokyo tourism centre - http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/info/index_info.html

-->Tokyo walks - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298184-i861-k1875824-Tokyo_Walking_Routes-Tokyo_Kanto.html

-->Local food specialties - http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/info/basic_info/basic/basic2.html

-->Onsen - http://www.japanhotelsonline.net/jho/sys/a_contents.asp?f=ryokan3.html&data=QVQ6OTA1OVE_

-->Shopping
http://www.superfuture.com/city/home/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298184-i861-k1867295-Shopping_and_Window_Shopping-Tokyo_Kanto.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298184-i861-k1866427-Shopping_hours_in_around_tokyo-Tokyo_Kanto.html

-->Other - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298184-i861-k1815381-First_timers_in_Tokyo_need_help-Tokyo_Kanto.html

-->Akihabara is the electronics town and offers free tours on certain days: - http://akihabara-tour.com/en/

-->Department store in Shinjuku include: (for authentic food stalls) Odakyu Keio Takashimaya Isetan

-->Harajuku/ Omotesando: Shopping from hip brands to luxury. Thousands of you Japanese teens walking around. Just walk around and look.

-->Shibuya (Sunday morning): the heart of Japanese pop culture

-->Shinjuku and Kabukicho: major department stores, entertaiment district with virutally thousands of bars and clubs

-->Ginza: Luxury shopping mile

-->Ueno: Ueno park and National Museum (must see)

-->Roppongi: Mori Art Museum (depends on the exhibition schedule), fantastic view on Tokyo. Super new department store "Tokyo Midtown" (not in the travel guides yet).

-->Other highly recommded museums: MOT Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.

-->Meji Shrine

-->For something different: Odaiba: a new (through land reclamation), quite futuristic district

-->New hip districts: Naka-Meguro, Daikanyama

-->Very old fashioned: Asakusa, with Tokyo's most famous buddhist temple: Senso-ji.

-->Oknomiyaki (which is called Japanese pizza, but it is no Pizza at all)

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OSAKA
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-->"Floating Garden Observatory" in Osaka. It is a tall building that has a cool observatory at the top in which you get to by taking a clear escalator.

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KYOTO
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-->Himeji castle - from Last Samurai movie

-->Nara

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HAKONE
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--> Ryokan with Kaiseiki dinner

--> Onsen