Planning trip to Tokyo & Kyoto Japan

I'm planning a trip to Japan in july. I will stay in Tokyo and Kyoto.

First 6 or 7 days I will stay in Tokyo. And planed the following day trips;
-Nikko
-Fuij
-Kamakura
-Disneyland

Thinking of booking a hotel in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. All ready fount a nice hotel.

En the travel to Kyoto for a stay of 5 or 6 days. And planned the following day trips;
-Hiroshima
-Nara
-Takayama

and the last day we will stay in Tokyo

Also looking at a rail pass that suites for this trip. Also I will print some maps from the location we want to travel to. I heard that street names hard to read/find. Also will store these maps on the iPad & iPhone

Does any one have some practical tips for planning this trip and for on location.
Nice walking routes through one of these locations ?

Please do not make this a photo show off topic. I'm not searching for tips how to make photos

many thanks for your help and input

I removed the information I posted because it appears that in attempting to help I offended Superdaantje....

I used to work there, primarily in Tsukaba but would have to go to Tokoyo often for meetings. It's a great city, very friendly people. Be sure to visit the Imperial Palace, I used to enjoy spending long hours in the gardens around it, they are so peaceful you won't know you're in a big city. Those lenses should do fine and cover everything. If you drink coffee, bring some instant. All the hotel rooms have tea pots that heat water, and you can make your own coffee. It's a very exciting city.

JR Rail pass - highly recommended for your itinerary; you need to buy this before you set foot in Japan. Don't need to bother with the "Green" pass, we had no problems using the "Ordinary": http://www.japanrailpa​ss.net/eng/en003.html. Most of the places you listed, should be accessible with the JR system but you should check the maps to see how much you'll be able to get out of the pass. I can help you with specifics if you want.

At Kyoto station when you get off the train, on the ground floor I think it was, there is a visitor's office with guides who speak english, and you can obtain excellent walking maps of Kyoto (all for free). In Tokyo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku had a visitor's office as well with walking maps of many popular areas in Tokyo. Plus you can go up to the observation deck to get a panoramic view of Tokyo (all free!!)

If time permits, I might also suggest adding a day trip to Hakone to your itinerary - it was a really fun daytrip for my family.

If you're interested, I wrote about my last trip to Japan on my blog -there might be some useful information in there for you.

in the summer there are also lots of traditional festivals - see if you can find one coinciding with your stay there, great opportunities for photos!

have fun!

@ rick_reno & nihsahs many thanks for your tips

nihsahs I will read the blog

I will take a look at Hakone. Maybe it fits in our schedule.

@ RPCrowe sorry I really do not understand your post and why you post the photos of China. Can you please remove the photos. Many thanks

Superdaantje wrote:
=Superdaantje;13699027
@ RPCrowe sorry I really do not understand your post and why you post the photos. Can you please remove the photos. Many thanks

He gave you practical tips & showed a shooting style. Why is that a problem?

I asked only for tips for planning a trip not how to take photos
These photos have noting to do with Japan. But China.


@ nihsahs thanks for the link to your blog.

Check Jeffrey Friedl's blog, or send him a mail: http://regex.info/blog​/

@ René Damkot many thanks for the link. Going to read it tomorrow .

Kamakura: is a tourist site, so there are plenty of maps telling you where all the temples are. It will be simple.

Nikko: Never been, but I assume the same.

Fuji: Where exactly are you going? Up the mountain? I've climbed it once but went by car, then bus halfway up.

Disneyland: Go on a non-holiday weekday. Thank me later. I personally don't find this site very appealing w/o family, but that's me.

What types of photos are you looking to take while in Tokyo? There are temples/shrines all over the place (especially Asakasuka -- [protip: don't confuse it with Akasaka] ), as well as crazy urban life, parks, and neon. I personally find Asakusa to be too far out. It isn't too far from Ueno or Akihabara, but that's about it. You're looking at several more stops to get to Ginza which is worth going to at least once, and it is completely on the opposite side of town from Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, etc. If you're not afraid of the train though, no big deal.

As for how to travel the city: find a rental data plan... and that's going to be REALLY hard to do in Japan so I would highly suggest getting something where international digital roaming doesn't rake you over the coals in your home country. That might be a problem as well. There are almost zero straight roads in Tokyo. You *WILL* get lost. Best thing to do is just embrace it. If you're in the metropolitan area, you will be hard pressed to be more than a 30 minute walk from *a* station, and it's probably more like 20. Maybe learn a few survival phrases, and don't be afraid to try to figure out the train map.

Many thanks for your tips. I have booked an hotel in Asakasuka. Tokyo Inn.

We are not afraid for traveling in big city's. Last year I traveled through China, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Hong Kong. And I'm are not in a hurry so I'm taking myr time for sight seeing.

I wil take my I phone with me for gps and my iPad with maps stored from Google (in English and Japanese). To ask directions.

We want to see the Japanese culture. Like old neighborhoods /cities / villages. Photos I want to make Landscape, Portraits en streets shots in old neighborhoods.

for Fuji we still thinking what to do. Tips are welcome
About Disneyland. This is the only disneyland park in the world I did not visit. So there for I planed a visit

Okay -- sounds like you'll do fine. So far your itenary is great. I would say Kamakura is the most important "just out of Tokyo" day. If you want to see "old neighborhoods" and whatnot, I'm afraid you'll find very little appealing to you in the city. The fact is, Japanese culture these days involves tearing down and building up more than it does preserving. Most everything was rebuilt after the war, and the mindset is "newer is better" around here. Kamakura though has HEAPS of these things, as does Kyoto. Looking at all your stops, I would say most of those places should serve as traditional spots, while for Tokyo you should concentrate on the modern edge. That really is how life is around here.

Some other stops:

Shinjuku: Great at night. This is the epitome of Tokyo, with blinding neon everywhere. Shinjuku Gyoen is the local park. It costs 200 yen to enter, but is well kept and is beautiful. Has a Japanese garden as well as a rose garden. Unlike most Japanese parks, they do not allow drinking, smoking, or sports.

Ginza: Shopping district. Similar to above, but a fraction of the size.

Shibuya: Young shopping district. This has "Scramble Intersection" which is famous for hundreds of people crossing at one time.

Harajuku: Even younger than Shibuya. This is where all the girls buy their ridiculous outfits. Personally it's a little too touristy, but oh, well. Meiji shrine is here which is definitely worth visiting. It is quite impressive. On Sunday afternoon, the Rockabillies will be dancing at the entrance of Yoyogi Park right right around the corner. Definitely worth seeing.

Akihabara: Electronics district. Back before the yen was crazy strong you could probably have bought loads of gear here cheaper than anywhere else!

Ueno: Little bit of everything. Very nice park.

Shimokitazawa: Hipster part of town.

Roppongi: Observation deck on Roppongi Hills. 2000 yen admittance (blech) and you will be very disappointed to know they do NOT allow tripods, as don't most places. You can get a panorama of the city here, including the Shinjuku skyline, but you will have to do it handheld.

Ikebukuro: Similar part of town to Shinjuku/Shibuya. Has "Sunshine 60" which has an indoor observation deck. Again, no tripods, but you can get some good shots through the glass.

There are many places I'm missing, I'm sure. Perhaps other people can chime in. I personally like to go to smaller parts of town I'm not familiar with and walk around. If you're not afraid to do that, there's probably 10-20 more spots you could do that, some of which are connected.

Depending on when you are here, there is likely to be some type of Festival going on -- or many. Possibly fireworks show. Be sure to check www.metroplis.co.jp for information in English of what's going on!

Good Morning - I have lived here for more than 20 years. Your itinerary looks quite good. Kamakura is a great day trip from Tokyo. Try to go on a good weather day. Fuji is not such an easy day trip and can be complicated. Maybe a package day trip would be best, arranged by your hotel. Google Skytree. Open this spring. Might appeal to you and it is located near (walking distance) from Asakusa. For Kyoto, consider hiring a car (taxi) with a English speaking guide driver. You can go where you want, when you want, park close to the sites and linger as long as you like. Also, you can learn much as well. I love Kyoto. You can see my Japan galleries at.
http://kamogawa.smugmu​g.com/
I am not showing off or giving tip on how to take photos which you seem a bit uptight about but you can see what has interested me here. If you don't want to look, don't access the site.
Cheers,
John

@ kiss-o-matic many thanks for your great tips. Really appreciate your tips !

@ john-in-japan you also thanks for your tips. We want to travel with public transport and plan our day tips our self. So a private driver or organized day trips are not our first choice.

Yes I looked at your gallery and it gave me an nice impression what I can expect in Japan. I also looked at some groups on flickr to get an impression of the places we want to visit. So I know what gear to bring with me.

You can spend every waking moment shooting here. It really is a photogenic city, and a very condensed one.

Some other places you might want to try:
Imperial Palace. This is pretty disappointing actually, as you can't get very close. You can take pictures of the surrounding wall/moat. It has extremely well kept grounds though, and the trees out there are pretty cool.

While in Kamakura, don't forget the beach is very close.

Yasukuni Shrine -- the very "contraversial" shrine. Google it if you're not familiar. You will get a lot of hits. This is not too far from the Imperial Palace, so you could easily pop in a cab, or just take the train. I think it's one stop away.

Shimokitazawa is a place not on many tourist/photography maps as it's kind of a hipster part of town. It is one that has escaped the Japanese need of renovation, so it has a lot of charm. It is not a sprawling district like Ginza though, more like a small neighborhood. As such, you'll need a wide angle lens if you decide to go there.

If I have any more brainstorms, I will put them up here.