Otaku Tour: Anime, Manga, Ninja & Food - Cherry Blossoms

Day 1

Arrive in Tokyo

Welcome to Japan! Check-in your hotel in central Tokyo on your own. The rest of the day is free for leisure. Meet your tour guide and group in the morning the next day.

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ikebukuro Higashiguchi or similar class

NOTE 1: If you wish to stay extra nights before the tour starts, please contact us to book hotel accommodations.

Day 2

Tokyo (Asakusa Sensoji Temple & Nakamise District / Akihabara Anime District - Conveyor Belt Sushi - Anime Stores - Anime Cafes {Optional} - Maid Cafés {Optional})

In the morning, we travel via public transportation to otaku hotspots in Tokyo, starting with Asakusa Kannon Temple, in Tokyo’s Asakusa district. Enter by way of the Kaminarimon “Thunder Gate”, underneath an enormous red paper lantern. Don’t forget to look up to see the dragon sculpture under the lantern! Walk through the Nakamise Market – a street lined with shops selling traditional goods of all kinds, before approaching Sensoji Temple. Take some time to explore Tokyo’s oldest temple and shrine complex. Next, head to Akihabara Electric Town, which beckons to anime and manga fans from all over the world to come enjoy the colorful characters and flashy displays in the stores and arcades lining its streets. Begin with a lunch at a Conveyor Belt Sushi restaurant, where fresh plates of sushi roll past your table and you can take and eat what you want. Then you will have the opportunity to shop among the various anime and otaku shops to find merchandise related to your favorite anime or maybe that figurine to round out your collection.

Optional (costs are not included) - Visit a cafe that celebrates Akihabara's anime culture, with cool or kawaii decor and food or drinks designed after popular anime characters. Some cafes are themed to a particular anime, such as the Gundam Cafe. Akihabara also has the best maid cafes around, so you have the option to experience an otaku subculture where you will be served kawaii food and drink by a cute maid in a cafe.

Breakfast / Lunch

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ikebukuro Higashiguchi or similar class

Day 3

Tokyo (Ikebukuro - Ramen Tour {Lunch on own} - Sunshine District - Otome Road - Animate Ikebukuro - Sunshine City - Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo / Shinjuku - Pachinko - Kabukicho & Golden Gai Food Tour {Dinner on own})

Today, enjoy a leisurely morning and a late 11 AM start time, when we begin a tour of the Ikebukuro and Shinjuku areas using public transportation. Enjoy a Ramen Tour of Ikebukuro where your guide will show you the best, tastiest ramen spots in town, after which you are free to choose the ramen lunch that you find most appetizing. Next, walk down the famous "Otome Road", which is a must-visit anime hub catering specially to female otakus and anime fans, and is the best place to find popular shoujo manga and animes. Nearby is the Animate Ikebukuro store - one of the largest anime, manga, and otaku stores in Tokyo, which is a premier location to find your favorite anime merchandise. We'll go from there to Sunshine City entertainment complex – featuring department stores, an aquarium, museum, planetarium, indoor theme parks, and more. Pokémon otakus will enjoy the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo store, which is an excellent place to find not only Pokémon cards and games, but Pikachu plushies as well. Finally, we travel to Shinjuku, first to try our luck at Pachinko, a form of legal, low-stakes gambling on a machine that plays like a mix between a colorful arcade pinball machine and a modern slot machine. After, take a Food Tour of Kabukicho and Golden Gai, a red-light district that is the center of the Tokyo nightlife scene with its collection of old fashioned izakaya restaurants. Here, also, your guide will show you the very best izakayas in the area, after which you will be free to find the dinner that appeals to you the most.

Breakfast

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ikebukuro Higashiguchi or similar class

Day 4

Tokyo (Tsukiji Outer Market / Imperial Palace East Garden / Nakano Broadway / Harajuku - Takeshita District & Omotesando / Shibuya - Shibuya Crossing & Hachiko Statue)

After breakfast, make your way to the Tsukiji Outer Market, filled with shops and restaurants where you can try fresh produce and other food-related goods. Then visit the Imperial Palace East Garden, where the ruins of old Edo castle sit near a pristine Japanese landscape garden. We proceed from there to Nakano Broadway, where you will be able to explore the different anime and otaku shops such as Mandarake. Next, visit the fashion district of Harajuku, where Takeshita District and Omotesando beckon to visitors to shop in their trendy stores. Then we make our way to Shibuya to see hundreds of people cross the famous Shibuya "Scramble Crossing", and then see the statue of the loyal dog Hachiko, which is celebrated in various animes as a popular couples meeting spot.. In the afternoon, transfer to Hakone to check in at the hotel and enjoy a relaxing evening including dinner and the local onsen hot spring.

Breakfast / Dinner

Itoen Hotel Hakone Yumoto or similar class

Notes: We will courier your big baggage from Tokyo to your hotel in Nagoya (Included for up to one piece of baggage per person). Please pack your essentials for 1 night in a small bag to carry with you to Hakone.

Day 5

Hakone (Lake Ashi Cruise - Pirate Ship / Hakone Ropeway / Owakudani / Evangelion Store), Shinkansen Bullet Train to Nagoya.

Today, visit Hakone, a part of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which is known for its breathtaking natural beauty. Also, fans of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime will recognize it as the location of Tokyo-3. Take a cruise of Lake Ashi on a replica Pirate Ship and appreciate Hakone's idyllic landscape, which includes the vermillion red gate of Hakone Shrine, and even iconic Mount Fuji, if the weather is clear. Next, ride the scenic Hakone Ropeway in an airborne to Owakudani, where visitors will have the chance to see hot springs and sulfurous fumes along the trails of an active volcanic zone. Then visit the Hakone Yamato Evangelion Store, where you will find various souvenirs commemorating Neon Genesis Evangelion. From there, we take a speedy Shinkansen bullet train to the hotel in Nagoya, where we check in for a relaxing evening.

Breakfast / Lunch

Hotel Sunroute Plaza Nagoya or similar class

Day 6

Nagoya (Free for leisure)
Visit the Ghibli Park on your own - we can help you purchase the tickets in advance but Not Guaranteed.
Or join your guide for a food and anime store-hopping tour in Sakae and Osu area.

Today, you are free for leisure to explore Nagoya on your own, but we also offer two optional day itineraries that are available for you to choose. The first is a day on your own at the new Ghibli Park, where you can explore one or more of its three areas: the Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest, and Ghibli Grand Warehouse (each ticketed separately). AJT is able to help you purchase tickets, though obtaining them is not guaranteed due to Ghibli Park's guest capacity limits. As an alternative, you can join your guide on a special walking tour that is part foodie tour / part anime store- hopping tour, in the Sakae and Osu areas. Sakae is Nagoya's downtown district; a center for shopaholics of any stripe, with a broad variety of dining and entertainment options. While there, we will visit top local anime stores, beginning with the Shonen Jump Store, which sells goods from the manga comics featured in the popular Shonen Jump magazine, such as One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Demon Slayer. At Pokémon Center Nagoya, you can find merchandise connected to the Pokémon franchise, including cute plushies of Pikachu, Eevee, and other popular Pokémon. In Village Vanguard, you'll find (in addition to books) a broad array of odd, eccentric items including novelty pillows plush backpacks, nifty character keychains, and much more. And the Nagoya Book Off is the best place to find Japanese manga for super-low prices.
After exploring Sakae, we stroll down to the Osu Shopping Street, which is a massive set of shopping arcades near Nagoya station, including Mandarake, Super Potato, Jungle Nagoya, Gee! Store Nagoya, and Capsule House. Mandarake sells otaku goods including manga and old- fashioned 80s-style figurines. Super Potato is devoted almost exclusively to Nintendo-related merchandise. Jungle Nagoya is the perfect place to find the figurines to round out your collection. Gee! Store Nagoya sells a broad variety of otaku goods, including a section devoted to cosplay outfits. And Capsule House is stacked wall-to-wall with "gacha" capsule machines, where you'll find an impressive array of cute oddities.

Breakfast

Hotel Sunroute Plaza Nagoya or similar class

Day 7

Iga Ueno (Iga Ninja Museum), Kyoto (Kiyomizu Temple / Kimono Experience / Gion Geisha District)

After breakfast, You will travel to the Ninja Museum of Iga Ueno. This consists of a ninja residence, two exhibition halls and a stage which hosts ninja shows. The ninja residence looks ordinary from the outside, but the rooms within it have been devised with revolving walls, trap doors and hidden compartments. Then we will visit the famous Kiyomizu Temple, best known for its wooden stage that juts out 13 meters above the hillside below. The stage affords visitors a nice view of the grove of trees below that erupt in a sea of color in spring and fall, as well as of the beautiful city of Kyoto in the distance. Then experience wearing the traditional clothing of Japan, Kimono, which are still widely popular to wear for important and formal events. It is also common to don the Kimono when visiting Kyoto to further enjoy the traditional atmosphere of the city. We will end our day in the Gion Geisha District, where its streets are lined with ochaya (teahouses), exclusive establishments where guests are entertained by the mysterious Geisha and Maiko.

Breakfast / Lunch

Hotel Keihan Kyoto Hachijyoguchi or similar class

Day 8

Kyoto (Kosanji Temple / Arashiyama Bamboo Grove / Golden Pavilion / Fushimi Inari Shrine / Fushimi Sake District - Sake Tasting)

After breakfast, we will visit Kosanji Temple, a Shingon Buddhist Temple that is home to the Choju-jinbutsu-giga, also known as "Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Humans", which is considered the oldest manga in Japan. Next, we visit the Arashiyama district, and walk a path through the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a densely packed forest of towering bamboo stalks. Then we will visit the Golden Pavilion, an iconic Zen Buddhist temple built by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The upper stories of the temple are covered entirely in gold, and topped with a shimmering gold phoenix. The tour will continue to the picturesque Fushimi Inari Shrine, known for its long tunnel of vermillion torii gates, which were featured in the film "Memoirs of a Geisha". From there, we head to the Fushimi Inari Sake District, which has been one of Japan’s preeminent sake- producing districts for hundreds of years. The district is home to rows of old-fashioned buildings housing over 40 traditional sake breweries, which use the clear spring waters flowing underground to produce their premium products. Many of these breweries offer limited sake- tasting opportunities for visiting guests eager to try the delicious local brews.

Breakfast / Lunch

Hotel Keihan Kyoto Hachijyoguchi or similar class

Day 9

Osaka (Osaka Castle / Kuromon Market / Shinsekai Street Food Tour {2 street foods & 1 dessert included} / Nipponbashi Den Den Town / Dotonbori)

Today we travel from Kyoto to Osaka, at first to tour magnificent Osaka Castle, built by the legendary samurai warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It is one of Japan's most iconic castles and is considered a National Treasure. Next, we go to Kuromon Market to experience Osaka’s food culture. Osaka is known as the city of “Kuidaore” or “to eat until you drop”, and you will be able to stroll Kumaon’s covered outdoor shopping arcade and sample the fresh and delicious seafood delicacies, produce, and sweets throughout the vibrant market area. Then we take a Food Tour of Shinsekai, or "New World", a nostalgic shopping district inspired by the Western cities Paris and New York, and features Tsutenkaku Tower. Sample some of the delectable street foods of the area. Then we visit Nipponbashi Den Den Town, the Akihabara of Osaka, where anime fans can find excellent manga and anime merchandise within colorful shops. Finally, we visit the colorful, neon-lit entertainment district of Dotonbori. This area is popularly known for being the heart of the city's food culture, filled with numerous restaurants and eye- catching billboards, including the world-famous Glico "Running Man".

Breakfast

Ibis Osaka Umeda Hotel or similar class

Day 10

Tour Ends

After breakfast, our tour officially ends. Your guide will be available to offer assistance and advice for your journey to the airport or onward travel in Japan.

Breakfast

NOTE 2: If you would like to stay longer in Japan, please contact us to book hotel accommodations.