I planned my first itinerary for Japan last December and received some help from you guys so decided to share my thoughts and itinerary for anybody interested. I recall being unable to find an itinerary that had similar interests to mine so ended up doing mine from scratch.

Who is this for?

• young and fit individuals who do not mind a fast pace holiday (my wife and I registered minimally 20k steps a day)
• nature lovers
• cultural/architectural lovers
• theme park lovers

Day 1 (Tokyo):

• arrival at Narita airport in the early afternoon (Japan has a similar timezone to my home country so we set off touring right away!)
• Sumida Aquarium. A small nice aquarium with fur seals as the main highlight for me. Nice that it closes decently late as around 8pm iirc as most places in Japan closes by 5pm in winter.
• Tokyo Skytree. Great view around Tokyo and right next to the aquarium.

Day 2 (Tokyo):

• Tokyo Disneyland. Big thunder mountain, splash mountain, haunted mansion and beauty and the beast are the must rides for us. The rest of the rides are pretty tame and kiddy so not really for adults.

Day 3 (Tokyo):

• Tokyo Disneysea. Tower of terror, Soaring fantastic flight, Journey to the centre of the Earth, Indiana Jones, Peter Pan, Frozen were more memorable for us. More adventurous rides than Disneyland for sure but still pretty kiddish.

Day 4 (Tokyo, Fuji 5 Lakes):

• Booked a klook day trip to Fuji 5 lakes from Tokyo. Only possible way for us to see as much as we could without hiring/renting private transport.
• Lake Yamanakako Pleasure Boat. Took a small sightseeing boat cruise around the lake. Got to feed a huge flock of swans and ducks and saw a great view of Mount Fuji.
• Oshino Hakkai. Great place for Japanese street food. Mochi was delicious and the stream running by the town had really clear water.
• Oishi Park. Boring. Skip.
• Lake Kawaguchi. Had a great view of Mount Fuji again. Really windy which made it cold.
• Arakurayam Sengen Park. Climbed over 350 steps up to the peak for another good view of Mount Fuji. Has a pagoda and shrine at the top but nothing near as fanciful as the ones you get to see in Kyoto.

Day 5 (Tokyo, Nikko):

• Booked a klook day trip to Nikko from Tokyo. Again, a day trip was more convenient for us and allowed us to see more stuffs!
• Nikko Toshogu. Very very nice architecture and museum with artifacts from the Tokugawa clan. Fans of the Sengoku Jidai or Shogun drama series should come.
• Akechidaira Ropeway Observation Deck. Absolutely stunning view after a peaceful ride up to the top via the ropeway car.
• Lake Chuzenji. Deceptively cold but great view of the lake.
• HANDS Shinjuku store. After returning to Tokyo, we went here to purchase woodworks and handicrafts. Really good variety.

Day 6 (Tokyo, Yokohama):

• Rikugien Gardens. Absolute MUST GO for nature lovers. Such a beautiful and quiet garden. Not many tourists and just really peaceful. I went early in the morning just when it opened. Beautiful foliage even in early December.
• Zoorasia. From my research, this came up as one of the more highly rated zoos around Tokyo and it did not disappoint. Highlights for me were the fur seal, snowy owl, okapi and red panda enclosures.
• Not so much of a foody especially since food in Japan is just so good anywhere anyway but I tried Puffer fish at Yokohama Vivre. My life flashed before my eyes as I tried it but it was really good.

Day 7 (Nagano):

• Made the trip up to Nagano early in the morning and checked into our Ryokan by late morning before making our way down to Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. Amazing peaceful trek up the mountain to reach the hot springs where the snow monkeys bathe in winter. Easily a hundred monekys at least. But the monkeys are pretty used to human presence and just ignored us. Not too many tourists. Had wonderful pictures here. Pretty cold and snowy all around. Enza Cafe near the entrance serves delicious food. Ryokan dinner was fantastic at Omadaka Inn iirc.

Day 8 (Matsumoto):

• Checked out of our Ryokan and made our way down to Matsumoto Castle. A really awe inspiring exterior with well preserved interior kept in its original condition. A must go for castle lovers.
• Togakushi Shrine. We had to take a taxi up (really expensive) otherwise, we wouldnt be able to get there in time for our itinerary to work. The slopes of the mountain was covered in snow and ice and we didnt pack snow spikes so we had to walk really slowly. We came down some sections of the trek by sliding on our butts because of how slippery it was. A beautiful scenic view all around though so well worth the effort. The cedar trees are particularly impressive.
• Travelled to Kyoto by evening.

Day 9 (Kyoto):

• Booked a Klook day trip for our Temple Run of Kyoto lol. Otherwise, I think its not possible to get to all the main temples of Kyoto in a day.
• Kiyomizu-dera. Well worth the trip! Very beautiful views of the city and nice architecture.
• Sanjusangendo temple. Not my cup of tea. Really boring and would have skipped it if I had the choice.
• Arashiyama bamboo forest. Beautiful bamboo groves. Worth it!
• Tenryu-ji. Nice garden/landscape but skipable.
• Fushimi Inari Taisha. Just like what you see on google. Too crowded. I tried running up to the peak since I was running out of time which is a typical problem if you do day trips. Not worth my effort. The view at the top was pretty blocked and there was lots of trash by the mountainside. Eyesore.
• Kinkaku-ji. Nice golden pagoda as you see from google pics. More impressive in person. Worth the trip.

Day 10 (Iga, Nara, Osaka):

• I know. This itinerary is crazy. But I really wanted to go see the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum and Iga is known for its Ninjas. Also popped by Iga Ueno Castle. Nice guided tour through the ninja museum but on hindsight, perhaps I could have skipped Iga altogether. Not really worth the trip down overall. Nice bakery by the train station though.
• Nara Park. Really wanted to feed deers and I got my wish. They really like headbutting my behind though.
• Dotonbori. Travelled to Osaka and arrived by dinner time. Wife wanted to go Dotonbori. Had loads of food. Worth it if you are a foodie.

Day 11 (Osaka):

• Universal Studios Japan. By far the best suited for adults. Very thrilling rides all around. Sadly, (and learn from my experience) we were pretty sick of theme parks by now and spent much of our time sitting around by afternoon.

Day 12 (Osaka, Hakone):

• Osaka aquarium. My goodness me. Best aquarium I have been to. The whale sharks, sea lions, king penguins and dolphins were the highlights for us.
• Travelled to Hakone to sleep.

Day 13 (Hakone):

• Hakone Ropeway Owakudani, Hakone Pirate Ship Togendai Port. Took a scenic ropeway ride up the volcano for great views. Took a boatride around the lake for more good views. Well worth the time. Very chilly though! Windiest place so far this trip.

Day 14 (Tokyo):

• Ueno park. Took a slow walk through the park and saw amazing foliage even in mid December. Even got to see Cherry Blossoms (I kid you not). It was just 1 tree though.
• Flight back home.

Reflection:

• I wished that I had stayed longer in the ryokan and spent more time in Nagano, Matsumoto for sure. It was pretty quiet and peaceful with not much tourist traffic and in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
• I should have spent more time in Hakone too. Really nice little town and so much to see that I didnt really had time for.