JJapan Trips

NEW PLACES december 2025, secret places, must to do!

  • September 27, 2025

Hi everyone 😊

This December I’ll be traveling to Japan with my partner, and I already have the first part of the itinerary planned, though I still need to organize many of the following days in detail.

👉 Provisional itinerary so far:

Dec 11 – Tokyo (Day 1)

  • Arrival Haneda 09:05
  • Easy day: explore Shinjuku (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatory –), evening Shibuya Blue Cave light

Dec 12 – Tokyo (Day 2)

  • Morning: Asakusa (Sensō-ji + Nakamise street)
  • Afternoon: Tokyo Skytree or Solamachi shopping
  • Evening: Marunouchi Illumination (golden trees)

Dec 13 – Tokyo (Day 3)

  • Tokyo Midtown Christmas lights

Dec 14–23 – Following days (provisional)

  • Dec 14: Tokyo (flexible / optional Mt. Fuji day trip)
  • Dec 15: Tokyo → Kyoto (Shinkansen morning ~2.5h). Afternoon: Gion or Philosopher’s Path
  • Dec 16: Kyoto – Morning: Uji (tea, Byodoin Temple). Afternoon: Kurama & Kibune (traditional villages and onsen)
  • Dec 17: Kyoto – Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, Nishiki Market. Optional: Arashiyama
  • Dec 18: Kyoto → Osaka (train 30–45 min). Evening: Dotonbori
  • Dec 19: Osaka – Optional day trip to Nara (Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha, Deer Park)
  • Dec 20: Osaka – Relaxed day: Osaka Castle, Umeda Sky Building, Shinsekai, Spa World, shopping
  • Dec 21: Osaka → Tokyo (Shinkansen ~2.5–3h). Optional stop in Hakone for onsen
  • Dec 22: Tokyo – Final full day: shopping (Ginza or Ikebukuro), parks, revisit favorites, pack bags
  • Dec 23: Depart Tokyo Haneda 10:45

🎢 About DisneySea:
I love Disney and really enjoyed Disneyland Paris, but I don’t like strong thrill rides. I’ve read that Tokyo Disney can be very stressful and crowded. Do you think it’s still worth visiting if I’m mainly interested in shows, parades, atmosphere, and decorations? Or Disney Sea?

Also We had booked one night in Hiroshima, but now I’m not sure if it’s worth going all the way there in December since Miyajima might be less enjoyable in the cold.

💡 I’d also love to hear about special or romantic experiences in Japan. For example, I saw activities where couples can make matching rings together. Any other unique ideas would be amazing.

Thanks a lot in advance for any tips! 🙏

by Lazy_Unit_8478

7 comments

  1. As long as you’re a Disney or theme park person DisneySea or Land are sooo worth it, even if you don’t ride anything. Go on a weekday for smaller crowds.

  2. Going back to Disneyland Paris after having been to the Tokyo parks made me not enjoy my time in Paris, the crowds are so poorly behaved! The crowd in Tokyo DisneySea or Land could be 3 times bigger but people are just better behaved, and it felt more magical to me as everyone is wearing ears/hats, carrying merch, just truly enjoying it to the fullest. Absolutely recommend going to DisneySea, so beautiful, I’m not big on thrill rides, there’s so much else to do. And Christmas is a great time to go, went last year, going again this year.

  3. We will be going in december as well, 7-18 December.
    Anyone know if there is like christmas markets or decorations? dont know how much christmas is celebrated in japan.

  4. I walked around DisneySea for well over an hour as the sun set and the lighting changed, just to enjoy the atmosphere. It was freezing cold and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It’s a don’t-miss park if you enjoy Disney. I can’t imagine it at Christmas time, it must be gorgeous.

  5. Uji and Kibune/Kurama are opposite sites of Kyoto. You’re better to combine Fushimi Inari and Uji since they’re on the same train line and you have to go through Inari station to get to Uji. 

    Kibune and Kurama is easily more than a half day. I don’t know if this is available in December but you can hike from Kibune to Kurama via Kuramadera temple then enjoy the onsen in Kurama. 

  6. >I’d also love to hear about special or romantic experiences in Japan. For example, I saw activities where couples can make matching rings together.

    I don’t know about special or romantic specifically but I know that Glanta has workshops where you can make rings. I did it in Kamakura and the tables where they seat you are for two people. I saw a few couples doing it together. They have other locations but I think you might have to make sure you pick a location with a workshop and not just a store.

    It was a fun experience and a great memory/souvenir, but tbh it’s not anything special for Japan. I was a bit disappointed that you couldn’t engrave any Japanese characters, not even hiragana/katakana. Only english letters, numbers, and I think some symbols.

  7. Seeing that you will be at Senso-ji on the 12th, you might as well stop by the oldest theme park in Japan, Hanayashiki.

    They are literally right next to each other. The rollercoaster didn’t seem too bad – it just looked old.

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