To celebrate the end of university and graduation, I went on a trip with 2 of my close friends! We traveled around mid-June till end June, which was early summer and during the tsuyu (rainy) season. We took a late night flight and reached Haneda Airport (Tokyo) around 1am Japan Standard Time.
Here's our rough trip outline:
Day 1 - Yokohama (Sankaien Garden, Motomachi Chukagai, Yamashita Park, Osanbashi Pier, Yokohama English Garden)
Day 2 - Hiking at Mount Oyama, Kanagawa
Day 3 - Kamakura
Day 4 - Tokyo (Harajuku, Shinjuku)
Day 5 - Tokyo (Suntory Musashino Brewery Tour, Shibuya, Firefly Night)
Day 6 - Train to Nagano, Nagano (Zenkoji Temple, Shopping)
Day 7 - Karuizawa (Shiraito Falls, Oniodashien, Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza)
Day 8 - Train to Matsumoto, Azumino (Explore town by walking, Daio Wasabi Farm)
Day 9 - Matsumoto (Matsumoto Castle, Nawate Street)
Day 10 - Kamikochi, train back to Yokohama
Day 11 - Yokohama (shopping), Odaiba (night scenery), midnight flight from Haneda Airport
For accommodations, we mainly stayed in Yokohama (at my friend's aunt house) and stayed at Moritomizu Backpackers (Nagano, Day 6-8) and Premier Hotel Cabin Matsumoto (Day 8-10).
We bought the 5-day JR East Nagano-Niigata pass. Bear in mind that JR Pass may not always be worth it - have your itinerary ready and calculate the cost of transport to help you decide.
Through these factors and careful planning, I was able to keep the total costs of my trip to S$1600 (S$1000 excluding round trip flight costs)!
I may write more detailed posts/share photos regarding the places visited, so stay tuned!
