Tokyo + day trips in a week - where to stay/eat/play

Hi,

I love the tripadvisor forums and could really use some quick pointers for our trip. We just booked tickets last week for the last week of March and we have very little time to flesh out our trip.

We will be flying into NRT on a Sunday and flying out Saturday.

So far the here is what is tentatively on our hit list:

Imperial East Gardens

Ghibli Museum

Tsukiji Fish Market

Harajuku

Tokyo Tower

Shinjuku

Shibuya

Asakusa

Ginza

Akihabara

Ueno Park?

Side trips:

Nikko

Hakone (would include 1 overnight stay)

Yokohama (to visit friends)

Places we are planning on staying for a night:

Capsule Hotel

Love Hotel

Ryoukan (most likely in Hakone)

We are looking for a cultural experience mostly, as well as shopping. My wife would like to do some fashion shopping, eat at some truly authentic Japanese holes-in-the-wall, stay at a ryoukan, love hotel and capsule hotel. I%26#39;m interested in the various districts of Tokyo, bright lights, urban decay, harajuku costumes, architecture old and new (particularly the bridges), parks and shrines hidden in the urban maze, nikko and pretty places.

Given our side trips, I think an JR East Pass would be the best option? Would a 5 day pass be enough? I%26#39;m not quite sure what rail lines and types we would have access to, does it include most of the chikatetsu/subway? And would we need to purchase separate passes or tickets for Hakone since that lays to the West of Tokyo?

I also just started looking into the Nikko Tobu Pass, would that be necessary if we already have the JR pass?

It sure seems like we have plenty of things to do during our stay, but is there anything I%26#39;ve missed that might be highly recommended? Or anything worth skipping?

Frantic planning is the name of the game, so thanks for any tips while I go off to voraciously devour any other bits of info on Japan found in these forums!

Tokyo + day trips in a week - where to stay/eat/play

Oh,and I forgot to mention we don%26#39;t know where we%26#39;re staying in Tokyo yet. Where would be the most convenient, and where would be the most interesting?

Tokyo + day trips in a week - where to stay/eat/play

The JR East Pass is not of good value in your case. Traveling within Tokyo or to Yokohama doesn%26#39;t cost much relative to the Pass. For Nikko, it%26#39;s better to look at Tobu%26#39;s World Heritage Pass or All Nikko Pass. For Hakone, look at Odakyu%26#39;s Hakone Free Pass. The combined cost of a pass for Nikko and Hakone is under 10,000 Yen. Even if you factor Narita Airport rides into the equation, you won%26#39;t make your 20,000 Yen back.

Nikko Passes:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_002.html

Hakone Pass:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

Use NEX-Suica package to save money from the airport:

www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/index.html

For train schedules and information, go to http://www.hyperdia.com

The best area to stay for first timers is Shinjuku. Plenty of dining, shopping, neon lights are there. It is also a great transportation hub being a major interchange for JR and various subway lines.