Hey y'all! So I went to Japan in February this year and had a blast! I also loaded my suitcase full of music, games and candy (some of which I'm still eating now, as I've rationed out the Poiful for last). I hit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Nara with a friend of mine and spent two weeks.
So here's the thing: I'm considering going again, largely because a) the other friends who were supposed to come with me in February couldn't do it, but can next year, and b) airfares are CHEAP right now. We're thinking about March. On the one hand, I liked Japan a lot and feel like I could go again. But on the other hand, I just went, and though there's a ton of stuff I'm sure I haven't seen yet, I'm having a hard time thinking of what itinerary I would want that isn't just a complete rehash of what I did the first time, but also mixes in enough of the stuff I thought was awesome because my friends have never been.
So, JapanGAF: what are your recommendations for what to do on a SECOND trip? Here's stuff I saw/did/enjoyed last time:
Tokyo
Asakusa and Senso-ji
Hamarikyu (so pretty even in February!)
Tsujiki fish market (not the auction, but we did eat there)
Tokyo Tower
Shimokitazawa, sort of (I mistakenly wandered in the opposite direction from the train station)
Ghibli Museum
Robot Restaurant
Akihabara (of course)
Kyoto
a metric crapton of shrines and temples
snow monkey park!
Osaka
Osaka Aquarium
Den Den Town
also
Okunoshima (bunnies!)
Nara (deer!)
Hiroshima/Himeji is an obvious spot I missed the first time around, so that's on the list. Onsen might be on the table too, since I also didn't do any of those, but I'm not sure how that would work as the third wheel traveling with a married couple. Apparently there's a sumo tournament in Osaka in March, and Nara's got a torch festival, so might be neat to do those (but I don't know how big the Nara festival is, seems like it's good for watching for twenty minutes and that's it?). What other obvious things (or not-so-obvious things) am I missing?
(also, I won't lie, I couldn't sleep last night because I had this bizarre fear that I wouldn't enjoy my second trip and that it was a waste of time. I worry that this means I shouldn't do it but I dunno.)