This is the Year I Travel to Japan

Eric Poole Updated: 1/23/2025 | Posted: 1/23/2025

(Credit: Bob Tan | Own work, CC BY 4.0)

As a huge, longtime Gundam fan, I have always wanted to visit Japan to see the massive RX-78 Gundam statue on display in Tokyo. Unfortunately, it was disassembled in 2024 before I had the chance to make the trip. I recently read that the original Gundam statue parts are being used to create a new Gundam statue for an art exhibit on display until October 2025. Second chances in life are rare so I can’t miss out this time. I’ve decided this is a “drop-everything” event so I have started planning my first trip to Japan! I have never traveled outside of the U.S so I’ve decided to document my travel plans here in the way a certified Scrum Master and software engineer would.

Planning Phase 1: Primary Events

The first step in planning my trip is listing all of the most important events and locations I want to work into the trip. Obviously visiting the Gundam art exhibit is at the top of the list.

• Gundam statue
• Mt. Fuji
• Aokigahara Forest
• Delicious Food
• Nerd shopping

After making this short list of primary events, I immediately checked plane ticket prices for different times of the year to gauge price changes. Prices don’t seem to vary much more than 20% throughout the year so I won’t factor that into overall planning.

Next, I started looking at all of the locations I want to visit on a map of Japan. Naturally, I expect to fly into Tokyo and most of my primary activities aren’t far from there. The further activity is the Gundam art exhibit in Kansai. A quick Google search told me that Kansai isn’t far from Osaka and there is a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka that will get me there in 2.5 hours. Everything is looking good so far!