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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Cedceg on 2024-10-29 08:31:13+00:00.

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While I was researching my holiday to Japan, I had a lot of help from these kind of trip reports. So I thought I'd pay it forward and share my own experiences from our recent holiday, end of august/first half september . It ended up being more of a diary-entry style of post than I'd set out to do, so apologies for it turning out massive (and having to split it into 2 posts). But I had a lot of fun reminiscing about all the wonderful moments we had in Japan, so I can only hope some people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

ABOUT US:

Two Belgians, 35(m) and 35(f), first time in Japan. Very broad tastes, with a big focus on food and drink culture. Normally not hugely into shopping, but we did find ourselves doing so (and spending) a lot more in Japan than we'd done in other countries. I also really get into photography while on holiday. So if a place feels a bit meh, but I manage to get some good photos out of it, I still feel like I had a pretty good time.

BUDGET SPENT:

Per person, our flights were about 1000€. Hotels ended up almost the same, around 1000€ for 19 nights, with the ryokan and shokubo stays bumping the overall price a bit. We did manage to get some amazing deals (under 80€ pp for 4 nights in Osaka!), so doing some research can really reduce those costs. We started off with 1500€ pp in yen from the bank, and had to draw some more spending money twice. Did some of the more expensive dinners and shopping on visa, but mostly used cash.

Entire costs turned out at 4200€ per person, which we're pretty happy with.

PRACTICAL STUFF AND OVERALL THINGS PEOPLE ALWAYS SEEM TO BE ASKING ABOUT:

• My main tip, and everyone says this but I feel like I have to emphasize: make sure you've got solid, comfy, well-worn shoes. Maybe even 2 pairs so you can switch it up. In Japan, you're going to be doing a lot of walking; doesn't matter how easy-going you think you're going to be, you'll be hitting at least 15k steps on a lot of days. My biggest issues during this trip were blisters on my feet, and I had to buy quite a few blister plasters to try and sort that out. And a little bonus tip for people who aren't huge hikers: start getting in your daily 10k steps a month or 2 before your trip. It really does help getting your legs into the habit of doing a bit of walking every single day.
• We used Google Maps for everything and it never once steered me wrong. There's a slight learning curve to using it on the public transportation, but by our second or third day it's second nature. Just make sure you look at the final destination so you know you're going the right direction, and take notice of which yellow exit you have to take. It was as intuitive and free of hassle as I could possibly imagine public transportation being.
• For internet we had a pocket wifi from Japan-Wireless delivered to our hotel. Worked brilliantly. Only slight issue is you have to recharge it during the day with a powerbank they supplied. So sometimes we'd lose internet in the evening, and it'd be because I forgot to recharge our wifi. Really small issue really, but it is another set of batteries you'll have to manage. An e-sim is probably even easier if your phones are high-tech enough, but the overall wifi experience was pretty flawless.
• Get a Suica-Card. You can obviously keep buying individual tickets for single trips, and in the short term that's not really a problem. But an IC-card will make traversing cities 10 times easier, so I'd call it borderline essential.
• Luggage delivery is a gift from the traveling-Gods. We used it 3 times, and it cost us (two large bags) 5,200 yen per transport. And I'd honestly recommend it if it was 2 or even 3 times that price. Really makes traveling absolutely stress-free, and it really is a wonderful feeling to be able to enjoy your first experiences when stepping out into a new place, instead of having to drag this big heavy block behind you. The amount of comfort and ease of mind it provides it pretty much unparalleled.
• I'd highly recommend against planning specific restaurants, except for special meals. There can be big lines for a specific place when you don't really want to wait. Or a restaurant can be quite a bit out of the way from where you think you are going to be. I just couldn't imagine having to worry about making sure I'd get to a specific location for my meals, seeing as there are hundreds if not thousands of decent restaurants pretty much anywhere. I'd recommend making a list of specific dishes you want to try, and finding restaurants near you on the fly, ticking off those boxes. Don't completely trap yourself into your travel-planning, and leave room for some spontaneity. We often just searched google and reddit for some options while on the train or in the hotelroom, which lead us to some of the best meals we had on the entire trip.
• The garbage issue is real, but overall not that big of a problem. Garbage cans on the streets are few and far between, but you'll be able to deposit your empty bottles near a lot of the vending machines, and most konbini's will have garbage cans inside the stores. Just put your garbage in a bag and you'll probably be able to dump it somewhere within 30 minutes.
• We didn't have many issues with hotels. My gf spent a lot of time doing research to make sure we had spacious hotels with large beds, and we felt they were all adequate. By Western standards some may have been a tad small, but never really an issue. We also didn't have a single instance where we were bothered by noise coming from other rooms. We mostly only use our hotelrooms for showering and sleeping, though, so mileage may vary.
• We both adapt pretty well to hot weather. So the Japanese 35° at high humidity - although being really hot - never really fazed us, and we never had to resort to cooling neckbraces or fans. But the sun can really burn, and you will be sweating a whole lot. I bought some deodorant and simply took it with me everywhere so I could spray a couple of times during the day. But although the sun could be pretty harsh, we never got sunburnt. I'd say the whiplash you'd get from the freezing airconditionings were a bigger hurdle for us than the actual heat.
• The language barrier was so so so much better than we thought it'd be. The people are super friendly and many of them speak decent English, especially in the cities. And when they don't speak English, pointing at things with a couple of basic phrases gets you 99% of the way. My main takeaway is that people really, really like you just making an effort. Don't be that tourist who's loudly saying "THANK YOU", just learn some basic sentences and you'll see quite a lot of people light up and going the extra mile to accommodate you.

The phrases I learned and used quite a lot:

• Konichiwa / Konbanwa - Hello / Good evening
• Sumimasen - Excuse me (for apologising, or getting attention from someone)
• Arrigato Gozaimasu - Thank you
• Hai - Yes
• Kore - This (when pointing at a menu or something)
• Daijobu - I'm ok (when people ask if you need a plastic bag or anything like that)
• Okaikei kudosai - check please (a really big one that people clearly appreciated)
• Chotto matte, kudosai - Could you wait for one moment, please
• Eigo de daijobu deska - Is English ok? (Probably really butchered that, but had to use it twice and it got the job done both times)

Right, so now that all that's out of the way: the actual trip!

THE ACTUAL TRIP:

DAY 0: Arrival

Arrived slightly after midnight at Haneda, where a very friendly gentleman explained to us in perfect English how and where we could get an IC-card. We then took a cab for around 10.000 yen to our hotel: MONday in Asakusa. Very friendly check-in, we had some tickets and pocket wi-fi sent beforehand and everything was there, without any problems. This was our first contact with the Japanese organisation and friendliness, and it basically didn't change for the duration of our trip. Literally every single person we met was helpful and kind, and everything everywhere is clearly defined and communicated. On a cultural level, it really is the perfect location to go on holiday.

DAY 1: Asakusa (steps: 23.000)

People often seem to be asking what part of Tokyo to stay in, and we couldn't have been happier that we started our trip out in Asakusa. It seems to offer a lot of what makes Tokyo great, but doesn't feel as overwhelming or crowded as some other areas tend to be. Seeing how you'll likely be jetlagged and slightly overwhelmed by the new culture, Asakusa seemed like a great place to get our bearings. We also opted not to use any public transportation on our first day, and just took everything in at our own pace.

We visited Senso-Ji at around 10u00. It was quite crowded, but the temple complex is so large that it never felt too dense with people, and we enjoyed our first of many, many temples. Walked around through the neighbourhood snacking on some decent tonkatsu sando's, konbini onigiri and took our first stab at trying out random drinks (we chose... poorly). We then came across the Don Quijote store we heard so much about, so we decided to have a quick look around. Two hours later we re-emerged, wondering where the time had gone. This is also the point where I started singing the Donqui theme for 20 days straight.

After quickly freshening up at our hotel room (the jetlag was real, and wreaking havoc on...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/IronyCat on 2024-10-29 01:12:27+00:00.

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Me and a buddy traveled around Japan doing the usual route of Tokyo(Ginza) -> Hakone -> Osaka -> Kyoto -> Tokyo(Shinjuku), and instead of writing down my entire itinerary I will just mention the highlights, lowlights, and things I wish I knew.

Ginza:

It seems like Uniqlo Ginza store is always crowded with tourists lol, but I was able to get what I wanted. Jetlag helped us go to Tsujiki Fish market early, but I think we went TOO early. We were there at 6AM and they were still setting up. I shouldve researched ahead of time which restaurants would be worth it here, but I know these types of places tend to have tourist traps but I stumbled upon an Onigiri shop run by a really nice lady and they were the bomb. Going to the top floors of Don Quijote Akihabara blew my mind when there were arcades/DDR Machines with passionate people playing them, I don't knows something about arcades and game machines set up above a 6 floors in a discount store is amazing to me lol. Drinking beer from Asahi HQ top floor was a major highlight, we did this when they opened at 10 am and it felt like a private observatory (who drinks at 10 AM? me)

Hakone:

Filled with tourists but the entire Hakone trip was amazing. If you get the Hakone Freepass, I would recommend an upgrade on the pirate ship. It was around $5 USD per upgrade but there were WAY more people on standard class and I feel like it was really worth it for extra space to take in the scenery. Also no fighting for space to take photos. We splurged on a Ryokan stay and it was amazing.

Osaka:

I thought I was going to enjoy Osaka more, but when we arrived I immediately got somewhat anxious by the amount of people. I guess it turns out I'm not much of a city tourist person as much as I thought I would be. Not sure what it is but it felt like there were way more people in Osaka than in Tokyo in the streets and stations. It might be because there are only 2 "big" stations close to each other in Osaka while in Tokyo there are more. It felt like every time I went to Umeda station where we stayed near I always had to struggle to be near my friend. I used one of the days to get out of the city and visited Minoh Falls and Ikeda and it was wonderful.

Kyoto:

Theres a lot of tourists here but there is so much to do we weren't able to do everything we wanted. The big highlight for me was actually a rafting tour of Hozugawa River. I first stumbled upon the paddle boat tour but then I found out there was a rafting tour so we went with that. Well worth it as the raft had 5 of us total with a guide. Get to Arashiyama Bamboo Forest early. We got there at 9AM and I thought that was too late, but it was fine, but as we were leaving at 11 AM it got WAY more crowded. Nintendo Museum was a great experience and in Uji, I thought Nakamura Tokichi Honten was not worth it for the wait (we were in queue for 4 hours I believe, but we walked around while waiting).

Shinjuku:

We stayed in Shinjuku because I thought we were going to do some nightlife but my buddy got sick so we stayed in every night (which is fine because I was already somewhat exhausted at this point). I really enjoyed all the shrines, parks, and things to do near Shinjuku/Shibuya much more than the nightlife stuff ironically. A highlight here was the Shinjuku Batting center. I went every morning to get some swings in, was really fun.

General:

We did both teamlab planets and borderless and I personally was underwhelmed. It felt like everyone just had their phones out and was trying to get videos and pics for the gram. I was unable to get an early booking so maybe that would make it better. I'm glad I did it once, but if I return to Japan I would not do it again.

it felt like the restaurants we ate at in Tokyo all accepted cards, while in the other cities were about half cards OK half cash only.

Things I wish I knew:

I wish I knew more things about etiquette. I knew already things like standing on the left on escalators in Tokyo and on the right in Osaka, being quiet in public spaces, and not eating and walking. Things I wish I knew: if you have a backpack wear it in the front if the train is crowded and elevator etiquette where the last person entering holds the door open button for everyone else leaving the elevator when it gets to the first floor.

I wish I knew about oshibori. it turns out the wet napkin is primarily for your hands only and my gaijin ass was using it on my face until halfway into the trip lol.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jessmerch on 2024-10-28 18:25:18+00:00.

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My husband and I are going for our first time to Japan for our 10 year anniversary. I have bad fomo when it comes to traveling but I also don’t want to be totally busy and stressed out getting from point A to point B the whole time. I want to leave some room for exploration and just trying to enjoy the moment. It's kind of last minute to change too much but let us know how doable this seems and if you have any other suggestions. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Day 1 - Friday - Tokyo

• 9:05pm - land at Narita
• Hopefully make the last Keisei skyliner into Tokyo!
• Check into Hotel

Day 2 - Saturday - Harajuku & Shibuya

• Explore Harajuku in the morning
• Yoyogi park - time permitting
• Explore Shibuya (Shibuya crossing/Pokemon Center)
• 5pm Shibuya Sky
• Grab Dinner, explore more

Day 3 - Sunday - Asakua & Akihabara

• 9am - Tea Ceremony at Maikoya
• Sensō-ji temple
• Nakamise-dori Street
• Afternoon - Ueno Park (time permitting)
• Later Afternoon/Evening - Akihabara

Day 4 - Monday - Shinjuku & Ghibli Museum 

• Morning - Explore Shinjuku
• Artina Square Enix Cafe
• 2pm - Ghibli Museum
• Back to Shinjuku for more exploration
• Omoide Yokosho & Golden Gai

Day 5 - Tuesday - Tsukiji & teamLab Planets

• Tsukiji Outer Market in the morning
• 11:30 am - teamLab Planets
• Explore Imperial Palace
• Ginza in the evening?

Day 6 - Wednesday - Tokyo

• Possible free day to go back to favorite places (more time in Shinjuku?)
• Or day trip to Mount Fuji if we are sick of the city?

Day 7 - Thursday - Kyoto

• 11am - Bullet Train to Kyoto
• Check-in to hotel
• Nishiki Market
• Explore
• Pontocho Alley for dinner/drinks

Day 8 - Friday - Kyoto

• Morning - Half day trip to Nara
• 4 pm - Nintendo Museum on the way back (Is this do-able to get a couple hours in Nara before this?)

Day 9 - Saturday - Kyoto

• 8:30am - Kyoto Bike Tour (hits top 5 highlights - Kiyomizu, Golden Pavilion, Fushimi Inari, Bamboo Forest, geisha district)
• 6pm - After bike tour, grab dinner and drinks downtown

Day 10 - Sunday - Kyoto

• 11:20am - Suntory Yamazaki Distillery
• Gion
• Kenninji Temple/ Other temples in area
• Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka
• Yasaka Shrine (at night)

Day 11 - Monday - Kyoto

• Get custom rings made
• Final souvenir shopping
• Last day to explore
• Possibly Sagano Romantic train?

Day 12 - Tuesday

• Check out of hotel
• 7:13 am take Haruka train to Kansai airport
• 11:45 am Fly home

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/the_john19 on 2024-10-28 13:04:20+00:00.

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iOS 18.1 is coming out, and there's an important change to when/how the Travel Card option appears when you try to add a digital IC card.

In iOS 18.1, the option will only be visible if your phone's region is set to a country where Travel Cards are available, or if you're currently physically in one of those regions (USA, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong and Japan).

So if you live outside these countries and want to add an IC card, you might be surprised to find that after clicking + in your Apple Wallet, you won't see Travel Card as an option in iOS 18.1.

As a workaround, you can either change your phone's region to Japan (and back again once you've got the IC card), or wait until you're physically in Japan, when it will show up even if your phone's region is set to something else.

EDIT: THIS IS ONLY ABOUT ADDING A NEW IC CARD. Existing IC cards won’t disappear. Also after you’ve added a new one using the workaround, the IC card won’t disappear!

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Astei688 on 2024-10-27 09:23:15+00:00.

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I've been really slacking on writing this post since my wife and I visited Japan back in the end of March but I wanted to highlight some of the activities we did and places we visited that aren't all over every top 20 list of things to do in Japan.

Yokohama: Silk Museum. My wife is very into dying yarn/wool, spinning wool, knitting, etc that I thought she would really enjoy this museum and the history of silk in Japan. I was correct and scored major points. Even as someone who isn't invested in textile hobbies, I still found the museum interesting. They had displays of live silk worms in different stages of life. One little issue we ran into was the museum opens at 10, but the gift shop doesn't open until 12 so we wound up stopping back later. 90 minutes is a pretty decent estimate of time for this and it is kid friendly. Also, it is just a few blocks from Chinatown.

Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum: This museum is not too far from the Red brick warehouse. Is it Mitsubishi Heavy Manufacturing corporate propaganda? Probably. Do they have cool scale models of all the cool things they've built? Most definitely! It is also very kid friendly. My wife didn't enjoy this one that much, but that's why we visited the silk museum first. 90-120 minutes is reasonable here.

Yokohama Civic Art Gallery: This one is a little bit of a hike from Red Brick Warehouse area, and that hike is steeply uphill. The exhibit on display when we went was a calligraphy one and didn't match our expectations based on what came to our American minds when we thought about calligraphy. That being said it was free and we had a lot of fun seeing how Google translated Chinese and Japanese poetry. I feel a lot was lost in the exchange. Good place to see/support local artistic endeavors but it is out of the way and not kid friendly.

One last thing about Yokohama, if you're staying there for a night or two, I really recommend springing for the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel. If you're on the correct side, you get wonderful views of Mt. Fuji when the weather is good.

Tokyo: Sumida Hokusai Museum. You might not immediately know the name, but you'll know the painting: The Great Wave. Part of a series called the "36 Views of Mt Fuji" (I hope that's right, should've written this in April). Anyway, this a fantastic museum for the works of Sumida Hokusai located relatively close to the Tokyo sky tower. 90 minutes here should let you see everything.

Japanese Sword Museum. A short walk from the Sumida Hokusai museum is the Japanese Sword Museum. If you're hugely into swords and maybe Japanese history, you might be interested in this. My wife didn't seem to be a fan, and I don't blame her. Definitely recommend watching the presentation on how swords are made on the first floor before going to the second floor. Not a place I would recommend bringing children, it has a very solemm and quiet atmosphere.

Marukaku pottery store. This is a small Japanese pottery store a short walk from the scramble with pieces from local artisans. If you're looking for some beautiful authentic Japanese pottery this is a great place to start. My wife bought a couple of pieces here that she really loves. Pottery is not my thing but even I could appreciate the work done here. I also didn't break anything. It's a tiny shop, so I had to be very mindful of my backpack.

Aki-Oka Artisan "mall". This is a collection of retail establishments between the Akihabara and Okachimachi stops on the Yamanote line. The shops are literally under the raised rail lines and it can be a little confusing to find. Google maps took us to the Okachimachi stop and the we walked from there and when you come out the other side you are right at the end of Akihabara. Anyway, great way to support small businesses and spend locally.

NONA temari and dye experience. My wife took this 3 hour class on how to make temari balls (I spent that time shopping in Akihabara) and found it amazing and highly recommends it to crafty people who are interested in learning local arts.

Also, another hotel shout out. remm Akihabara. The hotel itself is fine and does everything a hotel should do but the location is unbeatable. To literally step outside and be at the train station is amazing plus there is a Lawson's and a Starbucks right there as well.

We of course did the big tourist things as well (teamLabs, scramble, etc.) but there are so many things to do in Japan that I wanted to highlight some of the less frequented. Obviously everything I've posted about is not for everyone but even if you don't do anything on this list, I do encourage you to dig in and find off the beaten path things that you will enjoy because I guarantee you those gems are out there.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jennytools36 on 2024-10-26 06:22:57+00:00.

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If you love arcade games or pinball I HIGHLY recommend heading to The Silver Ball Planet in Namba. I had so much fun there and racked up maybe 10 hours of playing. The most expensive machine is ¥100 and older ones ¥50-¥10.

I honestly regret not doing a whole day here or doing their end of month tournament (forgot about it and saw it the day I booked for Tokyo). It is at the top of my list for next trip to Tokyo.

The range of machines and how well they are maintained is also extremely impressive. Considering that their more expensive machines are worth $16000AUD them having 126 machines is something I’ve never seen before. Best I’ve seen in Australia is maybe 22 machines at $4 a game.

If you haven’t checked it out definitely do! Give each machine a few tries and understand how to get multi balls and jackpots. After that free games are very common and pretty easy high schools. At the time of writing I got the Terminator 3 grand champion score 😎. A few hours of fun cost me less than ¥2000 and often sub ¥1000

I recommend giving them a follow too on insta and giving some love . From the after tournament post’s text it really looks like a man who loves pinball and wants to share that love running it 🥺.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ConnelyCat on 2024-10-23 16:10:52+00:00.

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Hi everyone,

My wife and I went to Japan around springtime this year, and are planning to return about a month from now. Although we were a bit familiar with Japanese woodblock prints ever since a Tsukioka Yoshitoshi exhibition took place here several years back, we became even more enthralled with Japanese woodblock prints once we got to Japan for our honeymoon. We did some research a week before the trip and devoted a full day to visiting woodblock print art stores that had prints from several periods. Although we like a lot of artists from the Ukiyo-E, Shin Hanga and Sosaku Hanga periods, we also noticed some captivating contemporary samples we would've liked to learn more about. Some of the stores we visited in Tokyo include places like Mokuhankan in Asakusa and Yamada Shoten in Chiyoda, both of which had some contemporary woodblock prints for sale.

In Kyoto, we only went to Daishodo, a store in Nishiki Market that was amazing and where we got a lot of Shin Hanga prints.

Since then, we kinda made a mental note to look for examples of contemporary art and also try not to limit ourselves to woodblock prints, even though that remains a focus. The only thing that we don't enjoy for personal, subjective reasons is installation art.

We are very ignorant on this topic. One of the few high profile, contemporary artists that we are aware of and really like is Akira Yamagushi, who we know does mostly paintings.

Another contemporary artist that my wife discovered in Mokuhankan was Shinji Tsuchimochi, who, if I'm not mistaken, is a digital artist that has had some of his work carved and printed.

Other than that, we've looked up some galleries in both Tokyo and Kyoto with the hopes of seeing some contemporary, lower-profile art, but we've found it somewhat difficult to do a search on this that yields fruitful results. Which is why we thought it might be helpful to also ask around the forums for tips on small museums or galleries in Tokyo and Kyoto that might have, for the most part, drawings, woodblock prints, silkscreens, lithographs and paintings, or names of contemporary artists that work with these mediums. Although we are interested in buying, we are mostly interested in discovering and learning.

We have had this same experience of drawing blanks when it comes to searching Chinese contemporary art, but I know that is off-topic, as this is for Japan travel.

Hopefully this is in the correct subreddit, but I'm sorry if it isn't.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ryu-kishi on 2024-10-22 23:20:08+00:00.

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Japan Solo Trip Report - 2 Weeks - Kansai-Hiroshima-Izu-Kanto - Oct 4-Oct 18

This was supposed to be a 2-person trip, but circumstances made this a solo adventure. It has been 20 years since I lived in Japan. Packed light, 7 days of clothes for 14 days of travel. All my hotels were already booked by about a month out except for my very last 2 nights in Tokyo. Budget varied, but definitely mid-high at points. Being solo meant being utterly flexible in everyway, with what I did and saw, meandering at my leisure, and eating/drinking when I wanted (if there was a wine pairing I did it). Utilized the JR Kansai/Hiroshima area 5-day pass. I'm also Japanese-American with some fluency (emphasis on some), so my experience is that weird sense of foreign/national. Lots of text ahead. Excuse any formatting, its all rather stream of thought.

LAX-KIX arrival about 6pm. KIX to trainline was a bit chaotic. This is probably the best time to hit the ticket office since I didn't have cash yet and wasn't sure about what ATM was what (first one also declined my debit card). After customs is where I picked up my WIFI. Mostly used Google Maps for directions, because it was easier for me to understand and it told me times/train platforms with enough accuracy. Overall, my phone/WIFI/battery lasted through the day until I could get charged. Should have brought an extra cord, since one of mine was broken (or buy one!)

• Oct 4-Oct 7 - Osaka, The Lively Osaka Honmachi. Decently priced accommodations. Free beer/Takoyaki Waffles on Fri-Sat night. Sorta more adult vibe, but families there too. Pretty clean modern rooms. Bar had a weird odor (maybe from cleaning?) but I went to the rooftop. Near a metro stop, though honestly, I walked almost EVERYWHERE once I realized how close things were and how much time I had.
• Oct 5 - Osaka exploration. I was waking up around 5am almost every day due to jet lag. It's a different feel for a city that is otherwise so busy during the day and downright crowded at night. Wandered Dotombori during the morning. Lunch I think at the top of Daimaru, at a Teppanyaki. The department store and train station food courts are really something. They may not be the hidden gem treasures you'll find on the streets on Tabelog, but they are mostly above average food that hits the spot. Bought a Seiko because it was going to be that kind of trip. Decided to go to Osaka Castle, even though it wasn't on my original itinerary. The grounds were lovely, but inside was crowded as hell. Dinner at this brew-pub on beer recommendation from a friend who lives in Kyoto. People watched Dotombori at night. Whisky at Bar Agreable (random walk-in).
• Oct 6 - Nara day trip. Got there relatively early so it never felt too crowded. Kofuku-Ji was closed for renovation, but I was mostly there to see Todai-ji and Kasuga Taisha (and bowing/screaming deer). I didn't buy any sembe, but witnessed plenty of others. Kasuga Taisha grounds were lovely and peaceful. Local sushi set lunch nearby. Back to Osaka to buy 2 pairs of jeans (Samurai and Momotaro). Samurai Jeans has a better grasp on English if thats a concern and a really cool store venue. Dinner was at a small Japanese steakhouse.
• Oct 7-8 - Hiroshima/Miyajima, Iwaso Ryokan. Moderate-High price. Really beautiful ryokan, windows open completely to let the sound of nature flow in. Opted for the Dinner/Breakfast set. Had my first ekiben for lunch. Wandered Hiroshima Peace Park, opted out of the museum as I had been there before, but for first-timers, I think it is worth it. Heavy somber atmosphere until I got on the private ferry that picks up near the park. Basically explored the island, ate some oysters and walked around Itsukushima at high tide and, on the recommendation of Charles Taproom up the street, went to Daishoin (highly recommended). Used the hotel onsen, think I had it to myself or maybe 1 other person. Wonderful dinner (wine pairing). Early morning, out by 6am to go back to the Shrine at low tide. Walked around a bit but did not make it up to Mt Misen.
• Oct 8-12 - Himeji/Kyoto, Solaria Kyoto Nishitetsu. Moderate priced hotel, modern, onsen, nicely located on the Kamo River. Opted out of meals. I really nitpicked this hotel compared to others, but in the end, its really splitting hairs on where you could stay.
• Oct 8 - Leaving Miyajima via the JR Ferry/Train to Hiroshima to Himeji. Himeji Castle was just as people have said, far less interior "stuff" than Osaka, but I found it more to my liking. It felt less crowded inside by far, with long interior rampart walkways free of most people and letting me appreciate the architecture more. I think I had a random street stall Kobe Skewer and ekiben before landing in Kyoto, I met up with my co-worker who works at the University now, for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. Later showed her a local Jazz cafe, Jazz Spot Yamatoya. I quite drunkenly discovered this spot 20 years ago and was so glad it is still here.
• Oct 9 - Started my morning at Yasaka Shrine, which was a short walk from the hotel. Down through the area, including Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka to Kiyomizudera. Leaving Kiyo, I inadvertently walked through Otani Cemetary, which was a little surreal and I saw only 2 people the whole walk. I eventually walked (about an hour) to Fushimi Inari. I was sweating bullets by the time I climbed to the top, but it was an overall beautiful experience. Fushimi had started to get crowded, but I started before the vendor tents were setup and made it back ready for lunch at Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onadera. It's not really kaiten in the everyday sense, you order by touchscreen then using a lazer beam to determine distance, it goes on a straight track to your seat. Lots of market wandering. Peak Nishiki Market is a shit-show, shoulder to shoulder, barely room to eat if you get something. The rest was fine though, picked up a sukajan jacket, popped into the Kuoe watch store to browse. Dinner at a Yakiniku near Pontocho Alley. Now, Kyoto might be one of my favorite cities for a variety of reasons, but the following really made it special. Wandered into Bar Alchemist and ended up having drinks with the couple next to me. When you're traveling this big crazy world, it can create such unique old soul type connections when you can just strike up conversations with others. Together went to what might be my favorite bar on the planet in Kazubar. No signage, a floor above a coffee shop, with no menu, only candlelight. It really just set the mood for that part of my trip. We finished off with some Haaan! dumplings.
• Oct 10 - My obligatory trip to Kinkakuji. Now, I don't know if its tourists that cause a place to be busy, but I for sure know getting somewhere the same time as 5 busloads of elementary school kids sure as hell does. Blue hats from one school, yellow hats from another! This is not my peaceful moment of zen (that's the next place). Ryoanji is a short-ish walk from Kinkakuji and is a lovely example of a zen rock garden along with some other artwork. The one place I saw where visitors could just sit and appreciate the garden. And normally, this is where I would say I went to Arashiyama or some such on the west side, but I got in line for the wrong bus and at that point I was too stubborn to admit I was in the wrong line and just took it back to the city center for my first bowl of ramen. There was some good rest and some early Nintendo themed Christmas shopping before some katsu curry dinner. One of the omakase experiences I had next was at this gin/cocktail lab that could be considered liquid cuisine at Nokishita711. Serious, just look it up, it's hard to explain!
• Oct 11 - I finally went to Sanjusangendo, though it was originally on my itinerary for the 1st full day in Kyoto. So glad I made the trip as it was high on my list and my biggest regret is not being able to take any pictures (signs everywhere in the main hall). It was just so peaceful, reverent, and inspiring to see what was done there. I then had reservations to Kiyama, opting for the higher priced market course. It was one of the best meals I've ever had, though thankfully a fellow American sat next to me so I could really appreciate the meal with someone. Kyoto, and Japan as a whole, has such a plethora of fine dining, and this one really encapsulated Japanese cuisine in both its seasonal ingredients and technique. Bonus to this night, I saw my first Geisha/Meiko as I left my hotel to meet up with friends old & new. She eventually entered a taxi with 2 others already inside. Bucketlist checked! My dinner came at the bottom of a whisky glass, so that's how that night went.
• Oct 12 - I am finally leaving one of my favorite cities for my old "home". I'll continue this in a part II as I take the Shinkansen to Mishima in Shizuoka.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Aminilaina on 2024-10-21 23:30:17+00:00.

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TLDR: I had really bad luck but still had a good time, will go back.

Ello! I went to Japan for a week in early October and then spent a week in South Korea. I'm just getting around to my trip report now because I really just wanted to sleep.

So, a little background, I am disabled. I have narcolepsy, EDS, POTS, and lord knows what else tbh. I look fine outwardly but I'm a total mess that manages with spite and duct tape keeping me together. I traveled with a cane though and thank god because with all that walking, it was much appreciated. I traveled with my girlfriend and always recommend my disabled peeps travel with a companion of some kind. I felt much better with someone else with me just in case.

Firstly, I stayed in Tokyo and about half way through the week, I took a shinkansen to Kyoto. It was a trailblazing and unpopular choice, I know. I would have stayed longer but we had to meet my fiancé in South Korea and I wanted a week in Japan instead of two weeks in South Korea. Not that there's a problem with that, I just wanted to see both countries. I plan to stay longer next time. A week wasn't nearly enough time to do everything I wanted.

In general, I found Japan to be quite disability friendly. Nowhere is perfect but it was significantly better than many places I've been too, including places here in the US where I'm from. If you are also travelling to Japan with a disability and you wanna know about what to expect ahead of time, here's what I noticed.

Nearly everywhere has an elevator. The buildings, the subway, the train stations, etc. I thought that the metro underneath my Kyoto hotel didn't, but I figured out that I was just an idiot and it was across the street. So look across the street when in doubt. They have the blue wheelchair symbol clearly marked on signs to find the accessible infrastructure. While I don't use a wheelchair at the moment, other friends of mine with similar conditions do and I would say that the elevators can get quite narrow. While I think most wheelchairs would be fine, I could see some larger powerchairs having trouble fitting. Not everywhere though.

Speaking of wheelchairs, the metro cars had space allocated for them. I didn't see a ton of allocated seats themselves for in-need groups but a few times people offered their seat to me regardless and I found that I was able to snag an empty one most of the time. I'm sure if I asked, someone would have obliged, they're all very polite. If you find yourself in one of the super crowded commute trains, the cane helps balance quite a bit, otherwise, hug those poles and handles like your life depends on it.

Now, not saying this happened to me or anything, but should you find yourself fresh off an international flight, exhausted, just found your luggage, the luggage shipping hours ended, and finally on the correct line to your hotel, note that the trains take off really, really fast. Again, totally not speaking from experience but if you tumble over your luggage and onto the ground, people will be very concerned and it will be the most embarrassing first impression to a new country ever recorded in history. ~~I don't wanna talk about it~~

For my fellow POTS/Dysautonomia friends or anyone else with a fainting problem, you may happen to fly to Japan during an abnormal heatwave like I did. This was just bad luck, unfortunately. I recommend bringing an empty, vacuum sealed, water bottle with you (Hydroflask, Stanley, Owala, etc). I know that's a general tip but it's important. Both of my hotels had ice machines either on the first floor or on every floor. Utilize these. Otherwise, always carry around cash and coins with you because Japan loves their vending machines. A lot. There's always cold water in these things along with sodas and some of those sodas felt like they had some electrolytes so that was nice. Bring your preferred form of salt around. I know you have salt you carry around, I don't care if they're restaurant salt packets, carry them. Personally, I also have pretty decent electrolyte drops. Most of the food is pretty salty in general so you should be fine. Try to eat even if you really don't feel like it with the heat.

If you are an ambulatory wheelchair user and waffling about if bringing your wheelchair. Bring it. The amount of walking you will be doing, even with a cane or something will absolutely make a wheelchair worth air traveling with it. Everything was on fire when I got back to my hotel, every day.

Speaking of hotels and joint pain, those beds are bricks. If you are willing to sacrifice the luggage space to bring a pillow from home, do it. The pillows at my hotel were on the flatter and denser side and the beds were very firm. That's good for some joints but not really for mine. I slept fine out of exhaustion though.

Last point I'll make is that most stores had an area you could sit down in which was a very welcome and pleasant surprise.

Non-disability related things about my trip:

Both my girlfriend and I got our periods on the flight over and wished for death. Again, bad luck but that's the universe for ya. Due to a number of factors, we found we almost never had an appetite and we wish we managed to enjoy the food but we will make up for it next time. When we landed our international phone plan didn't work correctly so my poor saint of a mother got a phone call at ass-o-clock in the morning while I panicked cuz we were a bit lost finding the hotel. Get those backup e-sims.

Navigating Shinagawa Station for the first time definitely gave me some gray hairs. Thank you to the nice older tourist man who saw two lost and frazzled women and helped us. I will not miss you Shinagawa Station.

Best experience was on the subway from Kyoto Station to our hotel, I sat next to an older local woman who turned to me, welcomed us to Japan and popped two folded paper cranes, made out of magazine pages, from her purse and gave them to me and my girlfriend.

Still had a good time but as a homebody, I'm more than happy to be back home. I got to come back with a checked luggage of new plushie friends, skincare, and makeup so I consider the whole thing a success. Thanks so much for reading all this and hope it helps my fellow disabled travelers!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jmcateer on 2024-10-20 19:53:49+00:00.

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Hello all, after lurking here for many months leading up to our trip, I wanted to share how it went vs how it was planned in hopes it helps others with their planning. My partner and I (M, 30's) had never been to Japan before so our visit largely consisted of hitting the big 3 - with a small detour to Izu on our way back to Tokyo. I really enjoyed u/professional-key2249's recent write up format so I'm stealing that here for our own trip report.

Here's a copy of our trip's basics. Happy to answer questions on any place in particular or specifics about it if you have any!

General Impressions:

• Positives: Japan was a fantastic trip and we will absolutely be back sooner than later. The food was amazing, the people beyond kind and ever-helpful, and there really is something for everyone and every interest. This sub and the JapanTravelTips pages were hugely helpful in not only planning our trip, but also setting expectations and helping us solve small problems and confusions as they arose while there.
• Negatives:
  • Some places are for sure crowded as the day goes on. Plan accordingly depending on how much this might bother you.
  • I'm an early bird, so I struggled to fully adjust to so many places not opening up until 10/11am. It was hard to shake the feeling that time was being wasted - so I'd stress identifying what on your planned days can be done between those early hours of 6am-9am if you're like me.
  • Rude travelers. You could tell quite a few visitors did minimal research into their visit - not understanding what side of the escalator or walkway to be on, not understanding basic phrases, etc. We also met two different older groups that made their trip using AI (WHAT??!) and one was SO rude to the waitstaff, I was in shock. They could use technology to make them an itinerary, but couldn't be bothered to download a translator? Wild wild wild.

Tips for Future Travelers:

I won't reiterate a lot of the normal ones (comfy shoes, booking attractions, etc), but here are a few things we found super important.

• "Front loading" luggage is a must: Japan hotel rooms are on the smaller side. We got some pretty cheap front-loading luggage pre-trip and it was key to maximizing our room space vs clamshell-style. I can't tell you how many people stopped us and asked where we got ours, complaining about how they weren't prepared for how much space theirs took up.
• Know your fellow travelers: This might seem like a "duh", but what I mean by this is be prepared for how to assist them with potential needs or issues. My partner is prone to allergies and I wish we had researched some medications and information ahead of time just in case. The rain and warm weather ended up taking him out for multiple days - leading to a lot of disruptions to plans while we tried to find the right medicine to help him.
• Suica card: It was super easy to grab one at the airport (Narita), and for iPhone users - take advantage of getting a mobile one but maybe wait to set one up until you're there. Small niche issue - I upgraded my phone right before leaving and didn't realize for my Suica that I set up on the old phone that in order to add it to my new phone, I had to have them both together to "transfer". Found this out Day 1, so sadly had a mobile Suica that couldn't be used at all.
• Google Maps: I was most fearful pre-trip about navigating the train systems, but after a day or so of it, it was relatively easy to understand and honestly had us laughing for how stressed we felt going into it. Yes some stations are massive and overwhelming, but if lost, just look for any exit and find the station employee behind the glass. They were so helpful in sending us in the right direction just by looking at our phone and seeing where we were trying to go (especially when at a station under construction).
• Buying things pre-trip vs upon arrival: A crossbody bag or the like is key for carrying essentials around (plus trash), and we purchased ahead of time so that we didn't have to immediately go shopping Day 1. We probably could have skipped this as we hit Don Q hours after arriving and I wasn't prepared for how much they'd have in this department. My partner also brought more toiletries than I recommended, and he ended up regretting it as he was basically using everything the hotel provided and/or what he picked up at Don Q. I also can't stress enough once there, head to a Family Mart and grab a cheap hand towel. So few public restrooms have a dryer and that towel was our MVP (most valuable purchase).
• Double check plans at the start of the month: Despite checking and re-checking what days restaurants and shops would or would not be open and making plans accordingly, I still hit a few snags in the plans upon arrival. I didn't realize how common it was for a lot of places to post their schedule to Instagram at the start of the month. Thankfully this happened on Day 2 or 3 so we had time to double check the rest of our trip and fix where needed, but was still a bummer to lose a few hours showing up to a place that was closed that day.
• Coffee: I'm a caffeine addict and while I am happy with Starbucks any day of the week in the US, I wanted to try new places here in Japan. My first couple stops/cups were...not good. Then someone shared with me to search "coffee roasters" not just "coffee" on the map when looking. This was so insanely helpful. Everything else I had from there on out was A+. In a pinch, the 7-11 ice coffee maker was also handy.

Day 1: Arrival in Shinjuku

• Original Plan: Arrival at Narita, get to Shinjuku, find food and get to bed
• What Happened: With a late (8PM) arrival into Japan, I knew we'd be getting in late and a 7am start the next day was risky, but I wish we had ventured a little out of Shinjuku to grab food OR that we had just grabbed konbini items. We went to Ichiran knowing it was open late (we weren't eating until 11pm) but the one there had a long line due to nighlife proximity and we were too tired to problem solve another idea. We ended up not getting to bed until almost 3am - completely setting us up for a rough next day.

Day 2: Asakusa & Akihabara

• Original Plan: Hit Senso-ji before the crowds, eat our way through Asakusa, and then slowly make our way to Akihabara to nerd out
• What Happened: Due to how late we got to bed, getting to Senso-ji early and hitting Benitsuru for pancakes did not happen. Senso-ji was a wall of tourists so we ended up leaving and Benitsuru we didn't try and come back to get an afternoon slot like they recommended. We did however eat a ton of great food from random stalls and Akihabara was a major second wind for us.

Notes: If you are arriving at night like we did, don't expect the high of being in Japan to help you power through the next day like we assumed. Make that first full day something super chill or plan for a day of things you don't care about skipping if need be. We put the chill days towards the end of the trip, assuming that's when we'd need them most but that backfired a bit on us.

Day 3: Shibuya

• Original Plan: Head to Shibuya to explore, eat some trendy foods & snacks, and do some shopping before coming back to Shinjuku for more game centers
• What Happened: Allergies hit my partner hard and he had a terrible night of sleep, but he rallied as the breakfast spot was something he had been looking forward to. It took us some time by train to get there and a walk in the rain all to only find it was closed that day. This is where we started to feel really defeated about our plans and had to do a bit of a mindset reset. We also bailed early on shopping as the big stores (Nintendo, Pokemon Center, etc) were all just way too crowded for us to handle in the moment.

Notes: Always have back up food options - I was so thankful I had a list for each area we were hitting because this was the first of several times we needed that to pivot. We took the day to reset post-shopping and then ended the night early with a solid, hearty meal.

Day 4: Ginza

• Original Plan: Hit the TeamLabs installations and do some shopping
• What Happened: This ended up being a long but really fun day. We hit a buffet breakfast nice and early, then using this sub's advice booked Borderless for the opening time slot and Planets for the night. We shopped in-between but also just took time to walk around. As it was a weekend, part of Ginza's streets were closed off to cars so people could walk and hang out in the street. It was also music week and we came across a school's choir singing Ghibli songs for their parents and overall it was just a nice day.

Notes: If you are doing Borderless, I might recommend you skip Planets. Sure there are a few more installations, but also some repeats and losing the ability to walk around freely just made Planets a less enjoyable experience. We both agreed that we wish we had used that time to stay longer at Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai for the footbaths or go back to Asakusa and try and re-do Senso-ji at night. If you do go to the Toyosu - we missed the towel purchase for 200yen. It's right to the left when you get off the elevator.

Day 5: Shi...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/eggsbenedict17 on 2024-10-18 13:53:19+00:00.

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We are a couple visiting Japan for the first time from Europe. Its a trip for my gfs birthday and we are both really excited.

We are in our late 20s/early 30s. We like food, nature, cultural experiences and hiking. We want to experience the different cities of Japan but also try and fit in some relaxing time in nature. We are arriving in mid November so hopefully will see some of the nice autumn foliage.

Our itinerary is right on the edge of being too busy, so posting it here to see if there's anything we should take out or any glaring errors that we have put in.

This sub has been a great help with my planning so thanks to all the posters here.

Day 1 - Tokyo

• Land midday
• Shinjuku - food tour at night
• Recover from flight

Day 2 - Tokyo

• Meji shrine
• Shibuya crossing/shibuya sky

Day 3 - Tokyo

• Akihabara
• Ueno Park
• Tokyo Bay cruise

Day 4 - Lake Kawaguchiko

• Tsukiji fish market in morning
• Midday bus to Kawaguchiko
• Dinner/drinks in Kawaguchiko

Day 5 - Lake Kawaguchiko

• Morning bike ride around the lake
• Chureito Pagoda
• Hotel onsen

Day 6 - Kyoto

• Bus & Shinkansen to Kyoto - ~ 4 hours
• Afternoon/evening stroll around Gion

**Day 7 - Kyoto*

• Fujimi inari shrine
• Tea ceremony?

Day 8 - Hiroshima

• Shinkansen to Hiroshima
• Peace park

**Day 9 - Miyajima day trip*

• Day trip to miyajima island
• Torii gate
• Hike to mount misen summit
• Ferry back to Hiroshima - dinner in Hiroshima

Day 10 - Takayama

• Long journey to Takayama (~5hrs)
• Eat dinner, stroll around city

Day 11 - Ryokan stay

• 1 hour bus into the mountains to Ryokan (undecided which yet)
• Stay overnight, relax, onsen

Day 12 - Osaka

• Long journey back to Osaka
• Dotonbori at night

Day 13 - Osaka

• Osaka castle

Day 14 - Osaka

• Possible Nara day trip

Day 15 - Osaka

• Fly home

Is the itinerary too busy? Is it worth travelling the long distances from Hiroshima to a ryokan in the mountains and then back to Osaka in a couple of days or is the travel time too much.

The itinerary becomes a bit looser nearer the end of the trip as we don't have anything booked then. We also haven't booked any trains etc as I was advised that I can get them a few days before.

Any input is much appreciated.

PS. Im a sports fan but believe the baseball season will be over by then, can anyone recommend any other sports that are worth seeing when we are there?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Professional-Key2249 on 2024-10-17 15:28:24+00:00.

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Hey everyone! I recently took a 16-day trip to Japan with my parents (I’m in my 30s, parents in their 60s), and I wanted to share our experiences. We came back yesterday. This was a special trip for us, as it was the first time me and my parents had visited a country in Asia. I'll provide an overview of our trip, along with daily details about what we planned versus what we ended up doing. Feel free to ask about anything!

General Impressions:

• Positives: Japan is absolutely beautiful. The people are incredibly polite and respectful, the country is clean and organized, and public transport is fantastic. Even the small quirks like the music at stations and traffic lights add to the charm. We loved the food, and the coffee...amazing. The public toilets were always clean (smart toilets are amazing), and people patiently line up for buses, which was refreshing to see.
• Negatives: Over-tourism, particularly in Kyoto, where some tourists didn’t follow the rules (like cutting lines and making a lot of noise). It was quite frustrating.

Tips for Future Travelers:

• Bring good shoes: You’ll walk a lot, and there are many inclines, especially in temples and shrines.
• Get a Suica card: It’s super convenient for public transport.
• Use luggage delivery services: We had 4 different hotels, and having our bags sent ahead to the next destination was great (we send it day before check-in in the new hotel). Hotel staff helped us with the paperwork, and when we arrived, our luggage was already waiting in our room.
• Book attractions in advance: We pre-booked TeamLab Borderless, the bus to Shirakawa-go, and the Gion Corner performance. For the Shinkansen, we booked tickets the day before traveling, though once we struggled to sit together when we booked it on the day itself.
• Take rest days: We underestimated how physically exhausting it would be. By the last day in Tokyo, we were burned out. Don't hesitate to use public transport more to avoid walking fatigue.
• Weekends are busier: Crowds are significantly larger on weekends, so plan accordingly if you're crowd-sensitive

Day 1: Arrival in Shinjuku

• Original Plan: Arrival at Narita, Suica cards, Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue, Shinjuku exploration, Golden Gai, Hanazone Shrine, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building view
• What Happened: After a long 13-hour flight, we were exhausted but managed to get through customs quickly thanks to QR codes we pre-arranged. We arrived in Shinjuku, checked into Century Tower Hotel, and after resting a bit, we ventured out to explore Kabukicho, Golden Gai (mainly populated with tourists), and visited our first shrine (Hanazone Shrine) Had dinner at Japanese Risotto Otsu and visited Don Quijote, though it was a bit too much stimulation for my parents. We had good coffee and cake at Shu Premium Shinjuku. After that we called it a day and went back to the hotel to get some rest.

Lesson learned: Jetlag hit us hard, so we didn’t manage to visit Shinjuku Gyoen or Meiji Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue as planned.

Day 2: Walk to Shibuya from Shinjuku

• Original Plan: Meiji Jingu, Treasure Museum, Harajuku, Takeshita Street, Togo Shrine, Cat Street, Shibuya Scramble, Hachiko Memorial Crossing, Shibuya Parco, Nintendo Tokyo, Pokemon Center, MEGA Don Quijoto.
• What Happened: One of my favorite days! We visited Meiji Jingu, strolled through Harajuku, and stopped by a café called Reissue, where they 3D printed foam lattes (I got Totoro!). We visited the Togo shrine and walked via Cat Street to Shibuya, where we had a coffee at Coffee Sakan Shu Premium Grand Shibuya (good coffee and cake like previous day). We visited Shibuya Scramble and Hachiko Statue but skipped Shibuya Sky as it was sold out. Mega Don Quijote, Nintendo Tokyo, and the Pokemon center were overcrowded, so we didn’t spend much time there and it was not enjoyable. Had a meal at an izakaya in Shibuya before heading back.

Note: Plan attractions like Shibuya Sky in advance because tickets can sell out, especially for popular viewpoints.

Day 3: Kamakura Day Trip

• Original Plan: Visit several temples, the bamboo forest, Komachi-dori, Kamakura Daibutsu, Hasedera, and Yuigahama Beach.
• What Happened: Kamakura was great as well. We explored Komachi-dori, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, and had coffee in a lovely hidden garden café. The bamboo forest at Hokokuji Temple was unique and impressive, and we had matcha tea there. Hasedera Temple was one of the best temple experiences—beautiful grounds and serene atmosphere. The little statues were so cool.
• Daibutsu was okay but didn’t compare to Hasedera. Made less of an impression on us. Dinner at Onari Yokocho Kamakura was delicious, with (vegetarian) sushi.
• We did not manage to visit the Chokozan Myohon Temple, Zeniarai Benten Shrine, and the Kakakura Yuigahama Beach.

Day 4: Senso-ji, Ueno, and Yanaka

• Original Plan: Visit Senso-ji, Ueno Park, and Yanaka Cemetery.
• What Happened: Great day! Senso-ji was crowded in the morning, but we returned later in the evening when it was quieter and much more enjoyable. We walked along the Sumida River and watched the Skytree from afar. We visited a café called Bee Friendship, which had a bee/honey theme. Delicious coffee, cake, and ice cream. We made our way to Ueno, where I twisted my knee, so we visited Ueno Zoo for a low-key activity, and skipped the park exploration. Also, my parents wanted to see the Panda exhibition. Yanaka was a hidden gem—we were the only ones in some temples. One of the temples being the Kannonji Temple which is said to have connections with the Ako Ronin. We finished the day at Tayori for dinner, then revisited Senso-ji at night.

Day 5: Minato and Odaiba

• Original Plan: TeamLab Borderless, Tokyo Tower, Zojo-ji Temple, Atago Jinja, Hamarikyu Gardens, Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba Marine Park, Gundam.
• What Happened: TeamLab Borderless exceeded all expectations—the immersive rooms and music were great. We walked to Tokyo Tower and Zojo-ji Temple, but we felt lackluster due to the bad weather (all day rain). We attempted Odaiba afterwards, but the malls were overcrowded, so we quickly left after seeing the Gundam statue. Ended the day with ramen at Soushi Menya Musashi and visited the 2d cafe in Shinjuku afterwards.

Tip: Odaiba can get extremely busy on rainy days when everyone heads to the malls.

Day 6: Central Tokyo and Akihabara

• Original Plan: Explore Tokyo Station, Tokyo Character street, JP Tower, Intermediatheque, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Imperial Palace Gardens, and Akihabara.
• What Happened: We explored Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace Gardens, but we noticed some walking fatigue, so we decided to have a rest. Akihabara was packed—way more than we expected for a weekend—so we didn’t stay long. It was not enjoyable to visit the stores with these crowds. I went back out to Shinjuku for some last-minute arcade gaming and Don Quijote shopping.

Note: Saturdays and Sundays can be overwhelming in areas like Akihabara. Also looking back, we should have taken more rest as we were not prepared for this crowdedness and the physical impact of walking a lot of steps everyday.

Day 7: Tokyo to Takayama

• Original Plan: Take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Takayama, explore Takayama Old Town including the different temples.
• What Happened: We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya and transferred to the Limited Express Hida to Takayama. The journey through the mountains was scenic and relaxing. After arriving in Takayama, it started raining, but we still decided to walk through the old town streets. The main people we saw were tourists. After dinner at an izakaya, we found a temple (Sakurayaam Hachimangu Shrine), where people were chanting inside. That was a very cool experience during the rain and darkness. I believe it was the preparation for the Autumn festival that took place in the following days in Takayama. We had coffee at Cha-Mama Cafe, and went back tot he hotel, where I relaxed in the onsen. In the end, we only visited 1 temple out of the 4 planned.

Day 8: Shirakawa-go Day Trip

• Original Plan: half-day tour of Shirakawa-go. Visit museums in Takayama.
• What Happened: We took the bus to Shirakawa-go, and luckily it was dry when we explored the farmhouses. We wandered through the village and it was peacefull and much less crowded than expected. We ate the famous pudding (pudding house), had coffee and cake and "Kyoshu" Traditional Coffee shop and had some hida beef skewers at Zensuke. Delicious. After coming back to Takayama, we visited some oter temples like the Hida Kokubun-ji temple. Afterwards, we had dinner at Cha-Mama Cafe, where we took the Hida beef menu. Good god, never in my life did I taste such good beef. A real gem. Afterwards we went back to the hotel.

Tip: If you’re planning to visit Shirakawa-go, definitely book your bus tickets in advance. The bus was fully reserved.

Day 9: Takayama Autumn Festival

• Original Plan: Morning markets, Shoren-Ji Temple, Higashi...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/nannatsch on 2024-10-17 13:25:42+00:00.

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A friend of ours went to Japan on September 20th to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and finally Wakayama. He didn’t buy a return flight, planning instead to see how far his budget would take him and buy a flight back when necessary. The last time we heard from him was on October 11th, when he was drunk at some bar in Wakayama.

Since he had been vlogging for his friends, we managed to track down the hostel he was staying at (approximate location: Kimiidera, Wakayama, Präfektur Wakayama 641-0012, Japan) but we haven’t been able to get the police to contact the owner yet to check if he ever checked out. edit: he did check out on the 10th - a day before he went to the bar where he was last heard of. His passport was found about 7km away from his hostel, north of Wakayamashi Station. His accommodation was south of the station. This makes us wonder if he might have been trying to leave Wakayama, maybe heading back to Tokyo or somewhere to fly home. But why was the passport found north of the station then? (location of his passport: 1-17 Tokudagichō, Wakayama, 640-8206, Japan)

We’ve contacted the embassy and both local and national police in Japan. We’ve also heard that the Japanese police can hold people in custody for up to 21 days without letting them contact family (is that even true?). The police have told us though, that he’s not in any prison or hospital in Japan. Do you think they might have lied to us due to privacy rules or something else? They also said they’ve sent out a search team in Wakayama to find him, which wouldn’t make sense if they already had him in custody.

Since Japan is generally a safe country and a passport is one of the most important things for a foreigner, it doesn’t make sense to me that someone would harm him and just leave his passport behind. If foul play were involved, wouldn’t that be the first thing someone would destroy?

Additionally, his best friend’s dad and his own dad have passed away and I genuinely don’t believe he would kill himself. I can’t imagine he’d do that to his family and friends. On top of that, he was starting a new study program back home and had already paid all his fees, so I don’t think he had any intention of going missing or planning to never return.

By the way, the last transaction from his bank account was on October 10th. He can’t be reached by phone and if he had simply lost it, I would think he could’ve gone to the police or logged into Wi-Fi using his iPad to contact us.

We’re really at a loss here. Do you have any idea of typical police procedures in Japan for finding a missing person? Or any suggestions on what else we can do to find him?

Thank you so much!

edit: I know this is a lot to ask for but if there is anyone in the Wakayama region who can speak Japanese and is willing to help us communicate with the authorities there, it would help us out so much!

edit: The Japanese police will call us tomorrow. We do not know why but we will not lose hope! I will update you.

missing person flyer:

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Glass-Pineapple-1172 on 2024-10-17 11:26:19+00:00.

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Hello, We are a group of 8 friends visiting Japan for the first time from India from Nov 28 - Dec 08 2024. Being first timers and on budget, our goal is to experience autumn (reason for choosing later November per ) and the major tourist attractions. We plan to make use of public transport throughout the trip. Haven't figured out which JR/rail passes to take yet.

1. **Day 01**: 1730 ARR TOKYO NRT - check in - Shibuya Crossing
2. **Day 02**: TOK - Roam the city - Sensoji Temple, Nakamise Market, Shinjuku Gyoen, Hamarikyu or Rikugien Gardens
3. **Day 03**: Private Full Day Sightseeing Tour to Mount Fuji and Hakone
4. **Day 04**: Tokyo wrap - maybe day trip Ashikaga Flower Park
5. **Day 05**: Fly to Osaka - Japan Air - Check In - Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street
6. **Day 06**: Osaka - Hoshi no Buranko
7. **Day 07**: Nara - Deer Park, Todaji, Kasuga Shrine, Daibutsu Nara
8. **Day 08**: Kyoto - Kiyomizu-dera, Nishiki Market, Arashiyama Bamboo
9. **Day 09**: Kyoto - Chion-in or Ginkaku-ji Temple, Yumemigaoka Observation Deck
10. **Day 10**: No idea, maybe this one of the Team Lab thing or have all 8 of us split and do a solo day trip to anywhere
11. **Day 11**: Fly back - noon flight

Stay -

Day 01 - 05 - AirBnB at Toshima City

Day 05 - 11 - AirBnB at Nanima Ward.

Since we are a group of 8 and most of us will carry 20 kg baggage each, we think instead of hauling big bags through shinkansen and getting the experience of JR, we will fly to Osaka and do day trips from there. The JR pass calculator also says we need 20K Yen worth travel to get a 7 day pass and this itinerary is not doing that.

Need help with below!

1. We are confused whether to stay in Kyoto, Nara & Osaka 2 nights each or stay 6 nights in Osaka and doing 2-day trips to Kyoto and Nara each. Since for most places, everyone recommends getting there very early and we will lose time in travel 1.5 hr each way from Nanima Ward to Kyoto or Nara.
2. Since Japan Airlines is running a sale for foriegn travelers, TOK to Osaka flight is coming out to be extremely less $ than shinkansen. Are we missing a lot by not taking shinkansen. (We may end up trying out shinkansen from Osaka to Kyoto or Nara)
3. How to get more information on luggage forwarding service, do they deliver to AirBnBs as well?
4. are we missing any clear and obvious places for first timers who want to experience fall?

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/SarahSeraphim on 2024-10-17 08:48:32+00:00.

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Hello all, just wanted to share some highlights of our past year/this year's trip to Japan. This was a couples trip for me and my husband. It was a pretty spontaneous one but overall it has its scary points and its great points.

Initial planning was done after we secured our flight tickets around Sep 2023. Here is our google map with pins:

The tips shared by redditor phillsar86 was what inspired us to travel during this period :

Tokyo (22-25 December 2023)

We've been to Japan a few times now but we always find reasons to return to Tokyo. We booked tickets for Warner Bros Studio Tour, Harry Potter via Klook for 1pm and spent the entire afternoon there. Even though the timing is 1pm, you can actually go in 1 hour ahead of time, just take note that in winter the cloakroom takes a good 45mins of queuing to store your coats and things. There was also a rest stop in between that sold butterbeer. I would say it is comparable in taste to the one at USJ.

For those who are interested in culture, definitely check out the Kabukiza Theater. In the basement, there will be pop up shops where you can browse a lot of merchandises and you can also purchase goshuin for the Kabuki Inari Shrine here. We bought a single act ticket via the Kabukiza website and had a great first experience, there's also english audio guides that you can purchase to complement the show. Definitely also make sure you dressed appropriately, a semi-formal is advised.

We decided to go to some Christmas markets during this time, one of it being Tokyo Christmas Market. Even though we purchased tickets from KKday for a 5.30pm slot, the queue to enter was crazy and snaked around twice. The shops only accepted cash or PayPay and most of the menu items were listed in Katakana. I had a hard time guessing some of the menu items, like mulled wine was "グリューワイン" (Glühwein) and only guessed it was some kind of wine lol. Another one we tried to visit was Yokohama Christmas Market but it ended up being too crowded for us. We ended up spending more time in the red brick building, shopping until we were tired.

For this trip, we ended up visiting Eorzea Cafe Akihabara twice to finish our stamp card. If you complete a stamp card, you will obtain a ceramic plate of your choice. We're both fans of Final Fantasy XIV so we had a great time. We even won the first prize lottery, which was the first time for us. We ended up coming back one more time just to redeem our prize as we were informed the redemption ticket was only limited for 2 months and instead of the usual honey toast, we were presented with a cream cake that we had a hard time finishing due to the amount of cream it contained haha.

For fun, we reserved a KFC christmas bucket. This one took me about a month or so to arrange. I had a long back and forth discussion with Bridgejpn and finally we arranged for them to help reserve on our behalf and pickup was in Ginza. We underestimated the size of the bucket. It was easily closed to 2kg in weight so I canceled my plans to visit Jimbocho for that day and instead brought it back to our hotel room. Even though it was just usual KFC, the hotel room smelt incredible so we ended up spending our afternoon just eating KFC with some chuuhai and beer from the conbini store lol.

*Kusatsu Onsen (26th December 2023)

We spent the entire afternoon exploring Kusatsu Onsen, trying the color changing pudding and having lunch at Kusatsu Yubatake Manten which was serving up a special snow crab kamameshi set meal and went for the Yumomi Show which is famous in Kusatsu (I still hear Choina Choina in my head :D ) In the evening our prearranged driver, took us to our accommodations in Matsumoto, dinner was hotpot with amazing Shinshu beef.

*Matsumoto (27-29th December 2023)

This part of the trip was specially arranged by husband via tour agency specialising in bespoke itineraries and arrangements. Instead of a usual hotel, our accommodations was a Villa called Satoyama Villa Den with prearranged meal plans that included a little bit of osechi ryouri (new year food) . During the day, we visited Matsumoto Castle, Ishii Brewery and Daio Wasabi Farm and had a full day onsen at Myojinkan. We really enjoyed our time in Matsumoto and on clear days, it was nice to see the surrounding mountains covered with snow caps. Matsumoto is one of the best places to visit if you're in the Nagano region, just bear in mind that a lot of shops will close around this time of the year, for example the entire Nawate Street was closed by 28th December and the only thing open was a Taiyaki shop. There were popup shops selling things for new year like decorations or materials to make Kadomatsu, which is a door decoration and a lot of the temples were setting up mini stalls for Hatsumode.

Hakuba ( 29-31st December 2023)

Hakuba was back to free and easy travel for us. We quickly realised how popular Hakuba was during december when we snatched the last and only room available at Hakuba Shakespeare Hotel (booked in mid September. The snow was also not ideal, it was muddy and rained a few times. We booked an entire day at Hakuba Snow School for beginners but in honesty, we should have booked half a day instead as we didn't realise how heavy skii gear were and how tiring the sport was. Although we booked skii gear (from a place called Rhythm) for 2 days, we ended up only using it for one day and instead decided to spend the next day exploring Iwatake Mountain. Returning the skii gear was easy, as our hotel was affilated with the equipment shop so when we checked out, we just left the gear in our hotel in a designated spot and didn't have to travel into town to return it.

Because of how close it was to New Years', we reserved some restaurants to eat at. The first restaurant was called Miyama Genghis Khan where they served lamb and mutton bbq and it was so good! We had counter seats and one of the chef was kind enough to watch our bbq so that we didn't overcook the meat. The second restaurant was nearby to Miyama Genghis, called tomatito and we were really glad as on new years eve it was reservations only. They had amazing homemade umeshu, that I ordered 2-3 times and also had things like cheese with miso and wasabi from azumino, which is an amazing combination. We ended up taking a Margherita Pizza to go and returned to our hotel room to watch the annual Kohaku Uta Gassen, which is a new year television special. Personally all the performances were amazing but we enjoyed Yoasobi and Ado's performances the most. We were blessed because at 12am it started snowing and from our hotel room we could also view the fireworks go off at the resort nearby to welcome the new year!

Nagano (1st January 2024)

Hatsumode day at Zenkoji Temple. This day was especially busy with a lot of people out and about near Zenkoji Temple. The street leading up to the temple had pop up stalls selling things like candied strawberries (which I have a weakness for) and goshuin purchases took a long time to queue.

Earthquake (1st January 2024)

So the earthquake took us by surprise. At around 4pm everyone's phone in unison started blaring out the alert for earthquake. Nagano was hit with a 5.5 and after that there were periodic tiny aftershocks. We were never unfortunate to encounter one before so we were unsure about what to do. Originally, the plan was to make our way to Nagano Station around 8pm as we had scheduled a Shinkansen to return to Tokyo however as I was able to understand basic Japanese, I quickly overheard a lot of conversation about Shinkansen basically suspended or canceled. We quickly made our way back to the Station to a large crowd gathered outside and with my basic understanding I was able to grasp the station personnel was asking us to go in and just step into any unreserved carriage for any shinkansen on the platform heading to Tokyo. The only one available was an Asama heading to Tokyo so we quickly boarded and found 2 seats. This ended up being the best decision as we ended up stuck onboard for 5 hours as the train slowly inched itself to Tokyo and we checked into our hotel at midnight. The whole entire night we had trouble sleeping and kept the tv on, with the news repeatedly displaying tsunami warning.

Tokyo (Last day, 2nd January 2024)

We didn't sleep well but we were determined not to waste our final day in Japan. Even though it was a tuesday (which was labeled as closing day) and it was still Hatsumode, we took a gamble and traveled to Saitama to Musashino Reiwa Shrine and Kadokawa Museum. We were super lucky as both turn out to be open and we spent the afternoon, while it was raining, inside the museum. In the late afternoon, we returned to Akihbara to buy lucky bags and found out ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/AutoModerator on 2024-09-25 00:00:39+00:00.

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Are you traveling to Japan this month? Want to hang out with other Redditors while you navigate the country? Then this is the thread for you!

Please post any and all meetup requests here. Be sure to include:

• Your basic itinerary
• Dates of travel and cities you're planning to visit
• Your age and gender identity
• Your home country (and any other languages you might speak)
• OPTIONAL: Share some of your hobbies or interests!

We have a Discord server you can use to coordinate meetups and other activities. You can join the official r/JapanTravel Discord here! There are also monthly meetup/planning channels, so react accordingly, and you can create threads for specific dates/locations if you so desire.

In the past, people have used LINE to coordinate and plan meetups.

NOTE: Please only post meetup requests for this month. If you are traveling in the future, please reserve all meetup requests for the thread that corresponds with the month of your first date of arrival in Japan. This thread is automatically posted 7 days before the start of the month.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Zaayllo on 2024-10-16 17:57:25+00:00.

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Hello everyone! I'm going to be spending a couple weeks in Japan remote working and am looking for an itinerary check and some advice about where to visit.

Some less popular cities I’ve been to and recommend in Kyushu & Chugoku:

Fukuoka

• Kurokawa (can’t recommend this enough, onsen hopping was great)
• Seaside park
• Tochoji
• Fukuoka castle

Okayama

• Biking through the rice fields
• Biking along the canal trail
• Okayama castle & garden

For this trip I’m planning

Kanazawa

• Seisonkaku Villa
• Kenroku-en
• Shirakawa-go day trip
• Kurobe gorge & dam

Toyama

• Glass art museaum
• Toyama castle
• Himi fishing port

Was also considering Wakayama or somewhere in Gunma. Don’t know much about them.

Would love to hear from anyone who visited somewhere off the beaten path and absolutely loved it. I'm conversationally fluent and open to pretty much anywhere.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Visible-Reporter-433 on 2024-10-16 15:11:17+00:00.

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Happily welcome questions of any kind!

Highlights - Going into a traditional sushi bar with no English menu for our first meal rather than easing into things.

Going into ChicagoRock in Osaka for a drink and walking into an open mic night which included a Japanese comedian who improvised a scene of a drunken Englishman eating ramen in very broken English.

Walking around the record stores and vintage shops in Kichijoji and Koenji. Main regret of the holiday is not going there until our last day in Tokyo.

TeamLab Borderless and Planets - can see why it doesn’t tick some people’s boxes but it definitely does mine.

Seeing the sun set on a couple of observatories and in Odaiba on the water.

General Thoughts - Places weren’t anywhere near as busy as I expected, even places such as Gion and the shops near the area. Other than Shibuya crossing at 6pm I never felt overly crowded, and many shops, bars and restaurants I went in (even in golden gai, though less so) were not busy. Maybe owing to this, a lot of places seemed overstaffed.

Walking 30,000+ steps a day in 30-35 degree heat and 70% humidity wasn’t pleasant, but having a vending machine every 100 yards meant keeping hydrated was easy.

Food was as high in quality as I expected and lower in price. It’s easy to get a very good meal for 1,000 yen and had several around 500 yen that did the job.

Service was invariably excellent.

It was easier to find places to dispose of rubbish (including supermarkets on every block) than I feared.

People were much more willing to speak in English despite not being fluent than Reddit had suggested.

Transport was much less confusing than I’d anticipated, though google maps helped.

Everything is very well signposted in English and the couple times I had to check the tube I was getting was going to the right place the first person I asked was able to confirm.

Ubers/Taxis in Osaka were reasonably priced, Tokyo less so.

Even in Tokyo it was remarkably easy to find somewhere to escape to somewhere more chilled. Hanazano Shrine outside of Golden Gai being a great example.

Highly recommend Ninja WiFi which was well priced for 3gb a day and gave us great coverage everywhere.

! - recommended activity , !! - highly recommended

Day 1 - Osaka: Tenmangu Shrine with Doll Museum which was our local shrine, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori inc Don Quixote w/ Big Wheel, TeamLab Botanical Garden

Notable Food & Drink - Izakaya Toyo for lunch (not outstanding quality food but worth it for the experience, was only a 20 minute walk from Osaka Castle). Drinks at Salamanca which does a great margarita and run by a very old, very interesting man who speaks English and Spanish.

Day 2 - Nara and Osaka: Few hours walking around the city and of course seeing the deer (found a couple hanging around alone in the afternoon which were much more pleasant to feed), Manyo Botanical Garden (!), Nara National Museum, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Todai-Ji Temple (!!), back to Osaka and Dotonbori inc Round One Arcade and Hozen-ji Temple (!).

Notable Food and Drink - Delicious vegetable tempura dish at Mizuya Chaya in Nara for lunch (around 1000 yen), which was served before we had sat down, and dinner at Okonomiyaki Fun Bar in Osaka. Beautiful if not traditional okonomiyaki and self service drinks are 200 yen. Also hit a couple of Sake breweries in Nara - preferred the family run Kasaguyama to the more popular Harushika, but both were great and cheap.

Day 3 - Kobe & Osaka: Janjan Yokocho for breakfast, walk around Tennoji park and the Oktoberfest set up, trip to Kobe for the herb garden (!) and china town, train back to Umeda for the Sky Building (!)

Notable Food and Drink - oden, a miso cartlidge skewer and a beer for breakfast at Nonkiya for 1000 Yen. Ate on a couple of crates with salarymen as the bar area was full. Kobe Beef from Kobe Beef 5Star - touristy but very good quality.

Day 4 - Osaka to Kyoto: Walk around Gion (!), Geisha and Geiko Experience (!), night walk around Kyoto National Garden.

Notable Food and Drink - Honke Shibato for an incredible Eel dish (one of the best things I’ve eaten), New York Style pizza with a punk vibe at Pop Pizza, great cocktails at The Bar Straight and drinks at Bar Tonbo Anzu (both run by lovely people).

Day 5 - Kyoto: Kinkaku-Ji, Arashiyama including Bamboo Forest (!), Fushimi Inari. This was the only day that the weather was close to unbearable, possibly as we were mostly outside for 8-10 hours straight in 35 degree weather. Pocari Sweat was a saviour. Didn’t do the whole 10,000 gates at Fushimi Inari, it got a bit samey after 6,000 or so..

Notable Food and Drink - Amazing tofu based meal with lots of sides at Yudofu Sagano, one of the best meals we ate and at a beautiful location with its own Japanese garden.

Day 6 - Kyoto to Tokyo: Another walk around Gion before heading to Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Building (!), walk around Shinjuku including Golden Gai and Omeide Yokocho

Notable Food and Drink - drinks with free snacks and puzzles at Bar Lonely, cold tempura udon noodles for 500 yen somewhere in Omeide Yokocho.

Day 7 - Tokyo: TeamLab Planets (!), Small Worlds (!!), Joypolis, Odaiba Beach to see the Statue of Liberty and see the sunset (!) - the entire area was surprisingly quiet. drinks again in golden gai before a club night at Zero Tokyo (which has an amazing soundsytem and had a good mix of different strands of hip hop and dance)

Notable Food and Drink - ramen at the place associated with TeamLab Planets, wasn’t amazing for a Michelin recommended place but well priced and great ambience. Drinks at death match in hell which is a must if you like metal and or horror movies.

Day 8 - Tokyo: Late start due to a late night, strolls through Shibuya including a browse of Tower Records, walk down to Ebisu for a gig at Liquid Rooms (Again superb sound and atmosphere), followed by drinks back in Shibuya and Nonbei Yokocho.

Notable Food & Drink - Apple pancakes from Micasedeco. I’m not a dessert guy but these were incredible, especially the hot apple at the base of the pancakes. Had a really good tempura udon meal at 1am at Takemura in Kabuchiko. I read a couple comments about the wait staff being inattentive on google reviews - I found the staff to be lovely but did have to call them over when I wanted to order or pay. Which I don’t think is an issue at all personally..

Day 9 - Tokyo: Asakusa including Senso-Ji Temple and the surrounding shops (much more pleasant in the morning, started to get busy around 11ish), Tokyo Skytree (the only observation tower we did that had a long queue to get up/down), KuraSushi (more of an experience than anything, the food was good but no more than that), walk around Shinjuku before more Golden Gai drinking

Notable Food and Drink - within golden Gai: Bar Ji had probably the most pleasant ambience, more of a whiskey bar than anything else but had a chandelier and nice lighting. Hair of The Dogs was playing Killing Joke when I walked it so instant favourite. A punk equivalent of Death Match In Hell, and perhaps less touristy. Bar Roundhouse kick had an amazing yuzu sake and the bar woman was lovely. I’d walked past a couple days before and it seemed to be a little overly boisterous but not when I returned.

Day 10 - Tokyo: TeamLab Borderless (!!) which I thought was amazing and could’ve spent longer than the two hours we did, Azabudai Hills inc the food market, Momoji Park and shrine for views of Tokyo Skytree (!), Rikugien Gardens where we stumbled on a couple of entertainers doing tricks and playing a koto and also had traditional tea, Sugamo for shopping, back to Shibuya for some walking and shopping. Shibuya Sky observation deck (!).

Notable Food and Drink - various items from Azabudai Hills Food Market which were all of a very high standard if pricy, Coco Curry for dinner which was good, better than the equivalent in England would be. Drinks at Bar Piano which had an abundance of decorations and a frightening steep set of stairs but good cheap drinks.

Day 11 - Hakone: Essentially did the typical Hakone loop. The weather had cooled down a few degrees so this was more pleasant than it might’ve been. The pirate boat ride (worth getting the first class option for an extra 1,000 yen) and the chair lift were highlights, as was stumbling on an overgrown seemingly un-used shrine where a raccoon was mooching around.

Notable Food and Drink - Not much other than some chocolate rusk snacks sold on the pirate boat.

Day 12 - Kamakura and Yokohama: Went to Kamakura for the beach, which was a wasted trip due to strong winds kicking up sand, but the giant statue at Kotoku-in and a delicious cheese bread from a bakery nearby almost made it worth it. An unscheduled stop at Ofuna to go to Kannon-Ji (!) with a similarly giant statue is more highly recommended, and then it was off to Yokohama for the Cup Noodle museum (!), chairlift and CosmoWorld (!) - loved the VR coasters there.

Notable Food and Drink - Steak at Ribera. I went as a wrestling fan but really enjoyed the steak outside of that. Cooked perfectly medium rare and brought out sizzling with rice.

Day 13 - Kichijoji and Koenji: Kichijoji for vintage clothes and gift shopping before a walk to Inokashira Park and Pond, did go to the zoo but wasn’t planned or recommended. Then to Koenji for record shopping at a number of alternative record stores (Base being the highlight) then to Koenj...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/SophisticPenguin on 2024-10-16 16:06:38+00:00.

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From the Mainichi, it seems that with contracts up for renewal, ridership still down since COVID, and percentage of travelers using IC Cards being a minority; several regions are/will be ditching the IC Cards, especially rural ones.

Kumamoto Electric Railway and Kumamoto Bus are ditching them as early as next month. And Hiroshima's street cars and buses will stop using the Paspy IC cards next March. On the plus side, the replacement seems to be contactless credit card payments.

Edits: typos

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/lostmemento on 2024-10-15 17:41:07+00:00.

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This was out first time going to Japan after wanting to go for our honey moon but then COVID hit. There were some things I'd do again and some things I definitely would avoid. I go into detail but I ramble and my memory is hazy so feel free to ask questions about the specific places and I'll see if I can remember better!

*Prices in USD

Biggest recommendations:

• Buy the comfiest shoes OR schedule breaks

At the end of everyday we had walked about 20k+ steps. Our peak steps were probably 30k but there wasn't a day we didn't walk at least 20k steps. This was including taking taxis and public transportation different places. We are in our 30s and were feeling it. Plus you have to think of it cumulatively that the next and next day will feel "worse" cause you're not having much time to rest. We still slept from 9/10pm - 6am and we were out like a light.

• Time investment

Make sure you are scheduling time for things such as walking breaks and shopping! We didn't think of putting time to shop because we wanted to see things. We did end up shopping sporadically but we did do the thing of shopping a bit before our flight time to get souvenirs for friends and co-workers last minute. Also, there were those times when we were window shopping on our walks near our accommodations and said to ourselves: "We'll get it later." then never did. So, just keep some of these small things in mind.

E-sim vs Pocket WIFI

Me and my partner are from the US so he had AT&T and I had T-mobile. He had better coverage than me and didn't need anything extra. Sometimes his service was spotty but overall at 5G. For T-mobile I had LTE most places but it would load a snails pace compared to my husband. I got Airalo (Esim) to supplement but it didn't do very much, so I would recommend pocket wifi if you can if you don't have a good AT&T plan. Not sure about other American carriers.

Pocket Wifi a huge recommendation!

Transportation

I say this but take it with a grain of salt because I am from New York and are use to large sprawling train maps: I thought navigating the subway system was easy. Google maps is really helpful in letting you know which train car is least busy or would provide you a better exit towards the exit you need to get out of the train station. I really appreciate Japan's number system for stations as it reminds you that "oh 2 stops from now is 19 that's my stop."

What I did notice is that in Kyoto and Osaka vs Tokyo - that the numbers of the stations weren't listed in google maps as much so you need to pay attention. My easiest advice surrounding this is just look up the stations that are on the gates, if the station is farther on the google maps or lists one of the closer ones then it is probably the direction you're going. If it isn't listed at all, then you're going the wrong direction.

For example: the stops will say like Namba, etc. etc. if Namba is a stop after yours but on the train itself it says something else it's still your train if you are on the right side. We would get confused as some trains will list another stop. This just might mean express or something, so keep that in mind. But, it was easier than saying on we have to get on this one particular train that google said. Google can be wrong.

Go Taxi app is definitely your friend. The prices can be kind of costly to some who aren't used to it but it's about $1 per min and more if it's rush hour time. So for example instead of taking 1hr+ train to a shrine we decided to take a 40min taxi which was about $56.

Shinkansen. Always opt for this. This was a small battle I had with my husband but we went from Osaka to Himeji Castle and did the limited express. We were doing this during morning business hours so it was kind of busy. If you aren't aware what a limited express is, it is basically a normal subway car that goes to fewer stops. It was kind of crowded and you just didn't have nicer seats like on a Shinkansen, so if you're able opt for those instead of the local express trains. Also, definitely recommend getting tickets ahead of time even ahead of your days while in Japan. Otherwise, you'll be waiting in semi long lines depending on the day and hour to get our day of tickets either at a ticket machine (if you can operate it) or at the ticket counter.

Definitely use Yakamoto or other luggage shipping options when possible. It is kind of false to say there are no escalators/elevators for this at train stations. There ARE just at very particular exits that you will have to find via the signs. There are no notable signs on the outside of the stations, just inside.

Accommodations

Tokyo - Tokyu Stay Ginza (5 nights, $1500)

I really liked this hotel, we opted for a bigger room which gave enough space and had a bath and heated toilet. It can include breakfast which provides both western and eastern choices. Sometimes there are restaurants that only let you book once you check into a hotel. My only bleh about this hotel was that they didn't really assist in help booking restaurants, I think in case something went wrong? I'm not sure but it was kind of frustrating as it was a nice hotel. My other bleh was that there were stains on the carpet but I still felt the room was clean.

Hakone - Matsuzakaya Honten (1 night, $780)

We stayed at this place for the Ryoken and onsen experience. We opted for a room where there is a private onsen, but they had private onsens you could book or public ones as well. We also chose to have the traditional dinner and breakfast. If you are not one for seafood (like my husband) they were great at making swaps for that. The room was cool to experience and the private onsen was great. Their hospitality was very great and would go back in a heartbeat.

Hakone is up in the mountains. It is a nice place to try and view Mt. Fuji and the Hakone gate which is an instagram spot. I say try, because it was cloudy and foggy the 2 days we were there an unable to see the mountain but the lake there is beautiful. They provide boats to go out on the lake if you want but because it rained they shut it down early even though the rain wasn't too bad.

I would just keep in mind that the buses in Hakone run at a snails pace and are few and far between. It is a nice quaint area for viewing the mountain or having a onsen experience but the buses are ill equipped to handle the amount of tourists.

Kyoto - Nol Kyoto Sanjo (4 nights, $900)

This was probably my favorite hotel. It had great service was on the medium to small side. They have a really cool hotel lobby (past the hotel desk). It had a nice layout and a wonderful Hiba wood tub that smelled really good.

I felt like Kyoto was the most ill equipped with tourism infrastructure. Since there are a lot of tourists or what it felt like when I went, Kyoto just didn't have the public transport or organization that I felt like the other cities sort of had to support the abundance of tourist.

Osaka - Hotel Cordia Hommachi (4 nights, $350)

This was probably my least favorite hotel. It was cramped and didn't have a bathtub to soak your worn feet. There were a lot of Western customers, which is fine but it didn't feel like a Japanese hotel, if that makes sense.

Food & Restaurants

This part is pretty short cause I don't recall all the restaurants we went to but the ones that stood out were:

Gyukatsu Ichi Ni San (Tokyo) - we didn't plan on eating here but we were in the area. It opens at 11am I believe and we waited at 10. We were maybe the 20th in line but because it only seats 12ish, we waited 2 hours before eating. The meal was great but the waiting kind of took away from the experience. I chose the small but the time we got to eat and seeing the portion my husband and I agreed we could have gone a size up each. (Him large and me medium.)

Serves: beef katsu

Ryan (Tokyo) - this restaurant specializes in soba noodles. They have a set menu or you can order a la carte. We made a reservation because my husband doesn't do seafood but I love soba. It was probably one of our best meals we had in Japan. We ordered cold soba and some wagyu which was delicious. Some seating is by the prep stations and since it caters to Japanese clients we unfortunately didn't get to talk much with our chef. But a neat thing was they save the soba water and you can drink it after your meal. It was actually pretty good and I will remember the experience fondly.

Serves: Soba noodles

Hyakuten Manten (Kyoto) - I have a fond memory of this place because it was after a long day and I didn't think I'd be up for curry again. But, we had katsu and curry. My husband had curry ramen. They curry flavor was amazing and the owners who work there are a sweet elderly couple. The husband asked where we came from and the wife didn't know much english but I used a translator to let her know it was very delicious and to keep going and she was so sweet. Definitely recommend.

Serves: curry ramen or with rice

Kichi Kichi Omurice - was hard to get reservations even though I got on on time. We had the form filled in but when we went to select a time the drop down glitched and didn't give us a time. We did the time first then put our name the 2nd attempt but it was just so busy. However, we went to another omurice place and honestly it wasn't for me. It's an omelet with rice in it...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/TrainBuff256 on 2024-10-15 13:53:39+00:00.

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Hey everyone! I just got back from an unforgettable trip in Japan, and as a massive train nerd, I thought I’d share my experience with some of the most unique train rides you can take in the country. Whether you’re into trains or just looking for an amazing way to travel through Japan, this route is an absolute gem.

So, a bit about me – I’ve been obsessed with trains since I was a kid. I’ve ridden trains across the US and Europe, but Japan is on another level. The country has a mix of cutting-edge technology and old-school charm that makes it perfect for a train journey. This time, my friends and I set our sights on three iconic trains: the Sunrise Express, the 500 Series Shinkansen, and the SL Yamaguchi. If you’re even remotely interested in trains, or just want a memorable way to explore Japan, you’ve gotta check these out!

We started with the Sunrise Express, Japan’s last overnight sleeper train, which runs from Tokyo to Okayama. I got myself a Solo cabin – it’s a small private room with a bed, just enough space to stretch out and relax as you speed through the night. Some of my friends opted for the Nobi-Nobi Seat, which is more of a flat floor space that you can lie down on. My friends said it was surprisingly comfortable but I enjoyed having my own little private nook.

The ride was super smooth. I fell asleep somewhere after Yokohama, and when I woke up, we were passing through the gorgeous rural landscape near Himeji. The timing was perfect – the sun was just rising over the horizon, and we got this incredible view of the Akashi Bridge, shrouded in early morning mist on the Seto Inland Sea. At one point, I even spotted a crane standing by a rice paddy, which felt like such a rare and peaceful moment. This was one of those "wow, I’m really in Japan" experiences.

Once we arrived in Okayama, the next train on our list was the 500 Series Shinkansen. This thing is a piece of history. When it debuted in 1997, it was the first bullet train to break 300 km/h. And here’s a fun fact for fellow train geeks – its nose was designed based on the shape of a kingfisher’s beak, using biomimicry to reduce air resistance and make it quieter. How cool is that? The design alone is worth the ride. As we zipped down the tracks toward Shin-Yamaguchi, I couldn’t help but marvel at how futuristic it still feels, even after all these years.

But the highlight of the trip had to be the SL Yamaguchi, a steam locomotive that runs between Shin-Yamaguchi and Tsuwano. Now, this is where old-school charm meets raw power. The train itself is a beautifully restored locomotive from the early 20th century, and riding it is like stepping back in time. The sound of the steam engine chugging, the whistle echoing through the mountains, and the sight of black smoke puffing into the sky made it feel like we were on a movie set. The train moves slower than the Shinkansen, but that just gives you more time to appreciate the stunning scenery – we passed through lush green mountains, tunnels carved into hillsides, and rivers that cut through valleys. Every moment was like something out of a postcard.

If you’re planning a trip and want a unique way to see Japan, riding these three trains is an absolute must. We booked our tickets through Sunrise Express Tickets, and it made the whole process so easy. Getting seats on the Sunrise Express can be tricky, but these guys really came through, especially for reserving the SL Yamaguchi, which is pretty popular. Seriously, check them out if you’re thinking about doing a similar trip!

TL;DR: For a once-in-a-lifetime train adventure, take the Sunrise Express, 500 Series Shinkansen, and the SL Yamaguchi. You’ll experience Japan in a way few travelers do – through its most iconic trains!

Happy to answer any questions if you’re curious about the journey or want tips on how to plan this!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/persimmonsareawesome on 2024-10-14 20:20:06+00:00.

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Hi everyone! I (solo F) just got back from my trip and wanted to leave a report in case it helps anyone else plan their trip. A quick note: this is technically my second trip to Japan, but since my first was a study abroad semester, I've done most of the more "typical" things during my semester abroad (Ex. Shibuya Sky, Kiyomizu-dera, Osaka Castle). So that's why they're excluded from my itinerary.

Luggage: I brought one large suitcase, one duffle, and one backpack. The duffle was for overnight trips, which came in handy. Though I didn't plan on using luggage-forwarding, I ended up using it once my big suitcase got too heavy.

$$$: I brought the equivalent of $1000 USD in yen. I used it pretty sparingly and put most of my expenses on my credit card. I have the Bilt card and highly recommend it: no transaction fees and I stayed at most of the hotels for free by redeeming them with Bilt points. Really helped keep my costs down.

Shinkansen Reservation: for all trains on the main island, I used the SmartEx app to reserve seats with oversized luggage space. Pretty easy to do and no charges for changing the time of the train on the day of if you suddenly realize you can't make a train. I bought the All-Area Kyushu Rail 7-day pass, starting from the Hakata-Kumamoto trip. I did the math and it was much more worth it than buying each ticket separately. To reserve an over-sized luggage seat with the pass, just go to the JR Station Office and the staff there will help you do that.

Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo

• I arrived pretty late (6pm) so I just had dinner with a friend before tuning in for the night
• Hotel: APA Hotel Ningyosho Eki Kita
  • Close to several different subway lines; 35-ish minute train ride to Disneyland
  • Room was pretty small and it was hard to maneuver my big suitcase in the room.
  • I chose it for its proximity to the Yurakucho BicCamera lol

Day 2: Tokyo Disneyland

• I downloaded the Tokyo Disney Resort App and used the Priority Pass & Standby Passes. I didn't need to get the paid Disney Premier Access and went on all the rides I wanted Ex. Pooh's Hunny Hunt, Beauty & the Beast, Big Thunder Mountain
• Highly recommend staying for the Electrical Parade Dreamlights show at night!
• Didn't go to the new Fantasy Springs since that was in Disneysea
• Paid out of pocket

Day 3: Kyoto/Kibune

• Took the 6:42 AM Shinkansen to Kyoto Stn. Dropped off bags at hotel, and then took transport to Kibune. Ended up just taking the bus there and the train back.
• Activities:
  • Hirobun - read online that the wait time was long so I went here first to get a number
    • The nagashi somen was pretty worth it as an experience, I think. Definitely had better food during the trip but I do recommend trying this.
  • Hyoue Cafe - kawadoko-style cafe; can have desserts and lattes while dipping your feet into the river
  • Kifune Shrine - really pretty but pretty overcrowded. Hard to get nice pictures of the scenery without getting 10000 people in.
    • the mizu-mikuji was pretty cool (omikuji in water)
    • also got a goshuin here
  • I considered doing the hike to Kuramadera but I wasn't dressed for hiking and the bugs were pretty intense
  • Went back to Kyoto around 4pm and spent a few hours shopping at Nishiki Market
    • if you love spicy food, highly recommend Ochanoko saisai!
• Hotel: Kyoto Universal Hotel Karasuma
  • It looked pretty close to Kyoto Station on Google maps, but in reality, it was a bit of a walk and not really accessible if you have a big luggage (it wasn't a big deal for me)
  • Paid for with Bilt Points
  • Included a half-board (2 meals) and had an onsen!

Day 4: Amanohashidate

• I left my big suitcase at the Kyoto hotel and just took my duffle bag on the bus. I booked the bus ticket in advance on this website. The trip was from 7:20 am to 9:25 am.
• I rented a bike from this store. The area was pretty bikeable in my opinion.
• Attractions:
  • Amanohashidate View Land - took the monorail up (chair-lift was not working)
    • had pudding
    • tried and failed at the pottery toss
    • Bought a "ryu no onegaidama" for Naraiji Temple
    • Tried matanozoki (looking between your legs) - VERY cool experience
  • Chionji Temple - got goshuin and the fan omikuji
  • Biked across the sandbar
  • Had lunch at Hashidate Chaya (located on the sandbar)
  • Biked to Kasamatsu Park - went to Manai Shrine, Motoise Kono Jinja to get goshuin, and then took the chairlift up to another lookout
  • Hiked to Naraiji from the park (half an hour?)
  • I considered biking to Ine but it was getting a bit late and I had to return my bike back to the original shop to get my deposit back.
• Hotel: Auberge Amanohashidate
  • LOVED this spot! Paid out of pocket for the stay and dinner at the restaurant. But you get access to the big onsen at Amanohashidate Hotel next door. The bathrooms are shared but since each room has its own faucet, I didn't find this to be inconvenient.

Day 5: Uji

• I took the earliest bus (booked through same link as above) back to Kyoto Station and because the hotel was again, kind of far, I left my duffle in a coin locker at the station and went directly to Uji
• Attractions:
  • Byodo-in Temple and Museum - pretty cool but looking back, I don't think it's necessary to wait around to go see the Phoenix Hall. It's just one room and the tour is given in Japanese. You do get a brief brochure in your preferred language but it's definitely not as thorough as what the guide is saying
  • Uji-Shrine and Ujigami-Jinja - these two are next to each other and if you love bunnies, they have lots of cute rabbit motifs
  • Walked along Uji River and to To-no-shima Island
  • Tsuen Tea House - had lunch here (cha soba), had ice cream, and bought souvenirs
  • Mimurotoji Temple - a bit of a walk from the other attractions (40min-1hr) but I thought it was nice
  • Walked through Byodo-in Omotesando Street and bought souvenirs

Day 6: Osaka/Katsuoji

• Left Kyoto early-ish, dropped off stuff at hotel, and headed to Katsuoji. Be mindful of the bus times. Katsuoji took half a day, and I spent the rest of the day in the Namba area.
• Attractions:
  • Katsuoji Temple - really cool experience seeing all the darumas and completing the 6 stamps postcard
  • Lunch at Cinnamoroll Cafe in Namba
  • Namba Yasaka Shrine
  • Had dinner in Dotonbori
  • went to Umeda Sky Building at night - the escalator was super cool
• Hotel: Sunny Stone Hotel
  • I really liked the location: it was 8 minutes by subway from Shin-Osaka Station, so it was easy to get there right after getting off the shinkansen. Highly recommend staying near Shin-Osaka Station rather than Osaka Station.
  • Paid for with Bilt Points
  • Breakfast included

Day 7: Universal Studios Japan

• Went mostly for the Demon Slayer attraction lol
• I got on pretty much every ride without waiting a long time since I was a solo rider. If you're by yourself or don't mind sitting with strangers, this is a faster option and you don't need to buy a fast pass or anything.
• Kinopio Cafe - had lunch here. Reservations are pretty hard to get so try to get this as soon as possible.
• I got the time reservation for the Harry Potter and Nintendo areas
• Stayed for Halloween Nights - it was alright

Day 8: Himeji

• To be honest, there wasn't much to do here other than the castle. I considered doing Engyoji Temple and Mount Shosha too but was too tired.
• Attractions:
  • Himeji Castle - they had a lot of English descriptions in the castle so it was quite interesting to learn about the castle and its inhabitants' stories
  • Miyuki Shopping Street
  • Koko-en Garden + Soju-an Teahouse
• Hotel: Himeji Station Universal Hotel South Exit
  • included half-board and onsen
  • Paid with Bilt Points
• Overall: I'm glad I got to see Himeji Castle since it's a national treasure, but I don't think I'd return again.

Day 9: Okunoshima (rabbit island)

• Had some transportation mishaps getting here. My shinkansen was delayed by 40 minutes and threw off all the local transportation I had planned. The local train doesn't run that often from Mihara Stn. (shinkansen) to Tadanoumi Port, where you catch the ferry to the island
• Remember to buy pellets at the cafe at Tadano-umi port! They don't sell pellets on the island. But also hold off on buying souvenirs at the cafe since there are more/better ones at the Island hotel shop.
  • I bought 4 packs and ran out. The rabbits are especially hungry at dawn and twilight.
• The island is pretty small so I opted for walking rather than biking. Finished walking in half a day.
• The poison gas museum is just 2 rooms and everything is in Japanese so it wasn't a big part of my trip
• Overall: coming to rabbit island has been a dream of mine since I was very young since I love bunnies and owned bunnies. I'm glad I came but I met some activists(?) on the island who exposed me to issues such as how none of the money generated from tourists goes towards the rabbits' care (there were several rabbits who looked in need of vet care). The rabbit population is also noticeably smaller than Youtube videos from 10 years ago show.
• Hotel: Kyukamura Ohkunoshima
  • Included a breakfast and dinner buffet, and two onsens
  • Paid out of pocket
  • Honestly one of the friendliest accommodations I've ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jetteaupied on 2024-10-14 19:10:33+00:00.

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Hello, since this subreddit (and the associated discord) was quite helpful, I'm doing a trip report. I hope it can useful to some people.

I'm from France and traveled solo from Sept 11 to October 8. It was my first time in Japan (and in Asia in general), my main goals were more or less visiting cities and eating.

The itinerary :

• Sept 11 - Sept 18: Tokyo
• Sept 18 - Sept 25: Osaka
• Sept 25 - Oct 2: Nagoya
• Oct 2 - Oct 4: Fuji (lake Shoji)
• Oct 4 - Oct 8: Tokyo

I reserved the accommodations for Tokyo and Osaka a few weeks before leaving, and the rest while I was in Osaka. I didn't prepare a detailed schedule, so the contents of my days were usually improvised the day before or right on the spot. Often I didn't do any particular attraction but just walked in the streets. I usually tried to avoid too touristic places.

For accommodations, I just wanted a bed to sleep, so except for the 2 days at lake Shoji, I only stayed in dormitories in hostels. A bit spartan, but it worked for me. Between AC fans, people waking up early to catch a plane, etc. you probably want to sleep with earplugs.

Weather was in general hot. I had seen that the summer was really hot in Japan, and by checking historical temperatures, I thought it would be relatively OK from september. But days at >32°C with high humidity were common and those weren't pleasant. There's a lot of AC everywhere (or at least in big cities) so if you're inside it's not an issue, but just walking outside is brutal. Japanese people I talked to said that this year was hotter than usual in September and October.

• Sept 11 - Sept 18: Tokyo

Accommodation: Tomariya Ueno, near Ueno as the name implies, 29000¥ for 7 nights. Pretty much only a place to sleep.

There was a nice view of mount Fuji from the plane. Didn't really sleep in the plane so I was a bit tired the first few days. Random bakeries (e.g. this one, which was just next to the hostel) are pretty good for breakfast, as well as chains like Matsuya/Yoshinoya/...

I went to Tokyo Skytree, apparently there's debates on what the best observation tower in Tokyo. I didn't try the others, so I can't tell, but it's quite mind-blowing to see how big Tokyo is. If you want to see farther (mount Fuji for example), it's probably better in winter due to less humidity.

Tokyo National Museum was great (even if I only went to Toyokan (Asian gallery) and Honkan (Japanese Gallery)).

If you're looking for second-hand books (mostly in Japanese though, but not always), Jimbocho is the place to be. The imperial palace gardens are nice, though probably more interesting in spring.

As with all the modern art museums I visited, the MOT (Museum of Comtemporary Art) had things that I liked and others that left me indifferent, but pretty neat anyway. The ward it's in (Koto), despite being just next to the center, feels a bit like a village, I even saw people playing pétanque in a park.

I went to a couple of shows featured on GigsInTokyo which were great, though the day after the 10pm-5am one was obviously a bit harder ^^. Also met up a bit with people from the Discord in Shibuya/Shinjuku.

• Sept 17: Day trip to Yokohama: Lot of stuff to see (Chinatown, old foreign settlements, the docks...). I wonder what's the price of land in Yamate/The Bluff. Nice views at night from the Marine Tower.
• Sept 18: Visiting Kyoto on the way to Osaka.

Did my quota of temples/shrines with Sanjusangendo and Kiyomizu-dera. I found the contrast interesting between the hordes of tourists visiting Kiyomizu-dera and the Ryozen shrine/cemetery/museum, just 500m to the North, a quiet place with really nationalist vibes (for example there's a statue of a kamikaze pilot, or a monument to the only judge who thought all the defendants in the Japanese war crimes trial were not guilty). The gardens of the Heian Shrine were nice and pretty calm compared to other more touristic places.

• Sept 18 - Sept 25: Osaka

Accommodation: Mitsuwaya, 25000¥ for 7 nights. As hostels go, this one was pretty much the best I went to. Dormitories aren't too big, there's some nice common areas and staff is friendly.

Didn't went inside the Osaka castle, but the gardens around were really nice. Beside the tourists, there were a lot of locals just chilling there. I spent almost a day just looking at various shops of Nipponbashi, even if I had no intention of buying stuff there, some are almost like museums. Good music show at Namba Bears (Buddhadatta, Kegawarashi, Zipper Clone). Also met some people from the Discord.

For some reason there's a lot of temples near the hostel. Do they all have their specialities? Tennoji was nice anyway.

• Sept 23: day trip to Kobe: There was some kind of festival in Chinatown, various dances/martial arts demos. The sight from the hills behind the Shin-Kobe station at night was quite nice.

The aquarium of Osaka was interesting. There was a temporary exhibit on jellyfishes.

I often heard that people in Osaka were friendlier (or at least easier to approach) than in Tokyo, and it seems true. I found a good way to talk to Japanese people was to go to a random, small izakaya (like 8 seats and only one cook/server), and just eating/drinking whatever.

• Sept 25 - Oct 2: Nagoya

Accommodation: Glocal Hostel, 216€ (~34000¥) for 7 nights, though contrary to other place that I booked directly on their websites, this one I reserved via booking.com. Quite nice, though the beds were not completely enclosed beds like the previous hostels, but simply bunk beds with curtains.

Each time I told Japanese people I was staying one week in Nagoya they seemed surprised, but I found enough stuff to do there (or around).

The main towers of Nagoya castle are closed, not sure when they're supposed to open again. The Honmaru palace decoration is a bit flashy (they sure loved gold). There's lot of interesting stuff to see, for example they're showing the archives made before WWII that allowed to rebuild the castle as it was before it burned down.

• Sept 27: day trip/hike between Nagatsugawa and Nagiso: I decided to pick a train line, go to the end of it and find whatever is interesting there. Apparently the thing to do once you're in Nakatsugawa is to walk on the Nakasendo. I went all the way to Nagiso to take the train back to Nagoya, though I started a bit late so I ended the hike in the night. It would probably be better to start sooner and/or take a bus for part of the way. Anyway, really nice hike, with old buildings (some rebuilt after the usual fires) and it was a nice change from the city. There were warnings for bears, but not sure how common they really are.

I met a friend and we went to the SCMaglev and Railway Park (a JR museum with a lot of trains), interesting stuff, even if you cannot enter the driver's compartments :(. They had an impressing railway model/diorama, some train model nerds probably had the time of their life building it. Next day we went to the Toyota Commemorative Museum which is really interesting if you like machines and engineering. They have a lot of working machines as well as live demonstrations of metal working (foundry, forge, machining) and usually explain in detail how things work.

I went to Legoland, which honestly was more for children, though all the things built in lego (decorations, the miniatures cities) were impressive.

• Oct 1: day trip to Shinojima: I wanted to go to the beach, so I took the train to Kowa, but it didn't really look great there, so I took a boat to Shinojima. The island was really nice. Even if it probably wasn't the high season, I was surprised that no one was taking a sea bath (or even was on the beach itself).
• Oct 2 - Oct 4: Fuji, lake Shoji

I took the shinkansen to Tokyo and stopped at Shin-Fuji to get on a bus. It stopped just in front of the Shoji Lake Hotel which was practical. The hotel was 29000¥ for 2 nights, it was nice, though there was no meal included (which would have been practical since there's not a lot of things around). The sauna/exterior bath was nice.

The weather was clear on the 2nd so there were nice views of Mount Fuji, but the next days were super cloudy.

Hiked in the mountains on the 3rd which was nice but a bit frustrating since despite walking on a mountain ridge for a few hours, there were almost no good point of view because of the trees. On the other hand, there was nobody else and I saw a deer. It started to rain at 1pm so I ended up soaked.

Since weather didn't seem to be better on the 4th I took the first bus to get back to Tokyo.

• Oct 4 - Oct 8: Tokyo part 2

Accommodation: Plat Hostel Keikyu Haneda, 17000¥ for 4 nights. Not as spartan as Tomariya Ueno, but still pretty basic. I went there to leave more easily for the airport on the 8th, but that makes it a bit far from the center.

During these days I mostly walked around the city and searched for a few souvenirs. The Fukagawa Edo museum was interesting, they recreated a fe...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Fast_Guarantee8358 on 2024-10-13 10:58:17+00:00.

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Hello, me and my husband are travelling to Japan for the first time and we have curated an interinary after some research. Would much appreciate it if you could give suggestions on any modifications or if you have any better places that you think we should cover. Thanks a lot in advance.

Interinary:

November 13 - 15: Tokyo (3 days)

November 13 : Arrive in Tokyo. Explore Shibuya

November 14 :

Asakusa’s Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo Skytree More exploration

November 15 : Explore Shinjuku

November 16 - 17 - Kawaguchiko (2 days)

November 16 : Travel to Kawaguchiko Stay at a traditional ryokan with an onsen

Visit Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station if accessible

November 17 :

Explore Fuji Five Lakes and Chureito Pagoda, Aokigahara Forest

November 18 - 20 - Kyoto (3 days)

November 18 : Travel to Nakatsugawa for the Magome-Tsumago hike. Explore and Travel to Kyoto

November 19 : Explore Kyoto Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, and Higashiyama District, Fushimi Sake District

November 20 : Explore more of Kyoto Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), Ryoan-ji, and Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Okochi Sanso Villa in Arashiyama.

November 21 - 22 Osaka (2 days)

November 21 : Travel to Osaka from Kyoto. Visit Osaka Castle and explore the Namba District. Off-beat suggestion: Explore Hozenji Yokocho and Hozenji Temple.

November 22 : Day trip to Himeji. Visit Himeji Castle, Kokoen Garden, and Mount Shosha. Return to Osaka in the evening.

November 23 - 24 Miyajima (2 days)

November 23 : Travel to Hiroshima . Visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.

November 24 : Take a ferry to Miyajima Explore Itsukushima Shrine and Mount Misen. Stay overnight on Miyajima

November 25 - 26 Tokyo (1.5 days)

November 25 : Return to Tokyo Explore the area, including Shinjuku nightlife.

November 26 : Return home

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Mahxxi on 2024-10-09 18:23:12+00:00.

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Yes I know Shinjuku probably might be a bit overwhelming for first time travelers, and I can confirm it is. My fiancé and I stayed here cause close friends of mine stayed here and they told me “it’s like New York but Japan!”

As someone who’s frequent New York and lived in LA, I can confirm that’s 100% true without the violence. We arrived around 3pm, plenty of time for us to sightsee, go eat, get konbini food, all the things you do. We took a nap, woke up, 2am and we’re feeling ramen, so why not try ichiran? It’s a 6 min walk from our hotel, and man did I feel back in downtown LA/NY:

• drunk gals laughing and holding each other up
• young looking clergymen kicking a can around while displaying ultimate bromance
• police officers trying to separate drunk people fighting
• people standing outside clubs
• taxis trying to maneuver around people who aren’t following the walking signals
• a guy literally peeing into a sewer grate

All in 6 minutes!

Honestly, definitely overwhelming for introverts/first timers. Thankfully I grew up in the chaos and it was fun to see that it wasn’t as quiet and introverted as social media claims Japan to be (at least my For You page).

The only downside were the fellow foreigners. For example, minutes ago as we were walking back to our hotel, this couple (I’m going to assume Italian? Kept hearing the man call his parter amore and bella) were drunk af. They were screaming and jumping at people, there were these poor guys waiting for an elevator and they just jumped right at them and screamed “fook me.” Thankfully after they feinted hitting a guy riding on a bike an officer showed up before we were allowed to cross the street to attempt to chill them out.

Otherwise, if you love the chaos and the lights, come to Shinjuku!

Edit: realized posting day by day report would be pretty bad/spamming, so I’ll follow everyone and do a final report of my 14 day trip and report there. I’ll say I did get to visit Harajuku, Shibuya, and more of Shinjuku at night, specifically golden gai. An absolute fun time the entire day throughout!