Japan Trips & Travel Tips

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/niicolaa on 2024-01-24 00:47:37.

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Recently returned from a two-and-a-half week Asia trip (Tokyo, Kyoto, USJ, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore). Our main goal was to visit every Disney park in the world (already had CA, FL, and Paris) and threw in the trip to Universal Studios Japan because why not?

As a plus-size woman (5'6, 280lbs, US size 22ish) I was most nervous about USJ and read everything I could. There's plenty out there about who did or did not fit on certain attractions, and seeing as we are all built differently, there are of course no guarantees until you're on the ride.

That being said, here are a few tips I learned from our two days at USJ that I hadn't seen before:

1. Try the test seats in different positions. DO NOT be embarrassed! Everyone we met was INCREDIBLY kind and gracious. If you don't fit at first, try sitting slightly differently. Scooting around and figuring out what worked for me was key.

2. They do not have the modified seats like we do in the US, so be prepared. For example, I fit on the modified seats on Harry Potter here in Orlando without issue, but that was not an option in Osaka.

3. Talk to your travel buddies and prepare them. There were a few rides where I just couldn't get the right angle to pull the restraints down more, even though I knew they could close further. Once a USJ team member pushed the bar down for me, but others were more hesitant. I asked my friend to just quickly help push the bar down before he got on, which was much easier for everyone involved, and worked without a hitch!

4. If you want to purchase the Express Pass but are nervous you won't be able to use all of it if you don't fit, BUY IT! We purchased the full pass from the Japanese site and if I couldn't fit on a ride, the team members let us know we'd be able to exchange it for a different attraction. For example, I didn't fit on Hollywood Dream. Since I had an express pass for both the normal and backward versions, my friend and I took that and used it for both of us to get a second ride on Jaws instead.

Hope this helps someone else who was as nervous as I was feel a little more at ease. Happy to answer any other questions should anyone have them :)

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/mithdraug on 2024-01-23 16:07:32.

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With the launch of Hokuriku shinkansen expansion comes expected price hike of JR West Hokuriku passes starting on 16 March.

| Pass | Old Price | New Price | |

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| | Hokuriku Arch Pass | 24,500 yen | 30,000 yen | | Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass | 17,000 yen | 19,000 yen | | Hokuriku Area Pass | 5,090 yen | 7,000 yen | | JR West All Area Pass | 26,000 yen | 26,000 yen | | Takayama-Hokuriku Area Excursion Ticket | 19,800 yen | 19,800 yen |

Please note that existing JR Hokuriku line operations between Tsuruga and Kanazawa will be replaced by Hokuriku shinkansen operation (fully covered by those passes) and a conventional line run by new third-sector operator Hapi-Line Fukui between Tsuruga and Daishoji, and by IR-Ishikawa Railway between Daishoji and Kanazawa. Above-mentioned passes will cover only sections of those needed to access cul de sac JR lines.

Passes and exchange orders bought before 15 March will remain valid.

Source:

Please note that special deals on one-way JR West trains will be extended to Kyoto/Osaka to Tsuruga/Kanazawa/Toyama sections. Additional new special deal fares (Hayatoku-7 and Hayatoku-14) will also apply for Nagoya-Maibara-Tsuruga (Shirasagi) route.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Hey-Prague on 2024-01-23 10:15:39.

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First of all sorry for my mistakes with the language, I am not an English native speaker.

I traveled to Japan for the first time in mid October 2023, until 2nd November, and it was the best trip of my life.

We visited Tokyo (and DisneySea), Kyoto (with day trip to Nara) and Hiroshima (day trip to Miyajima).

For those who don't want to read the whole thing:

-Data: We both bought 10 GB of roaming with Ubigi and it was great, 5G all the time.

• Transport: Loaded the Suica into our iPhones and it was very easy to use, just tap in and out metro stations, trains within the city and buses.

We also bought the 7 day JR Pass with the previous price, for our trips from Tokyo - Kyoto - Hiroshima, and ended up using it also to get to Nara and Miyajima.

• Food: Loved everything. Apart from the typical sushi and ramen, I enjoyed tonkatsu, Japanese curry, all sorts of snacks, tofu... We never queued for a restaurant, there's such an amount of them that I feel we didn't have to.

If you are a soft-serve lover, please try to find Cremia. Thank me later.

-Crowds: I read here about how overcrowded Kyoto can be, but I didn't have that experience. Yes, the most popular areas attract a lot of tourists, but there are so, so many temples in the city that are empty that you can always enjoy it. In Tokyo we also felt very comfortable, the only moment I felt it was too much was a weekend night before Halloween in Shibuya, but again, you walk one street away and it's almost empty.

Staff: I have to say this, but every single employee, from hotels, to restaurants, to shops, was extremely polite, I loved it.

DisneySea: Best theme park I've ever been to. We went on 31st October and expected huge crowds but we had the park to ourselves!

Prices: Due to the yen being so weak, we found the prices very, very cheap. Food was much cheaper than in Prague. You can manage to eat in a lot of places for 1000 yen, or even less! Clothes were also cheaper than in at least most of Europe, especially Uniqlo of course.

1. Arrival in Tokyo:

We arrived at around 7 pm, and went through immigration quite quickly. We bought the Narita Express return ticket (since we were leaving within 14 days) and made our way to Tokyo.

The arrival to Tokyo Station was very easy, we had handluggage and a big suitcase and had more than enough space on the Narita Express (for the handluggage above our heads, for the big suitcase on ther designated area).

We were staying in Kanda, exactly one stop between Tokyo Station and Akihabara, and since this station is covered by JR lines, we could use our Narita Express ticket to get there. I thought navigating Tokyo Station would be complicated, but it is actually really easy, just follow the signs to your JR or metro line and be sure you are taking the train on the right direction.

We stayed at the Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kanda Otemachi, and for us it was great. Sure, the rooms are very small, but the price was great, the location excellent and the breakfast was good.

Kanda was a great place to stay. There was a lot of different restaurants, it became nicely alive in the evenings, and we also had 7/11, Lawson and Family Mart around us.

2. Tokyo Day 1:

Jet lag was quite bad but didn't stop us from enjoying the breakfast and going to Asakusa to see the Senso-ji Temple and walk around the area. We also got exposed to our first Don Quijote, which was nice because it was almost empty, a big contrast compared to the Shibuya one.

After this we went to the Skytree, for which I had bought tickets. Highly recommend it. We also ate in the food court of the mall underneath the tower.

We walked around the area and ended up going to Ueno Park, where we rested for some time, and made our way to Akihabara. It was fun to just walk around and play some arcades.

For dinner we went back to Kanda and visited one of the restaurants there.

3. Tokyo Day 2:

This day was a Saturday, and went to TeamLab Planets at the opening hour. We really enjoyed the exposition (I thought it would be longer though), and the time we spent getting there walking around Odaiba afterwards.

We took the Yurikamome from there to go to Ginza and ejoy the views from the monorail. It was more expensive than the regular metro, but worth it.

We spent the next few hours in Ginza checking stores such as Uniqlo, and since it was Saturday the main street was closed to cars which was very nice.

In the evening we walked from our hotel back to Ginza to see it at night.

4. Tokyo - Kyoto Day 3:

In the morning we left Tokyo to go to Kyoto. We took the shinkansen at Tokyo Station and arrived in Kyoto around noon. I was surprised by how much space we had on the train. We could fit our big luggage on the overhead compartiment.

After arriving in Kyoto, we went straight to leave our belongings at the hotel (Hotel Rinn Niomon). This hotel was fantastic, a short walk from both metro and bus stops, and walkable distance from Gion or the river. The room was very big, but the downside is that they do not offer breakfast.

We made our way from there by walk to Nanzen-ji Temple, and from there we followed the Philosopher's Path to the Silver Pavillion.

I have to say this was one of the best parts of the trip. We visited many temples on the side of the path, and the are itself is extremely peaceful.

At night we made it to Pontocho and walked back through Gion. Both were very beautiful at night.

5. Kyoto Day 4:

We took the bus to Kiyomizu-dera at around 9 am. Although it wasn't early, and there were many people, the experience was very good. We spent quite some time here, and then made our way down to Kennin-ji Temple, which was almost empty and was simply amazing.

We decided to visit Nishiki Market, which was a bit too crowded at that time, and finished the day walking around the center and by the Kamo river.

At night we decided to have dinner in some local area, and ended up having some spectacular Japanese curry in a tiny restaurant in front of the University Hospital.

6. Kyoto Day 5:

This was Arashiyama day. Getting there by public transport is really easy. The bamboo grove is alright, but walking around the area and seeing the hills, the river and the Saga Toriimoto streets was much better.

We had an amazing lunch (herring and tofu ramen) at Jurakuan. The owner is a very old lady, and she worked there alone. Obviously she doesn't speak any English, but we somehow managed to communicate. You sit on the floor, and the place looks like from an old movie, definitely recommend.

On the way back to our hotel, we walked around the Imperial Palace gardens and next to the Kamo River.

7. Kyoto Day 6 (Nara and Fushimi Inari):

We visited Nara Park during the morning and really liked it, Todai-ji is worth the trip alone. Since we came with the JR train, the walk from the JR station to Nara Park was quite long, so be aware of that, a lot of time was spent just walking to get to the park and then back to the station.

On the way back we stopped by Fushimi Inari, and while at first it was very crowded, after 20 minutes going upstairs we were almost alone. We couldn't make it to the top because it was getting dark already, but I really liked the place.

8. Kyoto to Miyajima Day 7:

At 8 am we took the direct shinkansen to Hiroshima from Kyoto Station. From there, we took the local train that leaves you by the sea, where we took the boat to the island.

This was one of the best days of the trip. The island is really beautiful, with its forests and deers, and they have great oysters!

In the evening we went back to Hiroshima, and stayed at Smile Hotel Hiroshima. Typical business hotel, but bigger than the one in Tokyo. Good breakfast and location.

Special mention to the sushi place we visited that night, Tsuru Sushi, run by an elderly couple who do not speak any English and offer an amazing sushi for very good price. On top of that, when leaving, they gifted us with a very cute mug from their restaurant.

9. Hiroshima to Kyoto Day 8:

We visited the Peace Memorial and Museum. It's not a fun experience, but necessary. After that we went for a walk around the Hiroshima castle and the city center, and made our way back to Kyoto, this time with a short change in Osaka.

10. Kyoto to Tokyo Day 9:

The next morning we left Kyoto. After arriving to our hotel in Tokyo (same one in Kanda), we headed to Shinjuku and spent the rest of the day there, walking around Kabukicho too. Not much to tell here, interesting buildings, but not my favorite area in Tokyo.

11. Tokyo Day 10:

We first went around Takeshita street, which was interesting to see but not our vibe, but we had a good time exploring streets around, like Cat street. Plenty of shops, any brand you can imagine was there. Once you leave Takeshita the streets are much quieter too.

After that we went to Shibuya and walked around the main streets. It was the weekend right before Halloween so the experience wasn't as enjoyable because there was police everywhere and you had to rush to cross the scrumble.

12. Tokyo Day 11:

We decided to walk around a different neighbourhood, Shimokitazawa, and it was great! No tourists on sight, streets that seemed to have come straight from an anime and a very nice vibe overall.

Also, I had to buy some stuff at Uniqlo so this area was great for that, the store was very big and it was empty compared to other locations in more popular areas.

13. Tokyo Day 12:

Tokyo DisneySea day! I was extremely worr...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/LordBexley on 2024-01-23 04:55:50.

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Just an FYI, anyone travelling between Sendai and Tokyo and Tokyo and Nagano don’t expect to get a Shinkansen. There’s power outages/damages to the power lines and we are currently stuck on the Shinkansen with no where to go. Keep in mind these delays to happen!EDIT, 7PM: there is an excellent comment below by u/titibu explaining what happened. EDIT,9PM: Just been to Sendai station, there are people sleeping on the floor with their bags. The 1st Shinkansen to Tokyo in the morning is fully booked with standing room only.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/JBS319 on 2024-01-22 05:51:22.

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I got home a couple hours ago from my third trip to Japan, and what was almost certainly the best solo trip I've ever taken. I crossed Japan from snow-covered Sapporo to the palm trees of Ibusuki, taking advantage of Japan's incredible railway system and making full use of my two week Japan Rail Pass. So, without further ado...

December 31-January 1: New York to Washington

This trip got off to a very hectic start, as Amtrak faced severe signal problems on New Year's Eve. Luckily, a friend of mine was driving a FlixBus to Washington that day, so I got a ride with him instead. I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with friends in DC before crashing on a friend's couch for a couple hours sleep before leaving for Dulles Airport.

January 2-3: Washington to Sapporo

I woke up the morning of January 2, 2024 to the news of the plane crash at Haneda. I didn't know if I would even make it to Japan that day, however NH101 flew as scheduled, getting me to Haneda a few minutes early. After transferring to Terminal 2, I went upstairs to the observation deck. Though JAL516 was no the first plane crash wreckage I've seen (I saw the Miracle on the Hudson plane a few days after that incident), it was a harrowing sight. Unsurprisingly, my flight to Sapporo, NH75, was significantly delayed, enough so I would miss the last train to Sapporo from Chitose. A wonderful ANA gate agent managed to get me on extra flight NH1313, and I managed to catch one of the last trains into Sapporo and got to my hotel at Odori Park as the clock on the Sapporo TV Tower turned to midnight.

January 4-5: Sapporo

I decided not to take the Subway and instead walked to Sapporo station to pick up my JR Pass and reservations in advance. From there, I took the Subway to Maruyama Park and walked to Hokkaido Shrine where Hatsumode was still in full swing. Dropped my 5 yen in the box for luck, got a couple of fortunes and stopped by a couple stands for wagyu skewers and amazake. It was a wonderful atmosphere and a beautiful day outside as well. From there, I crossed the city to the Sapporo Beer Museum. After touring the museum, I went over to the beer hall for a late lunch, with some brewery-exclusive beer and Genghis Khan. After returning to the hotel to change, I took the streetcar to the Mt. Moiwa ropeway, and while I missed sunset by a few minutes, the night view of Sapporo was absolutely stunning. For dinner, I stood in line for a while to get a delicious bowl of miso ramen at Shinshu before stopping by Flair Bar overlooking Susukino Crossing before going back to the hotel for laundry and bed.

I got an early enough train to Teine to make the first bus of the day to Teine ski center and hit the slopes relatively early. Unfortunately, as has been the case around the world this season, there hadn't been nearly enough snow, and there were a number of bare and/or icy patches. Only a couple days removed from a 30 hour travel day and still on a sleep deficit and having not skied at all the season prior, needless to say, my thighs were on fire by the time I finished that afternoon. I'd say easily the best part about Teine is the stunning view over Sapporo and Ishikari Bay. After taking the train back to Sapporo, I had some delicious soup curry and called it a night

January 6-8: Sapporo-Aomori-Sendai-Zao

Departing Sapporo on the Hokuto for Noboribetsu was the first leg of what would be many on my Japan Rail Pass. Noboribetsu Jigokudani reminded me a lot of Yellowstone, both from the smells and the landscape. What Yellowstone doesn't have, however, is an incredible onsen day spa. I sat for a while in the rotenburo looking out over Jigokudani with a light snowfall, and it was positively magical. The Hokuto from Sapporo to Hakodate is incredibly scenic, especially along the coastline of Uchiura Bay. At Shin-Hakodate Hokuto, I boarded my first Shinkansen from the system's northernmost station, taking it through the Seikan Tunnel to Aomori, where I checked into my hotel, went to the Nebuta Museum and had dinner with a local apple sour and apple pie to finish it off.

Rather than taking the quick Shinkansen to Sendai, I decided to take the scenic route, and by scenic route I mean the Resort Shirakami on the Gono Line five hours from Aomori to Akita. We left Aomori in a blizzard and even had to slow for high winds along the Shirakami coast leading to a significant delay that cut what was supposed to be an extended layover stop into a very brief halt. Nonetheless, the ride was spectacular, and I highly recommend it, especially as it's a Rapid service and so doesn't require limited express fare, though all seats are reserved. Riding the Komachi across the mountains through a winter wonderland, we joined with a Hayabusa at Morioka and rocketed south to Sendai where I checked into my hotel, had dinner, and went to bed, still tired.

While I'm a big Pokemon fan, I forewent the Pokemon With You train at Ichinoseki and took an earlier train in order to enjoy a cruise down the Geibikei Gorge, something else I highly recommend. I then made the most of my JR Pass and went to Yamagata via Fukushima. Now, I had seen the new Disney Magical Dream Shinkansen that morning, and I saw it again that afternoon while passing through Sendai and again while transferring at Fukushima. I caught my Tsubasa to Yamagata, my bus to Zao and walked to my hotel, where I took a dip in the onsen and called an early night for what was going to be an exciting next day.

January 9-12: Zao-Aizu Wakamatsu-Tokyo

While most westerners skiing in Japan go to the Australian exclaves of Niseko or Hakuba, I followed the locals to Zao. The morning was a clear blue sky that I knew wasn't going to last, so I went straight to the summit and skied through the Juhyo. The pictures don't do it justice. It's cold, windy, and the Juhyo are something to behold. The conditions rapidly worsened after lunch and eventually reached whiteout on parts of the mountain by the end of the day. I did ski almost until last chair and then took a walk through the town, stopping in one of the public baths and then another that had a foot bath. Wagyu yakiniku for dinner that night, back in the onsen at the hotel, and to bed.

I decided to spice up the travel day from Zao to Aizu and make a stop in Yonezawa for sukiyaki Yonezawa gyu lunch which was absolutely divine. I walked a couple kilometers back to Yonezawa station from the restaurant before getting on the Tsubasa again for Koriyama. I had some time to photograph a few Shinkansen before catching my local train to Aizu Wakamatsu and the bus to my hotel at Higashiyama Onsen, where I had a full country dinner that seemed to be neverending.

For my full day in Aizu Wakamatsu, I made sure to stop by the Bukeyashiki samurai residences and Tsuruga Castle. Aizu Wakamatsu is very proud of its samurai history and these two sites definitely drive it home. That night, rather than having dinner at the hotel again, I hopped a train to Kitakata, where I found a small ramen shop for my second of the three Ramen capitals.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I like to make my travel days a bit interesting. So rather than simply taking the train back to Koriyama and the Shinkansen to Tokyo, I spent five hours on a small diesel train across Oku Aizu along the Tadami Line. There's an argument to be made that the rural Tadami Line and it's wan-man ressha is the most scenic railway in Japan: full service was only recently restored to the entire length of the line after heavy flooding over a decade ago severed the line. From Koide, once again in a blizzard, I took a train to Urawa and a Shinkansen to Tokyo, where I checked into my hotel room overlooking Tokyo Station (even the shower had a view).

January 13-15: Tokyo

I had three full days in Tokyo this time around, which is fine, as my last trip was a week and a half spent entirely in Tokyo. So on the first day, I ended up going to...Shizuoka prefecture to get pictures of the Shinkansen passing in front of Mt. Fuji. This El Niño has hit everywhere hard, and the most iconic mountain in the world was no exception: the normally snow-capped winter summit was hardly snow-capped at all. On my way back to Tokyo, I stopped by Numazu for lunch and some Love Live Sunshine displays around the station before heading back to Tokyo. I stopped by a couple of Pokemon Centers to pick up some merch for a friend and went to the Skytree at night. The next morning, I stopped by A Happy Pancake in Ginza for breakfast before making my way over for a showing of Godzilla Minus-1.0 at Toho Shinjuku: yes, the one with the Godzilla head on it. I went down to Yokohama to get myself a Hanshin Tigers Nippon Champions t-shirt before heading back up to the stalls under the railway at Shimbashi for dinner. My last day of this stint in Tokyo was primarily Shibuya Sky. Hard to get tickets, and I could only get them for the daytime, but I have to imagine it's spectacular at night: even in the day it was quite something (very windy though, and if you're afraid of heights, this might not be for you). I had some time to kill so I rode around on some area trains before getting back to Tokyo Station.

January 15-16: Sunrise Seto

Japan once had an extensive fleet of overnight sleeper trains. Through competition with the Shinkansen, airlines, and more recently overnight buses, only two remain: the Sunrise Seto and Sunrise Izumo, which run as a single train as far as ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/nyx178 on 2024-01-21 23:22:29.

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EDIT: I just want to give a huge thank you to this community. I wasn't sure what to expect in posting this as many aren't familiar with ARFID/these types of food restrictions, and because trying the local cuisine is a huge element of travel for so many. The helpful and practical responses to this post have taken a huge weight off of my "big sister" shoulders, and I now feel confident that no one will be going hungry on our trip. Thank you all!

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(I put picky eater in quotes because it doesn’t totally describe the situation, but close enough).

I’ll be taking my teenage sister to Japan this summer. We're both very excited, but a main point of apprehension is food - my sister is autistic and has some pretty severe food aversions. As a result, she primarily eats a rotation of “safe” foods in day-to-day life.

She is game to try some new things in Japan, but from past vacation experiences, I know this typically doesn’t go super well (we’ve often found ourselves driving around late at night in a foreign country looking for an open McDonald’s, because she wasn’t able to eat anything at dinner).

I’m hoping to bring some of her safe foods along from the US (honestly I'm sure I'll appreciate the extra luggage space on the way home for souvenirs). But I have a few questions, if anyone has any relevant experience:

1. Will I have any trouble bringing food into the country? I’m thinking of dry things like cereal, granola bars, Easy Mac, etc. - nothing perishable. I know I can shop at grocery/convenience stores there too, but without knowing what brands we’d find, I’d want to bring at least some things she’s familiar with.
2. Should we expect any trouble with packing an electric kettle to prepare food at hotels? I tried to research this and am not seeing any immediate issues, but don’t know if this would raise a flag if our bag was searched or something.
3. I’m a big foodie myself - would it be a faux pas to occasionally go to a restaurant together but only order for myself? I know my sister won’t mind tagging along and not eating as she’s pretty used to doing so here in the US, but don’t know if this would be considered rude in Japan.

Thank you for any advice or opinions!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/ZeroToVoid on 2024-01-19 07:26:48.

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Hi! I just came back from my first trip to Japan.

I'm so thankful for all the advice I got here and wanted to share my experience for people who might need it. My trip was rather short but I still hope that some people find it helpful.

My rough itinerary was:

| Day 1:-Arrive at Narita Airport-Hotel Wagokoro-Gyukatsu Motomura-Akihabara-Shibuya (Hachiko, Parco, Don Quijote and Shibuya Sky) | Day 2:-Teamlabs Plantes-Tsukiji Fishmarket-Ginza - A happy pancake and Atago Shrine-Tokyo Tower-Suga Shrine (Your Name Stairs)-Udon Shin-Shinjuku (3D Cat, Kabukicho Tower) | |

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| | Day 3:-Day Trip to Hakone!-Sushiro in Shinjuku | Day 4:-Nezu Shrine-Ikebukuro -Harajuku-Kura Sushi-Akiba-Haneda Airport |

Side Info for Germans: If you're from germany like me, don't make the same mistake as me and exchange money at your bank. Sparkasse gave me 145Yen= 1 Euro and the little stores here in Tokyo gave us at least 155Yen= 1 Euro. The highest was 160Yen= 1 Euro in Shinjuku near Omoide Yokocho.

Side Info for Chinese: Our Hotel Wagokoro was run by chinese people. For our first trip to Japan we wanted to stay here; in case we needed help we could ask the staff there without a language barrier. Everyone was very nice.

Internet: We used Airalo and Ubigi E-Sims. Airalo needed a restart to properly connect but definetily had the stronger connection out of the two. But overall both are fine and worked wonderful. Airalo currently seems to have better prices in my opinion.

Remember to register your Data at the Visit Japan Website to make the Immigrations process smoother.

Paymentwise I mainly used my Visa Card without any problems. You'd need cash to charge your IC card though. For 4 Days I had about 30k Yen in cash with me. This was mainly used for charging the IC card, shrines, Tsukiji outer fish market and Gachapon machines. Also have a coin purse with you.

Tax-free was possible everywhere I went. Even in small Drugstores, Weebstores or 24/7 Supermarkets like Welcia, so have your passport ready. But keep in mind that a lot of stores will pack your stuff into a transparent plastic tax-free bag. You will not be allowed to open and use the stuff you bought until you have left Japan. Especially Don Quijote will do that. Also keep in mind on how to fit these bags into your luggage.

Transportationwise I completely relied on Google Maps and my Pasmo Card. I already had my personalized map ready with "My Maps", to always have an overview of what was close and Google Maps always tells you which Exit to use at the train station.

Be mindful that japanese people enjoy quiet train rides, so if needed only whisper.

Google Translate was also great in using it to communicate with people and using the camera function to tanslate text. So knowing 0 Japanese is fine. Although you should know the standard "Thanks - Arigatou Gozaimasu" and "Excuse me - Sumimasen". I'd also recommend to have the japanese addresses ready for places you want to go or your hotel in case your internet is spotty and you want to ask someone or for the Taxi.

Japan does not have many trash bins, since eating while walking is considered rude. You will find trash bins right where you bought your food. Make sure to carry plastic bags for trash with you.

Talking about food, a lot of restaurants offer free water or tea.

Definitely bring comfortable shoes, since you will do a lot of walking. A lot of drugstores also have healing patches for your feet, I'd definitely recommend getting a pack. We put them on every night LMAO.

Bring a blank notebook with you to collect stamps and have lots of fun with it! Airports and nearly every trainstation have them. Also special places or special Collabs. I got the Wish Disney Stamp at Toranomon Hills. They make a very nice souvenir.

Day 1:

You can still easily get the Pasmo Passport at Narita Airport. They only accept cash, so have that and your passport ready. Also everybody has to be present. We originally wanted one person to get the cards for everyone but that is not allowed. It costs 1500Yen, this will be charged into your card, so you won't lose any money.

We took the 1300Yen/person Bus to Tokyo Station. You can easily find it at the counter where it says "Low Cost Bus" at Narita Airport and it only takes 65min. I found that more comfortable since I did not want to deal with luggage on public transfer right after my 12h flight. They usually only accept 1 big luggage per person. When I went the Bus was practically empty and only 8 people were in it.

Going to the first "viral" Restaurant Gyukatsu Motomura in Akihabara I expected long lines. When we arrived at 13 o'clock we had to wait 30mins but around 14:30 the line was empty. I'd say it's pretty much worth the hype and the staff were very friendly and very eager to teach you how to eat it in case you didn't know.

After that we went to Akihabara Animate. The merch was centered around the latest anime. And if you're a Nijisanji or Hololive Fan like me you can also find some merch there.

Later we went to Shibuya in the evening.

Hachiko Statue barely had a line. We queued for 5 minutes and everyone is more than willing to take a photo for you if needed. We tried to go to Tsuru Ton Tan, but the line was insane. Shibuya Sky Tickets were bought via their online site one month prior. If you want tickets for sunset timeslots you gotta be fast. They have their own elevator right outside that takes you half way up to the ticket counter at the 14th floor and from there you will be taken directly to the 47th floor. There will be coin lockers for your stuff, since you are not allowed to bring your stuff with you except your handy and purse. Have a 100Yen coin ready for that.

Day 2:

We were running late and missed our Teamlabs Timeslot, but that was no problem. We still could enter. Tickets were bought a month prior at their website. Teamlabs was amazing and definitely worth the hype. You can stay in all rooms as long as you like except the flower room. But you can also queue for it again if you want to.I also did not notice a feet smell in there.

At Tsukiji Outer Fish market it was a little packed but otherwise quite pleasant since it was Friday around 12 o'cock. We tried the fluffy Tamagoyaki which was great and had a Wagyu Stick which also was amazing! Of course we also tried a few other stuff. I'd recommend having cash ready for this place. Next we went to A Happy Pancake in Ginza. They have an online queue system. You scan the QR Code and enter how many people your group has and it tells you when you can come back. We went there around 2:30pm and only had to wait 10mins. Fluffy pancakes were delicious.

TikTok recommended a "Secret" photo spot for the Tokyo Tower but to no ones surprise it is not so secret anymore. Surprisingly I found the shot from the end of the line even better.

Atago Shrine: A lesser known Shrine with the "stairwell to success". Not many people there. If you don't know how to properly pray, you don't have to worry. Just watch the locals. It's mostly wash your hands at the designated place, bow twice, clap twice, pray with your hands together and then bow twice. Also have coins ready to offer before that. Usually people go with 5, 50 or 500 Yen but anything is fine.

Suga Shrine (Your name stairs): Very quite neighborhood, and no people were there, so we could take our time taking photos. Be respectful and do not disturb the people living there, it's a quite neighborhood.

Udon Shin: The next viral restaurant. They also have an online queue system, so you don't have to waste your time standing there. On a Friday we arrived around 6:45pm and were seated around 7:30. We went with their viral dish. My friend thought it was a bit too salty, but I quite liked it. The noodles are very chewy and delicious.

Day 3:

We started at Shinjuku Station around 9am and got the Hakone Free Pass (to get around Hakone and enjoy a few attractions) and Tickets for the Romancecar there. The Romancecar is nicer, has bigger windows and you can comfortably eat your Bento there. I'd definitely recommend to get it for the ride to Hakone. You can also get very nice Bentos and drinks at vending machines at Shinjuku Station near the Ticket Office.

Arriving at Hakone after 1,5 hours we immediately took the Tram. You can get off various stations to explore. Endstation is the Cable Car and then the ropeway. Get your stamp books ready, they have a lot of stamps ready here for you to collect! The volcano eggs tasted like normal eggs, but were still worth a try. We also got lucky and were able to see Mount Fuji!

After that we took the Pirate Sightseeing Ship, this is also included in the Hakone Pass. Last week Hakone had a collab with Neon genesis evangelion, so there were a lot of Merch and a statue of it. Getting off at the last station of the Pirate Ship we wanted to visit the famous Tori Gate, but it was unfortunately closed off so we only went to the shrine.

On the way back we asked the staff there what the fastest cheapest way back to Shinjuku was. I am so glad to have asked, since Google and the internet did not show me this option. We rode the Limited Express back and then changed to the normal subway. That evening we went to Sushiro and then Souvenir and Snacks shopping at Welcia which is open 24/7. Keep in mind that the Sushiro tablets will...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/givemepizza on 2024-01-18 03:01:38.

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First off, a big thank you to this subreddit!! Been lurking here for a while before I posted anything. Great tips with everything from itinerary help, hotels, and Visit Japan online for customs and immigration. Hopefully, one day I will be lurking here again planning another trip.(So sorry it took so long to post.)

Some info: Both my husband and mine's first trip to Japan and his first time outside the US. We knew some Japanese through using Lingodeer. We took trains or walked the whole time. We both had JR passes(this was before the latest price increase) and Suica cards. We used Booking.com for all of our hotel reservations. We mainly used Google Maps to get around, and the few times we needed communication help we used Google translate.

Hotels:

Tokyo (Day 1-5) Akihabara Washington Hotel. It was recommended by this subreddit, and I can see why. It was in a great location, right near the train station and Akiba. We didn't try the restaurant there, but the staff was super friendly and helpful and knew a little English. Only down side was the room being a tad small.

Osaka (Day 5-7) Dormy Inn Premium Namba Natural Hot Spring. Least favorite of all and that is probably due to a couple reasons. The bed was hard along with the pillows, and the blanket barely covered us. We weren't able to use the hot spring, which was unfortunate since this was the most expensive of all our stays.

Tokyo (Day 7-12) Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku. This was probably our favorite of the places we stayed in. Biggest of all our rooms, space for suitcases under the bed, just a ton of amenities available in the lobby. The staff was very friendly and spoke a lot of English. It was just a small walk from Shinjuku station.

Itinerary:

Day 0

Flight left O'Hare airport at 12pm. We flew using ANA, and I would definitely use them again. Good food, decent bathroom, and the staff were super friendly and helpful. I sadly slept for maybe an hour.

Day 1

Flight arrived at the Narita airport at 3pm. We had filled out online the paperwork for customs and immigration, so this part went smoothly for us. We got our JR pass at the airport since the line was so short. I had ordered a pocket wi-fi with my pass, but had to pick it up at their post office desk upstairs. Booked our Narita Express tickets and headed to Akihabara. The humidity and lack of sleep really wiped us out. The only other things we did was get money from a 7/11 and get dinner at McDonalds to eat in our rooms. 

Day 2

Since this day was Sunday (this subreddit warned me about busy Tokyo weekends) this was our Ghibli Museum day. We were worried we wouldn't be used to the trains by this time, so we scheduled a 12pm entrance time. Due to the time difference we got up early and were there by 8am. So we spent time walking around Inokashira Park, just relaxing, and went to our first shrine, Inokashira Benzaiten. Ghibli Museum was amazing, and I would love to go again. We decided to hit up Nakano Broadway before heading home. It was a lot of fun, interesting, and we got a couple figures. We got back to our rooms around 6:30pm and had a quick snack before passing out.

Day 3

We stayed in the area and started by heading to Kanda Shrine. It was beautiful and so peaceful.  Then we headed back to Akihabara to wait about 20 minutes till stores opened. We did a lot of shopping and went to a lot of stores people recommended here, and also just wandering into what looked interesting. We again called it an early night since I had blisters on a couple of my toes. I had new but worn in shoes, but my socks were cheap and the humidity didn't help. By the end of the trip, I had a blister on each toe.

Day 4

Jam packed day. We took an early train to Asakusa to get in line for a reservation for Benitsuru. Walked over to Sensoji temple and explored the area along with the Thunder gate. Went back to Benitsuru for our reservation. They have amazing fluffy pancakes and would highly recommend it! Then we went to Kirby Cafe for a late lunch reservation. Loved the atmosphere and staff. The food was ok, but we knew that going in. We went to a couple stores around Tokyo Skytree including our first Pokemon Center and Donguri store there. We had been up in the air about going up the Skytree, but the area wasn't too busy and I'm glad we did. Took lots of videos for our kid who loves the Skytree. Took a train back to our Akiba hotel and turned in before 6pm.

Day 5

We woke up early, sent most of our luggage to Shinjuku hotel while checking out, took the train, and hopped on the first Shinkansen to Osaka that was covered by the JR pass. We forgot our motion sickness meds, so my husband didn't have the best ride. Took the train and walked a bit to our "hotel." I picked the wrong Dormy Inn on my phone for directions. It was super humid, and I should have just checked our reservation for the address. The receptionist was very kind and took out a map to show us where the correct hotel was. We walked the half hour there, really should have taken a bus, and got to the area in Osaka that has two Dormy Inns like kitty corner from each other, went to the wrong one, and finally ended up at our hotel. The problem was our room would not be ready for hours, so we left our luggage there and ventured to Den Den town. We wandered from store to store, I probably could have done more research on where to go but luckily there were some places that Akiba had. Like Super Potato(shoutout to this subreddit which mentioned trying this store in Osaka when my husband couldn't find what he wanted in the Akiba Super Potato). We went back to the hotel once it was ready and took a 3-4 hour nap. At night, we headed to Dontonbori. I had a list of places to go from this subreddit. Ate a ton of food including the delicous takoyai from Creo-ru. We kind of passed Honsenji temple while trying to find food places, but I would have liked to actually spend time there. We ended the night at Round One Entertainment, which we have one back home but Osaka's is a thousand times better. We went to a lot of crane game/gatcha places and this was one of our favs.

Day 6

Super jam packed day, but we knew it would be. We got up early and took the train to Kyoto. Our first stop was Nishiki Market. We got there early so it gave us time to walk to Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine and the Kyoto Pokemon Center. We came back to Nishiki Market and had tons of food, including soy milk donuts, Unagi for the first time, and delicious chicken skewers. Then we walked to Kennin-Ji Temple and just explored. We probably could have been here more, but I wanted to get to two more places. We made our way to Kodai-ji Temple, which was one of my favorite temples. I really wanted to go to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama(knew we couldn't do it due to time), and someone suggested the bamboo forest at this temple which was breathtaking and not too busy. Also, this temple had a Kakigori stand that was our favorite Kakigori of the whole trip. It started to sprinkle, and we wandered a little and ended up at Ryozen Kannon Temple(not planned). I recommend stopping by if you are at Kodai-ji temple. We made the long walk back to the train to get to Fushimi Inari Shrine, our last Kyoto stop. By the time we got there, it was pouring! We pushed through since this was our only chance to be here. We got soaked but it was beautiful there and not too crowded even though it was around 3-4pm. We went to the top and back down. By the time we came back down, it was barely sprinkling and there were a ton of tour groups and people. We walked back to the train, and promptly passed out by the time we made it back to our Osaka hotel. We got over 25,000 steps on this day.

Day 7

We checked out of our Osaka hotel, and this day was the day to do any Kyoto or Osaka things we still wanted to do. It was another hot day, so we only did a quick sweep of Daimaru Shinsaibashi ( of course including Pokemon Center Osaka EX) and Osaka Castle. We decided against going inside due to the huge line and us sweating so much plus we didn't know if we could bring our suitcase inside. Before heading back to Toyko, we decided to go into the Miraiza Osaka-Jo for some air. Inside there was a pop-up cafe and shop for Detective Conan, an anime I grew up watching with my siblings. Also, there was the Kaiyodo Figure Museum, which was really interesting. On the way to the bullet train we picked up a Rikuro's cheesecake, and took a bullet train to our Shinjuku hotel.

Day 8

We got up kind of early and went to the Meiji Shrine area. There was a bunch of performances going on so we stopped to watch for a bit. While there, I finally got to try Dango. We walked over to Takeshita street which was jammed packed! We knew it would be since it was the weekend. We got strawberries, crepes, and the Longer potato, and hit up Kiddyland. We traveled to PARCO which again was packed because of the weekend. But I wanted to make sure we saw Mewtwo at the pokemon store. Then, we took the train back and had the Japanese exclusive burger at Eggslut.

Day 9

We woke up and took the train straight to Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory. We got three differnt Totoro cream puffs and the Ponyo dessert that is only there on weekends. Besides the very bottom being delicious the Ponyo was flavorless, and we wouldn't get it again, but all the cream puffs were amazing and delicious. We headed back and spent several hours at the Gyoen National Garden. It ...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/FinalInitiative4 on 2024-01-13 10:08:13.

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Hey everyone,

Today I went through the process of extending my tourist visa ( or technically temporary stay sticker since it's not really a visa).

I've been in Japan for almost the maximum 90 days displayed on the sticker in my passport, I went to the immigration office in Osaka about 2 weeks before it was due to expire.

Apparently it is available for only a handful of passports. I believe it is the following: (Ireland, UK, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, Liechtenstein)

It was really hard to find solid information on what to do online as a lot of it is conflicting and it isn't really advertised that it is possible.

I came across a post by SakuyaHiwatari which really helped me figure out what to do. With it being almost a year ago, I wasn't sure if the process or rules had changed, seems like they haven't.

The process took me about two hours and I applied at the Immigration office in Osaka where I've been staying.

It was actually much more simple than I expected, there was no interview, nobody asked me any questions. They just took the papers and then called my number when they were done.

You do need to buy a "revenue stamp" to process the documents which will cost you 4000 yen, cash only. They will give you a sheet and tell you when you need to go and buy it.

Nobody at the immigration office spoke English but luckily I can speak Japanese. It might be a good idea to take a Japanese friend if you can't speak Japanese.

What you need:

• Your passport.

• 4000 Yen in cash.

What steps I took:

1. Went to the immigration office in the morning.
2. Spoke to the guy at the door with all the application forms and told him I wanted to extend my tourist stay for a UK passport. (They have a bunch of different application forms for different reasons but the sheet for extending the temporary stay was in a separate folder on his desk that he had to get out for me.)
3. He gave me 3 sheets of paper stapled together, one is for your info, passport number and etc. the second is for your reason to want to extend, to write down how much money you have and how much longer you want to stay, whether you have a flight home booked, flight number and etc. The third is a sheet of lined paper to write about why you want them to extend. I wrote a couple of basic paragraphs about wanting to see other parts of Japan that I've not had a chance to see yet and where I've been so far. (It is definitely important to be honest here but also emphasise you want to travel around Japan.)
4. I handed the papers in to the counter and they took all the documents and my passport, they gave me a card with my number on it.
5. They called my number, double checked I have 4000 yen in cash and then gave me another number to wait for at a different desk.
6. They called my number at the third desk, told me everything was accepted and gave me a sheet of paper to go and buy the "revenue stamp" in the next room over for 4000 yen.
7. I bought the "revenue stamp" waited for them to call my number again and handed it in to the desk.
8. They gave me back my passport with a new sticker in it next to the previous sticker which is labelled "Extension Permit"
9. Left the immigration office and had some celebratory sushi on the way back to where I'm staying.

It was much more simple and straightforward than I was expecting!

They didn't ask me for any bank statements and they were also fine with me not having a flight home booked.

I'm not sure if they read any of the stuff that I wrote but I wrote everything honestly just in case.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/SirBowsersniff on 2024-01-11 06:44:41.

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Given how helpful this sub was in planning our family trip to Japan a few weeks ago, I thought I'd pay it forward and share our recommendations from our experience. For some background, our group consisted of a family of 12 with 6 adults and 6 kids ranging in age from 12 to 17. Compounding matters, we had 3 food allergies (1 gluten and 2 nut) that made things slightly more challenging in terms of ad hoc dining. As such, we were frequently restricted to larger restaurants that could accommodate both the allergies and the size of our group. However, it was an amazing experience and we are already plotting on how we return as soon as possible.

Important Tips

• Always have cash on hand. It was surprising how often businesses or restaurants were cash only. This applies to the subway as well. While every subway kiosk had a slot for accepting credit cards, they were cash only.
• Eat only in restaurants. Unlike in the states, eating “on the go” is frowned upon. If you purchase McDonald’s or other fast food to go, they assume you will take it home to eat it. If you purchase a skewer or other street food, the expectation is that you eat it directly in front of their stall. They will provide a garbage can for your rubbish. Which leads me to my next point which is…
• Take your garbage with you. Garbage Cans are oddly absent in Japan. You’ll find them in bathrooms, occasionally on a train platform but otherwise, you will rarely see garbage cans on a random side walk or street corner. Any trash you generate, you are expected to dispose of at home or with the business where you originally purchased the item contained within the garbage.
• Embrace 7-11. The hype is real. Tons of delicious, fresh food can be found at 7-11 and other convenience stores. FamilyMarts (7-11 competitor) were ubiquitous as well.
• Install Google Translate on your iPhone. English is not widely spoken. Most tourist attractions had capable English speakers but it’s not like visiting Europe where the majority of the population has passable English. Having Google Translate on your phone will help you communicate and/or read signage and menus. Similarly, learn to say Please, Thank You and Goodbye in Japanese. They’re an incredibly polite culture and they definitely appreciated our attempts to say these phrases.
• Respect how big the cities are. If you have traveled extensively in Europe, you probably know that the majority of the cities have a central business district and tourist area centered around a major attraction (castle, etc.). Tokyo, in particular, is absolutely massive. I knew it was the largest city in the world going in but I don’t think my mind could effectively comprehend that the metro area had 40.8MM people until we actually arrived. When examining a map, you’ll think, “oh, that temple is right next to that building” and when you punch it into Google Maps, it’ll be a 1.5 hour walk or 20 minute subway ride. When planning your itinerary, plot each destination on Google Maps to ensure you are not pushing yourself too hard.
• Mentally prepare yourself that you may experience an earthquake. While the threat of earthquakes is omnipresent, we were still surprised when we felt the 7.6 quake even though we were hundreds of miles from the epicenter. Our personal rule was that we wouldn’t freak out until we saw the Japanese freak out. While our hotel’s elevators were turned off for a little over an hour (causing us to walk down 10 flights of stairs), the Japanese handled it with customary efficiency.

Transportation

Taxis

Taxis are ubiquitous and easily hailed from the street. Most major tourist attractions, train stations, etc, have taxi stands. Every cab driver wore a suit, gloves, mask and displayed a level of professionalism unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. I prefer Google Maps to Apple Maps as Google Maps shows you both the English and Japanese address for a location. When you click on the Google Maps Japanese address, it will expand it so the cab driver can read it. There’s even an audio function to communicate it to him verbally. Every cab we encountered took credit cards but you could tell there was a preference for cash from the interactions.

Trains

A whole book could be written about navigating Japan’s rail system (and one probably already has) but what you need to know is the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) is truly a marvel of engineering. To put it in perspective, our cab ride from the Osaka airport to our hotel in Kyoto took approximately 1.5 hours. The Shinkansen ride from the Osaka train station to Kyoto Station takes 13 minutes. Driving to Tokyo would take 6 hours; our train ride only took 2 hours and 15 minutes. It’s utterly mind blowing how smooth and convenient it is.

Highly recommend you book your tickets ahead of time at Japan Rail’s website. If you do not have a login, you will need to register. They have several different train speeds, with Nozomi being the fastest. That’s the one you want to book. When you book, you can reserve seats ahead of time which is a good idea if you have luggage. The seat diagram also shows you locations where luggage can be stored. Those locations aren’t designated luggage closets - they’re simply seats with more legroom so you can store your bag in front of you. Otherwise, you’ll need to put your bag in the overhead. Your tickets will be available via QR codes that you can easily add to your Apple Wallet. You may purchase a maximum of 6 tickets at a time. If your party’s larger than that, simply make a second reservation.

When you arrive at Kyoto Station, ask the cab to drop you off at the Shinkansen entrance. Kyoto Station has many different train companies (also there are 30+ platforms) and it’s the 2nd largest train station in all of Japan so it can be overwhelming. Simply scan your QR code at the Shinkansen gates and it’ll let you through. On the 2nd floor (past the Shinkansen gates), there are a ton of places to purchase food, including a Starbucks. The train platform is one level up from here. Eating on the train is perfectly acceptable. No food or drinks are available for purchase on the train unless you reserve seats in the “Green” class.

Japanese trains run with military precision and its an immense source of pride for the nation. They almost put the Swiss to shame with how good their rail system is. Line up at the specific train car spot on the platform. If you are in Carriage 5, find the Carriage 5 spot. It’s imperative you are on the platform 10 to 15 minutes before the train arrives just so you can get positioned. When the train pulls up, they allow approximately two minutes for passengers to disembark and board the train. Be mindful that if you’re on the 12:15 train, there might be a 12:05 and a 12:10 lining up before you at the same spot, so don’t queue up right in the line itself until 4 minutes prior.

Subway

We took the subways in both Kyoto and Tokyo with little problem. Some stations have multiple lines with multiple train companies (particularly in Kyoto) so make sure you use the correct machine for the correct train line. Each machine has a language option in the upper right hand corner.

You’ll select your fare amount (again, Google Maps was a dream in this regard as when you punched in your destination into Google Maps, it would tell you the fare), choose the number of people using the buttons the left hand side (up to 2 or 3 tickets at a time depending on the train line) and insert your cash (up to ¥5000) or coins. Some stations offered more modern kiosks for purchasing tickets that allowed you to input the station name and select more than 3 people at one time when purchasing tickets.

Important: You need to use the same ticket to exit the station so do NOT throw it out after you go through the gates.

In Tokyo, every station is assigned a letter corresponding to the train line and a number. Instead of remembering that you need to exit at a particular station name, you can simply look for the corresponding designator (e.g. E-12, F-7, etc.). This also helps in determining how many stops until your station.

Kyoto

Day 1

In the morning, participate in the Waraku Kyoto Samurai Experience (111, Inaba-Cho, Nakagyo-Ku, Kyoto, Japan). Book this immediately. Our kids (and all the adults) really enjoyed this experience. Do not go to the Samurai museum, do this instead. Our experience began with a brief talk about samurai history along with more information on the 260 year old house which has remained in the same family as the samurai since the Shogun period. The history lesson is followed by an iaido demonstration and then everyone has an opportunity to practice with wooden swords before using the real katana. You then finish with a short Zen meditation. The full experience took almost two hours. While it’s definitely on the pricier side, I can’t recommend it enough.

Next, walk to Nijo Train station about 10 minutes away, grab a Teriyaki burger at Mos Burgers and then take the San-In Line (~9 minute ride) to Saga Arashiyama Station for a Private Bike Tour of the Bamboo Forest, the Arashiyama area and the Iwatayama Monkey Park. Book the half day tour in advance. Your tour guide will help you channel your inner influencer to capture the perfect Bamboo Forest shots while you visit a shrine, Unesco registered gardens and feed the monkeys.

Day 2

In the morning, visit the Kiyomizu-dera Temple (TripAdvisor). E...

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/bokkun4 on 2024-01-11 03:27:39.

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Just wanted to check if someone has info on how Kanazawa is doing currently. I know the Kanazawa Station and Omicho Market has reopened but have most of the major tourist sites and businesses too?

Was planning to go to Kanazawa and Fukui in two weeks, so wanted to get opinions if I should go for Plan B of my trip.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Arch7c on 2024-01-10 09:39:40.

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Looks like their first guess is normal/ a couple days earlier than normal in most places.

Bear in mind these will likely change and February forecasts should be a lot more accurate.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/TeaSalty9563 on 2024-01-10 07:55:47.

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Our Japan itinerary for three, 2 adults and a teenager. Dec 25 to Jan 9th. Went in only having hotels booked, figured out trains and food and attraction admissions on the fly to leave room for spontaneity. This is what we did.

DAY 1- land Narita airport. N'Ex to Ueno station. Check in Hotel

DAY 2- Tokyo: morning walk in Ueno park, Tokyo Station, Imperial Palace Gardens, Ginza for Muji and fancy window shopping, Asakusa and Senso Ji.

DAY 3- Tokyo: another morning in Ueno park, then Tokyo Skytree, bought same day ticket. My kid says this was her favorite day of the whole trip.

DAY 4-check out, train to Kyoto, check in Hotel. Walk around Gion. Shinkasen was great, a bit of a learning curve, buy ticket from a real life person for your first time. It was also busy because this was getting close to New Years.

DAY 5- Kyoto: Arashiyama day. Got there early, enjoyed mild crowds at Bamboo forest, walked down to the bridge and across to the Monkey Park (we loved to see wild monkeys, very cool) then back through cool Arashiyama neighborhoods until we made it to Otagi Nenbutsuji temple. This was one of my favorites.

DAY 6 (New Years Eve)- Kyoto: slept in, and then went out in the afternoon walking Gion and temples at night for New Years festivies, Yasaka and Chionin were really fun this night.

DAY 7 (New Years Day)- Kyoto: Went to Fushimi Inari at 830am, it was already sort of crowded. Walked every path we could, going right to the top. Found many quiet spots even with the crowds. Went back to hotel early to rest and was there when we felt the earthquake, we were fine, definitely a new experience for us.

DAY 8-Kyoto: Nara day trip. Visited Todaigi and the big Buddha and the museum. Also walked around the park feeding deer and spent some time on the shopping streets leading to the park.

DAY 9- check out Kyoto, train to Osaka: walking Dotonburi at night. Found a bit of a seedy area behind the main area, but interesting.

DAY 10- Yasaka Namba Shrine visit which was a quick but satisfying stop. Osaka Aquarium, worth it for the price. Very crowded, but good. Walked more around Namba and Dotonburi.

DAY 11 check out Osaka, train to Kinosaki, first train error. Bought a ticket thinking it was arriving in Kinosaki for 3pm, but actually was arriving at Osaka station for 3pm. Oops. Long lunch later we made it, used our hotel onsen and went to bed.

DAY 12. Kinosaki: This town is bliss. Totally beautiful and the onsen tour in a Yukata is fun, sort of like trick or treating

DAY 13. Check out Kinosaki, train to Osaka, visit the Shimano Bike museum, then jump on a Shinkansen to Tokyo. Visiting the museum was a last minute decision and made for a clunky day, buy the museum was worth it and the trains are awesome so it was totally doable.

DAy 14. Tokyo. Shibuya, Shinjuku and Meiji Shrine. Big shopping day, I'll never recover from that mega Don Quijote. But filled our bags with some cool things.

DAY 15. Check out, fly home from Haneada

We mostly just ate things that looked good. We try not to wait in line for food anywhere in the world, so definitely did not do that in Japan. Found the overall quality of food excellent. And so affordable. We ate lots of street food, lots of 711 or Family Mart. Found lots of cute izakayas and one great experience in a sushi restaurant. Learned to love ordering from a machine, so funny but also efficient. There's thousands and thousands of restaurants, so I really think all diets can be accommodated, we were just looking for good, cheap and easy foods.