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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/samiam130 on 2024-08-14 17:33:46+00:00.

This sub was super helpful when I was planning my trip, so I hope I can give back and help other people out with my report. I spent 18 days in Japan earlier this year travelling by myself. My main interests in this trip were gardens, shinto shrines, stationery and all things Ghibli. I had spent 5 days in South Korea before arriving in Japan, so take that into account. I apologize in advance for the formatting, I'm not very familiar with the web version of Reddit. I'll try to go into more detail for the places that haven't been extensively covered here and just touch on the more popular attractions.

PREPARATIONS

Reservations

I reserved pretty much all attractions in advance. The most competitive were for sure Ghibli Park, Ghibli Museum and Kirby Café. Others like the Takachiho boats and Kabuki one-act tickets were competitive but there was about an hour margin to get what you wanted. The rest was pretty easy.

Learning Japanese

I started learning basic Japanese with Duolingo a year and a half before my trip. This ensured I had a grasp on the basics and I ended up being able to handle a lot of recurring situations fully in Japanese, which I was proud of. I didn't even try to learn kanji, though, and my katakana and hiragana were only passable, but speaking and understanding is much more important anyway. I took five private lessons on the weeks before the trip to perfect pronounciation and practice real-life situations and these helped a bunch as well.

Medicine

I was staying for less than 30 days so technically I didn't have to worry about this, but just in case I had my prescriptions and a letter from my doctor translated to English so I could present it at the airport if I needed to. Turns out no one cared, noticed or asked, so I didn't have to use them, but I still suggest doing this if you're bringing any kind of controlled medication into Japan, just in case.

ITINERARY

Day 1 - Fukuoka (airport) and Kumamoto

• I had an 8 o'clock flight from Seoul to Fukuoka, which looking back was a horrible decision. I was anxious about missing my flight so I got to Incheon the night before and had to sleep on a very uncomfortable bench because the airport capsule hotel was fully booked and there were no immigration services at night. Obviously, I got to Fukuoka feeling very tired.
• Had an e-sim from Airalo and it took a bit longer to activate than in South Korea but still worked fine.
• Immigration was very easy in Japan. I had my QR code ready and that was basically it.
• Sent my larger luggage to Osaka at the Yamato counter. Spent the next few days with only a carry-on.
• The airport itself has a free bus to the train station, which was helpful. Bought my tickets at the machine but then learned I had to get a base fare ticket as well, so had to turn around and go back and almost missed my train. So after this I was determined to not get any reserved seating tickets and only get my tickets at the booth with an attendant.
• Got my Sugoca at the Kumamoto train station and continued to use this card for the rest of my trip. Accidentally added too much money to the card because I was still thinking in Korean Won so I decided to only have dinner at convenience stores.
• My brain still hadn't fully shifted from Korean to Japanese and I was very tired so I ate at the only restaurant with an English menu at the station.
• Bought train tickets for the following day at the counter. This became my routine: every time I arrived at a new city, I would buy the train tickets for the next leg of the trip. Highly recommend this to everyone, as it allows you to take your time finding your gate and platform.
• Went to my hotel (Super Hotel Kumamoto Ekimae) to wait for check-in time. I think this is the hotel I liked the most during my trip even though I only stayed for one night. Wish I had booked this chain for other cities as well.
• Took a short nap instead of immediately heading out to see the sights because I was wiped.
• Took the tram to Kumamoto Castle to see the sunset from up there. Sadly the castle itself had closed at 4pm but it was still beautiful to see from the outside and the restoration work is very insteresting. Had a lovely walk around the castle and back to the tram.
• My original plan was to also visit Suizenji Jojuen and Kumamon Square but it got dark earlier than I expected and there were already a lot of Kumamon stuff at the train station itself so I just took the tram back to the station. I honestly loved riding the trams, they're very charming. It's a slower way to get around but you really get to see the city and peoplewatch.
• Bought dinner and snacks for the next day and went to sleep.
• STEP TOTAL: 12,818

Day 2 - Takachiho

• I had booked a tour of Takachiho and the Aso caldera in advance with Explore Kumamoto because I can't drive. This was probably my favourite day of the entire trip. The guide (Helen) was lovely and told us so much about the area, and the other people on the tour were great as well.
• We got to Takachiho gorge early in the morning and I already had a reservation for the canoes as suggested by our guide. This was very helpful because otherwise we would've had a 3 hour wait and obviously wouldn't have made it. The gorge itself is smaller than I expected but the whole place is so beautiful, I still think it's very much worth the visit.
• After walking around and rowing, we had lunch on-site and had Nagashi Somen (cold flowing noodles). I did better than expected at this and had so much fun. The locals thought we were funny celebrating our abilties with the chopsticks and that was also fun. Also had nanban chicken and man, that was delicious.
• Visited several spots in the caldera for the rest of the day, can't recall all the names. Unfortunately Mt Aso was spewing some gas so we couldn't go up all the way but it wasn't my main interest so I didn't mind. Just driving around was already so lovely, I really can't stress enough how much I loved this day and would recommend this stop for everyone.
• Got a train to Oita from Kumamoto. Arrived pretty late, bought train tickets for the next few days, had a konbini dinner and that was it. Stayed at Toyoko Inn Oita Ekimae. Pretty standard business hotel, very good breakfast. Got a surprisingly large room.
• STEP TOTAL: 14,182

Day 3 - Yufuin

• Boy do I regret this one. I had planned to spend the day at Yufuin but it was so small. If I had known I would've either skipped this entirely or done half a day here and half a day somewhere else (maybe Beppu).
• The Floral Village is literally just two blocks of character-themed shops, lake Kinrin is very small, and you can cross the whole town in like an hour. Thought about spending time at an onsen but I have tattoos and didn't want to go around asking and getting rejected. It's not even a relaxing place because there are constant busses dropping people off all day so it's way too crowded for how small it is.
• Good food options, though. Had dessert at Snoopy Chaya and ate anpan at Miffy Kitchen, had some kind of japanese version of bao for lunch.
• Went back to Oita and basically had my first slow evening of the trip.
• STEP TOTAL: 9,298

Day 4 - Osaka

• The train trip to Osaka was the longest of the whole trip. Left at 8 a.m., got there around midday. Bought tickets for the end of the week but messed up with my Japanese and apparently instead of buying tickets for 4 p.m. I bought tickets for 4 people. I'll get into this later.
• Dropped off my luggage at APA Hotel Namba-Shinsaibashi. I didn't know about the owner's horrible politics when I booked hotels for this trip so ended up staying at an APA twice. Both times I got to one address and had trouble checking in until they figured out I was actually staying at another branch two blocks away from where I thought I was staying. So if you're staying at an APA do plan some time around the check-in in case this also happens to you.
• Went to Okonomiyaki Ajinoya for lunch. This was the only place in the whole trip where I had to wait in line. I wouldn't classify this as a tourist trap because the food was very good and portions were large, but be mindful of the wait.
• Headed to Osaka Aquarium. Loved doing the stamp rally. All the animals looked healthy and active, which was a concern I had after finding out how bad animal conditions can be in Japan.
• Originally I had planned to go to Shinsekai but it was late so I instead walked around Dotonbori, took lots of pictures, ate some street food, had a good time.
• STEP TOTAL: 14,198

Day 5 - Osaka Universal Studios

• I'd heard about the gates opening an hour earlier than they say and it was true! I only had a standard ticket so I run-walked to Super Nintendo World and got in with no need for a timed entry ticket.
• Rode Mario Kart in basically 15 minutes. I won't go into details for this day because I think it's been sufficiently covered online, just wanted to add that the mushroom cream popcorn is delicious.
• The Harry Potter area was a letdown. I'm not the biggest fan so I just wanted to go on the rides. Ended up wasting almost 2 hours in line for the rollercoaster before I got a good look at how small it was and gave up.
• The Jurassic Park area was all closed, unfortunately.
• Did some laundry at the end of the day
• STEP TOTAL: 13,862

Day 6 - Osaka

• Started the day at the Museum of O...

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