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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/AlmandineKnight on 2024-11-20 02:39:24+00:00.
I’ve been scouring Reddit since the summer months to help plan my trip, and wanted to do my bit for those that are planning a first time trip themselves. Hopefully someone can find something in here that is helpful, just as so many of you have helped me and my family.
This was an 8 day trip traveling with my 2 kids (early teens), on our first time to Japan.
Suica:
Loaded up our digital Suica cards in our Apple Wallets for me and my oldest. Bought a physical Welcome Suica card for my youngest at Haneda.
Google Maps:
Absolutely vital travel tool to have. I love exploring and getting “lost” at times, but traveling with 2 kids and having limited time really helped us to be more discerning with our choices and where we were going. A few times the directions on the Metro were slightly off, or a little confusing, so sometimes it’s better to just use the actual signs in the Metro station and exist in the 3D real world.
eSIM:
Purchase Airalo eSIM for me and my oldest. Installing mine was a big mess, and did not work initially. I’m glad I did this several days before departure, since their customer service is not super responsive, and I ended up getting the quickest response by tagging them in a Reddit post on their community. Finally got it installed, and the activation upon landing was fine. My 10 gig data allotment was adequate for a week, but my older one burned through 10 gigs of data in the first days while streaming YouTube on the Shinkansen, and also syncing photos, so we had to turn off some apps and top up for another 10 gigs.
Cash:
Added a Schwab checking account to my existing brokerage account, so that I could use their debit card and get reimbursed for ATM fees while in Japan. I found that most places took credit cards, I’m guessing since we were in mostly tourist areas—there was only one restaurant in Kyoto that was cash only.
Passport:
Kept my passport on me at all times, ended up getting tax free discount at several shops, so this was important to have on me (and other threads mentioned it’s a requirement to do that anyway while traveling in Japan).
Day 1: Tokyo
Landed in Haneda around 2pm, and Customs process was very easy. Very easy because I had used the Visit Japan Web travel website the day before and filled out all the forms (one for each passenger!) and screenshot my QR codes (in case my eSIM gave me issues—see earlier). Purchased Welcome Suica card for my youngest child doesn’t have a mobile phone yet. We had already loaded up Suica cards for me and my older child before we left. We took the train from Haneda to Shinjuku, and it was easy. There were also workers in Haneda near the kiosks that also helped and spoke excellent English. After checking in to our hotel, we took a nap, then forced ourselves to wake up after 2 hours. We then wandered around to find some dinner, but didn’t realize that it was a national holiday when we arrived (Culture Day), so a lot of places were closed and the streets were pretty empty in that part of Shinjuku.
Day 2: Tokyo
Got up really early due to time zone difference, after hotel breakfast we decided to start walking towards Meiju Jingu. We got there by 7:30am and it was completely empty, nice to enjoy the quiet. Kept walking south down towards Shibuya. Grabbed Blue Bottle coffee and waited for everything to open. Didn’t realize that nothing really opens until 10am, but more like 11am. Walked around Shibuya crossing (not very exciting early in the morning), and then saw the Hachiko statue, until it was 10am and the Nintendo store opened. Then spent more time walking around and checking out shops (clothing, skate, fashion, Tower Records, G-Shock, etc.). We wandered up in Harajuku and ate lunch at Hamburg YOSHI. About a 20 minute wait, but meal was good. Also sat next to a Spanish couple filming a new video for their YouTube channel. Had matcha and ice cream from The Matcha in Harajuku, son proceeded to drop his green tea ice cream on the street! Dinner at an udon place near our hotel in Shinjuku.
Day 3: Tokyo
Tried to get an early start and get to Asakusa early, but jet lag continued… didn’t get to Senso-ji until 10:30am and it was already madness. Looked around quickly, then headed for Kappabashi to check out some knives. I ended up getting a new chef knife, but was hard to decide since there are so many stores and so many options! Headed down to Ginza next to look around and check out Itoya store, Uniqlo, etc. It had many floors and had some interesting stuff, but was pretty crowded. Then headed down to TeamLabs Borderless for our ticket time (ordered online weeks in advance). This was really fun, and the kids agreed it was a great stop. More exploring after that, then burgers at Aldebaran in Rappongi and donuts from Dumbo Donuts for dessert.
Day 4: Tokyo > Hakone
Went out to Daikan-yama to explore, and checked out Tsutaya Books. Then headed back to catch Shinkansen train to Odawara and on to Hakone. We purchased reserve tickets in Shinjuku the day before, and loved the bullet train experience. We had grabbed some snacks at Family Mart beforehand thinking it was a long ride, but was only about 30 minutes. We then took the Hakone Tozan Railway to the Hakone Yumoto station, to change trains to get to Gora. From there we took a hotel shuttle bus to the Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu. Hotel was nice, but nicer than what our group needed. I booked it a little late and a lot of other places were unavailable, and this one had a private onsen which is what we wanted.
Day 5: Hakone > Kyoto
Checked out of hotel, then took the train back to Gora. The Gora station had lockers available for our luggage, and then took Hakone Tozan cable car and then the Ropeway up to Owakudani to see the black egg and try to get a better view of Mt Fuji. The views were nice, and the clouds finally lifted at the end to see Mt Fuji. The area seemed a little like an abandoned mining site that they turned into a tourist spot hahaha. Back down to Gora, and retraced our steps to Odawara to catch the Shinkansen to Kyoto. We bought reserved tickets at the station office less than 30 minutes before departure. Got to Kyoto, took a taxi to our hotel in Higashiyama and then set off to explore. We ate sushi at Sushi Taka in Gion, but had to wait about 30-40 minutes outside. Didn’t realize that most restaurants in that area require dinner reservations, so make sure you plan ahead if there is a place you really want to eat at.
Day 6: Kyoto
Tried to leave early and took a taxi to Fushimi-Inari. Arrived by 8:30am and it was already very crowded. As everyone has posted here, once you start walking up the hill, the crowds do thin out somewhat. Got some great city views of Kyoto at the top. Then we walked out and grabbed wagyu burgers at Dragon Burger. The kids enjoyed the craft cola quite a bit! More shopping after that, as we headed to the Nintendo store (a little bigger than the Tokyo one). % Arabica coffee and more wandering around Higashiyama, around Hokan-ji. It was really crowded, lots of Chinese tourists dressed as geishas, and lots of cameras everywhere. We tried to eat at Wabiya Korekido, but didn’t have reservations, so no tables available (see earlier comment). Found a bar serving yakitori just in time as we were all getting pretty tired and hungry.
Day 7: Kyoto > Tokyo
Took a taxi to Arashiyama, and took a stroll through the bamboo forest. Nothing too remarkable, as we had seen uncrowded bamboo forest in Fushimi-Inari the day before. We then hiked up to the Monkey park, and this was a highlight for the kids. Lots of fun to see all the monkeys playing and running around, plus nice city-wide views. Another stop at % Arabica, but way too crowded so we headed back to the hotel, then the station to take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Again, we bought tickets about 15 minutes before departure.
Back in Tokyo for final night, stopped at Selection Shinjuku to get some Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) merch. Then went to Akihabara to walk around and explore. We ended up getting conveyor belt sushi at Kaiten sushi Edokko Kanda, which was fun as a novelty.
Day 8: Tokyo
We had the morning to spend, so we went up to the 45th floor observation floor at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government—some great views of the city and FREE! We then took the Metro down to Shibuya/Harajuku for some final shopping. Then it was off to Narita on the Narita Skyliner, which was very easy. We still had some cash/coins left over to use in the airport, however the food options in the Terminal were unimpressive, so we used our final coins on small gifts, bottled water and snacks.
Overall, a fantastic trip with great memories.