Japan family holiday - travel agency or DIY?

[bottersnikes]

We've just started to plan a holiday to Japan for the 4 of us, probably for late 2019 / early 2020. Organised trips through agencies seem to be eye-wateringly expensive, but we're not sure if we're just out of touch, as we've not done a long-haul trip before.
Can any Mumsnetters who've done a family holiday to Japan before give me an idea of 1) our approximate budget for 2 weeks, staying in a mix of ryokan and 3* hotels (i.e. we don't need luxury, just somewhere clean and comfortable) and 2) whether we will need guides etc or can find our way around ourselves?
Our kids will be 14 and 16 by the time we go.
I'll have a good read of the other threads about Japan, too, there seem to be a few of them out there.
Thank you!

The toilets are amazing. Even the public ones. They play water sounds to cover the sound of peeing and have a warm bidet function.

You don’t necessarily need a rail pass. Firstly you can’t use them on all bullet trains and secondly if you’re only seeing a few cities, or in an area with limited JR trains they aren’t good value. There are calculators online or you can look at sites such as hyperdia to price up travel - they also have an app.

Personally I enjoyed the traditional ryokan. We just sat on the floor around a low table in the evening - although I don’t think we stayed up particularly late after the meals as we were shattered most nights. Wearing yukata and eating a traditional meal was one of the best bits. Although I wasn’t massively keen on the onsen. If any of you have tattoos make sure you book somewhere with a private onsen.

I actually enjoy planning trips so didn’t mind the time spent, but it wasn’t 30 hours! Looking online for sample itinteries helped, but some of them are slightly ambitious. Pick your must sees/must dos and work around them. Bear in mind some things needs to be booked well in advance, for example studio Ghibli tickets.

Our rail pass did include Shinkansen

It included some Shinkansen. Whether it matters to you that there is a fastest tier on some lines which it doesn't include is up to you. It's unlikely to matter.

I used to go to Japan at lot for work, so a family holiday was built as "like a work trip" but in slightly better hotels (I tended to stay on my own in the METS hotels operated by the the railway company, located over stations, but they're a bit of an acquired taste).

Yes to checking you get non-smoking rooms: I once didn't, which was horrid.

I meant they were excellent, but a bit mind boggling initially.

Oh, a room tip: a small/semi double is really a room with a slightly larger single bed. It is not a small room with a proper double bed. It is rarely big enough for two adults. A deodorised room is a smoking room with strong air freshener. Avoid.

Do it yourself
We stayed in a hotel right by Kyoto station for £60 a night which included breakfast
We bought rail and bus tickets on the hoof
You need to plan an itinerary as there's so much to see
Remember the rugby World Cup is in 2019 and olympics in 2020
The ramen shops are unreal and so cheap

Easy to DIY. We were there (admittedly as a couple not a family) in May this year. As others have said, they've improved a lot of signage and accessibility due to the upcoming Rugby World Cup and Olympics. The underground in Tokyo was easy to navigate and the tourist office will sell you a multi-day pass for it (worth it as individual trips will mount up quickly and Tokyo is quite spread out).

There's also been an increase in "flash packer" style hostels which might be worth a look as they often have 4 bed rooms with your own bathroom. We stayed in a lovely hostel place in Kyoto near Gion in our own double room. They included a basic breakfast and you could help yourself to tea & coffee all day.

We added on some day tours with Urban Adventures. They do food and cycling tours with local guides, amongst others and we thought they were great. You can book with their website or via Viator.

We learnt some basic Japanese before we went, but only needed it on a handful of occasions. We met people who said the language was more challenging outside the big cities.

And the food is amazing!

Hi OP, I used to work as a Japan Specialist, let me know if you have specific questions and I'll do my best to help _ Just for quick tips - JNTO website is good for basic info plus festival info. There's also an app called Interpreter - it's a really good free translator that will speak out loud in Japanese for you when you're there.

Japan is just awesome, I hope you have a wonderful wonderful time!

@lovetherisingsun what do you think about going there in late July? I was told it may be too hot and stuffy?

It's VERY hot, but the suffocating kind (for me at least - some may be able to cope better!). Think, sometimes 40'C (which it reached this year). It's not so bad if you're in the cities - lots of lovely icy aircon on public transport, in buildings etc, but if you're in the countryside/ryokans etc it can be really difficult to cope with, especially if you're going with kids and aren't used to that kind of heat, AND if you've extra bags you might be lugging around.

There's some awesome festivals though at the end of July - it's worth it just to see those, if that's the kind of thing you like :)

following too with great interest as we too are hopefully off to japan next december2019/jan20. kids ages will be 12 and 10. keen to hear thoughts on self-catering and how to go about booking this especially in Tokyo and Kyoto where we'll spend longer. recently read about a big clamp down on self catering in Japan so thoughts v welcome.
Any thoughts on staying in a Ryokan with kids - especially re the food etc?

With the itinerary I have in mind we will spend Christmas day in Tokyo and New year in Kyoto - does this work well??

Exciting!

It's all booked! We decided we wanted to take all the stress out of organising this trip, so we've booked it through an agency.
Very excited - we're visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, with a few days out in a forest ryokan for some peace.
Many months of anticipation now!

How exciting!!! Do you mind me asking who you booked it through??

Exciting. We did a bespoke trip with 4 kids a few years back. It was fabulous. The geisha dance show and the Gora Karan ryokan were highlights but it was all great.

@bottersnikes, I put together several Japanese itineraries a year and my advice would be this:

1. You can put itineraries together yourself but it's slower and you may not get what you're looking for based on time of year.
2. The Japanese themselves account for 70-80% of tourism in Japan and you need to know when they book becasue everything sells out fast when they go on holiday.
3. It may be a good idea to do both - find your own itinerary and also get a quote from a specialist (I'd suggest not any of the High Street travel agents due to the nature of the products they sell).