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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Anyone been to Japan?

53 replies

Hazeleyez · 05/11/2022 21:11

Thinking of it for summer 2023? Anyone any recommendations of who to book with or what to see? We're thinking 2 weeks. No idea what to see or do other than Tokyo and Kyoto and Mt Fiji but it is on our bucket list. Tks

OP posts:
Weirdlynormal · 05/11/2022 21:13

Yes, totally loved it.

it might be a bit steamy in summer.

Hakone was great, we stayed in an Onsen. Tokyo, Kyoto, we were only there 8days though as bunked off kids to visit a friend.

see if the sumo is in. It was surprisingly engaging.

bluejelly · 05/11/2022 21:18

Japan is an amazing place to visit. Japan in August is incredibly hot and humid though. If you can go any other time I would.

Cornishmumofone · 05/11/2022 21:22

I've been quite a few times. K's House hostels are good value: kshouse.jp/index_e.html You can book a private room. Convenience stores sell freshly made ready meals which are delicious.

If you could go in spring to see the cherry blossom it's worth it.

Hiroshima is a deeply moving place to visit.

Many Japanese castles are reproductions, but they're interesting to visit.

Original poster
Hazeleyez · 05/11/2022 21:23

Eek....we'd have to go in August because of work. Is it totally ridiculous to go in August? Or do-able? We did NY this year in August and it was ROASTING (for reference!). Thanks

OP posts:
Juststopit · 05/11/2022 21:25

Japan is on my bucket list - hoping to go in 2024. What tour operators are best? I think I’d need a tour as I’m travelling solo.

expandabandband · 05/11/2022 21:29

It’s amazing - best trip I’ve ever done.

on phone so will answer properly later but we used Inside Japan who I would really recommend

bluejelly · 05/11/2022 21:32

It is doable in August but just not as enjoyable. But if it's your only chance to go to Japan then go for it.

OneCup · 05/11/2022 21:34

We went in August and I thought it was fine

Halsall · 05/11/2022 21:49

Yes. It’s amazing. You don’t have to go as part of a tour, you can do it yourself. Best advice would be to buy a Japan Rail Pass if you’re planning on travelling around and using bullet trains; it can only be bought by visitors from outside Japan and gives you huge discounts on rail travel.

August will be hot and humid - possibly very, and you may hit typhoons, which can be disruptive and quite scary.

You could easily spend the whole 2 weeks in Tokyo as there’s so much to see and do - Tokyo and Kyoto would be fine for a fortnight, and you can do side-trips as well.

I'm hugely envious OP as I’d love to go back (I’ve been 4 times).

PeekAtYou · 05/11/2022 21:49

Spring or Autumn will be much better. Summers are super hot.

Whynobreadpudding · 05/11/2022 21:51

We went last 2 weeks in August 2017, very hot but manageable. Very clean polite, you will love it. Clean toilets everywhere. Can get a hot drink from a vending machine. Would love to go again. Very safe as well. Still a cash only society.

Alvinne · 08/11/2022 22:37

Japan is a fantastic place to visit. I went in the winter and it was great.
For 2 weeks you could split between Kyoto and Tokyo with some nice day trips. You could also consider a ryokan near Mt fuji/yamanashi for an amazing experience (though maybe expensive). The shinkansen between kyoto and Tokyo does go past Mt fuji though for a cool view.
From Kyoto consider day trips to Nara (staying overnight is amazing as everything is so quiet when the majority of visitors have gone), I also enjoyed Arashiyama.
Food is great, and not as expensive as you'd think, set menus, noodle shops, convenience stores, izakaya all have great inexpensive food. Look at hostels as well as hotels, hotels can be expensive and the hostels we stayed at were nicer than hotels I've stayed at in Europe. In Kyoto I'd particularly recommend the 'Piece Hostel' it was spotlessly clean, had pillow menu, good hairdryers, great kitchen and traditional Japanese breakfast included. It was great.

To the poster who thought about going as part of a tour, I'd definitely consider going solo, Japan feels very safe, has amazing transport links and very helpful kind people. Google translate also really helps as you can take photos of menus/information and it will live translate quite effectively.

Now I want to go! Flights just seem so expensive at the moment.

MonkeysandParrots · 08/11/2022 22:57

We are going to Japan in spring next year. We’ve worked with Inside Japan to create our self guided trip but they have all sorts of options and really know their stuff. We usually do everything ourselves but I found Japan a bit daunting for some reason so decided it was worth paying a tour operator premium for the advice and peace of mind.

www.insidejapantours.com

Halsall · 08/11/2022 22:58

Yes, agree about going solo - it’s honestly not difficult. Especially in the big cities, all the transport systems etc have English announcements. People are lovely and helpful and a lot speak English, though they can be a bit shy of admitting it.

Alvinne, we went to Arashiyama too. Did you do the heritage train trip on the Sagano railway? 😊 (this is one of the possible trips from Kyoto, OP, along with Nara).

From Tokyo, Nikko is another popular place to visit - a huge shrine/temple complex in beautiful forest. It’s a world heritage site and really breathtaking.

bigbadbarry · 08/11/2022 22:59

We used to live there and it is fabulous. My top tip if you get as far as Hiroshima is to stay on Miyajima** island for a night. Completely magical.

ZenNudist · 08/11/2022 23:12

I looked at intrepid but was £3500 pp before flights for 2 weeks tour!!!

I'd like to go and take DC. Only good time outside summer is Easter and apparently its so busy in "cherry blossom" season that travel is impossible

My sister made it sound difficult to plan a trip and visit

How much is a realistic budget to go self guided with tour operator premium?

Sausagenbacon · 09/11/2022 07:56

We loved it. My recommendations is buy a rail pass and go solo.
The only problem for us was that we assumed that, once we left Tokyo, we could book places as we went along. That didn't work out well for us, so, if I went again, I would recommend booking your accommodation in advance.
The stand out experience for was walking the pilgrimage routes in the Kai peninsula.

NoShrunking · 09/11/2022 18:42

We went solo but on a trip organised by Inside Japan who were excellent. Although they will try and over schedule you so allow a day or two for just staring.

Agree about the rail pass - and any excuse to shoot about on the bullet train and eat train bento boxes.

Think hard about what you want - we went with an eleven year old, and were as interested in the modern as the old, so didn't spend as long in Kyoto as some people but did also do Osaka which is mental and brilliant and had the best hotel we stayed in.

Things we loved:

  • the Ghibli museum. There is now a theme park. We need to go back
  • Universal Studios
  • The trains, did I say the trains?
  • 100 Yen shops, specifically Daiso
  • Clothes watching in Harajuku in Tokyo
  • A guided tour for an afternoon which taught us how to behave in a Shinto Shrine
  • Eating sushi for breakfast at the Tokyo fish market
  • Traditional Inns.

It's also incredibly clean and friendly but it is still quite hard work - I was really grateful for the back up info that Inside Japan gave us and it's pretty hard to eat at any restaurant that doesn't have either an English menu or pictures.

But it was the best trip I have ever done, it was meant to be a one off but only Covid has stopped us going back.

Frazzled2207 · 09/11/2022 18:46

I lived in Tokyo for a while in the 00s. Loads to see and do. Hiroshima and Miyjima, Kyoto and Fuji are the must do’s.

however I would seriously advise against august. It’s like wandering around in a hot soup the whole time and it’s grey and overcast all the time. April/May and September/October are best times but winter is good too- never gets very cold and many days were sunny and crisp. Also the skiing (or boarding as they mostly do over there) is the best I’ve ever experienced from a snow quality and reliability pov.

UWhatNow · 09/11/2022 18:47

The cultural suppression of women and school girl fetishism puts me off tbh.

Magnolia24 · 09/11/2022 18:51

Following

Youdoyoubabe · 09/11/2022 18:56

We went a few Christmases ago. My 14 year old said it was the coolest trip we had ever been on. Highlights were:

The hedgehog petting cafe (Tokyo)
Robot show - totally bonkers (Tokyo)
Mikimoto island
Hiroshima museum.

Kindofcrunchy · 09/11/2022 19:08

UWhatNow · 09/11/2022 18:47

The cultural suppression of women and school girl fetishism puts me off tbh.

For me it would be that and the dubious animal rights but I'd still go tbh.

Sausagenbacon · 09/11/2022 19:48

I'd forgotten the bento boxes! They are so cool.

backinthebox · 09/11/2022 19:53

The flights are expensive at the moment because a lot of airlines that would normally be flying from Europe to Japan are not doing the route. The flight path routes over Russia, which is not possible atm, so the airlines that are still flying (mainly just the Japanese ones) are taking very long detours over polar regions to carry out the flight. The other alternative is to fly the long way round and go via the USA. There is no other easy way to get to Japan at this time. It’s not impossible, but it will be expensive and a longer journey.

I had Japan on my list of plans as a family holiday at Easter 2020, but then Covid happened and now the Ukraine war. It is still on the to do list, but for some other time, I don’t know when.