Two weeks in Japan

[Iloveabaconbutty]

We've got a fortnight booked in Japan. We need to do it on a fairly modest budget but would like to make the most of the two weeks we have there. We've never been before and are sorting out an itinerary now.

We're really looking forward to it. We're sorted with Japan Rail Passes. We have a number of ideas but would welcome recommendations, suggestions, advice from anyone who has been before. Thanks!

We went for 18 days. We did Tokyo for 5, Hiroshima for 1.5, Kurashiki for 2, Himeji for 1, Kyoto for 3, Koyasan for 2 and Hayama on the coast for 3.
Out of those in a fortnight I’d do Tokyo, Kyoto, Koyasan and Hiroshima and maybe one night in Himeji.

@Houseplantmad That's really helpful, thank you. Were there particular cultural experiences which were good which required booking in advance? Eg we'd quite like to experience Sumo wrestling! We're going in three weeks time and want to spend the next few days getting various things sorted.

We booked the sumo wrestling online before we left. I really really enjoyed it. It was far more engaging than I anticipated.

Staying at an onsen is a great way of having a Japanese experience. We booked with an onsen company online and traveled by train from Tokyo to Hakone. Be warned the traditional food is lovely, but very varied to ours as properly Japanese. My Japanese friend said she loved sone of the more challenging dishes - giant sea snails (almost the size of my fist) were notable!

A few pics. Definitely worth doing both

http://japaneseguesthouses.com/ryokan-single/?ryokan=Senkei%20Annex%20Yamagaso

This company

Onsen is the bath house… it was 8 years ago!

If you are going as far as Hiroshima, please make time to visit Miyajima. Even better if you can stay overnight - when the visitors leave it is the most magical place

We did two weeks. Highlights outside of Tokyo and Kyoto were the snow monkey park at Nagano and Hiroshima. Loved staying in a hot spring Onsen.

Three weeks time is soon! Have you booked any accommodation?

There is a great Japan Planning Facebook Group

@Iloveabaconbutty we missed sumo season but went to the training venue in Tokyo early one morning. That was fun - especially the photos with the wrestlers afterwards! We happened upon a martial arts championship (can’t remember the name) and spent a few hours watching that. It was fascinating.
I also booked Studio Ghibli for DS and me but that’s quite niche if you’re not into the films.
We booked our temple stay in Koyasan in advance and that was probably my favourite part of the trip.
Someone mentioned food ^ - we ate out very cheaply. Lots of little restusoinf tempura etc and delicious food. The 7/11 stores are also a good source of food. We bought bento boxes to take in the trains and they were delicious and like a piece of art.

Thanks to everyone! Your suggestions are all really helpful, inspiring us with ideas and upping our excitement levels greatly! @YouCould we've booked accommodation for our first three nights and final night in Tokyo and are sussing out and booking a ryokan (Koyasan - thanks for the recommendation @Houseplantmad ) and hotels in Osaka, Beppu, Myajima and Kyoto, building into an itinerary which I think will work for us.

Also seeing if we can stop somewhere within reasonable distance of Mt Fuji, although I gather it is often shrouded in mist. We are also about to book seats to see Sumo wrestling in Tokyo as we've managed to catch the competition season.

Snow monkeys and cat Island and the iroki deer would be on my list. I subscribe to solo traveller Japan on you tube and he uses ferries a lot to get around the islands.

I have been told snow monkeys are only really snow monkeys end Oct to end Feb/start March while there is snow, otherwise they are just monkeys.

@Iloveabaconbutty
We spent time in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone, and visited Matsumoto. Would have gone to Hiroshima if we had longer!

Hakone is touristy but it’s not far from Mt Fuji. Kyoto is wonderful. If you are there when the May Odori is on at the Pontocho Odori theatre, you must go. It’s exquisite. Kyoto, Nara and Osaka have a lot to see.

I would not rush around too much. You can also travel to Hase and Kamakura to see the temples from Tokyo. Great rail journey on the Enoden line. We used the Japan by Rail book a lot. Plus Lonely Planet. Both invaluable.

I forgot! We stayed at a traditional ryokan in Tsumago. We got the bus to Magome and walked back on the Nagasendo highway. (Check spellings). Just a fabulous area. Great walk and traditiinal ryokans are wonderful. However they get really booked up! Hakone has some too.

If you are planning Hiroshima then you might want to check the dates of the G7 Summit which is being held there sometime in May.

My top tip: if travelling by train it's very normal to courier your luggage. Most of the hotels do it for you, or if you are in apartments there are local offices. So you send your bags the day before you travel, then travel light on the train with just a small overnight bag.

Also, there's a nice ryokan in Narita, the town where the main Tokyo airport is. So on our way home, rather than a long train journey we sent our bags directly to the airport from Kyoto but stopped for our last night in the Narita ryokan, explored the town a little, then had an easy short journey to the airport.

Omiya Bonsai Village and the Japanese gardens in Kyoto are amazing, according to a friend who goes out there a couple of times a year.

@Yamadori
Lots of great gardens in Kyoto. The moss gardens are fantastic. The gardeners use scissors to keep them in shape!

@OooPourUsACupLove We used that service too. I think it’s the post office! Really helps as Japanese trains don’t have much (if any!) luggage storage. We just took overnight bag and it worked brilliantly.

Lucky you!

The temple at Nikki.

Nikko 🙄 spend an evening in the Ginza in Tokyo, too.

I wrote a long response to a similar thread, a few months back - based on living in Japan for a few years and a number of holidays while we were living there.

Take a read of: Japan ideas and recommendations www.mumsnet.com/Talk/holidays/4607742-japan-ideas-and-recommendations?msgid=119177031#119177031 and I will be happy to answer any specific questions.

Watching as this is a real dream of mine and I have a significant birthday coming up so might start planning.... can I ask what is the best time of year to visit weather wise?

@Iloveabaconbutty you may not have time but if you’re in Kyoto one of the side-trips you can do is to the amazing Miho Museum. Its a spectacularly beautiful museum of modern art set in the most incredible countryside and you go through a tunnel to the main gallery space, driven on a golf cart by a uniformed lady like something out of a Bond film. It was one of our top trips.

It’s a bit of a fiddle to get to - 30 minute local train from Kyoto then pick up a bus from outside the station - but if you’re an art-lover it’s amazing.

I'd also definitely add Takayama as a worthwhile place to see from Kyoto - but there’s SO much to do in Kyoto itself, you'll just whizz through a few days…

Hiroshima is a must and the peace park/museum about the nuclear bomb. Really brings home the enormity of the nuclear threat. I think every head of state with nuclear capability should be taken there.

On a more cheery note, I loved dressing as a geisha in Gion in Kyoto and have some stunning photographs of myself. There are lots of temples: don't feel obliged to visit them all!

Mount Fuji is amazingly huge; try to catch a glimpse if the weather cooperates.

I loved the food: had a huge variety and my tour company provided a list of all sorts of chains which did donburi, ramen, tempura, etc. Also try the many varieties of KitKat.