Japan experts, please help

[Gorgonemilezola]

Longed for bucket list trip which we're finally in the early stages of planning. We're not keen on organised tours, but do see the advantages.

What would be your most recommended resources for planning a self guided trip, and any recommendations for must see places, restaurants, experiences - on a fairly tight budget. We aren't looking at luxury accommodation or Michelin restaurants, just ways we can see and experience as much of the country as possible, but not rushing from place to place in a 'If it's Thursday it must be Paris' kind of way, without taking out a second mortgage.

https://www.hyperdia.com/sp/

And of course Seat61 for more general rail plans and inspiration.

Tickets can be a bit complicated because there are multiple rail companies, so passes don't always cover everything you want. And in the big stations there may be multiple ticket offices depending which train you want to catch (and even what value of ticket you're buying).

Oh dear, that's not the kind of answer I was hoping for 😨

@LipstickLil The JR pass wouldn’t have been worth it for us. I can’t remember the exact cost but 3 Shinkansen trips Tokyo - Odawara, Odawara - Hiroshima, Hiroshima - Kyoto was approx £200 each. Subway/local trains/buses were all quite cheap and the JR pass doesn’t cover all lines.
We booked through Klook a couple of weeks before we went and easily reserved seats together.
If you miss a subway train, the next one will be along in a couple of minutes! They ran absolutely on time, although our Shinkansen to Odawara was 6 minutes late leaving Tokyo which is unheard of! 😂
I had my tech savvy DC who used google maps to find which train/platform we needed, as I said in previous post, the stations are enormous!

It's not too difficult, @LipstickLil - everyone is really helpful. You just have to be prepared for giving your destination to the ticket office assistant and being told 'Terribly sorry, that's the electric train so you need the office down there', and that office then saying 'Ah, this ticket is less than 1000¥ so you must buy it from the machine next to the platform'.

You soon get used to checking the train company alongside the timetable.

That's very helpful! Thank you @NoBinturongsHereMate and @FeltCarrot.

I like that kind of travel - where you have to figure stuff out as you go along - but DH doesn't so I'll need to at least pretend that I know what I'm doing

Seat 61 is quite helpful about which tickets cover which lines, so you know what ticket office to look for.

just ways we can see and experience as much of the country as possible, but not rushing from place to place in a 'If it's Thursday it must be Paris' kind of way

Japan is a big country - about 1.5x the size of the UK. It simply isn't possible to both "experience as much of the country as possible" while not "rushing from place to place", unless you either spend a couple of months there, or redefine "as much of the country as possible" to mean a bit of depth as opposed to just ticking off cities and sights.

The key, I think, is that it generally isn't necessary to visit more than 3 or 4 places to get a feel of a country. Take your time. Get up late occasionally (you will be jet-lagged anyway). Go to the same place for breakfast two or three days running and be recognised by the staff. Get into micro-scrapes, like eating where the locals do in a little teishoku (diner) and not being quite sure what you ordered. This seems more important for getting to know a country than saying that you have to been to cities A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K. And in any case someone will say "You didn't go to L? Well, you haven't really been to Japan then!".

@BernadetteMatthews That's really unusual, when I was there, I left my purse with all my documents and money and tickets in the subway. I was mortified and I thought I was done. Then it turned out that the manager worked at the end of the line kept everything safe, and everything was intact. He was very polite and helpful. Which foreigners are doing it? I assume it happened in a big city like Tokyo?

Another recommendation for Inside Japan. They organised me a great self-guided trip and sorted all the admin, passes, restaurant recommendations, etc. I had an amazing time in Japan.

I agree with you @samarrange it's important to rest, too, and take things a bit slowly.

No matter where you go in Japan, you're going to have lots of things to see and do if it isn't a very small place.

And Japanese people are very helpful, a lot of them speak excellent English (but can be shy) and once you experience Japanese service (even in places like 7/11) is exceptional. Researching makes things seem daunting but it really isn't once you get there. Most people in the service industry speak English to some degree.

The most important thing is to get good rest because sightseeing whilst cranky isn't much fun. Crowds in Tokyo can get extremely stressful. Think quality, not quantity. Not a holiday when you get back home and you're knackered.

We got Traifinders to book our 3 week trip, so all train tickets were given to us when we arrived. That was handy. The JR pass even though it was a 3 week trip and we went on shinkansen a lot, wouldn't have paid for itself.

You can eat really cheaply, Especially at lunchtime, in local family restaurants and places where office workers have lunch. And it's good food. Especially if you like noodles.

Google maps tells you which exit to get off at in different stations, honestly some of those stations seemed bigger than my home town.

Get out into the countryside and stay in a traditional hotel (minshuku) with futon on the floor and a set meal included. That will probably be the best food you have in among some very good food.

Kyoto is amazing but is a huge city, you can spend a lot of your day travelling unless you plan your day. Also consider renting a bike in Kyoto, it's really cycle friendly.

Nara is more atmospheric and the deer are great, save some cookies for when you walk away from the main station into the forest.

And you won't see it all, in 3 weeks we didn't stray away from the main central Honshu. Don't try to, you'll be knackered.

I lived there many years ago so knew the countryside bit where I lived well...it's very different.

We do a reasonable amount of self guided travel and I have used Rome to Rio for several years and trips and it gives options on transport between two locations. This also means its good on seeing if day trips are doable.

Someone has already mentioned Seat61 and we've successfully used his advice several times too.

We used buses as well and they come recommended. As other posters have said people are very helpful but its not always straightforward so leave extra time for actually getting it done and if it is efficient you can use that time people watching or wandering.

We also drove in Hokkaido and that was the best car hire experience either of us has experienced with a good briefing on the vehicle, and a handy check sheet for stray left behind items on return of the car.

Accommodation is pretty straightforward through usual booking choices.

We did a 5 week trip to Japan and South Korea (using ferries between the two) in the autumn using these resources and it pretty much well went to plan (except the typhoon that came though when we were half way up Mt Fuji!).

We loved it and I would go back in a heartbeat (if we didnt need to visit the rest of the world...)

The policeman didn't say where the foreigners were from, DD said he seemed as fed up with it as she felt. Yes. Central Tokyo which is v busy apparently, as expected.

She's having a nice time but obviously worth being aware of who's around you.

I'm sorry to hear that @BernadetteMatthews yeah central Tokyo might be the problem. Disappointing that police haven't been helpful. I hope she enjoys her time there despite what has happened.