2 weeks in Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto and where else?

[FlossOnTheMill]

My husband and I are planning to visit in July or August. We have never been to Asia and neither of us speaks Japanese.

We are interested in exploring cultural sites but also hope to visit a couple of smaller cities and perhaps one or two rural locations. I have a guide book but feel somewhat overwhelmed...... where to start?

How easy is it to get around? Train or rental car?

I hear most Japanese don't speak English. Are restaurant menus and traffic signage, timetables etc just in Japanese?

Any information, tips, suggestions gratefully received!

They travel through Japan in one of the episodes in Race Across the World, give it a watch on catch up TV.

Hakone is lovely. Cultural things to do and a good place to see Mount Fuji.

The Izu peninsula is lovely too, south of Hakone

Most things in Tokyo, like the railway/underground, are in Japanese with English. A lot of people in hotels and tourist places speak English, even if they are embarrassed that it isn't perfect. A lot of cafe type places will get out their English menu. Sukiya is an easy place for food if you are hungry and confused.

You have to go to Hiroshima and try Okonomiyaki.

Osaka is amazing too. Very busy lively city but different from Tokyo.

I would recommend a day trip to Hiroshima, very moving

Osaka, train (just brilliant) and there is English on all the signs so getting around is fine, but it's difficult to do any restaurant that doesn't have an English menu.

Thank you for all your suggestions!

Can you tell me what in all these places you particularly enjoyed?

Anything that disappointed or could have been improved?

Look at some of the posh travel companies and copy their tours.
Watch Race across the world.
Join a more specialised forum/ Facebook group.

When we went to Japan with ours, then aged 5, 9, 11 and 13, the place they absolutely adored was Takayama in the Japanese Alps. Travel by train - the Hida Express from Nagoya- then stay in a ryokan.

Hi OP, please search this holiday section for Japan trip inspiration and advice. I am planning a trip there this autumn and have obtained (& screenshotted) loads of information from here the last few months. Japan seems so popular at the moment. Good luck and bon voyage

We got a ferry from Tokyo to one of the islands and stayed there for a few days. It was beautiful and very quiet

I think it was called shikenijima

We did Tokyo then Hiroshima and a night on Mya jima, the island just off the coast there. It's beautiful, no cars allowed. We stayed in a traditional Ryokan and took the cable car up the mountain. There are lots of deer just roaming the streets! We then visited Himeji castle on a day trip on the way to stay in Kyoto. When in Kyoto we visited Koya san for the night, to stay in a Buddhist temple overnight. It was amazing to see the prayer ceremony in the morning and eat the traditional food.
All very easy to do on the trains! It took us 2 weeks.
Edited to add, we flew into Tokyo and home from Osaka, it made it much easier.

Go to Nara for the Great Buddha and the deer park.

We found that a lot more people speak English than we thought they would. Even if people can't speak English they often understand it and will draw you a map. We had a few very kind people who walked us to our destination!

Try and learn a few phrases in Japanese. My DH has a knack for languages and could make himself understood, dc and I learnt how to say Thank you which always seemed appreciated. The Japanese are quite formal and extremely polite.

We had 5 days in Tokyo and then travelled by Shinkansen to Hakone to stay at an Onsen hotel, Hiroshima (my favourite place), Miyajima and Kyoto. It’s easy to visit Osaka from there.

Have a wonderful time and pack an empty suitcase for all the goodies you will bring back!

Thanks everyone - you've given me quite a few tempting ideas!

Off to do my homework...

Just to add, it's quite some time since we went so things may well have changed, but you may need to book some things well in advance. We booked tickets for the Ghibli Museum and had to do it in a certain way as visitors to the country. Some friends went to a sumo match and I think there was a whole booking process for that too.

Oh and I nearly forgot, go to the fish market in Tokyo. It's fascinating.

I've been to Japan roughly 12 times, it my favourite place. I'd say Nara is well worth a visit, one of my favourite places I've ever been. Everywhere is easy to get around, the metro system in Tokyo is very easy to follow and the signs are in English too. In the cities the menus etc with be in English as well and most people speak at least some English. Hakone is another good option if you want to see mount fuji. I also enjoyed miyajima but Nara would be top of my list every time

You can translate menus/ signs using the google translate app on your phone. You just take a photo and it translates the whole thing.

We did Tokyo - Hakone - Matsumoto - Takayama - Kyoto - Hiroshima then back to Tokyo. I don't have words to describe it, I've always been fascinated by Japan from a girl at boarding school meeting Japanese girls in the 80s. Suffice to say it was all I hoped and more.

go to Hiroshima. The Peace Park and museum, well, they are an experience every human should have to understand the ramifications of war. Plus Hiroshima style okononokiyaki 🤤. I ate the most phenomenal meal of my life (and I've been to some very famous restos) in Hiroshima at tempura tenko

id be on a plane tomorrow to go back

Jeju island

Are you sure you want to go in July or August? My son lives there and he told us to avoid the summer as it is unbearably humid: we've not long come back and we recommend getting a Japanese SIM card for data as without a functioning internet-connected phone we'd never have coped with public transport:
Like other posters, we went to Hakone and up the mountain on the "switchback train", then up the funicular railway: Onto the cable car: back down the other saide and across the lake in the pirate ship
If you go to Hakone, get the "Hakone free pass" (weird name - it's not free : 5300 Yen for 3 days: and it covers all the above mentionned transport and some buses: There's a dedicated office in Hakone station which sells them: You can buy them online, but then you have to be sure to have an internet connection to be able to show it:
Also , there are a few reducations in museums and tourist sites with the pass but they are not shown at the ticket booths: you have to remember to ask if there is a reduction

Agree with OP, I lived there for a couple of years and July/August was very hot. Might be OK if you go to Hokkaido though. I agree with the comments that Hiroshima is amazing, the peace park and museum are a must and the area is also really beautiful with lovely places to see in that area. Near to Toyko Nikko is also lovely. And you can't miss Nara.

If you go to Matsumoto I highly recommend hiking the Magome to Tsumago Kiso Valley trail, absolutely gorgeous scenery full of Edo period houses and shops. Also the Hida Folk village in Takayama. If you go to takayama there is so much to see, also it is famous for temari, balls made of thread with the most incredibly intricate patterns. Get rice balls on skewers which are coated in a sticky, soy sauce sold by street vendors from carts.
Kiso valley

god I love Japan, you could spend many lifetimes there and never more than scratch the surface, it's such a nation of juxtaposition. Snoopy Town and Harajuku girls, gaming and neon next to ancient edo thatched buildings, Shinto priests and geisha (geiko in the Kyoto dialect) playing the extraordinary shamisen

if you are interested in finding out about Geisha I recommend Lesley Downer's interesting book complete with a layered section of a geisha's robes and also Lisa Dalby's fascinating memoir of being the only western woman to become a geisha