Japan planning thread

[Takoneko]

I’ve just booked the hotels for my third trip to Japan next year and about to start planning the itinerary in earnest.

Japan threads pop up here quite a bit and I think people spend a lot of time on planning for Japan trips. I thought it might be nice to have a shared thread where we can pool questions, tips and share research for anyone who has a trip coming up.

All budgets and styles of trip are welcome, whether you’re going hiking, temple-hopping, skiing or visiting theme parks, maid cafes and arcades and whether you’re going to hostels or 5 star hotels. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to enjoy Japan. It has something for everyone.

We’re a couple in our late 30s and our trip will be mid-budget, probably up to about £3.4k per person with food and spends. We’ve splashed out a bit on direct JAL flights and have upgraded all our hotel rooms to at least king size beds in hotels that are in really well connected locations. They are all mid-range Japanese business hotel chains rather than luxury hotels though. (Candeo, Daiwa Roynet and Sotetsu Fresa). We like Japanese food but we’re definitely more likely to be eating eat in mom and pop restaurants and mid-range Japanese chains than in fancy kaiseki places. Any recommendations for mid range restaurants with relaxed atmospheres would be very welcome.

We plan to use the Sanyo-San’in rail pass in the second half of our trip and would be really interested to share ideas for places to visit with anyone else who is planning on using that pass (or who has used it in the past). At the moment we are thinking Iwakuni, Miyajima, Kurashiki and Onomichi from Hiroshima and Himeji and Uji from Osaka, but we are open to other ideas. I speak passable tourist Japanese and we are ok with going to places that don’t cater to English speakers and muddling through with broken Japanese and Google translate.

@Sockmate123 , I’ve been back through where we stayed and would probably only recommend 2 other places. One in Kyoto is a bigger Ryokan and v close to the main shopping street, Nishiki Market etc. here are the Tripadvisor reviews. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g298564-d7789492-Reviews-Kyomachiya_Ryokan_Sakura_Urushitei-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html

The other was where we stayed in
Hiroshima, https://www.booking.com/Share-EhsIOX6, very new, really friendly staff, large rooms and a washing machine!!

the place we stayed in Osaka was ok but I wouldn’t return and the final place in Tokyo I def wouldn’t recommend.

@faffadoodledo How is it going?

Hi guys.
Just done day 2 in Tokyo. It's a curiously relaxing place.
I decided to break down the city into areas. So first night we went to a street of izakayas at Shibuya . Great fun. Plum wine mmmm! And good food made and served by one woman in a tiny space.
Next day was Oeno and Yanaka. So Yanaka Ginza and beer hall, national Museum, Nonbei, kitchen utensils street, Yanaka cemetery and finally Senso-ji as night fell - all lit up. Oh and also Rikugien garden
Today was Tokyo International forum for the monthly antique market, the fish market, Hamarukyo Garden, Jumbocho book centre, Koishikawa garden and finally Itoya stationary store.

Note - those sound like over-packed days but we plotted carefully on the map and it all made sense - I haven't written them int he right order here!

Tomorrow we're doing g a day trip to Kamakura.

Also Asakusa on day 1, just before Senso-ji

when you go to a train station do you buy tickets from an actual person? Is there such a thing as a one day travel pass for the whole of Tokyo? Can you bring your own little book to be stamped at the train stations or do you buy one at the first station please?

@faffadoodledo wow you have seen a lot it sounds great fun. I’m enjoying your updates thanks.

@faffadoodledo what's the weather been like? Did you pack the right things? Are the autumn leaves everywhere?

Usually you’ll buy tickets from a machine. At some station there’s a help button where a member of staff can pop out of a little hatch by the machine to help you to buy them from the machine. I’ve never used one but did see them do it a couple of times. If you have an IC card then you rarely need to buy tickets apart from the Shinkansen.

Take your own little book to stamp. I never saw them on sale at a station.

That sounds fab. Those are busy days but not over-packed because you’re sticking to places that are geographically close together so you’re not cris-crossing the city.

Have a wonderful time in Kamakura. I absolutely loved it there.

I guess it’s been a good few years since we were last there but we always enjoyed going into the mainline station ticket office (usually Shinjuku as we tended to stay round there) and buying our Shinkansen tickets - well, just getting them issued, as we had a rail pass - for Kyoto or wherever from a railway clerk in full uniform and white gloves. There’d be no end of energetic keyboard hammering and then a lot of serious work with the date stamp before he (usually a he) ceremoniously handed them over in a lovely little wallet. Great times!

We loved the strolls round Yanaka as well, @faffadoodledo. Is that funny Swiss chalet restaurant still there? And Itoya - 💓💓

@faffadoodledo I’ve just remembered an amazing little shop full of cat themed stuff in Kamakura. The lady running it was really sweet.

I can’t find it on Google maps now but am pretty sure it was on the walk between Hase station and Hasedera. I found this link, which shows what it looks like. If you’re into cats then I highly recommend popping in.

https://theflyingtofu.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/chapter-214-cat-themed-shop-in-kamakura/

Love this thread!

We've booked a totally impulse-buy trip to Tokyo at the end of February, only a week, we're staying in Tokyo but seeing a concert in Yokohama in the middle. Can't get any longer than that off work. We booked with BA from Heathrow, but our flights have been cancelled (something to do with engine parts) so are now flying Japan Airlines out, Finnair back.. Have never been to Japan, would like to go to Teamlab and possibly a spa/bath type place but planning is very much in it's infancy.

We are totally open minded about what to do with our time - we're a couple in our early 50's, and the more I read about things to do, the more overwhelmed I feel! We'd like a mixture of busy and calm, and like food!

We booked a hotel close to the venue for the night of the concert in Yokohama, which is close to the cup noodle museum! In Tokyo we're staying at the Park Hotel which is part of our BA booking

Any suggestions for Japan/Tokyo first timers greatly appreciated - I'm fully expecting to come home with a list of things we wanted to do but didn't have enough time for - an excuse to plan another trip....

@HostessTrolley The area near your hotel is a really good place to be after dark. There’s a lot of cool little izakaya around Shimbashi. Are you staying at that hotel for both the bit before and after Yokohama? If it’s just one end then I’d book something in the West of the city for the other bit just to save you time on public transport.

If you’ve been rebooked onto Finnair/JAL for no extra cost, I’d honestly say you’ve got a nice bonus. We flew Finnair and JAL to and from Japan in April. We preferred both to BA and JAL economy is brilliant. They have one less seat per row and the wider seat is very welcome on a flight of that length and if you’re travelling as a couple the 2-4-2 layout means neither of you have to end up in a middle seat. Seat selection is also free with JAL, in case BA haven’t mentioned that, so you can get onto their website and reserve your preferred seats if you haven’t yet.

I’ve never been to TeamLab but the planets location is very close to the Toyosu Senyaku Banrai spa, which is pretty cool. We only went for the food court and free foot bath, but the spa looks great and the complex is really cool. https://www.toyosu-senkyakubanrai.jp/languages/en/

It's been warm - highs of 20-22 degrees apart from one rainy day which just added to atmosphere.
Trees are slow to turn. I think they've had a tough summer in the heat

@Takoneko Thank you so much for your reply x

We're at the Park hotel for the week - my OH booked the room in Yokohama on points to save us having to travel back to Tokyo after the gig - and maybe have breakfast and a mosey in Yokohama on the Wednesday morning before heading back to Tokyo.

We're in JAL first - we got a BA sale offer flying first out, business back - so jumped onto JAL first as I hear it's amazing but most definitely out of our price range. We have a big anniversary next year, this trip is our treat to ourselves.

The food court and foot bath/spa look perfect for lunch and relax after planets - I was reading that it's quieter there in the mornings so that sounds perfect!

@HostessTrolley JAL First will be amazing. Enjoy!

I’m currently in Tokyo (am writing this from a very jet lagged hotel room). We are staying at Mesm in Tokyo which is a gorgeous hotel.

So we are in Tokyo for 5 nights, then making our way down to Osaka on the Shinkansen for 3 nights, then onto Kyoto for 3 nights before going back to Tokyo for one final night, also on the Shinkansen (in first class which I hear isn’t loads different) before flying back home. We flew Etihad from Heathrow in business class as they had a sale on at a fantastic price.

We have been in Tokyo since Monday and so far, we’ve wandered around Ginza, saw Tokyo Tower, visit the Imperial Palace and walked around the most gorgeous park near our hotel (Hamarikyn Gardens). The weather has been warm enough to wear just a t shirt which is nice. We are going to visit the TeamLab museum and Borderless museum. I want to visit this trendy neighbourhood called Kichijōji if I get chance. Also want to see the pandas in the zoo!

My advice so far would be: definitely bring cash with you as lots of places don’t accept card. We use the express train from Narita to the city centre and the ticket office only accepted cash!

Also if you are an iPhone user - get your “Suica” card (it’s basically an Oyster card but you can use it in restaurants as well as for transport) beforehand and you can top it up from your phone. It will save you so much time. DH has a Samsung and he couldn’t so we had to join the queue for the tourism office which was about 40 minutes long!

@Junaluma That sounds fabulous.

Just bear in mind to allocate plenty of time for the pandas in the zoo. We went in April when they still had four pandas and you could see the adult pandas without a queue, but the queue to see the two younger pandas was an estimated queue time of 70 minutes. We didn’t bother with the queue and just saw the adult pandas but presumably now that queue is the only way to see them, as the older pair were returned to China in September.

So a Sucia card is a pre-ordered card that you can pick up from the airport and put money on from your iPhone wallet, it’s a brand of IC card? Or is an IC card different?

@Junaluma hotel looks lovely! Have a great time.

I’m planning to stay at the Cerulean Tower Hotel Shibuya has anyone got any experience of this hotel please? Or an alternative in the same area that is preferable? I’ve booked it but it can be cancelled.

@Takoneko great intel on the zoo, it’s that kind of detail that really makes a difference, especially on a short trip.

@SunnyTimes3 You can just download the Suica card to your wallet and top it up. As you use it, it tells you what your balance is, so you can just top it up as and when you need to. You can use it for most of the vending machines and in a lot of 7 Elevens too. It is very handy.

Shibuya is central but also very hectic. Depends what you like. Definitely no shortage of shopping and nightlife in the surrounding streets.

@MargoLivebetter thank you that was very easy! All done.

what amount of cash is everyone taking? I was thinking £500 in ¥ is that about right for 7 days? I’m hoping to pay from iwatch (current account) for most things.

I’m set on Shibuya for my base but wondered if the hotel I have chosen is any good. It’s close to the station which is a plus.

We took £50 of cash just in case, but didn't really need any at all. We tapped our phones in most places or used cards where that wasn't possible.

@SunnyTimes3

We took about that amount of cash for 12 days and ran through it plus I think I took out another £50 there. We could have got away with taking less, but had no trouble spending it as almost everywhere takes cash. We also used suica for vending machines and small purchases and used credit cards in a few places.

However, Apple pay is a lot less widely accepted than here. You can often use the Suica in your apple wallet in places that don’t take Apple Pay though.

I’ve not stayed at the cerulean tower but it’s well reviewed and Japanese hotels are generally so good that I doubt you have much to worry about. I think it’s hard to go too far wrong with hotels in Japan as long as you do basic due diligence.

We definitely needed cash. Street vendors, temples and quite a few (smaller) shops/restaurants don't take cards.