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.

@SunnyTimes3 There’s loads of places that could make sense to do alongside Akihabara. I suppose it depends what you have planned for other days.

Ueno (with the park, zoo and museums), Asakusa, Skytree, Kanda Shrine, Ginza and the Imperial Palace are all very easily
combined with Akihabara (not all together).

If those don’t appeal or you already have plans to see them on other days, then the Yanaka Ginza area around Nippori station on the Yamanote line is another good option.

@SunnyTimes3
Tokyo tower looks great from the outside! Didn't bother going up it.

The tea ceremony in team labs borderless is amazing and not to be missed.

The tea and matcha ice cream is placed under light sources and grows leaves and flowers. Very mystical and cool. Can't quite describe it but you'll love it... if you move the bowls the leaves fall off then grow again!!

When we were there it was a big queue to go into the tea house, my daughter flounced off because she was tired from walking around but the rest of us waited to have tea and matcha ice cream, it was really worth the wait!!

en-tea-house.teamlab.art/azabudai/

@namechanged221 That looks really cool!

I tried to read most of the thread and my apologies if I missed it, but has anyone been to Nintendo World at Universal in Osaka? The universal website says you'll need to exchange your e ticket for a proper paper ticket before entry, and then get a timed entry ticket to Nintendo World from a kiosk in the park - or the app - but availability is limited and not guaranteed. So you're supposed to buy an express pass, but those only seem to get released 4 to 6 weeks before entry and then also sell out quickly. It looks basically as complicated as getting Eras tour tickets, definitely seems the most stressful and expensive thing I've ever agreed to, but supposedly millions manage it every year. If someone on here could give me hope and advice, I'd be eternally grateful. .... Booked the flights for May but now need the tickets.

@NellyBarney We went to universal this year and didn’t buy fast passes. We bought our tickets online and then just used the app when we got in the park to book timed entry to Super Nintendo World. We didn’t have to exchange any tickets either, just used the qr codes that were on our e-tickets to enter the park and to use the app. We arrived just under an hour before park opening had no trouble getting timed entry on the app once we got into the park.

Having said all that, I do think it may get a bit trickier once the Donkey Kong Area opens, so I’d probably try to get fast passes if this is really important for you.

@NellyBarney It may be relevant that we bought our tickets directly from USJ through their app and not through a third-party website. I’m not sure if the ticket exchange thing might be needed if you buy from somewhere like Klook.

Yes we went...

You don't need paper tickets, we just had them on phones

We bought fast pass tickets on the Klook app about 6 weeks before.

Times entry you only need for Nintendo world now... don't need it for Harry Potter.

Klook is a good app for Japan actually...

@SunnyTimes3 One tip that I forgot to mention is to make use good use of coin lockers. People always talk about luggage forwarding but not enough gets said about how much more pleasant and enjoyable coin lockers can make a day. We didn’t necessarily use them every day but they are really useful when you’ve done a bit of shopping or when the weather changes in the middle of the day.

For example, after a morning in Harajuku where we bought a few things and then an afternoon in Shibuya where some of our group also did some shopping we headed to Shinjuku and left all our shopping and raincoats/umbrellas (as the weather had improved) in a coin locker at the station before heading out for dinner and a wander around kabukicho. We did a similar thing on quite a few days. The lockers were about 400¥-500¥ and we only needed one or two between the 5 of us.

Second this @Takoneko !

@faffadoodledo are you back home from your trip now? Did you have a great time?

Yes I'm back, and bating jet lag!
This thread was so helpful to me!
I'd worried and worried about Japan and getting it right but needn't have.

I really wish I'd bought myself a yukata with a nice slim obi while in Japan. We stayed in a couple of ryokans, and I found the gear really comfy, and cosy with the jackets too.
I also wish we'd done a temple stay.
Other than that tho I think our plans worked really well for us.

Yukata are perfect loungewear. I’ve not bought one either, but I do love it when a hotel provides one.

I’m glad you had a great time. I definitely understand that worry. When you’re going so far and spending so much to get there, I think it’s normal to get anxious about getting it “right”. I definitely get a bit stressed about it, but in the end there’s so much to do and Japanese people are so helpful that it’s hard to go too far wrong.

My DD wants a hoari and both of us want Yukata.

Has anyone used the hop in and off tourist bus in Tokyo?

@Takoneko I’ve done that thing of asking about a thing that I learnt about from the thread in the first place!

Tokyo is forecast a balmy 14 degrees first week of December 😮

@SunnyTimes3 All good! There’s no rule against that. Highs of 14 sounds like pleasant sightseeing weather to me.

I’ve never been on one of those buses. The transit network is so good in Tokyo that I just never felt the need.

Those buses are very expensive compared to taking transit or the occasional Uber. Works best for those with limited mobility or who want to hit all the major sights in one day. If you have the ability, plan out your days and enjoy the random things you'll encounter going to and from the sights - it's half the fun of Japan.

Agree @HighlandsExpat
It's quite easy to 'zone' Tokyo and focus on different areas on different days. And in fact we found that for first time visitors the easy peasy Yamanote line was our friend for this. Once at your chosen area you can pretty much walk til it's time to go back home to your hotel on the Yamanote

At least that was our beginners experience!

Does anyone have any restaurant recommendations for Hiroshima?

We are going to be there for 5 nights. We’re ok with a moderately pricy place but prefer a more relaxed and informal restaurant. It doesn’t have to be cheap, but does need the be the sort of place where we won’t feel out of place in jeans and trainers.

Our favourite sort of places in Tokyo and Osaka were little mom and pop ramen, okonomiyaki and curry rice places. We also really liked the chain gyuukatsu place we went to.

Sorry, not been on here for a while. So glad you had a great time @faffadoodledo ! @Takoneko hope you like the Hiroshima hotel, it’s great value!
for universal, we didn’t preorder fast tracks either, just got timed entry when we arrived, it worked well for us, but it does depend on how definitely you want to do it, if it’s a key reason for going and you don’t want to take the risk then it may be worth paying the money!
I’d love a yukata too, anyone got any ideas where I could buy one in Tokyo?
we’re going to start looking at hotels properly over Christmas, 6 months out! Any recs for Takayama, Kanazawa or Hakone really welcomed! Thanks

Hello all, just back from a trip mainly to Yokohama. Wonderful city.

@Takoneko There is a chain called Ootoya with a location in Hiroshima. I’m not sure if it is convenient for you location-wise? We went to the one in Yokohama several times and it was very cosy, relaxed, inexpensive, with great food and very easy to order from (there’s an option for a QR code menu in English). Loved it!

I am slightly bemused by the number of hotels which have multiple beds in one room! We are travelling with my dd and her boyfriend and I am struggling to find places with rooms with just one bed so we can have one each. Some seem to have 6 double beds in one room! Does anyone know why this is?

I mean obv I can get two rooms with 3 beds each but it just seems odd!

Sorry if this has already been covered but for a trip in summer 2025 has anyone advice on booking airline tickets ?
S on thinks there may be black Friday reductions?
Surely not ?