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.

That's really helpful - thank you very much. And thanks for the heads up re the tunnels on the Shinkansen lines. It's good to know what to expect so I can prepare myself.

Assume you have your suica card etc sorted?

Can someone please explain the usefulness of this card. I'd not heard of it before. We don't need a JR pass for the amount of travel we're doing by train in Japan, but is this Suica card like an Oyster card? Can it be used in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo? What about in Hakone? AFAIK the Hakone Free Pass is necessary for that area.

@cheezncrackers It is a bit like an Oyster card and can be used on the transit network across the country (bus, metro, trains) and to pay for things in shops and from vending machines. Unlike London, you can’t use a contactless bank card instead on their buses and metro. If you have an iPhone you can install suica, passmo or icoca on your phone directly in your wallet app. If you’re an android user you’ll need a physical card. I think you might be starting in Osaka, if so it would be an icoca card rather than a suica. They work exactly the same way. Look for the pink ticket machines in Osaka metro stations to buy your card. Whatever card you get, you will be able to use it in Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka.

Thank you @Takoneko. We're starting in Kyoto and only doing a day trip to Osaka. We'll be using public transport every day to get around Kyoto, visit Osaka and Nara, then we go to Hakone and end up in Tokyo. TBH, I'd thought we'd buy an e.g. 4-day pass for the metro or just buy single tickets as we need them for longer journeys (e.g. from Kyoto to Nara and back). Is Suica more convenient or cheaper or just easier than doing that?

@cheezncrackers way more convenient than a metro pass and single journey tickets. You just tap and go. The Tokyo metro passes only cover metro and Toei lines not JR lines (like the Yamanote) or lines run by other private rail companies. Suica/Icoca/Passmo will work on all of them and on trains. Single tickets in the metro systems are a pain too, as you need separate tickets for each section if you are transferring from JR to metro or Toei.

So much easier to just pick up a IC card at the airport or first station you get to, knowing you can just tap in and out everywhere. My first trip to Japan was before the IC cards had to be usable between the different companies and we used metro passes and single tickets and whilst it wasn’t the end of the world, it was a huge hassle compared to using the IC this year.

Agree with everything @Takoneko said re the suica- when we were there in 24, they had stopped them for a while so we had to get from our hotel at Haneda airport to ueno and had to keep buying tickets which was difficult with jet lag and took extra time. We then got a passimo which works the same, and it was so much easier! You can use them in convenience stores as well and as pp said the best thing is you can use them countrywide!

Thanks very much! It looks like blank Pasmo cards have been suspended atm, but I'll wait and see what's available in April. Icoca looks like it could be a good option. I particularly like the 'Etiquette' section of the Icoca website😀

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/howto/manners/

@cheezncrackers That’s fun. 😀Where do you fly into? If it’s KIX then Icoca will be what you end up with anyway. Passmo and Suica are Tokyo/Kanto, ICOCA is the IC card in Kansai. I like the Icoca logo and design best too.

Yes, flying into Osaka. God knows if I'll have my wits about me enough at that point to remember to buy a transport card (probably not!)

How are you getting from KIX to Kyoto? If you’re getting the train, you’l be walking through the JR station anyway and there’s machines there where you can pick up an IC card. If not they have machines in major stations in Kyoto as well as Osaka.

@Takoneko thank you so much for the Tokyo station recommendation
I hadn't even looked there but it looks ideally placed for what we want to do

Gotta catch up on all the transport card stuff now 🤯 will likely be back with 24000000 questions

This is a great thread and I've learnt a lot from it. I'm going at Easter (teacher so stuck with the school holidays) with DH and DS 26. Flying JAL from Heathrow to Tokyo. We have 10 nights/11 days: 4 nights in Tokyo, 2 Kyoto, 2 Osaka and then returning to Tokyo. We're on that really early morning flight on the return leg so interesting that we can use the lounge due to the food situation. I'm very lucky that DS is ASD and has had an obsession with Japan for around 12 years. He can speak some Japanese and is very knowledgeable about the country. I am hoping that this trip will led to an independent trip for him.

I have read a lot about the Studio Ghibli museum and difficulties getting tickets. Has anyone used any of the tours you can book in advance for this like Klook?

I am also a life long vegetarian - I have read some good tips on here but am still a bit nervous about the food. I'm definitely going to be Googling and using Happy Cow app for food. We are staying in business hotels (apart from Osaka when we are at USJ) so should be able to havea good breakfast.

The lounge access thing is a bit odd because there was nothing in any of our information when we booked the flight about it at all and it sounds like it was the same for you. We didn’t realise until the person who helped us check our bags in at the airport told us. There is information on their website about it but you have to be looking for it to find it. I find it odd that they don’t give you the information when you’re booking. it seems weird not to highlight something that is a good selling point.

https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/inter/route/hndlhr/#popup_lounge

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/01/15/japan/japan-foreign-visitors-2024/

Tourism figures for 2024 were released today. A 47% increase in overseas visitors from 2023 and over 15% higher than in 2019, which was the previous record.

Interesting that visitors from the U.K. spend more per person than visitors from any other country. It’s not like we’re awash with cash relative to other countries these days, so I’m curious as to what’s driving that.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/01/15/japan/society/kyoto-accomodation-tax/

This article was also published today. This may be relevant for anyone with plans to stay in Kyoto. It’s not quite as dramatic as the headline makes it sound as it’s only the most expensive hotels and accommodation that will be taxed at ¥10,000 per night, but it might be worth considering for people looking at pricier hotels in Kyoto or looking at booking hotels close to the price points where the tax brackets jump.

It won’t take effect until spring 2026, but I know there are people on here who are planning trips for 2026.

Interesting that visitors from the U.K. spend more per person than visitors from any other country. It’s not like we’re awash with cash relative to other countries these days, so I’m curious as to what’s driving that

For me the bulk of it is shopping 😂 I allowed 3k for this holiday (just me), excluding flights. Hotel was £650 for 16 nights. The rest is all spending/food (and I eat relatively cheaply) and I'm staying based in Tokyo the whole time so no big train fares/excursions. I have another 1.5k contingency if I burn through my budget but am trying not to!

I never "go shopping" as an activity in the UK or even really any other country I visit, aside from the odd souvenir. But Tokyo shopping is completely different imo.

I'll just add some info re smoking/vaping as its changed a lot in Tokyo since I was last here 5 years ago. Not sure re other parts of the country.

The good news for non smokers is you can no longer smoke in cafes or restaurants other than if there is a (usually tiny) smoking room provided. No food or drinks allowed in there. There are designated "heated tobacco rooms" (mainly iqos) where people can use their iqos and eat/drink. But these are separated from the main area by doors. (The smoking cubby is usually within the heated tobacco room). If you vape you're going to have a problem! Nobody vapes. You can't do it in the heated tobacco room and I can't imagine it would go down well in the smoking room as they are so small. And you can't smoke/vape etc in the street.(that's not been allowed for decades). All the outdoor designated smoking areas i used to rely on are disappearing fast! That's where I occasionally would see someone vape. But it's just not a thing here.

Sadly Japan has recently become the sex tourism capital of Asia - its more popular than Thailand now. This could account for some of that increase in tourism & spending. The weak Yen helps too.

One of the reasons given is Japanese women look relatively young & underdeveloped (ie so they look more like children/underage - men like this - grim), and the age of consent was 13 (though it has recently been raised to 16).

Red light districts often aren't obvious like they might be in Europe.

That really depressing. Do you have any links for that? I obviously knew sex tourism was on the rise because of the weak yen and economy, which make women more likely to turn to sex work. I am really shocked to hear Japan has overtaken Thailand in terms of numbers though.

FYI for anyone travelling on JAL - on some outbound Japan flights you can pre-order a special meal for £25. Obviously not important for all the business class travellers, but for anyone in Economy, it sounds delicious.

www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/inter/service/optional/paidmeal/

I feel a bit bad for bringing this to this lovely helpful & interesting thread - clearly Japan is so much more & I really can't wait to visit. But yes this is happening & we do need to talk about it & be aware.

I know a British woman who work with Japanese women who are supporting the girls exploited in the sex industry in Japan. She has visited a few times now.
It seems the cultural differences make things even more difficult for Japanese women who are prostituted and the "host clubs" system is desigened to create debt which girls are duty/honor bound to pay. (vulnerable girls/young women are enticed in, they have a coke or other drink in a bar, the price is then revealed to be very high, the girls sent to prostitute themselves to repay the debt and so the spiral begins).

This article reads a bit confused - but the essence is true. My friend is told by locals that the host club entrapment model is a massive problem:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/17/host-clubs-in-tokyo-force-women-into-sex-work-to-pay-off-huge-debts

Its not a Japanese problem - men exploit women & girls everywhere of course. But I was super surprised to hear Japan was now the top sex tourist destination - this is what I have been told but I can't find the figures - not unsurprising as there isn't much written about sex tourism as an issue/problem - plenty of information out there is you want to be a sex ouritst though.

There is no nudity on the streets or images like you might find elsewhere. So if you are wandering around certain areas with kids, you might want to pay extra attention especially as tourists might not understand the cursive. Groups of men on the street, maybe around a girl or 2 is a sign something is going on there & its all linked in with anime - another thing to watch our for if travelling with children who are often quite interested in anime.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/10/06/japan/society/japan-sex-tourism/

https://www.japanholiday.com/tokyo-travel-guide/red-light-district.html

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/tokyo-has-become-sex-tourism-hub-amid-rising-poverty-report-101732248948283.html

There is very little support of these girls/women, very little analysis, its all still very hush hush, cloaked in shame and made more difficult my local laws. If a woman in prostitution is attacked/assaulted she is likely to be arrested for prostitution while seeking medical support etc.

The group Colabo are supporting many girls on the street - this is one of the groups the woman I know is connecting with and supporting:
https://colabo-official.net/projects-english/

https://www.filia.org.uk/latest-news/2023/6/14/jcolabo-needs-your-help

https://kyeol.kr/en/node/541

Feminism and even women forming groups without men & supporting each other are still quite strange concepts in Japan.

In the 80's when I was a teenager we had a young Japanese midwife come to stay with our family - she was a trained professional middle class woman. She had no bank account and her wages were paid to her father. Once she married her wages were paid to her husband. Until she had children of course and then all work stopped. As an adult she needed her fathers permission to apply for a passport. I don't know that much has changed for women in Japan.

@RobinEllacotStrike Thanks for sharing. I like your be informed and realistic about the places I visit.

Having visited kabukicho, I think it’s fairly obvious that you’re in a red light district and there are host and hostess clubs dotted all around in Japan.

I knew that the weak yen had increased the amount of sex tourism, but hadn’t realised just how bad things had got.

Can anyone recommend a book on the history of Japan in particular Osaka?

I think my question about beach trip to Southern Japan in September got lost. Is this too risky due to winds?

I’ve not been to southern Japan at that time, but if it was a bit too windy on a particular day for the beach then there’s other things to do that could keep you busy and occupied. Kyushu should be plenty warm enough for the beach in September.

@SunnyTimes3 This video was in my YouTube feed this morning and it made me think of you. This guy was in Kagoshima in September and he ended up having to change plans due to the weather. Looks like he still had a great time and found things to do. Might be worth a watch.