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.

@Pusspot we are staying overnight in Hakone this time, we want to do the circuit, enjoy an onsen and do some walking so makes sense for us!
We’re also overnighting in Kamakura as again looks like lots to do ( and hotel much cheaper than Tokyo!!). Your trip, duration and time of year sound like our first trip. We had an overnight in Hiroshima which we loved and went to Himeji on our way back, again highly recommend!

have you come across this calculator before, it may help you decide whether a JR pass is worthwhile https://www.jrpass.com/farecalculator/138.427734%2F35.712616%2F8%2Fpage_view_event%2Fmetrics%2Fmetrics%2Fsession_trace%2Fajax%2Fmetrics%2Fajax%2Fspa%2Fajax%2Fjserrors/spa/ajax/aggregate?l=en&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD091ZcZO0DwTTB7pVPzIrGScxOUu&gclid=CjwKCAiAtYy9BhBcEiwANWQQL9oOTxKtUU4mrxZ4O3_fwVauUs7Nksq8yJ5_jW27jLZo35VN5NCDixoCcNYQAvD_BwE

@Halsall wow that sounds amazing! We’re looking at somewhere to go kind of between Nagoya and Tokyo ( but don’t mind if it’s slightly past) so going to look up kawagoe!

edited for typos!

@Waffles21 that's good to hear - thank you.
I'm having similar thoughts about the cost of Tokyo hotels.
Thanks for the calculator link - I will have a look with DH later on. One of my (many) thoughts is that we will probably use the metros in big cities, which I don't think are covered by the JR pass. The Seat 61 train guy has a good section on Japan.
My head is spinning with ideas. We're going in October, but I really want to get the main structure of the trip sorted soon.

This was the festival in Kawagoe, @Waffles21 and @Pusspot

ETA such a pity I can’t post any photos at the moment but I will if that changes!

@Halsall wow that looks spectacular!
Sadly we are leaving Japan on the 22nd, so I think we will miss it.

Ah, what a shame, @Pusspot - but keep an eye out because there are loads of festivals, often local ones, happening all over the place. We often stumbled over them by accident just wandering around different districts of Tokyo.

@Pusspot The JR Pass is pretty unlikely to be good value. However, the JR West regional passes generally offer far better value. https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/
There’s a list here of different passes where you can look at the different options. We’re using a 7 day Setouchi pass for our trip to cover day trips from Osaka and Hiroshima.

@Takoneko thank you, I will have a look at that pass. We will be visiting that area.
I think we will need a Suica (sp?) card too for Tokyo. Yikes what a minefield!

I'm all ears for any hotel recommendations please!

@Pusspot Definitely get a suica. It’s not just for Tokyo. It will also work in Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima etc. for the metro and buses. It also works for intercity trains except limited-express and Shinkansen.

We stayed in the Henn Na Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi and thought it was great for the price and a great location. Our Tokyo hotel was clean and pleasant enough but I wouldn’t rush to recommend it.

We’ve booked a Daiwa Roynet Premier (Kyobashi) and a Sotetsu Fresa (Yadoyabashi) for this trip, mainly based on location and the fact that they looked good value for our dates. We also booked the Randor Hiroshima based on a recommendation from someone else on this thread.

@Takoneko thank you, that Osaka hotel is exactly what I've got in mind. I'm currently thinking two nights in Osaka, but open to ideas. We're flying from KIX late afternoon.

The Randor Hiroshima is sold out already. Looks great though.

@Pusspot I don’t think they accept bookings that far in advance. It won’t be sold out yet. We booked in November for April but it was showing as unavailable in September.

I think we have sorted our itinerary.

Tokyo 6 nights (to allow for day trips)
Kyoto 3 nights
Hiroshima 2 nights
Osaka 3 nights (flying home from KIX)

I realise this isn't very innovative, but as first timers we don't want to be too ambitious.
Any thoughts appreciated!

@Takoneko sorry I just saw your reply - that's good to know. I was wondering why so many hotels were fully booked!
We have decided against a stay in Hakone - we will do a day trip as suggested.

Hi @Pusspot
v similar to our first trip and I think it covers a lot of fab stuff! It was me who recommended the Randor, it was great! Lots of hotels in Japan don’t open for bookings until 6 months in advance.
we stayed in the Ueno area of Tokyo and loved it, this was where we stayed, it’s a Ryokan and we’re staying there again in July as it is good value and v friendly.https://www.tokyoedosakura.com

Thanks @Halsall that looks amazing, sadly we’ll miss it too but still going to look at it as a day trip!

@Pusspot That sounds like a great itinerary. Lots of great stuff to see in those places.

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_hiroshima/

This is probably the best rail pass for that trip. It’s lasts five days and will cover your travel from Kyoto-Hiroshima-Osaka and any stop offs along the way or a day trip or two. For example, Himeji, Onomichi or Kurashiki are all in between those cities. It also covers the Miyajima ferry. A JR pass would be a lot more expensive than buying this pass and a single Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and you’d also have to pay extra fee on top of the JR pass if you wanted to use the fastest Shinkansen (the nozomi). This pass covers nozomi trains in the standard price.

Saving up for a trip to Japan now after DS (9) spotted the bullet train in an old calendar from years ago about trains from around the world...

He has started his itinerary as has DS (7). There will be three adults and three DC going December 2026 or 2027 (depending on how much we can save!). DC will be 20, 17, 12 and 10 by then roughly plus DH and I.

DH went to Tokyo 20 years ago. He loved it and wants to return. 9yo definitely wants to go on the bullet train, visit a Pokemon Cafe, visit the Sony Tower, and go to Disney Land, Sea World.

Also the sand museum!

We have not looked at hotels but considering staying at hostels....

@Takoneko many thanks for the travel advice. That JR pass will be perfect for that part of the trip.

@Waffles21 thank you for the hotel link. Looks great! I'd probably wimp out and choose a Western room as it's 6 nights!
What are the transport links like in Ueno?
We're thinking of day trips to Kamakura, Hakone and Disney Sea.
The Randor in Hiroshima looks great, thanks for the recommendation.

@Pusspot For those day trips I’d recommend staying as close as possible to Tokyo station. If you’re walking distance to Tokyo station then Hakone, Kamakura and Disney are all direct journeys.

The Daiwa Roynet Kyobashi, which we’ve booked for this year is in a very good location for that. If you have a look around it on google maps you’ll see there’s quite a few pretty reasonably priced hotels nearby.

Thanks @Takoneko I will focus my search on that location.

@Takoneko I'm looking at the Daiwa Roynet Ginza hotel, mainly because we like a hotel breakfast. The reviews say it's a 20 minute walk to the main JR station (which is fine for us). It sounds like a decent area -,are you familiar with it please?

@Pusspot I do actually. We stayed right by there on our first trip to Japan way back in 2009 (at the Monterey Ginza). We were also walking distance from there this year. It’s a really nice place to stay. It’s pretty quiet and feels very safe after dark but has plenty of places to eat and drink. It’s convenient and Tokyo station is very walkable from there and you can also walk easily to a few different metro lines. Ginza is also good for shopping if that’s your thing. The big Uniqlo, Muji and Itoya (stationery) stores are all nearby.

@Takoneko thank you! I think we will go with that one, although the hotel you mentioned also looks good. DH is very keen on a hotel breakfast....hope it meets his high expectations.

@Pusspot We had a lovely time at the Monterey Ginza back in 2009 but the rooms look a bit dated and tired now from the pictures I’ve seen. We loved the location, but I’d choose the Daiwa Roynet too.

Looking for 1 hotel room in Tokyo for myself, DH and 16 year old DD but booking.com prompting me to book 2 rooms at several hotels.

Anyone know if 2 double beds or an extra camp bed are not a thing in Japan?

Great thread BTW thanks in advance.

Search “triple room Tokyo” and you’ll see some hotel names come up. Good luck, they’re not common. 2 doubles and camp beds even rarer. You could also try Japanese style rooms that can fit multiple futons.