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.

I’m off to Japan soon (excited!) and wondering if anyone had any suggestions of nice beauty gifts to bring back? Thinking of my teenage niece and a couple of friends - things like face masks or other items like nice body products that aren’t going to be too risky (wouldn’t want to buy someone else ‘proper’ skincare as so personal!) thanks 🙏

@ChilliPB I thought these eyes masks would be gimmicky but they are fab and I wish I brought more back! They heat up and stay warm for 20 minutes and have a wonderful lavender scent. You can buy them at any chemist.

Nail clippers and tweezers are also incredible quality in Japan and cheap. Again, any chemist or MUJI will sell them.

A lot of TikToks rave about specific beauty products (namely, the Fino hair mask, the &Honey Deep Moisture shampoo, and the Senka Perfect Whip face wash). I tried the hair mask but only realized after using it it's chock full of silicone so actually isn't that good for your hair. The face wash was so drying and stripping. Didn't try the shampoo as my scalp is sensitive! I think you are right in not buying stuff that people would have to smell/touch/test.

Tons of sheets masks in Japan, and they are very cheap. Can't go wrong with those. Single use hair masks are nice and better for packing compared to a large tub.

I'd be careful with skin care in Japan - a lot of it is brightening or whitening. Not sure what ingredients they use to achieve that but likely some sort of active ingredient that could be irritating.

looking at Kibune-kurama hike while we're in Tokyo. it reads well but is it a goodie? Bit of a niche question!

Thank you @HighlandsExpat! Some great ideas. Hair masks and face masks would definitely go down well. I have a 13 year old niece who I think would appreciate things like that as she’s into all things Japanese. Good warning about the skincare too! I might look into some products for myself but need to do some research…. last time I went to Japan my regret was not shopping more so making time and leaving some space in the luggage to do that this time!

Thanks @Specialnameforanoutingthread - that's really helpful. Can I ask how much Japanese language you needed specifically for the car hire? My DH has been studying it for a couple of years so says he feels fairly confident on the basics.

@squashyhat

😂😂😂at Japanese language study! We had about a months Duolingo each along with Google translate. You will be fine. With hindsight it would have been helpful to have read about the roadsigns as it took us a couple of days to understand the end of speed restriction sign, so we probably irritated some locals but their driving didnt give them away - polite as usual (but no high level study was required).

Oops, I forgot a picture.

Wikipedia has the info

We here now and everything is great, but absolutely no one speaks English - not even in our hotel reception or the DisneySea resort where absolutely everything (even the Disney songs) is in Japanese 😂

I’d been studying Japanese for a couple of years before our latest trip. I found being able to speak some Japanese really enriched my experience, but I could have got by just fine without it. English is not widely spoken, but people are helpful and happy to speak into google translate if needed.

You are not going to encounter many people who are confidently fluent in English, but you are also unlikely to meet many people that doesn’t know at least a little English. I generally found that once I had a decent stab at communicating in Japanese, people were more willing to have a go at speaking English.

Eeek do I need to book luggage onto trains? Tickets been organised by Inside Japan. But they now say I have two options between locations - send ahead by courier (and pack day bags or book luggage in station ticket offices.

Son went to Japan a couple of years ago and remembers nothing of this faff

@faffadoodledo on the Shinkansen (bullet train), you need to reserve specific seats at the back of the carriage (there is a space behind these seats for large bags) or book seats in a carriage with a luggage area at the back (you put your bags on a rack). This website explains it. I did all this on the JR website but you can also do this at the train station either before or on the day of travel. Carry-on sized bags fit on racks above the seats; you just bring them onboard.

I'd highly recommend doing the luggage forwarding service though. Train stations are busy, crowded, hectic and surprisingly cramped on the platforms. It's rare to have lifts and sometimes even escalators, so you might be lugging a heavy suitcase up staircases. The luggage forwarding is so easy, as long as you're staying at a hotel. The reception will either fill out the form for you or give it to you to do - you can complete it in English. I dropped my bag off at 1 p.m. in Kyoto and it was in Tokyo the next day at noon.

How big are your bags? We took a checked bag each and they were all small enough not to need a Shinkansen reservation. The size of bag that needs a reservation on the train is bigger than you might expect. If you add the height, width and depth measurements of your case together and it comes to less than 160 centimetres then you’re all good.

Yes also here to say to @faffadoodledo that you probably don’t need to worry about luggage booking unless you have oversized suitcases. We travelled around for a month using the Shinkansen a lot, never needed reservations for luggage - ours was the usual hold sized luggage.

Thanks for the luggage info. My rep at Inside Japan was fairly adamant that I needed to do one or other. I shall risk taking my (non oversized) bag on board. Its overall measurements are under the 160cm limit so I ought to be fine.
I'll definitely forward for one short stay I'm doing on the Izu Peninsula.

You will be fine. I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with a bag that was within the dimensions. I see people all the time online recommending that people with non-oversize baggage book the oversized baggage seats. All that does is make it harder for people who actually need those seats to book them. I’d imagine it’s quite irritating for Japanese people who need the space and can’t get it because they were booked up by tourists with normal sized bags so far advance. The JR website is really clear that you do not need a reservation unless your bag is over 160cm.

I’m originally from Japan and we go back most summers. I’ve never booked a suitcase on the Shinkansen, although we usually ship two cases back home from the airport via Yamato, then go off somewhere with just one big suitcase for a few days for a short trip and stick it in the luggage space.

On the question above from chilli, I’d say for beauty gifts just find a big Matsumoto Kiyoshi (a much better version of Boots) and there are loads of good value beauty stuff. Local brands that you don’t find in the U.K. (eg Kose) are usually a good bet. We buy big packs of face masks for our DDs’ friends.

Other places to visit that haven’t been mentioned much are:

Nagasaki - really interesting historical city with dejima island, the bomb site, and the old Western quarter on the hillside. Nearby Saga (car rental needed) is also a nice part of the country, especially if you’re interested in buying beautiful porcelain, eg rice bowls.

Kusatsu, not too far from Tokyo (but does take a bit of getting to) for an old style onsen resort. Eat the onsen buns and the local sake in gunma is really good.

Toba peninsula, to see the pearl diving villages, Mikimoto pearl production, and eat lots of ridiculously fat oysters.

Karuizawa, if you’re going in skiing season - easier to get to than Sapporo and also a nice resort town within an hour and a half of Tokyo on the Shinkansen.

We're almost at the end of our Japanese adventure (flying home tomorrow) and I must say that unexpectedly (and maybe a bit controversially) our absolutely favourite place has been Osaka 😄 Japan clearly has many different faces and I realised that the buzz of the different shops/street food/anime/ general craziness is the part of Japan we most prefer. The temples and gardens are beautiful of course but we would much rather spend our time in Osaka and actually changed plans to spend more time here. The shopping in Osaka is better than in Tokyo 😁 really glad we're staying in Osaka so thank you @Takoneko for that recommendation (and also for helping with our itinerary which would have been pretty spot on had we not messed around with it a bit). Will post later everything we've done (and still doing 😅)

@XelaM Glad you’ve had a good time. I really liked Osaka too. I’m looking forward to hearing all the details of what you got up to.

Thank you @jaundicedoutlook for the beauty shopping tips!

Also interested to hear how much you loved Osaka @XelaM. We didn’t visit on our first trip to Japan and have a few days there on this trip so can’t wait to see it. We love buzzy cities so sounds like it’ll be a good choice for us.

I have a friend currently in Japan who reports it's unseasonably warm and the leaves are still green. I am going to revise my packing slightly before we leave on Monday.
Inside Japan have backed down on their booking luggage suggestion!

The next tourist destiination is Tokyo.I hope you can share more information and guve me more suggestion so that I can do a trip plainning in advance.

@faffadoodledo
My DD just got back from a few weeks there and said it was very warm/humid; high 20s, even 32 a day.

@Petermichel I’d be more than happy to help. I love talking about Japan.

When will your trip be, how long will you stay in Japan, and what sorts of things are you interested in?

The photo lists our rough itinerary for our trip. We did deviate from it a bit, but actually had we stuck to it especially in Tokyo - it would have been better. We didn't get to do ALL the things on our list, but could have done if we were a bit more organised (and didn't spend so much time shopping and wandering around Dontonbori in Osaka 😜).

@XelaM thats really useful thanks. Gives me an idea of how much can be achieved and where.

@faffadoodledo the shorts might need to go in after all.

I’m planning on buying a lot of presents in Japan. What are the rules on tax please? Do I have to declare my shopping when I come back to the UK or is all the tax due dealt with at point of purchase.