Japan Planning Thread Part 2

[Takoneko]

This is a thread for anyone planning a trip to Japan. All budgets and styles of trip are welcome.

I got so much out of the first thread and would love to be able to continue the conversation with everyone who has been so helpful.

I fly tomorrow morning!

First Thread

17 nights - Tokyo, lake kawaguchi, kyoto, Osaka (with day trips) 5 nights still to book likely in the alps Tateyama, Matsumoto, Nagano so any thoughts welcome. Then back to Tokyo with a possible side quest via Nikko.
Travelling as a 4 with adult children and used to DIY holidays semi back packing off the beaten path but have found Japan quite overwhelming to pin down plans!

@Jellyslothbridge That sounds like a fabulous trip! I think Japan can feel overwhelming but as long as you accept that you won’t be able to see everything worth seeing in that amount of time, you really can’t go too far wrong. There’s so many good options that the choice can feel overwhelming but I think you’ll enjoy wherever you choose to go. Just leave yourself enough slack in the itinerary to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy just being in Japan.

@OldieButBaddie Thanks for the Onomichi bakery recommendation. We’ll add that to our list.

We flew out Qatar Business class and stopped in Doha for 2.5 hours, arriving in Tokyo at noon. This worked really well as we left LHR at 8am, stayed awake to Doha then got off and had a shower and some drinks in the lounge, then got back on, had dinner and a glass of wine then slept for 7 hours so we felt fine when we arrived and went out for dinner, went to bed at 12 and woke up at 9am on Japan time. I think I would do that again rather than fly direct which we did on the way back with BA.

Oh I have just remembered I meant to mention this. I noticed when booking hotels/airbnbs that the availability of bedside lights is a bit patchy so I bought a couple of these before I went and they are brilliant!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glocusent-Knitting-Crafting-Brightness-Rechargeable/dp/B07WNRN9WQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GfGqizP55njApqVwgfnrTKdrOUQKqGSaxHkCZwxCLbCMt9elW5jYQ6N-CTApeHj_iGrnjHg8Vsyi1e2K9R01Tz77ksyj-ZHOovSI8FzYYjcbikdJYVx0R80PQ1obl-RQozMTTxoHWR_CNKdAXAq3vQCyfq3-Z9_hH2f8lsOrPdKCWivsy_qv-hHVaOTq4aWOvtUgOZbU-noYRs5wOHZCRyQAYfKrByOs-eplnPavpi7q31FtQXe7Uk1eQ0ng58K3niYspcmtaUS4PR8UNazFiGBooJa2Lw1LkP562ay1bBE.97K9kSeP3U7Ws06ujfyUvkYpNggZeLAbmIz8QiZuttM&dib_tag=se&keywords=neck+reading+light&qid=1744714969&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Several places had either no bedside light on one or both sides, or one that was inadequate to read with as it pointed in the wrong direction or was too dim. If you are a bedtime reader I highly recommend them!

I just posted on the first thread by mistake - not sure if Mumsnet can move it here?

Tip for amusement in Japan. Sainsburys travel gave me loads of 2000 Yen notes when I bought currency. It always caused a stir when we spent them as Japanese people said they'd never seen them before. We never had a problem using them. It was just an event every time and we ended up having conversations with locals we wouldn't have otherwise done.

Making a 3D selfie figurine sounds fun, anyone been to Small Worlds?

https://smallworlds.jp/en/#museumInfo

We had a lovely 3.5 days in Tokyo. We absolutely loved Kawagoe, where we spent half a day. It was a very easy day trip and an absolutely delightful place. It’s touristy without being overcrowded.

We're currently on the Shinkansen to Osaka. We’ve been really lucky with the weather and got a fantastic view of Mt. Fuji from the train.

@Takonekoi bet you were thrilled to see Mt Fuji!
I hear that seats D&E are best for this?
Thats interesting about Kawagoe - is it in the same direction as Kamakura?
Enjoy Osaka and keep us posted please.

@Pusspot we booked seat D and E. You can tell which side is the Fuji side at the ticket machine because the seats sell out very unevenly.

For anyone wondering about whether you need to book Shinkansen in advance, we didn’t and it was fine. We just showed up to Tokyo station and booked a train for half an hour later, leaving us enough time to use the toilet and buy bentos. There was plenty of availability and we managed to get the D&E seats without any issue. We liked that we could take as much time as we wanted in Tokyo in the or int without feeling tied to a deadline.

Kawagoe is in a different direction. It’s in Saitama prefecture to the north of Tokyo. It’s delightful. We had tea and wagashi in a tearoom with foot baths, visited a few shrines and temples, viewed some sakura by the river and bought some street food snacks. I’d definitely recommend it.

Thanks @Takonekofor the train info. I will add Kawagoe to the list - it sounds lovely.

I'm hoping to catch the tuna being carved in the window of Daiki Suisan in Dotonburi but they don't give a time.

I’m so jealous of all these holidays, have an amazing time everyone!

This may sound like a silly question but I would love to visit Japan however, my husband is allergic to shellfish and he’s convinced that he wouldn’t be able to eat anything there. Does anyone have experience with visiting Japan with food allergies?

And yes, more than happy to leave him at home! 😂

@RK800 If no shellfish is the only dietary restriction than I think you’ll be ok with a printed allergy card. There’s plenty of Japanese food without shellfish.

We gave up on booking seats and went in the unreserved carriages where people get on and off all the time, so usually within a stop or two we had a 4 to ourselves and could switch the seats round so we faced each other. Both times got Fuji view seats doing this when all the pre booked ones were sold out

@RK800 i have mollusc and lamb allergies and i was absolutely fine in Japan, learn the word for shellfish or better still
print it out and I am sure he’ll be fine!

ooh so pleased you’re having a great time @Takoneko, Kawagoe firmly on our Tokyo trip list!!

Thanks @Takoneko @2025istheyeari good to know!

We used one of these this time last year and it was great for the trip and 3 phones connecting.

I am with o2 and just paid £7 a day for all data/calls etc as if I were in the UK.

I'm with Vodafone and it's £7.86 per day and a total of 25mb data for the whole trip, so pretty expensive, about £300 for 2 phones and a pretty high chance to go above the data limit and bill going through the roof (travelling with pokemon go/streaming addicted 8 year old who'll only do loads of walking if hunting pokemons and will only wait in line for hours at the park if glued to a screen). Unlimited pocket wifi seems to be about 70 pounds for the trip for up to 5 devices and it's supposed to be better/faster than roaming/sim card, especially during busy hours. Seemed too good to be true but it seems it has worked well for people!

I wouldn’t advise others to do the same. That’s by far the most expensive way to do it. Our ESIMs cost £11.90 each for the whole trip. £7 per day for the 14 days we are here would have been £200 for the two of us rather than £24. ESIMs are the way to go, or a pocket WiFi if that’s not an option.

Hello from Tokyo! We’ve been in Japan for 10 days now and have had the best time. We absolutely love it and I will gladly come to this thread next week and help others to plan their trips. Right now though I have a question. We had our itinerary planned out in great detail, but we’ve ended up with a day in Tokyo tomorrow with no plans (our day trip to Nikko ended in disaster today when the car we were travelling in got a puncture while in the fast lane of the motorway - fortunately we were okay, but we ended up getting the train back to Tokyo and doing today what we would’ve done tomorrow).

So does anyone have any ideas about what we could do tomorrow? We have tickets for Teamlabs Borderless in the evening and we could possibly go and queue up and try to get tickets for the imperial palace. Does anyone know how good the tour is? We are here with our two teens aged 17 and 13. Older teen is happy to do most things, younger one is not happy to do anything, pretty much, but we tend to bribe him with snacks 😉

So far, we’ve done: Meiji-Jingu, lots of walking around and a bit of shopping in Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya Inc. Scramble crossing, Tokyo Skyview from Roppongi Mori Tower, Nezu Museum, Senso-Ji temple, Asakusa, Tokyo Skytree at dusk, Tokyo National Museum, wandering around Yanaka Ginza, and we have booked a guided walk around the Tsukiji Fish market on our last morning.

Is there anything that you’d recommend, aside from what we’ve already done/have planned, bearing in mind our teen companions? TIA

Day trip to Hakone Loop on Romance Car or with guide by car? Snoopy Museum? A capybara cafe? A short bullet train ride?

We're planning on those with our teen. I hadn't considered Nikko.

@cheezncrackers we had a wonderful half day in Kawagoe a few days ago. We stopped for tea and mochi in this place, which I think would be a hit with teens. It’s a bit hidden away in the back of a gift shop. You’d be able to get back with plenty of time for your evening booking. https://maps.app.goo.gl/PZp8M2PQMD1cKYBU9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy