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

So glad to hear that you had a great time. We’ve still never been to TeamLab so might add one to the itinerary for next year.

We're back from a wonderful week in Tokyo and a week in Osaka with our teen.

It all went well thanks to the tips on this thread @Takoneko. I will post in more detail as I want to relive it and reiterate the most helpful tips.

All the planning paid off! The heat could be tricky but if you're restricted to school hols it's achievable. And DD very happy with the 6th form wardrobe she purchased.

@TheyNotLikeUs Glad to hear that it went well. Please do come back and tell us more about it once you’ve decompressed a bit.

I’ve been dithering over where to stay in Tokyo on our next trip, Ive booked and cancelled at least three hotels. I’ve now committed to the Gate Hotel in Asakusa. We’re only there for two nights and haven’t stayed in Asakusa before. It’s not refundable, so hopefully it’s a good choice. I think it will be nice to be able to wander around Sensoji at night. Has anyone else stayed in Asakusa? I’ve been during the day, but what’s it like in the evening?

We didn't stay in Asakusa but we did visit Sensoji in the evening following the typhoon that had blown through the night before. Im not sure if that's relevant but it was really enjoyable as it was pretty quiet. Afterwards I saw that the area can be heaving so was really pleased that we went when we did. I suppose the downside was the stalls in the appraoch were all closed but we are not big shoppers so wasnt really an issue for us, and we don't know what we missed. The surrounding streets were fairly quiet and not empty and we didn't have a problem finding somewhere to eat (but we probably went in the first place we found).

I've added a couple of photos so you can see how many people were there - it was a wet Friday evening in early September.

@Specialnameforanoutingthread Thanks for sharing. I see what you mean. It’s quiet but not completely deserted, which is perfect.

That would be exactly the sort of weather we’d hope for. It’s lovely when it’s sunny and dry in the day but you can’t beat a little bit of rain for making night photos come alive.

Stayed Asakusa this year. Honestly, it was waaay busier than previous times, probably too much for me. But it was peak season.

But we got up early (recommend Fuglen for coffee) and avoided the worst of it. We aren’t night owls so I can’t comment on that side.

This place is great for fresh bread (there will be a queue) shiopan-maison.com. It’s a nice walk/run along the river.

Thanks for the recommendations @MondayYogurt. I love Japanese bakeries so will add that to our google map.

I know how busy Asakusa can get in the daytime. In 2024 we visited on the weekend that the cherry blossoms hit full bloom and it was wild on Nakamise Dori, so I am mentally ready for the crowds.

At least if the crowds are too much, it is only two nights and we’ll be spending the rest of the trip in places that I expect to be very quiet.

I don’t know is anyone else here is into data and stats. If so you might find the JNTO tourism stats interesting.

https://public.tableau.com/shared/955DRC7FC?:toolbar=n&:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link&:embed=y

This table shows the % of visitors to Japan from the U.K. who visited each prefecture. Some is what you would expect, but Nara feels oddly low compared to Kyoto and Osaka. In particular, I'm surprised that fewer U.K. visitors visit Nara than Hiroshima, given how much closer it is to Kyoto and Osaka which each featured in around half of trips. Apparently I’m quite unusual in choosing to visit Yamaguchi (only 0.2% of Brits did), which seems odd when it is literally 15 minutes from Hiroshima, which is really popular with British visitors.

If anyone else wants to fall down the data rabbit hole there’s tons of it on their website. You can look at how much tourists from different countries spend, where they stay, where they visit. Some of the differences are really interesting.

https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/

I'm still writing up my notes to share but having just come back from a week in Tokyo and a week in Osaka, I was surprised by how few non-East Asian tourists I saw. Especially as in the UK, Japan seemed to be THE fashionable destination of the summer.

On most metro carriages we were the only people of non-East Asian appearance. I only really saw South Asian and Westerners at Teamlabs and Umeda Sky Building.

My taxi driver from eastern Europe told me that only 10% of Japanese people have passports so they holiday within Japan. I don't blame them, they've created an awesome country to live in.

@TheyNotLikeUs According to their data, Brits were only 1.2% of overseas tourists. People from the “west” and the Middle East get combined in their data (Europe, Nordic Countries, Americas, Australia and Middle East get grouped together) but are less than 18% of the total all combined. 78% of foreign tourists to Japan were from East or Southeast Asia.

My hotel breakfast buffets were an amazing spread of east Asian cuisine with some western options too.

The omelette making and steak cutting were an art in themselves. That quarter turn and gentle tap of the pepper mill made my day. No unnecessarily fierce grinding of the mill here!

Browsing high-end stores we were always made to feel welcome, no snootiness even though we weren't carrying expensive handbags etc...

Just a bit of a warning for anyone thinking that they might want to buy tickets for sumo. I hang out on sumo communities elsewhere on the internet and buysumotickets are no longer a reliable place to buy tickets for tournaments. For the second tournament in a row they have been unable to fulfil the majority of their orders. Demand is at an all-time high and the tickets are selling out within seconds of release. It also looks like the JSA has had issues with their customers’ behaviour at tournaments.

They are still selling tickets for November, but I would be very wary of putting any trust in them. I know a poster on here got burned by this in July and it sounds like the same thing has happened with September tickets. I think it looks very unlikely that they will be able to fulfil their orders when the time comes.

The official English language site is below for anyone who wants to try through the official sale but expect tickets to sell out almost instantly when sales start on September 20th. https://sumo.pia.jp/en/

We have finally booked for May next year managing to squeeze in 14 days. Let the fun begin. I might go back to first thread and re read. For Tokyo has anyone Airbnb and what area do you think ? We are 2 groups of friends with teens ( 7 in total ) . We were tentatively thinking of staying 4/5 nights Thanks as always for all the help.

@shannie That’s very exciting! I’ve only ever stayed in hotels, even when we travelled in a group. I did look at some Airbnb options for our 2024 trip with my siblings and their partners but the locations were a lot less convenient for anything that wasn’t really expensive and a lot of the Japanese apartments seemed to have odd layouts with limited privacy.

I’ve always stayed in the Ginza/Tokyo station area. Once by Ginza Itchome station, once by Shintomicho station and once right on top of Kyobashi Station. I like the area, it’s very convenient for public transport and it’s a nice part of town. We’re staying in Asakusa next year for a bit of a change.

That’s interesting @Takoneko, it was us who were burnt. To be fair, we were refunded very quickly but the success rate they claimed was definitely not the case for the Nagoya tournament!

@2025istheyeari I recall you having a fair bit of bad luck with bookings falling through. I think they used to be a pretty good place to get tickets, but it looks like a combination of higher demand and the JSA not being terribly happy with them means that they just can’t secure the number of tickets that they used to.

2024 was the first year since 1996 that every day of every tournament sold out. Sumo is experiencing a surge in popularity at home and abroad and they just can’t keep up. The parents of the wrestler who won the second division championship in July weren’t even able to get tickets to be there to see him win.

The obvious solution seems to be to split the wresting into a morning and afternoon session with tickets for each. That way tourists with just a passing interest in the sport and the families of lower division guys could buy cheaper morning tickets to see some action and to give the lower ranks a bit more of an audience (they usually fight in a mostly empty room). It feels like such an obvious solution to me, but the JSA are slow to change.

I’ll have a look thank you

It’s long, but here’s our fortnight with our teen which was just wonderful:

Flights
The following worked well for us with minimal jet lag - I took naps at times advised on this thread: BA from LHR direct to Tokyo Haneda at c.1pm, landing c.11am the next day. Returning Osaka to Tokyo c.8am, then Tokyo to LHR c.1pm.

For the first time ever I splashed out on Business class. Worth it to stretch out – first time ever I didn’t come off a flight feeling rubbish. You can help yourself to drinks and snacks and sandwiches in the fridge galley at anytime between the two served meals, although no staff actually told us this (I read it on this thread). My teen was in the middle pod and they forgot to take her meal choice on the return leg so the sandwiches were useful. I didn’t get offered tea on the way out at all and on the return one cup was served cold and our ordered drinks with dinner didn’t arrive without chasing! But not sure I could do the 14 hours in Economy so maybe try another airline.

I had problems booking the internal flight so I ended up using a well-known agent, which I’m sure involved a hefty markup. A month after booking, they said one of our hotels would not be available and offered an alternative which was £1K more expensive for the week. So, I booked an alternative myself, cheaper. Disappointed that it took so long to tell us as I can see availability immediately when booking myself. Then on arrival, the bus tickets for the return transfer were not sufficient for our party and were from the wrong stop. So, I ended up having to do that myself too. So, it wasn’t worth using an agent and I wish I had tried someone else just for the flights.

You can totally DIY this kind of trip after reading this thread.

Maps and Money
My NatWest Travel Card worked everywhere that accepted cards. Cash was only used in a handful of places not accepting cards.

Google Maps is your friend, although I still get confused when starting out walking.

Uniqlo and H&M so much cheaper than in the UK.

Always carry a small bag to put rubbish in as bins are scarce.

Arrival
Bought Suica from machine as we’re on Android. Limousine bus straight to Kabukicho – easy to buy tickets from person at counter. Longest road tunnel we’ve ever been in! New-ish Hotel Groove was great, with lots of eateries, smart toilet separate from basin and bath/shower area. We eat and sleep early so unbothered by nightlife in the area.

2D café in Shinjuku makes a good photo.

Godzilla Head. Roar!

Light show at Government Metropolitan Building is nearby-ish.

Day 2
Walked to Meiji Jingu shrine. Hot as we acclimatised.

Shibuya Crossing – Starbucks vantage point.

Cappiness Café in Shinjuku, fun but the capybaras only had a small tub to bathe in outside.

Day 3
Tokyo Skytree – very tall! Good shopping for DD.

As well as Imperial Palace being shut on Mondays and Fridays, there are also date(s) each month when it is also closed so check website thoroughly.

Day 4
Hakone Open Air Museum – just awesome, I could have spent longer here. Great gift shop but food wasn’t as good as I expected, probably the only disappointing food in the whole trip. Pirate ship immaculate and relaxing. Visibility from cable car not as good as in other cities, and the ropeway had no air con so was hot.

Day 5
Team labs Planets – great water feature. Veggie Ramen can be eaten inside a restaurant area which we didn’t realise, we ate at their outside tables when we could have escaped the heat.

Bus to Seiko Museum in Ginza for some luxury learning. Then a chopstick making class which was fun and slightly challenging. Dinner at Kura Sushi above the 12-storey Uniqlo. Use the loos and see the robots at the other restaurant on that floor.

Day 6
Snoopy museum. Fun, but menu at Peanuts café not great for flexitarians. Great shopping e.g. Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren outlet, and a 300 yen store with decent homeware stuff. Got bitten walking back through Shinjuku National Gardens at c.5pm.

Day 7
Bullet train to Osaka.Hotel Granvia in Osaka station, great location for the next week’s travels, however, we did find it really challenging to find the way to the different train lines. Lots of eateries on floors in same block as hotel. Room was small so check size beforehand.

Time Out food court – cool vibe.

Day 8
Osaka Castle and pleasant boat ride. Then Team Labs Botanicals in the evening was a nice evening out, with some notable exhibits, but not as memorable as Planets.

Day 9
Expo. Hot with shade under the ring. I had lottery reservations for Netherlands but the queue was still 30 mins at our time slot. Worth going but be prepared to queue. Sushiro had stopped accepting bookings at lunchtime for the rest of the day so book on arrival at the park.

Day 10
Bamboo Forest Kyoto, lovely and not too crowded. Gardens nearby beautiful too. Hot steep walk to snow monkeys - need cash for entry to see monkeys.

Day 11
Universal Studios. Super Mario World. To get reservations for Kinnopio’s Café, scan QR on arrival. If you don’t get the email confirmation, choose the option to send a blank email and you’ll then get confirmation – that was the only way it worked for us. No email, no entry. Lots of eateries in park and on street outside before station.

Day 12
Nara. Deer are everywhere! Shrines serene. There is a hike to a vantage point but it is hot.

Day 13
Cup Noodle Museum.Lots of children but also lots of adults without children. Chicken Ramen workshop was fun!

Day 14
Return to UK. Sad. I can’t bring myself to change my unused Yen into sterling – perhaps we’ll go back at cherry blossom season. And see all the things we didn’t have time for.

Thanks again for this thread @Takoneko - couldn't have done without it.

@TheyNotLikeUs Thanks so much for sharing. That sounds like a fantastic two weeks! You managed to fit loads in.

Keep hold of the yen. You won’t regret going back, honestly. There’s so much to see that you could fill ten trips without really going over old ground.

Second the go back @TheyNotLikeUs ! We had our second trip in July ( and found 50 yen from last time, v exciting!!) and loved it just as much. There’s so much to see and do without going over things you’ve done before. The only place we revisited was Tokyo, everywhere else was new and we’ve already got a list for trip 3!!
thanks for sharing your trip and tips!

I’ve been ‘training’ my kids to try different foods and they’re at a point where they love ramen, they’ll eat most meat and rice, but sushi, dumplings etc are still a source of fear to them 🫣

we’re staying in traditional Ryokan in Nagano and being collected by the owner and they will cook for us. Are they going to struggle / be seen as really rude if they won’t eat?

and do they have to be able to use chopsticks? (We’re getting there!)

I’ve been ‘training’ my kids to try different foods and they’re at a point where they love ramen, they’ll eat most meat and rice, but sushi, dumplings etc are still a source of fear to them 🫣

we’re staying in traditional Ryokan in Nagano and being collected by the owner and they will cook for us. Are they going to struggle / be seen as really rude if they won’t eat?

and do they have to be able to use chopsticks? (We’re getting there!)

At a ryokan the meal would normally be a kaiseki. I’d expect there to be some sashimi and seafood and a lot of traditional Japanese dishes. I think as long as they are polite about it, the ryokan will be used to foreign kids who aren’t used to the food not eating everything.

How old are the kids? I don’t think anyone will be offended by little ones not being able to use chopsticks.

If they are struggling to use chopsticks, a good game to improve their skills is a game of hungry hungry hippos with chopsticks. You put a load of sweets in a bowl and people compete to see who can move the most sweets to their own bowl with chopsticks. Start with something soft and gummy and then build up to harder jelly beans. This method worked with my sister who was in her 30s and had tried and failed to use chopsticks for years.