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

@Takoneko that makes sense, and we’re used to coins when we travel to Europe so I’m sure we will cope. I rarely use cash in the UK anymore though.

@Pusspot Me neither. In fact I pretty much exclusively pay for things with Apple Pay at home. I had a to make a concerted effort to learn my PINs properly before leaving this year so that I was ready to use chip and pin and the ATMs. Last year there were a couple of times that I went to pay and they only took chip and pin but not touch to pay and I realised that I didn’t confidently remember my PIN because I just never use it.

Can I ask how widely spoken is English over there , I’m going to Tokyo, Kanazawa, Osaka and Kyoto . I’m going solo and just a bit worried I’m going to struggle if no English is spoken .

I offered Google Translate when approaching people and they were happy to use it to reply. The fare adjustment staff, for example, at the metro stations used something similar on a their own device.

In shops and restaurants, we could mainly make ourselves understood and people were really helpful. One member of staff ran down the road after me as I left my hair clip in a changing room.

@hattie43 I travel alone and found it fine. I do switch my days up in Japan which works well with jet lag. Up at 5 - 6am walking everywhere, trains etc main meal at lunchtime and in bed asleep by 9ish. So if I get in a muddle or stuck it’s in the daytime. Have a great time! Are you taking mini tours or your own itinery as you go? I enjoyed a mix of both.

@hattie43 take a power pack for your phone. Taxi drivers will look at Google maps if they can’t understand you.

@hattie43 In my experience it is pretty rare to come across people who speak fluent English. However, people are generally helpful, patient and willing to use translate apps/devices. I speak some Japanese, but have always found people really kind when neither my Japanese nor their English was able to bridge the gap. For example, when I needed to ask for help to find cold medicine, the pharmacist pulled out a translation device to properly understand my symptoms and give me advice on which one to buy.

We’ve also encountered plenty of other tourists in restaurants, attractions, stations, cafes etc. who were clearly able to get by just fine despite not speaking a single word of Japanese. Most Japanese people will understand at least some basic words and phrases in English, and they will likely be able to read more than they can speak, but most Japanese people will not be able to communicate in English at anything like the level that you’d expect anywhere in Europe.

Thankyou , I’m doing a mixture of the two . I can’t see me being a night owl either after long sight seeing days .its the language barrier im nervous about it being especially around trains , cabs etc .

@Takonekothankyou , I’m sure I’ll muddle through it just seems a bit daunting right now .

@hattie43 For taxis you can just show the place you want to go to the driver on your phone. If your hotel has little business cards, they can also be handy for showing to taxi drivers if you think you might take cabs back to the hotel.

Train station staff tend to have translation devices and ticket machines and signage will have English. There are also English announcements on trains.

Thankyou that’s encouraging

@hattie43 I’m going to the same places solo in October. I’m trying to learn a few words but am already learning Polish so it’s hard to pick up two languages at once. I’ll be relying on translation apps but I’m sure we will be fine.
Hope you have an amazing trip

Thankyou very much , you too have a fabulous trip

I’m wondering how much cash to take. Are they many places not accepting card? I’m going for 10 days

Hi @freshin it depends on where you’re going really. We found most places take cards but on Okinawa for example, it was mostly cash, same for some smaller restaurants/ shops elsewhere. My advice would be to get some out when you get there and if you need more, seven 11s don’t charge. Many banks now let you withdraw foreign currency with no fees but worth a check with yours. If you have any left, most places accept cash so you can always pay for your last meal or something with it.

There is a slim chance we may have the opportunity to go back to Japan for a week in October half term. If we do, is there anywhere you’d recommend? It will be me, DH and 16 ( almost 17) year old son.

we’ve been to Tokyo, Kamakura, Hakone, Osaka, Himeji, Hiroshima, Okinawa, Takayama, and Kyoto and while we’d be flying in and out of Tokyo we’d like to go elsewhere for the majority, but ideally not too many different places! We’re thinking of a couple of days in Osaka and Onomichi to do the cycle way for 2 nights, maybe another day in Kyoto ( from Osaka) to see the silver temple and philosophers path too?). We feel like we did a lot of rural stuff last time so we’re looking for more bright lights- other than Onomichi, would you say Osaka and Tokyo are our best bets?

Thanks

@2025istheyeari How exciting! If you’ve only got a week and need to start and end in Tokyo, I’d probably just stick to Tokyo, Osaka and Onomichi. Osaka is a great place for the bright lights in the evenings and there’s so many good day trips you can do from there if you want to do other places in the daytime. We stayed 5 days in Osaka on both our recent trips and loved it. It’s a perfect day-tripper base.

Onomichi is an incredibly charming place. We loved it.

Konbanwa everyone! Long time lurker on these threads and now planning a solo trip in Nov/Dec - very exciting! The advice and tips on here have been absolutely invaluable, thank you everyone.

I've got up to four weeks to spend in Japan. The plan so far is:
Tokyo 5 days, including a day at DisneySea
Kyoto 5 days - possibly too much time but will include at least one day trip
Hiroshima 3 days, including Miyajima
Osaka 3 days, including a day trip to Himeji Castle
Takayama 3 days

So that's just under three weeks and I'm not sure where to go next!

I'm quite happy with the Golden Route itinerary so don't really want to start replanning that.
But I'm not wedded to going to Takayama if it'd be better to use that time to go elsewhere.

I would love to go to Naoshima but I'm not sure it's the best idea in December. I was also thinking about an onsen town but no idea which one. Ideally I would have a chilled few days somewhere fairly close to Tokyo so Hakone seems the obvious choice. I don't currently have any ryokan stays planned - love the idea but it's tricky to find one as a solo traveller and I'm quite a fussy eater so don't fancy the formal dinners. Would much prefer an egg sandwich from the konbini!

I'd absolutely be happy just mooching around Tokyo for another week and maybe taking a couple of day trips but any other ideas would be much appreciated.

Hi, your plan sounds great! We've not actually been yet and others will know a lot more but we are planning to go to takayama and I remember others on this thread saying they enjoyed it.

In the end we are arranging the trip ourselves but when we had a travel agent quote, they included a trip to an onsen town from Takayama - it was Shibu Onsen but I'm sure there are a few around that area. I'm not sure what time of year is best to see the snow monkeys at the hot springs but i think we are a bit early (October) so your timings might work well.

@DustOnEveryPage What about Kanazawa and Kagaonsen? Kaga onsen looks fabulous and hasn’t yet gone viral on social media, which is usually the key to having a more relaxed and enjoyable experience. You could combine it with Takayama. Alternatively, if you were using a Hokuriku arch pass for a week week to travel back to Tokyo you could stick to visiting places along the route covered by the pass. In December the snow monkey park in Nagano would probably be magical. Matsumoto, Toyama and Karuizawa are other options.

@Plan2025 The snow monkey park is a year-round attraction. Obviously they are more likely to get in the springs in the winter but you can still go and see the monkeys in October. There’s a guide to what to expect month by month. You’d still have a pretty good chance to see them in October.

https://www.snowmonkeyresorts.com/smr/snowmonkeypark/autumn/

Thank you so much @Plan2025 and @Takoneko I'll check those places out. It would be great if I could see snow monkeys, I'd love that!

To add we’ve just been to both Takayama and Kanazawa and loved them, also Hakone.
You could go to Shirakawago from Takayama: Kanazawa as well and yes as @Takoneko said Kagaonsen and Nagano to see the snow monkeys would be fab. They’re both on our list for next long trip along with Matsumoto. 4 weeks will be incredible! Do you ski? That’s another option maybe?

Thank you! I don't ski, but after a couple of days of googling, I've pretty much decided on going from Takayama to Matsumoto then on to Nagano for a couple of days. Thank you for the suggestions @Takoneko!
I think it will be nice to spend time in smaller places. Planning to go and see the snow monkeys and perhaps to Yudanaka onsen. The Zenkoji Temple in Nagano might have winter illuminations on by then which looks fab. And there's a permanent Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the art museum in Matsumoto (it's her hometown) which I'll hopefully be able to go and see - who needs Naoshima?!

I booked my flights yesterday so I am officially going to Japan. I can hardly believe it!

@DustOnEveryPage That sounds like a fantastic itinerary! I hope you have a wonderful time.

Please do let us know how it goes. I’d really love to hear about Nagano and Matsumoto as we’re booked to visit that area for a few days in spring.

Once you’ve booked the flights it’s all very real. I’m sure the next few months will fly by.