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

I should’ve mentioned we spent 3 nights in Hakone on the way here. We did our trip in the opposite direction to most people - starting with Osaka and Kyoto and travelling to Tokyo by bullet train.

Thanks @TakonekoI’ll take a look. Has anyone been to Kamakura? The weather is so nice I wondered if it might be worth heading to a beach town for a little paddle in the ocean!

@cheezncrackers We went to Kamakura around this time last year and loved it. It was the highlight of our last trip. On a lovely clear day it is stunning. I loved Engaku-ji.

We've been home for about three weeks now. We were able to check into every hotel early with the exception of the airport hotel on the way home, at no added cost so it's worth going straight to your hotel when you arrive regardless of check in time. Even if your room isn't ready you can leave your bags there.

Oh yes I know it's more ££ but I had to keep up with work etc, my Mum is unwell and I need the hospital to be able to contact me etc. It was worth £7 a day for peace of mind!

I’m planning Japan for 2026 as my son just moved there. I can’t wait to visit, will be following all your advise here :)

We’re now six days in with another 8 to go.

We’re really enjoying this trip. A few recommendations:

We really liked both Uji and Kawagoe. Both are tourist-friendly but not overcrowded and make great half-day trips from Osaka and Tokyo respectively. Byodoin is brilliant. There were lots of lovely cherry blossoms and it’s really peaceful with plenty of places to sit and soak up the atmosphere.

We had dinner one night at “the most deserted ramen bar in the world” in Osaka and would recommend it to anyone staying nearby.

The highlight of the trip so far has been the few hours we spent out at Katsuoji temple this morning. It’s a bit out of the way, way up in the mountains, but easy enough to get to. The sakura there was beautiful too. I can’t recommend it strongly enough to people visiting Osaka. It’s popular, but it can handle the number of visitors comfortably as it’s pretty sprawling.

On the topic of Sakura, we were expecting it to be all over by the time we got here, but there’s loads still around in places even though some trees have dropped all their blossoms. I’ve realised not to stress to much about missing the sakura for future trips as there seem to be plenty of different varieties around that bloom at different times.

Hi @Takonekoglad it’s going well. We’re thinking of doing Nara and Uji on the same day - do you think that’s feasible?
The ramen bar sounds interesting!
We have decided to only have one (final) night in Osaka, as we decided to spend more time in the Okayama area (for day trips). Can you recommend an area in Osaka for the last night please? We will arrive about noon, drop off our bags, then depart around 11 the next day for the airport. We’re thinking of splurging a bit for our last night, but still in a western style bed.

For those of you travelling once the schools break up, apart from TeamLabs, are there any other attractions with bookings opening 3 months before?

I think everything else is 2 months or 1 month or 2 weeks before.

I think Uji and Nara on the same day is possible. They aren’t far from each other. You’d need to look at the train logistics but it sounds feasible to me.

If you’re only in Osaka for 24 hours I’d just stay close to whatever it is you want to do on that day. There’s a lot of hotels near Shinsaibashi metro station that are really well-located for the southern centre of Osaka (Namba). We stayed there last time and it was great. This time we’re staying closer to the northern centre (Umeda), but for a whistle-stop visit I’d go for the south and spend some after-dark time in Shinsekai.

I think staying in Okayama for day trips is a good idea. We were only in Okayama for a few hours (to visit the castle on our way back from Kurashiki) but it seemed nice. The station is very calm and easy to navigate. I’d forgotten just how bonkers the Osaka stations are. Shin-Osaka this morning was nuts.

Thanks @Takonekowe decided to focus on Okayama for 4 nights, although the original plan was Hiroshima/Osaka split. We want to do the bike ride mentioned up thread and the gardens at Okayama, visit Kurashiki, plus day trips to Hiroshima and Himichi. We’re not going til October, but I’m excited already.

Thanks for the new thread! I found the last one really inspiring. We are planning an Easter holidays trip for next year so I’m playing around with itineraries and taking notes as I read!

We’re now at our final stop in Hiroshima. We’re here for five nights. We went to the art museum and Shukkeien garden this afternoon. The garden is amazing. We spent a couple of hours just wandering around and sitting in the shady spots enjoying the view, you could happily spend longer though. I really recommend it to anyone who will be spending time in Hiroshima.

We also really loved Himeji yesterday. The view from the top of the castle was worth climbing all of the ridiculously steep steps in our socks for. We also joined one of the boat tours around the moat… I feel like not speaking more than basic Japanese was a barrier on that one though. We still enjoyed it, but I don’t think you get the full experience if you don’t understand Japanese well.

@Takoneko hope you’re enjoying Hiroshima. Did you stop en route for Himeji? I’ve read about those steps inside the castle - not sure if my knees will thank me for that! The moat trip is something I’d like to do though, even though I won’t understand the commentary.

@Pusspot We did it as a side trip from Osaka rather than en route. We have a JR west rail pass for this week which has given us the freedom to zip up and down quite long distances really quickly using the fast Shinkansen lines. Himeji only took us half a day from Osaka. You could do it en route quite easily though.

We went to Iwakuni and Miyajima today. The weather could have been better but we really enjoyed both of them. The tiny little white snake museum in Iwakuni was an unexpected delight for anyone going that way. It’s tiny but had good English language accessibility and some cool snakes. The bridge is well worth going to see. The Shinkansen was very quick from Hiroshima to Shin Iwakuni and then we caught a bus to the bridge, then another bus to the main JR station where we got the local train straight to go catch the Miyajima ferry. I really recommend combining the two. Well worth it.

@Takoneko sounds like you’re having an amazing trip! We really loved Himeji, so glad you did too ( despite those steps!!). Hope the Hiroshima hotel I recommended is ok 🤞🏻. Enjoy the rest of your trip, what is next? We’re still torn on whether to do Osaka or somewhere else, it wasn’t my favourite place last time, but we didn’t do the castle and that’s the one thing I’m thinking we ‘should’! Have you been to Uji yet?

@2025istheyeari we really like the Hiroshima hotel. We’re really enjoying having so much space and the washing machine is really handy. Thanks for the recommendation.

We went to Uji. Byodoin is fantastic and we really enjoyed Uji as a whole. I love Osaka as a home base for day trips but I don’t think the castle is a must if you don’t really enjoy the city.

Aah I’m so pleased,
always a worry when you recommend somewhere! Sorry I remember now you had mentioned Uji! That’s a definite must for us, we really need to finalise our plans. We’d be actually in Osaka for a day and a half rather than using it as a base and saw the lights/ did the food last time so I’m torn especially as we loved Himeji so much and Osaka is a reproduction isn’t it! Enjoy the rest of your hols!

oh so glad I’ve found this thread!

We are planning a trip to Japan in October 2026, just the 3 of us. Me, DH and DS (8).

Hoping for just over 2 weeks.

Will be keeping an eye on recommendations and asking questions when we come to nail down our itinerary.

Sounds like you are having a lively time @Takoneko !

Osaka castle has been rebuilt in modern times. It’s not a reproduction of Himeji though, if that’s what you mean. It’s a reproduction of the original Osaka castle. Osaka castle and Himeji castle have a similar architectural style but one isn’t modelled after the other. The original castle at Osaka was just built at pretty much the same time as Himeji.
It is a nice place to go, but doesn’t have the same wow as Himeji by a long way. I didn’t go inside but apparently the inside is just a modern museum.

Can I use the same Suica card I will be using in Tokyo, on Osaka trains? I read somewhere that tapping in and out with a regular credit card is being rolled out in some areas of Osaka.

@TheyNotLikeUs Yes, you can use the same suica in Osaka. There are some card payment gates around in some places but Suica/Passmo/Icoca remains the most convenient and universal way to pay for public transport in every place we’ve been.

To those of you who have already been to Japan, did you learn basic Japanese beforehand, or did you manage to get by without? If you learnt a bit of Japanese, how did you do it?

@Buttheywereonlysatellites51 I learned basic Japanese. A combination of YouTube videos, Duolingo and the irodori and tofugu online resources. We’ve bumped into plenty of tourists who seem to be getting by just fine without a single word of Japanese. I do think it’s nice to make a bit of effort though. I feel having a bit of Japanese has enhanced my experience. I’ve noticed people become more open to trying a bit of English when they see you’re making an effort with a bit of broken Japanese.

Being able to read katakana is very handy too. Even if you can’t speak much Japanese, it allows you to read “English” loanwords, which are usually written in katakana.

This thread is great, thanks 😊 Is it easy to grab a quick lunch/ dinner in Tokyo and are there any chains that people would recommend? We’ve a whistle stop tour so won’t have time to queue to try amazing places sadly, but we will need to eat 😁