Japan Planning Thread 3

[Takoneko]

Hi!

This is a new Japan Planning Thread for when our last one is full.

Feel free to ask any questions here related to travel in Japan, regardless of budget or style of trip.

I had a digital suica card on my Apple phone and it was very easy. However because my DH and I share an Apple ID we couldn’t both get one so we would have needed to get a physical card and we just never got round to it. It was driving me mad trying to work out how to do it with Apple. There was only one issue where we had to use a different exit than planned at a station. But yes if we had been travelling anywhere off the beaten track it might have been more of a problem.

Back again looking for help, if we’d like to do 2/3 day trips from Tokyo would we be better buying a rail pass? Thinking Somewhere near Mt Fuji, possibly Lake Kawaguchi as recommended by @Actnaturallyand then Kamakura or/and Kanawanza as recommended by several of you. I just priced up one return journey from Ueno to Kanawanza for the 3 of us and it is coming out at £487?!!! Perhaps I’m being naive, that’s the first time I’ve actually looked at ticket prices. Thanks as ever to @Takonekoand all of you lovely vipers.

@Fuckingfuckssake Kanazawa is lovely, but it’s not a day trip from Tokyo. It’s a five hour round trip by high speed rail. That’s why the price is so high.

Kamakura is a day trip destination and is in Kanagawa prefecture, which sounds similar… perhaps that’s where confusion has happened?

Kawagoe is another day trip that I’ve done from Tokyo. It’s got a cool little old town with lots of little sweet shops and restaurants and some lovely temples and shrines.

We’re also planning to visit Sawara and Narita-san on a day trip from Tokyo later this year.

You shouldn’t need rail passes for day trips from Tokyo. Regional rail passes can be good value for Shinkansen travel depending on the rest of your itinerary.

Thank you @Takonekoyour advice is invaluable, I’ll have another think and then be back with more questions no doubt!!

@Fuckingfuckssake to get to lake Kawaguchi we went by bus. Although there is a train station (in fact the bus drops you off at the train station), when planning, we found it wasn’t as fast and efficient as the bus, as there’s not a direct train. The bus was very cheap (2200 yen, about £10), less than 2 hours, and was really comfortable. The added bonus for us was that we were doing one way with luggage, so we could chuck the suitcases in the boot of the bus and relax for the whole journey.

We got the bus from shinjuku station, though they also have buses from Shibuya. Shinjuku has the reputation of being really vast, busy and confusing, which is true, but the bus station was pointed out by a very long arrow painted on the floor that we just s had to follow. Once you’ve found the arrow, it’s really easy. The bus station was very efficient and easy to use - overall I think the Japanese systems were all very efficient and simple to use. I think 4 or 5 bus bays, the number time and destination on a big screen at the head of each bus bay. 2 drivers to check your ticket and make sure you don’t get on the wrong bus. The bus made a couple of stops in Tokyo, and then it was direct to Kawaguchi, but made a few stops around Kawaguchi. And in summer months it also carries on to one of the Fuji stations if you want to climb!

We found the early buses sold out with day trippers, but we went at lunchtimish and it was empty.

This website has the tickets and info

Hi New to the thread, thank you for starting it!

I'm planning a trip to Japan at end of May for 12 days, travelling with my partner and 9 momth old baby. We've never been before and are planning an itinerary of Tokyo -Hakone - Kyoto - Osaka - Tokyo.

I've been given some advice about travelling with baby e.g. apps to find nursing rooms, and we're trying to pack as light as possible, but I think will still have quite a lot of stuff (yoyo travel buggy, travel cot, some toys etc).

Does anyone have any experience of hotel luggage forwarding? I've heard this is very good in Japan but chat gpt has suggested it may not work for parts of our trip. The hotel we've booked for Hakone is somewhat remote (near Lake Ashi) and it suggested the luggage may not arrive same day. Just wondering if anyone had any experience of using these forwarding services? Or any other general advice about Japan travel with a baby?

Thanks 😊

@Fuckingfuckssake we also got the bus to Kawaguchiko but we got our bus from the bus station at the 'back' of Tokyo station.

@Actnaturally how did you get on in Korea?

@razzledazzle10

I’ve not travelled with a baby but there’s a lot of good infrastructure for kids in Japan. Public toilets for women almost always have a chair in the corner of the cubicle for a baby to sit in while you use the loo. It also seems really common for tourist attractions, malls and department stores to lend strollers at the entrance.

I have used luggage forwarding and it isn’t normally a same-day service. Your luggage will arrive the day after you send it and for the airport you have to send it two days before you want it to arrive. If you’re only staying in Hakone for one night, you should forward as much luggage as you can straight to Kyoto and take as little stuff with you as possible to Hakone for the night.

Thanks @Takoneko that's all really helpful!

@Specialnameforanoutingthread I've been meaning to write a message to you, but I think I’m so sad about being back home I’ve avoided the topic.

I was absolutely blown away by Korea. I’m not sure what I was expecting, I don’t know if I had any expectations. We didn’t have a lot of time there, but we saw Busan (the cruise was amazing, wish we could do it in summer so we had light later), and then bullet to Seoul. I am in love with Seoul. It’s so big yet so spacious. I loved the craziness, the space, the understreet shopping centres, the fact you cant follow a map as you end up at an uncrossable road. The meat eaters LOVED the food. Seoul tower at sunset was amazing.

Basically, we loved it and we will be going back! We had way too little time there!

Thank you for all of the advice re the cruise and Seoul. The airport limousine bus in particular was invaluable!

@Specialnameforanoutingthreadand @Actnaturallythank you both so much for the input, lots to think about.

How quickly do I need to book Tokyo Disneyland? It's exactly 60 days next week or can I wait closer to the time?

I’d wait until closer to the time and book once you have an idea of the weather. It doesn’t usually sell out in advance.

I have a question for those who have been to Japan - would you say going to a Ryokan and Onsen is an essential thing to do every time you visit, or are they the type of thing you only do once and then never again? I personally don't like the thought of sleeping on the floor or sharing a hot bath with strangers, but I understand these are very common and normal activities in Japan.

We lived in Japan for 3 years or so some time ago, and we'd frequently stay in ryokan if going away for the weekend or whatever. I wouldn't always use the onsen, but did sometimes. But I would also sometimes visit the sento near our apartment if I just wanted to unwind or relax. I have visited Japan many times since leaving, but haven't been to an onsen once, though I do sometimes stay in ryokan. So I would say if you've experienced them but have no desire to do so again then that's fine - it's certainly not a 'must do' just because they are there!

@Actnaturally so thrilled you loved Korea/Seoul! We really enjoy it too. We find it similar to Japan but with it own vibrant personality. I hope you had a BBQ - as I say it's a MUST DO for us...

@Tryingtokeepgoing we have stayed in a ryokan on both of our visits to Japan but it is not a 'must do' for us. But, we have visited a few onsens and i feel I would shortchange DH if we didn't plan at least 1 onsen visit. I struggle with a headache afterwards but have discovered that outside onsen are easier to control my body temperature, and they are more fun. We have found a private onsen to be more fun thatn male/female split as we can chat. We've booked late for both of our visits so have been unable to arrange a room with a private onsen but realistically, one session of about 30 mins is as much as I can manage so booking a session in a private facility works well for us.

I’ve actually never stayed in a ryokan. We have one booked for a couple of nights on our next trip with private onsen so we’ll see if I’m converted. I’m a massive fan of Japanese hotel chains, many of which also have sento or onsen on site.

For some people a ryokan and onsen might be must do, but it’s not personally a high priority for us.

We’ve also stayed in ryokana both times we’ve been to Japan and also visited onsens. I don’t think I’d deliberately choose an ryokan again but I’ve enjoyed them! I say do what works for you, as Takoneko said, some of the Japanese chain hotels are brilliant!

@Specialnameforanoutingthread absolutely! We had bbq (which staff cooked at our table, unlike places we’ve tried in uk where we’ve been left to ruin it ourself 😀), Gimbap (I liked), fried chicken. Those were our 3 meals for our 3 nights in Seoul. As well as lots of street food too - I had quite a few of those sweet fish shaped things, can’t remember the name of them.

I loved that about Korea and Japan, that there was so much street food, we’d pretty much be eating all day long, trying out stuff that looked interesting. My favourite in Japan were these garlic bread balls stuffed with cream cheese.

We were having a sit down one day in Tokyo, at Senso-ji, taking in the view and resting our legs for a minute, and an old Japanese guy near us gave us some sweets. They were some sort of creamy boiled sweet, similar to wurthers original. Absolutely delicious. I located them in a convenience store and took a pack round with me each day, to give us an energy boost when we needed it, and I also bought a few packs home with me. Despite rationing them since my return, I’m now on my last pack and I’m already devastated that I’m going to run out soon!

I think that’s the thing that I hadn’t really understood- how much stuff you’ll want to bring back with you! I’d recommend everyone pack very light so that you can fill your suitcase with Japanese purchases. We didn’t have a lot of room but brought back some toiletries, some clothes, a kitchen knife from Kuromon market in Osaka, sweets, comic books, chopsticks (Japanese and Korean). Prices seemed really low in Japan particularly, and we could benefit from tax free shopping too. I was gutted I had to limit my shopping due to not having space in my suitcase.

For anyone who may be considering a national JR rail pass, I just read that it’s going up in price (again!) on October 1st. We’re mulling over getting a 21 day pass for our November trip (24 days in total). I think passes can be purchased three months in advance.
https://www.japan.travel/en/ca/news/price-increases-are-coming-to-the-nationwide-japan-rail-pass-2026/]

Sorry that link didn’t work! Will try again!

@Pusspot Interesting. The 7 day pass already makes very little sense for the vast majority of travellers. I can see that the 21 day could make sense on longer trips but we looked at various bits of our long trip for later this year and it still doesn’t pay off for us. We’ll probably use one or more of the Kyushu passes and possibly a kintetsu pass, but other than that the rail passes (national and regional) just aren’t adding up.

@Takoneko I think the 21 day pass will still (just) be worth it for us, if we buy it before the price rise. Regional passes aren’t going to fit in so well with our itinerary for this trip. I’m still keen to use the train from Tokyo instead of flying to Fukuoka, as we enjoyed rail travel so much in Japan.

@Pusspot Wow! You really do love the trains.

I love Japanese Shinkansen for a couple of hours but I feel like once I get past 2.5 hours the novelty wears off and the dreadful WiFi starts to get annoying.

We need to get from Kumamoto to Tokyo and will definitely be flying.