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 think there are showers landslide at Narita. I know there are some at arrivals in Haneda. I’ve used them when arriving in summer from cooler countries to freshen up and get changed. I think they cost around 1500 yen so about 7 pounds.

Thank you all!!

Hi all, I've been watching these threads for a long time and now finally planning an actual real Japan and Korea trip!
Has anyone been over Christmas? It's the only possible time for us this side of 2028. 2 weeks, leaving around 17th Dec. I'm thinking 9 or 10 days with Christmas itself in Japan, then to Seoul for NYE, fly home to the UK on the 2nd.
Yes I know it will be very cold! It's me, DP and 2 teen girls.
We're not big on Christmas and don't need or expect any kind of 'normal' Christmas day. But the logic of heading to Seoul is I've read Japan goes very quiet into New Year, have been to Seoul and loved it and would love to take the kids there.
So my first question is has anyone been to Japan over Christmas and to just check it's not a terrible idea 😊

We lived in Japan over three Christmases. The weather will be cold, and probably bright much of the time. In many ways that’s preferable to the oppressive humidity of July / August. There is a chance of snow in Tokyo, but it’s slim. If it snows is more likely to be later - around February. But if you’re travelling outside Tokyo you can find snow, and if you like skiing then Hokkaido or Nogano are worth considering IMO.

Christmas is very much a thing though, from a consumer perspective, and malls / shops / streets will be decorated accordingly, with Christmas music, and it will feel like Christmas. But, the day after Christmas most of it will come down / disappear and New Year takes over. Many things are likely to be closed on New Year’s Day, especially tourist sites etc I think. My recollection is that it’s busy, but no more so than usual, over Christmas, and can be chaotic over New Year. But finding somewhere to eat or stay will not be an issue, though book early for New Year - not so much Christmas.

These Japan threads keep tempting me to book a trip. We have a 2 week October half term for the next 2 years. Thinking with current flight costs, it will realistically be 2027.

I have a question about food. I have a daughter with autism and whilst we manage travel ok, her food can become quite restrictive whilst travelling. This is despite having a large varied diet at home. She usually lives off snacks we take or pasta.

Whilst I’m looking forward to the local cuisine, I worry that we won’t be able to access enough safe foods in Japan. Can anyone put my mind at rest in terms of accessing more westernised foods? The other option is taking a cruise, which isn’t my preferred option, but will mean we can access food morning and evening, hopefully being able to take a picnic off board for her also if we’re out for the full day. Has anyone tried one of the cruises around Japan?

On the food front, you'll always be able to find a restaurant serving pasta or pizza, and the usual suspects on the burger / chicken front are also everywhere. Steak is also easy to find, either western or Japanese style. Bakeries are everywhere as well, and you will find some that make the most amazing French bread and patisserie in the bigger cities.

Despite having lived in for Japan for a few years I did also, quite recently, go on a cruise (Norwegian) from Yokohama down the coast and over to Seoul. I was traveling with a first time visitor to Japan who wanted to see lots of the country (there were 8 or 9 stops from memory) but that only eats plain food. Think chicken or steak, no sauce, and bread and butter. She's a very good friend who was so helpful when my husband died, so I was happy to give it a go. The actual cruise, in terms of how much of Japan we saw, was great, and I hadn't appreciated how spectacular the coastline of Japan actually is. Some fantastic sunsets as we left various ports, and great views of Fuji-san as well. But, it didn't really feel like a proper visit to Japan for me (though she loved it), as bar a few days in Tokyo / Yokohama at the beginning we were on the ship every night - and I love wandering round in the evening looking for an izakaya or sushi place for some causal dining / grazing. I won't be going on a cruise again in a hurry either... 😂

Thank you so much, you’ve put my mind at rest on the food front. I’m not really into cruising, I’ve done a Disney one but it was for the Disney experience for my daughter. I prefer travelling through a country and it’s good to know my DD will be able to survive off pasta if need be. It will be our first long haul adventure

You will generally find what are called 'family restaurants' all over the place - Royal Host, Dennys, Gusto to name a few, which will have a selection of 'western style' dishes, including pasta. Fine dining it is not, but they are cheap and clean. Saizeriya and Capricciosa are a step-up, in what one might call casual Italian dining - think Pizza Express / Ask! / Zizi level. As a minimum they'll have menus with pictures, and sometimes even menus in English.

All major towns and cities will also have their own local Italian restaurants, though reading the menu might be a challenge if you can't read Katakana. And some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten (and I now live in Italy...) was in Alter Ego in the Akihabara area of Tokyo - if it's still there!!

@SummerFleurs Echoing what others have said, there’s loads of western food options and if you’re really stuck there’s always McDonalds or convenience store spaghetti bolognese and nuggets. Tullys Coffee is usually a good shout for a hot dog or a bowl of pasta. I travelled with a very picky eater once one trip and they loved Tully’s.

@Takoneko thank you. I feel a lot more relaxed knowing there are enough options to manage the food restrictions she faces

Going back to travel outfits would a thin leggin material tracksuit set with a normal zip up hoodie be okay?

also I am going in June with a friend who's gluten intolerant, any advice? Going to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo

Thanks @Tryingtokeepgoing that's good to hear. I love crisps cold weather so I think that'll be good. We don't ski but I would like to try and find some snow if we can.
Also good to hear about food options, I also have one picky eater!

For the plane I think what you suggest will be fine, but be aware that in Japan people, women especially, tend not to dress that casually on the whole and a tracksuit would be seen as very underdressed almost everywhere. Arriving at the hotel from the airport dressed like that won’t raise any eyebrows though I shouldn’t think.

On the gluten thing your first challenge is going to be soy sauce, which can be in almost anything and contains gluten. Gluten free soy sauce is available, but won’t be used as a rule. So you’ll be avoiding almost all readily available Japanese food. Plan ahead and making bookings at special restaurants will be fine in the cities you’re visiting, though language might be an issue, but I think it’ll be really tough away from the cities.

Gluten free in katakana is グルテンフリー, and is easily pronounced guru ten fur ee. And I think wheat is ko mugi. But my hiragana is poor, and kanji worse, so I wouldn’t recognise it on a menu…. However, taberu is eat and so “can’t eat” will be taberaremasen. “Komugi wa taberaremasen” will be I can’t eat wheat. Whether the waiting staff hear you or understand you is another matter, and whether they really understand what that means also questionable, so I’d be wary of relying on asking staff in a regular restaurant to accommodate a gluten free request.

Research in advance and make reservations would be my only advice, though I guess fresh sashimi and plain rice (not sushi rice, which will have vinegar that is likely to contain wheat) would do if starving, or a yakiniku restaurant where you cook the food yourself so can check. Rice crackers from a 7-11 as well?

Thank you so much! Yes we got way dressier outfit for everyday but this is purely for travel from uk to japan to hotel. Thank you for all the recommendations, they are taking some gluten tablets so will have a little soy without it affecting them

@SummerFleurs Agree with everyone here who says that there are simple plain western options available at family restaurants and convenience stores. I’d add that the basements of department stores have food halls (a bit like Harrods but less fancy). It would be a great place to try some nice pre-cooked Japanese and western food. That way you can try some Japanese delicacies and your daughter will have a choice of familiar foods. Any large department store would be good but Takashimaya and Isetan in Shinjuku, Tokyo are both excellent.

Not checked in here for a while….Sumo query today!

we missed out on sumo tickets when released today…I was expecting this so not too disappointed….they already seem to be listed for resale on sites like viator (marked up price offering seats and tours packages) - can anyone advise if these are worth it/legitimate/reliable?
Family of 5 so quite pricey….
I’m aware there are also the more tourist focused demos in Tokyo and Kyoto which we will look at as well and compare…. @Takoneko I think you’re a big sumo fan??

@SorrengailFables I am indeed a big sumo fan.

The tours with tickets can be a mixed bag and the price is usually eye watering. They also normally only let you enter in the afternoon for the top two divisions.

Some are definitely legit. Former Ozeki Konishiki does VIP sumo tours with tickets to the basho and also takes guests along to stable parties at Musashigawa stable. I think his tours are pretty expensive and hard to get tickets for though, which you’d expect. He’s a bit of a celebrity in his own right.

What dates will you be in Japan and in which cities? If you’ve missed out on the July tournament then the summer tour (jungyo) kicks off on 2nd August. Tickets for jungyo events are generally a lot less likely to sell out (although depending on the venue, buying from overseas can be a pain in the arse). I’d say jungyo is more aimed at locals and die hard sumo fans though. There was no English signage or match list and no spoken English at the event we went to, so it relied on you knowing enough about sumo to follow what was going on.

You can find the tour schedule here. https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnJungyo/schedule/#2026summer

The tourist-focused stuff is also an option. Sumoland in Ryogoku is run by ex-Yokozuna Asahifuji, who has only recently retired from running the largest of the sumo stables. It’s obviously different to a tournament, but I’d trust Asahifuji to be offering a decent experience. He’s a grandee within the sumo world. I’d also expect it to be English-language friendly.

One of the highlights of our recent trip was a visit to morning practice at a sumo stable not far from Sumoland (I wish I'd known that at the time, we'd have gone there too!)

We booked through Get Your Guide and paid about £85 each. We watched the practice for 90 minutes with a lovely guide who fed us insightful information via earpieces about sumo traditions and the individual wrestlers. At the end, we had photos taken with some of the wrestlers.

The stable owner was also there observing and coaching, perhaps that was Asahifuji himself!

The whole event was absolutely fascinating and well worth the cost. Highly recommended for anyone who, like us, has little knowledge about sumo but would like to learn in an authentic setting.

I bought wrestling tickets for Tokyo today and it's to be picked up at a 7-11 a few days before. Does anyone know how to pick these up? Is it a machine or person? Is it any shop or a specific one?

@JudithChalmersPassport It wouldn’t have been Asahifuji. His stable was Isegahama, which is in a different part of Tokyo.

From the location I think you were possibly at Tokitsukaze Stable.

If it works the same as the Lawson one then it’s a machine. You go to the machine and it prints a little receipt, then you take that to the counter and pay (if you haven’t prepaid) and they give you the ticket.

What kind of wrestling is it? If you’re into pro-wrestling then I can recommend a cool little bar in sumida.

It's Noah pro wrestling we booked. Thank you so much for the help as was unsure as to get them shipped to uk was silly prices. What's the bar? Is there anything else pro wrestling related?

Pro-wrestling isn’t really my thing, but we went to this bar near skytree which has a mixture of sumo and pro-wrestling stuff. They were playing pro-wrestling on the TV when we were there and the lady running the place was really lovely.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pj1mFBQSZ9vmvxrg9?g_st=ic

It wasn't that one, I think it was called the Arashio stable, the address was in Chitose? The majority of the wrestlers' names had the suffix -fuji, which is why I guessed a possible association with Asahifuji.

In any event, it was a great experience. We definitely want to learn more about sumo and try to get to a tournament next time.

@JudithChalmersPassport Arashio beya has Chitose in the address. We’ve been there for practice too. That’s the home of the three Onami brothers: Wakatakamoto, Wakamotoharu and Wakatakakage.

The sumo stable where everyone’s name ends in -fuji isn’t Arashio though. That one is Isegahama and is indeed the stable that used to belong to Asahifuji until last summer. It’s on the other side of the river to Arashio. The stablemaster since last July is another ex-Yokozuna, the former Terunofuji.