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.

@YourCheekyRedPeer How many people does the £12k need to cover and does the budget also need to cover food and spending money?

Premium economy might not be possible on that budget if it has to cover more than 2 people, but I highly recommend JAL economy (wider seats than competitors, slightly more legroom, free seat selection, decent food and if you take the midnight flight back home you get business class lounge access thrown in on that leg too).

DIY will be massively cheaper than through a travel company. Japan trips are always insanely expensive through agents.

Japan is easy to travel within and there are many accommodation options easily booked from the UK. English signs and announcements are made and if you buy a phone Sim you have directions, translation, nearby attractions and food options on your phone.
I noticed some tour groups used public transport like local bus's and trains rather than private coaches which seemed more stressful to try and get 20 people on a crowded bus than our party of 4.
It is definetly cheaper to DIY. You can always book onto some guided day trips e.g. The Hakone loop to see mount fuji, or a street food tour within your trip.

12K for my husband and I. I realise you pay a premium using a travel company. We could possibly jump to 15k but would hopefully be the holiday of dreams!

@YourCheekyRedPeer £12k for two people is loads. Two weeks in peak season usually costs us about £7k, so you should be able to get something nice for that money. For some countries I think the travel companies are worth it, but for Japan, I’m really not sure what the massive premium really buys you. It’s such a safe and easy country to travel independently in and there’s so much information out there.

Where are you based? The JNTO offer free travel consultations at Japan House in Kensington if you’re in or near London. They are not an agency and so won’t be trying to sell you anything, They also have a website with lots of helpful information and itineraries.

If you give an idea of the time of year and what you are interested in doing I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only person here happy to offer some suggestions that could get you started with an itinerary.

Great idea about the JNTO. I think that will really help with clarifying our itinerary. I think being able to do what we want, budget permitting, felt a bit overwhelming when in fact it’s a blessing. Thanks for your help

@YourCheekyRedPeer Our first trip to Japan (October 25) cost about £5.5k for two of us. We stayed in decent hotels with mainly breakfast included, for 15 nights. Our next trip (November) is for 24 days and we’re budgeting for about £8k. All flights are economy though. So you could probably get two trips out of your very healthy budget, if you avoid using a travel company. I hadn’t realised how much we would love Japan - so I’m glad we didn’t overspend on the first visit. I’m already considering our third trip! As others have said, it’s easy to get around on public transport, and Japan is an inexpensive country, once you’ve got over the price of flights.

Oh no, I hadn’t considered I might want a return trip! Definitely want to push the boat out for this one and as I’m tall, a PE seat is a must.

@YourCheekyRedPeer Be warned, Japan is somewhere that people tend to get hooked on travelling to. So many posters on here have ended up being repeat visitors.

You can afford premium economy on your budget, but might have to settle for indirect flights. The direct flights (BA, JAL, ANA) will cost anywhere from a bit under £3k per person to almost £5k per person for PE depending on the dates. If you’re going at a cheap time of year you might be able to afford to do PE direct, but not if you’re aiming for cherry blossom season. It would eat 80% of your budget. Economy seats can be £2k plus at that time of year.

I’ve just had a look on my JAL app and for my next flight upgrading to an extra legroom seat would only cost £75 (for each leg) on top of my economy ticket, whereas premium economy is an extra £2.5k per person. JAL economy seats are already the same width as BA premium economy ones, so an extra legroom seat in JAL economy gives you at least as much space as BA premium economy for a lot less money.

Gosh the flights are pricey. That’s useful info about paying just for the extra legroom, thank you this could work .I think we will avoid busy times and aim for low season; late September into October.

@YourCheekyRedPeer The flights are expensive, but accommodation is really reasonable and things once you get there will feel very cheap compared to UK prices.

You should be able to get really decent hotels in Tokyo for under £120 per night for two people and for £200 per night you can get something really quite nice.

Outside of Tokyo prices are mostly even lower. We’re going on a huge trip of a lifetime (almost 6 months altogether) and our accommodation has averaged out at £75 per night for two people. We have one splurge hotel (a resort hotel in Atami with a private onsen bath on the balcony) that we spent almost £200pn on and a few others in the £120-£150 range but the majority are £50-70pn and we’re not roughing it. It’s all hotels rather than hostels, airbnbs or capsules.

Good to hear that the Hotels are reasonable, I don’t want to skimp on those either. Thank you for your help and I hope you have a wonderful trip yourself

@YourCheekyRedPeeri agree with everyone else on diy! We’ve been twice ( family of 3), once in October and once in July and spent around £6k each time including flights. We stayed in decent hotels, a few cheaper places and ate well. We also did exactly what we wanted to do. It’s an amazing country and we’re already thinking about when to go back! Also happy to share recommendations, lots of lovely people on this thread to help so ask away! It does seem overwhelming but if you decide on your ‘musts’ it then does become easier honestly!!

Hello all. I'd posted on a previous thread with an initial itinerary but since then we've had to hold off on planning as we weren't sure we'd be able to travel due to the unrest in the ME. But...we leave on Saturday 🙏🙏🙏. So excited!
We're spending our first 5 nights in Tokyo (Asakusa)then moving on to the Izu peninsula where we're hiring a car and having a little road trip for 5 nights. Then we're moving on to a forest Ryokan outside Matsumoto for 2 nights then Nagano for 3 nights. Train to Kyoto for 4 nights then 2 nights in Osaka and USJ for DS and DH before shinkasen-ing it back to Tokyo for our flight home.

Any last minute advice or suggestions are welcome. I have a full day to myself in Osaka when the boys will be at Universal so some suggestions for that would be great. We have a few things booked: boat trip, cooking class, team labs but building in a lot of wandering and snacking (not at the same time!) and time just to enjoy where we are.

We are all so looking forward to it. Fingers crossed 🤞

@Tangerinesattack How exciting! Have an amazing time. Your itinerary looks great.

Have you done your customs declarations on visit Japan web yet? That can help speed things up at arrivals.

For the spare day in Osaka- Katsuoji is one of my favourite places in Japan. There’s also a good shopping mall by Minnoh Kayano station. The Muji there is fantastic and so much less crowded than city centre ones.

If you want a bit more of a chill day then there’s always Spa World near Shinsekai.

Yes, we're all qr coded up, thanks.
Katsuoji looks cool. There's a couple of galleries which looked interesting, too. Unfortunately, I think Spa World objects to my several tattoos but there's a tattoo friendly sento nearish our hotel so I might give that a go. Osaka is my oyster!

@Tangerinesattack Sounds like you’re all set and ready to go.

I’d love to hear about your trip. We’ve not been to Izu or Matsumoto yet, so would love to hear what you get up to there and what you think of them.

Looks Like a great Itinerary.

Izu is a lovely place, especially the west coast. Renting a car is the way to go as public transport anywhere but the east coast is pretty limited.

Shimoda down in the south is a nice little town with some very interesting history about Japan opening up to foreign trade in the mid 19th century. And so many hot springs!

It looks beautiful. We're staying in Shimoda for a couple of nights - DS like a bit of surfing. Can't wait!

Could somebody talk me through onsen etiquette? All the hotels I’ve booked have them and we have a private one at Hakone. Do you get changed in your room and go or get undressed there? Do you shower before going? It’s one of those things I would feel mildly anxious about but I also really want to use them (must be lovely after a day of walking)

If your hotel supplies yakata (cotton kimono) you wear that or normal clothes. There will be a changing room with somewhere for your clothes and a tiny tiny towel/flannel to take inside the shower area. You need to be naked and shower well using the cloth. There will be a stool you can sit on so feet can be scrubbed. A thorough wash is important. You then go to the pool and pop the cloth on your head! There may be a ladle by the pool you can use to get used to the temperature by pouring water over yourself. I know it sounds a little daunting and as an older size 18 non body confidant brit I wasn't sure if I could brave it so had booked a room with private onsen for one of our nights. Once there I didn't want to miss out. It's true no-one takes any notice. You will never see people again and you are only really exposed for the short walk to the pool (you also have a cloth than can cover your crotch or chest) If worried go at times that are less busy like late at night or during dinner time. Don't miss out due to being embarrassed, I nearly did and it's actually quite liberating.

@Jellyslothbridge thanks for the info about onsen. I'm also an older size 18 and was thinking about private onsen only, but maybe I'll do both!

You said that your husband is a fan of moss gardens. Is there any particular one you can recommend? I'm probably going to be based around Tokyo and Kyoto area, so could do anywhere within a day's travel of there. Though for a particularly special one i might change my plans.

Love this thread, thanks everyone

@BerfyTigot A lot of the temples along the philosopher's path in Kyoto had good moss (also bamboo) The silver palace (which is not silver) also had some lovely moss.

@Jellyslothbridge excellent thanks for the recommendations. Off to Google 😁

@Tangerinesattack Hope you’re having a good time!

Hello! Yes, very much, thanks. We're having a blast. So much brilliant food and lovely, interesting things to see and do. We only have 2 full days left in Tokyo and we've hardly even seen a tiny fraction of it. We'll just have to return!