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.

Ooh I forgot you asked this. You’ve probably been to these places but we loved Teamlab Planets and the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno was amazing. Hopefully weather better than predicted 🤞🏻

No, I haven’t been. Our days in Tokyo this year were just before the big reopening. I’ve added that to the list.

That website is really useful, thanks so much!

We’re definitely going to go to one of the Teamlabs, I think. The national museum is another really good shout. We have been, but way back in 2008, so I’m sure it would be worth a revisit.

We preferred Planets to Borderless, did both on different trips. Some of the other museums at Ueno are supposed to be good too.

@26inprogress It’s good to hear from someone who has been to both. We were leaning towards borderless based on location, but might give planets a go.

Have an amazing time @Takoneko

@Takoneko planets gets my vote too! Have a fabulous time, look forward to reading your trip news.

@Takoneko Safe travels today, have an amazing time :)

Any helpful tips on booking flights? When to book, where from, who with etc. We’re hoping to go Easter or Summer 2028 due to school holidays so obviously nothing released yet. But whenever I’ve checked flight prices for those periods this year or last year, they are so expensive I just panic that we’ll never actually make it.

Leaving at the start of Easter so that you get two weeks is always going to be expensive. Looking at 2027, prices are going to start at about £1,300 with Air China. Direct flights will be around £1,800.

Even if you leave a couple of days early (eg the Tuesday or Wednesday of the last week of term) then you're still looking at around £1,200 for indirect flights.

The summer holidays are equally bad times to go as well. The only way to get cheap prices is if you leave a week or so before the end of term or travel during the hottest part of August.

For example China Southern have fares from £790 via Guangzhou leaving London on 15th July and Etihad have fares from £814 on 13th July but there's a long layover so you essentially spend a day in Abu Dhabi.

Where I live, the schools break up on 21 July next year. If you go after then, there are lots of flights for £1,067 with Air China via Beijing. Direct flights are going to be around £1,600.

There do seem to be some cheaper flights in August (although not all the airlines have made those fares available yet.

For example there are flights with Asiana Airlines via South Korea from £827 leaving Tuesday 10th Aug 2027 and returning two weeks later.

They also have a lot of other flights around that time as well for between £866 and £932. Direct flights will be around £1,500.

.

So I would suggest possibly look at two weeks in the middle of August or the last two weeks in August for the cheapest seats.

However, there is one very big problem here. It gets incredibly hot and humid in August and you will really need to be prepared for this if you are going to be doing a lot of physical activity - like walking everywhere.

Also, the Obon festival is usually on the 13th to 16th August. A lot of people have time-off around this time so there are a lot of Japanese people doing touristy things as well as foreign tourists.

About as dire as I had expected flight wise 😔

Unfortunately we are bound pretty tightly to school holidays for obvious reasons. I’m happy to take them out of school for a few days for such a big holiday but my eldest will be at secondary school so don’t think I would get away with more than that.

I would prefer to go in summer holidays to be able to have longer there and also allow the kids downtime for a week after. But I’ve read through a few pages of this thread and don’t think that’s worth putting up with the humidity, so Easter it will be. I’m not even that fussed about seeing the blossoms - I’d miss them without complaint for cheaper flights and more accommodation availability but there’s just no other time of year to go with kids.

I’m not opposed to a layover somewhere . I spent a night in a hotel in Guangzhou before when flying long haul with China Eastern and quite enjoyed both the break in travelling and a tiny taster of China. I may have to get a little creative and consider all options!

@Pusspot Good luck in the ticket sale today!

I’m steeling myself for the chaos. 😂

I just have a few thoughts. I know that people have very different views so I'm sure that there will be some who disagree with me.

"...don’t think that’s worth putting up with the humidity"

When I said above that you need to be prepared for this, I was simply saying that you need to be aware of this and prepare for it. Not necessarily that you need to avoid it.

There are a few things that you can do; for example, embracing the Spanish concept of 'siesta' is a great idea. In the middle of the afternoon, when it's the hottest, return to your hotel and rest for a while and make use of the aircon. Then go out again in the early evening.

Alternatively look for an activity or place to visit during the afternoon that is indoors with aircon.

As well as this, keep the places that you are going to on any one day close to each other. If there is a place that you want to see that is some distance from others that you want to see, then do that another day.

Generally get out of the hotel early and get to places as soon as they open. This way, it is going to be cooler and less crowded.

.

Another thing to consider is what parts of Japan you visit. As well as the typical Tokyo/Hakone/Kyoto/Hiroshima/Osaka route, perhaps think of areas of Japan that are going to be cooler and less humid.

For example, Nagano prefecture. It's about 90 minutes on the Shinkansen to the north-west of Tokyo and it's a lot higher up in the mountains so it's a lot cooler (more like a warm English summer day).

There's lots to do and see there, temples, shrines, castles etc and more nature than you can shake a stick at.

You may have heard of the "snow monkeys" in that area that are a popular attraction during the winter. Well, they're there all year round and you can go and see them in the summer as well (although they likely won't be hanging out in the onsen like they do in the winter).

There are a lot of lovely little towns to visit with good restaurants and onsens to visit. The Telegraph did a travel article on one of them last year, Karuizawa, and here is an archive of the article

https://archive.ph/iPVD1

.

"I would prefer to go in summer holidays to be able to have longer there"

I mentioned August as that was when the very cheapest flights were during the school holidays. But flights in July are still going to be cheaper than Easter.

Might I suggest flying out the day after term ends in July (or the weekend after). If you're looking at three weeks then that will give you some time there in July which is very slightly cooler than August. Then split your time between the hotter places and the cooler places like Nagano.

.

"I spent a night in a hotel in Guangzhou before when flying long haul with China Eastern and quite enjoyed both the break in travelling and a tiny taster of China."

You can stay for up to ten days on a stopover in China if you are flying via places like Beijing or Shanghai and you don't need a visa. But you do have to stay in that particular area, you can't go off all around the country.

It might be worthwhile having two weeks or so in Japan from the end of July and then, on your way back, have a stopover in China for three or four days. So that way your family get to see both Japan and China in one trip.

@Takoneko unsuccessful I’m afraid! We had four devices, and DH managed to get quite far into the process … then it crashed. All seats sold within about ten minutes, as you predicted.
How about you?
Hope the trip has started off well!

@Pusspot Also unsuccessful. From what I’ve seen other sumo fans saying online, it was fully sold out even quicker than this tournament. I have a back-up booking with a third party that may or may not have got tickets. I’m not that hopeful though.

They are going to need to do something to try and crack down on the resellers, because it’s completely broken the system.

The trip has started well. Tomorrow we’re expecting some disruption from a typhoon, but we’re enjoying being back in Japan.

@Takoneko we have now booked some overpriced tickets with Klook. I hope they actually do have them available. It’s free cancellation, so in hindsight we should have booked them in advance. I think you said this in a previous post, but we’ve had a busy few months and I’ve let things slide.
Anyway, we’ve booked them now, paid $100 each for the uppermost tier, but we’re going on a day that suits us better. We’re actually travelling back from Kumomoto, as we will have moved on from Fukuoka by then, but we have a spare day in the itinerary to go back there (less than an hour I believe). Going on Sunday 15th - no idea if that’s good or bad!
Glad you arrived okay, the rain sounds awful so hopefully you can still get out and about.
Looking forward to updates on your travels!

@Pusspot Middle Sunday (Day 8) isn’t a bad time to go. It’s not the sharp end of the tournament, but storylines will have started to take shape by then. If you’re not really following the tournament overall, then one day is probably as good as any other. You can get spectacular matches on any day.

I’m now wishing I’d had the foresight to book a tour. The only ones that aren’t sold out now are insane prices. I’m hoping that my third-party tickets come through.

I hope yours works out and that you enjoy it. It really is the most fantastic sport. The fans are also delightful. You meet the loveliest people at sumo. I had some nice chats with people outside the arena yesterday when we stopped by for the stage door experience.

@Takoneko a tour does sound good. Next time!
I’m going to research the sport, and try and follow the tournament while we’re in Kyushu.
The next planning stage is deciding what to do in Kanazawa. We’re there for five nights, at the end of the trip, so plenty of time to explore the wider area. All suggestions gratefully received!

We loved Kanazawa, the ninja temple was fabulous and wandering around the samurai district. The garden and castle were nice enough. We really wanted to visit Shirakawa go but ran out of time. Toyama looks nice and we loved Takayama, and Hida Furukawa. We really loved the Japanese alps and want to go back!

@26inprogress thank you, did you visit these places by car or train? I’m hoping to be car free in that area (will hire one in Kyushu though).

We used the train! V easy, I think Takayama is just over an hour away as an eg. The Hida Folk village there was good and Takayama Jinja an old government office which sounds random but it was one of my 16 yo sons favourite places, and there’s a really cool little retro museum with an old barbers, games, cars etc it rained one day and we spent a happy hour there. The morning market was a disappointment as no stalls but think it may have been because it rained. There is also the festival float hall where you can see the floats they use in the Matsuri. It’s a lovely place to wander as is Hida Furukawa. Hope you love it, when do you go? I would also look at Kamikochi, we couldn’t make it but it looks brilliant!

@26inprogress thank you, that’s given me lots to think about. We’re going at the beginning of November for 23 days. Unfortunately Kamikochi will be closed by the time we reach that area.

We rather optimistically ventured to Tokyo DisneySea today.

My god the weather was biblical!

That was brave of you. We ventured out for a few hours to the Edo Tokyo museum and went for some lunch, but it’s definitely been a day for indoor activities.

We’ve now gone back to our hotel and I’m sat in my pyjamas watching sumo on NHK. Luckily there’s a yoshinoya a few steps from our hotel so we won’t starve tonight, even if we’re not going to be having a gourmet experience.

@Takoneko brave or stupid, but we had the tickets booked so in for a penny. Was good fun, but 4 hours was enough, at that point we were saturated I think. I was very jealous of all the polythene shoe covers I saw people wearing- I think I have a case of trench foot 😩

In the hotel now, with a load of laundry in, about to go to the FamilyMart next door for a konbini dinner. Enjoy your yoshinoya!