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.

In 2024 we did Disneyland in biblical rain for exactly the same reason. We’d booked the tickets in advance and didn’t want to waste them.

I think they sell those shoe covers in Daiso. I’m also on the lookout for a pair, because there nothing worse than having wet feet. The weather at least looks better tomorrow.

Hope you’re having a good trip aside from the rain.

I'm glad it's not just us then that doesn't want to see tickets going to waste, even though the environment is ... challenging! 😂

Thank you, I hope you are having, and will have a fab time

The News report images of the rain are really something! Excellent effort by both of you @Takoneko @DollopOfFun hope it’s a bit drier tomorrow.

Thank you @Japan3 the forecast is looking a lot drier for today, for daylight hours anyway. I'll be back to moaning about the humidity 😂

@DollopOfFun what are you up to today? Assuming you have been up since 6am with jet lag you are probably well on your way.

@Japan3 today we are doing Senso- Ji temple, and Nakamisi-Dori, then over to Ueno at lunchtime for a few hours. We have a Skytree ticket for sunset tonight 🫰🏻and then back to Asakusa for the evening. We've actually been over here for a week or so, started further south to finish here in Tokyo for 6 days.

Just booked our fourth trip to Japan for January! This one will be skiing focused, although my son and husband are also trying to get hold of tickets to see the Legend of Zelda 40th anniversary concert in Toyko.

So far it's looking like this.

Day 1: arrive Haneda late at night, stay at Royal Park hotel in the airport
Day 2: send our ski gear via the airport's Black Cat service, head out into Tokyo - art, food, may try to get tickets for the Ghibli Museum (my husband I went years ago, but it would be my son's first time) and the Tokyo sumo tournament. Stay somewhere in Ginza or Nihonbashi.
Day 3: Legend of Zelda concert at Tokyo Garden Theatre, followed by a visit to the 24 hour sushi restaurant in Tsukiji market for late night snacking.
Day 4: Bullet train to Nagano, visit Zenkoji temple, Togugashi Shrine for a snowshoe hike and the Ninja Village, followed by one of the amazing soba noodle restaurants
Day 5: Pick up a hire car, drive to Myoko Suginohara for skiing. Stay on the mountain.
Day 6: Skiing, visiting onsens, visiting a sake brewery or two
Day 7: Ditto, might try to get to the Igloo hotpot restaurant at Kamakura village
Day 8: Skiing, visiting onsens
Day 9: One last ski/onsen, drop hire car off and bullet train to Tokyo. Stay in Koenji, head out to one of Koenji's awesome little restaurants and finish the evening in the sento
Day 10: Son and husband keen to visit Nakano Broadway (gaming and tech stuff), Shinjuku gaming arcades and Akhihibara. I'll probably hit the vintage shops in Koenj, eat tempura and find some more art. Dinner in an izakaya somewhere, maybe go and see a band or a DJ if we're not exhausted!
Day 11: Rikugien Gardens, incense and stationery shopping, hitting up Muji in Ginza. Dinner at Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa in Haneda before flying out via Seoul.

if we can't get tickets for this Zelda concert I am thinking of getting out of Tokyo early. Does anyone have suggestions for beautiful/historic/nature places to visit between Tokyo and Nagano? We've previously been to Kamikochi, Matsumoto and Bessho Onsen - while I love these places and would happily visit again, I'm also interested in seeing something new!

@Theearloflemongrab99

Be prepared for the sumo tickets to be absurdly difficult to get. Kyushu sold out in 90 seconds earlier this week and it’s usually the easiest to get tickets for. The scalpers have broken the system. They flood the ticket website and then sell them on for 10-20x face value, which I just refuse to pay.

We went to Nakano broadway the day before yesterday. It was really cool.

Thanks for the heads up! Will give it a crack and try not to be disappointed when we inevitably miss out on tickets. Would be awesome to see some sumo if we can get in though.

I generally find the process of booking almost anything online in Japan to be a weirdly complicated and stressful experience. It's a combination of high demand and idiosyncratic Japanese website design (plus the occasional bizarrities of Google Translate).

What were your Nakano Broadway highlights? I love Western Tokyo, so many cool little neighbourhoods and low-key treasures to find.

@Theearloflemongrab99 I enjoyed wandering around all the little Aladdin’s cave style hobby shops way more than I expected. Especially the ones with die cast trains and vintage toys.

@Takoneko@DollopOfFun I hope the rain in Tokyo has calmed down a bit. If you get a dry couple of hours, I can recommend Hamarikyu gardens. It has a fantastic city landscape view, and it’s full of cosmos flowers in September/October (hopefully not ruined by the typhoon). We went last year in early October, and lots of Japanese people were wandering around taking photos. It didn’t feel at all touristy, which was refreshing. I think you can also take a Sumida river cruise from a pier nearby. Very weather dependent though!

@Theearloflemongrab99

Nakano Broadway is great if you’re into comics, video games and stuff like that. It’s what Akihabara used to be like 20 years ago. The shop Mandarake has various locations focussing on games, comics, books etc. There’s also a great camera shop called Fujiya nearby. Excellent prices and very strict about condition.

You mentioned going to an Izakaya. Nakano is great place for that. As you’re heading out of the station to Nakano Broadway, the narrow lanes on the right are full of izakayas and bars. I usually stop by a standing bar that sells motsuni offal stew (much nicer than it sounds). Here’s the shop. It’s in the middle of the izakaya area. Im sure the others are fine too though.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/M3USh3WzTaUZSCpS7?g_st=ic

Yes! Beautiful garden and relatively quiet when compared to Shinjuku Gyoen, Ueno and Yoyogi.

Rikugien near Sugamo station and Komagome station on the Yamanote is also a very nice and quiet garden.

maps.app.goo.gl/jFnQ5vL8MqoK3PkK9?g_st=ic

I’d also put in a good word for Kiyosumi Garden.

Yes agree, thank you all. Some of it we have done before.

The 'bad' weather has passed, and today we have had it lovely, bright, hot (and humid)

@Takoneko what did you do today? X

The weather was great today. We had a walk around in Minato this morning and went to Atago Jinja, Reiyukai Shakaden, Zojoji and Shiba park. Then we spent some time near Tokyo station to visit some roof gardens and the flea market by the national forum.

We had a bit of a break at our hotel for a couple of hours and then headed over to Shinjuku for a bit of night photography and some dinner. We’re back at our hotel now and absolutely shattered.

We’re at the sumo all day tomorrow, so we will do a lot less walking and give our feet a chance to recover.

Great that the weather has settled. Looking forward to Sumo update. Was the flea market for clothes? I want to buy a second hand haori. I’m staying at Tokyo station this year, not the most exciting area but very convenient.

Not sure if this is the same market as @Takoneko is describing, as I thought this one was only held on alternate Sundays, but it definitely had several second hand clothes vendors when I went in May and it's not too far from Tokyo Station: www.antique-market.jp/english/

I think it was that one, or at least in that place. I wonder if it was a day later because of the rain? There were all sorts of craft stalls, stalls selling antiques, clothing, used kimono, leather goods. It was huge.

I had an absolute blast at the sumo today. It was a long day, but I had so much fun.

@CobraChicken thank you, gutted as I’m not there on a Sunday. I think there is an area that sells vintage clothes but it would have been nice to have a wander close to my hotel.

@Takoneko haha! Hope you got lots of cheering in.

Looking forward to hearing more about your day once you've recovered!! We've only followed on TV and peered through the window at Arashio Beya .... #amateurs😂

(We also preferred Planets over Borderless).

@Takoneko glad you enjoyed the Sumo! Did you sit on mats or in seats? We’ve got seats in Fukuoka, but they are on the top tier, so not sure of the view. I’m not keen on heights, so hoping it’s not too steep.
I have added Kiyosumi to my Tokyo list - thanks for the tip.
@Japan3 Regarding the flea market, we stumbled on it last year (Sunday) and enjoyed a quick browse. We also liked the Forum building (has public toilets btw). It had an exhibition inside, and the glass construction is impressive. Even if it’s not a market day, it could be worth a detour if you’re in the area.

@Pusspot We were in B chair seats, which are pretty nice at the Kokugikan. The chair seats at Kyushu look a lot less comfy. I’ve not been to a Kyushu tournament before, so can’t speak to the view but there really are no bad views in the Kokugikan. I’d read that before and was sceptical but the sight lines really are excellent. We’ve booked a tour group for the Kyushu tournament just to make sure we get to see it. It was more expensive (about £80 each) but I get a lot of joy out of watching sumo, so it’s worth it for me.

I’d read that they stick all the foreigners together in the corners of the arena, and that held true. Everyone immediately around us was from overseas, apart from one Japanese lady who got her ticket from an American friend. There were some hardcore fans and some curious tourists. Most people seemed to enjoy themselves. A few people seemed a bit underwhelmed and we saw some tourists who came in, stayed for 45 minutes and then left again when there was still an hour of the best sumo left to come. As a fan, I have to say that irritated me a bit considering how many die-hard fans fail to get tickets each tournament.

@Takoneko thanks, I feel reassured now. I’m expecting to be in a group of US travellers, because I think Klook is an American agent. Needs must, and at least we have tickets. I also find it annoying when spectators leave early, or don’t give the event their full attention.