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.

Reporting from Tullys! Turns out it’s quite nice. It’s fairly sweet and there’s a definite pumpkin flavour to it. The syrup has that burnt sugar bitterness to it that they like here. I enjoyed that and think it cut through the sweetness nicely. Probably won’t be having too many of them (I usually take my coffee black without sugar) but it was worth trying.

Side note: I was asked for the second time on this trip if I wanted them to heat an egg mayonnaise sandwich for me. I was thrown by that because in my world egg mayonnaise is never eaten warm.

@Takoneko that coffee almost looks like a pudding. I think I’ll be trying it next month.
A heated egg sandwich doesn’t sound right at all!

Thank you for the review and photo!

I bought a Toasted Marshmallow latte from Pret the other week and it was the most blandly sweet, disappointing waste of £4.50 (plus they didn’t offer cream) and made me long for Japanese seasonal drinks all over again.

Never heard of heated egg sando but maybe it’s an autumn/winter thing?

Thank you for this thread! I have just (5 mins ago) hit Confirm and booked our first trip to Japan for May next year. Me, DP and 2 DC who will be 11 & 13 when we travel. I am beyond excited:) I have copied and pasted tips and ideas from this thread into a Word document and will start properly planning tomorrow! So far I think I have West Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa as potential areas that would work well with DC? I don't have a detailed itinery or anything planned yet.

Having read all the incredible places so many of you have visited I have made peace with the fact this will very much be our intro/taster trip to Japan and we can't do it all since we are only going for 10 days due to school term restrictions etc. I don't want to run the risk of being overly ambitious with what we can fit in as really keen to explore Tokyo but would definetly like to do some day trips outside of the city as well.

@Takoneko that Pumpkin Pudding looks magnificient, I must say. Probably too sweet for me as I don't take sugar in coffee but I think I'd give that one a try!

@Eastie77Returns That’s really exciting. You can easily fill 10 days in Tokyo alone with day trips. It’s also long enough that you could add an extra city if you wanted to without being too rushed.

Our latest stay in Tokyo made me realise that it’s hard to go too far wrong with location there. The public transport network is so dense. All of the areas that you mentioned would work well for exploring the city. Of the three that you mentioned, my choice would probably be West Shinjuku but none would be bad choices.

Great thread! Can I ask for recommendations for which of these areas in Tokyo to stay would be best? Also any accommodation recommendations please ?

Shinjuku, asakusa, ginza, shibuya

thanks!

@jungfrau

I’ve stayed in Ginza and Asakusa. Both are pretty well connected for travelling around Tokyo. Asakusa is very busy and bustling on its main drag but has charm and character. Being able to visit Sensoji very early or late is a big bonus here. Ginza feels calmer but a bit more high-end and generic.

Shinjuku has nicer, quieter bits and bits that are busier, grubbier and seedier. It gets very busy in the area immediately around Shinjuku JR station with long queues for restaurants etc. in the evenings.

Shibuya is similar in that some parts are super busy and crowded, but it’s generally not seedy.

What sort of area are you looking for?

Thank you for the info! I guess we want an area that enables us to reach other places easily either on foot or public transport but also has a ‘nice’ feel to it for wandering about!

We used to always stay Ueno, but have also done near Yoyogi, Odaiba, and somewhere Hanzomon. Then we switched to Asakusa but it got way too busy recently.
These days it’s just easier to stay in Ginza as we are familiar with it and it doesn’t feel crowded, but next time we might give Yanaka a go, for more of a retro feel.

My favourite place was near Yoyogi, as I love the park. I’d like to stay in Ebisu too but not much accommodation to choose from.

So from your list I’d go Shibuya, then Ginza.

We loved Ueno but last time stayed in ginza which was also good. Both nice areas but I think I preferred Ueno.

We've stayed in Ginza, Shinjuku and Asakusa.

Shinjuku is the area we've always gone back to for at least part of our stay in Tokyo, maybe because that was the first place we ever stayed in in Japan... it's definitely grubbier than other areas, but maybe that's just our vibe 😂I love the hustle and bustle, Isetan if I'm feeling posh, Piss Alley if I just want some banging yakitori and beers.

We've never actually seen any of the red light stuff, probably because we're never out late enough- 9pm seems to be a late night for us when we're there!

We’re up in Sendai at the moment and off to Yamadera after a trip to Matsushima (Bay) yesterday. For anyone coming to the Tohoku region I’d definitely recommend Matsushima and a boat trip. Excellent value and very enjoyable. As a side note, if you’re not into oysters (the local speciality) I’d highly recommend Pizzeria Pino Isola Vesta.

The issue around Japan having so many overseas tourists split across too few areas is hilariously obvious here. We’re in a major city of 1m+ people here and the contrast is stark. It’s not like Risshaku-ji is unknown or unpopular but there was one other Western tourist on the entire train platform that we could see, for a train ~9am. The difference to getting on the train at Shinjuku for Kamakura or Hakone is wild.

@InvalidUserID I’d love to hear what you think of yamadera. We didn’t make it there on our Tohoku trip this spring. We also loved Matsushima. The issue of tourists concentrating themselves in too few places has really stood out to us too. Up in Tohoku and places like Fukui and Toyama especially. We were also surprised by how few western tourists we saw at Ise. It’s absolutely beautiful and not even that much of a detour off the golden route. We went to Sumiyoshi Taisha yesterday, the oldest shrine in Japan and it’s in Osaka, a city that is absolutely crawling with tourists and saw no more than a handful of other foreigners the whole time we were there. We were the only non-Japanese people on our tram. It was really striking.

Whats the weather like up in Tohoku at the minute? We’re in Osaka and it’s still so hot here. 28 today and 30 forecast for Wednesday.

@Takoneko Yamadera itself it just a very small but nice town, but if you’re ok with all the steps (over 1,000) then Risshaku-ji is definitely worth a visit. Some amazing views and very calm and peaceful. Such a contrast to somewhere like Fushimi Inari with all the crowds.

It’s certainly cooler up this way. It was only 8C first thing yesterday in Sendai. Around 21C here in Yamadera at the moment but total cloud cover and a light breeze. We’re going to head over to Yamagata shortly to get some lunch.

Back to Tokyo in Gran Class on the Shinkansen on Wednesday and it’s saying 29C. Not bad when getting into late October!

How have your travels been so far?

@InvalidUserID
That sounds lovely. That is a lot of steps but sounds more manageable at 21 degrees with a breeze. Honestly, I’m really ready for Autumn to get going. We had a long hot summer at home and have had an extra month of long hot summer since we got here too. Even when it was wet it was pretty hot and sticky.

We’ve had the most amazing time. Having so much time has been such a luxury and has meant we’ve been able to really slow down and enjoy it. We’d done Nara as a day trip before but stayed for two nights and spent 2.5 days wandering around and exploring and it was so much more pleasant that way. I really recommend staying overnight there. We’ve been in Osaka for 5 nights, with another 5 to go and have been really enjoying the more relaxed pace. After we leave here we’re moving a lot for about 10 days before we have another stretch in one place.

Thanks, we’ll be doing this area next year. Any other foodie tips welcome.

I’m so overwhelmed with where to go/what to see first our first visit! We are going to use a lovely travel planner lady we’ve talked to before but we want to have some idea beforehand! Whilst we want to
experience Tokyo/Kyoto/Hiroshima we are keen to see the older Japanese culture too. What would you say are the must sees for first timers?

Depends on when you are going but the classic (most popular) first time Japan trip has a name: Golden Route.
The main points are very busy so it makes sense to swap in/out for other places if you can.

This site has various itineraries: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400.html

For older culture you could look at visiting Shirakawa https://www.vill.shirakawa.lg.jp/2688.htm

I honestly don’t think there are must sees for first timers. I know that might sound unhelpful, but it really is hard to go wrong. As long as you fill your days with things you enjoy, I don’t think I’d worry about ticking off all the places that the internet says you have to visit.

@MondayYogurt if you do happen to find yourself over in Yamagata (we were only there for 2h30 for lunch and a wander but didn’t see a single other identifiable westerner, tourist or otherwise), there’s a really good tonkatsu restaurant called Hirata Bokujo just around/inside the east exit to the station.

I should stress that with 8/10 year olds in tow we’re far from being considered foodies! But the food was really good, plentiful and a bargain - about £37 for lunch for 4 people including beer and apple juice for the adults. The kids meals were insanely cheap at less than a fiver for two meat items (choice of ham cutlet, enormous panko breaded shrimp and a couple other items), rice, cabbage, miso soup and a drink. Fair enough, most kids won’t be smashing the cabbage or miso soup, but still…

A lot depends if someone has the wherewithal in time and money to go multiple times, though. Some people can only go once, and if they come back and people ask 'Did you see x or y?' they may feel a bit dissatisfied if they haven't.
Like, I've never not enjoyed visiting Fuji, for instance. But many people don't appreciate the time it takes to get there, the cost of the ryokans, and the crowds at prime viewing points. So I wouldn't blanket recommend it.
Taking lots of time to plan, at least the first time, is important IMO (but I did recently help a family who went with only 2 weeks notice and they had a great time).

Glad to hear you're enjoying the slower pace of travel and the worst weather is over.

Thanks @InvalidUserID we're not real foodies either (also catering for kids) but always nice to have a recommend. I'm pretty bad at it though as I forget where we've been most of the time. Awful memory but it does mean bad meals get forgotten quickly too!

I just find it hard to say anything is a “must do” without knowing the interests and priorities of the person asking. It’s just so personal. I think your point about Fuji sums it up well. There’s lots of things that I have really enjoyed, but I find it difficult to blanket recommend anything to absolutely everyone. It’s not possible in one trip to do everything that someone might ask you “did you see/do” and so, like you say, people need to do some research and decide what things they are happy to compromise on because they will almost certainly have more things that they want to do than they have time for.

Thank you! I definitely want to add in extra cities if possible. The list of must-sees in Tokyo is already growing though (both DC have keen interests in seeing very different things). I had my heart set on staying in a Ryokan in another city but thinking of the practicalities of leaving Tokyo to go to another city and then returning as we fly in and out of Haneda.

I think we will just try to do day trips to other cities on this occasion and perhaps leave multi city overnight stays for future, longer visits.

Love reading this thread and living vicariously through everyone else doing exciting things in Japan at the moment!

"Any other foodie tips welcome."

There is a Japanese restaurant review site called Tabelog that is well worth looking at (it's available in English).

It has reviews for everything from fine dining places to hole-in-the-wall type places.

For example, @InvalidUserID mentioned "there’s a really good tonkatsu restaurant called Hirata Bokujo just around/inside the east exit to the station."

Hirata Bokujo appears to be a small chain and this is the page with the reviews (and photos of the food etc) of the location next to Yamagata station:

https://tabelog.com/en/yamagata/A0601/A060101/6005167/

Apparently, it's the 7th highest rated tonkatsu restaurant in Yamagata (out of 52).

You can look broadly at different areas or just restrict the area you're searching in to a particular distance from a train station etc and you can also search by type of food etc. It also shows on a map where the restaurants are.

.

"... we're not real foodies either (also catering for kids)"

Tabelog is great for that as well. For example, here is a list of 638 pizza restaurants in Osaka ranked by reviews

https://tabelog.com/en/osaka/rstLst/pizza/?SrtT=rt

Or you can narrow it down to 325 pizza restaurants in central Osaka:

https://tabelog.com/en/osaka/A2701/rstLst/pizza/?SrtT=rt

Or you can narrow it down even further. For example, if you were staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Osaka then the nearest station is Hommachi and here are five pizza restaurants within 500m (there are 21 within 800m):

https://tabelog.com/en/osaka/A2701/A270106/R9135/rstLst/pizza/?SrtT=rt&LstRange=SG

Tabelog can be very useful indeed for finding somewhere to eat.

@Jungfraujoch

I agree with @MondayYogurt, first timers to Japan need to really think about the number of days you have and what your interests / aims are for the the trip, then customise accordingly. I personally found the golden route to be great, we added for example day trips to Osaka leg to Kobe and Nara to Kyoto stay and on way back from Hakone to Tokyo we fitted in a night in Kamakura. The possibilities are endless and so I also agree with @Takoneko that doing activities etc you love you will never go wrong in Japan!