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 staying in Tokyo and doing day trips is a good plan for a shorter trip to Japan, especially if you think you may be back for a longer visit.

I’d look for a hotel near a station on the Yamate Line (the green loop line) or the yellow Sobu Line (the line that cuts through the loop. it also depends on what you want just outside your hotel. Shinjuku is high rise, crowded and loud, Asakusa is low rise but very crowded in the daytime. It’s much quieter at night and in the early morning.

When family and friends visited me, I booked them hotels in these more budget friendly areas:
Hamamatsucho station - very convenient for Haneda. Near Tokyo and Ginza but cheaper.
Asakusa-bashi station - near Akihabara, Ryogoku, Ueno, and Asakusa.
Sugamo - quiet area in north Tokyo on the Yamanote loop line. Has an old shopping street with lots of nice restaurants.

The only areas I’d avoid would be the Kabukicho area of Shinjuku. Not because it’s dangerous but because it’s a red light district so not much there for families. I’d also avoid the love hotel area in Uguisudani near Ueno.

Yes instagram is the problem! Just so many great looking places! I’m sure as we go through the planning process it’ll be clearer - fingers crossed!

We’re looking at possibly 3 weeks now so should be able to see a lot!

Three weeks gives you some extra wiggle room to fit more in without rushing. I know you’ve said you want to visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima and that’s definitely easily achievable in three weeks with time spare to include other cities and day trips.

There’s some really good rail passes offered by JR west that allow you to cover a lot of ground in western Japan quickly and affordably. In 2025 we used one and saw so many beautiful places.

Hello! Not been here for a while, we finally go next week. Can I ask if anyone had a good transit app to recommend? I’m anxious about navigating train stations (we are based in Tokyo for our entire trip) Also we are all vegetarian, staying in Ueno but happy for any recommendations of restaurants anywhere in Tokyo please? And have other people had some kind of printed out/laminated card to show when they order? Lastly, and most importantly, semi skimmed milk for a cup of tea, what do I need to look for? Thank you!

This thread is amazing! Could I get a bit of advice please?

we are looking to go next year (at the time that nobody recommends) either June or July.

looking at Tokyo > Takeyama > Kyoto (with day trips to Osaka) > Hiroshima/Miyajima > Tokyo

dont know whether to go at the end of June after GCSE’s or hang on until July and time it with the festivals in Kyoto and Miyajima - any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

also, any recommendations for hotels (there will be 5 of us in total, either in 2 rooms or a whole apartment)

we would like to stay in a ryoken on Miyajima

any help would be appreciated, we got a quote from a travel agent and they have not done some of the things requested and the hotels don’t look great when looking on trip advisor so am seriously contemplating booking myself at this point.

please help 🙏 😂

Milk packaging seems to use similar colours to at home. Blue is usually whole (and has a notch in the carton), green is reduced fat and orange is usually skimmed.

https://justhungry.com/japan-dining-out-cards

A few people on here have been in summer. I’m sure they’ll be able to advise.

I’d just book hotels yourself. I wouldn’t stay somewhere with lukewarm reviews when there’s so many really well reviewed places. We really like Japanese hotel chains (although I avoid APA if I can). We’ve stayed in budget, mid range and 5 star options with Japanese chains (picking well reviewed branches) and never had a bad experience. I do tend to book larger rooms than the basic doubles though. I’ve always felt that the offer was good for the price point.

Daiwa Roynet, Sotetsu Fresa and Henn Na are chains that we’ve used multiple times because they often have really good locations for public transport. We also really liked the REF hotel that we stayed in and would use them again.

We went in July last year after GCSEs and had a couple of days of rain but it was fine. We went to the Japanese alps like you plan as well as Ishigaki and Tokyo. We had previously been to Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Friends were in Kyoto for the matasuri and said it was great. Like Takoneko said I’d definitely book hotels and rail travel yourselves, so much cheaper. Japan guide is great and chat gpt!! You’ll have an amazing time

@Takoneko and @26inprogress thank you so much, I think I’ll have a go at it myself today and see what my costs come out like.

Do you use skyscanner for flights and booking . Com for hotels or do you go direct?

thanks again

@Georgieporgie29 I tend to use booking.com for hotels. I could probably save money if I booked direct but Japanese websites can be so painful to use that I often just default to booking.com. For flights I’ve always looked up on google flights and then booked via either the JAL or Finnair websites.

I used Skyscanner and a mixture of booking.com and direct with some Ryokans where we really wanted to stay there. Honestly once you get into it you’ll be fine and save a fortune! Come and ask as many questions as you like, there are some real experts here ( not me!!)

"...so am seriously contemplating booking myself at this point."

As others have said, this is generally quite easy to do yourself.

"...we would like to stay in a ryoken on Miyajima"

There are several on the island at very different price points. Something to consider though is, are you going for the full onsen and dining experience or are you just after the dining?

Some ryokan are rather limited when it comes to the actual onsen facilities. I would say that Iwaso ryokan is one to consider, but it is expensive.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1022438-d325033-Reviews-Iwaso-Hatsukaichi_Hiroshima_Prefecture_Chugoku.html

.

"(with day trips to Osaka)"

If I might make a suggestion, if you're looking more for an onsen experience (not just the dining) there is also a newly renovated ryokan to the south of Osaka in the small coastal town of Nachi-Katsuura.

The Urashima hotel was reopened this year after a refit and they have stunning onsens that are in caves at sea level. So you can sit in the onsen and watch the Pacific ocean on nearly the same level.

On a nearby island there is also the hotel Nakanoshima which is quite expensive but has outdoor onsens almost at sea level.

.

"Do you use skyscanner for flights and booking . Com for hotels or do you go direct?"

As Takoneko said we have also always searched flights on a website (personally, I use Kayak . co . uk) but then book the actual flights through the airline's own website. One advantage I find of doing this is that you can check out more alternatives on the airlines website that may not appear on Skyscanner etc eg with departure times that work better for you.

The same with booking . com etc. I'll look through that to get an idea but then also have a look at the individual hotel or chain website. I've found that often the likes of booking . com only give a basic room but sometimes you can find really nice rooms on the hotel website for very little more, or larger rooms etc.

Below is a photo of one of the onsens in a cave.

Oh this is great, thank you so much.
I’ve started looking this morning (I’m trying to find nice hotels that don’t cost the earth). So far I’ve got sotetsu Fresa inn kanda otemachi in Tokyo (thanks for the sotetsu fresa recommendation)
takayama green hotel Gifu in takayama
and kiori hotel takakura in Kyoto.

has anyone stayed at any of these and can say if they seem ok? Thanks. I’m desperate to carry on looking now but need to drop my daughter at her hair appt, it is definitely addictive though 😂

@mumsnet not sure why my post has been hidden?!!

Thank you @Takonekodo I need to take teabags do you think?

Depends how fussy you are about tea. I’ve seen English Breakfast Tea bags on hotel amenity bars and in convenience stores. If you have a particular favourite tea then I’d just bring it with you.

If you are happy to try different teas then there’s an overwhelming number of options. So many tea bags. There is also an abundance of bottled teas in shops. The usual green teas but also Earl Grey, English Breakfast, rooibos, barley, royal milk tea, tea lattes, houjicha. Even the tiniest little hole in the wall station convenience store will have several kinds of bottled tea.

Tbh, the milk will be more of a mission to get hold of than the tea. You’ll probably need a supermarket for the semi-skimmed milk. If you’re ok with whole milk then you can get that in any convenience store, but I don’t feel like I see the reduced fat milks around anywhere near as much.

Bring a supply of painkillers too. You can get them here easily but they are way more expensive than back home.

Google maps is very good for planning train and bus journeys in Japan. Better than most of the apps in my opinion.

Getting lost in the big Tokyo stations like Shinjuku or Ikebukuro is part of the Japan experience! I got a bit lost in Shibuya station the other day.

About milk, you should look for 低脂肪牛乳　teishibou gyuunyuu. It’s usually about 1% fat content. Regular milk in Japan is usually 3.6%. I’ve added a couple of photos.