Planning a solo trip to Japan. Advice?

Hey guys, I know some of you have visited Japan before, and I'd love your input on this... I'm aiming to spend two weeks in Japan. The plan is to leave the USA on Monday Oct 21 and return home on Monday Nov 4.

I'm going solo, and I'm wondering if I should book a tour like EF Ultimate Break or if I should just explore the country by myself. I've traveled alone before through Northern Ireland and various US cities, but obviously those didn't have a language barrier. Is Japan easy enough to navigate?

I've been watching travel videos on YouTube, and I've got the basic idea down: Fly into Haneda airport, take a bus to your Tokyo hotel, carry around $200 in yen each day, keep your passport on you at all times, use Google Maps/Translate, bring your own deodorant, etc. I do have some concerns:

• Hotels... Where in Tokyo and Kyoto should I be booking hotels? Are there certain types I should be wary of (I heard a story of someone who booked a love hotel by accident)?
• The whole Pocket Wi-Fi situation confuses me. Which should I get? Where should I buy it...the airport? Or get it before I leave the States? (I have an iPhone 12 with AT&T, in case that's relevant.)
• I've heard that you shouldn't bring a large suitcase. Is this true? Should I opt for smaller carry-on-sized suitcases instead?
• JR Pass worth it? Supposedly, it was a great deal until they jacked up the prices by 70%.
• I heard somewhere that Visa credit cards aren't accepted in many places, or that I can't reload a Suica card with a Visa card. Any truth to this?
• Where can I get hearty dinners? I usually eat big dinners, and I hear the portions are smaller in Japan.

Places I want to hit:

• Tokyo, particularly Shibuya, Akihabara, Roppongi. Not that I'm looking for trouble, but I'd like to check out areas where the yakuza have historically operated
• Mount Fuji. Supposedly it's too dangerous to summit it in late October, but I'd like hike part of it if possible.
• Kyoto. Bamboo Forest, Golden Pavilion, temples, shrines, castles, etc. I hear it's worth spending at least 4 days here.
• ANY cool hiking/nature areas. I love hiking. If there's something you'd recommend for late October, let me know.
• Osaka. Dotonbori. Maybe Universal Studios... Is Super Nintendo World worth it?
• Hiroshima
• Totally open to other suggestions

Beyond that... Any other recommendations, warnings, or input? Also, anything I should book in advance (like how the Pokemon Cafe usually has a month wait)?

I remember needing cash a lot for things like restaurants.

Are you using Tokyo as like a main hub and going exploring from there, or are you just wandering from city to city?

In any case, the Shinkansen was a godsend for getting around.

Haven't been in about a decade or so so my advice is fuzzy and out of date, but:

-JR Pass was worth it for not just the savings but also the convenience of it, but if they jacked the price up hard to say. Will say it was super convenient to not worry about getting tickets though and just being able to hop on a train especially when you're with an indecisive group that wants to zig zag around Tokyo like maniacs. There are some lines that aren't JR though so it's not usable everywhere, I think I remember being able to get around Tokyo with no trouble using it though.

-I traveled with just a small over shoulder bag and would recommend getting as small as you can manage for luggage. From watching my friends struggle I can say that dragging a giant suitcase around the train stations can be a bit of a nightmare.

-Kyoto is one of my favorite cities there, but 4 days might be a bit much. It's a great place to visit between Tokyo and Osaka though as a bit of a breather for the much more chill atmosphere.

-I was a broke college student so stayed at mostly hostels so not sure on hotel recommendations. If you're looking to meet people while you're their I can't recommend hostels enough though, most that I stayed at were pretty decent as far as hostels go.
The one I stayed at in Kyoto was super nice and above a pottery shop/bar which can't ask for a nicer combo! Can try to hunt down the name if you're interested.

-Osaka is great for the night life and some shopping, love Dotonbori. Different vibe than Tokyo for sure

-Nagasaki is my favorite city, but not much to do there aside from relax so it's hard to recommend unless you really want to just chill for a few days. Has some nice onsens (public bath/sauna type of deal) with amazing views, some looking over the ocean and one that overlooks the city but you can find similarly great onsens in other cities too. Also some amazing views to see without having to be naked in an onsen, can't remember the name of it but you can take a cable car up above the city and the view is amazing at night seeing the city right along the ocean. Pretty nice restaurant up there too.

-I remember doing a bit of hiking and renting bikes in Nagasaki but would have to do some digging to try to remember where that was exactly.

-Baseball games are an experience I 100% recommend even if you aren't into baseball, the atmosphere and crowd energy with chants is something totally different than an American game

Have a friend over there right now sending me endless snaps of their trip so might finally cave and head back next year.

I went to Japan with my mom back in March for 10 days: 5 in Tokyo, 5 in Kyoto.

Hotels... Where in Tokyo and Kyoto should I be booking hotels? Are there certain types I should be wary of (I heard a story of someone who booked a love hotel by accident)?

For Tokyo, I had a hotel in Korakuen. Really tiny room, but I liked the location. Being right next to LaQua was great. The onsen was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me and being able to go there after a long day and immediately go home without taking any trains was nice.

For Kyoto, I booked a ryokan and I really liked it. A bit pricy, but the breakfast, the aesthetics, and the free onsen made it worth it. Kyoto is not nearly as connected as Tokyo in regards to public transit. My ryokan was near the Shijo station, which if you see Kyoto's train stations, is basically the center of the two intersecting train lines. It was good.

The whole Pocket Wi-Fi situation confuses me. Which should I get? Where should I buy it...the airport? Or get it before I leave the States? (I have an iPhone 12 with AT&T, in case that's relevant.)

I used international AT&T Wi-Fi with my iPhone 15 and it worked just fine without issues.

I've heard that you shouldn't bring a large suitcase. Is this true? Should I opt for smaller carry-on-sized suitcases instead?

There's no elevators and sometimes no escalators at train stations, so the initial carry from the airport to the hotel is a lot. That said, a lot of Japanese hotels actually will ship your luggage for you for a price. You can also do this to ship your luggage from a Tokyo hotel to a Kyoto hotel. I highly recommend doing this, but make sure both hotels can actually do this service first.

JR Pass worth it? Supposedly, it was a great deal until they jacked up the prices by 70%.

Unless you plan on speedrunning Japan, no. JR Pass is 70k yen for 1 person. I used a bullet train for Tokyo-Kyoto round trip for me and my mom and it was 51k yen total. Tokyo's trains are JR Pass, Metro, and Toei, but JR easily has the least amount of trains usable in Tokyo. I stuck with Metro & Toei 72 hour/24 hour train pass for Tokyo and use one-ways for Kyoto. Metro has the most train stations in Tokyo, but Toei has all the trains in the Asakusa region and a few others. I think you can often get Metro and Toei in a bundle, so just go with that. JR is really only if you're going to neighboring cities or, again, all over Japan.

BTW in Kyoto, I'd highly recommend learning the bus routes. It's a LOT of work compared to the simple Tokyo station, but it will save you a lot of time and yen. Maybe plan it out while on your bullet train ride.

I heard somewhere that Visa credit cards aren't accepted in many places, or that I can't reload a Suica card with a Visa card. Any truth to this?

Cards only recently became a thing in Japan in 2020. I mainly stuck with yen, but I used Visa for a few big purchases where I was a few yen short. I'd say in Tokyo, you should be OK. Kyoto should be OK too. The smaller areas become way less likely to accept cards.

BTW, I'd invest in a small coin pouch, especially if you plan on going to the temples.

Where can I get hearty dinners? I usually eat big dinners, and I hear the portions are smaller in Japan.

Portions are DEFINITELY not smaller lol. I felt like every meal was a lot, but you never felt heavy afterwards. Ramen places are always pretty generous with their food amount.

ANY cool hiking/nature areas. I love hiking. If there's something you'd recommend for late October, let me know.

The moss temple in Kyoto was really cool. I also like the 1000 Torii hike in Kyoto too.

Beyond that... Any other recommendations, warnings, or input? Also, anything I should book in advance (like how the Pokemon Cafe usually has a month wait)?

If you plan on going to temples, I'd recommend a goshuin, which is basically an autograph book for every temple. Just a really cool souvenir and I wish I got one.

Public transit is really good, but you should do some research on how to route your day. Otherwise, you can get overwhelmed pretty easily.

I spent a lot of time at the temples. They all just have such a good aesthetic to them and it's fun seeing the history of each area. In general, just seeing how far back the history goes is great. I attended a fire ceremony in Naga (another nice place to visit near Kyoto/Osaka) and that fire ceremony was done for 1,200 years straight, which just...blew my mind. America is so young.

I got a lot of my recommendations on /r/japantravel on reddit. It's worth a read. There's a few other websites dedicated to Japan that are good to read too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel/

I've only really visited the Tokyo area and I was last there in 2023. That area at least has a lot of English on signs. But, I can't process a Japanese address for the life of me. So I was mostly staring at an offline Google map of Tokyo on my phone to get around and train routes planned in advance. The trains are generally fantastic for getting around but sometimes the last train was earlier than I would have liked.

A lot more places take credit cards (due to COVID) so you don't necessarily need to pay for everything in cash. It's a bit unfortunate, but the Japanese Yen kinda spiked relative to USD to a trip right now is more expensive than it would have been a month ago. I don't recall if you can use a credit card to put money on a Suica. I used cash for mine but simply don't recall if credit card was an option.

The JR Rail pass price hike is kinda brutal. It was worth it when I went to Kyoto a few years back but I'm not sure if it still is. If you are going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima, it might be worth it. That's quite a bit of traveling.

Try the Famichiki at Family Mart. It's crazy how good it is for being convenience store food.

A lot of this really depends on stuff like budget, how mobile/flexible you want to be, how exactly you want to spend your time, etc.

plasmabeam posted...

Hotels... Where in Tokyo and Kyoto should I be booking hotels? Are there certain types I should be wary of (I heard a story of someone who booked a love hotel by accident)?

Just look for a place near where you want to explore, and then double check reviews to make sure it's good for tourists? I never had any issues.

plasmabeam posted...

The whole Pocket Wi-Fi situation confuses me. Which should I get? Where should I buy it...the airport? Or get it before I leave the States? (I have an iPhone 12 with AT&T, in case that's relevant.)

I didn't bother with it and just connected to hotel wifi when needed, and made do without the rest of the time. Download offline maps for the areas you'll be so you don't get lost.

plasmabeam posted...

I've heard that you shouldn't bring a large suitcase. Is this true? Should I opt for smaller carry-on-sized suitcases instead?

It truly depends on how much you'll be taking it with you vs. leaving it in a hotel.

plasmabeam posted...

I heard somewhere that Visa credit cards aren't accepted in many places, or that I can't reload a Suica card with a Visa card. Any truth to this?

I had pretty decent luck paying with a Visa card in stores when needed but yeah it's more reliable to just use cash. I don't know about using a Visa for a Suica card specifically.

plasmabeam posted...

Where can I get hearty dinners? I usually eat big dinners, and I hear the portions are smaller in Japan.

There are plenty of places that serve large meals. There are also lots of places where you can easily continue ordering throughout your meal in case your first order wasn't enough. Don't sweat it.

plasmabeam posted...

I heard somewhere that Visa credit cards aren't accepted in many places, or that I can't reload a Suica card with a Visa card. Any truth to this?

This used to be true but not so much anymore. You need the Suica app to charge it with a credit card though

plasmabeam posted...

Totally open to other suggestions

Nagoya is the best city in Japan tbh

For Kyoto I would also prioritize the Fushimi Inari Shrine, especially if you are spending 4 days there.

Portion-wise I don't think there's much of an issue. I guess if you feel like pigging out, sushi or dumpling restaurants allow you to really just order as much as you want. Or get a big bowl of ramen somewhere, that's usually filling. There will also be tons of options for little snacks and desserts. Or go to Family Mart and pick up a Shake Shake Cream after dinner. Food was much cheaper in Japan than America or Europe last time I went but I haven't been since 2020 and that was Okinawa which is a little bit different vibe than the rest of Japan.

MZero posted...

This used to be true but not so much anymore. You need the Suica app to charge it with a credit card though

Nagoya is the best city in Japan tbh

Indian Steakhouse #1

Thank you all for taking the time to type up these responses. Huge help.

ExThaNemesis posted... Are you using Tokyo as like a main hub and going exploring from there, or are you just wandering from city to city?

Probably gonna start in Tokyo, spend a few nights in Kyoto/elsewhere, and bounce back to (another district in) Tokyo.

MZero posted...

Nagoya is the best city in Japan tbh

@MZero Anything specific you'd recommend doing there?

Bitto posted...

The moss temple in Kyoto was really cool. I also like the 1000 Torii hike in Kyoto too.

Nice. Thanks for pointing these out.

xenosaga posted...

-Nagasaki is my favorite city, but not much to do there aside from relax so it's hard to recommend unless you really want to just chill for a few days. Has some nice onsens (public bath/sauna type of deal) with amazing views, some looking over the ocean and one that overlooks the city but you can find similarly great onsens in other cities too. Also some amazing views to see without having to be naked in an onsen, can't remember the name of it but you can take a cable car up above the city and the view is amazing at night seeing the city right along the ocean. Pretty nice restaurant up there too.

-I remember doing a bit of hiking and renting bikes in Nagasaki but would have to do some digging to try to remember where that was exactly.

I'll have to look into this. I'm not much of a "relax for the day" guy, but if there are good hiking spots, Nagasaki might be worth a visit.

Nagoya - Tokugawa Art Museum, it's located within a nice garden and it has the Genji scrolls. Honestly Nagoya is a good central location because it's easy to day trip to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. But it strikes me as more of a business/commerce/dining city. The fish market is a trip. The aquarium is OK but there are probably better uses of your time.

I think MZero is in Nagoya so you could probably meet up with him if you both want!

edit Ramen road at Nagoya station is good as well! You can probably spend a bit of time at the station for it's shops and food and the area nearby can be fun to walk around, especially near the holidays.

Tokyo - it's huge and there's a lot to do. You could spend most of your time there and not get bored!

There are two ways I used to spend there. One is to pick two big things near each other (like the Imperial palace and the Akhabara district) and spend my day in that area. Or pick a subway line (for instance the ginza line) and visit Asakusa shrine (it's huge and touristy but not insultingly so) and then take the subway to the other side (Shibuya) and take some stops along the way.

Other people might have better ways to make an itinerary than I do, but I like an anchor (location, subway line).

Went to Japan both in February this year and November last year.

For hotels I stayed in a lot over the ~4 weeks. The ones that my wife and I both liked the most in Tokyo was 'Ginza Capital Hotel Moegi' and 'Nippon Seinenkan Hotel Tokyo, Shinjuku'. The first one was a business hotel so pretty no frills but it was cheap, clean and in a convenient location (station directly outside the hotel). The second one was a high end hotel that I got on a great deal (about $100 a night), it's where the Olympians stayed and was an amazing hotel. Again had a station within 5 minutes walk.

With the JR Pass, we found it really wasn't worth it. It has changed just before we got there. We used Suica and Passmo (Pasmo?) for Tokyo travel and then just got bullet trains as needed for other locations. Make sure this will work with your phone before traveling, it would work with my wife's iPhone fine but would not work with my OnePlus without me messing around with the regional settings.

With credit cards, I didn't have an issue using a Visa almost everywhere. There were a few places that were cash only but they were few and far between.

I would say make sure you plan on your trip extensively and factor in the jet lag is going to fuck you up for your first few days. The first time we went, we did Tokyo for like a week then Nagoya for a day (for Ghibli park) then Kyoto / Osaka for 4-5 days and back to Tokyo for a few days before our flight. Everything felt rushed and I felt dejected when I left because it felt like I didn't get to do everything I wanted and lost a lot to travel time. The second time we went, we spent the entire 2 weeks in Tokyo and surrounding areas and it still felt like we barely scratched the surface.

Basically if there are a few things you absolutely need/want to do, make sure you schedule them and get them done. Do not just try do everything on the fly without planning or you will end up missing out on stuff and regretting it. If we hadn't lost our trusted pet sitter I would already be planning another trip to Tokyo this year. Hell, I'd move there tomorrow if I could.

Food wise I wouldn't worry about portion size. A. I didn't notice much difference portion wise and B. Everything there is dirt fucking cheap. It was literally like 33-50% of the cost of eating out in Florida (where I live) for significantly better quality food.

plasmabeam posted...

* Hotels... Where in Tokyo and Kyoto should I be booking hotels? Are there certain types I should be wary of (I heard a story of someone who booked a love hotel by accident)?

I feel like there are two types of hotels: places only to pass a night and places that are an experience in itself. For the former, we'd just book a hotel next to a major train station or a subway stop just for the efficiency. For the latter, I'd definitely recommend trying out some Japanese-specific accommodations. I've never been to a love hotel or booked one by accident and at least on booking.com, I thought it's pretty clear what each accommodation is.

In Tokyo, we enjoyed going to capsule hotels for a couple nights mostly as a novelty. Would definitely recommend Manga Arts Hotel if you are into manga as they have a lot of English-translated manga. I would say capsule hotels aren't the most comfortable place though especially if you are claustrophobic.

Outside major cities, I would definitely recommend a ryokan, especially one with an onsen and meals. Very amazing experience for my entire group. There are also shukubos, where you stay at a temple, though the accommodation is more spartan there.

Finally, I think the best experience we had was going to a completely random Japanese fishing village and renting an Airbnb there for a couple nights. All the places you've listed are going to be swarmed with tourists especially Kyoto and it's a totally different experience going to a quiet, rural place. Japan's super safe in general outside some seedy areas like in Roppongi and Kabukicho though so definitely don't be afraid to be bold. Just make sure you have a phone with a translation app to make all the fly translation.

plasmabeam posted...

Anything specific you'd recommend doing there?

Ghibili Park, if you're into that

Nabana no Sato - Actually just outside Nagoya, but they do amazing light displays. The next one starts in mid-October so perfect timing

Lots of good hiking... I think. I'm not a huge hiker but I have some friends who do a lot of hiking around here. Mt. Sanage is a good spot. Unfortunately I think you're going to be a hair too early for the really good fall colors

Nagoya Castle, Kiyosu Castle, Atsuta-jingu, Shirotori Garden

Higashiyama Zoo, the aquarium, the science museum if you're into any of that stuff

Osu shopping district if you want to do some shopping. They have some sweet retro game shops there if you're interested

Also I second neon's suggestion of the Tokugawa Garden

Oh and the eel is incredible

neonreaper posted...

Nagoya - Tokugawa Art Museum, it's located within a nice garden and it has the Genji scrolls. Honestly Nagoya is a good central location because it's easy to day trip to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo.

Good call. I just checked a map. Seems like the halfway spot between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka

neonreaper posted...

Tokyo - it's huge and there's a lot to do. You could spend most of your time there and not get bored!

There are two ways I used to spend there. One is to pick two big things near each other (like the Imperial palace and the Akhabara district) and spend my day in that area. Or pick a subway line (for instance the ginza line) and visit Asakusa shrine (it's huge and touristy but not insultingly so) and then take the subway to the other side (Shibuya) and take some stops along the way.

Other people might have better ways to make an itinerary than I do, but I like an anchor (location, subway line).

The anchor idea makes total sense. I plan on starting and ending my trip in Tokyo (2-3 days each), so I'll have to figure out which spots I want to hit when. Any advice for what to hit on my first couple "jet lag" days?

Shattered posted...

For hotels I stayed in a lot over the ~4 weeks. The ones that my wife and I both liked the most in Tokyo was 'Ginza Capital Hotel Moegi' and 'Nippon Seinenkan Hotel Tokyo, Shinjuku'. The first one was a business hotel so pretty no frills but it was cheap, clean and in a convenient location (station directly outside the hotel). The second one was a high end hotel that I got on a great deal (about $100 a night), it's where the Olympians stayed and was an amazing hotel. Again had a station within 5 minutes walk.

This is super helpful. Gonna look those up.

With the JR Pass, we found it really wasn't worth it. It has changed just before we got there. We used Suica and Passmo (Pasmo?) for Tokyo travel and then just got bullet trains as needed for other locations. Make sure this will work with your phone before traveling, it would work with my wife's iPhone fine but would not work with my OnePlus without me messing around with the regional settings.

@Shattered What's the "this" you're referring to? Passmo? (I have an iPhone 12 btw)

I would say make sure you plan on your trip extensively and factor in the jet lag is going to fuck you up for your first few days.

Any jet lag tips? Like what are the best Tokyo attractions to hit while I'm acclimating to the 13-hour time difference?

squexa posted...

I feel like there are two types of hotels: places only to pass a night and places that are an experience in itself. For the former, we'd just book a hotel next to a major train station or a subway stop just for the efficiency. For the latter, I'd definitely recommend trying out some Japanese-specific accommodations. I've never been to a love hotel or booked one by accident and at least on booking.com, I thought it's pretty clear what each accommodation is.

Good to know. Thanks!

Finally, I think the best experience we had was going to a completely random Japanese fishing village and renting an Airbnb there for a couple nights. All the places you've listed are going to be swarmed with tourists especially Kyoto and it's a totally different experience going to a quiet, rural place. Japan's super safe in general outside some seedy areas like in Roppongi and Kabukicho though so definitely don't be afraid to be bold. Just make sure you have a phone with a translation app to make all the fly translation.

Interesting. I'll have to check if there are any villages near good hiking areas. How did you get to the village btw? Bus?

So the Passmo thing you should be fine on an iPhone. Basically when I go to add to wallet on an android (and may be my phone specifically) neither Suica or Passmo show up. When I googled it, it seemed to think I would need to change the region of my phone for them to show up but then other shit wouldn't work. My wife had no such issue on her iPhone. Just saying to check you are able to add them to your wallet pre trip.

For jetlag days I would just plan on staying in whatever city you're in and not traveling too much. There's not much you can do to avoid it and it really depends on what time your flight in is. You basically have to try to acclimatize to Japan time as soon as possible which may involve either forcing yourself to sleep all flight or not sleeping on the flight depending on what time it is. Last time we went I slept all flight and we landed in the late evening Japan time and I was messed up for way longer than I should have been.

I know people are saying Nagoya makes a good hub city and they're probably right but keep in mind without the JR Pass, it's fairly expensive to get a train to/from Nagoya/Tokyo. I forget the exact cost but I want to say somewhere in the region of $60-100 one way. So it will be pricey to make that trek to Tokyo multiple times.

Something to keep in mind with Osaka/Kyoto. They are super close to each other and Osaka hotels were small, expensive and far dirtier than the other hotels we stayed in. You can easily stay in a hotel in Kyoto that is nicer and cheaper and make the train ride to Osaka. That's what I would do if I ever did that area again

I don't have advice on Nagoya since I only did the 1 day there for Ghibli park (which is actually a decent trek outside of Nagoya) but you have a resident expert in the thread anyway. If you do do Ghibli park, you have to buy your tickets way in advance. It is entirely possible that they are already fully sold out for your trip dates already and no I'm not joking. Go check now, like immediately, if you have any interest in going there

I saw someone mention Asakusa shrine which is definitely worth the visit but my advice is go on an evening. We got a hotel by there and went in the day and outside of the bamboo forest (which was ridiculous), it was the busiest place we saw in all our time there. We then walked by there in the evening to get food and everything was lit up but there was barely a soul around.

Oh which reminds me, the subway trains have a hard cutoff time and don't run all night. It was some time between 1230 and 1 iirc. Then they literally shut up the stations and no more trains run until like 6am or something. It was easy for us to Uber after that time but just keep it in mind so you don't get stuck. It's super safe to walk around the streets at night in most areas so it's also not a big deal to have a 1-2 mile walk home.

My wife used a website called Wanderlog to plan stuff out. I'll see if I can pull up what she did later. I didn't really use it but she found it super useful for planning.

Shattered posted...

So the Passmo thing you should be fine on an iPhone. Basically when I go to add to wallet on an android (and may be my phone specifically) neither Suica or Passmo show up. When I googled it, it seemed to think I would need to change the region of my phone for them to show up but then other shit wouldn't work. My wife had no such issue on her iPhone. Just saying to check you are able to add them to your wallet pre trip.

yeah only certain Android devices are supported. My old phone wasn't until I got a new one in March. I think any relatively new iPhone should be fine though

Oh, this is really niche but if you are into tattoos at all then look up artists and get one done there. On our first trip my wife looked up an artist in Osaka ahead of time and booked in for a tattoo. It looks great and she ended up paying ~$250 for something that would have probably cost $600-1000 in the US. It's a back tattoo that extends from the base of her neck to the middle of her back (so maybe 8-10 inches?). I've never had a tattoo myself so I'm kinda guesstimating but she said it would have been a ton more expensive here and I have friends who have full sleeves done for like $5-10k so I can imagine

Shattered posted...

Something to keep in mind with Osaka/Kyoto. They are super close to each other and Osaka hotels were small, expensive and far dirtier than the other hotels we stayed in. You can easily stay in a hotel in Kyoto that is nicer and cheaper and make the train ride to Osaka. That's what I would do if I ever did that area again

Brilliant.

Shattered posted...

I saw someone mention Asakusa shrine which is definitely worth the visit but my advice is go on an evening. We got a hotel by there and went in the day and outside of the bamboo forest (which was ridiculous), it was the busiest place we saw in all our time there. We then walked by there in the evening to get food and everything was lit up but there was barely a soul around.

Only problem... It seems their hours are 9-4 most days.

Oh which reminds me, the subway trains have a hard cutoff time and don't run all night. It was some time between 1230 and 1 iirc. Then they literally shut up the stations and no more trains run until like 6am or something. It was easy for us to Uber after that time but just keep it in mind so you don't get stuck. It's super safe to walk around the streets at night in most areas so it's also not a big deal to have a 1-2 mile walk home.

I'll keep this in mind, though I don't mind walking at all.

Shattered posted...

My wife used a website called Wanderlog to plan stuff out. I'll see if I can pull up what she did later. I didn't really use it but she found it super useful for planning.

I'll check it out. So far, I've only been using Google Maps to scope things out.

The main shrine itself is only open 9-4 but the grounds are open all night. From what I remember the inside of the shrine didn't have that much in it. It's mainly the grounds that were the main attraction to me

So here are my departing flight options. Better to arrive in Japan mid-day Tuesday or early morning Wednesday? I'm leaning Tuesday since Time > Money.

American Airlines $1041 round-trip - 2 Stops
Depart USA: Monday 10/21 5:35pm
Arrive in Japan (Haneda): Wednesday 10/23 4:45am

United Airlines $1564 round-trip - 1 Stop (includes 2 checked bags)
Depart USA: Monday 10/21 6:10am
Arrive in Japan (Haneda): Tuesday 10/22 3:20pm

Which airport are you flying out of?

United code-shares with ANA. I know as that's who I flew with both times. If you can get the ANA flight for the Japan leg it's significantly better than the United version as you get more leg room and the plane / service just seemed nicer to me.

You still technically fly United but the flight is operated by ANA

Shattered posted...

The main shrine itself is only open 9-4 but the grounds are open all night. From what I remember the inside of the shrine didn't have that much in it. It's mainly the grounds that were the main attraction to me

Oh, interesting. Is this the case with most shrines?

Shattered posted...

Which airport are you flying out of?

AVP

Shattered posted...

United code-shares with ANA. I know as that's who I flew with both times. If you can get the ANA flight for the Japan leg it's significantly better than the United version as you get more leg room and the plane / service just seemed nicer to me.

You still technically fly United but the flight is operated by ANA

Just checked, ANA operates the United Flight from DC to Tokyo

And Japan Airlines operates the American Flight from LAX to Tokyo

I forget which airlines I flew on my two trips (I think ANA/United this last time) but yeah, in both cases the Japanese-run flights were 100x nicer than the US ones.

Also I stayed in hotels in Osaka twice and neither was a bad experience. Small and basic, yeah, but not dirty or sketchy. And the restaurant/street food game in Dotonbori is on point so it's nice to have that in walking distance.

plasmabeam posted...

So here are my departing flight options. Better to arrive in Japan mid-day Tuesday or early morning Wednesday? I'm leaning Tuesday since Time > Money.

American Airlines $1041 round-trip - 2 Stops
Depart USA: Monday 10/21 5:35pm
Arrive in Japan (Haneda): Wednesday 10/23 4:45am

United Airlines $1564 round-trip - 1 Stop (includes 2 checked bags)
Depart USA: Monday 10/21 6:10am
Arrive in Japan (Haneda): Tuesday 10/22 3:20pm

Do you work weekends? Because you can get that same AA Mon flight leaving Sat or Sun for the same price.

JR Pass mightttt be break even based on the cities you're trying to hit, but it's close. Probably easier to just pay as you go. Although afaik the pass now works with the standard station scanners, unlike 5 years ago when I went and had to have staff check my pass every time which was annoying.

Main thing about Tokyo it's basically like any other huge city, but with the best version of everything. So just do all the stuff you normally do when visiting a city like NYC, and it will just be surprisingly awesome. Bars, restaurants, theater, museums, lazer tag, etc. That also means it has the most niche activities you can think of, at absurdly high qualities. Card game trading, synthesizer shops, gardening, knitting, archery, whatever. Seek out what you like.

Late night izakayas and listening bars were my favorite. They are places Japanese people go specifically to be social and they are super friendly and talkative, especially to Americans. imo it's extremely rewarding to learn some very basic sentences in Japanese to mix in with your English in those situations. Some phrases to talk about your work and hobbies and such. It's not that hard to learn a basic sentence and fill it in with a few nouns/verbs (just simple present and simple past tenses will get you really far). Misa-sensei on youtube is by far my best rec.

Obviously there's lots of food and if you want more you order more, simple as that. There's very few locations in the cities that aren't within a stone's throw of some fast cheap and great food. Then of course there's the 24/7 7-11s every 1/8th mile.

Also you're gonna be there during Halloween which they apparently love as an excuse to party like in the US. I'd plan to be in Tokyo or Osaka for that, and wouldn't sleep all night.

Shattered posted...

Oh which reminds me, the subway trains have a hard cutoff time and don't run all night. It was some time between 1230 and 1 iirc. Then they literally shut up the stations and no more trains run until like 6am or something. It was easy for us to Uber after that time but just keep it in mind so you don't get stuck. It's super safe to walk around the streets at night in most areas so it's also not a big deal to have a 1-2 mile walk home.

For what it's worth, watching the 12:29 rush of people trying to get on the last train at a major station can be quite the experience!

Shattered posted...

I don't have advice on Nagoya since I only did the 1 day there for Ghibli park (which is actually a decent trek outside of Nagoya) but you have a resident expert in the thread anyway. If you do do Ghibli park, you have to buy your tickets way in advance. It is entirely possible that they are already fully sold out for your trip dates already and no I'm not joking. Go check now, like immediately, if you have any interest in going there

I'll contradict myself a bit and say that you could skip Nagoya entirely not really miss it. Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka are the big priorities.

One thing I've heard recommended but never used: Klook

You could also check our r/JapanTravelTips I think there's good info there... you might have to parse out the flexing sometimes.

plasmabeam posted...

So here are my departing flight options. Better to arrive in Japan mid-day Tuesday or early morning Wednesday? I'm leaning Tuesday since Time > Money.

American Airlines $1041 round-trip - 2 Stops
Depart USA: Monday 10/21 5:35pm
Arrive in Japan (Haneda): Wednesday 10/23 4:45am

United Airlines $1564 round-trip - 1 Stop (includes 2 checked bags)
Depart USA: Monday 10/21 6:10am
Arrive in Japan (Haneda): Tuesday 10/22 3:20pm

You can sign up for sites like Going that will alert you when cheaper fares are on offer. They often alert me to flights to Tokyo in the $700-$800 range.

Shattered posted...

Do you work weekends? Because you can get that same AA Mon flight leaving Sat or Sun for the same price.

I have an event I'm attending on Sunday, so the earliest I can leave is Monday

foolm0r0n posted...

Main thing about Tokyo it's basically like any other huge city, but with the best version of everything. So just do all the stuff you normally do when visiting a city like NYC, and it will just be surprisingly awesome. Bars, restaurants, theater, museums, lazer tag, etc. That also means it has the most niche activities you can think of, at absurdly high qualities. Card game trading, synthesizer shops, gardening, knitting, archery, whatever. Seek out what you like.

This is so hype. I've been so focused on specific attractions/destinations that I didn't really consider the everyday stuff.

neonreaper posted...

One thing I've heard recommended but never used: Klook

Looking into this now. Thanks!

swirIdude posted...

You can sign up for sites like Going that will alert you when cheaper fares are on offer. They often alert me to flights to Tokyo in the $700-$800 range.

Damn. I thought $1500 round trip was a great deal.

To follow up: I just got an email for Japan fares at $760 from my airport. Check yours and see if you can find something similar.

swirIdude posted...

To follow up: I just got an email for Japan fares at $760 from my airport. Check yours and see if you can find something similar.

Dropped to $985 for the AA flight for me. United is still the same.

Yeah I was looking last night, $830 from Orlando

Also if I was going this fall, Id make it a priority to attend Godzilla fest !