Travel tips for Japan?

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EXTspotter
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Travel tips for Japan?

Post by EXTspotter »

Hey everyone; my partner and I have just booked flights to Japan for 2 weeks in October and are trying to work out what to see and do. Currently the idea is to see a variety of places (Tokyo, Kyoto/Kansai, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Okinawa/Ishigaki...) and do as many Japanese things as possible - Ryokan, Studio Ghibli Museum, Shinkansen, Onsen, Temples, Gardens...

If anyone has any suggestions/hints/tips they would be greatly received!
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Re: Travel tips for Japan?

Post by Pyoro »

Very tight schedule that's going to be. Hokkaido - Okinawa is, what, 2200 kilometers or so? I mean, sure, doable, but sounds stressful for a holiday to me ^^; You sure you don't want to enjoy two weeks Tokyo (maybe with some day or perhaps overnight trips) and do rest sometime else? I was there for 3 weeks and didn't feel I had seen half of the city. But then again different people enjoy different types of vacations ;)

Either way, I suspect you already now about that JR rail ticket thing for tourists?
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

I personally also strongly suggest grabbing Suica. It makes public transport roughly a billion times simpler. As long as you check the coverage areas. Maybe not so useful when traveling all across the country, but what the heck, they don't expire or anything ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica

What else? Don't forget to reserve Ghibli tickets in advance. Something like 3 months I think?

Not sure what else. Some knowledge in Japanese is frankly rather handy. Restaurants aren't guaranteed to have readable ^^ menus (in fact if you're not Japanese you might be unsure what actually IS a restaurant. And if it's open. ^^). Can be somewhat problematic.
Oh, and preferably take some cash with you, foreign credit cards only work rather ... selectively.

Also, check for local festivals and things wherever you are if you want to experience Japanese culture ;) They have quite a lot of those scheduled throughout the year. Chrysanthemum ones are at the end of October I think, but probably depends on local climate. Or maybe not. xD
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Re: Travel tips for Japan?

Post by EXTspotter »

I know it's gonna be packed in and we aren't going to be able to see everything; just scratching the surface - the issue is that as it costs quite a bit to get there; I am not sure when we would get another opportunity - hence it is going to be very busy. The original plan was 4 days in Tokyo, 4 in Kyoto/Kansai, 2 in Hokkaido, 2 in Kyushu and 3 in the Ryukyu Islands. In order to save time we are planning on flying longer legs up to Hokkaido and possibly to Kyushu.
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Re: Travel tips for Japan?

Post by Rubidium »

Okay, this might be incoherent... but it's possibly useful.

If you booked your international flights with JAL, then the domestic flights might be fairly cheap compared to low cost flights.

Second of all: http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ is, or at least was 10 years ago, a great tool to figure out public transport. It even took domestic flights into account. It also takes into account some subways, and to make matters complicated, the spelling in hyperdia might differ from other places that write names in the Latin alphabet, e.g. Jinbocho vs Jimbocho.

Tokyo - Kyoto is easily done by train 2:08, as is Kyoto - Hakata (i.e. Fukuoka) in 2:44. If you do the latter by train, it might be worth to spend a while in Hiroshima as that is one of the stations you will have to pass. Actually, Hyperdia only seems to suggest airplanes when going from Tokyo to Hakata but it looks quite expensive.

Tokyo - Sapporo (Hokkaido) takes 10 hours by train, and the night train even takes 17 hours. By plane this takes about 4 hours (with 30 minutes for checking/getting to the gate at Haneda and 30 minutes at the airport of Sapporo).

I'm not sure to which airport you fly, but it might make sense to directly fly to Hokkaido when arriving in Japan if you arrive at Narita, then fly to Ryukyo and on to Kyushu. Finally continue by train back to Tokyo.

Regarding paying for (local) trains, subways and busses: there are different kinds of contactless payment. One is Suica, but that doesn't seem to be accepted on non-JR trains around Kyoto where ICOCA is the better accepted system. So, if you are going for contactless payment, you need to do some research. Otherwise, reserve the long hauls in advance, i.e. go to the JR ticket office but be prepared to pay in cash as foreign credit cards may be a hassle (like 15-30 minutes needed to call the bank to get approval for payment). For the local trains, there are often large boards filled with station names and fares to those stations and often (but maybe not always) you may pay the lowest fare and then, before leaving the station at the end, you insert your ticket in a machine and pay the remainder (or at least, this was the way 10 years ago).

Fetching cash might be easiest and cheapest as 7-11 stores. You have to pay some Yens to get the money, but you often have the same at banks and finding a bank that does accept your foreign debit/credit card will be a hassle compared to the 7-11 stores that are virtually anywhere.

When looking at Google maps, don't be worried about all the swastikas. They represent temples in Japan. Furthermore, it might be useful to have the phone number of the Japan Helpline at hand in case you can't make yourself understood, although if you're attempting to communicate with 15-40 year olds they often say they do not speak English but they might understand it when written down and can write some English as well.

About interesting things to do/visit. As I said before, definitely visit Hiroshima as it has quite a large amount of interesting history and possibly eat okonomyaki (sort of pancake) at Okonomi-mura. I liked the temple in Himeji as well, but that's only feasible as intermediate stop if you go from Kyoto towards Hakata/Fukuoka (you might want to use some courier service to send you bags from hotel to hotel, so you don't have to lug them around in Hiroshima/Himeji). From Kyoto it might be interesting to visit Nara which has the largest budha of Japan and the largest wooden building of the world.
When in Kyoto I would definitely suggest Fushimi Inari (take some water with you as it might be a long walk and water up the mountain gets progressively more expensive) as well as Nijo Jinya
In Tokyo I would suggest Harajuku and Yoyogi park, oh and getting lost in the subterranian tunnels that connection Tokyo's main station to the surrounding subways. If/when you're tech savvy, maybe Akihabara is of interest.
In Sapporo you probably have to go to the Sapporo beer factory/museum, after all a lot of people in the world wear Sapporo dry shirts. It is "sad" that it is unlikely to snow/freeze in Hokkaido because that makes enjoying outdoor onsens fed with hot spring water so much better. It's a really weird sensation to sit in 35-40 degree Celcius water and have snow in your hair.


All in all, I hope you have a fairly stressless job so you can rest before you leave and when you return.
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Re: Travel tips for Japan?

Post by Pyoro »

Rubidium wrote:Fetching cash might be easiest and cheapest as 7-11 stores. You have to pay some Yens to get the money, but you often have the same at banks and finding a bank that does accept your foreign debit/credit card will be a hassle compared to the 7-11 stores that are virtually anywhere.
A reliable alternative I found where post offices. I don't know the technical or legal or administrative details that 'cause this, but theirs work with foreign credit cards.

In Tokyo I would suggest Harajuku and Yoyogi park, oh and getting lost in the subterranian tunnels that connection Tokyo's main station to the surrounding subways. If/when you're tech savvy, maybe Akihabara is of interest.
Harajuku + Yoyogi and maybe the meiji shrine if you haven't seen enough of those by then is a nice "all in one program" indeed. Lots of weird Japanese daily-life to observe ;) Prepare for loads of people in good weather though. ^^

Also interesting can be Shinjuku (loads of shopping there), maybe get up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices thing (it's free), maybe visit Shinjuku-gyoen (nice park, costs something iirc but not much) and if you want take a walk through Kabukicho and look at the cabaret clubs. Also Golden Gai nearby, lots of (often weird) bars. I probably don't need to add that those (plus Roppongi maybe) are the least reputable parts of Tokyo. imo worth a look even if someone might try to sell you some drugs are get you to enter some establishment of one sort or another, but as long as you keep your money close I'd personally rate it perfectly safe ...

Akiba is of course always worth a visit, it's also not too far from Koishikawa Koraku garden - traditional Japanese garden, real beauty, free, and one of the few places in Tokyo that for some weird reasons aren't overrun by people. Loved it. It's also directly next to the Tokyo Dome, which again is next to a shopping center featuring a rollercoaster and a freefall tower or something ^^; Also not far from the Imperial Palace if you want to drop by there (...you could drop by the controversial yasukuni shrine there...)
Or go the other direction towards ueno park and maybe one of the museums there. ^^

Also combinable I found was walking around Ginza, making your way down to Rainbow Bridge, walk across, explore Odaiba, get back towards Tokyo Tower (preferable time it towards the evening when they'll turn on the lights for the bridge and the tower ;) ) and maybe stop by Roppongi, too.
...
Tokyo IS huge, but much of the interesting things are in the central ring where no matter which direction you'll walk you won't take any longer than maybe 15 minutes to hit the next subway stop. And quite often - if you prefer, which I personally liked, but then I had much more time at hand ;) - you can simply walk. A disadvantage I found was that lots of things open relatively late and close equally early. No idea why, but it's something to keep in mind when scheduling days.

One thing I don't recommend that's in every tourist guide is Asakusa. I don't know if it's always as bad as the day I was there, but it was simply madly overrun, even for Tokyo (much worse than Akiba or Shinjuku). If you want to see loads of people rather go take a look at the famous Shibuya crossing. And shrines are available elsewhere ;) Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree are both crazy expensive. Personally I didn't think they were worth going up, although the Sky Tree can be combined with a ticket to Kamakura, which was the Japanese capital some 800 years ago and therefor unsurprisingly has loads of temples (also another big buddha ;) ). Quite nice, but you probably got that part covered with Kyoto anyways ;)
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Re: Travel tips for Japan?

Post by PikkaBird »

Pyoro wrote:A reliable alternative I found where post offices. I don't know the technical or legal or administrative details that 'cause this, but theirs work with foreign credit cards.
Yep, ~5 years ago I used to get cash from my Australian bank account using JP Bank ATMs - http://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/en/ias/ ... index.html
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Re: Travel tips for Japan?

Post by supermop »

Without a Japanese bank card, do not even try to get cash from a bank ATM. The Post Office will work, but it is almost always easier to find a 7-11, which have the best ATMs for foreign cards.

My first three trips to Japan I used a JR pass (paid extra for green pass, which may be worth it if you take a lot of Shinkansen and other long distance trains). Be aware - the JR pass is not accepted for Nozomi Shinkansen service (the fastest express Shinkansen). This can severely limit your options between Hakata and Tokyo - you may need to break that journey into multiple slower Hikari or Kodama services. If you are going to stop along the way at Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka, etc try to get these stops to line up with train changes you would have needed to make regardless. If you get a rail pass for only one JR sector company (East, West, Kyushu etc) it is cheaper, but again you miss out on the long distance trips where the passes save you the most money. My fourth trip I did without a JR pass as I stayed within Tokyo.

Experiencing the rail network of Japan is a special experience in its own right, but if you are going to be hopping across all of the islands including Okinawa in a short period, you may want to stick to budget flights instead and do without a rail pass. Travel between Hakata and Tokyo on two Hikari trains will eat up an entire day, and I do not think sleeper trains exist in most of the country any more. I would say that seeing Fuji-yama from the Shinkansen (sit on the right heading Tokyo-Kyoto, on the left in other direction) is a magical sight. Riding a packed Yamanote or Chuo line train in Tokyo is worth it as well. From Haneda the subway is a better choice than the monorail, and from Narita take the Narita Express if you got a JR pass. If you did not, or if you are staying near Ueno, take the Keisei train instead.

If you do not get Suica/Pasmo/etc be sure to have a handful of 100 yen coins at all times for correct train fare.

In Tokyo, Tsukiji Market is an absolute must - in a few years it will be demolished so please make an effort to see it while you still can! Also see the nearby Nakagin Capsule tower, which is also at risk of demolition - you will recognize it from TT's original graphics. It is the best surviving example of the interesting Metabolist movement in Japanese architecture. If your time in Tokyo allows, check out the historical museums, including the open-air architecture park with examples of preserved traditional buildings. I find wandering through the back streets of various neighborhoods to be just as rewarding as the main tourist attractions too.

Unless you have a completely extra day, skip the Skytree. It's tall at 600 or so meters but it is far from most of the interesting parts of town, so the view is not worth the steep price unless it is an absurdly clear day letting you see Fuji-yama (never happened any trip I've been there). Instead you can get a great view for free at the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Nishi-Shinjuku. The Mori tower in Roppongi Hills has great views and also contains a great contemporary art museum.

If you stay overnight in Kyoto take a day trip to Nara for sure, but if you just take a day trip to Kyoto maybe skip it this trip. In Kyoto I agree with Rubidium that Fushimi Inari is a must see. Also check out Ryoanji Temple's rock garden. Kyoto is packed with UNESCO World Heritage sites, so pace yourself otherwise you may suffer from temple/shrine fatigue and not appreciate them as much. The main JR station in Kyoto has a pretty awesome building/atrium - you can even stay in a JR hotel there but it is a bit pricey. Even if modern architecture is not your thing, spend at least 30 minutes exploring and appreciating the size of it!

If you have a stretch of a few days in Tokyo, consider a day trip to Kamakura. Check out the Daibutsu (large Buddha) -similar to Nara's but the enclosing building was destroyed so now it is outdoors. As Pyoro said however, you could easily spend weeks, if not months or years, just exploring Tokyo on foot and train.

I don't know what kind of food you like, but a good Japan trip is made great by the food. If anything be a bit adventurous and try to make a point of trying at least a few things you are unsure of. Otherwise whatever Japanese food you enjoy, you will find amazing examples on your trip. Hakata is the place to go for ramen, sashimi and sushi in the morning at Tsukiji will blow your mind, and you may be surprised to learn that Tokyo holds some of the best espresso and pour-over coffee shops in the world. Apart from teppanyaki places or world renown kaiseki restaurants, it is surprisingly affordable too! As Pyoro said, the more authentic the restaurant, the less likely it is to have an English or photo menu. Some places may not even use Arabic numerals for prices! I would suggest trying to learn or make notes of the Chinese characters (kanji) for numbers 1-10, 1000, 10000, and for yen (they do not often use the Y symbol).

I've yet to spend any time up north or in the mountains, so I can't offer any advice regarding that other than by example - the example being that Kansai and Tokyo alone could easily fill up the entirety of 4 separate trips without getting boring!
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