So I just booked flights to Japan for next September/October for 2 weeks, it will be our first trip to Asia. I’m scouring the usual tour books and YouTube for ideas as well as an extended chat session with ChatGPT, but I’m looking for more human thought.
Our initial itinerary would include Tokyo, Osaka/Kyoto, possibly Hiroshima or Hakone. We like history, food, architecture, and art.
What say the SD?
I’ve visited Japan several times, both for business and pleasure. Tokyo is an amazing city, and all the Japanese people I met were kind and helpful, which was particularly important since I don’t speak or read Japanese. Kyoto is a must-visit, and it’s my favorite city to explore. Take the bullet train down from Tokyo, and you can see Mount Fuji off in the distance. Upon arrival, you will find many amazing temples. As an American, I felt an obligation to see Hiroshima, but it was a sad day to walk around and see what had happened to the Japanese people who happened to be living there. All in all, this is the best time of year to go and you should take in as much as you can while you are there.
Taking a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka to see the deer at Nara was worth it for us.
The comment I usually make in threads about visiting Japan is to take the gushing comments along the lines of “There’s amazing Japanese food everywhere you look!” with a grain of salt. My wife likes to pick restaurants more-or-less at random, and we found about as much mediocre restaurant food in Japan vs. Toronto. So doing at least a minimal amount of planning for your meals should pay off.
Random thoughts…
A rail pass may or may not be worth it, depending on how many side stops you want to make.
Speaking of public transit, download offline Google Maps of all the areas you’ll want to go to. Sometimes it can help you figure out which buses to take, too. In some areas, cabs are not easy to call without a local app and account, and ubers can be far and few in between, so knowing how to uses buses & rails/trams is really helpful.
The 7-11s are full of amazing food and worth a quick stop to check out on a more casual day — lots of picnic options. Walking and eating can be considered rude, but tourists often get a pass. Better just to bring it and sit somewhere to eat, though.
If you’re going to Hiroshima, the small island of Miyajima is a nice retreat from the urban hustle, with some beautiful shrines and a small, pretty mountain that you can either hike up or take a cable car to the top of.
In Kyoto, the Philosopher’s Path can be quite pretty, though ChatGPT probably mentioned that already. There’s a temple along the way. (There are temples everywhere)
Unless you really like shrines, you might want to have a daily or weekly “shrine budget” and visit only the top few… we got exhausted after 3 or 4.
My recommendation is to spend as much time in Kyoto as you possibly can, possibly cutting time out of Osaka (which is mostly commercial, although I think you can find good food there as well). There are so many temples and shrines (Buddhist and Shinto, respectively), with beautiful architecture. If you can get one full day in Kyoto, you can probably see enough of these to last you for a while, but I would plan my day carefully. Here are some of the best-known and most worth seeing: Kiyomizudera temple (on a hill, involves climbing steps); Kinkakuji (the golden temple) and Ginkakuji (the much more humble “silver” temple); Byodo-in temple (beautiful viewed across the water); Heian-Jingu shrine; the old Imperial Palace, and the Nijo castle. You should see at least one old (or more likely re-built) castle while you’re there.
A day trip to Nara is also worth it to see the Dai-Butsu (large Buddha statue) in the Todaiji temple.
A good day trip from Tokyo is the 12th-century military (Shogun) capital of Kamakura (south of Tokyo on Sagama Bay). Lots of historical architecture. It’s perfect for walking around and stopping for lunch. Here there is another large Buddha statue, this time outdoors.
Hakone is a lake area with good views of nearby Mt. Fuji, but I find the appeal limited for the time it takes to get there, plus being very touristy in my view.
Do you have plans for how you’re going to navigate in order to get around? I have a friend who did this a few years ago and didn’t speak or read any Japanese, and she did it with apps on her phone; I’m not sure how she set it up to not get roaming charges and to be in English, but I’m sure there are ways.
Good stuff on this thread, including some practicalities. Rail pass unlikely to be worth it. OTOH get data from your phone via Airalo (assuming your phone is unlocked and accepts eSims). If you have a phone that only takes physical sims, go to a camera store. Also use Google Translate, though in the bigger cities you won’t have as much trouble with the language barriers.
Hiroshima was great, better peace park than Nagasaki, very moving. Try okonomiyaki there for a foodie experience. Japanese pasta is also good in Tokyo and elsewhere.
Of the convenience stores, 7-11 is the best only because it’s where you can get cash with your ATM card, no problem.
The Suica card/app can be used to pay for transit within cities and some convenience store purchases as well. If you load it onto your smartphone, it’s really convenient.
I was going to suggest the Buddha statue at Kita Kamakura. A lot of the shrines and temples are worth seeing. I remember the “marriage temple” was really pretty during cherry blossom time. Also, if you don’t want Japanese food, they are masters at imitating western dishes. We found plenty of those in Tokyo. I don’t know if you can still climb Mt. Fuji. My wife did that decades ago and still has her climbing stick from there.
If you’re going to Hiroshima, then it’s easy to stop off the train in Himeji, on the way from Osaka. It has one of the few castles that has survived intact.
And while you’re in Himeji, also see the Engyo-ji Temple.* It’s a 1,000+ year old Buddhist Temple on Mt. Shohazan, with a spectacular view of both the building and the countryside.
*The temple was one of the settings in the movie The Last Samurai
I’ve been to Japan several times. I don’t speak a word of Japanese, and I still had no problem getting around on the trains and in public transportation. What I found is that virtually every sign that a tourist would need to understand in order to get around is bilingual. For anything else Google translate via the camera worked great.
I have not been to Japan but a close friend has been dozens of times (work sends him there a lot and he speaks the language).
He told me only do sushi in Tokyo. Not in Osaka/Kyoto. It’s not a specialty in Osaka/Kyoto.
Going from Tokyo to Osaka (or vice versa) take the bullet train. Way more fun than flying or driving.
His favorite place is Kyoto but says there are loads of stairs to climb. If stairs are a problem for you then not great. If in Osaka/Kyoto area visit Nara (deer walking around and used to people).
Most of my time in Japan was spent in Yokosuka, but two places I really liked were the Great Buddha at Kotoku-In (Monastery), Kamakura, (about 27 miles south ofTokyo) and Odawara-Jo (Castle). in Odawara (about 25 miles west of Kamakura. If you’re interested in history and architecture I definitely recommend visiting one of the restored/reconstructed castles – there are bigger ones, but Odawara is the only one I’m familiar with.
Another thing I really liked about Japan is the drinks vending machines. Red ones have hot drinks (tea and coffee – very welcome on a winter day), blue ones have cold drinks (sodas and juices), and there are even some machines (which I really wish would catch on around here) that are divided into a blue half and a red half. And then there are the vending machines with beer and stronger drinks…
Note: The last time I visited Japan was in the summer of 1988. I’m sure there have been many, many changes since then.
If you’re interested in history, I’d recommend Nikko rather than Hakone. I liked Hakone well enough, but Nikko was very impressive with its mix of temples, shrines, mountains, hot springs and wild monkeys.
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Seconding/thirding the recommendation to visit the Great Buddha in Kamakura. You can even go inside the Buddha; I was there on a hot August day and it was a bit like being in a giant teakettle.
Tokyo and Kyoto can still be hot and humid in September (I just checked the current temperature in Tokyo and it’s 84 degrees) but there are vending machines everywhere with many varieties of cold drinks, and I acquired a taste for their rehydration drinks, Pocari Sweat and Aquarius. You might want to bring a little battery operated fan.
If you want free tours from locals, look at this list. I don’t remember exactly which of the services we used, but probably the Good Samaritan club in Kyoto because we had a very helpful Kyoto University student to show us around. We paid for her lunch and bus tickets, but it was well worth it.
Lawson is another convenience store, just as good as 7-11 (except that it doesn’t have ATMs). Both of them have a big range of affordable ready-to-eat snacks and meals.
It’s too late to edit my post above, but it looks like Lawson now offers ATMs Welcome to Japan｜ローソン公式サイト
And an article about services offered at the convenience store AKA konbini
If you go to Nara and decide to feed the deer, do not dawdle: they can be very aggressive if they don’t think you’re feeding them quickly enough. I got kicked in the ‘nads by a deer who wanted more, and right now!
Hard disagree from me on that. My favorite sushi place in Japan is a conveyer belt joint under Kyoto station. Maybe he’s talking about five star, $400 a person omakase.
I have just returned from Japan, and most of what i would recommend has already been said.
If you have an iphone you can load an app to pay for subways, etc. The Japanese Androids have implemented whatever is needed to do that, but American ones haven’t, so if you don’t have an iPhone, i recommend buying a suica card, which you can do walking from the Narita airport to the train station. It’s very convenient, just tap it as you enter and leave the subway, and recharge it from time to time as needed. The machines to recharge it have an option to give instructions in English. (If you want to take the skyliner from Narita to Tokyo, you need to buy a separate ticket, and can’t use the suica card. On the other hand, if you didn’t know that, and our to much money on the suica card, many stores selling souvenirs will accept payment via that card. Guess how i know.)
There’s far more English on signage than on my previous trips to Japan. I found navigation pretty easy. Google translate was great for menus and reading signs in shrines and stuff, though.
If you are in Tokyo and like museums, i recommend the Tokyo national museum, near Ueno Park. I spent about two hours on a leisurely stroll through the main building, and would have been happy if I’d had more time to explore the building with archeology exhibits.
I’d like to second recommendations of:
I liked the Hasedera shrine in Kamakura more than the giant Buddha, but the giant Buddha is definitely worth the visit. There’s also good food and food tourist shopping in Kamakura. You can get there by public transit, but you do need to pay attention to the signage in train stations, i had to change trains a few times, and at least one time there were a few trains using the same tracks, and i had to wait for the correct one. (But if you wait, the sign shows English info.)
And also second a trip to Himeji:
I didn’t get to Himeji this time, but i think you can do it as a day trip from Kyoto. Well worth it. Really stunning.
I used both 7/11 and Lawson cash machines. Many ATMs don’t recognize my card, which is on one of the big networks but issued by a small bank. But the machines at 7/11 and Lawson reliably discharged cash.
Japan is not as much of a cash culture as it used to be. I was able to pay all my hotel bills with a credit card, for instance. But smaller places may still want cash.
While i agree that there’s mediocre food available, i think the general quality of food in Japan is higher than in the US. I ate very well with little effort. But if you want to expend effort to avoid duds, i had good luck with TripAdvisor, and a friend who cares about these things recommended tabelog for reviews, which is a Japanese review site. They are harsh graders, a 3.5/5 is actually good. (I also cheated, and had a few meals with local friends. Those were uniformly fabulous, for about 2500¥ per person.)
On a prior trip, a Japanese friend hooked me up with a club that gave free tours around Kyoto to tourists. They wouldn’t even let me pay for their admission and meals. I don’t remember the name of the group, but they were super, and they also took me to terrific restaurants i would never have found on my own (usually cheap and tucked into the 3rd floor of some big building) as well as quirky things like a shop selling antique swords and a kimono fashion show.
When i bought food in my own, i tended to be boring and get sushi and udon. There’s lots more kinds of food and you should definitely check them out. This time, i bought fried octopus balls from a chain store (Gindaco) and they were delicious, tasting mostly like fried and ginger and brown sauce and bonito flakes. Sort of like buying savory donut holes. (And just like donut holes are a little too sweet, these were a little too salty. Also, very filling, I’d intended the purchase to be a snack, but it was dinner.)
Consider staying in a Japanese style hotel. The layout is incredibly practical. You sleep on a futon, on a floor of tatami mats. The tatami mats smell nice. And in the morning, you fold up the futon and shove it against the wall, where it functions like a bean bag chair, leaving a lot of space for hanging around the room. There’s a separate area with a hard floor for your luggage. It just feels so much less cramped than the Western-style hotel rooms in the same price range. And if you can book one with a public bath, all the better. Japanese baths are fabulous. You shower carefully before you enter the pool, which is deep enough to comfortably lounge with your butt on the ground and only your head above the water. But be aware that most of them ban tattoos. And you need to be okay being nude with strangers. The water temp will be between 40° and 42° Celsius. You also shower when you leave the pool. It’s about soaking, not about getting clean, they use showers for getting clean.
If your hotel room has a tub, that’s nice, too. They have wonderful deep tubs. Some are short, and you are expected to bend your legs, but they are very deep, and again, everything is submerged to your neck in hot water.
Thanks for the advice everyone, I’ve also looked at the older thread from May that @pezworld pointed out.
We will be travelling with friends that are much less travelled than us (Vegas/Caribbean all inclusive types). We are all in our 50s, so moderate physical activity but no mountain hikes are planned.
Since we are all iPhone users, Suica cards can be easily added to the Apple Wallet. My understanding is that the national JR passes are usually not worth it, but once we finalize our itinerary I’ll use the calculator to figure it out.
I think the biggest challenge is that my wife is lacto-ovo vegetarian and one of our friend’s has a lot of food limitations including gluten and meat but does eat fish.
That shouldn’t be to hard. Maybe find someone who can write out the dietary restrictions in Japanese so you can show them to restaurant staff. But there’s a lot more fish than meat in the diet. It’s pretty easy to get eggs. Milk products seen to be in vogue, but honestly, there are better places to eat cheese. (I looked their yogurt and their soft-serve ice cream, though.) And there’s usually a dish based on rice, so i think avoiding gluten shouldn’t be too bad.