Tips: Vacation to Japan

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am throwing around the idea of taking my daughter to Japan for a vacation next year. We want to have the kids see some of the world outside Instagram and school, and my kid likes things anime and Japanese, so why not?

Some relevant details:

  • Won’t happen until spring 2020
  • Child will be 14 at the time
  • We live in Toronto, so will be flying from here
  • Likely length of trip is 10 days, including time spent flying
  • Need to keep things reasonably affordable
  • We have never been there
  • I know maybe five words of Japanese
  • Totally realize you cannot see everything in Japan, or even a tenth of it, in a week

So what to do? What to consider? What to see?

2

Your biggest challenge will be this:

  • “Need to keep things reasonably affordable”

You could spend the entire time in Tokyo & not run out of things to do, plus most people in the big cities speak English. A few of my favorite things in Tokyo were watching Sumo Wrestlers practice & checking out the Tsukiji Fish Market–the largest fish market in the world, but doesn’t smell at all. There are also Owl Cafes (and other animal cafes) where you can pet exotic animals & get good pictures. Also in Spring, the cherry trees will be blossoming, which is amazingly beautiful.

3

There are a lot of shrines worth seeing, especially if you’re there during cherry blossom time. Kamakura is on the train line between Tokyo and Yokosuka and features the Great Buddha. There are three shrines within hiking distance at the Kita-Kamakura train stop.

My son always raves about Kyoto, though I’ve never been. Then there’s Mt. Fuji. You can hike to the top, if you’re physically up to it.

Tokyo can be ruinously expensive, but it looks like you can get a hotel room for a reasonable amount.

4

If I were there, I’d want to spend a lot of time in the rural areas–I wish that I could do the whole Shikoku Pilgrimage (you could try for a few of those, at least.) Nara would be nice for the history and your daughter would like the deer.

5

That has been moved.

6

One way to save money would be to stay near one area the whole time. Sounds bad for a vacation, I know, but inter-city travel can eat up a lot of money and there is SO much new and interesting to see without hopping all over the place.

Although taking the Shinkansen is an event in itself, but it’s expensive.

Also, don’t blow your nose in public even though young girls in frilly costumes will be handing out packets of Kleenex on the street, don’t use them. It’s considered rude.

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Kyoto
Really that’s all you need to know

8

You mentioned Spring. Avoid (like the plague) the first two weeks of May, starting maybe April 29 or 30. They call it Golden Week because there are several holidays one right after the other, and everyone takes the time off and travels back to their original home town to see their families. Every train out of town is full to bursting, and nothing is fun.

Having said that, the first couple of weeks in April should be perfect for cherry blossom viewing. The last time I was there I got kind of tired of them, they’re everywhere, but if you haven’t seen them before you’ll be fine. Weather will be a bit cool, between 15 and 20 C, but nice for walking around.

I really recommend Kyoto, especially during cherry blossom season. My three favorite temples are Byodo-in (serenity and symmetry), Kyo-mizu-dera (up on the hill, great views, majestic) and Ryoan-ji, the zen temple with the famous rock garden. Also by all means see the Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. This can all be done in one ambitious or two leisurely days. Also, going to Kyoto from Tokyo will give you a chance to ride a bullet train (Shinkansen, not cheap, but a very Japanese thing to do). If you’re doing two days you can also go to Nara and see the Great Buddha (Dai-Butsu) in Todai-ji temple, and the tame deer in the park – you can feed them.

If you and your daughter are comfortable with such things (i.e. being naked among other people of the same sex, of varying ages) try an onsen. You could stop at Odawara on the way to Kyoto and find one there. You don’t have to stay overnight to have the bathing experience. Read up on bathing etiquette before you go so you know the ropes. No soap in the soaking pool!

If you don’t want to take the time for the previous two paragraphs, you can take a day trip to Kamakura, an historic military capital, a couple of hours south of Tokyo. They also have a Great Buddha (not as big) that is outside, tons of temples and atmosphere, and you can probably find an onsen there as well.

Note that Japan is making great efforts to make foreigners more comfortable, due to the 2020 Summer Olympics. You should get a lot of the benefit from that.

Good luck and have fun.

9

I’ve been once, and spent time in Tokyo and Kyoto with a day trip to Himeji from Kyoto. The trip to Himeji was the most memorable part of the trip. We went to Himeji castle which is one of the few remaining castles in Japan from the days of the shogunate. You can tour the whole castle and the grounds, unlike the palace in Kyoto which has many areas that are off limits to the general public. If you have the opportunity I highly recommend visiting Himeji and touring the castle.

10

Wow that’s depressing as hell. I’ve been to Japan many times over the past several decades & the Tsukiji Fish Market was always on the itinerary. Truly a one-of-a-kind place.

11

I didn’t find anything in Japan to be exorbitantly expensive compared to Toronto. I guess we noticed that meat portions are somewhat smaller in meals, but that wasn’t a big deal.

We got a Japan rail pass (for visitors), spent a few days in Tokyo, took the shinkansen to Kyoto/Osaka (with a side trip to Nara), hung around there for a few days, then back to Tokyo (and Nikko) for a bit before returning to Toronto. We didn’t have any trouble getting around, although we occasionally encountered store employees that didn’t speak (much) English.

My one tip: bring a handkerchief or face cloth around with you – some washrooms don’t provide anything to dry your hands with (no paper towels, no hot air hand dryer).

12

I’ve been to Japan twice, and I also didn’t find it exorbitant. It’s not a cheap place to travel, but it’s expensive like visiting Chicago, not something crazy.

I’m told that if you want to eat a hamburger and a coke, it can be pricy, but if you are happy to eat ordinary Japanese food, the cost is similar to eating ordinary American food in America. I drank a lot of tea and ate a lot of udon, and “stuff on sticks” that I bought on the street.

It’s also quite navigable without knowing the language. Japanese in the tourist industry (and many random Japanese on the street) are happy to help you. And these days, Google translate can do wonders.

Make sure to spend some time in Kyoto. Walk around, see gardens, shrines, temples… go shopping, eat the food, take the buses to get around (you can buy a bus pass at any 7/11, and for the price of 3 rides, you can ride all day). Have lots of fun.

13

I went to Japan a couple years ago. It was not as expensive as reputed.

I got a cheap flight in January. There is excellent skiing in the countryside, about a 2 hour bullet train ride from Tokyo. Spring may be too late to ski.

A few days of that, then a few days in Kyoto. The temples there are truly marvellous and this was a highlight of my trip. Expect to hike for miles and miles.

Then a few days in Tokyo. Some nice museums, a pretty zoo, great sushi chain restaurants (eat as much fatty tuna as possible at SushiZanmai and be spoiled forever). My favourite nightspot was a bunch of very cool, very tiny themed bars and restaurants in an area called “Golden Gai” but your daughter would probably prefer shopping in Shinjuku or the surprisingly good French cafes and pastry shops.

14

  1. You can eat fairly cheaply and very well if you eat Japanese food. Look for 100-yen bakeries (good for having light meals while out for the day). Convenience store food —sandwiches and the like — can be quite tasty, although I found grocery stores to be better for on-the-go food. Try/have the kid try different kinds of Japanese food before you go so you know what you like — including shopping at a Japanese grocery if you can. Cause Western food there is probably going to be weirdly Japanized and/or crazy pricy.

  2. Before you go, learn a lot. (As you are doing already — smart!) One easy source for me was the NHK World TV network. Shows on travel to give you ideas on places to go, and on culture (including language and food). It’s on my basic cable package — they also have a Roku channel and phone apps and I’m sure you can stream them other ways. Oh, and they may be over the air depending where you live.

  3. have some kind of internet connectivity to help with navigation and translation. I rented pocket WiFi and brought my smartphone to connect to it. Practice navigating your mapping/GPS program using Japanese addresses.

  4. Maybe focus on one city this trip? 10 days is not a ton, and changing hotels means time/logistics/expense. Maybe Tokyo? Good for a younger fan of Japanese culture? I loved Kyoto but I’m into nature and temples and stuff. Consider tickets to the Ghibli Museum if she likes Totoro etc. Have to be reserved in advance. You can day-trip from Tokyo to all kinds of cool places. And Tokyo itself is giant and amazing.

  5. if anybody wears glasses, you might check out JINS — it’s a chain. Glasses and lenses and oh yeah a free eye exam for $60-100 (depending on the frames). Like a really nice version of LensCrafters. Generally, I really enjoyed visiting stores and shopping centers in Japan and finding stuff they don’t have here, not necessarily BUYING stuff. Consumer culture is culture too, and Japan’s is so different from ours. (I was surprised how many high-quality consumer goods were so cheaply priced there, though. So shopping doesn’t have to be expensive.)

15

There are a number of language exchange sites where you can meet people who want to learn another language. In your case, you can search for Japanese people who are studying English.

They would love to talk forever about places to visit, how to get around, what hotels are good, etc., etc.

They can also teach you some survival Japanese, although having smart phones makes that much less of a necessity.

I use a couple and can make recommendations if you PM me.

16

My suggestion, based on two visits to Japan, may be a bit unorthodox. I suggest that you fly in and out of Kansai Airport, and not one of the two Tokyo airports, and stay in a hotel in Osaka reasonably close to Osaka or Shin-Osaka railway station. As well as seeing the sights of Osaka, from there it’s short trips to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Himeji, all of which are worth a visit. That will easily fill a ten-day period. Since those cities are all close to Osaka, and can be reached by local trains rather than the Shinkansen, you would not need to get the Japan rail pass. But feel free to reject my suggestion if you really do want to see Tokyo.

17

im told if your kid likes anime and things along that line go to the akihabara.district be sure bring money ……

heres some of the wiki “Akihabara is considered by many to be an otaku cultural center and a shopping district for video games, anime, manga, and computer goods. Icons from popular anime and manga are displayed prominently on the shops in the area, and numerous maid cafés are found throughout the district.”

im told you must go at night

18

There are a number of options for more inexpensive accommodations such as weekly apartments. This is one reason I suggest looking for a language exchange, as someone in Japan can find this information quite easily.

I love Himeji castle. There’s a great museum nearby.

What sort of things are you two interested in?

19

Getting your cell phone to work in Japan is different from most places. You can’t just buy a Sim at the airport. But you can rent a phone, or a WiFi hot spot. And there’s lots of public wifi. Also, Google fi works well.

20

We both love Japanese food, so I suspect we will mostly eat that.

Great tips so far!

TokyoBayer, honestly I love everything new so I’m easy. Kiddo is a teenager, but pretty relaxed about stuff. She is a fan of anime and manga so would love to spend a little time just soaking up the feel of the place and browsing some stores. As an insane baseball fan, I will insist we attend an NPB game.