Weekly Japan Travel Information and Discussion Thread – January 12, 2024

11 comments

1. [deleted]

2. My husband and I collect Christmas ornaments from every country we visit, do you know where we’d find some in March/April please?

3. Hello. I’m planning a trip to Nagano and my arrival time at Narita is 8:10pm on a Monday of February. The last train from ueno is 10:14. I have to get on the Keisei Skyliner by 9:03 in order to reach ueno before 10:14. I will have check in baggages. Also, I have already booked a hotel in Nagano so I cannot wait for the next day.

   To frequent travelers in Tokyo, do you think less than 1 hour is enough to get to skyliner platform considering the taxiing of plane, immigration lines, baggage claim, walking distance from gate?

   edit: there are four flights that will arrive the same time as mine. but only one of them will be the same terminal as mine (terminal 2)

4. I need japanese number but im a foreigner. Trying to book a ride but apps need number. Also im trying to buy also from japan delivered to me (place we wont go and very far) so ill just get it delivered locally. But their website needs number huhu. Pls helppp

5. Can I buy Shinkansen tickets online? If so, where?

6. is traveling during golden week that bad? only the first and last days have sold out shinkansen tickets right? helping a friend out because she already bought her flight tickets lmao

7. So, part of my stay will coincide with Golden Week! This is unavoidable, and we cannot move the dates of our trip.

   We will be visiting Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo from the 17th – 1st May more or less. We had planned on exploring Northern Japan (Tohoku, undecided exactly where but maybe Yamagata) and Hokkaido for two more weeks.

   How busy do these areas get – I had thought spending it in Eastern Hokkaido would help avoid the larger crowds, but apparently this is a major domestic tourist destination then?

8. Hello all,

   I can’t quite seem to find the answer to this question, but I want to ship my luggage from Tokyo to Narita airport 2 weeks before I depart. Will this be doable?

   I am going for part business part vacation with 2 others. First week will be Tokyo for 8 days, followed by 2 more weeks of sight seeing.

   During the tokyo leg, I will have accumulated roughly 2 suitcases total (slightly larger than carry on) from the business part of the trip, as well as souvenirs and other items. I will not need these bags for remainder of our other legs of our trip.

   MY GOAL: after being done in Tokyo, would like to have these suitcases at the airport waiting for me in 2 weeks when I depart.

   Best case scenario: As I check out of hotel in Tokyo, leave luggage at front desk for yamato to pick up and deliver to Narita in 2 weeks, while we explore the rest of Japan.

   other option: Find a long term luggage storage in Tokyo close to hotel, come back after going to other cities, pick up, and bring to Narita.

   Worst case scenario: Get Yamato to luggage forward the extra bags through to other locations and just store it at the hotel. Ideally would not like this option as we will need to forward to 4 other hotels during this leg.

   Thank you!

9. Hi there I’m going 2 days to Kawaguchiko lake with my friends in March, we enjoy cycling, hiking.

   AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCHS (hi admin who keep deleting post as if I didn’t already spent time posting it), I saw some people saying that cycling around Kawaguchiko lake might not be worth it. They recommended instead Yamanakako lake and Saiko lake but they are both quite far away from Kawaguchiko lake (I don’t plan on doing a 9 hours cycling session on holiday w/o my gear).

   So I’d like to have the point of view of any people who have rented a bike to discover the surrounding area and enjoy the landscape. What would be the best area to enjoy a nice spring bike promenade ?

   beside cycling I’d also like to know if you found any hidden gems in a not so touristic area. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway seems nice but the aim of those 2 days is to take a brake from the overtouristic area and the queue, so anything that can be worth seeing even if it requires ascending 500 steps, I’m up for it !!

   thank you in advance

   and pls admin if you want to delete this post send a dm and I’ll apply modification instead of having to rewrite everything CHEERS

10. https://www.klook.com/en-US/activity/9882-kyoto-osaka-sightseeing-pass-japan/

    Anyone bought these before? I found it on a blog saying that it includes admission for certain local attractions, but from what I read on Klook website it only includes two train lines – Keihan and Otokoyama. Which is correct?

    If we mostly plan to spend two days in Kyoto for Arashiyama bamboo forest, Monkey Park, Fushimi Inari, Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, Nishiki Market, and Gion area, is the train pass even gonna be useful as you can’t use them on buses? We’re staying by Karasuma Oike.

    While I’m at it, we got a list of shrine/temple but obviously won’t have time to go to all of them, what would you recommend as must see? We’ll definitely check out Tenryuji (on the way to Bamboo forest) & Fushimi Inari.

    The rest are: Ninnaji, kinkakuji, ginkakuji, Kyoto imperial palace, kiyomizudera, nanzenji

    For reference, we do plan to go to Himeji and the surrounding park, as well as Hiroshima & miyajima the following week.

    Thanks!

11. planning to be in kawaguchiko around mid to end of feb. will there be much snow on the roads if i plan to drive from mishima to kawaguchiko? ive driven before but i have no experience in snow (being from australia) and i would rather have a car to travel around.

    thanks in advance