My itinerary was a pretty standard Kyoto/Tokyo trip so I thought I’d share something different: the logistics for traveling through Japan that I would have liked to know ahead of time. I’d consider myself an intermediate traveler, but I can get pretty anxious and I like to know as much as I can about how to actually do/get to what I want to see in order to reduce micro decisions on the trip. Hopefully this write up helps other anxious planners like me!
I’m going to focus on a bit of what we did to prepare, how we traveled from major city to major city, general travel advice, and what we did in a day and how busy that day felt.
Disclaimer: This is what we did and the decisions we made. This is by no means the only way or even the best way to go about traveling through Japan, but it is a way that worked for us.
We are an American couple in our late 20s/early 30s. We’ve traveled abroad before but I wouldn’t call us world travelers or anything. We are very comfortable/familiar with public transportation. This information was valid for a trip at the end of March 2024.
**Before the trip:**
* Learned some travel phrases
* My biggest uses were excuse me (sumimasen), thank you (arigatou gozaimasu), please (typically onegaishimasu), and two people (futari desu). But I was also prepared with do you speak English? (eigo wa hanasemasu ka)
* You can also watch role plays of convenience store and restaurant interactions on Instagram and Youtube which are super helpful, especially if they give keywords to listen for
* Decided on passes
* JR Pass – we did not get. I didn’t even expense it out, with the increase in price everyone was saying it was not worth, and traveling around the Kansai region I saw non-JR trains that were more convenient
* With our trip to Kinosaki Onsen it probably would have been worth it to get the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass, but ultimately decided not to solely because we didn’t want to worry about picking it up and using it
* Decided on data
* eSIM/SIM
* Pros: don’t need to worry about an extra item to carry/charge, do not need to pick up and return, the eSIM can be set up before traveling
* Cons: evidently there can be some broadband/coverage issues with foreign phones, cannot use wifi calling or text (eSIM)
* Portable wifi
* Pros: better coverage, potentially faster, can do wifi calls, multiple people can connect
* Cons: extra piece to charge/carry, cannot wander to far from each other or separate, have to pick up and return
* For two people the prices were about the same for the trip, but you get more data overall with the portable wifi
* We decided on the SIM cards for convenience, and because we are staying in the large tourist areas so we weren’t too worried about coverage. I used an Ubigi eSIM and my partner picked up a physical SIM from Narita
* Packed efficiently!
* We each had travel backpacks as our carryon which we packed two days of clothes in
* We then packed 5 days into a carryon suitcase (resulting in 7 days of clothes for a two week trip with the intent to do laundry). I put that carryon into a trash bag then packed it into a large suitcase with extra shoes and two cloth overnight duffle bags
* We ended up not needing the duffle bags
* This reduced the number of bags we were shipping for the first half of our trip, but gave us a whole extra suitcase for souvenirs! We did have 2 checked bags per person for our flight, so keep that in mind
* A tip for getting tickets ahead of time: they queue! I missed Ghibli Museum tickets because I didn’t realize they start queuing an hour before release… I only got on 15 mins early
**General Info for Travel**
Buses (Kyoto)
* You get on through a door in the back of the bus. When you leave make your way to the front, pay by the driver, and leave through the front door
* The buses take IC card, but if paying by cash you do need exact fare. There is a change machine by the bus driver
* When looking for a bus stop, Google maps should give you a stop letter. You can double check the letter is on the stop and this should let you know you are getting the bus in the right direction
* Multiple buses will stop at the same stop. Verify the number on the top of the bus is the number bus you should be taking. Some of the stops also have a little sign showing what bus was approaching the stop or was pulling up. It was helpful!
* There is a screen on the bus showing the next stop as well as an announcement. The screen would always show the romanji of the bus stop, and the announcement was often made in English as well (at least for the major tourist spots)
* When your stop comes up on the screen, you have to push the buttons littered along the side of the bus to indicate you want to get off
* The buses can get busy, but otherwise I had no issues with them!
Subway
* Similar to the buses signs/announcements are also in English
* Personally I used Google Maps as more of a guide, rather than actually following its walking directions. Particularly it is helpful with determining which station entrance/exit to take, which lines you need to take, and what stops you need to transfer at, but for actual navigation through the station I found following the station signs the easiest
* Sometimes the signs will not write out the whole name of the line you are looking for, especially if it is a larger station. Look on the far left of your Google Maps directions and it should give you a line abbreviation and a color. You should be able to find these on a sign
* For example, the Yamanote line may also be depicted on signs as JY with a lime green border, or you may see a lime green line on the ground
* If between the signs and Google Maps you are still having trouble, completely exit the station and load up Google Maps again to take you to the appropriate entrance, where you \*should\* now see signs for your line
* Google Maps will often give you a platform number and will tell you which train you are taking (e.g., Yamanote line for Shibuya/Shinagawa Platform 14). Double check your train before getting on. Make sure the destination on the train (e.g., local to Shibuya/Shinagawa) matches what is on your phone. In Tokyo the platform was always correct, but in some of the surrounding areas the train may arrive on the opposite side
* Another way to make sure the train is going the right direction for the platform you are on (at least in Tokyo) is to check the next stop number. If underground there should be a sign on the wall directly across from you indicating the name of the current station and the stop number. Underneath will be the next stop with its stop number. You can (1) expand out the stops on your Google Maps and verify the name of the next stop or (2) check whether the stop numbers are going up or down in comparison with your stop
* e.g. for (2), if you are currently at stop 21, the sign says the next stop is 20, and your stop is 11 you are taking the correct train! If your stop is 25 you’ll want to turn around and take the train behind you
* If you get on a train going the wrong way do not fret! You can simply get off at the next stop and cross to the other side of the platform to get the next train going the other direction
* There are different types of trains, such as the local, express, rapid express, limited express, etc. Anything other than the local will skip stops. Double check with Google Maps which one you need to take
* Be aware that some limited expresses require extra tickets on top of the base fare
* When charging your IC card you need to do it in cash
* Signs are in English! We had no trouble navigating the stations
In general the transportation system reminded me a lot of Washington D.C. Taking public transportation was very easy. I only went into so much detail because I saw many people having trouble at the stations, and I know many people who have never taken public transport before. Do not be intimidated, after the first couple trips you will have it down pat!
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**Itinerary**
In general we would be out of the hotel by 8 and back after dinner (typically sometime between 7-9)
**Day 1: Flight/at the airport (Narita)/Tokyo**
* Getting through immigration took about an hour I’d say. We filled out our forms ahead of time and had the QR code but paper forms and QR codes went in the same line so it didn’t save too much time
* Note: you need to fill out and get a QR code for each person. You can do it on the same account, you can just toggle the name at the bottom to change the code
* Dropped off luggage with Yamato (yellow with black cat logo) to ship to Kyoto
* In Narita this was located on the first floor on the side opposite the info center
* You will need your hotel’s address and phone number
* Pick up money
* There were ATMs near the info center
* Interestingly, this is the only time a 7/11 ATM worked for us
* Picked up the Pasmo Passport (tourist specific IC card – valid for 30 days)
* Located at the Skyliner and Keisei Information Center on the same floor as the trains
* Line was very long
* Before going anywhere you’ll need to load it up with cash
* We stayed near Tokyo Station for the night so we took the Keisei Skyaccess
**Day 2: Travel to Kyoto**
* We woke up early (jetlag) and took the Shinkansen to Kyoto
* We bought tickets at the station with no issue, the terminals were easy to use and had an option to change the language to English
* Make sure you buy the ticket with base fare! It is just easier that way
* We chose unreserved and did not have an issue (this was around 6am)
* We were able to use our credit card to buy Shinkansen and limited express tickets
* To get into the station you’ll put your ticket into a slot under the IC card pad (do not use your IC card if you bought base fare) and it will pop out on the other side. Do the same thing when you exit, although you will not get your ticket back 🙁
* Kinkakuji/Ryoanji/Ninnaji/Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
* We took a bus to Kinkakuji and walked to the other shrines
* We had no issue fitting all this into a day, we did not feel rushed
**Day 3: Kyoto**
* Ginkakuji/Philosopher’s Path/Eikando/Nanzenji Temple/Keage Incline/Heian Shrine/Chion-in/Yasaka Shrine/Kodaiji Temple/Higashiyama Streets
* This was A LOT of walking
* Aside from our feet hurting we did feel like we hit everything we wanted to. The only place we felt rushed in was Chion-in but that was a last minute addition anyway so that was fine. Also by the time we got to Higashiyama (around 5pm) it felt like a bunch of shops were closed
**Day 4: Kyoto/Nara**
* Fushimi Inari/Nara Park/Todaiji Temple/Nigatsudo Hall/Kasuga Taisha
* We got to Fushimi Inari around 7:30 and it was already pretty busy at the base but not awful once you went up a bit. It was very busy by the time we made it back down
* We got into Nara around noon and aside from our feet still killing us from the day before we felt like we had adequate time for each place
**Day 5: Kyoto**
* Kokedera/Monkey Park/Tenryuji/Bamboo grove
* Plenty of time to do all of this. This day ended pretty early (3ish), we probably could have fit more in like the Scenic Railway
**Day 6: Kyoto/Osaka**
* Kyoto Imperial Palace/Sumiyoshi Taisha/Dotonbori
* We felt we had adequate time to do all this. If our feet didn’t hurt and it wasn’t raining we probably would have walked around Osaka longer
* We shipped our bags to Tokyo
* Even easier than the first time, we took our stuff to the front desk and they filled out everything for us!
* Had a slight issue on this day that I under-packed a bit… But we had brought laundry sheets so we were able to do a quick wash in the sink of what we needed.
**Day 7: Himeji/Kinosaki Onsen**
* Got into Himeji around 10 and took the 1:25 Hamakaze Limited Express Train out
* We bought our ticket for the Hamakaze at the station prior to heading to the castle so we wouldn’t need to bake in that time at the end
* We had enough time to tour the grounds and the castle, but did not have enough time to do the garden
* Little lesson in coin lockers here… we put our backpacks in the first set of lockers we saw which was BEFORE exiting the gate. Turns out our next train doesn’t leave from the same set of platforms… seems like it happens enough though that the station attendant let my husband run back in and grab the bags after showing the locker key and ticket for a different train
* We walked through town on our way to the ryokan but other than that didn’t do much in Kinoaski Onsen
**Day 8: Kinosaki Onsen**
* Hiked to Onsenji Temple then the summit, explored town
* Plenty of time for all of this, it was intentionally a light day
**Day 9: Travel to Tokyo**
* Took the Limited Express Kinosaki to Kyoto then the Shinkansen to Tokyo
* When working with the limited express trains that do not run frequently I found it easier to plan our route using the [JR route finder](https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/timetable/) rather than Google Maps
* Another plug for making sure you buy base fare with your tickets: at Kyoto Station we did not leave the gate for the transfer so we thought we did not need to buy the base fare, even though the ticket machines offered it. Turns out we did need it and the attendant said we couldn’t use our IC card. Had to go to the manned window to buy a base fare then used the tickets together to get through
* We bought unreserved again and had to stand for a bit, but were able to get seats at the next stop
* We did laundry at our Tokyo hotel
* Bins were pretty small and the later the night goes on the busier it gets
* It was 2 hours wash + dry, no detergent needed. You could pay with 100 Yen coins or IC card. Our machines cost 500 Yen per run
**Day 10: Tokyo**
* Meiji Shrine/Harajuku/Shibuya/Shinjuku
* The day was full but we saw all we wanted to see
* I would like to emphasize that we are not big shoppers, which is probably why we were able to do all this in one day
* We wanted to do Shibuya Sky but the tickets were sold out 🙁 the Metropolitan Government Building was also closed
**Day 11: Tokyo**
* Tsukiji Outer Market/Akihabara/Ginza
* I also felt like this day was doable but probably largely because we do not care for shopping. We spent most of our time in Akihabara with a bit of browsing in Ginza trying to spend our time until dinner
**Day 12: Tokyo**
* Tokyo National Museum/Kappabashi Street/Sensoji
* We could have easily spent the day in the Tokyo National Museum, there was a lot to see!
* Because of the way we came we approached Sensoji from the side, so didn’t get to the shops until after the temple and they started to close (around 5) but other than that (and the pouring rain we dealt with) the day was good and doable!
**Day 13: Hakone**
* Torii Gate and shrine/Owakudani
* This day was pretty busy for the amount of stuff we did. It also didn’t help that it was the only semi sunny day the entire week, so everyone did their day trip
* We bought our day passes from a ticket machine at the Odakyu line. It was easy, just like buying a train ticket. Just make sure you are at the machine labeled for passes
* Romance Car was sold out, so we ended up taking the Odakyu Express to Odwara, then a bus to Moto-Hakone. This worked in our favor as the bus was filled up at Odwara and did not pick anyone up at Hakone-Yumoto
* I forget the exact time we took the train, but it was sometime between 7:30 and 8
* The line for a picture at the torii gate was deceptively long. We thought it would be done quick, but then an hour and a half and several discussions of the sunk cost fallacy later we had a photo with terrible lighting. Do not underestimate influencers
* Also do not underestimate the queues… we had hoped to do the Open Air Museum but felt lucky when we got to Odwara with enough time before the ropeway closed. We left Hakone from Odwara around 6
* We shipped our luggage to the airport
**Day 14: Mount Takao**
* Aside from the hike itself being steep in the beginning it was a pretty chill day. We chose to walk more across the summits, but if you were to go up and back, especially if you use the cable car, you could definitely pair this up with something in the afternoon
**Day 15: Skytree/Leaving**
* Our flight was in the afternoon so we opted to do the Skytree in the morning of what was supposed to be a clear day
* It took us an hour to get to the observation floor and another half hour to get back to the exit floor. If our flight hadn’t been delayed this would have stressed me out a bit
* I think this is longer than usual though, they said there were some delays with the elevators because of the winds
* We took the Skyaccess directly from Skytree to Narita. Departures is a couple floors up, I think it was floor 4? They have maps and signs that will tell you
* Picking up luggage was easy, just showed my confirmation number to the attendant. This was not Yamato though, our hotel recommended Airporter
* The confirmation email for Airporter showed me exactly where to pick it up which was super helpful
* Flight check in was easy at a kiosk and security moved quickly
* Lots of tax free shopping after the security gate!
In general most service workers spoke at least enough English for us to make the necessary transactions. It took a couple days for me to feel fully comfortable but you’ll get there. I had a fantastic time and I hope you will too! I hope this write up helps you plan and takes away some of the stress of the unknown!
by wolfpaw68