These are 5 common mistakes I am seeing on this sub. Note that I will have some North America bias here.
- Over-indexing on trains / not considering flying
I get it, you want to ride the Shinkansen. The reality is that flying is often cheaper AND faster, especially if you book early. For example, if I want to go from Tokyo to Osaka on November 11 (a random day I picked), a one-way flight can be as low as 35 USD and 100 minutes, whereas the train is about 100 USD and 140 minutes. You want to go to Kumamoto because you like One Piece? Flying can be as low as 43 USD and 2 hours 15 minutes, whereas the train is a whopping 191 USD and 5 hours 50 minutes.
Now, I get it: flying also has some drawbacks (cost from and to the airport, security check, delays, LUGGAGE WEIGHT, etc.), but it should be an option you at least consider when you plan your intercity travel. For longer distances (e.g. Tokyo to Kyushu/Hokkaido), flying should be your PRIMARY consideration since the train is almost never worth it for that kind of distance.
- Getting Yen in your home country.
You should be withdrawing cash from ATMs using your debit card in Japan, especially if you use a fairly standard bank in North America (I can't speak for other countries).
One thing I see too often in this sub is getting cash well before departure, typically with the expectation that Yen will become more expensive in the future. The reality, however, is that no one can accurately predict the future exchange rate of any two currencies – if you can, let me know because I would also like to become a billionaire. In reality, you can't predict the future, nor can you predict whether or not your trip in 3 months would get canceled due to other unforeseeable events. You don't want to be stuck with tons of Yen in your home country.
- Over-indexing on Kyoto
Kyoto is the cultural capital of Japan and it's highly recommended that you visit. But it's also extremely crowded. While I am not telling you to not go there at all, you should at least ask yourself what is so unique about Kyoto that you absolutely have to go there. After all, temples, shrines, and castles are everywhere in Japan, and you may have a higher chance of being able to enjoy yourself if you go to a less visited one instead of an elbow to elbow experience in front of a golden temple that you can only see from afar.
- Worrying about language barriers
Here's the reality (for well-traveled places). For hotels, typically there will be someone who can speak English. For restaurants, pointing will often suffice. Public transportation, attractions, etc. will typically have English, and often Chinese and Korean as well. In the worst case scenario, use Google Translate.
To save data / bad signal situations, pre-download the Japanese language pack.
- Starting from Tokyo
Most North American tourists land in Tokyo and depart from Tokyo, and they make Tokyo their first stop. The better thing to do – if possible, is go to Osaka first (especially if you have direct flights to Osaka) and work your way back to Tokyo (e.g. Osaka -> Kyoto -> Hakone -> Tokyo).
One obvious reason here is to avoid backtracking back to Tokyo, which as previously mentioned can be expensive (an extra 100 USD from Osaka back to Tokyo by train). Another consideration is shopping; Tokyo is arguably the best for shopping due to its size and scope, you want to save it for last so you can travel light.
Bonus suggestion: use https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Japan . It has all the information you will ever need for traveling to Japan (and elsewhere).
by Sufficiency2