As I’ve been reading all these itinerary’s the one thing I see most is each day is jammed packed hour by hour schedule and I don’t see more flex time baked in for walking and overall your energy. For example going from Seya-Yokohama to Tokyo and sight seeing by train will take just about a full day before you are exhausted and want to recharge.
Consider this
15- 20 min walk to the nearest train station from your pad
15 -20 min to figure out the station – even more if you aren’t familiar with train stations (there’s not a ton of help in your language if you don’t speak Japanese)
20-40 train ride to where you are going
15 min walk out of the station (caught up in the amazement)
Finally you get out to the streets to begin walking even more for the next several hours
Your next location may be another train ride 20 min away so plan your train station time
We are doing at least 15k steps per day or more . Also when walking this much you go to the bathroom much more, more than you would think. At the same time you need to stay hydrated.
So bake in more time between your destinations to allow for this. It’s not as simple as going Point A to point B in 2 hours, more like 3 hours etc…
Use google maps to plan your travel routes before you go to understand more of the travel between times.
Tips
1) family mart, Lawson and 7-11 are great places to stop for rest room break if you are out on the street. Some may not have public rest room like in Akihabara and condensed areas. Use pachinko and the larger multi-floor shopping /anime buildings. Bathroom on every floor
2) take good shoes. Newer shoes with good padding. Avoid older shoes where the cushion is compressed. You’ll need it
3) knee brace/compression brace. Seems to work if you have any trouble with knees
4) cooler temps right now. You don’t need much as far as a coat. Like jacket. Bring a small umbrella to block out the sun or rain as needed.
5) tons of stores to buy anything you forgot. Don’t stress on bringing everything. You can buy all toiletries, hair products, etc. might save you room packing to your destination. Plus you take it back with you as a memorable item
6) take advantage of the 100 yen shops. These have high quality products for only 100 yen. Examples like Made in Japan pens, mechanical pencils, vinyl storage bags (I love these) erasers, women products (nail, makeup, beauty etc..). A lot of the same exact products sold in other stores for double/triple the price. Most train stations will have a Dasio, Can Do, 100 yen are the most common shops.
7) plan on wearing a mask at all times while indoors or at a train station. As well as out on the street in crowded locations . As most places require it.
7 comments
Toilets probably in most if not all train/subway station.
While yes you can buy toiletries is you miss something, there is no advantage to not bring your own stuff. If you want to save space in your luggage, it’s on the way back home to bring more souvenir.
channel your inner japan travel energy 🙂
But on a serious note, #2 is so so important. I brought Vans and a pair of waterproof hiking shoes to my two week trip. I’ve never had a problem with Vans for the many years I’ve worn them every day, but I really did feel the blisters coming on at around the 4th day. I had to swap to my hiking shoes in the middle since they had more padding, but those were brand new and a walmart special so they weren’t that great either.
For reference, my step counts for the two weeks I travelled around the big 3 cities: 21k, 13k, 19k, 29k, 23k, 25k, 32k, 23k, 19k, 23k, 25k, 24k, 16k, 18k.
My regular step count when not travelling: 2-3k steps
I walked just shy of 100 miles (170 km) while I was there for two weeks, so that’s probably between 14k to 15k steps per day. I wore Converse and while it works for most trips, I wouldn’t do that again. I have some comfy walking shoes I’m taking with me for my next trip.
One day I had 16 bottles of water. It was late August and the heat was incredible. I’m not really the most fit person, but I still enjoyed my time. Also, I lost 10 pounds lol.
Tip: Wear deodorant on your inner thighs if you go when it’s humid, because otherwise your thighs will get ripped to pieces.
This is a good reminder/tips for travelers. A few years ago, I did a 3 month solo trip to Asia starting in Tokyo. On my very first day I walked 35k steps in mid-August temps. I was just super excited and loved walking around Tokyo. The next morning I had extreme pain in my calf and behind my knee. I could barely walk up or down stairs. I was in decent shape, but also in my mid-30s with previous issues with muscle tightness due to prior injuries/surgery. I was super concerned that I injured myself so severely that it would jeopardize the rest of my trip. Anyways, I bought this 1000 yen compression sleeve for my knee/calf at a pharmacy because the picture showed it would relieve pain in the area I had it. Every thing else on the label was in Japanese. It saved my leg and my trip. I still wear it to this day. But yeah, pace yourself and don’t strain yourself so hard on the first day that it could impact the rest of your trip!
Just on my regular commute and errands I regularly reach 10,000 steps.
Japan vacations are great cardio
My daily step average while in japan for 2 months in april and may this year was ~20k. Most of my time was in Tokyo, and random JR Rail excursions to Kyoto etc.
for comparison my daily step count at home is like 4-5… as a programmer i am glued to my laptop
I don’t remember too well, but I think we were probably doing 15/20k every day. I stupidly prioritized having a water proof shoe instead of serious business sneakers when I went in 2018 (it was rainy season), so our feet were killing us by the end of the trip even though we walk a lot back home too. Thankfully now there’s a lot of waterproof sneakers around, so I think that I’m going with that on our next trip.