What was your biggest planning mistake when it came to visiting Japan?

14 comments

1. Not being prepared to walk…A LOT.

2. Planning too much. Japan is a modern and convenient country so you can buy anything you need there. Long-distance rail is also very English-friendly and people extremely helpful.

   Just get your rail pass, SIM card or mobile wifi plus means of payment before and you’re good!

3. Not booking for ghibli museum one month in advance

4. Not taking the SIM card at the airport. Very difficult to get one afterwards

5. Can’t speak the language

6. Oh, easily it was not bringing some kind of medicine, tylenol, gravol, stuff like that in case we got a travelers flu, which we did. The one thing we didn’t think of, and we were sick with a flu in the middle of night on the floor of Narita airport during a layover in what was one of the wildest adventures of my life. A couple days after and we thankfully felt a lot better, but that was a rocky start to the trip to say the least.

7. Trying to squeeze too much in / overloading an itinerary.

   Nothing sucks the fun out of a Japan trip more than rigidly sticking to a tight schedule and rushing from one location to another without giving yourself the time to simply enjoy the moment and absorb the atmosphere.

   Of course having a plan and key things you want to see / visit / do is great, but be mindful of travel times and how much that can exhaust you.

8. Hakone. We did not realize that where we had booked to stay was an hour from anything in any direction. The hotel was pleasant enough but overpriced and nothing to do! We felt like hostages because we were completely reliant on them for our meals and the food was mediocre at best.
   Very relieved we only spent one night there.

9. I went to Mt. Fuji (Kawaguchi-ko specifically) with basically the sole intent of seeing the mountain, and was very disappointed when the cloudy weather meant that I couldn’t. I also booked a coach so I had to stay there until 6PM. Of course, there are other things to do there, but I didn’t really plan anything else. The entire day was basically organised around the mountain itself.

   So in hindsight, I should have A) kept a better eye on the weather forecast, B) planned other activities and C) maybe gone via train (with my rail pass) so I could’ve just left when I wanted to instead of having to stick to the coach bookings.

10. I’m currently on day 5 of 7 in Tokyo. Planning mistakes so far:

    I only practiced Japanese with Duolingo and didn’t put in time to learn restaurant phrases.

    It would’ve saved me a bit of time to get a suica card at the airport because not all stations have them.

11. Wasted so much time on one trip heading to different places in Tokyo only to find they were closed. Seems like everything closes on different days of week, so if you’re going somewhere specific, check in advance.

12. Thinking I could rent a car in a small town with an international driving license.

    Blew an entire day trying. Even had one tell me I could, just to take a taxi there for an apology.

    Cost me my mt fuji climb.

13. Not paying attention to last transport timings, esp buses.

    Nearly got stranded because of that.

14. Not planning a day rest or some alternatives when you travel with others.
    I had the Pokemon Center in Kyoto on my itinerary, but my friend absolutely didn’t want to, so he went to Lake Biwa and I went to the Pokemon Center. Differences happen and are fine