Trip Report: 12 days in Japan with a large group (17pax!)

I just got back from Japan earlier this week and wanted to write up some things we did / tips for our large 17 person (and one day 24 pax) group. Our highlights were Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Hakone / Mt Fuji, Himeji and Hiroshima along with a day in Universal Studios Japan and another day in Tokyo DisneySea. This particular group isn’t one to hang around and look at each thing closely, so we were ambitious and tried to cram in as much as we can. All in all, everyone had an awesome time and some members in the group are already planning a second trip next year.

**Some tips:**
– The Visit Japan Web app worked for most, but for one family it didn’t load the kids QR code so they were tied up for an extra 15 mins at immigration to fill out paper forms. It loaded as soon as she was out of the airport…

– Book JR pass on the JR website so you can access the seat reservations online. Pretty neat and saved us lots of time at the JR Service Center.

– Most subway and train transportation was a breeze with Google Maps. This wasn’t the case 3 years ago when we came to Japan last but this time it only led us incorrectly once in the entire 12 days. Also due to Tokyo olympics, they renumbered all of the stations and added lots of english translation to almost everything.

– Google Translate (camera) was still necessary for Menus and conversational translation at restaurants

– Pasmo on Apple Wallet was extremely convenient. Didn’t have to deal with machines at subway stations and it was very easy to load up. Just make sure to use an AMEX card as Visas / Mastercards didn’t work for our group.

– We’d prefer subway / Shinkansen travel over private car, even with a large group. Traffic was horrible each day we had a private car and we cut into so much touring time. There were periods were we were stopped on the toll roads for 20 mins. If we really needed a private car, we should have took the bullet train to our destination then have them pick us up there (ie. Kyoto).

– Luggage shipping is very neat and allowed us to be pretty mobile on Shinkansen travel days.

– We either ate at breakfast at the hotel or snacked on pastries / instant ramen in the morning. This allowed our group to eat street food for lunch and then do proper sit down restaurants for dinner. For a group this size, we usually split up into 3-4 smaller groups and ate what we wanted instead of trying to figure out a restaurant for 17 people. We did use Tablelog to secure us reservations on some nights when we did want to eat in a large group.

– We all used Ubigi for data ($16 for 10GB) and we shared our location with each other so we could follow nearby when we split up for food / shopping. This was very helpful when people got lost.

– We pulled cash from 7-11 atm max you can pull is 50k yen which was plenty for the two of us since we used Pasmo for most other transactions.

**Day 1: Tokyo**
– Landed at Narita via Singapore Airlines (LAX to NRT) and had a private car transfer for the 6 of us who landed on the same flight. The other 6 landed earlier and already went to the hotel. Forgot how busy the freeways are at night (Fri at 5pm) and took us a bit more than 1.5 hrs to get to the hotel.

– Check in at Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo (used pts – thanks Chase!)

– Had dinner at a small ramen joint in Ginza and our group of 9 took over the entire restaurant.

**Day 2: Hakone / Mt Fuji**
– We had another private car on this day and since it was Saturday there was lots of traffic and spent nearly 3 hrs getting to Hakone from Tokyo.

– Driver mentioned that he had a mandatory 20 min stop at a rest stop for a break which was actually pretty cool as the rest stop we went to had very clean facilities, food stalls, and shopping.

– Took cable car up and then ropeway to Owakudani

– Toured Owakudani and tried their black sulfur egg with a view of Mt Fuji from afar

– Quick lunch at the cafe at Togendai Port

– Boarded the pirate ship across Lake Ashi

– Pick up from private car to nearby Hakone Shrine and floating shrine

– Went to a view point to see Mt Fuji during sunset

– Drove 3 hrs back to Tokyo.

– Remaining 5 people in our group arrived at night

– Walked to Tokyo Station and went to Tokyo Ramen Street. We all split up and ate what we wanted.

**Day 3: Tokyo**
Self-tour day – no private car used subway
We all had iPhones and so we loaded Pasmo cards in our Apple wallet and used American Express cards to charge the Pasmo cards (Visas did not work). This was very easy to do and was the highlight for many individuals who found out about using Pasmo at vending machines / konbinis / and other areas.

Walking tour day:

– Meiji-Jingu Shrine
– Harajuku area
– Cat Street / Omotesando
– Shibuya (crossing, Hatchiko statue, shopping)
– Lunch at Shibuya Center Gai
– Shinjuku National Gardens
– Back to Hotel

**Day 4: Tokyo**
– Luggage ship to our hotel in Osaka in the morning
– Self-tour day – subways
– Tsukiji Fish market (group had tons of fun here as I dispersed them all for 1.5 hrs to shop and eat)
– Nakamiste Shopping Street / Asakusa area
– Tokyo Skytree
– Omakase dinner night

**Day 5: Osaka**
Bought JR pass online prior to the trip and was able to reserve seats online a month in advance since we bought directly from JR. We picked up our passes on Day 3 at the Shinjuku JR Travel Center. It took the employees working there 15 mins to understand what we needed as they weren’t familiar with what we bought from JR but we were on our merry way with the JR passes and seat reservations.
– Bullet train to Osaka
– Midosuji red line to Namba
– Check-in to Swissotel Namba Osaka
– Took a taxi to the Osaka Aquarium (this was a mistake since it was expensive and the train would have gotten us there in about the same time). This aquarium was pretty neat as they had whale sharks and other exotic animals that I haven’t seen before (local to Monterey Bay Aquarium).
– Dotonbori area for more food.

**Day 6: Osaka / Kobe / Nara**
Another private car tour day – which was another slight mistake since there was so much traffic
– Osaka castle in the morning
– Drove to Kobe to take the ropeway tram up to the gardens
– Lunch at Sannomiya shopping street
– Drove to CUP NOODLES MUSEUM in Osaka but since it was a national holiday, there was a 2 hr wait to do the cup noodle factory, so we skipped it. If I were to do this again, we’d hit this spot first thing in the morning when they opened at 10am.
– Drove to Nara right at sunset to feed deer
– Drove back to Osaka
– Dinner in Dotonbori area

**Day 7: Kyoto**
This day was ambitious since we had 2 private cars for our full group of 24 people but we were able to jam a ton of activities in this day. Most of our group agreed that we should have had more time in Kyoto (maybe for another trip)
– Started day driving from Osaka to Kyoto (1.75 hrs with lots of traffic) – Fushimi Inari Shrine. Most of us hiked up nearly to the top.
– Kiyomizu-Dera Temple (wish we had more time here to shop)
– Gion Geisha District (most of our group said we could have skipped this…)
– Nishiki Fish Market for lunch
– Golden Temple
– Arashiyama Area – Bamboo Forest
– Arrived too late for the Monkey Park and the Tenryu-Ji Temple
– Drove back to Osaka (1.75 hr with traffic)

**Day 8: Universal Studios Japan**
We woke up early and took the two trains from Namba area to USJ and got there at 830am before the park opened at 9am, however they were already letting guests through. We made sure to download the USJ app in advance so as soon as we checked into the park, we scanned our QR code tickets and got access to Super Nintendo World timed entry for 1pm. We stood in line for Dino Flyer (45 min wait) and Backdrop Hollywood Dream (90 mins) before having lunch at the pizza place. Once we finished lunch, it was time for us to head to Super Nintendo World.

We went straight for the Mario Kart ride and we opted for single rider line (Great Tip!) since that was only 20 mins quoted time instead of 70 mins. We ended up getting on the ride within 5 mins as there was no line and they allowed us in groups of 2 at a time instead of single riders.

Since we have very similar things here at Universal in Hollywood, CA, we skipped the rest of the park and headed back to Dotonbori for dinner. That night, we went to Kobe Beef Wanomiya and ate Kobe Beef teppan which we couldn’t fit in our Kobe day earlier in the trip. Great food and we had the entire place to ourselves and the chef was very accommodating for the one non-meat eater. He went to his seafood market next door and picked up a live lobster and cooked it.

**Day 9: Himeji / Hiroshima**
Packed our bags and shipped our luggage to Tokyo in the morning via our Concierge at the hotel who helped us with the Yamato slips.

Woke up early and took the bullet train to Himeji at 9am from Osaka and got to Himeji around 930am. Walked to Himeji Castle and beat most of the crowds (tour groups and school tours) and was able to finish by 1130am. We spared enough time to walk through the fair they had at the base of the castle before hopping on our bullet train to Hiroshima.

Side note, the bullet train station at Himeji is cool because the tracks near that area are fairly straight and there are trains that skip that station and they whiz past the platform at 150mph+. Scared us a few times because you don’t see them coming until the very last second.

On our way to Hiroshima, we had to do a quick transfer at Okayama. Once we got to Hiroshima, we took the streetcar to the Atomic bomb dome and toured the Peace Memorial Park for a couple of hours before walking through the Hondori Shopping street to take the bullet train back to Osaka.

**Day 10: Bullet train back to Tokyo**
On this day, most of the group flew back home and left remaining were the two of us. We took an early morning bullet train back to Tokyo and took a subway to our hotel for the last two nights – Conrad Tokyo. Thanks to our Amex card, we got a great deal and $200 off including a few perks (free breakfast, upgraded room, etc.). Although the location isn’t superior as its in a business area, the hotel and amenities were extremely nice, definitely worth it for the 5 star experience.

Met up with my fiances’ cousin who lives in Japan and spent the day in Roppongi area looking at the Christmas lights and sightseeing.

**Day 11: Tokyo DisneySea**
Again, early morning train to DisneySea, this time required 3 trains before getting on the Disney monorail but got there right when the park opened. We were able to download the app and get Premier access to the new Believe water show which was 100% worth it. Stood in line at a few of the rides but didn’t eat at any of the food stalls since the lines were extremely long for anything. Kind of bummed about that but did get to try Magellan’s restaurant which was on the fancier side and pretty decent for the price.

**Day 12: Fly home**
Spent the day buying souvenirs and snacks for my family back home and took the Narita Express to the airport for a 6PM flight out of Tokyo.