hello! (so sorry this is a bit long)
**General Trip!**
I am going to go to Japan for the first time with my brother to sightsee and meet up with his roommate (was a Japanese exchange student), he’s gonna tag along on our trip to show us around!
We will be flying out on May 23rd but wont get in until the 24th at 1:45pm! We leave on June 5th in the pms. So in total we will only have 11 full days to travel around.
I was looking to stay in Tokyo for around 5 days and then on to Kyoto for 3 days and Osaka for 3 days. Some day trips I wanted to fit in were to Mt. Fuji and Nara. Should I shorten some stays? Add more stops?
**JR Pass or Suica???**
A big question I have is should I (my brother and I) get the JR rail pass? I did the pass calculator and put in the trains to get from Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Nara -> Osaka and it said I wouldn’t make my money back but I know that the JR pass covers other smaller trains as well. I am really not sure if I should get it or not :(, I know this is a popular route to take so I was wondering if anyone else bought it for this route. Should we just stick to suica cards instead?
**Itinerary Suggestions :)**
This is my first big trip I am planning on my own and I am having a really hard time planning a day by day schedule, I wanted some suggestions on must see places and places to eat as well as stay.
In either Kyoto or Osaka we wanted to stay at a ryokan. Which place would be better and do you have any recommendations for specific places. We’re all in our early 20s, myself 21, so nothing that will completely break the bank. But I am interested in one that serves food and is a bit more traditional, not super modernized where it takes the culture away. Also just in general like cool places to go to hot springs or any well known ones. Besides staying at a ryokan we also wanted to try staying in a capsule hotel for fun 🙂 How is the hostel situation? Any recommended places to stay for CHEAP! Some things I am willing to splurge on like the ryokan and experiences buttttt I really want to do everything else as cheap as possible.
Things I am looking to do: Grab bag random things, def not all
Pokemon store, studio ghibli store, Meji Jingu shrine, asakusa, unuqlo, shibuya parco/109, shinjuku gyoen, ameyoko, yanaka ginza, rikugien gardens, akihabara, tsukiji market, teamlab planet, shibuya crossing, nintendo store, miyashta park, shibuya sky, harajuku, tokyo tower/skytree, happy pancake, tokyo art aquarium, senso ji temple, kura sushi, mount fuji, fushimi inari-taisha shrine, arashiyama, monkey park, dotombori district, osaka castle, osaka aquarium kaiyukan, or the churaumi aquarium!
I really like Ghibli films etc but I am not looking to go to the ghibli park, I am more interested in going to the stores. Same with some pokemon stores. My brothers roommate wanted us to dress up in Yukatas with him, any recommendations for places to do that? I want to go clothing shopping somewhere and visit the Uniqlo store. So any must see places to go and eat and stay please suggest.
**Packing/Clothes**
Also clothing wise? What would be good for a 21 y/o female in may to early june? I know its going to be hot but I just dont know what to expect and how hot it will be. I will be backpacking and as of now only bringing a 40L backpack with me. I know that I will end up buying stuff so do I just ditch the backpacking idea and bring a luggage?? Or is there another way to get around it?
3 comments
> JR Pass or Suica?
The JR Pass is probably not worth it just for a one-way trip between those cities. You’ll need some IC card (like Su**ic**a) anyway to ride local transit.
If you plan to bring significant things back, you’re definitely going to need more than just a backpack.
I personally would probably just book your Shinkansen tickets separate and not get the JR pass so that you can take the nozomi! But, a suica or pasmo card isn’t an alternative to a JR pass; you would want both anyway.
For clothes, women/girls here don’t expose their shoulders, even if it’s hot as balls. That being said, sometimes I don’t care and I’ll wear tank tops anyway, but if you’d be uncomfortable with that, you might want to at least wear short sleeves. Any bit of cleavage is also not a thing. But again, you can wear whatever you want, you just may feel weird about it if that makes sense. It also will probably be quite rainy, so prepare for that! You can always buy a cheap umbrella in Japan because they’re everywhere!
The churaumi aquarium is in Okinawa! Which is actually where I am right now haha. But that’s a whole separate trip away from mainland Japan so that’s not doable for you in your trip.
I would personally bring one large roller suitcase and pack light to take home souvenirs.
JR pass, local train are cheap and do not weight much in the decision to get it. If you do Tokyo-Kyoto only one way, no pass. Round trip, either is fine, but you will force yourself to use JR even when not the most convenient. Note that by default you cannot ride the Shinkansen with a Suica, so you will have to buy tickets for it if not using the pass.