This sub helped me out a lot so thought I’d share my experience in Japan. Hope I can bring a bit of a different perspective because unlike most of the people that seem to post here, we are definitively not early risers and rarely left the hotel before 1pm every day. Still had a great time and crowds were only an issue in a few places.
We’re an early 30s Asian-American couple traveling from Germany, so we’re coming at this from a bit of an in-between of Western and Eastern perspective. I have been to Japan when I was 15 with family, but remember basically nothing. It was my wife’s first time. We had an absolutely wonderful time and both thought it was the best vacation we’ve had in years.
The trip was pretty last minute (for my standards at least). I started planning the trip from scratch (no flights, hotels or anything booked) in early April and our trip was May 18-30. We spent 5 days in Tokyo including DisneySea, 2 nights in Hakone, 3 nights in Kyoto including day trip to Nara, and 1 night in Osaka. We flew in to Tokyo Narita and flew out of Osaka Itami. We decided to fly from Osaka to Tokyo instead of bullet train back to Tokyo so we didn’t have to buy JR rail pass and worry about luggage.
**Tokyo**
* We stayed in Ginza, which was significantly cheaper than similar hotels in Shibuya or Shinjuku. Maybe it was because I was planning such last minute, but I enjoyed the area just fine. Lots of restaurants and close to Tokyo Station which was convenient.
* Shout out to [Star Club](https://goo.gl/maps/KmySNEPZqU6Rxaf88) in Shinjuku. Had a wonderful Saturday night there drinking til 4am, chatting with other patrons and the super friendly bartender. Mix of locals and tourists.
* [T’s Tantan Ramen](https://goo.gl/maps/GbVZXn82p7paGuGz8) in Tokyo Station was one of my favorite ramen places of the trip (tied with the Michelin star one from Kyoto, but minus the wait). The bowl had a good variety of vegetable ingredients (which didn’t seem that common in Japan, most ramen was just noodles and meat) which I really appreciated. Small queue but didn’t wait more than 10m.
* The only restaurant reservation we made all trip was at [Bon](https://goo.gl/maps/y96ZYgChgRVUM6hs7). Vegetarian multi-coursed meal. I would recommend, it was very nice, though sometimes a tad under salted for my taste. My wife loved it though. You get your own little private room to eat, even for two people, which was unexpected and very lovely.
* Asakusa has a [tourist center](https://goo.gl/maps/X2AYNE4JEzGmLacCA) with air conditioning, bathrooms, and an 8th floor view. Nice place for a rest
* Akihabara did nothing for us, as we’re not really into anime or games. Pretty skippable if you are similar.
* I thought Ameyoko Shopping District was a disappointment. More like a flea market, it was similar to many Taiwan street/night markets that we’ve been to before. We also had probably our worst meal in Japan here, at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant where the food was extremely mediocre. I would have skipped this place altogether and go to Ueno Park or something instead.
* [Character Street](https://goo.gl/maps/Pww7VzfBo3Nj4qJx6) in Tokyo Station was very fun to explore, we did a lot of shopping there. Nice place to visit before taking the Shinkansen.
* We enjoyed Takeshita Street in Harajuku. As mentioned before we went at around 8pm and it wasn’t too crowded.
* When planning I had thought about skipping Shibuya Scramble but I’m really glad I didn’t. Something about witnessing the sheer number of people bustling about was so epic and grand. Reminded me of Saturday midnight at EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) when the atmosphere is electric and everyone is moving from one main stage to another.
* Golden Gai was interesting to look at, but way too claustrophobic for us. Very small alleys and very small bars.
* I enjoyed Tsukiji Market a lot. This is one of the places I would agree with people here and advise you get there early. Take advantage of jet lag and get here before 7am, and it is literally a buffet of delicious fresh foods. (not much choice for vegetarians though sadly). By 8am it was starting to get REALLY crowded. I prefer picking out my sashimi this way as opposed to a restaurant tbh, you can look at many options and pick whatever looks freshest. First time eating Wagyu here, had it on a stick. Delicious. Not the cheapest, but I figured if I ate it at a restaurant I’d also be paying for table service and atmosphere. I’m not big on the “restaurant experience”, I’d rather just eat my food and be on my way.
* I thought [Hamarikyu Gardens](https://goo.gl/maps/xta1gHU7GVfJs4Q8A) was wonderful. I love city parks where there is green, peaceful nature in the fore ground, contrasted by enormous skyscrapers towering in the background. Hamarikyu Gardens fits that perfectly. Got there right when they opened after visiting Tsukiji Market and it was a perfect way to walk off the big hearty breakfast. \~1 hour at a moderate pace should do it.
* Ginza Corridor after work was very interesting to see around 5-7pm or so. Simply packed to the brim with business folks wearing suits and having a good time after their work day
**DisneySea**
* We checked the weather and specifically went on a rainy weekday. I highly recommend, it was not crowded at all. Almost all the rides are indoors anyway and most of the queueing is either inside or covered. We got to the park at 2pm and basically rode everything we wanted before the park closed at 9pm with time to spare.
* Popular rides still had 40m-1hour wait, but we used premier pass for Center of the Earth and Soaring. Most we ever waited was 20m for Finding Nemo (similar to Star Tours, all in Japanese but very fun). I checked the app the next day when it was sunny and saw the wait times for each attraction were 3-4x longer.
* Another thing I think the rain helped with was that the premier passes did not sell out. We were able to buy them as late as 6pm to Journey to the Center of the Earth. (Fun ride, but I can’t imagine waiting 1.5 hours for it)
* I think Soaring is pretty meh, I’d probably skip it next time. I’ve been to the one in CA ages ago and remember thinking it was just okay too, but we had extra time so decided to try it here.
* Sinbad was excellent, the ride that most exceeded expectations. It’s basically “It’s A Small World” but way better animatronics and story telling.
* Indiana Jones is worse than in the one in California (less exciting, no fire effects), but the line was nonexistent so we went on it twice.
* It stopped raining at night too so we were able to catch the Believe show with no issues. It’s a good show but it is very long, about 40m. Much longer than I thought. After show is over, there’s only about \~1 hour before the park closes, so good time to catch a last ride at one of the popular attractions while the locals are heading home.
* I love how every restaurant has a display in front that shows you what the food will look like. They were all extremely accurate and not at all misleading!
* (not a tip but a rant, is it really necessary to have 10 thousand parking spots when the vast majority of people are going to arrive on Tokyo’s world-class public transit system?)
**Hakone**
* [Open Air Museum](https://goo.gl/maps/yqYprWF9u3qLkEuP7) was really nice on a pleasant day. It’s mostly outdoors. We spent a leisurely two hours there, but you could probably do it in one hour at a brisk pace.
* We left our Ryokan at 1pm to do the Hakone Loop and still completed it comfortably with plenty of time spent on shopping.
* Speaking of shopping, [Cat Goods](https://goo.gl/maps/UEFD8Pf7ZxaXH5iK8) near Gora station was a wonderful little store full of cat stuff!! Our shopping list in Japan was basically to buy as much cat-themed home goods at possible, and we went crazy here. They also do tax-free! Recommend this place if cat-themed goods sounds interesting to you, the shop people were super nice!
* We stayed 2 nights 3 days in a Ryokan. I purchased Hakone free pass for 3 days, which was maybe not worth it. The first and last day we only took transport to leave Hakone to Odawara station, so I think it would have been cheaper to use the IC card to pay for it ad-hoc instead of an entire extra “free pass” day. Might be worth looking in to.
* If you have the Freepass, don’t tag IC card at the stations. Show your Freepass to the attendant instead. It can’t be a screenshot, they need to see the day
* Google Maps was great everywhere except Hakone. For some reason it was especially unreliable here, it led us stray a few times.
* Busses are faster for getting around, but have very little space for luggage and seemed packed with locals. If time is not an issue, I’d ride the Hakonetozan Line with your luggage, much more comfortable and more space.
* If you can spare the money, getting a private onsen was really really nice. Plus you can drink while you chill!
**Kyoto**
* Had an excellent time at [Gion Bar M16](https://goo.gl/maps/uwrd933EK8qEMGix6), favorite bar experience we went to in Japan. The owner was super friendly and welcoming, and was himself a very interesting person that has lived a full life and travelled all over the world. Very interesting to talk to. He was also very knowledgeable about whiskey and drank whiskey with us while letting us try some different whiskeys and giving recs about what to buy and bring home. Also gave us lots of delicious and interesting snacks while we got drunk together. We also met a friend of the owner there who is a foreigner that has been living in Japan for 8 years, and gave us some recs.
* One of his recs was [Eikan-do Temple](https://goo.gl/maps/5QHiJvNQt9YHxeNGA) as a less-crowded temple option. Good rec! We really enjoyed this place a lot. Probably our favorite temple out of the 5 or so we visited. They have this really extensive “shoes-off” wooden walkway on support beams. It felt like exploring a big tree house, because the wooden part went up the cliff as well. The insides areas were also very extravagant and intricate. Not so many tourists, even Sunday middle of the day. I really recommend as well!
* Another of his recs was [Men-ya Inoichi](https://goo.gl/maps/twBnhgWJLA5594Zs6) (has a Michelin star). You line up when the shop opens to get a ticket, and then come back at a designated time, though there’s still a wait before you actually eat. We probably waited \~50m in total, 20m at the beginning and 30m when we returned. Even then, thought it wasn’t worth the time. Don’t get me wrong it was very good, but IMO not significantly better than other ramen places.
* [Kodai-ji Temple](https://goo.gl/maps/A9kiCnRPw2rgJQ3p7) was a miss for us, especially after Eikan-do. Thought it wasn’t that interesting, would have skipped.
* [Kiyomizu-dera](https://goo.gl/maps/euactedi5CKbQdhg7) was indeed very nice, but very very crowded. Another place I would actually either going early or late for.
* The [shopping street](https://goo.gl/maps/KLC7RfRkLKQyTMi76) in front of Kiyomizu-dera was super fun to browse, but also very crowded.
* Had lunch at this tucked away [Soba restaurant](https://goo.gl/maps/DbnAq8J4yQ76GFcU6) in an alley that was very nice, one of my favorite meals in Japan. Owner was friendly and spoke in Japanese to a translator that replayed his words in English. Noodles nice and chewy. Good experience, felt very personal!
* We visited [Yasaka-jinja Shrine](https://goo.gl/maps/uQ7Xaf86XpkCXnZZ6) and [Maruyama Park](https://goo.gl/maps/vJwJJhesaY2Ch7Hx8) both in the evening and during the day, and much much prefer it when it’s dark. Less crowded and there are cute little lamps that are lit up and make the whole place look magical.
**Nara**
* Arrived in Nara station at \~2:30pm and left at 7pm. Felt like we saw plenty.
* Nothing new to add, the bowing deer are fun to visit and feed, though they can be quite aggressive. We went on Saturday and there was large crowds of children in their school uniforms, but we didn’t really mind it too much.
* [Isuien Garden](https://goo.gl/maps/hX2WELL5NU8ynfHB6) and [Yoshikien Garden](https://goo.gl/maps/mzrL1RoxEMf8itz6A) are both very nice gardens, good place to get away from crowds for some peace and quiet.
**Osaka**
* Didn’t spend much time in Osaka, but Dontonburi was fun to walk through and shop.
* Ate at a very nice [Okonomiyaki restaurant](https://goo.gl/maps/xemRVM7Twof7iTMJ6). It was our first time eating it so can’t compare it to anywhere else, but the staff was super friendly and bubbly and we had an excellent time there. They also have a little dice game you can play to “gamble” on getting a drink for free, or “lose” and get the drink double sized and also pay 2x the price
* Shout out to our hotel, [Hotel Royal Classic Osaka](https://goo.gl/maps/7fH68AS2DGjaKr3cA). We were only there for one night, but my god this hotel was so convenient. Directly connected to the subway station via an elevator, and also has a 24-hour FamilyMart you can enter from the lobby. It was also only 3m walking away from a airport limousine bus, which made going to the airport super easy. If we ever visit Osaka for a longer stay, we would definitely book this hotel again.
**Random Tips**
* The flipside to getting to a popular tourist spot early, is to get there very late. We visited Takeshita Street in Harajuku at 8pm at night and it was very comfortably not crowded. Also noticed other tourists spots tended to clear up near closing time, like Senso-Ji in Asakusa.
* As everyone says, toilets are generally as clean as you can reasonably expect, everywhere from parks to gardens to subway stations. Nastiest toilet I saw was in Don Quixote at 1am, trash everywhere.
* 7/11 seemed to have English featured more prominently on their products labels compared to other convenience store chains. All the convenience store food options seemed very similar, so I started to favor 7/11 for the language convenience. (FamilyMart had English in super tiny letters on the side of the label lol)
* In one of those small counter seating type restaurants, I saw someone take the wrong backpack when they left (didn’t know it was the wrong backpack at the time ). A few minutes later, the person who’s backpack was taken got up to leave, and was very confused trying to find his backpack. He spent a long 10m talking to the restaurants folks (in Japanese), before the original guy came back super apologetic. Anyway keep an eye on your stuff. I know Japan is a safe country, but accidents do happen.
* One trick we had was to tie a little charm or hair tie to the handle of our umbrella, making it less likely someone would accidentally take yours from the sea of indistinguishable white plastic umbrellas.
* Yes there’s a lot of walking. My feet tend to get damp if I’m out all day and foot powder works wonders, highly recommend it. Picked up this trick while attending music festivals.
* No issues with tax refunds and customs. We packed some of our stuff in carry-on in case they inspected, but nothing happened.
* Used Ubigi esim and it was perfect. I bought 10gb and used 7gb over our trip, doing most of the navigation and planning. My wife bought 1gb and used about 700mb with just random internet surfing. I will 100% be using this service for travel to other countries in the future, not just Japan, it was so damn convenient.
**Transportation**
* Definitely leave extra time for navigating subway stations, those things are like enormous underground malls.
* Shinkansen app didn’t work for our iphone country (Germany), but I was able to use the mobile web browser pretty easily. Great for free, last-minute rescheduling of Shinkansen tickets when we inevitably take too long shopping.
* Apple Wallet Suica / IC card worked like a charm (with AMEX and Mastercard). One thing though it that it can sometimes take up to 1 minute for the money to load onto the account, so don’t wait until the very last minute and accidentally hold up the bus.
* Taxis are green when someone is in it and red when they are free (at least in Tokyo?). Confused the hell out of drunk me at 4am in the morning. I think in Kyoto it is orange instead when someone is in them, and the orange/red difference is quite hard to spot from far away.
* On that note, I had sorta assumed the metro runs all night in Tokyo, but this is definitely not the case. They stop service from about midnight to 5am, so keep an eye on the last train if you do intend to catch it. Otherwise you’ll have to take a more-expensive-than-usual taxi (captive markets), but not a big deal. We thought it was typically priced in comparison to most other US and European cities.
* We had a choice between a 1 hour or 3 hour layover in Tokyo NRT and we chose 3 hour because we weren’t sure how long it would take to transfer from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 in NRT. In actuality it took less than 30m, so the 1 hour would have probably been fine. We didn’t mind the extra buffer time to relax though.- Absolutely enormous plane flying between Osaka and Tokyo. Like literally it was the size of a transatlantic plane, with 10 seats in each row, for a sub 1 hour flight, completely full with business travelers (judging by their suits and brief cases).
**Food**
* We aren’t big foodies; we like Japanese food a lot but food isn’t really a top priority for us while traveling. Some of our favorite meals were from 7/11 (kelp & bonito flavoured tofu stick, sukiyaki beef over rice, fish flavored cheese snacks, grilled squid. Yum!)
* Most meals were good, if a bit straightforward. At least the places we ate at, main courses seemed to be carb heavy, with a side of meat, and little else. I know we could have gotten side dishes, but the portion sizes were too big for us to order more.
* Very few vegetables in general, and if there were some they were pickled. (Guess it makes sense for an island country). I usually bring fiber pills with me when traveling and do recommend it for Japan too.
* Wife is vegetarian, I am not. Japan is not particularly vegetarian friendly if you don’t like tofu, which fortunately my wife does. Most places did have at least one tofu option, so it worked out okay for us. She doesn’t follow it super strictly though. A few times she would order a dish and I would just pick out the meat from her bowl.
* Portion sizes were a LOT bigger than I thought they would be. I think maybe we are just small eaters. US and European portions are a little bit bigger I suppose, but Japanese portion sizes were too big even for us. Especially ramen! It was crazy to see folks wolf down an giant bowl of ramen, then ask for an extra helping of noodles with their remaining soup, and finish that up too.
* We only made one reservation beforehand and waited in line over 10m once. Worked out fine for us.
* Restaurants tend to do last call an hour or more before closing, so don’t get there too late. Happened to us twice before we learned our lesson, got to a restaurant about one hour before the listed closing hours and they turned us away.
* The Japanese palette seems to be much more subtle than typical western palette, and notably less salty. We often find Asian food at US/German restaurants too salty or saucy. Even then, some of the food we ate was bordering on the minimum range of my taste buds to almost be bland. Just my opinion, most of it was good but sometimes the lack of salt was pretty noticeable to me. My wife tends to like things less salty than me though and she thoroughly enjoyed all of those meals no problem. Soup noodle places like ramen and udon are excluded from this, those were usually perfectly salted to my taste.
* Walking while eating seemed fine. I saw at least 3 different instances of Japanese people doing it.
* Apparently there are no laws banning public drinking in Japan. You can drink alcohol on the street no problem, but I rarely saw people doing that (unlike here in Germany where people seem to take full advantage of it and also leave trash everywhere). I did see a few groups of Japanese people doing it at night in Tokyo, usually near bus stops, and the next morning saw the empty bottles and cans. Guess there are litterers everywhere. We had a beer in the park at night, weren’t loud about it and took our trash with us. That was very pleasant.
**Hotels**
* Hotels always have liquid or foam hand soap! I hate the bar soaps that most Western hotels provide in the room, so I usually bring my own liquid hand soap. Was totally not necessary for this trip.
* Lots of people on this sub have mentioned check-in time being very precise, as in you rarely can check in before the designated time. We didn’t experience this first hand. But on the flip side, we did find out that check out time is very precise too! They start calling your room about 15-20m after your check out time. This is in contrast to most American/European hotels that we’ve stayed at, which are in my experience very lax about their check out times. We can often get away with leaving the room at 1-2 hours after the stated check out time (we’re late risers). Not so in Japan.
* Agree with other people’s advice that booking a hotel close to a big subway station is probably the most important factor. It sucks having to walk 10m to the station every single day, and it is amazing when it is close. Also being close to a 24/7 convenience store was also very nice for late night munchies.
**Language**
* We only knew sumimasen, konichiwa, and arigato gozaimasu and got alone just fine (lots of hand gestures!). We do know a bit of Mandarin Chinese though so that was helpful with reading signs.Some places knew Mandarin better than English and would switch to that if they thought we could speak it. Chinese tourism seems like big business (we saw a ton of Chinese tourists everywhere) so I guess it makes sense for people in tourism industry to cater towards that. Announcements (like over train stations) always went Japanese, English, often Chinese, then sometimes Korean.
**Luggage Forwarding**
* I thought it was kind of expensive, but it does make things easier.- â—‹ Tokyo -> Hakone: 2310 yen- â—‹ Hakone to Kyoto: 2630 yen- â—‹ Kyoto -> Osaka: 1940 yen.
* I feel like for that price you could take a taxi to and from your hotels to the train station and it wouldn’t be much more work. There was plenty of space on the Shinkansen to put smaller checked luggage overhead. Then you don’t have to prepack things the day before.
* For the first leg Tokyo -> Hakone, we shipped two checked luggage which was about \~32 euros. After that we only shipped one, not two.
* The middle ground we found was to designate one suitcase as souvenirs and dirty laundry and forwarded it every time. We would then travel with two carry-ons and one checked luggage. YMMV depending on your number of luggage and ease of carrying them.