Weekly Japan Travel Information and Discussion Thread – October 06, 2023

23 comments

1. Hey! We are starting to book our hotels for our trip next year (April-May).

   I usually pay upfront wherever I go (for me, paying before = guaranteed room and no issue at check-in).

   My partner is less worried about this and pay at check-in.

   Do you pay upfront or pay at check-in/check out (once you’re there)? What the general consensus for Japan?

   Thanks in advance for the feedback!

2. We are leaving for our first trip in a few hours! Going to be fun for sure 🙂

   https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/15of2cc/15_day_trip_tokyokyotoosaka_with_an_eye_for/

   Thank you for all the advice and help, this reddit has been such an amazing resource, I will be sure to contribute with a detailed trip report later.

3. Best place in Tokyo to buy jewellery in the £100-£200 range?

   I’d like to take back a nice necklace or earrings for my mum as I know she’d treasure them as a keepsake.

   Where’s a decent place for me to go buy something like that with very limited Japanese?

4. For sanrio puroland is there a way to buy advance tickets for foreigners or do I just need to show up? And are weekdays not very busy?

5. How is it typically in DisneySea on Halloween day? I planned it as such in my itinerary but am now wondering if it will be super crowded…

6. I have a wonderful itinerary planned out for my 3.5 week trip to Japan that will take me to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama, Takamatsu and Naoshima.

   I have a surplus of 3-4 days where I would, in essence, like to do very little outside of eat, drink, walk around a pretty place and read.

   So, I’m looking for a mid-size city or larger town on Honshu that is less touristic, has enough shops and bars to entertain myself, and is beautiful either from a natural perspective or architectural (or both.)

   Someone recommended Kanazawa to me and that seems as though it might be a good fit.

   I realize these are broad parameters, but I am very easygoing and am just looking for somewhere to wind down at the end of my trip.

7. I was wondering if this was a good place to ask a question: My husband and I are planning on renting a car overnight to do a trip from Tokyo to Nagano in mid/late December (the 18th) . My husband is used to driving in snowy weather and is from the UK so driving on the opposite side of the road (for me) is normal for him.

   If we rent the car in Tokyo (booked through a third party) I’m seeing some chatter about it being a *requirement* for the car to have “Winter” or “Snow” tires. I don’t drive at all so this is news to me, but is this something you generally set up with car rentals before hand or is it something you can let them know when you go to get a car?

   And for *my* peace of mind, just how snowy are the roads up near the Snow Monkeys in December? Like I said driving in the snow for my husband is no issue and I already plan on needing snow boots, but I just want to know how much snow is possible up here. I love snow. I’m super excited 😀

8. What would my steps be on using my JR East-South pass to buy a Green/Gran Car shinkansen ticket?

   On the site it says

   > Green Cars and GranClass trains can be used for an additional fee (a Green Car ticket charge, GranClass ticket charge, super limited express train ticket charge, etc.). You can use your rail pass as a basic fair ticket.

   But where exactly do I do this? Online? At the ticket machine?

9. What would be my steps for getting from Kawaguchiko to Kyoto? I researched online but would love to hear from personal experience. Also, do I need to book in advance? Can I use Welcome Suica for this leg of the journey (I’ve not deeply researched transport tickets yet)?

10. I missed the October sale for studio ghibli museum, is there anything I can do to get tickets or am I out of luck?

11. So I finally got my tickets. I am in fortune and circumstances, on top of personal desire, to be able to have a very long trip, YVR-NRT 1/30 – 4/11. It will be my first solo travel. I was planning on leaving my job in the near future anyway, so I will be putting in my notice before I leave. Nervous, but excited.

    In the planning process now, doing research and itinerary planning. I’m not really interested in any of the big amusement parks, except for maybe ten huish bosch (And I was already interested in going to Kyushu anyway to see Nagasaki and Kumamoto at least).

    Skiing/snowboarding might be interesting, and I was looking into the Sapporo snow festival anyway. Does anyone have experience doing full rental (gear, snow clothes)?

12. I’ll be staying in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. What is the most ideal location to be leaving from for day trips?

    I plan on doing a couple day trips. For day trips like Nara, and Himeji, Mt. Fuji where should I be leaving from?

13. Putting my question here in case it gets flagged as a low effort post: what are your favourite (scenic) driving routes in Japan?

14. I am trying to plan a trip for two people to Japan for 12 or so nights. I am planning on going end of March/early April 2024 so we can be there during Sakura season.

    I would like to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka mainly. Is this doable on a $10K budget?

15. Hi! I’ll be visiting Japan in about a month, haven’t been since precovid. Is Japan still a cash heavy society?

    aka should i pull out a good amount of yen at the airport for use? Thank you!

16. I bought my JR PASS 12 days ago and still haven’t gotten anything in the mail should I be worried?

17. Is it possible to get Suica/pasmo in kansai airport? We’ll be arriving on the second weekend of October and I have only heard about haneda and Narita airport having them. Also, this Q got deleted for being “”low effort”” but if you had to make a single day Tokyo itinerary (maybe with an overnight, maybe not) that isn’t crammed full of stuff but still gets the vibe, what would you recommend?

18. I’ll be visiting Nikko and Hiroshima back to back (maybe not optimal but it’s how it is). Traveling from Tokyo, is there any meaningful difference between 1) Tokyo to Nikko to Hiroshima vs 2) Tokyo to Hiroshima to Nikko?

19. Does anyone know if ANA actually measure and are strict on dimensions of checked bags? Theirs are just slightly smaller than my large suitcase :/

20. How busy is Hitachi Seaside Park on Sundays in terms of crowds and lineups in October?

21. I have 3 days to spare after two nights to Hiroshima area.. final destination Tokyo (airport). Any ideas where to go after so travelling won’t be so long back to Tokyo? Already hitting up Osaka and Kyoto.

22. Is there something special about the weekends in October (besides Sports day this Monday)? Pretty much every hotel/hostel seemed to be fully booked (except the high end ones) on the saturday->sunday in some cities.

    Now I guess near the alps people are going for the autumn colours, but what’s up with some other cities?! Like Hiroshima?

    Is there any other way of finding rooms besides booking.com and/or Google maps/expedia? I just can’t believe so many hotels would be sold out, and I know some have limited rooms on booking, but checking their own websites they seem sold out too.

23. Hello all! I’m getting ready for our trip. I have the electronic Suica card on my iPhone. I’m now registering on the EX shinkasen app. It’s asking for the IC number. What if I can’t see a number? I have it loaded with 4000 yen but there’s no number on it (iPhone wallet). Any thoughts?