Hey everyone, after what felt like 100 years of waiting I have decided to finally travel to Japan with my friends. I’m just looking for some advice as the planning process is proving to be quite daunting. I apologise in advance for all the questions.
The main questions I have are:
\- Do you recommend that I get the JR Rail Pass based on the plans below? And if so, how does it actually work?
\- I’m looking at getting a pocket wifi with unlimited data to last the 31 days. Are they worth it?
\- Public transport cards? I’ve seen online that there is a shortage of suica cards available?
\- How bad is the language barrier? What should I do to prepare? Is Duolingo enough.
Because this is our first time in Japan, we are aiming to do as much as possible. To save time I’ve only listed the towns and major things.
Side note: I’m a massive fan of the Like a Dragon game series, so if you know anywhere to get merchandise pls let me know😊.
Day 1 – Arrive in Tokyo. Pick up Wi-Fi? JR Pass? Check into hotels, rest/explore immediate area.
Day 2 – Tokyo – Relaxing and acclimatising. Sightseeing close to hotel.
Day 3 – Hakone Day Trip. Maybe visit Gotemba if time permits.
Day 4 – Tokyo – Skytree, Ueno Park, Imperial Palace + Gardens & more.
Day 5 – Osaka – Sightsee close to hotel, Dotonbori.
Day 6 – Himeji Day Trip.
Day 7 – Osaka – Osaka Castle, Umeda & more.
Day 8 – Osaka – Minoo Park, Osaka Aquarium, Teamlabs Botanical Garden.
Day 9 – Kobe Day Trip.
Day 10 – Osaka – Universal Studios Japan/Super Mario World.
Day 11 – Hiroshima – Dome and Peace Museum.
Day 12 – Miyajima Island Day Trip.
Day 13 – Kyoto – Explore immediate area. Nishiki Markets and museums.
Day 14 – Kyoto – Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu Dera, Gion.
Day 15 – Kyoto – Kinkaku-ji, Nijo Castle, Imperial Palace.
Day 16 – Kanazawa Day Trip.
Day 17 – Nara Day Trip.
Day 18 – Kyoto – Arashiyama Bamboo Forrest. Monkey Park. Tenryuji Temple & more.
Day 19 – Nagoya – Nagoya Castle, Chubu Mirai Tower, City Science and City arts museum.
Day 20 – Nagoya – Ghibli Park & general rest day.
Day 21 – Tokyo – Shibuya/Harajuku.
Day 22 – Tokyo – Shinjuku/Kabukicho/Nakano.
Day 23 – Tokyo – Asakusa/Akihabara.
Day 24 – Tokyo – Disneyland.
Day 25 – Tokyo – Disney Sea.
Day 26 – Tokyo – Odaiba/Minato/Ginza
Day 27 – Yokohama Day Trip.
Day 28 – Kawaguchiko Day Trip.
Day 29 – Nagano Day Trip.
Day 30 – Tokyo – Harry Potter Studio, Ghibli Museum & last-minute items.
Day 31 – Tokyo – Last Minute things & fly home.
Any transport related assistance would be great. Apologies for not going into too much detail.
Thanks 😊
5 comments
Wow that sure is a lot of activities! It looks great but if I were you I might pick one or two things that you won’t be sad to miss and consider those as possible rest days. The only day that stands out to me as overly ambitious is day 4. That’s a lot of stuff to fit into a single day. I’m not sure about some of these combinations of places in Tokyo but you may have specific reasons for planning them that way. My only other comment on the activities is that on day 2 you should make sure to get outside and walk around. You’re likely going to be tired from the travel and want to stay inside but getting out into the sun and moving your body will help you adjust to the time difference more quickly. Not sure where you’re traveling from though so maybe it won’t be as drastic.
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> – Do you recommend that I get the JR Rail Pass based on the plans below? And if so, how does it actually work?
Absolutely, it’s a great deal. I believe once you get in you’ll have to go to a station and get it activated – there might be a limited number of stations where you can do this. I’ve only used it once so I’m not an expert on the topic.
> – I’m looking at getting a pocket wifi with unlimited data to last the 31 days. Are they worth it?
Yes, but I would consider looking into getting an e-sim instead. Pocket wifi are great but from my experience the battery isn’t great and they are much, much more expensive than an e-sim. The pickup/dropoff process is also kind of annoying. Of course this depends on whether your phone can use an e-sim.
> – Public transport cards? I’ve seen online that there is a shortage of suica cards available?
Suica and passmo are no longer available for sale, but I believe you can either get a ‘Welcome Suica’ or get the Suica app on your phone. Hopefully it shouldn’t be too big of an issue but I would definitely figure out your gameplan for that before you leave.
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> – How bad is the language barrier? What should I do to prepare? Is Duolingo enough.
I’ll assume you have no knowledge of Japanese – Using duolingo to prepare and learn some common phrases is great and will help you, but it won’t be enough to overcome the language barrier. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much. In Tokyo you’ll be fine, the train stations are labeled very well in English now and you should be able to find someone with passable English that you can communicate with. Kyoto is pretty easy to navigate because there are so many foreign language tourists. I can’t speak for Osaka or Kobe.
IMO it’s a really interesting experience to go to a place where finding someone who speaks English well (assuming that’s your native language) is difficult.
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> Side note: I’m a massive fan of the Like a Dragon game series, so if you know anywhere to get merchandise pls let me know😊.
I’m certain you’ll be able to find stuff in Akihabara.
Kyoto > Kanazawa day trip? Might be a tad tight.
While I like how you have full days scoped on something, doing that even 3-4 days straight will be brutal to your feet as Japan involves A LOT of walking. Consider more casual rest days (even if it’s a half day) or you’re looking at burnout from your travel friends. Also, the language barrier is quite intense outside of major transportation hubs and hotels. Restaurants, landmarks, attractions – expect minimal if any english to be spoken. There may be museums/exhibits that are entirely in Japanese.
DuoLinguo is garbage. It teaches you incorrectly and inefficiently. The only reason anyone uses it is because it’s like playing a game, but it’s hard to recommend a game where you don’t actually learn Japanese when that’s your goal from the outset. Just save yourself the time and don’t even use it. That being said, if you’re just going to these tourist areas you probably don’t strictly need to know much Japanese; but you should still try to learn a little bit.
How long do you have until you go? Assuming you have at least 1 month or more to practice, you should make a reasonable effort to learn Kana and a handful of set phrases. Japanesepod101 YouTube Hiragana/Katakana videos are good, as are their “Can Do” video series, which has about 20 videos with some basic grammar points and a limited vocabulary.
Emphasis here that you aren’t going to need to use Japanese very often if you don’t want to, but the locals are very nice and appreciate that you’re trying at all. That being said, if you have less than 1 year to study, you’re probably not going to be able to learn enough to function in Japanese at any level anyways; stick to set phrases and the pronunciation of kana.
This looks quite good. I like how you’ve given yourself a reasonable amount of time in most places. I also like that you’re not attempting to over plan your trip like lots of people here do.
I say this often, but given you have plenty of time I’d strongly suggest going to Himeji Castle, which is an original castle that has recently been restored, rather than Osaka Castle which is a postwar concrete reconstruction. It’s an easy day trip from Osaka or stopover while travelling too or from Hiroshima.