Trip Report – 18 days Fukuoka, Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo

I just returned from my 18-day solo trip to Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo, and during my wait for boarding my return flight, I decided to do a little summary of my experiences. Full disclosure, I am not writing this as advice or saying what I did was the best or most optimal, but rather this is just a recollection of what I experienced and the decisions I made for my trip. I didn’t think this post would be so long so I put my day-to-day activities in a comment instead.

My background is Chinese Canadian, 27M travelling solo for the first time. I had been to Japan once in the past, hitting the “golden road”, so my goals this trip were mainly to see things I missed, and the re-see things I really liked. My trip was from Nov 6 to Nov 24, split into three “sections”.

I flew YVR – SEA – NRT via JAL economy on the way there, and NRT – YVR on the way back for $1,100 CAD. With credit card points I got it down to $600. It was a great deal, and I had booked it in June 2023. I got an entire middle row to myself and in front of me on the flight there. Service and food from JAL were as expected. I didn’t end up sleeping much on the flight.

Overall

1. Internet – opted for the Ubigi e-sim plan, 10gb for 30 days on a Galaxy S23 Ultra. I re-upped midway through and managed to use it all before I left. 5G in most areas, LTE in more rural areas. Speeds were good and connections in most areas were consistent. If I could do it again, I would still opt with the same e-sim plan.

2. Accommodations – 3 Airbnb’s and 1 Ryokan. Airbnb’s were as expected – no surprises and were as advertised.

Next time, I would like to book my Fukuoka BnB closer to the main Hakata station to get started on my day trips easier. The location I picked was a 10-minute walk to Nakasu-kawabata, before another short 5-minute train to the main Hakata station. As I did a few day trips in Fukuoka, it would have saved me time and money if I had picked somewhere closer to Hakata station as it was the main hub in the area. The apartment was basic and kind of small for my taste, but it did the job as for most days, I was out by 9am and back at 11pm.

My Osaka stay was in the heart of Den Den Town, about a 13-minute walk from Namba station. Again, next time, I would pick a location closer to one of the stations on the main Osaka line as I headed to Kyoto for a few days. This was not the worst, as at least there was a lot to see walking through Den Den town. My favourite stay of the three – the space and building was modern and had a home feel.

I picked my location close to Ikebukuro station, as this was my favourite station from my last visit. The location was right next to the Tokyo Sakura tram line, which connected directly to the JR Otsuka station for the Yamanote line. Super easy to get everywhere in Tokyo, and at night I was essentially dropped off at my doorstep.

For the Ryokan, I picked Beppu Showaen in Beppu booked through Agoda. There was a promotion and I decided to splurge and booked a room with a private onsen. Beautiful location and service – no complaints here. The only issue is that it was a bit far from the main Beppu attractions, so you would have to taxi or bus.

3. Cash – I converted my CAD to YEN before I left and brought 230,000 total. I used the 7/11 ATMs and withdrew 150,000 throughout the trip. I participated in a few cash only activities, which explains why I used so much. Many restaurants – especially the smaller mom and pop shops – were still cash only, so I think having some cash on you will make it simpler. I started using my Visa more during the end of my trip as I ran out of cash and was making bigger purchases. I had the BMO Eclipse Visa, and it was accepted at most retailers – except Uniqlo for some reason.

I picked up a Muji wallet for about 600 Yen a few days into my trip, as handling the coins and bills were a must. Side note, I managed to use up all of my 1 Yen aluminum coins.

4. Transportation – I had my old Pasmo from my last trip, so I did not have to worry about the whole Suica/Pasmo situation when I landed. I also wanted to collect some other IC cards, so I ended up picking up both the Hayakaken and Sugoca when I was in Fukuoka. I ended up using my Sugoca for the entire trip.

You will get lost in the stations, no matter how much you analyze the exits. Even some of the smaller stations have like 5-6 exits. Heading to Dotonburi at Namba station, there were like 30 exits, and another set of “east exits”. I would say it is a part of the experience. Google Maps does not do a good job of estimating the time it takes to even move between platforms, so plan accordingly.

For example, I was heading from Fushimi to Arashiyama and arrived on the Nara line in Kyoto on platform 9. I had to transfer to the train to Arashiyama, which was on platform 33. Google maps said it would take 5 minutes, but it failed to account for the fact the volume of people getting off at the Nara line, and the overall distance between platform 9 and 33. It probably took me 15 minutes to navigate the crowds and get to my platform.

My advice is to take it slow, try to not stress, and be prepared for longer than expected travel times.

5. JR pass – I picked up the 14-day JR pass before the price hike and used it extensively throughout my trip. With all day trips I took, the pass was absolutely worth it. I also used it for some of the JR lines in Osaka and the Yamanote line in Tokyo before it expired.

I did not reserve seats for any of my trips, either on the limited express trains or the Shinkansen. I planned my trips and simply hopped on the unreserved cars of the Shinkansen I was taking. This was stress free as I never had to worry about missing my train, and even if I did, I could just hop onto the next one by looking at the JR schedule. The only time my tickets were checked was when I was taking the limited express trains from Hakata to Takeo-Onsen, and Hakata to Beppu.

Even on my “busiest train ride” from Shin-Osaka to Shinagawa, I had my large luggage (Muji 75L) with me and hopped onto the unreserved Car 1. It was pretty much empty for the entire ride to Tokyo with it being quiet, and I just kept my luggage in the seats beside me. No one said anything, and there was no “fighting for baggage space”. I never ran into any issues thinking my train would be full, but again, plan accordingly around the dates of your trip.

6. Food – I did not reserve or line-up for any meal during my trip. I had ideas of what I wanted to eat (udon, ramen, tendon, sushi, etc.) and just searched around until I found something reasonable. I was hesitant my first day in ordering food from the social anxiety, but many of the restaurants either had tablet ordering in English, menu with full pictures of everything, or an English menu so I had no issues. To avoid lines, I usually ate lunch around 11:30am, and dinner around 6-7pm.

Many of the major department stores (Parco, Seibu, Amu Plaza, etc.) near the JR stations often have floors of restaurants at the top containing many options available. I did feel more comfortable eating here, as there were often a lot of other people around, which made the atmosphere excellent, and there was often a great variety of food to choose from. Most of these restaurants also have fake food displays at the front, so if you are really lost, you could just snap a pic and ask for that.

I had conbini breakfast for the first few days, then dropped it and usually had around 2 to 3 meals throughout the day. With how cheap quality food is in Japan, I had my last onigiri on day 3 (blasphemy I know).

7. Luggage – I brought a 36L luggage and a travel backpack (AER Travel Pack 3 small). In short, I overpacked by a lot. Fukuoka was bearable with my warmer clothes near the end, but in both Osaka and Tokyo the weather was so warm, I regretted what I packed every day. I purchased another 75L luggage from Muji while in Japan and stuck my smaller luggage in there until I made it to Tokyo. Also, I brought my laptop, but essentially it was used to back up my video footage and to write this write-up. Not worth.

I would pack maybe 4-5 days’ worth of clothes and do laundry. The coin laundromats were abundant and easy to use. One word of warning though, I couldn’t figure out how to lower the heat on the dryer, so I set it for 30-minutes. Turns out around 13 minutes was enough as the base temperatures for those machines are HOT. Save your clothes!

Less is more. I brought so many extra things I “thought I needed” but ended up just hauling them around Japan. In the worst case, department stores like Loft, Bic Camera, Tokyu Hands, and Yodobashi literally have everything you might need so you could pick it up there instead. If you’re out of clothes, Muji, Gu, and Uniqlo will have all your essentials. I ended up throwing out some of the older pieces that I had brought to replace them with new ones.

8. Japanese – I knew nothing, except the basics. Sumimasen, arigato, ohiyo, etc. For menu ordering, I walked in with a finger up indicating 1 person, and just pointed at what I wanted. Google Translate and Lens was helpful in translating store signs and other things. Of course, knowing basic phrases will help, and I plan to be more prepared for my next trip to make my experience even better.

I will note that I do know a bit of Chinese and as a result, I knew what some of the Kanji meant. I know Kanji sometimes does not have the same meaning as the Chinese character equivalent, but it still helped quite a bit.

9. When I posted my itinerary, a poster mentioned why I did not decide to stay in Narita my first night. This was mostly because I didn’t even think of this and only thought about doing a first night capsule hotel (never again) and booked my flight through the JAL Explorer Pass already. Next trip, I’m either flying to Fukuoka directly or staying a night at the same airport. The stress and time spent was not worth it after landing the previous day.

10. Travelling alone in Japan was super easy. Eating alone was welcomed, there was no need to tip, and I pretty much did what I wanted, when I wanted. No need to deal with opinions, or worry about controlling someone else’s vacation. I had the freedom to move activities around as I saw fit – for example, I moved my Nagasaki day because the day I had planned to go was raining.

11. I averaged about 26,000 steps a day or about 20km a day. I wore my old Adidas Ultraboosts that I bought last time in Japan and picked up a brand-new pair in Japan. They were wonderful. I think my steps are a bit on the higher side, but one of my reasons for visiting was just walking around and getting lost in the cities.

12. The total I spent on flights, JR pass, and accommodations was around $2,800 CAD. I guesstimate around $2-3k on food, souvenirs, shopping, and everything else. This is definitely on the higher side, but I was splurging regardless. You can definitely do my trip for less money, as my solo Ryokan was almost $450 for the night.

13. Side note, I picked up a Osmo Pocket 3 creator combo to replace my Pocket 2 that I had bought to Japan. It was much cheaper than buying it in Canada, not to mention that it was out of stock everywhere here in NA. I bought it at a Bic Camera in Shibuya, where they had plenty of stock. The camera and videos came out amazing.

14. Many of the JR stations have basement floors where souvenirs are sold. I frequently visited them at every JR station, as they often times had city specific gifts which I wanted to purchase. In Nagasaki, I picked up some Castella in addition to other neat goods I saw. The products here are often packaged nicely, and are good gifts/souvenirs when you return home.

15. Customs and tax free. I tried to take advantage of the tax free as often as possible, but sometimes I would simply just buy it with tax if the line was too long, or it was just a small item. The minimum limit for tax free purchases was 5,500 Yen at most shops (I believe this is the standard?). They scan your passport and you get the tax-free price – unless you buy at Loft, where they make you pay in full price, then refund you the taxes in cash instead, which was my main source of 1 Yen coins. When you leave Japan, you are supposed to find the customs desk and declare what you bought.

Most of the tax free shops will wrap up your things in a “tax-free bag” upon purchasing, along with a notice to not open the bag until you return home. The only exception I could see was clothing and apparel was not wrapped up. I made multiple tax-free purchases from Muji, Adidas, Uniqlo, and Gu, and the products were simply put into a bag, with the employee telling you not to open them. However, I did buy my luggage tax free and the employee did not mention anything to me either before I rolled it away and stuffed it full.

However, my issue with this is that, with many of the tax free purchases, due to the odd shapes of the items you may be buying, they end up being packaged in an odd shape and make it hard for you to pack it into your luggage (looking at you, Donki and Loft). As a result, I broke them free and packed as is. I probably made about $2k in tax-free purchases. When I left through Narita, I completely forgot the customs desk existed, and didn’t realize until I landed back in Canada. No I am not writing this in jail, so I made it through.

Please note I will not be liable if you do end up getting searched and have to pay duties 🙂 Use this advice at your own risk!

If you read it all the way, thanks! Hopefully you were able to learn something from my endless rambling. Off to plan my next trip 🙂