Japan - Suggestions Requested
Discussion
Not much help as I've never been but I really enjoyed LunarOne's thread...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
We did a similar trip a few years ago. We stayed at The Capitol Hotel in Tokyo (a friend’s recommendation where he got a corporate rate for it, would not have been my choice otherwise), The Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu (food was superb even for my wife who is vegetarian and traditional Japanese dress is provided for dinner if you so desire) and then The Four Seasons in Kyoto (we’d be using them a lot at the time and were upgraded to a 1 bedroom apartment, possibly one of the nicest hotel rooms I’ve ever had).
Tokyo to Hakone by rail is using the “Romancecar” and Hakone to Kyoto using the bullet train (nothing special when on board but very impressive to see from the platform when they blast through without stopping). Best to book both in advance.
If you are looking for temples, shrines etc then we found Kyoto more impressive than Tokyo but plenty to see in both locations. Hakone is the place to see Mount Fuji but it is weather dependant.
We used either the subway or walking to get around Tokyo without issue and walked around Kyoto (but we like a good walk).
I’ll not cover all of the “tourist” spots but a couple of slightly quirky things we found and enjoyed were the Megaweb Toyota City Showcase (a city centre car museum for want of a better description) and the teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum both in Tokyo and the Hakone Forest Adventure (a Go Ape type experience).
We didn’t bother with Osaka other than flying home from the airport.
Tokyo to Hakone by rail is using the “Romancecar” and Hakone to Kyoto using the bullet train (nothing special when on board but very impressive to see from the platform when they blast through without stopping). Best to book both in advance.
If you are looking for temples, shrines etc then we found Kyoto more impressive than Tokyo but plenty to see in both locations. Hakone is the place to see Mount Fuji but it is weather dependant.
We used either the subway or walking to get around Tokyo without issue and walked around Kyoto (but we like a good walk).
I’ll not cover all of the “tourist” spots but a couple of slightly quirky things we found and enjoyed were the Megaweb Toyota City Showcase (a city centre car museum for want of a better description) and the teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum both in Tokyo and the Hakone Forest Adventure (a Go Ape type experience).
We didn’t bother with Osaka other than flying home from the airport.
There's a special ticket for people not resident in Japan for the railways. It is good value for money and the Shinkansen trains are amazing. Every railway station has its own souvenir stamp so if you're travelling with kids, they will enjoy collecting them.
We visited Hiroshima and were pleasantly surprised by the city. The site of the atomic bomb detonation is quite moving. My plan was to visit the Mazda museum too but I think you need to pre-book.
The railway museum in Kyoto is also well worth a visit. It's very good and not too Noddy like museums seem to be getting in the West.
HTH, Mike
We visited Hiroshima and were pleasantly surprised by the city. The site of the atomic bomb detonation is quite moving. My plan was to visit the Mazda museum too but I think you need to pre-book.
The railway museum in Kyoto is also well worth a visit. It's very good and not too Noddy like museums seem to be getting in the West.
HTH, Mike
Berlin Mike said:
There's a special ticket for people not resident in Japan for the railways. It is good value for money and the Shinkansen trains are amazing. Every railway station has its own souvenir stamp so if you're travelling with kids, they will enjoy collecting them.
We visited Hiroshima and were pleasantly surprised by the city. The site of the atomic bomb detonation is quite moving. My plan was to visit the Mazda museum too but I think you need to pre-book.
The railway museum in Kyoto is also well worth a visit. It's very good and not too Noddy like museums seem to be getting in the West.
HTH, Mike
If you mean the JR Pass it hasn’t been good value for few years. You can get regional passes which are excellent if it suits the area.We visited Hiroshima and were pleasantly surprised by the city. The site of the atomic bomb detonation is quite moving. My plan was to visit the Mazda museum too but I think you need to pre-book.
The railway museum in Kyoto is also well worth a visit. It's very good and not too Noddy like museums seem to be getting in the West.
HTH, Mike
My advice is don’t spread yourself too thin or you can spend many hours on trains (ask me how I know)
Hotels are personal preference but we spent the last night in the Royal Park where you literally walk down into the departure concourse. I had another hotel booked till I realised I’d no way to get to the airport for an early morning flight.
I have been to Japan a few times and been to most of the major cities and all 4 major islands.
For 12 days, as a first time visitor, I would probably do 4 nights in Tokyo, 1 night in Hakone on the way to Kyoto which is 2 nights in Kyoto and then 5 nights in Osaka with day trip to Nara and Himeji.
I would save Hiroshima and Miyajima for a longer trip.
A lot of people try and fit those in on shorter trips and IMO it takes the wind out of their sails big time.
Everyone is different though.
Japan has so much to offer, I have spent a total of about 12 weeks there now and literally scratched the surface.
For 12 days, as a first time visitor, I would probably do 4 nights in Tokyo, 1 night in Hakone on the way to Kyoto which is 2 nights in Kyoto and then 5 nights in Osaka with day trip to Nara and Himeji.
I would save Hiroshima and Miyajima for a longer trip.
A lot of people try and fit those in on shorter trips and IMO it takes the wind out of their sails big time.
Everyone is different though.
Japan has so much to offer, I have spent a total of about 12 weeks there now and literally scratched the surface.
I only have experience of Kyoto, and it was during covid in early 2020. We'd planned 10 days but ended up staying a little while longer due to the circumstances, and we still felt like we'd barely scratched the surface of Kyoto, Nara, Fushimi Inari etc - so I'd agree with gotoPzero (who knows a lot more than I do) that trying to cover loads of cities/islands/regions in a couple of weeks might be sub-optimal.
I'd echo the recommendation for the Four Seasons in Kyoto, we got to know the manager a little bit so although not guests we did have a tour of the place and had some dinners there and enjoyed other hospitality (Geiko performance, etc). It's a beautiful property with nice grounds and excellent service.
We actually stayed at the hotel Kanra which is more modestly priced but has a superb location and rooms that had a little bit of Japanese "ryokan" flavour but with western mod cons and really helpful amazing staff - I highly recommend.
As has been noted, I undertand from friends that the JR Pass for tourists isn't really worth it any more, and the discounted Haruku/ICOCA no longer exists, which is a shame. An ICOCA card though is still good if you're in Kyoto, since getting about the whole area by train is super easy.
Recommendations, for what it's worth (and of course depends what you like):
Katsura Imperial Villa (need to secure permission in advance, and it's a guided tour, but a beautiful place to walk about)
Sagano "romantic train" - short but picturesque rattly train ride along a river from near Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
Kyoto railway station
Temples/gardens - take your pick, but I liked eg Manshu-In and Shisen-do. The more well known ones will be very busy these days, and of course it might not be your thing anyway.
I mean there's a lot. Also you can get between Kyoto and Tokyo pretty quickly (about 2 hours) if you take the fastest Shinkansen (Nozomi?), we considered using that to see Tokyo on a day trip(!), but it's not cheap and not covered by the JR Pass. (All the same, I regret not doing it!).
Whatever you do, you'll have an amazing time and probably want to go back. Enjoy!
PS before we went, we spent a bit of time on youtube learning some basic japanese words and phrases, which was really useful.
I'd echo the recommendation for the Four Seasons in Kyoto, we got to know the manager a little bit so although not guests we did have a tour of the place and had some dinners there and enjoyed other hospitality (Geiko performance, etc). It's a beautiful property with nice grounds and excellent service.
We actually stayed at the hotel Kanra which is more modestly priced but has a superb location and rooms that had a little bit of Japanese "ryokan" flavour but with western mod cons and really helpful amazing staff - I highly recommend.
As has been noted, I undertand from friends that the JR Pass for tourists isn't really worth it any more, and the discounted Haruku/ICOCA no longer exists, which is a shame. An ICOCA card though is still good if you're in Kyoto, since getting about the whole area by train is super easy.
Recommendations, for what it's worth (and of course depends what you like):
Katsura Imperial Villa (need to secure permission in advance, and it's a guided tour, but a beautiful place to walk about)
Sagano "romantic train" - short but picturesque rattly train ride along a river from near Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
Kyoto railway station
Temples/gardens - take your pick, but I liked eg Manshu-In and Shisen-do. The more well known ones will be very busy these days, and of course it might not be your thing anyway.
I mean there's a lot. Also you can get between Kyoto and Tokyo pretty quickly (about 2 hours) if you take the fastest Shinkansen (Nozomi?), we considered using that to see Tokyo on a day trip(!), but it's not cheap and not covered by the JR Pass. (All the same, I regret not doing it!).
Whatever you do, you'll have an amazing time and probably want to go back. Enjoy!
PS before we went, we spent a bit of time on youtube learning some basic japanese words and phrases, which was really useful.
Edited by gregch on Friday 31st July 15:20
The Osaka Amazing Pass is excellent value. Entry to lots of places included, and unlimited use of the (non-JR) local transport. Easily got double the cost in terms of value out of a 2 day one on my last trip.
What sort of things do you like?
Being PH, if you want car themed stuff, Toyota are based in Nagoya and their technical museum in the city itself is particularly good.
Do you have a specific schedule or any accommodation booked yet?
What sort of things do you like?
Being PH, if you want car themed stuff, Toyota are based in Nagoya and their technical museum in the city itself is particularly good.
Do you have a specific schedule or any accommodation booked yet?
InitialDave said:
The Osaka Amazing Pass is excellent value. Entry to lots of places included, and unlimited use of the (non-JR) local transport. Easily got double the cost in terms of value out of a 2 day one on my last trip.
What sort of things do you like?
Being PH, if you want car themed stuff, Toyota are based in Nagoya and their technical museum in the city itself is particularly good.
Do you have a specific schedule or any accommodation booked yet?
Nothing yet, bar flights via China arriving in a money in Tokyo in early oct and flying out of Osaka 12 days later What sort of things do you like?
Being PH, if you want car themed stuff, Toyota are based in Nagoya and their technical museum in the city itself is particularly good.
Do you have a specific schedule or any accommodation booked yet?
InitialDave said:
The Osaka Amazing Pass is excellent value. Entry to lots of places included, and unlimited use of the (non-JR) local transport. Easily got double the cost in terms of value out of a 2 day one on my last trip.
What sort of things do you like?
Being PH, if you want car themed stuff, Toyota are based in Nagoya and their technical museum in the city itself is particularly good.
Do you have a specific schedule or any accommodation booked yet?
Amazing pass is a must if you want to see a load of stuff in Osaka. Kyoto is lovely, as is Nara which is an hour or so from Osaka, you can do it as a day trip. There's as much as you want in all of the places you can go, one great experience we did was Street Kart in Tokyo, dressed up and racing the train over the Rainbow Bridge was fantastic.What sort of things do you like?
Being PH, if you want car themed stuff, Toyota are based in Nagoya and their technical museum in the city itself is particularly good.
Do you have a specific schedule or any accommodation booked yet?
Also the Asahi Skyroom is a great place to grab a beer and snacks whilst watching the sun go down, you'll probably need to budget an hour wait for a seat though.
Have a translation app on your phone, get a Welcome Suica card on arrival at the airport (IC card for easy travel) and it's worth getting a bit of cash before you go.
Enjoy!
bennno said:
Nothing yet, bar flights via China arriving in a money in Tokyo in early oct and flying out of Osaka 12 days later
Heh, I think we may actually overlap by a couple of days with when I'm next out there! I'll be more up north this trip, though.Anyway, first off, which Tokyo airport do you arrive at?
Haneda is closer to the city itself, Narita is a fair bit further out. The fundamental principle of taking a train into the city is largely the same, but which train, and the fine details, are going to depend on the starting point.
Having never been before, I echo the earlier comment that you shouldn't try to fit in everything, there's just too much, so have a look around and maybe target the areas or things you'd really find appealing.
In terms of accommodation, vaguely what sort of budget are you working on per night, and what's your approach to hotels? You like the full service kind of deal, or are you more like me, where a hotel room is fundamentally just to store luggage and sleep in, because you're out all day doing stuff?
There's so many different ways to do this, and so many different things to see/do, that a bit of a feedback loop over what your likes and preferences are, and what kind of thing you want to see, will impact what's best to suggest.
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