[MY340i]

Looking to go Japan end of may. Tokyo/kyoto & Osaka.


Anyone been before? Any tips?

[jenshb]

Wife and I have been there twice (2010 and 2014) and absolutely loved it. We recommend booking your tour via a tour operator who knows the country who will be able to sort out tickets for trains and hotels. We used Inside Japan - www.insidejapantours.com and can highly recommend them. Just tell them when you are planning to arrive, when you are planning to depart and were you want to go. They will arrange picking up from the airport to take you to your hotel (they book good business hotels which are a good compromise between price and comfort level), and you pick up your packet of ticket and itinery from the hotel reception. They will also supply you with a PASMO card (similar to an Oyster card for Tokyo) that you will need to top up once the initial amount runs out. A journey on the Shinkansen is an experience - smooth, blisteringly fast, punctual and reliable. Japanese tend to arrive at the station just a few minutes before their departure and line up on the painted markings on the platform that designates their carriage number. Yes, the trains even stop on the dot. Also recommend booking seats on the train on the Mount Fuji side, but you will find Shin-Fuji an industrial eye-sore in the landscape. However, the train will not hold all your luggage - so take hand luggage only. Not to worry - the hotel will organise shipping your main luggage to the hotel you will be staying at in the next city. An arrangement that works extremely well - sometimes we were wondering if our luggage made it to our hotel before we did...

As for things to see - the Tokyo Sky Tree will let you see the entire Tokyo metropolis provided the weather is clear. A Sumo match can be quite entertaining (again, Inside Japan will arrange tickets). We never got around to visit the Sword Museum in Tokyo, but that would be on my bucket list if we visit again. Visit the Tsukiji fishmarket in Tokyo and one of the nearby restaurants for the freshest sushi you will ever enjoy.

We only stayed in Kyoto a couple of days, but the Golden Temple is a must see. There is (or was at least) a fleamarket by the world's tallest pagoda behind the train station. You will find all sorts there - one vendor was even selling a WW2 machine gun for the princely sum of 110,000 yen.

Never been to Osaka, but a friend and his wife live there, so I may be able to find out what they recommend seeing/visiting.

We recommend learning a few phrases in Japanese - "thank you very much" is appreciated by all people you encounter, especially the shops. The Japanese also tend to use a lot of cash, although that may have changed over the years. Vending machines work, and will sell you hot coffee or even beer. Oh, and if you have tattoos, you should cover them up. The Japanese associate tattoos with the Yakuza...

Just a little envious...

[planemad]

Have you seen the James May doc on Japan on Amazon Prime?

[NanasBack]

I found it a little tedious when everything is written in Japanese.

Careful when buying bottled water in corner shops.
I bought a 2L bottle, only to find out later it was 20% alcohol.

Took a swig in the early hours one morning and spent the next hour wiping it of the walls, ceiling, furniture....

(I think it's called Shōchū, but it's only written in Japanese on the bottle label of course).

Don't tip in restaurants.
They take it as an insult.

It gets bloody hot there.
Ah yes... The hotels I stayed in all had electronic toilets.
A little toothbrush thingy pops out and washes your bum.

... is what I can remember from a few years back.

[Kyuuseishu]

I went in 2019 and jenshb already has a lot of excellent points down. If you want to go for a more... independently styled tour where you use those cities as a base I'd recommend a JR pass. Incredible value for money and provides unlimited travel on the bullet train system (excluding express trains) within the area you book it in.

In Kyoto I would make time for the Fushimi Inari Shrine, it is a trek up a small mountain so wear appropriate clothing and plenty of water. On top of Kinkakuji (golden temple), you can head over to Ginkakuji (Silver temple) from there and on towards the Kiyomizu-dera temple which is amazing, the little market street up to it is lovely. If you're more mountain climbing inclined, then a walk up to Mt Hiei which has a shrine on top. There are two ways down/up. The Eizan Cable car from near Kyoto or Cable Enryakuji (one of the longest in the world) form near Lake Biwa.

In Osaka, I would definitely take a day trip to Nara with the deer park and it is a lovely area with a large temple. Kobe is not far and has a multitude of Sake breweries which you can tour the majority of for free with tasters at the end... I think I had around 20 different ones doing it. There is a map somewhere on the internet with japan-guide. I would also recommend going to a Teppanyaki restaurant in Kobe, it's expensive... but worth it. Around Osaka the Castle is a nice visit, as well as the Universal Studios park if you're interested in that. Very good Aquarium in Osaka as well, massive central tank with a wide variety of fish species (including whale sharks.)

Tokyo simply has too many things to list but is a great central hub for travelling further afield on day trips. On top of the Tokyo Sky Tree, there is Roppongi Tower with the Tokyo City View observation deck (inside and an outside one). It usually has some sort of event going on up there too so it could also be worth a look.

Also just the food. All of the food.

As an extra aside, either via a tour operator or through your own research, look up local festivals as they are a great part of Japanese culture. If you can get to one you surely won't regret it.

[Nibbles]

I went in 2019, lovely country and can't wait to go back. There's so much to see and do and it's very different to anywhere else. We flew with China Air so had a quick stop in Beijing on the way there and a couple of nights on the way back which you can do without needing a visa so went and did some site seeing there like the great wall etc.
Our trip started in Osaka for a few days to do some sightseeing there and Kyoto. Bike hire is a good way to see Kyoto although be aware the bikes aren't great and some have solid rubber tyres. Still good fun and you can get lots of the temples into a day trip. Then a day trip down to Hiroshima on the bullet train. Hiroshima I would definitely recommend to anyone going to Japan. It's amazing how that's been rebuilt and the museum is worth a few hours in iteslf.
Then we took the bullet train to Tokyo for some more sightseeing. Then a flight up to Hokkaido and over to Niseko for some snowboarding. Then back home via Beijing and the great wall.
As has been said before, book with a decent travel company and they'll sort you out with all the right connections, tours etc and don't think you have to fly in and out of the same city. I always book long haul with Trailfinders but other good travel agents are available.