Are you traveling with kids? Are you a gungho group, or easy going tourists?
My wife and I are quite "intense" when we travel. When were in Japan last year. We were gone 12 days (24th to 4th) including travel time and we hit Tokyo, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Kobe and Osaka while we were on the ground (approx 11 days of actual travel). The things mentioned below are essentially ALL things we did in 11 days (with the exception of the Ramen museum and Ghibli because we couldn't get tickets/ran out of gas to make the trek).
[b]Before you go to Japan[b]
- Japan rail pass. You can't get it in Japan (for foreigners only) and you have to bring a voucher to Japan to use it. I'll explain the JR pass below.
- Sim card. I would not rely on free wifi in Japan. There's wifi everywhere, but you often need internet to connect (ie: grab a code from email). For a group of 4, I guess you could rent a pocket wifi which has faster speeds plus higher data cap and is easier for everyone to stay connected, but price point wise, it's $48 for 5 days vs $19 for 8 days no data cap. I nabbed the sim card mainly for navigational purposes as Japan can get disorienting without some form of navigation. I bought my JR pass and sim from this site:
https://www.japan-rail-pass.com
This site included a PDF guide for the use of the JR pass as well as a PDF guide for using the sim card in the email confirmation they sent me. The vouchers and sim card were couriered to me (fixed cost at checkout) within a few days. I guess you could wait to the 11th hour to grab them, but for me I ordered them a few weeks in advance and was pleasantly surprised to receive it a few days later.
- Prepaid Suica/Pasmo for transportation and paying like a prepaid value card. It's nice to just zip out of the airport and go direct to the hotel without having to sort out the card in the airport. Remember to use up the Suica before you leave. Using the remaining credits at convenience stores, vending machines and even at shops in the airport. There is a deposit that you put down on the card which you can get back if you return it, but I just kept mine as a souvenir/a card I can lend to friends later on.
- Hyperdia app (for most train info, download it just before you leave because I think after 30 days you have to pay $2-3 to keep using it)
- Google maps offline and maps.me. Due to high rises in Tokyo, the GPS can go a bit crazy.
- A serious set of walking shoes with some ADDED gel insoles. You're gonna walk a ridiculous amount in Japan.
- A rolling suitcase that can roll vertically (helps immensely if you have to do a bit of train travel with a suitcase)
- CASH/CASH and coins. Crazily enough, for a country that is well known for technology, the ability to use credit cards was highly inconsistent IMO. Big box stores and restaurants you can use of course, but there are tons of smaller mom and pop shops that take cash only.
Misc good to know things
- You're required to give finger prints in Japan to enter the country. A big confusion is that the Japanese want the index finger as opposed to thumb prints as we're used to. But there should be signs explaining this.
- Japan is so freaking safe it's ridiculous. Not only is it unlikely something will happen to you, you FEEL safe wandering around. Not even here in Canada do I feel that. If you lose something in an area, literally go back to see if it is still there. I had someone chase me 2 blocks to return something I had dropped (The stupid wheel from my luggage that fell off
).
- Coins. You're going to need them. Bring a coin purse if needed, and sometimes I pay with a bigger bill so that I end up with coins that I'll need later. 5 yen and 50 yen coins are good luck, you usually will want those to make a wish at temples.
- Navigation wise, it gets pretty overwhelming fast (because of the options), especially without a GPS or nav of some sort. You will very likely screw up your initially researched plan of travel, but because the Japanese are so freaking efficient you will have perhaps up to several dozen alternative options (not all the same) which will get you to your intended destination with in 10-15 minutes of your desired arrival time. This is where Hyperdia or even Google maps (with internet) is useful in figuring out plan B which is probably only a few minutes longer.
- Bring a backpack. Less things to hold, but also Japan doesn't always have garbage cans, so you'll have to keep your trash until you find one to unload.
Tokyo is cool. There's something for everyone.
- Cafe: Cat cafe/maid cafe/Owl cafe/Anime cafe etc.
- Shopping
- Temples/Shrines/Parks
- Museums (Ramen museum was kinda far; really dang hard to get tickets to Ghibli museum)
- Disney Sea (Japan only)/Onsen theme park
- Convenience store!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- FOOD!
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (tall tower, free to go up as opposed to paying for other towers like Sky Tree)
- Harajuku/Shinjuku/Shibuya crossing/Roppongi/Tsujiki/Omotesando/Akihabara
- Mount Fuji (If coming from Calgary area and spoiled with Banff, Mount Fuji can be left to another visit to Japan)
- Fujuku highlands (Roller coasters and haunted hospital) and suicide forest
Robot cafe is pretty cool. Online videos don't do it justice as it's essentially a sensory overload experience. I tell people that it was like Mad Max Fury road meets Pacific Rim B low budget style. It's pure crazy awesome.
Conveniences stores are amazing. Ask around. Lots of cool foods to try for reasonable prices. Snacks and beverages are excellent. Booze available in them. I liked being able to grab alcohol and drink openly in the public. I think public intoxication is a no no, but drinking in public (areas without food/beverage restrictions) is all good.
Temples are shrines are neat in Tokyo, but the ones around the Kyoto area are more interesting IMO. Most require a small fee to enter which goes towards their maintenance, but it's generally really cheap (Like $1-5 a person for the smaller ones).
Food in Japan is really damn good. Fruits are also awesome, but don't allow someone to over hype them to kingdom come for you. I'd suggest buying the fruits only if you enjoy those fruits normally and want to see what the fuss is about. You won't magically love the fruit if you hate eating fruits on a day to day basis.
The JR pass (7/14/21 days) is usable for that duration from the date you ACTIVATE it (trading the voucher you receive in Canada at an office in Japan). This means if you're in Tokyo for 12 days, you don't need the 14 day JR Pass. For instance, my wife and I were on the ground 11 days in Japan. We activated it on the 5th day and used it (actually, more like abused it) for 5 days before returning to Tokyo to meet up with friends for the last few days. I paid approx $320 per Adult for a 7 day pass. You then get a pass that allows unlimited usage on all JR network lines which you use by walking up to a counter at the stations. Don't forget you can use it on JR metro lines which will save you a few bucks on the Suica once activated (I know a few people who didn't realize this and though it was for bullet trains only and could have saved quite a bit as they paid per use via Suica/Passma for a few days when they didn't need to).
Kyoto (only a few hours away by bullet train,
- Much more traditional looking area. Older architecture, temples/shrines and natural beauty.
- Quieter than Tokyo
- A hop skip and a jump from Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kobe and Osaka (generally around an hour and half or less via bullet train)
- Monkey park
- Bamboo forest
- Food
- Public hot springs (But might be a problem if you have tattoos)
My wife and I stayed at a Ryokan styled place in Kyoto. We also paid to dress in traditional Japanese clothing so that we could take pics wearing it around the city. We spent approximately 4 days in this area, but much of those 4 days were shared with Miyajima/Nara/Hiroshima. Allocating a bit longer time to check out the surrounding areas is worth it. I hear there is an option to rent a Ryokan style place in Kyoto with a private onsen, but I didn't look into it.
- For whatever reason, I don't think I was able to use my Suica for transport in Kyoto and some of the nearby areas. I would highly suggest buying a day pass for the bus for Kyoto/areas if you want to hit a bunch of spots. That way you don't have to screw with coins and figure out what tier of payment you're supposed to pay. The difference in a buck or two is worth the convenience.
- The costume dress up comes with wooden sandals. These SUCKKKKKK to walk in. You're also required to leave your possessions at the rental place and you can take your valuables in a small drawstring bag barely bigger than a ziploc sandwich bag. A smart ass thing I did was to rush into a 100 yen store and buy foam sandals to walk in. I'd pop the clogs on for pics, but I wouldn't walk long distances in them (Over 10 minute increments).
- Bamboo forest is super cool, but make sure you trek past the tourists and go deep inside. Deeper inside, it gets super dark and it's crazy cool.
Nearby areas:
- Hiroshima Okonomiyaki is amazing. The Okonomiyaki in Tokyo, Kyoto and elsewhere isn't close.
- The deer in Nara are seriously nasty. Deer wise, they're like angry homeless bums. Broken horns and aggressive as hell when it comes to taking those cookies from tourists. They look like the deer here but smaller, so nothing special IMO. My wife wanted to feed them as they'll do a bow if you do it in a certain way, but I convinced her that watching tourists feed them (bowing thing they do) was more practical and humourous than feeding them ourselves. We watched a bunch of tourists get shoved around by the deer who felt that the tourists weren't feeding them fast enough. The surrounding landmark temples and gardens in Nara were nice though. A day is enough here.
- Miyajima is an island. A few temples etc but also deer. These deer look more like Bambi and are more "normal" unlike the deer in Nara. The island is beautiful. I think half a day is enough here.
- Hiroshima doesn't have too much, but there memorials there are worth checking out. Food is decent here. Half a day is enough here.
- Kobe we we went mainly for food (Kobe Beef). It was cheaper than Kyoto but seemingly not by much (10-15%?), but it seems like the quality was nearly on par with Kyoto. It might not be worth it.
- Osaka has some landmark attractions. Most people I chat with say that it's good for some shopping and the castle at best. Most people I spoke with said it wasn't worth spending more than a day here if absolutely necessary. Most who ended up here often went back to Kyoto or hit areas like Miyajima/Nara/Hiroshim etc. that they had not hit yet if they had an extended time in Osaka.