Japan Trips & Travel Tips

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Tall-Smoke-7260 on 2023-08-12 00:16:48.

Would love to have feedback on this mock up travel plan and to hear your input.

Time: Mid November

Section: Southbound, Roughly from Kiso-Hirasawa station to Magome

Day 1:

Arrive in the morning from Shiojiri.

Train to Kiso-Hirasawa.

Walk to Narai-Juku.

Check into accommodation in Narai-juku or nearby

Day 2:

Walk Narai-Juku to Yabuhara.

Train from Yabuhara to Fushukima-Juku

Stay in Fushikima-Juku.

Day 3:

Fushikima-Juku walk to Agematsu.

Train from Agematsu to Nojiri.

Stay in Nojiri.

Day 4:

Walk Nojiri to Nagiso.

Stay in Nagiso.

Day 5:

Walk Nagiso to Magome.

See Tsumago.

Stay in Magome.

Questions:

Are there any points of interest between Agematsu and Noijiri?

Are there any places along this section that are must-sees?

How would you change or condense this trip (if too spread out)?

Is there anything else I should consider when planning to travel on the Nakasendo?

Thank you for your time and attention. I hope that whomever else is planning a similar trip to also find this useful.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Bittersweet025 on 2023-08-11 20:02:36.

Hi guys!

I had typed my original itinerary in the regular format, but as I rearranged days it was easier for me to put it in a calendar format in google docs. Here is the link for my itinerary.

My flights are booked. Hotels are booked. Question is, I wish I had planned a day to go to an area with a better view of Mt Fuji. I feel like I have some free time in Osaka if I condensed the days a bit. But it’s far from Osaka to Mt Fuji lol.

Would it make sense to send my luggage from Hakone to my next hotel in Kyoto, and just have a backpack with a days worth of clothes and head to Fuji? Take transit to my accommodation in Kyoto in the evening?

Most of my days have some leeway, meaning I could switch around the order and it wouldn’t change anything. Kyoto is different because there’s festivals I’d like to see.

I’ve just never been abroad and would like to make sure I feel a bit organized before I leave. I don’t have to follow the calendar verbatim but I like to have a little structure as I will be traveling alone!

Thank you!!!

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/pgold05 on 2023-08-11 19:29:55.

Planning a trip to Japan mid Oct for our anniversary. This will be our very first time visiting Japan and we are super excited and a bit overwhelmed. Our focus will be on Japanese horror/Halloween, cultural sites, food, Disney/Ghibli and to a lesser extent, anime/manga/shopping.

Any advice on spooky/Halloween things we can add (subculture bars, restaurants, events) or recommended/must see items we missed, food we should try, would be greatly appreciated. Also wanted a second opinion on whether or not our itinerary is too much, too little or what can be improved!

Day 1 - Land in Tokyo at 4:30am Hilton Tokyo Bay

• Disney Land (🎃Halloween party!)

Tokyo Day 2 - Hilton Tokyo Bay

• Disney Land (🎃Halloween party!)

Tokyo Day 3 - Hilton Tokyo Bay

• DisneySea (🎃Halloween party!)

Tokyo Day 4 - Hilton Tokyo Bay

• DisneySea (🎃Halloween party!)
• Check In - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

Note: 4 days Disney may be excessive; however, we expect to be jet lagged out of our mind the first day. Day 4 is a semi flex day, we plan to head out if we are done with Disney early.

Tokyo Day 5 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier – Wake up 6 AM

• Tsukiji Market
• Tokyo Skytree (possible skip if we woke up late or needed more time in market)
• Sensō-ji Temple
• Tokyo National Museum
• Akihabara
• Dinner at Kinkab (🎃Spooky!)
• Vampire Café (🎃Spooky!)

Tokyo Day 6 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

• Meiji Jingu Shrine
• Shibuya (lunch, shopping, Pokémon/Nintendo/Disney store
• Ghibli Museum
• Shinjuku station area (Disney Store/Ichiran Ramen/ Omoide Yokochō/ Tajimaya Coffee)
• Trader Vics Tokyo (Wife is a big tiki head, this is must do 😊)

Tokyo / Kyoto Day 7 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

• teamLab Planets TOKYO
• Daiba Haunted School (🎃Spooky!)
• Gundam base - Gundam statue
• Lunch in Ginza (open to suggestions)
• Evening Train to Kyoto (get in between 6-7)
• Check In - The Gate Hotel Kyoto
• Dinner in Gion (open to suggestions)
• Gion Bridge/Yasaka-jinja Shrine

Kyoto Day 8 - The Gate Hotel Kyoto

• Kiyomizu-dera Temple
• Sannen-zaka &Traditional tea ceremony
• Minatoya Yurei Kosodateame Honpo (🎃Spooky!)
• Takashimaya Basement Food Floor (Lunch)
• Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum
• Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine (5-7 PM to see sunset)
• Dinner in Pontocho (open to suggestions)

Kyoto Day 9 - The Gate Hotel Kyoto

• Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple
• Okochi-Sanso Villa
• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
• Tenryu-ji Temple
• Honke Owariya Main branch (Lunch)
• Manga Museum & Library
• Nishiki Market/Daimaru Basement Food Floor
• (Dinner open to suggestions)

Kyoto / Osaka Day 10 - The Gate Hotel Kyoto

• Completely Free Morning, open to suggestions
• Train to Osaka
• Check In - The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japa
• Universal Japan Halloween Horror Nights (🎃Halloween party!)

Osaka Day 11 - The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan

• Universal Japan (🎃Halloween party!)

Osaka Day 12 - The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan

• Osaka Aquarium
• Tempozan Marketplace (lunch)
• Check In - Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu
• Osaka castle
• Travel to Kobe for Kobe Beef Dinner (open to suggestions)
• The Kazan Room (Wife is a big tiki head, this is must do 😊)

Osaka Day 13 - Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Note: This day is unstructured, but it involves seeing the areas around the hotel (suggestions appreciated)

• America-mura
• Don Quijote Dotonbori
• Hozenji Yokocho
• Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping
• Nipponbashi Denden Town
• Abeno Harukas Observation Deck

Osaka/ Kyoto / Tokyo Day 14 – Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Note: We found out about the Yokai Costume Parade after booking hotels, so this day is a bit wacky but hopefully doable.

• Ship bags using service at Osaka Station to Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier
• Train to Kyoto
• Nijō Castle
• Menbaka fire ramen (lunch)
• Kinkaku-ji Temple
• (free time for probably one more temple/shrine, open to suggestions)
• Yokai Costume Flea (🎃Spooky!)
• Yokai Costume Parade (🎃Spooky!)
• Catch last Hikari back to Tokyo (9 PM)
• Late check in - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

Tokyo Day 15 - Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza Premier

• Completely Free Morning, Open to Suggestions, also might keep free to re-visit anything we had to skip earlier
• 5 PM Flight Home, arrive 10 PM local which is insane.

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/SinoSoul on 2023-08-11 13:50:05.

Compared to watching other "real" racing in the world, the FIM 8-hour Suzuka endurance motorcycle was dirt cheap for a family. Total ticket cost, roughly US$130 for a family of 4, 2 adults, 2 kids, and this is for the family seats in the "Last Corner" S section. With the family tickets comes with access to 2 AC rooms, one with a toddler play area, one to cool off with your kids, where many sweaty moms were spotted avoiding the actual race. Food was also relatively affordable, at about US$8/entree and 4 bucks for a beer. When was the last time Disneyland sold a $4 beer?

With the race tickets (I don't know about the F1 races in September, I assume the same), comes full access pass to the Suzuka Motopia amusement park, which is like a Knott's Berry farm for automobile/motorcycle geeks and their children. Race weekend tickets, which covers three days this weekend, also comes with full day (8:30am to 5pm?) pass to the water park inside the Autopia, where swim caps and goggles are NOT required as in many JP pools.

At said summer-only water park, there are water slides, lazy river children wading pools, multiple food stalls (selling curries, etc.) , a massive changing area full of lockers and hair dryers. The track also sets up a pop-up giant screen to watch the racing from the lazy river, if you are so inclined, but it's standing room (or, standing in lazy river?) only. For the more bourgeosie, there are covered lounge/cabana areas you can rent, there's also a massive covered seating areas that requires a separate entry fee. I feel like they were mostly occupied by local moms who 1) hate cars 2) hate getting dark 3) hate their husbands for making them come to Suzuka.

I searched all over the web for info on this race track not related to the F1 race, and I found very little, so I'm hoping this can codify some intel on Suzuka. FWIW, I refuse to go to DisneySea/USJ (live close to a universal studios, have annual pass), and ended up spending a whole day eating, drinking, watching moto racing, while the family had a grand time doing all the amusement park style rides (except the FABULOUS electric go cart, that one was all sold out all day) and goofing off in the lazy river (bring your own floaties). If you go on a non-race weekend, you can also pay for a hot lap in a faster e-go kart. For me, dollar for dollar, this was amongst the highlight of this particular trip, as was TOEI movie studio and the Toyota Car museum in Nagoya in our previous trips.

How to get there: I drove from Kyoto. Almost got into a head-on accident 2 minutes out of the hotel, but WHATEVERS, WORTH IT. I got to stop off at konbinis for road trip snacks/pee breaks, thrash a tiny 4-banger hybrid Toyota microvan to 80mph (Sienta, I LOVE YOU, I WANT ONE. Toyota USA, I'm looking at you), and STILL almost got 55mpg. Also, there was no need to rush to a train station, queue for buses, and got to decide exactly when you wanted to leave, and I got to the next city faster than public transport. A parking field nearby the park, just north of the massive pachinko parlor, was 3000 Yen and IIRC parking on site is only 2000 Yen.

Link to the raceway's amusement park is here:

Link to tickets of upcoming races here:

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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/Elalti on 2023-08-11 12:40:59.

Hey guys! Long-time lurker here but wanted to ask for tips/suggestions for our upcoming Japan trip this September! My friends and I are travelling together for the first time and we would appreciate any feedback you guys may have on our itinerary for Tokyo.

Day 1 - Arrive at Narita in the early afternoon. Once we arrive we'll pickup wifi/passes/cards then travel by train to our hotel in Akihabara. After dropping off our bags we're planning to go around Roppongi and Hie Shrine.

Day 2 - Spend all day at Tokyo Disney. We'll grab some breakfast from a convenience store then go straight to the resort. After closing we'll also probably get dinner outside to save some money.

Day 3 - Sightseeing around Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya. We're planning to go to Korea Alley, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, then the Shinjuku Gyoen Park. Harajuku in the afternoon going window-shopping and we're planning to go to a cat cafe. Shibuya in the late afternoon so we can go to Shibuya Sky just before sunset. After Shibuya Sky we'll just go around the Shibuya area for dinner and more window-shopping.

Day 4 - Teamlabs first thing in the morning to avoid crowds (is it true teamlabs smells like feet when you go later in the afternoon?). Afterwards go around Odaiba area to check out the malls. We might go to Tsukiji Market for lunch. After lunch, go to Senso-ji Temple and Sumida Park. If too crowded, we might instead go to the Skytree area.

Day 5 - Day of flight going back home. Our flight is in the evening so we're planning to go around Ueno Park and Ameyoko Market in the morning and going to other places we missed in the afternoon.

Some questions also from us for our trip:

1. What kind of clothes are best to wear near the end of September? We're planning to still go with Summer outfits with some light sweaters/coats since websites say that September is still the transition month to Fall.
2. What are some good options for our Day 5 afternoon? We're hoping to go to one last place before we go to the airport.
3. Any recommendations on Cat cafes in the Harajuku/Shinjuku/Shibuya area? We're still not sure which one to go to as there are a lot of options.