MikeHattsu said:

Seems like a very packed schedule at least. Dunno if I'd do something like that for a first trip, if it is your first trip to Japan that is.

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Ennosuke said:

I have one question regarding the best month. I am currently all set for May. This year we arrived late in march, then 2 weeks in april and unfortunately we felt it was too rainy and cold. Sakura were beautiful, but in Kyoto there was not even one picture we took with sunshines on it. Is May a solid plan? Sunshine and no Jacket would be perfect.

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Vhalyar said:

You're right. Finally got around to digging into the details and the schedule, taking into account actual travel times, is pretty hectic. I'm removing Takayama and Kamakura... next time maybe.

Anything in particular to consider?

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Akira said:

Speaking of which, any recommendations on NYE celebrations? Is there a "Times Square" equivalent in Tokyo? I was thinking getting a reservation at a nice restaurant for dinner and then go to a bar for a countdown. Either that or do a traditional Japanese NYE at one of the major temples.

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Akira said:

SO EXCITED!!!

Officially booked the flight to Tokyo for December 30th. We will come in hot into Haneda mid-afternoon on the 31st. I'm hoping that there are no delays and we have enough time to prepare for dinner and NYE festivities. We will just have to hustle!

Speaking of which, any recommendations on NYE celebrations? Is there a "Times Square" equivalent in Tokyo? I was thinking getting a reservation at a nice restaurant for dinner and then go to a bar for a countdown. Either that or do a traditional Japanese NYE at one of the major temples.

I'm also looking up restaurants to try in Tokyo. There's just so many that we'll just barely scratch the surface. You guys have any must-eat every time you go to Japan?

Still planning on doing a side trip to Hokkaido and go snowboarding in Niseko. I also want to go to Kyoto if we can squeeze it in, but I already feel like 11 days is not enough just for Tokyo.

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LonelyGreyWolf said:

At the end of November, I've got about five free days in a row. I'm thinking about spending them in Kyoto and Osaka. I haven't really started doing any research yet, but just out of curiosity from those of you who have been to these cities, how do you think I should distribute my days across them? Two days in Kyoto and three in Osaka? Are there any other cities nearby I should consider visiting and spend one day less in Kyoto or Osaka?

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MikeHattsu said:

Depends on what you're interested in. Spend more time in Kyoto if you're interested in temples, shrines and 'old Japan'. Osaka if you're there for games, anime, shopping, nightlife and stuff.

If you're not visiting Hiroshima and Miyajima, then you could go to Nara and check out the park with the deer. Or you could go to Mt. Koya for an overnight stay in a temple, go check out the castle in Himeji, or go to Kobe and have Kobe beef there

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LonelyGreyWolf said:

Hiroshima would be super cool, but back and forth with the shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima is like another 20,000 yen or something I believe, and traveling by any other means than shinkansen is so slow :b I'll consider it depending on my budget.

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MikeHattsu said:

No JR Pass then?

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LonelyGreyWolf said:

At the end of November, I've got about five free days in a row. I'm thinking about spending them in Kyoto and Osaka. I haven't really started doing any research yet, but just out of curiosity from those of you who have been to these cities, how do you think I should distribute my days across them? Two days in Kyoto and three in Osaka? Are there any other cities nearby I should consider visiting and spend one day less in Kyoto or Osaka?

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Dingens said:

If you've already experienced "Sakura-season" then I'd probably go for autumn instead, like October or early November to get the full Japan experience. Red leafs are more or less the cherry blossoms of the 2nd half and they can be quite nice, depending on where you go.

I always enjoyed some hiking around that time of the year

There is sunshine... but it may be a little bit chill - not freezing or anything like that though.
If you wanna go during spring again, than probably April... I'd say

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Ennosuke said:

Thanks. I totally agree with you, the next thing I should do is experiencing the Red leaf season, probably I like it even more then Sakura. Nice picture! But to be honest, I can't wait that long. I would do October 2018, for the same reasons you mentioned, but damn that is more than a year away I wanted to go back straight to Japan when I left it in April. But of course I need to be rational, I have a Job etc. so this is why I am planing with May 2018. Well I googled it a little bit and May is a very interesting month, for example in Osaka this is the second sunniest month, but also the 5th rainy month. But in general it seems to be a highly recommended month. But as MikeHattsu said, I will go there after Golden Week.

Another question, would you recommend going to Nagoya? Looking at Japan-Guide I can't really find anything which feels like a must attraction, but probably it is a very nice city. But if I have already been to Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo, it would be just another big city?

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Ennosuke said:

Another question, would you recommend going to Nagoya? Looking at Japan-Guide I can't really find anything which feels like a must attraction, but probably it is a very nice city. But if I have already been to Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo, it would be just another big city?

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MikeHattsu said:

No JR Pass then?

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LonelyGreyWolf said:

Oh wow, I didn't even consider it as I was only planning on taking the shinkansen to Osaka and then using a cheap local pass to get around from there, but it looks like a round trip for Tokyo-Osaka is the same price as a 7-day JR pass, huh? Guess that might be a good option then. Thanks :>

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Dingens said:

I think you could probably fill 3 days in either city, but in my opinion, Kyoto has slightly more to offer (although it's mostly shrines and temples). But, as Mike suggested, you could also go to Nara for one day. Starting early in the morning 1 day is perfect to see all major attractions and it's a nice change of pace from Kyoto or Osaka. And deer is always nice
(if you go there buy some shika senbei and enjoy)

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Ennosuke said:

Another question, would you recommend going to Nagoya? Looking at Japan-Guide I can't really find anything which feels like a must attraction, but probably it is a very nice city. But if I have already been to Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo, it would be just another big city?

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LonelyGreyWolf said:

Welp, never mind. I'll be entering Japan with a student visa next time and as the JR Pass is for people with a tourism visa only I'm screwed. What a shoddy system. Feels bad man. [...]

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MikeHattsu said:

Well...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/08/national/media-national/nagoya-boring-city-japan/

But some other people here likes going there though

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Dingens said:

So you're an exchange student in Japan? You may wanna ask your university, because some provide their students with cheaper Shinkansen tickets!
I know mine did.

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Worthintendo said:

I did 2 days in Nagoya last time and I felt I didn't have enough time.
The Aquarium is really good if you are into those, apparently the Zoo is good too checking that out this time.
The Osu street is a really nice shopping area with a few good retro game stores.
If you are into drinking and gaming, Critical Hit is an awesome bar, the guy who runs it Alex is a super awesome dude.
Also there is a rail museum as well as a Toyota one.
I'm spending a week in Nagoya this time, using it as a place to travel to Kyoto and Toba from so will be able to report more if you need.

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Evon said:

Quick question: I planned to go to Mt. Takao tomorrow but it seems like it's going to be a rainy day. Still a good idea to go or would it be better to just skip it and do something else? Not sure how good the hiking paths will be when it's wet.

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Ennosuke said:

Does not sound too bad. To be honest to me the railway museum sounds almost like the best attraction. We will be based in Kyoto and there is a railway museum, too.
Aquariums are also nice, but I think the one in Osaka will be better.

Happy to hear more from you. Almost made me curious now, if Nagoya is as boring as in the linked article or if it is actually a nice city. I know, that newspaper articles about cities can be pretty harsh and unfair. But of course time is limited and I want to make the best of it.

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Zalasta said:

Anyone familiar with the Hakone Freepass know if it covers all lines under the Hakone Tozan Bus? I checked their website and it has a "Designated Zones" caption, but doesn't actually explain what that means. I am mainly interested in the Togendai Line and the “KANKO SHISETSU-MEGURI” Bus, because the ryokan I'm looking at is kind of out of the way and only accessible by those two buses.

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Zalasta said:

Is it possible to find a hot spring ryokan that offers a big king bed instead of 2 single beds? Want to stay at a traditional one in Hakone but my partner isn't keen on sleeping on futons. Atami has more modern hotels but it's just not really the same.

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family_guy said:

Hey. What's a typical daily expense for Tokyo? I'm not really trying to do everything on the cheap. Maybe mid-range budget. Regular hotels, not hostels. No expensive restaurants. Interested in doing the standard sight-seeing that most people do.

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Dingens said:

for one person?
like ~1000 yen for lunch (the same for dinner if you eat stuff like Curry or Udon at some chain restaurant, double if you want a "normal" restaurant), add another 1000 as entrance fees for 2 cheap sights, and another 1000 for snacks/beverages on the way.
the hotel room may range from 6000 to 12000 a night for business/normal hotels.
so... I'd say 12k ~ 15k yen would probably be a good a baseline. Museums are usually cheap (~500 yen), other attractions like the Skytree or the Tokyo Tower can be costly (4000+).
Travelling with a friend/spouse/so may be cheaper since you can split the hotel bill in half.

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havokex said:

Coming from North America, do I need to bring a charger adapter/converter to Japan?

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havokex said:

Coming from North America, do I need to bring a charger adapter/converter to Japan?

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dani_dc said:

The first third of route 1 is extremely boring and with nothing to see, just a steep cement, so let me offer an alternative.

Start on route 6 and go up to the Biwa waterfall, next to the waterfall there's some stairs up, take these stairs and follow the path for 20-30 minutes, and you'll reach Path 2, follow it upwards for about a couple minutes and you'll be infront of the monkey Park, from here on just follow Path 1. You're just a few minutes away from the temple.

I marked the path in yellow.

Path 1 is paved, but it's quite steep if you're not used to hiking mountains. It's not dangerous but it can be very tiring if you don't have the right muscles.

Alternatively, if you take the cable cart up, nearly everything from there until the top is quite strollable, just keep in mind you'll have quite a few stairs to walk up.

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ATXAlchemy said:

Other than MikeHattsu's concert and Odaiba, Takao is probably the only one I really wanna do in my itinerary. A friend said it's 'walkable', then again, he's a mountaineer. Do I need anything going up (or if I follow your suggestion of taking another route then to route 1)?

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Jesse- said:

One question for anyone who has done mt Fuji: how the hell are you supposed to wake up at three in the morning in the mountain hut without waking too many other hikers?

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Jesse- said:

Great to read some tips about Nagoya, going to be staying there for a few days in two weeks!

One question for anyone who has done mt Fuji: how the hell are you supposed to wake up at three in the morning in the mountain hut without waking too many other hikers?

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Jesse- said:

Great to read some tips about Nagoya, going to be staying there for a few days in two weeks!

One question for anyone who has done mt Fuji: how the hell are you supposed to wake up at three in the morning in the mountain hut without waking too many other hikers?

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ThreePiMatt said:

Everyone gets up at the same time, it's not an issue.

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404Ender said:

I'm leaving on my trip just before the Game of Thrones season finale airs. I don't think I can make it 2 weeks without coming across spoilers. What's my best bet for watching in Japan? Sign up for a VPN + HBO Now?

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cj_iwakura said:

Trains are very simple, unless you're going outside Tokyo.

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Worthintendo said:

I didn't think Uber was in Japan, did that change recently :/

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SiegfriedFM said:

Using any kind of taxi in Tokyo is a bad idea. You can get everywhere much cheaper (and probably faster) by train or subway.

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effingvic said:

Can I have the MiFi on and enabled on my backpack as I roam around?

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Sunday Mainichi (July 30), meanwhile, blows the whistle on kankō kōgai (tourism pollution), which it claims is reaching “crisis proportions.”

major tourist sites are having difficulty absorbing the burgeoning number of visitors, and the crush has been impacting the lives of local residents.

Tomohiro Okada, an economist at the Kyoto University graduate school, notes that from two years ago, during the autumn sightseeing season at Kiyomizu Temple, ambulances couldn’t access the street. “Local residents who commute to work or visit the hospital on Higashi Oji Street (a major north-south thoroughfare) say they can’t board the buses because they’re so crowded.”

The situation in Tokyo and its environs is much the same. The Enoden, a picturesque tram that skirts the coastline between Fujisawa and Kamakura, was said to be so mobbed with tourists — who had learned of it through manga — that during the late April holiday period it was impossible to get into the station, resulting in a wait of at least one hour to board.

To deal with the overcrowding, the railway from May began experimenting with special “local resident certificates” that allow holders direct access to trains without waiting in lines.

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