Traveling to Japan

[RAReinecke]

In June I will be going to Japan my sister. We are going on a 12 day tour and then will head back to Tokyo for 3 additional days.

Do you have any advice? What to bring, what to see and do? Things to skip? How much local currency to carry? What should we consider? Any advice or thoughts are appreciated. We will be staying in a hotel at the end of the trip that has an English speaking staff.

The tour is pretty busy, but might have a couple optional excursions.

Thank you for your thoughts. I am unbelievably excited.

 

[Japanfan]

@alilou blogged about her travels to Japan. It may be too detailed for you, given that you've only got ten days. But you might enjoy taking a look.

https://alisonanddon.com/category/japan/

 

[allezfred]

In June I will be going to Japan my sister. We are going on a 12 day tour and then will head back to Tokyo for 3 additional days.

Do you have any advice? What to bring, what to see and do? Things to skip? How much local currency to carry? What should we consider? Any advice or thoughts are appreciated. We will be staying in a hotel at the end of the trip that has an English speaking staff.

The tour is pretty busy, but might have a couple optional excursions.

Thank you for your thoughts. I am unbelievably excited.

Could you give us an idea of your itinerary to narrow things down?

If you are travelling in June, you may be there during the rainy season so it would be an idea to carry a small umbrella in your bag when you are out and about.

With regard to currency, as much as you are comfortable carrying. Many smaller shops still only accept cash. You should be able to withdraw cash at convenience stores and post offices with your bank card.

No tipping!

There are a lot more people who speak English these days I have found on my trips back to Japan recently. Gestures and using single words will help you a lot in communicating with people who don't speak English very well. Most restaurants will have very realistic plastic models of dishes they serve so you can always drag your server to the window and point at what you want. A lot of the menus will also have pictures.

My two favourite things that I did on a recent trip to Tokyo was to go to Zojoji Temple for a really interesting view of Tokyo Tower and to go up to the Sky Deck of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills for an amazing panoramic view of Tokyo.

 

[RAReinecke]

@alilou blogged about her travels to Japan. It may be too detailed for you, given that you've only got ten days. But you might enjoy taking a look.

https://alisonanddon.com/category/japan/

Thank you. I looked at part today and will read the rest soon.

I don’t think too much detail is possible. ?

 

[RAReinecke]

Could you give us an idea of your itinerary to narrow things down?

If you are travelling in June, you may be there during the rainy season so it would be an idea to carry a small umbrella in your bag when you are out and about.

With regard to currency, as much as you are comfortable carrying. Many smaller shops still only accept cash. You should be able to withdraw cash at convenience stores and post offices with your bank card.

No tipping!

There are a lot more people who speak English these days I have found on my trips back to Japan recently. Gestures and using single words will help you a lot in communicating with people who don't speak English very well. Most restaurants will have very realistic plastic models of dishes they serve so you can always drag your server to the window and point at what you want. A lot of the menus will also have pictures.

My two favourite things that I did on a recent trip to Tokyo was to go to Zojoji Temple for a really interesting view of Tokyo Tower and to go up to the Sky Deck of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills for an amazing panoramic view of Tokyo.

I suppose it’s the 3 days at the end of the trip when we are back in Tokyo on our own. Is there anything we should try to do while we are there? The Zojoji Temple and Mori Tower sounds like things to add to our list. We are not nightclub goers, so we don’t need information on nightlife. We do like to shop and generally take a day to enjoy the city we are in as if we lived there and were out shopping for the day.

Advice such as the umbrella and not to tip are appreciated. I expect the tour group will give advice on what to wear based on the sites we are going to, but if you have thoughts on that, I would appreciate knowing them. The tour will go to several temples and ends in Hiroshima. It also goes to Mt. Fuji for a day.

I’m getting excited about the trip and would love to hear from anyone who has been who can share. I have gotten great advice on this board before.

Thank you for what you have already shared.

 

[Erin]

My favourite spot in Tokyo was the Rikugien Gardens, which were beautiful and peaceful. Those were the first of about 7 or 8 different gardens I went to in Tokyo and Kyoto on my trip, so you will probably go to many different gardens, but I would make sure to include those, as none of the rest lived up to the Rikugien.

Eating yakiniku was one of the more interesting experiences - it literally translates as grilled meat and you choose different kinds of meats to cook yourself.

If you want to go the the Imperial Palace, it's closed on Mondays, which is something my traveling companion didn't think to check.

 

[Alilou]

Thank you. I looked at part today and will read the rest soon.

I don’t think too much detail is possible. ?

Thanks for taking a look at the blog @RAReinecke.
A couple of things I read prior to going that proved to be really useful:
take a small change purse. It's still very much a cash society and you'll always be dealing with coins.
The other thing is carry a small plastic bag around with you (inside your daypack or something like that). This is because there are no public garbage bins in Japan (at least not in Tokyo or Kyoto anyway). People take their garbage home with them. If you buy something like a juice box, or a can of pop that may leak a little even when empty you'll be glad of a plastic bag to put it in to take back to your hotel.
I also carried an oversized cotton napkin with me - all bathrooms have electric hand dryers but I saw none with paper towel. I liked having it but didn't use it anything like as much as I do here in India where neither paper nor electric dryers are available.
I can't remember how much currency I carried, but there are atm's everywhere. You'll always find one in the 7-11's. I had no problem getting cash using a Canadian bankcard.
As I think of more things I'll post them.
I'm curious to know which company you're doing the tour with.
I know you'll have a great time! I fell in love with Japan. It's an amazing place. Just thinking of it warms my heart. We are going back there for 2 weeks from March 11 - hoping to see some cherry blossoms this time.

ETA: I was so concerned before I left for Japan about communication issues but I found enough people who spoke enough English for me to make myself understood especially getting around on public transport. I also used google translate on my phone from time to time. You will find the people to be incredibly kind and helpful.

 

[allezfred]

We do like to shop

You are going to the right place then! Shopping is such a pleasure in Japan. I would check out one of the large department stores. They have amazing "depa-chika" (basement food halls) and then everything and anything you can think of all the way to the top floor. The Daimaru department store at the Yaesu entrance to Tokyo Station is really nice, but there are others all around Tokyo like Isetan, Mitsukoshi etc. They are mostly located at large train stations and if you are looking for a reasonably priced sit down meal, they will have a restaurant floor at the very top.

Is there anything in particular you are looking to buy?

 

[Japanfan]

You are going to the right place then! Shopping is such a pleasure in Japan. I would check out one of the large department stores. They have amazing "depa-chika" (basement food halls) and then everything and anything you can think of all the way to the top floor.

Oh yes, those (depa-chika). I went to Japan in 1986 with a plan to stay for several years and write for English publications (was a journalist).

I traveled in Europe and Asia before going to Japan, and was near broke when I arrived. I stayed in a cheap gaijin (communal) house at first while I was getting set up. Things were tough as everything was so expensive in Japan, and one can't not pay for transportation.

Those department store basements were where I went for lunch in those early days. There were many Japanese ladies giving out free samples of food, enough to make a meal of it.

 

[allezfred]

Japan is not an expensive destination any more. You can eat well very reasonably and quality is high.

Next tip is to bring shoes that are easy to take off and put back on. You will be taking your shoes off a lot in Japan!