Japan...what shouldn’t I miss?
Discussion
I found having a brother fluent in Japanese a God send. His native wife came in super handy too.
I’m only being half silly because Japan is not anywhere near as “English speaking tourist friendly” as one might wish or expect it to be.
What’s the general plan? Jetting into Tokyo for a single weekend or six months walking the breadth of the land?
Awesome place. Must win that lottery so I can afford to return.
I’m only being half silly because Japan is not anywhere near as “English speaking tourist friendly” as one might wish or expect it to be.
What’s the general plan? Jetting into Tokyo for a single weekend or six months walking the breadth of the land?
Awesome place. Must win that lottery so I can afford to return.
Get a 7- or 14-day JR pass - will make visiting other cities far cheaper. Must do before you arrive though.
Everything else is optional, depending on where your preferences lie and when you're there:-
- Himeji castle and gardens
- Fushimi shrine (great Torii tunnel)
- Kamakura (IF they've got the horseback archery display running)
- Kyoto. Definitely Kyoto. Golden temple at a minimum, plus the old quarter (or whatever it's called...been 13 years and many bottles of wine since I visited)
- Harajuku at a weekend
- Tsukiji fish market
- A local 'matsuri' if any are happening - twee but fun
- A proper onsen, ideally in a hillside town
- Hiroshima. And if you're there, detour to Miyajima island, possibly overnight.
- Any of the car factories / test tracks you can blag a visit to
- Various temples - Nara is pretty cool and a short trip from Tokyo
- A proper izakaya, with all the salarymen and the s
t karaoke
- A GOOD restaurant - Tokyo is overflowing with them, but you may need help finding it - they're often on the 6th floor of some unassuming building and the sign is in kanji!
Everything else is optional, depending on where your preferences lie and when you're there:-
- Himeji castle and gardens
- Fushimi shrine (great Torii tunnel)
- Kamakura (IF they've got the horseback archery display running)
- Kyoto. Definitely Kyoto. Golden temple at a minimum, plus the old quarter (or whatever it's called...been 13 years and many bottles of wine since I visited)
- Harajuku at a weekend
- Tsukiji fish market
- A local 'matsuri' if any are happening - twee but fun
- A proper onsen, ideally in a hillside town
- Hiroshima. And if you're there, detour to Miyajima island, possibly overnight.
- Any of the car factories / test tracks you can blag a visit to
- Various temples - Nara is pretty cool and a short trip from Tokyo
- A proper izakaya, with all the salarymen and the s
t karaoke- A GOOD restaurant - Tokyo is overflowing with them, but you may need help finding it - they're often on the 6th floor of some unassuming building and the sign is in kanji!
[quote=smifffymoto]
The word is,they will re open to tourists mid September but nothing is confirmed.
My daughter lives in Japan and isn't aware of any date being given for tourism to open up again. I haven't been out since 2019 and would jump at the first opportunity to go and visit her again. Can you say where you heard 'the word'?
The word is,they will re open to tourists mid September but nothing is confirmed.
My daughter lives in Japan and isn't aware of any date being given for tourism to open up again. I haven't been out since 2019 and would jump at the first opportunity to go and visit her again. Can you say where you heard 'the word'?
Sgt Joe Roberts said:
smifffymoto said:
The word is,they will re open to tourists mid September but nothing is confirmed.
My daughter lives in Japan and isn't aware of any date being given for tourism to open up again. I haven't been out since 2019 and would jump at the first opportunity to go and visit her again. Can you say where you heard 'the word'?
A few different facebook pages and tourism sites.The trouble is stuff gets posted and repeated without finding out if there is any truth in the original statement.My daughter lives in Japan and isn't aware of any date being given for tourism to open up again. I haven't been out since 2019 and would jump at the first opportunity to go and visit her again. Can you say where you heard 'the word'?
I hope it’s true.
smifffymoto said:
I say booked but Mrs S did a bit more digging before actually committing.
The word is,they will re open to tourists mid September but nothing is confirmed.
A stter really,Etihad,Paris-Tokyo return is about 440€.
This is why the flights are cheap. As soon as they fix a date to reopen, expect the prices to shoot up.The word is,they will re open to tourists mid September but nothing is confirmed.
A s
tter really,Etihad,Paris-Tokyo return is about 440€.Anyway, if you're in Tokyo - and like cocktails - then Twilight time at the Park Hyatt
3 hours, fixed (relatively low) price, unlimited drinks & snacks
Edited by Carbon Sasquatch on Monday 2nd May 13:03
Sgt Joe Roberts said:
My daughter lives in Japan and isn't aware of any date being given for tourism to open up again. I haven't been out since 2019 and would jump at the first opportunity to go and visit her again. Can you say where you heard 'the word'?
We're in identical circumstances too. Our boy is there and married a local in January.As far as non information is concerned, this blog is about as guess worthy as it gets.
https://www.travelcaffeine.com/when-will-japan-reo...
We're hoping to get over in November for a long term stay.
I've done several trips with work to Japan as well as spending 3 weeks with the Mrs there on holiday. Love Japan.
Things worth doing that are not always in the guide books:
Japanese baseball - we watched the Yokohama Baystars vs Hanshin Tigers. The organised cheering is a sight to behold as are the tiny beer girls lugging 40 pints of beer up and down the stairs.
Go to the Spa in the Tokyo Dome at 4am at the end of your night out - a giant sauna and steam room with a vending machine full of Pocari Sweat means that when in Japan, you never need to sleep.......
Learn some Japanese before going - we did a 10 week business Japanese course and it meant that we could converse in all the non-english speaking places. Although to be fair, you don't need any Japanese per se as there will always be someone looking to practice their English on you.
Go to Kanazawa on the north coast - yes it is a bit out of the way, but it was different to every other place we visited - we stayed in a hotel with a rooftop spa and it was mint (and cheap).
Go to Kobe and have the beef - spend a fortune - it's worth it. Do Kobe on a Friday night and all the locals come out and set up bands in the streets. Ever seen a full on 5 piece band with drum kit on the corner of every street - you willl in Kobe.
Don't be afraid of looking at a building and trying every floor to see what is open bar wise - some of the best bars I have been to were on the 8th floor of a tower block with a tiny sign. You just need to ask someone or go hunting for them. (p.s. the pinker the sign, the dodgier the establishment was my analysis)
Get a JR pass (in the UK before you leave) and get the first class one for the extra few quid it costs. easily worth it. Love Japan
Things worth doing that are not always in the guide books:
Japanese baseball - we watched the Yokohama Baystars vs Hanshin Tigers. The organised cheering is a sight to behold as are the tiny beer girls lugging 40 pints of beer up and down the stairs.
Go to the Spa in the Tokyo Dome at 4am at the end of your night out - a giant sauna and steam room with a vending machine full of Pocari Sweat means that when in Japan, you never need to sleep.......
Learn some Japanese before going - we did a 10 week business Japanese course and it meant that we could converse in all the non-english speaking places. Although to be fair, you don't need any Japanese per se as there will always be someone looking to practice their English on you.
Go to Kanazawa on the north coast - yes it is a bit out of the way, but it was different to every other place we visited - we stayed in a hotel with a rooftop spa and it was mint (and cheap).
Go to Kobe and have the beef - spend a fortune - it's worth it. Do Kobe on a Friday night and all the locals come out and set up bands in the streets. Ever seen a full on 5 piece band with drum kit on the corner of every street - you willl in Kobe.
Don't be afraid of looking at a building and trying every floor to see what is open bar wise - some of the best bars I have been to were on the 8th floor of a tower block with a tiny sign. You just need to ask someone or go hunting for them. (p.s. the pinker the sign, the dodgier the establishment was my analysis)
Get a JR pass (in the UK before you leave) and get the first class one for the extra few quid it costs. easily worth it. Love Japan
This is rather incredible, the information is pre-pandemic and hasn't been updated in years. If you read this you wouldn't know there was a problem. Everyone currently requires a Visa, the page says the opposite and is still running the Visa waiver information and the country is currently closed to tourists anyway, there's no mention of that, nor of Covid. It's bonkers, quite shocking really, this is the official Japan tourism site.
https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/visa-info/
https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/visa-info/
Also a local SIM card as roaming can be very expensive. You can order them in advance.
e.g. https://www.klook.com/en-GB/wifi-sim-card/?spm=Hom...
Then you can wave Google translate over anything you see... ok takes some of the mystery out of travel, but also if you want to be sure you are on the right train / ordered the right thing, etc
e.g. https://www.klook.com/en-GB/wifi-sim-card/?spm=Hom...
Then you can wave Google translate over anything you see... ok takes some of the mystery out of travel, but also if you want to be sure you are on the right train / ordered the right thing, etc
21st Century Man said:
This is rather incredible, the information is pre-pandemic and hasn't been updated in years. If you read this you wouldn't know there was a problem. Everyone currently requires a Visa, the page says the opposite and is still running the Visa waiver information and the country is currently closed to tourists anyway, there's no mention of that, nor of Covid. It's bonkers, quite shocking really, this is the official Japan tourism site.
https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/visa-info/
Apart from this link on the front page of their websitehttps://www.japan.travel/en/plan/visa-info/
https://www.japan.travel/en/coronavirus/
Wills2 said:
21st Century Man said:
This is rather incredible, the information is pre-pandemic and hasn't been updated in years. If you read this you wouldn't know there was a problem. Everyone currently requires a Visa, the page says the opposite and is still running the Visa waiver information and the country is currently closed to tourists anyway, there's no mention of that, nor of Covid. It's bonkers, quite shocking really, this is the official Japan tourism site.
https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/visa-info/
Apart from this link on the front page of their websitehttps://www.japan.travel/en/plan/visa-info/
https://www.japan.travel/en/coronavirus/
I lived in Japan for a few years. A standout place for me was Nikko. You only need a day there even if staying in Tokyo as it's not far. It's extremely picturesque and seems to compact all the traditional Japanese styles (man made and natural) with a couple of km square. It's often overlooked for the bigger cities like Kyoto and Hiroshima (which are also worth visiting) but I found it made a nice change of pace, as even though Kyoto is slow paced, it's quite big, so you need a few days there to prevent rushing.
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