One week in Tokyo

[flipstah]

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We were dumb last time, went to Tokyo, and suddenly decided to go Kyoto for blossom .. and Hotel was crazy expensive to book the night before! (Mostly fully booked...)

You won't have problem to take whatever transit in Sendai, but you probably want to go to surrounding areas, and driving is FUN in Japan! (exclude Tokyo/Osaka etc mega cities..)

And yes, can try the Mario Karts!

Thanks @C4S ! One week in Tokyo and 8 days in Sendai. Lots of Shinkansen planned woooot

Never been up north so should be exciting.

[BavarianBeast]

Looks like I booked my trip way too late. Booking hotels in Hakuba area for skiing was around $500/night for a 4 Star. Niseko was well above $700/night for 4 Star +.

With that being said, it looks like the Japanese take a lot more pride in their hospitality? I.e - a 2-3 star hotel with good ratings should be very accommodating?

[max_boost]

A Beyonder is there right now. Park Hyatt Hotel Lost in Translation!

[Buster]

Looking at a trip there with my 12 year old daughter in the spring of 2022.

I'm thinking 7-10 days?

I have a zillion Amex/AP points, so I'd like to do biz class. I think people usually fly into Narita? It sounds like ANA is the best airline, and it's star alliance, too.

[taemo]

are you planning on catching the cherry blossom? time it for later half of March.
Tokyo only or planning on taking the bullet train to Kyoto?

From North America we have always landed in Narita and took the Narita Express, about 30-50$ per person one way and about 45min.

[Buster]

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are you planning on catching the cherry blossom? time it for later half of March.
Tokyo only or planning on taking the bullet train to Kyoto?

From North America we have always landed in Narita and took the Narita Express, about 30-50$ per person one way and about 45min.

I have made no decisions yet....why Narita instead of HND?

[npham]

From all the people at work that fly into Japan, they go with ANA (Business Class) and all had really great things to say about them/it. They also flew into Haneda because it's closer to the office. If you're leaving Tokyo, heading north right away then Narita might make sense. But this is kind of like if you want to fly into London, it's either Heathrow or Gatwick...

[taemo]

^this

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I have made no decisions yet....why Narita instead of HND?

just that from what I recall most flights from north america went to Narita but if ANA goes to Haneda then go for it, closer to Tokyo. if you plan to take a cab it is still about 80-100$ to central Tokyo or take the subway.

[Buster]

Just reading through some Japan covid stuff - I didn't realize that Japan had shit the bed so badly with its covid response and policy. Also, I didn't know that Japanese people were (in general!) retarded about the vaccine.

Interesting.

[03ozwhip]

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Just reading through some Japan covid stuff - I didn't realize that Japan had shit the bed so badly with its covid response and policy. Also, I didn't know that Japanese people were (in general!) retarded about the vaccine.

Interesting.

Super jealous man. I've been wanting to go all my life and now that I can, my 12 year old doesn't want to go on a plane longer than a few hours. Fuck him.

[Disoblige]

Buster's one week in Tokyo!
All night crossing the line.
No one quit the radio..
Tokyo is on fire!!

[Xtrema]

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Just reading through some Japan covid stuff - I didn't realize that Japan had shit the bed so badly with its covid response and policy. Also, I didn't know that Japanese people were (in general!) retarded about the vaccine.

Interesting.

Quite a few expats that had the option were flying back to US for shots. They only started to allow dentists to give out shots beyond doctor and nurses before it sped up. Take up rate is still miserable beyond lack of access being a bottleneck.

HND is cheaper and quicker into Tokyo. AC used to have direct flights to Tokyo from YYC but not sure that route is still around after COVID, probably has to go thru Vancouver now.

That said, what attracts you to Japan? What does your 12 year old want to see?

[flipstah]

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I have made no decisions yet....why Narita instead of HND?

Narita is the more 'international' hub of the two. That's about it.

[benyl]

You might do better with a 12 year, but we went at the end of March 2018 with a 3year and 7 year old for 11 days. It took them 5-6 days to get on Tokyo time (basically just in time to go home). I would try to go for 14 days or more.

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just that from what I recall most flights from north america went to Narita but if ANA goes to Haneda then go for it, closer to Tokyo. if you plan to take a cab it is still about 80-100$ to central Tokyo or take the subway.

There is an ANA flight from YVR to HND.

You can get to HND from HNL, SEA, SFO, and LAX from the west coast.

[flipstah]

ANA is a great airline but be careful it's not a codeshare with AC because you'll likely be flying on AC if that's the case.

Pre-pandemic AC flight to Japan was meh; food was garbage but wasn't fully booked so could've moved around

[Xtrema]

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food was garbage but wasn't fully booked so could've moved around

Food is better leaving NRT. Canadian side airline catering sux.

[flipstah]

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Food is better leaving NRT. Canadian side airline catering sux.

Yes agreed

[g-m]

I'm planning on going skiing there again Feb 2022. I would personally go with whichever airport you can get a more direct flight to and I've got AC status so I try to stay with star alliance. Depending on your daughter I much prefer Osaka to Kyoto and would try to make a stop in the nagano area to see the Japan alps. Then you can see Matsumoto castle if you're doing Tokyo -> Osaka/Kyoto -> Matsumoto -> Nagano -> Tokyo. The old lady and I have seen enough temples and shrines to last a lifetime so Kyoto was super boring.

[Manhattan]

Tokyo just declared another state of emergency and announced no spectators for Olympics. Risk of a trip in the near future is low take on vaccinations and even if cases are down there could be backlash against visitors.

[Xtrema]

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Tokyo just declared another state of emergency and announced no spectators for Olympics. Risk of a trip in the near future is low take on vaccinations and even if cases are down there could be backlash against visitors.

Hopefully their vaccination rate stay steady and doesn't peter out so they can put this behind them.